Welp, found a '78 Princeton Reverb

[serizawa]

Re: Welp, found a '78 Princeton Reverb

Spoke in great detail about the amp in question and decided that I would make the 2+ hour drive to go get it.

Seems like a good catch, with only a little cosmetic work that I think I would be comfortable with trying to fix myself. I'll take pictures as soon as I get it and let you all know what is what!

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Welp, found a '78 Princeton Reverb

im gonna add support for a 12 inch speaker swap. My main amp is a princeton reverb II (they were built stock with 12's) which i love and i play in a duo with another guy who has been using his sf princeton since the mid 70s - I just got his cabinet and speaker replaced for him and changed to a 12 also - a big improvement IMHO. The original baffle had developed a crack in it from years or touring, and it worket out easier to replace the whole cab than just the baffle - so whilke we were at it we thought the 12 would be a good option. It still sounds the same as it did, but bigger now!
Speaker was a cannabis rex fwiw.
Still...it was a sweet amp with a 10 also, so you cant really lose.

 

[Spudman]

Re: Welp, found a '78 Princeton Reverb

Got mine in high school, 1978, and still have it. Great little amp but the low end was really farty. I put in an alnico 10 inch speaker and it's been great ever since.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Welp, found a '78 Princeton Reverb

Spoke in great detail about the amp in question and decided that I would make the 2+ hour drive to go get it.

Seems like a good catch, with only a little cosmetic work that I think I would be comfortable with trying to fix myself. I'll take pictures as soon as I get it and let you all know what is what!

SWEET!

And KEEP THAT 10!!!

No need to go to a 12 in a PR!

 

[Gypsyblue]

Re: Welp, found a '78 Princeton Reverb

A 10 might be fine for playing at home, practice and for recording.

For gigging, you'll disappear in a loud band if you're playing a Princeton Reverb through the stock 10 and you'll sound like a muddy little fart. You'll need a really good sounding and very efficient 12" speaker to keep up with the band.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Welp, found a '78 Princeton Reverb

A 10 might be fine for playing at home, practice and for recording.

For gigging, you'll disappear in a loud band if you're playing a Princeton Reverb through the stock 10 and you'll sound like a muddy little fart. You'll need a really good sounding and very efficient 12" speaker to keep up with the band.

I disagree and so do lots of PR players out there...

Now, the stock 10 in a 70's PR...that likely needs to go but if you ever played a PR with a nice old Jensen C10N or a Weber 10F125 or 10F150 or a nice something along those lines you'd disagree too...

 

[serizawa]

Re: Welp, found a '78 Princeton Reverb

Turns out the amp is pretty impressive! I like it a lot. The Weber does sound pretty good, it's a 50 watt, not exactly sure which model, but it's WAY louder than I thought it would be. Breakup's also been pushed back, due to the speaker change, which is always good. Fender cleans are really something.

Some really interesting mods done to the amp. The cabinet WAS replaced from a different one, but I believe the internals of the chassis are 1969! Explains why it sounds that good, not to mention almost everything has been recapped and a recent re-tube helps as well. I'll be looking for some assistance picking some great tubes to put in this thing when it's time for that.

2 prong cord was swapped out for a 3 prong, which makes me feel a lot safer about using one of these vintage amps. Along with that, the ground switch has been modified to be a standby switch! It has 3 positions; standby, on, and this setting that adds a little bit of a mid-hump to the sound, kind of rounds things out a little.

The reverb on this is stock and has been maintained well--it sounds incredible. Even gets to a point where it's just on the brink of self-oscillating a little bit when cranked all the way up. Really amazing sounding reverb, definitely one of the cleanest springs I've ever heard.

Tremolo also sounds more than decent, looking forward to having a real one in the amp. Lots of really cool tones to be had with this amp, very flexible.

I'm going to be replacing that grill cloth very soon, however. It looks horrible and as soon as I do it, I know I'll be happier with the amp--aesthetically, anyways.

Does anyone have any tips for how to replace the grill cloth on a baffle? I'd like to try do it myself.