Princeton Reverb?

[Dave]

Hello-

I'm thinking about a SFDR vs. a princeton rev. I like the size, weight and that both have reverb tremolo. I've never played a Princeton, but I'm fairly familiar with a DR.

What should I expect from the PR? Is the SFDR a better way to go? I'd be using the amp for home use with my teles/strat and occasional garage jamming with the guys.

I have a Blues Jr. and and 18w tmb, but I keep getting drawn to the BF sound.

Any advice?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Princeton Reverb?

Hello-

I'm thinking about a SFDR vs. a princeton rev. I like the size, weight and that both have reverb tremolo. I've never played a Princeton, but I'm fairly familiar with a DR.

What should I expect from the PR? Is the SFDR a better way to go? I'd be using the amp for home use with my teles/strat and occasional garage jamming with the guys.

I have a Blues Jr. and and 18w tmb, but I keep getting drawn to the BF sound.

Any advice?

The Princeton is a little to underpowered for gigging...the DR is just fine for 19 out of 20 of the gigs I do. I have a nice tweed Princeton and spent most of the day yesterday in the studio and it was the only amp I used. But I couldn't gig with it...it'd fart out to much even at the lower volumes I tend to play at these days. MY Strat and Tele sound good with the Princeton but my Les Paul pushes it so hard that a clean tone is just about impossible to get with it...which is great if I want to sound like ZZ Top or Eric Clapton with the Bluesbreakers...not so great if I want to sound like Duane Allman...or if I want to sound like myself. The tweed Princeton is more like a Champ (one 6V6 tube) than the Princeton reverb (two 6V6 tubes), but the PR still lacks the power and speaker to get a loud clean tone for gigging, IMO. Lew

 

[Dave]

Re: Princeton Reverb?

Lew-thanks for the reply. What's you're impression of the reverb on the PR vs. the DR. I imagine that the smaller cab/speaker will shrink it a bit, but I like reverb on my amps to fill up the room at home and add a little size to the sound.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Princeton Reverb?

Lew-thanks for the reply. What's you're impression of the reverb on the PR vs. the DR. I imagine that the smaller cab/speaker will shrink it a bit, but I like reverb on my amps to fill up the room at home and add a little size to the sound.

I think the reverb circuit itself is a little differant in the Princeton Reverb...a little simpler circuit. But it sounds real good! Mine does not have reverb, but the PR's I have played have very good reverb, though not quite the same quality as the Deluxe Reverb and other Fenders. Lew

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Princeton Reverb?

I've done plenty of gigs with my SFPR. The trick is to get it off the floor and on a bar stool. (Also helps iof you let it bleed into your vocal mic) Farting out is a issue with PR's(even with the most efficient speaker you can buy,And the bass knob on NEVER pass 3 ) IMO it's a trade off to having one of the sweetest sounding amps in the whole BF/SF lineup. . There are some mods to get more power and headroom from a PR. I did them...But ended up taking them out. If power and headroom is what you need? Get a different amp. The Princeton is fine as Is. I do however highly recommend changing the stock speaker. I pretty sure the reverb in the PR is the same as it's big brothers? Or so it looks looking at a schematic.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Princeton Reverb?

I pretty sure the reverb in the PR is the same as it's big brothers? Or so it looks looking at a schematic.

The reverb circuit does look very similar...maybe it is the same after all. Thanks! Lew

 

[ES350]

Re: Princeton Reverb?

I've gigged with them, but the drummer was using brushes most of the time...it was good for some tones in the studio though. I'd go for the Deluxe for the added headroom and the bigger cab w/ a 12". Some of the mods for PRs tend to push it in the direction of a DR anyway...I bet the price is about the same too.