NAD - Fender 65 Princeton Reverb FSR Tweed 12"

I don't think I could cover that bare wood...it looks too nice. That should be a standard model.

Yeah, I kinda think the whole point of the uncovered cab is to have a natural wood finish look. Fender has put out a few of these kinds of things. They had one that was finished in sunburst and another in paisley I think. Pretty sure these models are meant to be more as living room showpieces than used for gigs. The finish would get destroyed pretty quickly moving it around.
 
yep. i have a cab thats just lacquered pine and it shows wear easily, its pretty and sound great though
 
I have a pair of 60's blackface Princeton Reverbs that I replaced the baffles in so I could use a 12" speaker instead of the 10. I put a Celestion G12 Alnico Silver Frame in each. They're absolutely killer! Of course I still have the original 10" speaker baffles so someday when I die they can be restored to stock again. But those 12's are staying in there for the rest of MY life.
 
I have a pair of 60's blackface Princeton Reverbs that I replaced the baffles in so I could use a 12" speaker instead of the 10. I put a Celestion G12 Alnico Silver Frame in each. They're absolutely killer! Of course I still have the original 10" speaker baffles so someday when I die they can be restored to stock again. But those 12's are staying in there for the rest of MY life.

How would you explain the difference between the 10" & 12"? How would you compare those 12" Princeton to a Deluxe?
 
Happy NAD,

Sounds like you got a winner there.:)

I picked up a second-hand 65prri earlier this year and I'm really happy with it.

I bet it's even pretty light still with the 12" cone. Well may it wear.
 
How would you explain the difference between the 10" & 12"? How would you compare those 12" Princeton to a Deluxe?

My Deluxe Reverb also has a silver G12 alnico Celestion so it has the same speaker as my Princetons. The Deluxe Reverb is louder and stays cleaner at louder volumes. It has a larger output transformer and that's one reason.

Before I put the 12" speaker in my Princeton Reverbs they each had the original 10" speaker from the 1960's. To me it was not a quality speaker and I think of it as being a student or beginner's speaker.

Sounded very small and didn't move much air.

I have an old '66 Jensen C10N and tried that and the tone was improved but it still sounded small.

When I started experimenting with 12's the sound got a lot bigger and fuller and more "professional".

More of everything: louder, more headroom, fuller, deeper...all of that.

When I sit in at a club I bring my Princeton with a 60's silver alnico G12 Celestion. I've had guys tell me it's too loud. lol. They would never have said that when it had a 10 in it.
 
Last edited:
When I sit in at a club I bring my Princeton with a 60's silver alnico G12 Celestion. I've had guys tell me it's too loud. lol. They would never have said that when it had a 10 in it.

Judging by the volume my PRRI puts out I'd say there's no way I could just crank it up in a band situation without being told to turn down. It's the same with my 5E3 - Only gig I was ever able to crank it up was a very large outdoor stage.

What you said about the PR with a 10 sounding small - I agree. That's why I've never liked any of them. They've just sounded boxy and lacked any sort of fullness to their tone. With the 12 it's the opposite. Big and full. It's still not as room filling as my cabs with multiple speakers, but it's pretty good.
 
My Deluxe Reverb also has a silver G12 alnico Celestion so it has the same speaker as my Princetons. The Deluxe Reverb is louder and stays cleaner at louder volumes. It has a larger output transformer and that's one reason.

Before I put the 12" speaker in my Princeton Reverbs they each had the original 10" speaker from the 1960's. To me it was not a quality speaker and I think of it as being a student or beginner's speaker.

Sounded very small and didn't move much air.

I have an old '66 Jensen C10N and tried that and the tone was improved but it still sounded small.

When I started experimenting with 12's the sound got a lot bigger and fuller and more "professional".

More of everything: louder, more headroom, fuller, deeper...all of that.

When I sit in at a club I bring my Princeton with a 60's silver alnico G12 Celestion. I've had guys tell me it's too loud. lol. They would never have said that when it had a 10 in it.

Interesting. I was always curious about this, but I never tried a Deluxe next to a 12"-converted Princeton. Honestly, I am great with my Tone Master Deluxe these days.
 
Interesting. I was always curious about this, but I never tried a Deluxe next to a 12"-converted Princeton. Honestly, I am great with my Tone Master Deluxe these days.

I had a silverface Princeton Reverb that had a Deluxe Reverb output transformer. It was louder than either of my blackface PR's with the stock transformers. I should have kept it. But it was when I having a hard time paying mdical bills and I was selling off so much stuff. I wish I'd kept it tho.
 
I'll note that the ten inch speakers I liked in the prri was a Celestion G10 vintage with a pretty big magnet for a ten inch, definitely not a vintage design and they even advertise it as "the ten that thinks it's a twelve". I hated the stock Celestion ten/30 and not a fan of the jensen they put in the normal prri.
so I would say I would be in the camp that preferred 12" if they didn't make the g10V, that's a kickass little speaker that gives some honk and compression but more bass and more sizzle vs that farty, reedy, but kinda thin jensen tone:smash:
 
I really try to appreciate amps like this. In fact, I'd love to plug my Squire into this.
But looks wise, it makes me think of a mid century coffee table.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk
 
I kinda dig the coffee table look. I like mid century modern design, though, and I am all for filling a living room with amps that look like furniture.
 
Just for kicks I did some experimenting with the speaker in my 5E3 which is a Weber 12A125A. I have a speaker extension patch so I plugged the PRRI into the speaker/cab of the 5E3. Holy crap does that 12A125A sound MASSIVE. I swear it's louder and fuller than the 12F150 (not much, but a bit). The 12F150 has more top end chime, whereas the 12A125A has more full sounding mids.

Then I took the speaker and cab from the 5E3 and plugged it into the extension speaker jack from the PRRI while also having its own speaker plugged in. Bloody thing sounded as huge as my Twin! Absolutely room filling, wall shaking volume and bass. Unreal.
 
i really like the weber alnico speakers. hard to fit the bigger magnet models into some combos though
 
i really like the weber alnico speakers. hard to fit the bigger magnet models into some combos though

Their A125 speakers seem like the perfect alnicos. The 10A125 is my favourite 10 by a wide margin. And the 12A125A is a beast of a speaker. I stopped tone chasing the moment I put it in my 5E3.
 
i have a 10a150t which is the same cone as the 10a125 but with a bigger voice coil and magnet, such a great speaker. a buddy has a pair of 12a125 in a tweed twin clone that sounds amazing. ive told him if he gets sick, i will shamelessly steal the amp
 
I've got a Fender 57 Twin and it has the Weber designed speakers made by Eminence. I got it from CJ at Weber that those are the 12A150. I've wondered what a pair of 12A125's would sound like instead...

I've had a pairing of 10A125 and 10F150 in a Vibrolux that was killer. I've also put a pair of 10A125's in a brown Super and that also was really good. I've currently got a quad of 10A125's in my 5F6A Bassman and it sounds so sooooo great
 
i bet! i had a bassman ltd years ago and replaced te p10r wit p10q speakers and there was a big improvement in sound. im sure the webers would have sounded even better. im not a fan of the newer jensens, especially compared to webers versions.
 
Back
Top