Princeton 5F2-A

[Fresh_Start]

Finally ready to build with all the parts in hand (hopefully):

Cab is from MojoTone - supposedly copied from the Tweed Harvard that Lew Collins played at his first guitar lessons (according to Bruce ). I really wanted a 10" speaker.

Chassis and speaker (4 ohm alnico) are from Weber.

Hammond trannies.

The color on the turret board pic is all wrong, but turretboards.com did a great job on it. I started dry-mounting components on the tag-board that came with the kit, but turrets just look so much easier to work with and a lot more robust.

Wish me luck!

Chip

 

[Sune]

Re: Princeton 5F2-A

That looks sweet, just what I need!

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Princeton 5F2-A

Good Luck ! Yours is gonna look much nicer than mine. I love the Alnico speaker.(I don't have the room for a Alnico in my build) Mine is done already! and it sounds killer! (I have a slide show thread somewhere below) We both got the same color turret board.:laugh2: Have Fun with your build.:smokin:

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Princeton 5F2-A

I have used turretboards.com for some stuff and have been pretty happy overall. I don't like his turrets too much though. The turrets that Mojo uses on it's marshall style boards have the hole, but also have a split U shaped thing on the top. Lots easier to work with. Now I just order eyelets from turretboards.com.

 

[krankguitarist]

Re: Princeton 5F2-A

Man. After I fix up my fender showman I'm sooooo gonna try somthing like this.

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: Princeton 5F2-A

Here's an update with the loaded board and the controls/input jacks mounted on a template for soldering:

Please remember that this is my first build

The wife says we gotta' do Christmas shopping but...

Chip

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Princeton 5F2-A

Hi Chip!

OK: Good Luck!:laugh2: The story on my Princeton is that I used to take guitar lessons at Hewitt's Music from Marshall Blake, a jazz guitarist, when I lived in Detroit and was still in high school. The amp we both plugged into was a late 50's Princeton like what you're building. I moved to Colorado but went back to Detroit many years later, stopped by Hewitt's Music and the old Princeton was still there...so I bought it. I went to a guitar show and picked up a late 50's Harvard cab with no amp in it and discovered that the Princeton chassis fit right in...which was cool because the Harvard was cut for a 10" speaker. So I ordered a 4 ohm P10R type alnico speaker and put the whole thing together and it's a killer little amp that I can turn up to 10 and wail through at a "reasonable" volume. Sounds like going to have about the same thing. You'll love it! Best of luck! Lew

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Princeton 5F2-A

Cool story. Sorry you no longer can recommend Ted. I've had a lot of great success working with Weber. I don't care for the chinese stuff he sells, but his US-made stuff is still pretty darn good for me.

 

[tone4days]

Re: Princeton 5F2-A

nice work chip - best of luck getting her finished up

let us know how she turns out

cheers
t4d

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Princeton 5F2-A

Chip, Looking Good!:banana: What kinda Tube are ya putting in it? I started out with a JJ 6V6 (2 years old) from my Princeton Reverb. It sounded a Lil' raspy when cranked. I put one of my (10 year old) NOS JAN Philips. A definite improvement, But still a Lil' harsh. I pulled one of the new Tung-Sol 6V6s from my PR. YUP ! That's the sound. Smooth creamy breakup. I highly recommend the Tung-Sol's. For Pre tubes I'm still tweaking. I let you know if I find something good.

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: Princeton 5F2-A

It's alive!

Tone is great, but there's a fair amount of noise unless I'm touching the guitar strings. Same deal with two different guitars. The cabinet back is not attached, let alone shielded.

Pics to follow - I'm just so excited that the damn thing actually makes music I can't stand it!

It absolutely nails the tone from "Bell Bottom Blues" off Layla, just like I hoped it would.

FYI don't use new Sovtek 5Y3 rectifier tubes. I did my initial testing with one and the B+ and plate voltages were about 20vdc higher than with an NOS 5Y3. The new ones really don't meet specs.

KMC, it hasn't been working long enough to experiment with the 6V6 or preamp tubes yet... Started with an EH 6V6 and a Shuguang 12AX7, but I've got several more of each type to play with later.\

Chip

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Princeton 5F2-A

When you touch the guitar strings, you are grounding things. You've got a ground issue internally somewhere. Resolder all your ground connections.

Now, here's some other advice for quieting things up...

Solder two 100 ohm resistors from the 6.3v taps to ground. Easiest place to to get access is where you have the lamp soldered to the 6.3. Attach one 100 ohm resistor to ground from each connection to the lamp. That should help quiet things down some.

Make sure all your heater wires are twisted tight. If they are up in the air, get them down touching the chassis, in the edge where the metal bends if poissible. Let the chassis help shield those wires.

Those two spots are good places to start in killing off some noise.

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: Princeton 5F2-A

Scott, thanks so much for the suggestions.

I already have a center tap on the heaters, but my lead dress for them is horrible. Guess I'll have to re-do the heater wiring. This cramped chassis makes changing things a PITA but it will be worth the effort to get it noise-free.

All of the ground connections show continuity according to my multimeter, but I already found one problem caused by my failure to take the shorting input jacks into account. There are several mechanical, as opposed to soldered, ground connections. Those are probably the best starting point...

Cheers,

Chip

 

[Sprinter]

Re: Princeton 5F2-A

That's a nice project you've got! I have a real '56 5F2 Princeton, and if your amp sounds anything like it, you'll have a nice amp. If I could change one thing about my Princeton it would be the speaker. I think a 10" speaker would help it sound even better. I may have to get one of those kits.

Sprinter

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: Princeton 5F2-A

That's a nice project you've got! I have a real '56 5F2 Princeton, and if your amp sounds anything like it, you'll have a nice amp. If I could change one thing about my Princeton it would be the speaker. I think a 10" speaker would help it sound even better. I may have to get one of those kits.

Sprinter

You could just buy a Harvard 6G10 cab from Mojotone, add a Weber speaker and bolt your chassis in. It's only two bolts!

I am really pleased with the bass response of this amp, even before the speaker's broken in properly. It's strong and really well-defined. No flub at all, and no sense of an undersized speaker.

Chip