Silverface Princeton Reverb
I just scored a SF PR. does anyone know much about them? this has the original speaker. is it likely to be any good for harp? which 10" speaker would you reccommend?
Thanks
Dave
David makes his sound great. I have an empty coffee can here which i reckon he would sound great through also.
Mine is a later model, but still essentially the same. Not sure about the speaker.I notice David's has the 'tailless' logo. If original that places it from 73 to 76 I think. Mine is the pull- boost model, so 77-79. Essentially the same circuit when the boost is off, but components probably vary. I guess I'll know more in a couple days. But maybe there is cause for hope. I'm just excited about new toy :-)
I had one of those, they work just fine, my deal is, for the last 20 years, I buy an amp if it sounds good,I play it for a few months, and sell it for a loss... Oh well, if you go back to the a/b masterclass amp shoot out, a few of those amps were mine, The Sonny 1, the 66 Vibrolux, the Princeton (?), and the solid-state no name orange amp with a ten that sounded killer. I sold the Sonny ( along with a 4X8 extension cab) to Kinya. I used to get away with buying amps, use them and sell them to my students. Once, I bought a 62 Princeton, decided I didn't like the way it sounded, and traded it for a pallet of Danelectro nifty-fifty's from Guitar Show case in San Jose! BTW, I sold all those to my students,now there kinda scarce.So, if it sounds good, buy it, but, be prepared to get ground down at your local music store if you decide to sell,always work a trade, that way, you always have something to screw around with! Keep an ample selection of vintage tubes, 8's, 10's 12's and 15's, because you can always "improve" the sound, right? So now I traded a 62 Pro for a 59' Vibrolux and i'm bugging Skip for info on Weird Hammond organ Jensen's, and trying to not cook the amp with a 5Y3-5U4 tube swap. Welcome to the merry-go-round!
Its a bit loud for the bedroom, volume jumps quickly, reverb is ok on low settings, rattles a bit sharply above 3. Tremolo doesn't seem to work at all, expect that could be a bias issue. This thing has an adjustable bias mod but I don't much about that yet. Tone seems ok, bass on 10, treble on 1. Played my cm mica through it, sounds pretty good but out of deference to family and neighbours I am gonna have to find a jam session to make use of it. VibroChamp XD looks like holding the role of practice amp for a while. Though I do know where there's a nice SF VC locally...
Think I'll try the Princeton with a 5751 in V1.
1. This amp likes my CM JT30 more than my CM EV605. I've observed elsewhere the differences between those mics. Maybe its the shell of the EV has the element a bit more enclosed to start with. Anyway th PR works better with the JT30.
2. If I'm careful with the attack, it sounds much better. An aggressive attack causes a nasty harsh break up from the speaker, a smooth approach is rewarding with much more musical sound. Mainly notice it on the slaps, which I have been hitting quite hard. This amp does sound good, but needs some more finesse than my smaller amps. Oh, but I am also playing it with no delay and I have been accustomed to delay or reverb,
3. I don't really like the reverb on this, it just sounds like a rattling spring, quite distinctly. Just a bit of a nasty metallic rattle. I thought these were famed for their reverb..I much prefer the fake reverb in the Vibro champ xd, or the spring in my Chinese Ashton
Ha, interesting to see this old post. i hadnt realised exactly how long ive had this amp.
Its just over 8 years ive had this amp and its kind of worked its way to the top of the pile. Basically now this is my grab and go amp unless i know i need something bigger.
i changed the speaker to a weber 10A125-O fairly soon after i got it, which made a big difference. i also messed around with different preamp tubes and honestly right now i couldnt say what exactly i have in there but i know there are a couple 12AT7s involved.
I've had it 'professionally serviced' and fixed the badly implemented bias adjustment pot which previously did nothing. its probably time it had another inspection
i think this is one amp which will form part of my deceased estate; I can't see myself selling it while i'm still alive. I've grown to appreciate this amp all the more and i think its helped me gauge my progress somewhat.
I sold mine to David Barrett over 10 years ago, he loves it, runs all 12AX7's, with the orig. speaker.