Your amp suggestions please! Princeton Reverb? Blues jr?

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akezys
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Your amp suggestions please! Princeton Reverb? Blues jr?

Post by akezys » Mon Oct 31, 2016 11:25 am

Hi folks -

Looking for some guidance on a new tube amp. Currently I have a cheap/terrible Chinese Fender Champion 600 and I'm looking to upgrade to something at least half-decent :P I've owned a Vox AC15CC1 before, and while it was nice, I wasn't crazy about the tone.

I play with a good deal of pedals, so would like an amp that takes pedals well. Built-in spring reverb would be amazing. Obviously I like good cleans (don't we all) but do play with a good bit of dirt as well. I live an an apartment, so something around 15W would be ideal, a 40W 2x12 or something would be way overkill. My budget is 1k USD and lower, preferably around 700$ but don't mind going up to 1k if it gets me a much better amp. I generally prefer new to rolling the dice on an amp that may need repairs, but I could be convinced otherwise.

What's the general consensus on the Blues Jr.? Does the III suck? Crummy speaker?

It seems the '65 Princeton Reverb is often suggested around these parts. Is it considerably superior to the '68 Princeton RI?

Cuidance is much appreciated :) Cheers!

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Re: Your amp suggestions please! Princeton Reverb? Blues jr?

Post by jbiscuti » Mon Oct 31, 2016 11:30 am

Are you not gigging at all? This is just an apartment amp?

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akezys
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Re: Your amp suggestions please! Princeton Reverb? Blues jr?

Post by akezys » Mon Oct 31, 2016 11:33 am

Not much gigging these days sadly. Generally just an apartment amp, but potential for some in the future.

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Re: Your amp suggestions please! Princeton Reverb? Blues jr?

Post by finboy » Mon Oct 31, 2016 11:44 am

Silverface pr should fit well

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Re: Your amp suggestions please! Princeton Reverb? Blues jr?

Post by brucer » Mon Oct 31, 2016 12:04 pm

I've got both a Blues Jr (mines a II, not a III) and a '65 Princeton Reverb Reissue. Both are great amps in my opinion. Both take pedals well (i.e. all sounds as expected).

The Blues Jr is a nice amp out of the box, but can benefit greatly from a few mods. Mine has most of the Billm mods, but they're hard to get these days due to Bill's ill health. Others offer similar mods (e.g. Fromel Electronics), but I have no experience with them. After the mods, my Blues Jr had a much less "boxy" sound, more tonal and reverb control and the stock speaker sounded much better ... so I guess the issues I had with it were actually in the guts of the amp. A plus for the Blues Jr is the master volume, which lets you get pre-amp drive at home-friendly volume levels. The Blues Jr has a tone of it's own though (not pure Fender cleans), due to the EL84 vs 6V6 output tubes I expect.

The '65 Princeton Reverb Reissue is also a great amp out of the box, but also benefits from mods. I put a Heyboer TO20 output transformer in mine and it got rid of the loose bottom end this amp is known for (some people like that feature, I expect). I kept the stock speaker and like it just fine. The '65 Princeton Reverb Reissue does not give you pre-amp drive at home-friendly volume levels unless pushed by a pedal. On the other hand, it is pure Fender clean so lets the character of whatever drive pedal you put in front of it shine through.

You'd have to mic both to play out in all but the quietest venues, so I don't think that's a deciding factor. I'd say go play both with your own guitar and a couple of pedals and see if you like one better than the other. For me, the '65 Princeton Reverb Reissue is the amp I play out. Always. But another fellow in my mostly garage band uses a Blues Jr with an LP-style guitar and a Super Hard On for boost and it sounds really great.

Not much help I guess. Just observations.
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Re: Your amp suggestions please! Princeton Reverb? Blues jr?

Post by MechaBulletBill » Mon Oct 31, 2016 12:46 pm

Is this a small-to-medium-sized amp recommendation thread? Get a Traynor YGM3

Is this a dirt pedal recommendation thread? Get a Smallsound/Bigsound Buzzz

Is this a guitar recommendation thread? Get something old and Japanese

Next!

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Re: Your amp suggestions please! Princeton Reverb? Blues jr?

Post by Arthon » Mon Oct 31, 2016 1:15 pm

On the '65 vs '68 debate, the '65 is not better but it have a slightly better speaker. Most people will change the speaker in both amp anyway. You can also find a FSR '65 that will have a better speaker (they made a bunch of '65 in different colors with different speaker inside; mine is white/surf green with a 10" greenback). The '65 will stay clean longer; the reverb is weaker but more manageable.

I think the PRRIs are superior in construction to a Blues Junior, but those 3 amps sounds good. The PRRI '65 is american made.
The Blues Cartographer
(sorry for the spelling, I speak french)

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Re: Your amp suggestions please! Princeton Reverb? Blues jr?

Post by akezys » Mon Oct 31, 2016 2:30 pm

Thanks all for the helpful replies :)

Seems the FSRs aren't too available anymore, though may see if I can get lucky and find one locally. Does seem like Fender has this special edition though: http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender/Limi ... Reserve.gc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like a 12-in rather than the stock 10-in. Anyone have any opinions on that amp? Maybe better to just get the stock and swap out for a different speaker though?

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Re: Your amp suggestions please! Princeton Reverb? Blues jr?

Post by akezys » Mon Oct 31, 2016 8:39 pm

brucer wrote: Not much help I guess. Just observations.
Helpful observations! Any thoughts on what to swap the '65 PRRI speaker with? Or the Blues Jr for that matter?

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Re: Your amp suggestions please! Princeton Reverb? Blues jr?

Post by Arthon » Tue Nov 01, 2016 5:18 am

akezys wrote:
brucer wrote: Not much help I guess. Just observations.
Helpful observations! Any thoughts on what to swap the '65 PRRI speaker with? Or the Blues Jr for that matter?
Blues Jr have el84 tubes and I never own one so I cannot really help you on those.

For Princeton Reverb, I really really like Emi Ragin Cajun for a loud, robust, overdriven rock sound. The more you push that speaker, the more it sound good. It also takes pedals very well... But, I think it's not what you are looking for.
I had great result with Webers 10F150T in my '68 Vibrolux Reverb. Loud, clean, great bottom end and more Fendery then the Ragin Cajun. Great if you want to use the amp for jamming with others, but probably overkill for appartment use.
Emi Cooperhead is a great not-too-loud speaker that doesnt cost much. Great for Fenders. It will be my choice for a PRRI use mostly in a appartment. Some people prefer the Legend; I prefer the Cooperhead. The Legend was too shrill with my offsets.
Right now, I have a Celestion Greenback 10" in my Pricenton Reverb. Very cool speaker, but not very Fendery. It doesnt give you those sparkling cleans. Great for Jazz, Blues and softer music. Some people call this speaker "woody" and I dont have a better adjective. I still have a Ragin Cajun in my closet if one day, I go in a garage band again and want to rock that Princeton!
The Blues Cartographer
(sorry for the spelling, I speak french)

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Re: Your amp suggestions please! Princeton Reverb? Blues jr?

Post by rumfoord » Tue Nov 01, 2016 6:09 pm

If you live in San Francisco, you should be able to easily find something on Craigslist...definitely in a few months time if you don't mind waiting a bit. If I were you, I would drop everything to grab this one:
(no affiliation)
1970's Fender Princeton Amp + Extra Cabinet - $750

Also check out Real Guitars
https://www.yelp.com/biz/real-guitars-san-francisco" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Your amp suggestions please! Princeton Reverb? Blues jr?

Post by shoule79 » Tue Nov 01, 2016 6:38 pm

Really depends on what tone you are looking for. I've owned both, and currently have a 70's PR.

The Blues jr is a good little amp, and for straight up rock I'd say it may edge out the PR (I'd give the PR everything else easily though). To me the reverb is useless though.

Try them both, neither are particularly hard to find, and see which one you prefer. Look around enough any you may be able to afford both.

FWIW, I wouldn't say either are apartment appropriate.

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Re: Your amp suggestions please! Princeton Reverb? Blues jr?

Post by brucer » Tue Nov 01, 2016 9:09 pm

akezys wrote:
brucer wrote: Not much help I guess. Just observations.
Helpful observations! Any thoughts on what to swap the '65 PRRI speaker with? Or the Blues Jr for that matter?
Here's a pretty good rundown of speaker options for the Blues Jr: http://billmaudio.com/wp/?page_id=295 Like I noted above though, I kept the stock speaker in both my Blues Jr and PRRI. After some mods, they sound just fine to me. Some of the special runs feature different speakers. Of those I've tried, I favored the greenbacks. I also love my Princeton Reverb RI with stock speaker paired with a closed-back greenback cab, so maybe its just my thing?
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Re: Your amp suggestions please! Princeton Reverb? Blues jr?

Post by akezys » Wed Nov 02, 2016 2:56 pm

Thanks for all the help guys - this thread has been a great resource for me :)

shoule79 wrote: FWIW, I wouldn't say either are apartment appropriate.
Hmm, they just too darn loud? Or their tone is considerably better at a louder/non-apartment-friendly volume? I was using a Voxac15 before without much issue, but definitely didn't ever have it cranked too high - I relied on pedals for OD.
rumfoord wrote:If you live in San Francisco, you should be able to easily find something on Craigslist...definitely in a few months time if you don't mind waiting a bit. If I were you, I would drop everything to grab this one:
(no affiliation)
1970's Fender Princeton Amp + Extra Cabinet - $750

Also check out Real Guitars
https://www.yelp.com/biz/real-guitars-san-francisco" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Sadly no bites on my reply to that craigslist post. You're indeed correct about that being a great find :)

Love Real Guitars (seems like it's one of the few good stores still kicking in the city), I hit them up whenever I'm south of market on the weekends if I can - but I don't usually get off work early enough to check them out often. Was there Sunday, and of course didn't bother checking their hours - closed :P

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Re: Your amp suggestions please! Princeton Reverb? Blues jr?

Post by shoule79 » Wed Nov 02, 2016 3:40 pm

akezys wrote:
Hmm, they just too darn loud? Or their tone is considerably better at a louder/non-apartment-friendly volume? I was using a Voxac15 before without much issue, but definitely didn't ever have it cranked too high - I relied on pedals for OD.
The tone is better at louder volumes. A Princeton on 2 isn't jaw dropping, it needs to get up to 4 or 5 to start cooking. My preference is around 7 or 8. I really only liked the blues Jr cranked. I used to use a Champ when I lived in an apartment, perfect volume.

My main home amp at the moment is my Mesa that shifts down to 5 watts. I can play it in the basement and not disturb anyone else. If you are stuck on a tube amp and playing at home is your goal, I'd aim for 5-10 watts personally.

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