Jimi Hendrix's 1968 Fender Dual Showman Silverface
access_time First seen circa 1968
It seems that for a short period of time, around early 1968, Jimi used a few Fender Dual Showman amps for his live gigs. The amps were seen during the show at Fillmore East on February 1, 1968, on the 2nd at Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, and lastly at Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim on February 9, 1968. According to some sources, the amps were supplied by Fender for Jimi to use during the 1968 US tour.
However, during the Anaheim gig on February 2, 1968, a Marshall amp was seen on stage sitting below a Fender Dual Showman, apparently because the two Fenders broke and the band couldn't finish the set. After the gig, Jimi struck a deal with Buck Munger of Sunn Amps and most likely got rid of the Fenders.
The amplifiers broke down during the first show, resulting in only four numbers being played during the second show. After the show Chas and Jimi were approached by Buck Munger representative for Sunn Amplification who replaced their Fender gear (provided at the start of the tour, but not powerful enough for Jimi's tastes) with brand new Sunn equipment. [1968-02-09 Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California USA]
Fender Dual Showman amp used on 'Voodoo Chile'?
According to Eddie Kramer, Jimi used a Fender Showman amp during the recording of 'Voodoo Chile'. Based on the fact that the song was recorded only about two months after Jimi was seen using Fender Dual Showman amps on stage, it is possible – although not likely, that he used one of those. To remind you, Jimi's Fender Dual Showman amps broke after a gig in Anaheim on February 2, 1968, but there is a possibility that someone ended up fixing them.
Also, just to note in regard to the quote from Eddie below – the only difference between a Showman and a Dual Showman amp is the 8-ohm output transformer on former, and a 4-ohm transformer on the latter. Reason for this being – Dual Showman was shipped with a dual speaker cabinet.
Surprisingly, the amp he used on that song was not a Marshall stack. It was actually a Fender Showman top with a huge cabinet with eight 10-inch speakers in it. You can hear it rumbling around on the floor of the Record Plant when you listen to the beginning of the song. [Guitar Center interview with Eddie Kramer, webpage is now taken down]
As far as the cabinet that Eddie is talking about here – a Fender Dual Showman came with a 2×15 cab that looked rather large, so maybe Eddie had mistaken it for an 8×10 cab. The only other logical option would be a Marshall 1990 8×10″ cab, which Jimi was never seen using before – but it could've been something owned by the studio.
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access_time 1966
Marshall Super 100 JTM45/100
Allegedly, Jimi first came across a Marshall amp, and tried one himself, while sitting in with Brian Auger's band Trinity – most likely on September 28, 1966. According to Brian Auger, Jimi turned the amp all the way to 10 and instructed the band to follow him while he played "Hey Joe" – of course leaving everybody in the room (apparently including even Eric Clapton) completely stunned. [11-12-13 Brian Auger Talks of […]
Fender Twin Reverb
Jimi was seen using this amp in the pre-Experience days. More precisely, photos dating to his Curtis Knight days (late 1965/most of 1966) all seem to show Jimi playing through a Twin Reverb combo amp. Given that he played the last gig with Curtis in August 1966, and left for the UK in September, it is likely that the amp was either sold prior to the UK trip, or it […]
Sunn 100s
Sometime in early 1968, Hendrix signed an endorsement deal with Sunn amp. Allegedly, he was approached with this idea by Buck Munger (PR, Sunn Amps.) sometime after Monterey Pop Festival. I went backstage (Monterey Pop Festival), and by the end of the night I knew what record label he was on. Someone invited me, I think it was Chas Chandler, to a gig in Los Angeles to come and see Jimi, and talk about equipment. So […]
Supro S6420 Thunderbolt
Allegedly used in the early days with Curtis Knight, circa 1966. It is worth noting here that although some argue that an amp resembling a Supro Thunderbolt was seen on stage behind Jimi on at least one photo, it is very questionable if this actually holds any credibility. The whole theory seemed to have originated from someone's statement, and then people tried retrospectively finding something that would resemble a Thunderbolt amp […]
Sunn 2000s
Hendrix allegedly used this amp during his endorsement deal with Sunn circa 1968. One of these amps recently appeared on an auction over at Reverb.com, paired with 2X15 Cabs with JBL-D140 speakers. The asking price was around $150,000. Unfortunately, the posting has since been removed and we couldn't find any additional info about it. In our research, we haven't come across a photo of Jimi actually using these amps; he mostly seemed to […]
Silvertone Twin Twelve
Jimi seemed to have been using this amp around late 1962 / early 1963. It can be seen on a photo of him performing with the King Kasuals. Based on the fact that this is the only time he was seen using the amp, we suspect that it was likely borrowed. At the time of using this amp, Jimi played what is likely a 1961 Epiphone Wilshire.
Vox AC30
According to Phil Brown, who was the audio engineer during the session, all of the overdubs on 'All Along the Watchtower' were recorded on a Vox AC30 The setup for Hendrix's electric guitar overdubs was achieved simply by placing a VOX AC30 amplifier in the studio, close to the control room window. We then placed Neumann U67s both close and distant, with an AKG C 12 A close to the […]
Sound City One Hundred
Jimi used a single Sound City One Hundred amp briefly during the latter part of the 1968 North American tour, from around mid-March to early April. The amp seemed to have been used together with one of Jimi's old Marshall JTM 45/100s. He started using this setup after a short stint with Fender Dual Shoman amps that broke after a few gigs at the beginning of the tour, followed by an endorsement […]
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