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Post subject: Princeton Chorus
Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2010 8:17 pm
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Have a Princeton chorus (red knob), just wondering if there is anything that can be done to up the power level? Can a repair shop juice it up?


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Post subject: Re: Princeton Chorus
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 9:01 pm
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cejay825 wrote:
Have a Princeton chorus (red knob), just wondering if there is anything that can be done to up the power level? Can a repair shop juice it up?
I've got a Princeton Chorus (black knob) and all I know about it is that Fender seems to consider it an un wanted stepchild.


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Post subject: Re: Princeton Chorus
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 7:16 am
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gmchart wrote:
cejay825 wrote:
Have a Princeton chorus (red knob), just wondering if there is anything that can be done to up the power level? Can a repair shop juice it up?
I've got a Princeton Chorus (black knob) and all I know about it is that Fender seems to consider it an un wanted stepchild.


I've had one forever...It's great for clean stuff, but what I've found to be it's true calling...recording bass direct, I'm serious! I've used a '76 Jazz bass through it, and a '76 Thunderbird, straight into the board, great definition and timbre, really great. For guitar, I bet Jazz guys love it, beautiful cleans.

One thing's for sure, they are dirt cheap on the used market, my local Music Go Round had four at one time...$150 each.


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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 10:14 am
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Forgot about that. My nephew played bass thru mine one time, and it did sound sweet. I've been thinking about diggin' into it to replace some or all pots (acting more like on/off switches) and jacks, so I'll be watching Cejay if you come up with anything.


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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 12:06 pm
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I have one of these as well and I would highly recommend this amp. I think it sounds great. I currently use it as a home practice amp, I use an SCXD for gigs and a Traynor YCV50 Blue for rehersals. My Priceton Chorus has served me well for a very long time and still sounds great to me.


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Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 4:35 am
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A Princeton was my first amp (redknob), I have been through many others since, but it is the only amp that I have fond memories of! In regard to the volume, i moved up to the twinreverb, but it just didn't have the same feeling.

Cheers,
prophetnz


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Post subject: Re: Princeton Chorus
Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 10:03 am
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cejay825 wrote:
Have a Princeton chorus (red knob), just wondering if there is anything that can be done to up the power level? Can a repair shop juice it up?


The problem in dealing with solid state amps is that they are usually running in their best linear response range, and maximum power/life span...

The problem with that is it would pretty much take re-engineering at least the whole output power amp section to get more juice... a bigger transformer to power it... and quite probably spoil that terrific Fender sound you love.

The only manufacturer that overbuilds their solid state amps by adding headroom for that occasional shorted cable or too low a load (say six or eight 8 ohm speakers in parallel) is Peavey... But that's THEIR claim to fame...
And they still can't really be hotrodded enough to make it worth the work and expense...

The Princeton Chorus in my set is a Blackface from Aug 96 driving 25 watts from each of the two amp section inside...

I've led worship services in a room that was 40x150 and didn't even need to run my Princeton through the PA to fill the space with sound...

It keeps up with most of the gear my bandmates use quite nicely, and
there's always the direct out into a PA if you really need more...

Remember, you'll need a shielded TRS cable to get that terrific stereo chorus sound from your "headphone out " into the Mixer/PA and it's still going to be lost if the PA isn't set up for stereo channels as well...

You've got a great amp there, in my opinion the best Fender ever produced as a solid state combo... I'm even mildly envious of the red face yours has versus black face on mine... You win in the coolness factor in my book!!!<VBG>

Enjoy!

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FSR Fender 60 Anniversary Strat HSS MIM, Gibson ES 335, Taylor 555, Ovation Custom Balladeer-12, Baby Taylor, Fender Princeton Chorus (stereo), Fender Champ 600


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Post subject: Re: Princeton Chorus
Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 2:24 pm
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gmchart wrote:
cejay825 wrote:
Have a Princeton chorus (red knob), just wondering if there is anything that can be done to up the power level? Can a repair shop juice it up?
I've got a Princeton Chorus (black knob) and all I know about it is that Fender seems to consider it an un wanted stepchild.


Lol....

I have a black knob one too - it was my first "real" amp - and I haven't gotten rid of it, quite frankly, because I know I won't get anything for it. I think I spent $180 on it. It's got a beautiful clean sound, but we all know what solid state amps offer and don't offer. I've never thought of using it as a bass amp. I'll have to give that a try. I find it useful about once a year when I break out my pedal steel.

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Post subject: Re: Princeton Chorus
Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 5:29 pm
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I've got a Fender Princeton Chorus that's 125 watts with black knobs, and it's actually rather good... Although I use it differently from what you guys might think: I'm a total metalhead, and whenever I crank this thing with a Tech21 SansAmp... Holy crap it's a beast. I've actually only had it past ONE a couple times before, and it was loud enough that I needed earplugs. If I had to build a custom amp? I would take the Princeton Chorus circuit, change the distortion circuit to something a bit more powerful/scooped almost sort-of like a Boss Metal Zone and upgrade the controls to something that'll go to 11...

...Although it probably doesn't need to go louder... because, well, I've had the thing cranked past one recently... And whenever I'd do a few chugs on my downtuned Ibanez, it would vibrate enough that it would move forward. Crazy stuff, man.


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Post subject: Re: Princeton Chorus
Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 6:36 pm
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Phantom thread, check the date.

The lights may be on but nobody's home.

:mrgreen:

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Princeton Chorus
Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 7:47 am
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SabreMetalPanzer wrote:
I've got a Fender Princeton Chorus that's 125 watts with black knobs, and it's actually rather good... Although I use it differently from what you guys might think: I'm a total metalhead, and whenever I crank this thing with a Tech21 SansAmp... Holy crap it's a beast. I've actually only had it past ONE a couple times before, and it was loud enough that I needed earplugs. If I had to build a custom amp? I would take the Princeton Chorus circuit, change the distortion circuit to something a bit more powerful/scooped almost sort-of like a Boss Metal Zone and upgrade the controls to something that'll go to 11...

...Although it probably doesn't need to go louder... because, well, I've had the thing cranked past one recently... And whenever I'd do a few chugs on my downtuned Ibanez, it would vibrate enough that it would move forward. Crazy stuff, man.


If you want to hear an even better sound run the amp at about half throttle so the components in the amp are doing the best job they can and lower your input to get the sound your looking for...

Amp designers typically put their best (linear) response around the mid power levels...

I love my Princeton Chorus, especially the clean sound it gives right about straight up on the knob... All of my guitars and effects have volume controls so I don't have the problem of blowing out the wall<G>

Don't worry about it being an old thread, BTW. These amps are great and you'll probably see someone else who's enthusiastic about them respond most every time (like me<G>)

I'm looking into adding a tweeter to widen the response of my Chorus... It already sounds great with acoustic guitars running through it, but I'd like to capture that high end jangle of my 12 strings...

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Still looking for that One Guitar To Rule Them All since 1964...
FSR Fender 60 Anniversary Strat HSS MIM, Gibson ES 335, Taylor 555, Ovation Custom Balladeer-12, Baby Taylor, Fender Princeton Chorus (stereo), Fender Champ 600


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