Fender Blackface Showman and Dual Showman Retube Kits

Fender Blackface Showman Full Retube Kits. Regardless of your style and application we have you covered!

All of our Blackface Showman full Retube Kits are designed specifically for these amps. Every kit is configured to provide a specific sound/experience. The default power tubes are the JJ 6L6GC’s but you can use the drop down to select the JJ 5881’s. The JJ 6L6GC’s will maintain the OEM headroom/breakpoint for the output stage. 6L6’s are known for their bold cleans, deep bass, crystalline highs, and naturally scooped mids. The JJ 5881’s will drop the amps output power by about 20%. 5881’s have less bass extension, a crunchier mid-range, and bright jangly highs that compress when pushed.

The Standard Retube Kit is as close to OEM as possible. Maintaining the amps stock level of headroom and gain while providing a warm but even handed overall sound. The kit includes one matched quad of JJ 6L6GC’s by default, three Standard ECC83S’s for V1, V2, V3 and one current Balanced JJ ECC81 for the phase inverter in V4 (closest to the power tubes).

The Gold Pin Retube Kit uses the JJ ECC83S Gold Pin variants to provide a smoother, creamier, and more singing overall sound. This option is less aggressive and has less “teeth” when driven hard. If you like a classic raunchy gritty overdriven tone, we recommend looking elsewhere… If sweet, open, and more refined is what you’re after this kit will do it. The Kit includes one matched quad of the JJ 6L6GC’s by default, three Standard Gold Pin ECC83S’s for V1, V2, V3 and one current Balanced Gold Pin JJ ECC81 for the phase inverter in V4 (closest to the power tubes).

The SRV Retube Kit Stevie liked to use 5751 tubes in the first gain stage to lower the distortion from the front end allowing more power tube distortion at higher volumes. This kit uses a matched quad of the JJ 6L6GC’s by default, two Standard JJ 5751’s for V1 and V2, one Standard JJ ECC83S to replace the 12AX7 in V3 and one current Balanced JJ ECC81 for V4 (closest to the power tubes).

The SRV Gold Pin Retube Kit More headroom from the front end and a smoother overdriven sound. This kit uses a matched quad of the JJ 6L6GC’s by default,  two Standard Gold Pin JJ 5751’s for V1 and V2, one Standard Gold Pin JJ ECC83S to replace the 12AX7 in V3, and one current Balanced Gold Pin JJ ECC81 for V4 (closest to the power tubes).

The ECC803S Option Retube Kit The JJ ECC803S is a long plate 12AX7 variant. These are a little lower in gain than the go-to JJ ECC83S. They have a very fat mid with more top-end which gives them a very vintage tone with lots of chime. This kit contains a matched quad of the 6L6GC’s by default, three Long Plate Standard JJ ECC803S’s to replace the 12AX7’s and one current Balanced JJ ECC81 for V4 (closest to the power tubes).

The ECC803S Gold Pin Option Retube Kit A vintage vibe with more chime and a smoother overdriven sound. This kit contains a matched quad of the 6L6GC’s by default, three Long Plate Standard Gold Pin JJ ECC803S’s to replace the 12AX7’s and one current Balanced Gold pin JJ ECC81 for V4 (closest to the power tubes).

Bias Info: The vast majority of the Blackface era Showman’s we see are standard adjustable bias. Occasionally we will come across one that has a balanced adjustment circuit. Either way the bias point can be measured with a bias probe and a multimeter or one of our “Pro One” bias probes. We typically bias these amps between 35 to 40mA with the JJ 6L6GC’s or 30 to 35mA for 5881’s. If you have the balance adjust version all you can do is set the bias point to match between the left and right pairs of power tubes.