Re: Solid State Fender Amps
a while ago i fell in love with a friends fender princeton chorus (redknobs, 55w)
it had a sweet clean that didnt put much into the guitar sound
i really really dig that amp, but i cant find it anywhere
so i come to you to ask you, wich other amp can give me a sound like that? maybe another fender (princeton, stage112, they are available around here)
i really really dig a non expensive amp with lovely cleans, but theres not much you can find around...
Fender Deleted these type of SS amps maybe 5-6 years ago... In the same line and sound as the Princton Chorus Amp there was other Chorus amps as well... Fender made The Princton Chorus Amp 1987 to early 2000's... The Ultra Chorus Amp-early 90's... The Ultimate Chorus Amp mid 90's to early 2000's, and the Power Chorus-late 80's-(some techs tell me to stay away from the power chorus model)... All are simular in tone, stereo high gain amps with analog Chorus... later models were DSP and i hate those DSP FX's model versions... The Analog Reverb and Chorus models is where it's at!
i've been a fan of the Princton Chorus amp since the late 80's.. i've owned a few in my time.... i had the red knob version and 2-3 of the Black ones.. (i had a a 2x12 Ultra Chorus amp in the early to mid 90's and it was like the Princton's big brother)... I sold them all off and bought new ones sometimes... it was weird as i would get rid of one and miss it greatly and end up buying another one... so first thing i did when i moved to my current house was buy a new Princton Chorus amp.. that was 9 years ago and i still have it and use it as my main bedroom rocker, like i have done for 20 years...
I found a great deal on a used 2x12 Fender Ultimate Chorus amp a few months back... $260... these Ultimate models replaced the Ultra model by the mid 90's... basicly the same amp with a different name. The Ultimate is double the power of the Princton and the speakers are much more able to keep up... The Princtons Speakers buzz if the volume is above 3-4... they were meant for low volume work for sure.. The Ultimate seems slightly more dirty and has better low end and you can crank them slightly higher with out the speakers dying.... but they too will distort at some point...
The Ultimates clean channel with the analog chorus is so lush!!!! plus that huge sounding buzz saw distortion tone... I really like it... saddly i found these amps don't cut thru a band that well... so i don't gig with them... i have a nice collection of tube amps so the Fender SS is my toys to jam with here and there
i plan on getting a good quality A/B box with no ground loop noise for my tube amps oneday.... maybe the Radial Switchbone pedal... I want to see what using the Ultimate Chorus for clean and Rythym, and add the Princton in for a solo boost would be like with such a pedal...
these amps are not for everyone.... a hear lots of players claim these are way to fuzzy and buzzy... well that is kind of true... but they offer i nice metal and rock stack sound at bedroom levels with sustain, plus the clean channel is to dye for...for a few hundred on the used market they are a steal just for the fun of it
I'd suggest track down a use Ultimate Chorus... not much sounds like one of them!
