PRRI preferences

[playas]

How many people here have a Princeton Reverb?

I picked up a second-hand 65 Princeton Reverb Reissue a few months back and I love it. I do have a few questions though.

I notice that there's a very significant volume difference between the treble and bass strings and playing with the same strength across the strings the bass strings will sound way louder.


Is this typical?
If so do people live with it or maybe change speaker, use a compressor or some other alternative?

My first thought was to adjust the pickups to lower the bass side, but it's never been an issue with my other amp so seems unnecessary.

I might try it just for giggles, and now that I think of it I must try another guitar as I have pretty much exclusively been playing my strat copy recently.

I also recall people talking about Fender amps in general having a lot of bass so maybe this is what they were referring to - haven't played much through Fenders previously.


...any comments?

 

[Lewguitar]

I have two real Princeton Reverbs from the 60's. Both blackface.

I didn't notice the issue you're describing, but since I wanted to gig with them and the 10" speaker they came with wasn't very good, I did remove the original speaker baffles and replace them with one for a 12" speaker. Someday when I die, whoever gets my stuff can put the original baffles back in if they want to and no one will ever know the difference.

If you want to keep a 10" speaker in yours, Pete Thorn recommends a Celestion G10 Greenback. 8 ohm.

In mine I have a 60's Celestion G12 alnico in each.

They get a great sound with that speaker. Comparable to a Deluxe Reverb.

 

[jeremy]

i was using a princeton reverb recently for a few recording things. i didnt notice what you are talking about at all. what are your settings? id definitely try a different guitar.

 

[PFDarkside]

Silly question, what do you have the bass set to? I’ve found mine sounds best around 2/3 unless the volume is really low. Once yuh get into the meat of the sound bass at 2/3 and treble around 6/7 is what works for me.

I’ve got an old Silverface (based on Lew’s recommendation) and I’ve done two things to improve the bass response.

1. Speaker: I ended up with the Eminence Rajin Cajun. To my ears this is an American voiced speaker that has extended bass more like a 12” that doesn’t flub out on its own.

2. Coupling cap update: the power tubes blew taking out the output transformer. When the amp tech was in there I had him increase t he value of the coupling cap between the first two gain stages to take a little bass off at that early stage. This lets me push the volume a bit more without the bass overdriving before the rest of the tonal range.

I pulled back the bass in the circuit then restored some at the speaker stage making it a tighter but bigger sound.

 

[playas]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Firstly to respond to the eq settings question. It had been sitting with both treble and bass almost completely rolled off, but yes it does sound pretty great at about 7 on the treble dial and bass set to about 3 too.

I have never had the opportunity to play through an original PR so I have no basis for comparison there.

Having finished work for the day, I plugged in a few guitars and played with the pickup height of the strat.

After a bit of testing it seems to be a combination of a few factors. It was only on that one guitar that it was so extreme.
On the rest of the guitars that I tried, I notice it also but not nearly as exagerated.

I lowered the bass side of the neck pickup on the strat and it lessened the effect to about the same extent as the other guitars. Funny I never noticed it on my other amp.

I suspect it may also have something to do with picking style. I probably tend to use my fingers more on that guitar and it has a set of 9s so I may also dig in harder than on my tele with 10s and I guess my other guitars with 9s.

The 12" speaker is also something I´ll have to check out.
My other amp has a G12H55. I tried plugging the Princeton into that once but felt it lost the essence of what's so great about the Princeton. Nevertheless it would be interesting to plug in again and see if I notice much of a difference in the bass response with the 12" celestion just for kicks.

 

[Lewguitar]

The 12" speaker is also something I´ll have to check out.
My other amp has a G12H55. I tried plugging the Princeton into that once but felt it lost the essence of what's so great about the Princeton. Nevertheless it would be interesting to plug in again and see if I notice much of a difference in the bass response with the 12" celestion just for kicks.

What do you see that "lost essence" as being? I'm just asking. Not trying to change your mind or anything like that.

 

[jeremy]

i really like the g12h30 55hz but its pretty far away from a typical fendery speaker. even a g12h30 75hz is pretty different but that one has a more open top end than the boss cone version

 

[Lewguitar]

i really like the g12h30 55hz but its pretty far away from a typical fendery speaker. even a g12h30 75hz is pretty different but that one has a more open top end than the boss cone version

I've had both. Sold the 55hz version.

Much prefer the 75hz version and keep it in a Matchless 1 x 12 speaker cab.

That one also sounds great (to me...) in a Deluxe Reverb.

 

[jeremy]

i ran a 75hz in my dr for a while, actually thats whats in it now come to think about it. i really like the cannabis rex in there as well so kinda go back and forth between them. i like the 55hz cone version in a lot of things too but the 75 sounds better in the dr to my ears

 

[playas]

What do you see that "lost essence" as being? I'm just asking. Not trying to change your mind or anything like that.

It struck me as having more brittle highs that didn't have the sweetness of the stock jensen. Bear in mind I did this once for a few minutes.

The G12H is in a Laney and sounds fantastic. I can't compare it to the 75 but it's more of a Marshall style amp so I guess it's better suited to that style.

 

[jeremy]

i wouldnt think the g12h30 55hz would have brittle highs but who knows

 

[playas]

That was my impression at the time. Will give it another shot over the weekend in any case.

 

[Demanic]

i ran a 75hz in my dr for a while, actually thats whats in it now come to think about it. i really like the cannabis rex in there as well so kinda go back and forth between them. i like the 55hz cone version in a lot of things too but the 75 sounds better in the dr to my ears

What's the biggest difference between the 75hz and the 55hz? I would imagine that it's the low end, but I really have no idea.

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[Lewguitar]

What's the biggest difference between the 75hz and the 55hz? I would imagine that it's the low end, but I really have no idea.

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The original 75 hz version was more of a guitar speaker and the 55 hz was more of a bass speaker.

Hendrix supposedly recorded the Wind Cries Mary using Noel Redding's bass Marshall amp using those 55 hz speakers.

I found the 55 hz G12H speaker to have a flatter, less lively sound than the 75 hz version. Cleaner maybe.

The 75 hz version seems better suited for those Cream era Clapton and British Blues tones I go for, whereas the 55 hz cone does seem to do those chimey clean Wind Cries Mary tones a little better.

Ultimately, I found that I preferred the 75 hz version.

But the guy I sold the 55 hz G12H30 speaker to is still wild about it and prefers it.

 

[Demanic]

Great. That means that I would probably like the 55hz better. Not that I will be swapping anything anytime soon.

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[Lewguitar]

Great. That means that I would probably like the 55hz better. Not that I will be swapping anything anytime soon.

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Both versions are excellent. You couldn't go wrong with either.

 

[beaubrummels]

I found the 55 hz G12H speaker to have a flatter, less lively sound than the 75 hz version. Cleaner maybe.

The 75 hz version seems better suited for those Cream era Clapton and British Blues tones I go for, whereas the 55 hz cone does seem to do those chimey clean Wind Cries Mary tones a little better.

Ultimately, I found that I preferred the 75 hz version.

This was precisely my experience using the 55hz in an old Randall extension cab with an Orange head and again with a lower watt boutique head.

 

[Demanic]

The cleaner, the better.

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[Lewguitar]

The cleaner, the better.

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The 75 hz version does clean beautifully too, if your amp is set for clean tones and you're not using an overdrive pedal.