After years of sitting on the fence I've decided to once and for all pull the trigger and buy a high end fender tube amp when tax season rolls around next month.

I think I have it narrowed down to either the 65 Princeton or the 65 Deluxe reverb reissue models. I also looked at the Super sonic 22 but soon realized it has a solid state rectifier plus I really don't play high gain metal which is what the Super Sonic series leans more toward. Besides I have more than enough SS amps and if I do decide to go high gain I can always fire up my Line6 Jam75 or Peavey Valve King, yes it's an all tube amp but again, SS rectifier, crappy cleans and ridiculously loud.

I do know I'm definately looking for that beautiful vintage Fender crisp clean jangle for my tele's and strat. I like to play Country, Bluegrass, rockabilly, rock, blues, folk rock etc. So if anyone has any opinions on my choices please feel free to weigh in, as stated I'm undecided and open to suggestions. My max budget will be about $1600

Thanks all

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Fender TA Hellcat
Takamine EG345C 12 String
72 Thinline Deluxe Reissue Tele
20th Anniversary Squier Strat
FSR Black Paisley SE Tele
Epi LP Custom SG
Epi LP Standard Plus Top Pro(TB)
Yamaha RGX121SJ

Line6 SpiderJam75
Traynor AM100T
Peavey VK212
Bugera V5

Both the Princeton and the Deluxe Reverb would be very suitable for your needs but if I were faced with the same dilemma,I would gravitate towards the '65 Deluxe Reverb because frankly they sound a tad fuller than the Princeton to my ears.No matter which one of these you eventually choose you will no doubt be very satisfied with it.

BTW:Welcome to the Forum.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Not entirely sure I'd call those two amps "high end" but they are certainly better choices than some of the low end stuff.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Welcome to the Forum Ricktoo. $1600.00 and a smile with some gentle persuasion should get you a '59 bassman, '65 super reverb, '65 twin reverb or '65 twin custom. all killer Fender amps. if you are shopping guitar center keep a look out for coupons online and any others that you may come across. Take your time, everyones stock is short now because the holidays depleted current stock and the stores are waiting for NAMM to end so they can restock and add new items. Patience can be a virtue when you want a great deal on a Fender reissue.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Well personally of the amp models offered there, I'd personally go with the Princeton myself. Not to debate Guitslinger's comment there, but "fuller", in my always and ever so humble opinion, isn't really the way to go for country/bluegrass/rockabilly. That said, based on those music preferences (particularly country and blues), I'd actually suggest a Twin/Twin Reverb instead. Actually being in a Southern Rock band at the moment (along with a strong blues/classic rock background), if I had that kind of loot to blow, I'd probably go with a good used early 70's Twin Reverb (Master Volume), have it re-capped, re-tubed (preferably some pretty hot Groove Tubes) and drop a brand spankin' new set of Eminance speakers in her...paired up with a Tele and a Strat, ya really ain't gonna get much tighter than that for country playing and (IMO) ya just can't beat a Twin for Blues...the reason I have a Lab L5 (other than having gotten her for $40) is because it sounds like a Twin

Just my own personal opinions,
Jim

The PRRI and DRRI are both great choices and I think choosing between the two would depend on whether it is predominantly for recording and home use or for gigging (not to say that both can't be used for both applications).

I don't understand your take on the SS22 at all. It's much the same volume-wise as the DRRI and the clean channel sounds very much the same (minus tremelo). The SS22 clean channel was developed from the DRRI platform. While the 'burn' channel can approach 'metal', it can easily be dialled-in for a blusey OD (or use the 'fat' voicing on the clean chnl.) and good country 'crunch'. And crisp Fender type cleans are complimented more by solid state rectification rather that tube rectification a la Twin. Have you actually given it a thorough test drive? If not, you should prior to making a final decision.

In the end, your ears should decide, not internet opinions.

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The quintessential sound of 60/70's R&R:
Fender Tube Amps
Gibson Guitars

I don't know what your main goal tone-wise or performance-wise is, but if you are planning on gigging, the Deluxe Reverb would be the better bet.

If you have some need for some heavier performance (volume-wise), the aforementioned Super Reverb RI might be a good choice, especially for your blues excursions.

...and if you're not 100% married solely to the "Fender name," the Egnator Rebel 20 is a very good choice...at your budget, you might be able to swing a second matching cabinet, too.

A smaller/lower end Dr Z amp is an excellent option as well (although they might get out of your price range rather quickly)...

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

+1 if you plan on gigging, the DRRi is the better choice. I had a Princeton way back, and it's more of a recording amp than gigging amp.

I have an Egnater Rebel 20 and have gigged it heavily over the past three years with zero issues.

I just built a 5e3 clone that's a serious contender. I don't know what Tube Depot did to it, but it seems a lot louder than 11or 12 watts. Tried it in a live band situation yesterday and it cut the mix just fine and sounded great to boot.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

Wow, thanks all, some really good points made. Let's see, I won't be gigging at all, i'm just a closet collector/hobbiest plus I live in an apt so a twin really is a little overkill for my needs although admittedly they are sweet. Actually, just before my post I was looking at a Blues Deville 410 and a deville 410, again defineately overkill for my needs, but my god how cool would one of those be!

As far as other brands go I have always had to bite the bullet and "settle" for (jmo I know there are Higher end amps out there than Fender) lesser brands because Fender tube amps (to me the holy grail) were always just out of reach financially for me, Always life or wife or kids came first (no regrets or complaints, that's just how life is). Not this year, this year is the year of ME!!!!

@IM4Tone: No, I haven't yet test driven a Super Sonic 22 because my local Fender dealer doesn't have one in stock and they won't get one in just for me to test, but I have tested out both the princeton and the deluxe Reverb RI models. I guess my take on the SS 22 is that every amp i've ever bought was a solid state budget amp so I guess for once I'd like to own a true all tuber, rectifier and all. Probably sounds like a stupid reason but it is what is is, I make no appologee's

Thanks again for all the suggestions/advice everyone, please keep them coming, believe me I've been checking out each and every one and doing my research, I have about a month before I drop the hammer.

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Fender TA Hellcat
Takamine EG345C 12 String
72 Thinline Deluxe Reissue Tele
20th Anniversary Squier Strat
FSR Black Paisley SE Tele
Epi LP Custom SG
Epi LP Standard Plus Top Pro(TB)
Yamaha RGX121SJ

Line6 SpiderJam75
Traynor AM100T
Peavey VK212
Bugera V5

So, a Twin is sweet (with its solid state rectifier) and the Blues Deville is so cool (also with its solid state rectifier), but the Super Sonic 22 is unacceptable because of its solid state rectifier and is ridiculously loud, even though you never tried one!
"Stupid" was your choice of words, not mine.

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The quintessential sound of 60/70's R&R:
Fender Tube Amps
Gibson Guitars

Princeton isn't very loud. If gigging you'll want more power.

@IM4Tone: Actually, I didn't say the Super Sonic 22 was "ridiculously loud", I said my Peavey VK 212 was. I couldn't know how loud an SS 22 is as I've never tried one as stated earlier. The reason the SS 22 is unacceptable (to me) is because 1) it has a solid state rectifier and 2) it is geared more toward high gain heavy metal style music (Fenders entry attempt into the genre), a style I have no interest in.

I think you misunderstood and I probably wasn't very clear on what I meant by how cool the Blues deville was, I was actually referring to the 4x10 aspect of the version and was simply looking, didn't say it was in the running for me to buy. Therefore I never fully investigated whether or not it was solid state because it's obviously too much amp for what I need so that's as far as I went.

I'm simply trying to cover all my bases and gather as much information as possible, particularly from experienced players in the know and possibly along the way make a few new friends. In the end ultimately it's my decision which amp I choose but hopefully by coming here it will be a better informed one.

_________________
Fender TA Hellcat
Takamine EG345C 12 String
72 Thinline Deluxe Reissue Tele
20th Anniversary Squier Strat
FSR Black Paisley SE Tele
Epi LP Custom SG
Epi LP Standard Plus Top Pro(TB)
Yamaha RGX121SJ

Line6 SpiderJam75
Traynor AM100T
Peavey VK212
Bugera V5

If I recall correctly, some of the blackface reissues (Super Reverb, Twin Reverb) have solid state rectifiers. It's not a terrible thing, per se, it's just the way they're building them.

My 21-year-old 1963 reissue Vibroverb has a solid state rectifier, and I'm very satisfied with it...it's a great amp, and has a very "vintage" sound.

To get 100% all tube, including rectifier, you're probably going to have to go vintage or boutique; depending on what features and wattage you want, that might start going beyond your budget.

It sounds like you're turned off by the gain/dirty channel of the SS22 (and that's ok); however, it's very similar to the "gain" and "more gain" channels of the Hot Rod DeVille and Hot Rod Deluxe amps.

Somebody with a bigger brain than me might be able to tell you an amp within your price range that has a tube rectifier, but I'll freely admit ignorance on this one.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

Actually, the PRRI and DRRI both have tube rectifiers. I am convinced that the OP doesn't understand why he wants it, and the real differences between ss and tube rectification. He has some of this internet brainwashing that says solid state=bad and tube=good and has expanded that concept to rectifiers. I was convinced of that by the statements: "I do know I'm definately looking for that beautiful vintage Fender crisp clean jangle " and the acknowledgement that the twin is "sweet" (even though it has solid state recification). Hope he isn't disappointed in the sag and breakup of the PRRI and DRRI, both of which I view as great amps, but not the cleanest of the Fender line. To each his own.

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The quintessential sound of 60/70's R&R:
Fender Tube Amps
Gibson Guitars

The difference is with a tube rectifier you get some sag and compression, nice sweet distortion and not as much headroom as an amp with a solid state rectifier. A solid state rectifier will sound louder, tighter and cleaner. Think Twin Reverb.

It's just personal preference. I like them both. My 74 Champ and the 5e3 Tweed Deluxe have tube rectifiers and sound glorious. Sometimes I run my Champ through my two 112 Egnater cabs with a Weber Z Matcher to match the impedance and it sounds incredible.

Neither tube or non tube rectifier amps are better than the other, just different.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal