A 1968 Fender Dual Showman 2x15 guitar cabinet used by Jimi Hendrix at – among other performances – his set at the 1969 Newport Pop Festival, is going up for auction.
The cabinet – along with high-profile items like a Kurt Cobain stage-smashed Fender Stratocaster – is one of the headliners of the latest Julien's Music Iconssale.
Packed with a pair of 15-inch JBL 130 speakers, rather than its original stock Fender speakers, the Dual Showman was acquired by the guitar hero prior to his 1968 American tour with the Jimi Hendrix Experience due to his need for more onstage firepower.
According to Julien's, Hendrix originally used the cabinet – along with five other Dual Showmans – in its stock form (with Fender speakers) for a handful of performances in February 1968. However, it broke down during a performance at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.
At some point, the cabinet was fitted with JBL speakers that were better-equipped to handle the volume levels Hendrix needed for the larger venues he and the Experience were performing in.
The cabinet, and its Dual Showman siblings, can be seen behind Hendrix in the below video of his performance at the 1969 Newport Pop Festival.
The cabinet's value is estimated at between $60,000 and $80,000, with a long-since-eclipsed minimum bid of $15,000. It's set to go under the hammer on May 19.
The Hendrix-played Dual Showman is dressed in black tolex, with Fender and JBL badges on its grille. Photos of Hendrix with the cabinet at the 1969 Newport Pop Festival, and its original black vinyl Fender slip cover, will be included with purchase.
For more info on the cab, visit Julien's Auctions.
The auctioning off of the cabinet comes just weeks after Hendrix's 1964 Fender Jazzmaster – used by the guitarist during his early days as a sideman to the likes of the Isley Brothers and Little Richard – was purchased for an undisclosed sum by Indianapolis Colts owner and noted guitar collector Jim Irsay.
