Princeton Reverb Drip edge Re-Issue

Bludave

Bludave

New member
Well I got a chance to play through one of these last night. My band rehearses at a music store that also rents out a few rooms. I know the owner fairly well and he said to me I just got this in today would you like to use it tonight? I said sure I thought it would be a bit different then the Blues Junior he had setup for me. Normally I use a Deluxe Reverb that is his personal amp, but its been in the shop for a few weeks. Last week I used a New Vibrolux. My opinion about the Princeton after using it last night with a gibson 359 is that it really doesn't have much headroom. It was a struggle to keep it clean and I asked my bandmates several times "Am I too loud"? and they all said no. I had the amp on 3 to 3½ on the volume and just used a TS9 for a bit of a thicker sound when soloing. Its a nice amp for recording but for live I think its too small.

The Vibrolux I used last week was great. A lot more headroom and a much cleaner tone overall. I also think the Deluxe Reverb is a better choice. The Princeton is great for recording but for any live stuff I don't think its big enough. I have been looking for a real Princeton Drip edge as I have a Super Reverb and Deluxe Reverb and I thought it would just look cool having all three drip edge models, but the RI I think was not really a good example of what these old amps can do. Ive played through a variety of Princetons and have even gigged with them, but this re-issue I don't think has the headroom the real ones do. It kind of blew the idea of buying the Re-issue. Gonna keep looking for a real one and see....
 
Re: Princeton Reverb Drip edge Re-Issue

Assuming you're referring to the '68 Custom Princeton Reverb, it was intentionally designed to break up earlier. It isn't a reissue. This is a quote from the Fender website: In a special twist, a modified tone circuit gives modern players greater tonal flexibility with pedals, and the amp’s reduced negative feedback gives greater touch sensitivity and quicker onset of overdrive.
 
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Re: Princeton Reverb Drip edge Re-Issue

One of the best options I've seen is George Alessandro's handwired 68 Reissues. He adds $500 to the price, but he also keeps the new features like global reverb/vibrato and bassman voiced normal channel.

You can find them on Ebay.

 
Re: Princeton Reverb Drip edge Re-Issue

IM4Tone said:
Assuming you're referring to the '68 Custom Princeton Reverb, it was intentionally designed to break up earlier. It isn't a reissue. This is a quote from the Fender website: In a special twist, a modified tone circuit gives modern players greater tonal flexibility with pedals, and the amp’s reduced negative feedback gives greater touch sensitivity and quicker onset of overdrive.
Click to expand...
You can reduce, increase or do away with the negative feedback loop altogether on fender amps pretty easily...it is as simple as changing the value of one resistor (or removing it altogether). I've spent a period with no NFB in my Princeton and it gave a bit more bottom end and the amp felt a bit looser.
I use a princeton for a lot of gigs, but mine is a PRII, so it came stock with a 12 inch speaker and various other tweaks including solid state rectification.
I do some duo gigs with another jazz guitarist and he also uses a princeton...but his is also modified with ss rectification and a 12 inch (cannabis rex) speaker.
I reckon the combination of these two things make the princeton eminently giggable, but yeah i reckon a regular 10 inch tube rectified princeton might be a little undergunned if you want some clean volume, or if you are not the kind of band that mics up everything and keeps stage volumes to a minimum.
 
Re: Princeton Reverb Drip edge Re-Issue

Yup; Princetons have no headroom to speak of. My '68 Reverb and my '69 non-reverb start breaking up at about 2 on the volume knob, and by 3 or 4, they are pretty crunchy. 5 and above is balls-out fuzz with no real added volume to speak of. It's not a great amp for humbuckers to my ear (good, but not ideal for playing in a rock band). I usually use it with single coils, in order to keep the signal going into the amp a little less intense, which results in a cleaner and more distinct sound. And while they are plenty loud on their own, they, having only a 10" speaker and not a lot of headroom, can have some trouble holding up against larger cabinets and higher-wattage/cleaner amps. Besides, that new Fender '68-based one is a "hot-rodded-vintage-style" amp, not really a reissue. I don't remember if they put a 12" speaker in it or not, but I believe it is a little hotter than the blackface reissues (which sound amazing IMHO). I didn't like the '68 RI very much at all, yet I love the '65 RI.
 
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Re: Princeton Reverb Drip edge Re-Issue

It wasn't terrible but I play blues & blues - rock so I like a nice clean tone from the amp and use an OD pedal to add a bit of sustain and a touch of volume. That said is I was having a difficult time keeping it clean. But it sounded pretty nice. I would imagine with a Strat or a Tele it would work a lot better.
 
Re: Princeton Reverb Drip edge Re-Issue

Thats why I have the new 68 twin kicks every body's ass!:) love the tone!
 
Re: Princeton Reverb Drip edge Re-Issue

Bludave said:
It wasn't terrible but I play blues & blues - rock so I like a nice clean tone from the amp and use an OD pedal to add a bit of sustain and a touch of volume. That said is I was having a difficult time keeping it clean. But it sounded pretty nice. I would imagine with a Strat or a Tele it would work a lot better.
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You should get a BASSMAN, if you can afford it or a Hot Rod III Deville.
Your goal is the bassman, but you can live very looooong with the Deville. Guaranteed!.
 
Re: Princeton Reverb Drip edge Re-Issue

Anybody notice that Fender has recently put out a limited edition Tweed Bassman Head?. Saw it in a Fender email the other day. They also put out a RI BF '65 Princeton Reverb head a while back, I like that they are putting out head versions of some of the popular combo amps once in a while, so you can use whatever speaker setup you want. If you want to check it out, it probably is on the Fender website.

Al


hermetico said:
You should get a BASSMAN, if you can afford it or a Hot Rod III Deville.
Your goal is the bassman, but you can live very looooong with the Deville. Guaranteed!.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Princeton Reverb Drip edge Re-Issue

Zombiwoof said:
Anybody notice that Fender has recently put out a limited edition Tweed Bassman Head?. Saw it in a Fender email the other day. They also put out a RI BF '65 Princeton Reverb head a while back, I like that they are putting out head versions of some of the popular combo amps once in a while, so you can use whatever speaker setup you want. If you want to check it out, it probably is on the Fender website.

Al
Click to expand...
I'll take a '65 Dual Showman reissue. [emoji106]

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk
 
Re: Princeton Reverb Drip edge Re-Issue

hermetico said:
You should get a BASSMAN, if you can afford it or a Hot Rod III Deville.
Your goal is the bassman, but you can live very looooong with the Deville. Guaranteed!.
Click to expand...

Dude, I have a 68 Super Reverb, a 68 Deluxe Reverb, a MArshall 900, a Bogner Shiva and a Komet 60. I really DON'T need another amp but if I were going to buy another I would seek out an original drip edge Princeton Reverb.
 
Re: Princeton Reverb Drip edge Re-Issue

changing the speaker makes a big difference. the stock one is ok but not the best. something more efficient and with a bigger sound like the weber 10f150 or one of its derivatives. sounds awesome and gives the amp more clean volume and overall authority
 
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