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Post subject: '69 Princeton Reverb blues
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 2:54 pm
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I've owned a 1969 Princeton Reverb for the past 5 years or so and have never been able to coax good distortion out of the tubes with my Strat. Usually find myself using a tube-screamer or other pedal to achieve the higher gain sound. I recently purchased a Les Paul '58 reissue and noticed that I can't get the nice crunch out of the Princeton, unless I turn the volume way up (above 7), and even then it tends to pop and fart instead of making nice overdriven sound. I've tried fiddling with various combinations of levels on the bass and treble volume, as well as the guitar tone/volume/pickup, to no avail. Any advice from others on how to get a bluesy sound out of my Princeton is much appreciated. Thanks!


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Post subject: Re: '69 Princeton Reverb blues
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 3:08 pm
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When's the last time your PR received any major servicing?

Likely it's due for a fresh cap can, perhaps some tubes as well.

And if the speaker is the stock Oxfart, that alone is probably strangling the amp's sonic potential.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: '69 Princeton Reverb blues
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 3:58 pm
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Thanks, Arjay for the advice. I've never serviced it and bought it about five years ago from GC. Always wondered if a good servicing would change the sound.

Any advice on a good speaker to replace?

Also, it still has the original electric cord. Should I have this changed to a grounding cord for safety? I've seen responses both ways on forums.

Cheers!
Max


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Post subject: Re: '69 Princeton Reverb blues
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 4:31 pm
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You absolutely should replace the power cable with a modern 3-conductor grounded type in the interests of personal safety.

Find yourself a competent amp tech (unless you are so qualified) and have him/her inspect it and perform a full bench check. The cap can and tubes are the usual suspects when performance begins to suffer but there are other components that are critical to the amp's health -- specifically the power-rail resistors, the cathode-bypass caps, and the bias-supply circuit.

As for speakers, that's a relatively subjective topic. Personally I favor a vintage driver so I installed a Fender-marked CTS alnico from a '67 Super Reverb in my '65 Princeton Reverb. Jensen's Chicago-made C10Q is another great speaker. Worthy modern-design speakers are offered by Weber, Eminence, Reverend, Celestion, WGS, Kendrick, and many others. Demo's of these can often be found on Youtube.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: '69 Princeton Reverb blues
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 1:24 pm
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Arjay's got the right idea with those selections; I opted for a Kendrick Black Frame in my Princeton Reverb and love the way it sounds. Chimey, clean up to a point, and then it sounds gloriously nasty in its distortion. Pricey, but no more than getting an excellent vintage CTS/Jensen and a recone job.

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Post subject: Re: '69 Princeton Reverb blues
Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 9:23 pm
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If the Princeton sounds good with your Strat, modifying your amp will not help with this problem. It may sound better, but you need more gain from the guitar.
The Les Paul may need a change of volume control value to pump it up. A higher resistance volume control will load the pickup less, raise the output level and brighten it up as well.
If it has a 250k, go to 500k. If it has 500k, go to 1meg.
Pots are cheap and easy to change.


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