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Post subject: Princeton '65 Reissue just quit
Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 3:42 pm
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I've had this amp for a few months. I've used it for practice and it has yet to move from my practice room. Today, I turned it on and pretty much nothing comes out. If I turn the volume past my normal setting of 3, I get some background reverb sound but it is very faint.

First tube amp and I am aware of the 5 year warranty. Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts about diagnosis. Fuse looks OK. Thanks.


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Post subject: Re: Princeton '65 Reissue just quit
Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 5:50 pm
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I wish I could help, but I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to tube amp issues. However, your issue sounds a lot like what I went through recently. Here is a thread that describes my situation....maybe it could give you some insight.
http://www.fender.com/community/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=60670&sid=e7a05aa898618f0aca041af3b537f02b


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Post subject: Re: Princeton '65 Reissue just quit
Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 4:08 am
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Maybe one of the smaller 9-pin tubes is bad (input, gain stage, EFX tubes). These are usually 12AX7 and the 12AT7 tubes. At least that is what I'd first check.

Unless there is something obvious wrong with the tube (eg: loss vacuum = white interior), you'll need to substitute one-by-one known good tubes into each position to rule out bad tube.


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Post subject: Re: Princeton '65 Reissue just quit
Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 10:09 pm
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Thanks for the tips. I called Fender and was told that the warranty for tubes was 90 days and I have owned the amp for 100 or so days so I was out of luck. Asked about the warranty covering diagnosis and was told that it would cover all but tubes and diagnosis that revealed a bad tube. So in order to have warranty coverage to determine why my amp won't make any sound, I need to have something other than tubes be bad.

Rather than paying $80 for diagnosis on a 3+ month old amp, I started checking out tubes. Decided to look at the 12AT7 first because that was one of the suggestions here. Besides, of all the tubes, the 12AT7 was the only one that seemed to have little or no glow. Swapped the 12AT7 and got no sound; no glow either. Thought maybe the socket was bad.

While removing and replacing the 12AT7, I happened to touch the 1/4" speaker plug and noticed that it moved into the jack under spring resistance suggesting that it was not fully seated so I fired up the amp again while holding in the speaker plug and suddenly the amp came to life, and the 12AT7 still doesn't glow. I think that might be the nature of that particular tube.

So, I now have a spare 12AT7 and a bad speaker jack. Maybe now the Fender 5 year warranty will come into play.


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Post subject: Re: Princeton '65 Reissue just quit
Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 10:13 pm
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Should be an easy warranty fix and no charge to you.

Congrats on locating the trouble.

Rawk on!

8)

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: Princeton '65 Reissue just quit
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 8:37 am
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bborzell wrote:
...the 12AT7 was the only one that seemed to have little or no glow...I think that might be the nature of that particular tube...


Right, the 12AT7 filament doesn't glow as brightly as a 12AX7, this is the norm. :idea:

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Post subject: Re: Princeton '65 Reissue just quit
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 5:07 pm
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Also having a spare set of tubes around is not a bad idea either.
Sometimes tubes can last for years or sometimes only hours before they take their final curtain call.

(Keep some spare fuses around too)

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Post subject: Re: Princeton '65 Reissue just quit
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 5:40 pm
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peterp wrote:
Also having a spare set of tubes around is not a bad idea either.
Sometimes tubes can last for years or sometimes only hours before they take their final curtain call.

(Keep some spare fuses around too)


+1

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: Princeton '65 Reissue just quit
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 1:53 pm
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Thanks for the advice. I will order a set of spares.

It was interesting that this diagnosis took the better part of a week and I don't know how I would ever have gotten to the speaker jack before swapping out all the tubes had I not brushed my hand across the plug and felt it move.

During this time, I began to wonder if the "allure of the tubes" was worth the hassle and the fact that my new amp had been silent for so long with no apparent light at the end of the tunnel.

Getting it back to making sound has caused any "tube remorse" that might have been developing to head right on out the door. :D


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