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Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 1:28 pm
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Nice to see the PRRI section up Shane. The Princeton is back in all it's glory!!


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Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
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Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 5:29 pm
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This is the kind of thing I'd dream about, but never thought would actually happen. I've been wanting a PR for years, but the vintage ones are too expensive and probably a bit fragile by now. Looking forward to some reviews when the amps become more available.


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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:19 am
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I got to play through one Saturday. It is awesome and sounds close to a real 65 Princeton Reverb. You can crank it above 8 and get nice overdrive. The reverb can be quite wet above 4. This is awesome!


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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 11:09 am
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How about volume, is it loud?


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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:56 pm
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It is loud, but not as loud as a Super Reverb or Twin Reverb. I play in a large Church and above 7, the Prince is too loud and overshadows the 1000 watt mains.


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Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:19 am
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Great playing and great video! Very excited to try one out. However, $799 street price?? - pretty steep in my mind for a 15 watt amp with a 10" speaker, especially given that one can buy a hand wired P-To-P Princeton clone from Frenzel Amps or similar companies for less cash. Please understand, I'm not trying to be an $@! here, but do the math. As much as I like (and own) Fender amps, I don't spending extra money just for the Fender logo. What ever works for ya!

Matt D'Ortona


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Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:27 pm
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I agree with you Matt. Also it's $899.99. All of a sudden it went up a hundred dollars. For a two hundred less you can build a 5E3 Deluxe clone. IMHO it has a lot more character and dynamics than the Princeton. The price point on this amp is the thing disappointing about it. It's a PCB amp that has already been designed. I hoping the price will come down to a reasonable level after the hype wears off. I too am a loyal Fender player. I got my first Fender Vibrolux Reverb in 1964. I have a 76 SF Twin, 75 Champ had a 74 Bandmaster, and a Deluxe Reverb here and there. My Twin didn't even cost that much.


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Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:52 pm
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I got a chance to play with one of the new Princeton Reverb RI amps last week, and here's my impressions:

PROS:
Loud! Good-to-great tones (some tweaking required with the tone knobs, but that's a good thing--more flexibility); surprisingly clean at loud volumes (esp. for a 15-watter!); nice creamy tremolo/vibrato (whatever); nice reverb; and it looks really cool (as does any blackface amp). It gets you into the Blackface tone, looks and feel almost immediately.

CONS:
PRICE. This amp shouldn't cost $900. It's a good amp, but for $50 more you can get a '65 Deluxe Reverb RI, and for $400 LESS (depending on which covering you get) you can get a Blues Junior.
The Deluxe Reverb RI does everything the Princeton Reverb RI does with more wattage and somewhat similar tones;
the Blues Junior gets a very similar tone (admittedly, you lose the Vibrato and the looks of a 60s BF amp), but you can get a decent tremolo pedal for ~$80. I A/B'd the PRRI and the Blues, Jr, and there wasn't $400 worth of difference.

I love Fender tube amps (I've owned multiple vintage, blackface, silverface, new and reissue models over the years; my main and ever-lasting baby is a 1963RI Vibroverb brownface) and I do believe that the PRRI is a very good, almost great amp--but it costs too much.

The street price for this amp should be $150-$200 less.

Good Vibes To Y'all!

8)


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Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 6:45 am
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People will still buy them. The reissue thing kind of bothers me too. The original was hand-wired. The RI is PCB. It did not have to have a new circuit designed it already was. I may be wrong, but I believe the original had a pine cabinet, and if this is like the other reissues, it's cabinet is plywood. It's a really simple design and like I said before, it originally a practice amp that sounded great so studio musicians used them not just for their sound, but portability. You could gig with it if you mic it. If I mic'd it, I would bring my 74 Champ Amp and use it with a 12" speaker.

It's a shame, I would have liked that amp, it's just too pricey. Like I said, people will buy them just because they say Fender on they. Once the novelty and hype wear off, I'm hoping the price will come down.


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Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 4:28 pm
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Yep, I'm sure the price is going to hurt sales.

It's certainly hurt my chances of getting one. :cry:


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Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 9:36 am
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Hello Everyone!

In case you missed it on the other thread (or even care!), here's my two cents on the new Princeton.........


I had a chance this past weekend to try out a new Princeton at the House of Guitars in Rochester NY. While I only had time to spend a few minutes with it, I felt it was my duty to post my two cents. Had my Les Paul with me. Anyway, I predict that Fender will be selling quite a few of these amps in the near future. The control layout etc is pretty standard fare and I would consider this a "grab and go" type of amp (i.e. doesn't weigh a ton and can be one-handed). Definitely a loud 15 watts too. Sound-wise, it has the sweet classic Fender clean bloom and gets gritty around about 4 and nicely overdriven/distorted at 6-7. This will be a killer studio amp (just like the fabled old Princetons are/have been). The only drawback, in my opinion, is the reverb. At 4, the reverb is intense and sounds like you're in a tunnel or ready to do a surf movie soundtrack (cue up Wipeout and Pipeline, please). While I'm not sure if the reverb is tube driven (didn't read the manual and the sales guy didn't know either), if it is, I wonder if a lower powered 12AX-T-Y-7 tube would make a difference? Despite this, it sounds like the classic Fender reverb (only on steroids).

If it wasn't for the steep price ($899), I would consider selling my Protube Pro Reverb. IMO, this may be where Fender goofed a bit, given that they have for example, the DRRI for a few bucks more, and other quality amps for much less (e.g. Hot Rod family). So there you have it (FWIW). Of course, your mileage may vary, but definitely check this one out if you have the opportunity. Maybe I can talk Santa into hooking me up with one!
Laughing

Matt D'Ortona


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Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:58 am
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I was surprised at the already increase in price myself. That said, the new PRRI is American made. Sorry guys...you're going to have to pay for that from now on. You want a less expensive amp....they're everywhere...but they aren't American manufactured.

I'm not saying that non American made is a bad amp. What I am saying is that a Princeton reissue has to be American, or the folks that are in the market for it simply would not buy it.

Let me say it this way....nobody wants a Chinese made PRRI. And since it is made here, it's going to cost a lot more.

It's just the the way the market is.

A lot of us older guys have been wanting Fender to do this for years. Fender responded and hopefully, tha amp will give a lot of guys the satisfaction of having one, and at the same time, making it profitable enough for Fender to pay American wages, etc.


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Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:38 am
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I'm an older guy and I'm not buying it. I wouldn't care if Leo built it himself, It's too expensive for a single channel 15 watt amp. The Princeton is assembled here not point to point hand wired and soldered entirely by American workers. For a little more money you can get a Deluxe Reverb Reissue that has 2 channels, 22 watts, a 12 " speaker that's great for practice, recording and gigging and serious tone.
I'm not saying the Princeton's a bad sounding amp, just too much money for a one trick pony. Most of my older musician friends find all the hype amusing and wouldn't buy one either. They'd rather have a Deluxe 5e3 built.

Remember, Fenders best selling amp, the Hot Rod Deluxe is made in Mexico.


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Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 11:17 am
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"They'd rather have a Deluxe 5e3 built. "

Well the 5e3 is a totally different animal from the PRRI. That's kind of like someone saying they would rather have a fishing boat than a sailboat. Both are fine, but very different.



"Remember, Fenders best selling amp, the Hot Rod Deluxe is made in Mexico."

Yup - and it is less expensive than a PRRI. I love my HRDLx BTW.


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Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 11:31 am
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I bought the first one GC had in my area. The combination of 6V6 tubes, Jensen speaker, onboard reverb/trem, clean headroom makes tone to die for, and its lighter than Blues Jr. even. No boutique maker has been able to emulate this tone, including Headstrong, Tone King and Swart, which all sound good, but no cigar IMHO. Of course the tone is real 60's, so it's in the memory bank of 60's classic blues, Gospel, R&B, jazz and rock players. It's 1/2 the price of a vintage Blackface model, and less than a vintage Silverface. I traded in my new NOS Tweed Blues Jr. with its EL84 brighter tubes and no trem, and paid the $375 difference. This is the closest thing available tone wise to a Twin Reverb at this price and weight. It's Made in America. I play ES-345, SG and Epi Sheraton, all humbucker guitars, so I can't judge single coil sounds. 10" speaker wails. I also use 12" additional speaker cab when needed, and it is easily mic'd. Again, tone, tone, tone.


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