SeriesFender Princeton

60 watts solid-state amp (although I'd say it delivers more), one 1/4" jack input. 4 other connections: 1 for a footswitch, 1 preamp out, 1 power amp in and headphones. Two channels: clean and overdrive, each with treble/bass and volume controls, plus contour and gain for the second channel. A reverb button that works for both channels. It's a pity that it doesn't have a control for the mids, but we'll forgive it for that. Knobs a bit cheap... UTILIZATION Very easy to understand, no need for a manual, I really like the contour control that provides us with a good palette of different sounds! SOUNDS I recognize the clean Fender sound...Just for that I love it. And besides, you shouldn't use this amp for what it isn't meant to be used for: this distortion was not made for metal, but it really knows its trade when it comes to blues/rock/grunge! I use it with both single-coils and humbuckers and it responds fine, no problems in that sense. OVERALL OPINION I spotted it at a secondhand shop some time ago and I just bought if for $260. I've seen it on mail-order shops for $350, so it was a good deal! Its main advantage is the Fender clean sound. I think I can recommend this product without hesitation.

- Controls for volume, treble, bass, speed, and intensity - Analog tremolo - 2 inputs - 10 inch speaker - watts - All tube circuit - Tube rectifier - Red Jewel light UTILIZATION Hard to find a more usable amp anywhere. Not even a standby switch, just flip it on and you’re good to go. Like most old fenders, here isn’t a whole lot you can do to make it sound bad short of dialing a frequency out completely. I picked one of these up after getting tired of moving lugging my Bassman down icy steps in the winter. The tiny combo sounds incredible and is a lot easier to move. Never had any reliability issues whatsoever. Could be a little louder, but then again, it is what it is. SOUNDS Sounds just fantastic. I plugged it in and had to buy it. I’ll be honest, the built in trem (incorrectly termed vibrato) is probably the coolest sounding thing on this amp. It just shimmers and sparkles in a really musical way that I’d never heard replicated before. It’s more of a glassy fender clean than a warm or round sound. Sag from the tube rectification is really evident at higher volumes, and really brings a lot to the tone. It’s worth mentioning that with single coils you are going to have a hard time pushing this amp into overdrive even with the volume maxed out, it’s more of a clean platform. OVERALL OPINION It would be difficult to ask for more in this tiny amp. Sparkly Fender cleans, incredible sounding tremolo, tube rectified, and as pretty much as portable as it gets. For reference, mine is a 1964. I wouldn’t say this is the be all and end all of amplifiers. For what it is meant to do, it’s great, but I’d be surprised if that is all you need out of an amp. The Princeton Reverb models seem to have exploded in price, so this is a much more reasonable option (and arguably a better sounding/more pure circuit). The blackface ones sound killer, but keep an eye out for a silverface with vertical lines down the front panel, it’s supposed to come pretty close.

The Fender Princeton Reverb Silver Face version is a small guitar combo amp that was made in the 1970's (or at least the one that I've used was made then). There's all different versions of the Princeton Reverb, including a reissued version, but this is for the original Silver Face one. The amp has 12 watts of power and a single 10 inch speaker inside of it. The amp is indeed a tube amp and just has two 1/4" inputs in the front of it. UTILIZATION Using the Fender Princeton Reverb is as simple as it gets for a guitar amp. If you know even the slightest bit about amps or guitars in general, you should be able to use this amp without any problems. The parameters that the amp has include volume, treble and bass tone knobs, reverb, and speed and intensity for controlling the vibrato effect. If you have used a Fender amp before, you'll certainly recognize this make up. Everything should be self explanatory, so a manual isn't necessary. SOUNDS The sound of the Fender Princeton Reverb is outstanding for such a small amplifier. I recently was working on a session where the guitar player brought this little amp in. We have a lot of amps to choose from at the studio I work at, including some smaller ones, but this would take the cake compared to any of the smaller combo amps we've got, which is saying something because we have some pretty good ones. The Princeton Reverb has a super clean sound where it's possible to get a bit of volume without over-driving it, which can be done, but for the most part it's very clean. For what we were going for, this was absolutely perfect... OVERALL OPINION There are ton of different vintage, small combo amps that Fender has made over the years, but the Princeton Reverb has to be one of my favorites. It's really the perfect amp for recording if you're looking to get a crystal clean guitar tone. I'd probably recommend a bigger Fender amp like a Twin Reverb if you're looking for some overloading tubes, but I'd go with this one to get that clean guitar sound. Don't know what kind of price this would command, but probably not too cheap since it's an older amp. Either way, if you're a serious guitar player looking for a great small tube amp to record or practice with, the Princeton Reverb is hard to beat.

The Princeton Chorus series are, (since the 80's), solid-state amps with ample power and very well rounded speakers. You are given the standard two input option common on many Fender Amps. Also you have both a mono and stereo FX loop, foot switch jack and a headphone output. The model that I own, (approx. '90), delivers 125 solid state watts of power and is plenty enough to compete with much more powerful and larger amps. On your clean channel you have volume, bass, mid, treble, and reverb controls. On the distorted channel you have gain, limiter, presence, and volume controls as well as a mid boost switch. Then you have the chorus settings which includes a rate and a depth control. One odd thing about the way this amp works is that the clean channel EQ section and the reverb control remain in use when you switch over to the distortion channel. This makes both the mid boost switch and the presence control in the distortion section very important if you intend to use the onboard distortion channel. I would personally suggest staying on the clean channel all the time and using an external distortion pedal or multi-effects board. The chorus is pretty good overall being a very limited and cheap factory installed ho-hum chorus. The reverb is your typical spring reverb and it...well...it's reverb. UTILIZATION The Princeton Chorus's 2 10in. speakers provide quite an unexpected amount of very well defined low-end. When I first got mine I was very impressed with how well it sounded live and how well it recorded, especially with palm-mute, chunky, distorted guitar sounds. It also has a great clean tone. Of course, your choice in instrument will always have a rediculous effect on the overall sound of your amp. I've used a Fender Telecaster, PRS soapbarII, Epiphone Les Paul, Harmony Stratotone, and various other accoustics and electric guitars with the Princeton Chorus and have always been able to get a good sound from it. Surpisingly, on a few very low-key quiet gigs I've even plugged my guitar and a microphone into my princeton and gotten away with a decent sound with no PA! I don't really recommend this by any means I just thought that it is an interesting thing to point out, food for thought as it were. Having purchased mine used, I never had a manual but I really can't see how the manual for this amp would be either incomplete or lacking. SOUNDS As I stated above, I've used many, many different guitars with this amp, ranging from really vintage sounding ones to very modern sounding ones. I've never been dissapointed. The Princeton Chorus really shines in the lower mid-range. It also has a very sufficient low-end growl and punch but, the highs aren't what i would call "brilliant". Overall, it seems that the frequency response kind of drops off above 6kHz. This is nothing that can't be remedied by a good multi-effects processor/pre-amp though. If you are fond of a very milky, very mid-rangy type of tone, then with the right guitar this amp will certainly fit the bill. OVERALL OPINION Don't buy this amp new or used for the chorus effect. Buy this amp because the factory 10in. speakers are of very good quality, and the 125watt solid state amp holds it's own very well and is also of good quality. I've had mine for many years now, driven it until it screamed for mercy, put it through the torture of "the road", and all I've ever needed to do was clean the dust off and clean and lubricate the pots every now and then. It's been a reliable workhorse for me for a long time. The Princeton Chorus has a somewhat muted, low-end heavy, robust mid-range tone that makes me tend towards classifying it as having a somewhat vintage sound. Yet, don't be fooled, with the right multi-effects processor or whatever you prefer, you can coax some very sharp, tight, modern sounds from it.

The Fender Princeton Reverb is the smallest available amp in the Vintage reissue line. It features only the one channel, controlled by volume, bass, middle, treble, reverb, speed, and intensity (for the vibrato) controls. It's based on the original blackface model that was popular with students and studio musicians in the '60s. It puts out 15 watts of power and is powered by the standard Fender tube of 6V6s. It's a pretty simple amp, forgoing even the extra channel that most of the Vintage Reissue models have. That being said, if you're looking for a small yet clean amp that sounds great, here you go! UTILIZATION Getting a good sound with this amp is pretty easy. Where it's smaller and only 15 watts, it's much more likely that you'd be able to crank this one up a little bit, even in a smaller room just to get some natural sustain and compression happening from the tubes and speaker. This factor makes is great for recording at studio sessions or for smaller gigs. Even the 22 watt Deluxe Reverb can be quite loud, so this little Princeton is great if you need just that little bit smaller. The controls respond as you would expect. There is a bit less bottom end in this amp obviously, because of its smaller size but that's to be expected I suppose. SOUNDS The tones out of the '65 Princeton Reverb are pretty much standard Fender. The cleans are very crisp and clear, great for country or blues type tones, especially with single coils. That being said, an added benefit of this is that you can turn it up a little bit for natural compression. It's still not an amp I would expect to turn up full bore for power tube saturation (you'd still want a pedal of some kinda, but overall it can get you closer to that sonic satori. The onboard reverb and vibrato are of excellent quality as well and the amp sounds quite 3D and clear just like its bigger brothers. OVERALL OPINION All in all I think the Fender '65 Princeton Reverb is a great amp for someone looking for classic Fender cleans in a simple smaller wattage package. It sounds great and has the ability to be turned up a little more than some of the bigger Fender amps. It sells new for about $800 which is a good deal considering the tone and quality, and hey, what else can you get that's this nifty for under a grand that will sound great? Not much that I know of! Definitely worth a look if you're shopping.

The Fender Princeton recording amp combo is a fantastic combo for someone you need a simple recording amplifier with the features built-in for that purpose. This is an amplifier that has a pretty high price at right around $1400 which is sort of expenses for exactly what it is. You get a double front panel control which is a little bit odd looking when you first look at it. It looks like it's a rack mounted effect processors built into combo amplifier. The top portion is black and looks like a simple Princeton reverb amplifier and in the panel right below it is a great one with some of the recording control features. UTILIZATION Series: Pro Tube Series Type: Tube Guitar Amplifier Output: 20 watts into 8 ohms Ohms: 8 ohms Speakers: 1 x 10 in. Jensen C-10R, 8 ohm, 40 watt Speaker with Ceramic Magnet Channels: One Channel Controls: Preamp: Volume, Treble, Bass, Reverb Compressor: Compressor Sensitivity, Compressor Level Overdrive: Overdrive Gain, Overdrive Tone, Overdrive Level Trans-Impedance Power Attenuator: Full-To Silent Attenuator Control Back Panel: Line Output Level with Ground Lift Covering: Black Textured Vinyl with Silver Grille Cloth Weight: 45 lbs. (21 kg) Dimensions: Height: 16.5 in. (42 cm) Width: 20 in. (51 cm) Depth: 10.75 in. (28 cm) Tube Complement: 3 X 12AX7 1 X 12AT7 2 X 6V6 Footswitch: 4-Button Footswitch for Overdrive, Compressor, FX Loop On/Off, Reverb O/Off SOUNDS This amplifier features volume, treble, bass, reverb, compressor sensitivity compressor level, overdrive gain, overdrive tone, overdrive level, and power attenuation. That's a lot of controls to put on one simple little amplifier but this is designed for the most versatility possible any recording session. The tone is amp is very good and has a good quality Fender like tone for recording. It is obviously a Fender amp but is able to get a good distortion tone that is unlike many other Fender amps that I've heard from before. This is the kind of thing that you would go to you when you are laying down tracks on a recording session and need the absolute most of versatility in capturing those guitar moment. This guitar amp sounds fantastic and gives you a solid tone that matches well with any guitar do you put in front of it. OVERALL OPINION At new you can find his guitar amps for right around $1400 which is a little bit high for a small combo Fender amp but this is more than just a simple Fender amp. I would highly recommend any studio musician or recording engineer to put in their arsenal of amplifiers. This is a great amp to turn to if you need a good sender chiming clean town or a good mild over driven rock sound.

I paid $375.00 for this amp brand new in 1989. I got it a my local Music Mart. I purchased it because of its unique sounds, and relatively high output for such a small cabinet. The unit is compact, which makes it easy to travel with. It has two channels, Normal Chorus,and Drive with separate Reverb channel and came with a foot switch. It has great sounds especially on the chorus Channel, even at very high volumes. If I had to compare it to another amp, it would be the FENDER Blues Amp. The Drive(distortion)channel is great sounding as well. You can adjust it several ways to acheive different sounds. The Drive Channel is very loud!! Once you get up over 6 or 7 on the volume knob, the speaker starts to tremble severly. It makes a great stage amp as well, if your running everything through a PA system, it is more than adequate. It may not hold up against larger multiple speaker cabinets with large wattage heads. But it does have an rms rating of 75 watts, and maximum watts of 150. It has Microphone,foot switch, preamp in and outputs on it as well. I love the reliability of this amp, it still has the original speaker in it, and is almost 15 years old, and has been played very hard over that time, and still sounds as good as the day I bought it. Finally I like the fact that FENDER has not changed the looks of the AMP at all since 1989, it still looks exactly the same as the brand new ones do today. Very Vintage looking. Theres not much I dont like. Sometimes I wish I would have purchased the twin version for another $150, but thats only when I have buddies who want to play on it with me, and they dont have there equipment with them. Cabinet is very solid, you can sit on it and play or stand or whatever you want to do. Its been banged around for over 14 years at cvariousd gigs, parties etc.. and still looks great. The hardware is top quality and I have never had to replace any switches, knobs, etc...Its built as good or better than my Stage Amp(Ampeg). This is a great buy for the money. Its a very versatile amp, in the fact that you can use it in the basement, bedroom, or on stage(average size venue) and it will deliver the sound and performance you need. When you compare price to other manufacturers and look at what your getting, you cant beat it!! Its what I would call a Lifetime Amplifier. I will never sell mine!!! It will most likely outlive me!!! Im not big on the FENDER STRATS(Im a HUMBUCKER MAN) I know they are nice Guitars if thats what your looking for, but I love there AMPS. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com