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King Loudness « Smaller is cool »
Published on 12/12/11 at 23:04The 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.
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.