PRINCETON REVERB: Your Favorite Speaker

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ifallalot
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Re: PRINCETON REVERB: Your Favorite Speaker

Post by ifallalot » Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:46 am

Larsongs wrote:I wasn't liking the sound of my Reissue Princeton Reverb when I first got it. But read I should play it for at least 20 hours (not all at the same time) to break it in. After doing that it sounded good. Now I've got at least 150 hours on it & it sounds even better.

I was looking for speakers, like you. Now, it sounds great after a good break in. No need for new speakers.
I've been close to pulling the trigger on a Ragin Cajun. Maybe I'll just keep playing a bit more.

I'm going to start using the Jim Campolingo settings and see if that breaks in the speaker even faster

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muchxs
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Re: PRINCETON REVERB: Your Favorite Speaker

Post by muchxs » Sun Mar 19, 2017 6:25 am

ifallalot wrote:
Larsongs wrote:I wasn't liking the sound of my Reissue Princeton Reverb when I first got it. But read I should play it for at least 20 hours (not all at the same time) to break it in. After doing that it sounded good. Now I've got at least 150 hours on it & it sounds even better.

I was looking for speakers, like you. Now, it sounds great after a good break in. No need for new speakers.
I've been close to pulling the trigger on a Ragin Cajun. Maybe I'll just keep playing a bit more.
Suit yourself but I prefer the Copperhead. The Cajun has a heavy magnet, a big voice coil and more power handling than you'll ever need for a stock Princeton Reverb. The smooth cone reminds me of a poor man's JBL.

The Copperhead has a ribbed cone and sounds more "Fender- y".

When it comes right down to it the stock Eminence / Fender Special Design speakers are pretty darn good.

It's the usual deal where musicians spend hundreds of dollars trying different speakers when changing a dollar's worth of parts inside the amp goes further, cheaper.
ifallalot wrote:I'm going to start using the Jim Campolingo settings and see if that breaks in the speaker even faster
Campi's settings aren't for mere mortals. He dimes the bass which is usually a recipe for instant flub. There is something going on there. Maybe someone changed the dollar's worth of parts I mentioned?

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ifallalot
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Re: PRINCETON REVERB: Your Favorite Speaker

Post by ifallalot » Sun Mar 19, 2017 6:33 am

Which resistors would get me to where I want to be? The only thing I worry about is that my shaky hands could make a dollar's worth of parts cost a lot more when i f up the soldering :D

If I was to get in the amp, is there a way to make my Vibrato deeper and more drastic?

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Re: PRINCETON REVERB: Your Favorite Speaker

Post by muchxs » Sun Mar 19, 2017 7:03 am

ifallalot wrote:Which resistors would get me to where I want to be? The only thing I worry about is that my shaky hands could make a dollar's worth of parts cost a lot more when i f up the soldering

If I was to get in the amp, is there a way to make my Vibrato deeper and more drastic?
Got one like that right now. It's a "Bayou" Princeton up from the swamps of Louisiana. That means the chassis and transformers are rusty. The wires have corroded green at many of the solder joints. Still, those are all original parts and untouched solder joints. Better leave that one alone. :P

The trem in a Princeton Reverb is whatcha call bias vary trem. That means the trem function balances against the bias setting.

Weak trem is a symptom of a PR that isn't biased correctly.

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Re: PRINCETON REVERB: Your Favorite Speaker

Post by muchxs » Fri Mar 24, 2017 7:39 am

Improved PR trem, part "B":

The bias vary trem in a Princeton or a Princeton Reverb shares a tube with the PI. That's V2 in a Princeton and V4 in a Princeton Reverb. A 12AX7 with one weak section may not have enough sack to start the trem oscillator or it may produce weak oscillation and therefore weak trem. Fortunately there are two more 12AX7s in a Princeton Reverb. Swap 'em. The likely swap is V3 for V4.

Strong trem will chop the volume like a kill button.

The stock trem circuit is stout enough to push around 45ma worth of bias. Don't interpret that as the Top Secret Motherlode of Golden Tone bias setting. You will nuke your tubes. I only went there to explore the possibilities.

Let the audiophiles pay top dollar for 12AX7s with precisely matched sections. The same tube that yields weak trem when used as V4 will tone down the reverb when used as V3.

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Re: PRINCETON REVERB: Your Favorite Speaker

Post by Tritone » Sun Mar 26, 2017 9:24 am

muchxs wrote:Or use an Eminence Alessandro Signature GA-SC64, the 12" version. 12" is two bigger than a 10", innit?
My next amp is probably going to be a PRRI with a GA10-SC64.

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Re: PRINCETON REVERB: Your Favorite Speaker

Post by Ursa Minor » Sun Mar 26, 2017 10:26 am

So curiosity got the best of me.

I'm in the process of reconing my Oxford 10J4. Got parts from Weber yesterday and started gutting the old cone, voice oil etc. Still have a ways to go, making sure the frame is totally clean from old glue, dirt and debris etc. Also need to be doubly sure I don't get anything in the gap and take extra care to make sure it's absolutely clean.

So far, so good! I'm feeling pretty confident and taking it easy. This is my first recone.
I figure, it's already broke, why not try to make something out of it.

8)
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Re: PRINCETON REVERB: Your Favorite Speaker

Post by Despot » Mon Mar 27, 2017 1:12 am

Good luck with that Nick - interested to hear how it turns out.

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Ursa Minor
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Re: PRINCETON REVERB: Your Favorite Speaker

Post by Ursa Minor » Mon Mar 27, 2017 4:18 am

Thanks! Will definitely update as I go. Might start a separate thread.
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Re: PRINCETON REVERB: Your Favorite Speaker

Post by dune736 » Fri Mar 31, 2017 4:40 pm

I put a Eminence GA10-SC64 in my PRRI. Rumor is, it was designed to sound like the stock Jensen speaker found in a vintage Princeton. It smooths out the highs, which was a welcome changes since PRRI amps are fairly bright. Also tightens up the bass, so you don't get as much low end flub when you turn the amp pass 5. Still breaking it in, but it does improve the amp. my PRRI now sounds closer to the classic Fender tone then it did with the stock speaker. I'm loving it so far.

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Re: PRINCETON REVERB: Your Favorite Speaker

Post by Ursa Minor » Fri Mar 31, 2017 5:43 pm

dune736 wrote:I put a Eminence GA10-SC64 in my PRRI. Rumor is, it was designed to sound like the stock Jensen speaker found in a vintage Princeton. It smooths out the highs, which was a welcome changes since PRRI amps are fairly bright. Also tightens up the bass, so you don't get as much low end flub when you turn the amp pass 5. Still breaking it in, but it does improve the amp. my PRRI now sounds closer to the classic Fender tone then it did with the stock speaker. I'm loving it so far.
These look really nice. I was suprised to see how lightweight it is. My Weber is like twice that! The original Oxford 10J4 I'm fixing is closer to this one.
Cheers!
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