NAD - Fender 65 Princeton Reverb FSR Tweed 12"

[Powdered Toast Man]

Actually I received it on Friday, but here's my newest amp! '65 Princeton Reverb FSR with tweed covering and a 12" speaker. Normally these come stock with a 12" Cannabis Rex, however the speaker has been changed to a Weber 12F150. I have no idea what the C-Rex sounded like but this amp sounds AWESOME with the Weber installed. Honestly this is the first PR that I've played that I actually like. Sounds full with plenty of volume on tap. The Weber delivers with deep bass and crystal clear articulation. I still have to try out some different preamp tubes in V1, but I did have an NOS JAN-Phillips 12AT7 in my stash and I threw that into V2. Also dropped some vintage 6V6's in there too (One Sylvania and the other is a Westinghouse).

It looks and sounds incredible! The other amps I have are all tweeds so this fits in with them. I was looking for some tonal variety and this gives me exactly what I wanted.

[jeremy]

hell yeah man! very sweet. i really like the crex but the 12f150 is an amazing speaker and voiced more fendery if that makes sense. a buddy had a custom 68 princeton and it was ok but the 12" speaker makes a big difference and a great 12" speaker makes it that much better

[Securb]

That amp is so you.

[Mincer]

Beautiful amp, and my kind of Princeton. Fender has been doing great with their FSR Princetons and Deluxes. Lots of cool options and colors. A Princeton with a 12" is just about my ideal amp.

[Powdered Toast Man]

That amp is so you.

I have no idea what you could mean by that...

[Powdered Toast Man]

hell yeah man! very sweet. i really like the crex but the 12f150 is an amazing speaker and voiced more fendery if that makes sense. a buddy had a custom 68 princeton and it was ok but the 12" speaker makes a big difference and a great 12" speaker makes it that much better

Yeah I never heard it with the crex. But who cares because this Weber sounds absolutely killer! And lets be honest, I probably would have ended up putting a Weber in it anyway (all my other amps have them). I've had the 10F150 and that was a very big and bold speaker and could get to be a bit too much in a pair. However this 12F150 by itself is AWESOME. I don't know how much of it is the amp or how much is the speaker but I'll repeat that this is the first PR I've heard that I not only like but love. PR's are the amp that on paper I should like but I've found every single one of them I've plugged into to sound anemic and boxy. This one does not... The chime and the way the notes just ring and ring is unreal. I've been playing it direct with no pedals and it's just a blast to play that way. As for volume it's definitely got enough juice to gig with and in fact I'm positive I'd have to get my dirt from a pedal out of it in a band situation because if I push the amp I'll get told to turn down.

I've got an ABY pedal and I need to get my 5E3 plugged in together with the PR and see how that Mike Campbell setup sounds. Fun fact: the PR and 5E3 cabs are identical in size. Their slip covers are interchangeable

[Powdered Toast Man]

Beautiful amp, and my kind of Princeton. Fender has been doing great with their FSR Princetons and Deluxes. Lots of cool options and colors. A Princeton with a 12" is just about my ideal amp.

I was actually kinda surprised to see just how many FSR Princetons they have going when I started researching this amp. There's the red Boudreaux version with a 12" Jensen. There's another one that's black or dark blue and it has a V30 in it I think. And then there's one called a "Fawn" that's got another 12" in it. And they all look cool as hell.

This all came about because I had a Telecaster I'd been trying to sell for months and it just couldn't find a buyer and I ended up offering it up as a trade on this amp just to move it already. I sold off a few amps this year and I'm left with all Tweeds so I wanted something to give me some tonal variety and I'd been thinking something along the lines of a PR or DR (or PR based clone).

[Mincer]

I think there are just as many FSR Deluxes, too. Those red wine ones look great. Have you compared this Princeton to one with a 10"? Or this Princeton to a stock Deluxe?

[Powdered Toast Man]

I think there are just as many FSR Deluxes, too. Those red wine ones look great. Have you compared this Princeton to one with a 10"? Or this Princeton to a stock Deluxe?

I've played ones with a 10. The stock PRRI and the 68 Custom. This one absolutely slays both of those.

Rhett Shul had a video where he did an A/B between a 65 PRRI and one of the hand wired 64 reissues. The 64 definitely sounded better but then they used a speaker cable to run the 65 into the speaker of the 64. And you know what? They sounded almost the same. The stock PRRI comes with the Jensen C10R which is kind of a crappy speaker.

My point is mine is just a 65 PRRI in a tweed jacket and a bigger, better speaker. Its unreal what a difference that alone makes.

My buddy has a DR clone and I've played it and heard it. My PR definitely gets more volume and IMO sounds better. If you have a PR with the right 12 there's probably not much reason to own a DR as well.

[Liam1963]

Put the same Weber speaker in my Blues Deluxe Reissue, made a HUGE difference! Those Princeton's are soooooooo nice!

[jeremy]

the stock speakers in most of the fender offerings are lacking imnsho

[FuseG4]

Omg that looks great, congratulations
pretty jealous

I like the ten inch config, but I think a twelve looks like a perfect fit for ya

Man that's cool, heck. You got good taste

[PFDarkside]

Killer!

[Mincer]

I've played ones with a 10. The stock PRRI and the 68 Custom. This one absolutely slays both of those.

Rhett Shul had a video where he did an A/B between a 65 PRRI and one of the hand wired 64 reissues. The 64 definitely sounded better but then they used a speaker cable to run the 65 into the speaker of the 64. And you know what? They sounded almost the same. The stock PRRI comes with the Jensen C10R which is kind of a crappy speaker.

My point is mine is just a 65 PRRI in a tweed jacket and a bigger, better speaker. Its unreal what a difference that alone makes.

My buddy has a DR clone and I've played it and heard it. My PR definitely gets more volume and IMO sounds better. If you have a PR with the right 12 there's probably not much reason to own a DR as well.

This is all good to know. It seems Fender is insisting on the Jensens for most of their reissue lineup, which by all accounts might not be the best choices. My guess is that they are building to a price point, and not trying to make the best Princeton/Deluxe/whatever they can. The FSR series seems to break that up a bit.

[ItsaBass]

Congrats. Those sound good.

Would like to have one, but in a covering other than tweed.