65 Princeton reissue

[genethomas]

So I'm looking at a secondhand reissue but was thinking if I wanted it to upgrade it what would be the best way?

What would you replace these standard parts with?
Preamp Valves, Power Valves, Valve Rectifier, transformers, speakers etc

Cheers
Gene

 

[jeremy]

Re: 65 Princeton reissue

id do the speaker and thats it. tubes if it needs it but id listen to what its got first

 

[BrianS.]

Re: 65 Princeton reissue

I just retubed one of these yesterday...was playing it a bit this morning before the customer gets it back.

I would say that it might benefit from a different speaker. The stock speaker might be a little "brittle" on the top end for some.

All in all I am pretty impressed with this amp. Fender did a great job with this one.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: 65 Princeton reissue

I thought it sounded great the few times I played it in guitar stores. I'd probably blow the original speaker then replace it, and upgrade the tubes once the originals are worn out.

But if you're gonna get it planning on significantly "upgrading" it, then I'd say don't get it. Just get an early silver face instead. You're probably looking at about $500 in mods or more, the benefits of which are questionable, leaving you with $1,000 or more into an amp that will do nothing but lose value. The silver face is a few hundred more, will sound just as good if not better, and will increase in value.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: 65 Princeton reissue

Ummmm...you could put a 12" speaker in it. You modify the circuit to give it some extra juice by putting in a Bassman transformer and 6L6 tubes, and then you could add a cascading gain preamp with a master volume for some really sweet, singing distortion....

Oh wait, Mesa Boogie already did that to a Princeton!!! LOL!!!!

Bill

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: 65 Princeton reissue

I never understood the idea of putting a bigger speaker and larger transformers and possibly more powerful tubes into a Princeton.... Sounds a lot like a Deluxe Reverb or Pro Reverb to me!

The beauty of the PR is being able to get the amp volume into the sweet spot without killing your ears and annoying your neighbors. If play it for a bit and then see if you want to start tweaking tubes (maybe do a bias pot), swap a speaker for earlier or later breakup or for more/less bass, etc... I just got my silverface tweaked and retubed, it's sounding awesome! Enjoy yours if you get it!

 

[Stratman]

Re: 65 Princeton reissue

Save you hard earned money and get a Deluxe Reverb instead!

 

[dotsdad]

Re: 65 Princeton reissue

I if you're gonna get it planning on significantly "upgrading" it, then I'd say don't get it.... You're probably looking at about $500 in mods or more, the benefits of which are questionable, leaving you with $1,000 or more into an amp that will do nothing but lose value.

^^^ +1

 

[IM4Tone]

Re: 65 Princeton reissue

...............if you're gonna get it planning on significantly "upgrading" it, then I'd say don't get it..........

Never understood this thinking. If you don't like the sound of the amp, don't buy it; if you do, buy it, play it and leave it alone...JMO

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: 65 Princeton reissue

Never understood this thinking. If you don't like the sound of the amp, don't buy it; if you do, buy it, play it and leave it alone...JMO

Because smaller amps (especially from Fender, Marshall, etc.) are/were considered "student" and "beginner" amps. As such, they ship with cost sensitive components like speakers and baffles, and are sometimes biased a little cool to extend tube life. By swapping speakers and maybe reinforcing the baffle you get a better approximation of what the upmarket amps would ship with. Then, by choosing a good set of tubes and having a bias pot installed you get those tubes working right where they need to be. Finally, depending on your playing style, guitars and preference, a swap of a coupling capacitor or feedback resistor can tweak it to be a highly personalized tone monster and it didn't take that much work or money. At that point you've got the equivalent of a boutique amp at a lower price.

No matter what, for most players, if you are willing to swap pickups in a guitar, it would probably benefit them to try a speaker swap as well.