Wow...Bryan Sours' Princeton Reverb...

[LeonC]

...transformers are truly THE SH!T !!! I just finished building a Princeton Reverb AA964 type amp and I'm incredibly impressed with its sound, feel and performance. I used Bryan's Princeton Reverb transformer set and I'm blown away. The voltages I got right off the bat were perfect! Just 3-5VDC from the spec and that's @ 119VAC out of the wall. The sound and feel of this amp is just off the hook. It's got that pristine Fender clean sound in spades...but the feel is ridiculous: it's got this rubbery/chewy quality when you dig in....just the right amount of sag and beautiful sustain. And the overdrive I'm getting is just fantastic! It's really great at "clean dirt" if you know what I mean. It's like a big fat clean sound with lots of sustain...but you can still make out every note.

I don't have the cab yet; I've been playing it through my little DeArmond R5T in which I've got a Ragin Cajun that sounds great. I ordered a repro cab from Armadillo but it'll be months till that shows up. In the meantime, my buddy is shipping me a spare '71 PR cab he's had laying around to use until the cab from Will gets here. I may break down and build a cab too. I pretty much stopped building cabs 5 or 6 years ago as my knees and back really aren't up to it anymore...but maybe if I just do it really slowly...just one or two tasks a day....we'll see.

Anyway, I'll try to get some videos shot in the next couple days. In the meantime, here are a few progress shots.

 

[LeonC]

 

[LeonC]

 

[DrewB]

That's how you do that.

 

[DrewB]

Thanks for posting these pics! I've built a bunch of Plexi-type amps and am very comfortable with wire routing and such for those, but BF Fender types are new to me. I've built two Deluxe Reverb clones and have a third to do. Seeing how you "bundle" signal wires will be helpful when I do the next one. The first two sound great and are almost silent at idle, but I don't love what I've done on the pot side of the board. And yes, I took the pic before I tightened the board mounting screws and pulled the solder out of the chassis...

 

[LeonC]

Thanks for posting these pics! I've built a bunch of Plexi-type amps and am very comfortable with wire routing and such for those, but BF Fender types are new to me. I've built two Deluxe Reverb clones and have a third to do. Seeing how you "bundle" signal wires will be helpful when I do the next one. The first two sound great and are almost silent at idle, but I don't love what I've done on the pot side of the board. And yes, I took the pic before I tightened the board mounting screws and pulled the solder out of the chassis...

View attachment 33641

Yeah, I try to do mine just like Fender did them in the mid-60s. They seemed to have a pretty good approach (and result!) during that period. When I've built BF clones, what I've typically done is google for gut shots of the type of amp I'm working on from that era and then follow their lead dress to the extent feasible.

 

[DrewB]

I'll definitely be doing that with the next one. It puzzles me that I didn't do it with either of the first two - very out-of-character for me...

 

[Mr. Papa]

That’s excellent work! I’ve been thinking about building a PR kit and now I’m feeling even more inspired to go for it. How long did it take you to complete?

 

[LeonC]

Thanks. I built it very slowly over the course of a week or so. If I added all the hours up, it'd probably come out to 20 - 24 hours...something like that.

 

[DrewB]

Thanks. I built it very slowly over the course of a week or so. If I added all the hours up, it'd probably come out to 20 - 24 hours...something like that.

Makes me feel better knowing I'm not the only slowpoke! That's about the same as the Deluxe Reverbs I've done; it's busy in there.

 

[LeonC]

Yeah, I don't need to build it fast--I'm not trying to make a profit and I'm in no race. Really, the building process is a lot of fun...so why go fast?