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Princeton Reverb RI thoughts??

Coachmoe

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 23, 2002
Messages
1,139
Greetings!

The Princeton Reverb RI has been out for a few months now. What kind of feedback does anyone have on them now that they've had a chance to be used?

I have a DR RI and I am contemplating the PR RI to be used indoors at our smaller venues. I figure early next year some of these amps will come up for sale used and the prices will be better than the new ones. I may look into getting one IF the prices do come down.

Thoughts / opinions???

:wail
 

reswot

Active member
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Messages
3,295
I've played one. It's a nice amp, but I really don't see the point in getting a new PCB Princeton when you can get an early 70's silverface for around the same $$.

I love my '69 PR; I put a 12" Weber in there and made it a really giggable amp.
 

Prof. Potts

Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2007
Messages
293
Wow, finally a gear topic in which I can contribute instead of being the one asking. I have one a really like it. I think I paid around $750. Here are my comments from another forum, maybe digresses a little but whatever.

"Vintage BF, SF to reissues comparisons are apples to oranges. Think about it, the vintage ones have speakers that are pretty well broken in. If you were to go back and buy a brand new fender amp in the early 60's you very well might have the same concerns that are being expressed now. Just like the reissues sold today, some would be great and some not so good but they all would have a brand new speaker that is not yet broken in.

I find it ironic that people will take their time testing many different guitars of the model they are interested in until they find the "one" but try one or two amps and assume that they would all sound the same.

I have a PRRI. It's the best amp for the price I could find that filled my particular needs for a low volume amp. I could have gotten a vintage one but I did not want to tinker with it. I have a 5 year warranty. It's not P2P wired but thats ok. I'm never going to mess with the inside and from the pics I have seen in another thread any amp tech would have no problems repairing it. I could have gotten a boutique version but at double the price the sound difference did not justify the price

I have had vintage amps and boutique amps and love them and will buy some again, but I don't believe that one type is universally better. Its really down to the individual amp producing the sound you would like.

I had a blues jr. NOS at one point. I never bonded with it. It had to much headroom for me and lacked character. I have read of speaker and tube changes and mods that make it a great amp. I didn't want to go though all that so I sold it. Looking back it was probably the speaker. Maybe I should have taken my own advice and just spent some more time breaking in the speaker. As always I enjoy the discussion on this site."

Here is a link to the pics mentioned above. Its in another forum so I hope it doesn't violate any rules.
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=421413&highlight=princeton&page=3
 

tigerfan2

New member
Joined
Aug 31, 2008
Messages
15
I personally didn't care for it as well as I do the DRRIs but I still thought it was nice.
 

rickc007

Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2002
Messages
472
There is one known rattle issue
If you get the volume up, 5 or higher
hit a low E, F around there, you get a noticable rattle

I asked Fender at the Amp Show about it
they said they had a few come back, but in
most cases it was "tighten a few screws here and there"

I A/B 'd with a Deluxe Reverb, and not much diff for
me since I don't use the trem effect
those who do, seem to favor the princeton

I already own a Deluxe Reverb, after the A/B
hard to justify both, but since I buy everything
in sight, I'm sure I'll own one shortly
 

reswot

Active member
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Messages
3,295
...Vintage BF, SF to reissues comparisons are apples to oranges...

Not really. Not when you're dealing with the same price range. Let's consider three advantages a SF or BF will have over the RI: a) ease of repair, b) sturdiness, and c) value retention.

First, a HW original can be fixed pretty easily when something goes wrong -- not so with a PCB amp. One is often lucky if they find a tech willing to work on one, and fewer owners are willing to risk it, themselves, on a PCB amp.

Second, the HW amp will likely be much hardier and roadworthy -- after all, they already lasted in the neighborhood of 40 years. PCB amps aren't necessarily noted for their durability (of course, that's more a function of the quality of the overall construction, rather than PCB construction, itself. If mfrs. used high-quality boards, they would likely have fewer problems, but, now, I digress...).

Third in my list is the matter of retaining value. A used PRRI will likely be worth only a fraction of its purchase price, just as used DRRIs sell for less than a new one. If one buys a Silverface (or a Blackface, if one can justify the $$), one can probably turn around and sell it for more than they originally paid, assuming one didn't overpay in the first place.

Finally, although this point was mentioned in my preamble.... It ain't all in the speakers. I happen to think that a lot of it is in old tubes and transformers, as well. I don't think that Fender went out of their way to recreate the old OTs...
 

Don

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 1, 2001
Messages
5,732
The re-issue is way too expensive!

I was barely able to sell my super clean, all original except for caps tubes and grounded power cord, fully maintained, '68 Princeton Reverb for $1000 a few months ago!

Even so, I almost doubled my money on that amp and if the new owner keeps it for a few years he'll make money on it too.
 

Manolian

Les Paul Froum Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2008
Messages
645
Played a Tele thru one at GC , great sound ,tremolo is excellent.
 
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shuie

New member
Joined
Aug 26, 2005
Messages
3,480
My opinion of this amp is the polar opposite of almost everything I've ever read about it on a guitar forum. Maybe there was something wrong with the one I played. It was easily the worst reissue Fender amp I've ever heard.
 
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