speaker for '75 princeton amp (non-rvb)

7turns

7turns

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I just got a 1974-75 SF Princeton amp. I've read these breakup less than the reverb models. I was going to use pedals with it anyway to get some grit at lower to moderate volumes that won't offend neighbors. I was wondering if anyone has some speaker recommendations for that general purpose. Go with the celestion ball park or the Jensen/American ball park? Are any of the lower priced alnicos I've seen any good? Stuff around say 100 bucks. I saw Kenny Vaughn with Marty stewart and he had an pricey alnico in his Princeton and that was just about the best telecaster sound I've heard live. ( I talked with him after the show. He played a 5% underwound fralin in a pine body tele.)
Just got a t-rex tonebug reverb pedal for reverb. Basically going for classic rock or heavy rock type sounds. (Jethro Tull, 38 special, Gov't Mule, ABB, April Wine) The WGS veteran 10 looks interesting. I have an ET65 from them I'd like hear this amp played through as well.

I've got a 1959 Gibson explorer amp too and I'm interested to see how they two compare. Some reverb with the explorer and it's one hell of an amp. (It has the original 10" Gibson alnico speaker. )


I read up and see this Princeton has a glued on baffle. How bad is it to get that thing off and put it back on with some nuts and bolts the way they used to do it prior to the early 70s? Moving it up to a 12" speaker would be a nice option to have. But there is the speaker jack on the back to use a cabinet as well, which is nice to have.

thanks for any help,
matt
 
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Re: speaker for '75 princeton amp (non-rvb)

The original looks to be a cheap fender speaker from some other amp. Not like the pics of speakers I've seen in other similar vintage princetons. I haven't received the amp yet from the seller, so I will evaluate the speaker that comes with it after I get it looked over for any work that needs doing.
 
Re: speaker for '75 princeton amp (non-rvb)

I frequently hear people on this forum recommend Eminence Ragin Cajun for these amps, or Webers.

https://taweber.powweb.com/weber/

The 10F150T is supposed to be a good drop-in for a Princeton reverb. I have an older Princeton Reverb ('67) and I'm in the market for a new speaker too. I probably will grab a Ragin Cajun. I am going to stick with 10" cause I don't want to mess up the baffle on mine. The Ragin Cajun is a 75 watt speaker and probably won't break up as much as the old one I have in there now, which is cool cause I want less bass flub.
 
Re: speaker for '75 princeton amp (non-rvb)

I've also got a Princeton Reverb I'm starting to look for speakers for. The aforementioned Weber is popular as is the eminence Copperhead and Ragin' Cajun. My issue with the eminence speakers is the high sensitivity. Part of the goal of this amp is tube break up at lower volumes. Ted Weber has some additional options in Alnico that I'm interested as well.

However, I'm thinking an off the wall choice...


Celestion G10 Greenback


Very non traditional for a Fender, but I think it might take a pretty traditional Fender and add in some of the Brit character and flavor, should be great with pedals as well. The only hesitation I have is the lack of mids control if they get a bit over the top with the Greenback. Here's an FSR Fender with this config.

 
Re: speaker for '75 princeton amp (non-rvb)

I was actually thinking about the greenback 10 after a few youtube comparisons the other day. The weber, as mentioned, seems like a good option as well.
I've seen this Princeton vid before. Mark is just too good.
Fender has a blue framed alnico 10" 30W now available. It's about 100. The WGS veteran 10 is $41.
 
Re: speaker for '75 princeton amp (non-rvb)

I have a Carvin 10" ceramic in my late-70s Princeton Reverb. It's very efficient and it holds the note longer before breakup compared to most alnicos.
 
Re: speaker for '75 princeton amp (non-rvb)

So I got the amp as soon as I got from X-mas travelling. Turns out it need a little more work than I wanted ( new power tubes, replacing and improving some of the resistors and capacitors, power tube screen resistors added, middle control pot added on back, 3 prong power cable added, ground switch converted to stand by) but that's part of the game. I kept getting really low volume even after I got it back from the shop. Turns out the speaker cable was bad. Specifically the head had to be replaced. Looking at the old one it wasn't clear that solder joints were bad but once that was replaced the volume came back.
I picked up a WGS veteran 10 (20w) from Guitar center shipped for 43 bucks. It's a pretty good speaker and a good place to start. I got a chance to put a WGS G12Q ( 12" -20w) through the amp and it's even better, still a good classic tone but like your in a bigger room. The veteran 10 and G12Q look to be extremely similar saving for the difference in size. The 10" alnico out of my 1960 Gibson explorer sound nice as well. I tried the ragin cajun at the shop and I can see why it's popular. The eminence 12" lil' texas sound good as well. The modern jensen p10 and c10 stuff was too thin for me. (This shop has a wall of speakers you can hook up to a try.)
I'm not impressed with these silverface cabinets so moving the amp up to a 12" speaker will be done with a reproduction cabinet that's got better construction with some finger joints and a removable baffle.
The transformer codes are 808-3-33 and 808-3-30 so the amps was made in August of '73 at the earliest. The amp tech said the internal values were the blackface values (aa964) with the 5U4 rectifier tube and not the GZ34. I had mentioned to him about possibly blackfacing the amp since he needed to be in there anyway.
 
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Re: speaker for '75 princeton amp (non-rvb)

7turns said:
I was actually thinking about the greenback 10 after a few youtube comparisons the other day. .
Click to expand...

That's what I went with in my Princeton NR. My amp started with a 12" baffle and I returned it to stock. The G10 just sounds great. I liked the Eminence Private Jack too, though we are still talking about a greenback voicing. All that said, I liked the G10 so much I bought four more for my '72 Super Reverb. They seem to fill in some of the mids that Leo sucked out for BF and they kept sucked out on SFs.
Luke
 
Re: speaker for '75 princeton amp (non-rvb)

7turns said:
The amp tech said the internal values were the blackface values (aa964) with the 5U4 rectifier tube and not the GZ34. I had mentioned to him about possibly blackfacing the amp since he need to be in there anyway.
Click to expand...

It's my understanding that silverface Princetons are pretty much the same circuit as the blackface versions.
 
Re: speaker for '75 princeton amp (non-rvb)

You will much enjoy a new 12" cabinet (keep the original of course).
It is a pain to take out the old baffle...fill the channel, and screw in a new 12" baffle.
I never liked the the 5U4 with those little, Princeton PT's.
Ask your tech what he thinks about ditching it and using a GZ34 instead.
Maybe add a bias pot to make life easier.
Very Nice amps.....good luck
T
 
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