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Post subject: 1966 Fender Princeton Amp or Modded PTP Princeton Reverb RI
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 7:54 am
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Hi

I'm looking at a 66 Fender Princeton (no reverb) or a modded PTP Fender Reverb reissue.

I heard that the 66 will stay clean much longer, which I like. I love clean clean clean.
However, I'm am new to vintage amp and I feel nervous about buying an old amp.
Though the seller explains everything that has been changed in the amp in detail.
It has JJ tubes, a weber speaker, and some other changes I forget at the moment.

The Reissue Princeton reverb, well it will have reverb on it, be a new amp, and be modded with PTP. The seller says it sounds way better than the stock model and that Joe walsh both 2 from him. This has been modded by Allesandro (forgot his last name). It will bascially have the same transformer, speaker, tubes and cabinet, just high quality PTP instead of PCB.

The thing is I like reverb, but usual kept it on 2 when I had the Princeton reissue so I don't know how much I would miss it. Also, the 66 might end up being cheaper than the modded reissue. Maybe even allot cheaper.

The thing is the 66 seems more exciting, being that it's a vintage blackface amp. I heard it has the clean headroom. I played a 79 Princeton non verb for ahwile and really liked that it didn't break up.

So perhaps people with more knowlege in this matter can advise me and help me see things a novice can't see.

Thanks.


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Post subject: Re: 1966 Fender Princeton Amp or Modded PTP Princeton Reverb
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 10:23 am
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The reason that any non-verb Princeton seems to stay cleaner for longer is, it lacks the additional gain stage that the Princeton Reverb provides in the reverb recovery circuit.

I have both amps (a '65 PR and a 1980 non-verb Princeton) and for sheer tone, the '65 is the hands-down winner. However, the non-verb model now powers a 2 x 12 cabinet in a modified piggyback configuration.

I've seen the Allesandro conversions and they seem to be pretty well executed if a bit overpriced. OTOH, the '66 blackface you're considering may not be as "vintage" as you believe since it's undergone numerous upgrades and possibly some mods as well.

Your decision. How important to you is onboard reverb?

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: 1966 Fender Princeton Amp or Modded PTP Princeton Reverb
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 10:41 am
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Agree... a lot of these vintage amps are in fact... franken-amps... replaced speakers... modded up the yang etc...
Suggestion:
Go out to Sam Ash... GC... a decent music store in your area that stocks the re-issues (many also have decent used amps as well)... try them out... see how you like them. You may find exactly what you're looking for... and it's brand new.. or is a used piece of gear that's covered under store policy against defects and such.

Vintage is cool however, there's a lot to take into consideration when buying vintage gear.
In many cases all you're doing is buying something that has been heavily modded... or... has a lot of problems that need to be fixed.
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Post subject: Re: 1966 Fender Princeton Amp or Modded PTP Princeton Reverb
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 10:48 am
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The onboard reverb is not too important.... but I did get used to having it when I had the ri for a while. Just a bit of reverb, around 2 and a half. I was going to buy a RI again and be done with it (I needed to sell it the first time for personal reasons) but I just want something different. Either vintage mid 60's quality.... or the modern reissue with upgrades..... I've heard the Allesandro mod makes it sound like "a blanket has been lifted off the amp".... I have to think about it.

The fact that the 1966 has been upgraded with new tubes and speaker does not bother me... I just like the fact that a vintage fender amp seems to be better made overall.... so I'll see.

Thanks


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Post subject: Re: 1966 Fender Princeton Amp or Modded PTP Princeton Reverb
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 11:52 am
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Zeo828 wrote:
The fact that the 1966 has been upgraded with new tubes and speaker does not bother me... I just like the fact that a vintage fender amp seems to be better made overall.... so I'll see.


They are better made amps. That's why they're still around.

But so many of them have been hacked and modded over the years, it takes a keen eye to determine what originality remains and what's been altered.

I'll take my 50 year-old Vibroverb over a contemporary amp anyday.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: 1966 Fender Princeton Amp or Modded PTP Princeton Reverb
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 4:00 pm
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Arjay, can you tell us how the Reissue cabinet is built, ie. pine....etc ? Art

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Post subject: Re: 1966 Fender Princeton Amp or Modded PTP Princeton Reverb
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 4:22 pm
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The re-issue cab is pine plank but lacks the finger-joined corners of the originals. And I believe the new baffle board may be plywood rather than MDF that was OEM for vintage Fenders. It is removable which makes upgrading to a 12-inch speaker relatively easy and the cloth is affixed to it in the traditional method (none of those pesky velcro strips dubiously holding a separate grill frame to the front of the amp).

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: 1966 Fender Princeton Amp or Modded PTP Princeton Reverb
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 4:41 pm
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I wonder..... Is the regular princeton a little smaller and lighter than the princeton reverb since it does not contain a reverb tank?


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Post subject: Re: 1966 Fender Princeton Amp or Modded PTP Princeton Reverb
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 6:03 pm
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Zeo828...As an owner of a '64 (Dec) Princeton, I may a bit biased, but if you can live without reverb (can always grab a '63 Reissue Reverb Unit) then go with the 66. I love the tone of my little "Porch Weasle" and as long as you can find a good tech, you can always get it back to factory specs.

I think the amp box is the same size, but is lighter due to the lack of wiring for reverb and the tank.

FWIW

T2

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Post subject: Re: 1966 Fender Princeton Amp or Modded PTP Princeton Reverb
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 6:32 pm
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I'd go for the less molested Princeton. I have a 74 Princeton and its' a great sounding amp. Had to change the cap can, new tubes and a new speaker, but sounds great.

I also have a pullboost 77 Princeton. Deluxe output transformer, new tubes, and a new speaker. Very different sounding (louder, breaks up at 4) and love the reverb.

Down the road, get a silverface Princeton Reverb - handwired, easy to repair and/or bring up to spec. I don't see the point of buying a new amp and that then someone guts to replace with handwired (not PTP, search the forums for the difference) on top of it. Why not get a handwired amp in the first place?

Happy now with both, but of course, always looking for more Fenders... I'm thinking a beatup SF Deluxe would make a heck of a head in a piggyback cab as an alternative to my Tremolux head...

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Post subject: Re: 1966 Fender Princeton Amp or Modded PTP Princeton Reverb
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 6:39 pm
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T2Stratman wrote:
I think the amp box is the same size, but is lighter due to the lack of wiring for reverb and the tank.


+1

The cabinetry and chassis dimensions are shared by both amps.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: 1966 Fender Princeton Amp or Modded PTP Princeton Reverb
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 6:46 pm
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" Joe walsh bought 2 from him. "

A bit of a stretch. :lol:

The Allesandro modded PRRI will not hold its value. The original 1966 Princeton will prolly never go down in value. And may go up. There is a reason for that. :mrgreen:


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Post subject: Re: 1966 Fender Princeton Amp or Modded PTP Princeton Reverb
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 6:49 pm
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BMW2002Ti wrote:
The Allesandro modded PRRI will not hold its value. The original 1966 Princeton will prolly never go down in value. And may go up. There is a reason for that. :mrgreen:


+1

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: 1966 Fender Princeton Amp or Modded PTP Princeton Reverb
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 8:00 pm
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Yeah I'm leaning more towards the 66. I'll see how things work out. Thanks for all you inputs All I need is a nice clean tube tone...and the 66 feels more exciting. I will use it mostly at home for playing.


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Post subject: Re: 1966 Fender Princeton Amp or Modded PTP Princeton Reverb
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:17 pm
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Tanks for that info, Arjay!!! Since Zeo, mentioned the Alessandro clone, I thought it would warrant consideration. Art

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