1979 Fender Princeton

Make it loud here.
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HNB
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Re: 1979 Fender Princeton

Post by HNB » Wed Apr 19, 2017 6:29 am

I was telling him I still need to get my UL Twin serviced but I want to put it in a new cab first. That thing is a back breaker!
Christopher
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Re: 1979 Fender Princeton

Post by cestlamort » Wed Apr 19, 2017 6:56 am

marqueemoon wrote:
beauzooka wrote:I'll definitely try Velvetone next time I need some amp work.
Yeah. Sounds really promising.
Great to have another good person up here. (I tend to go to t warren. But this is another level of service)

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Re: 1979 Fender Princeton

Post by HNB » Fri Apr 21, 2017 4:03 pm

Played it today just now for about an hour and tried all my different usual effects. (OP Amp Muff, Robot Devil, Total Spack Vibes, Menatone's The King, and DOD Gunslinger with and without my new Boss '63 Reverb pedal) It sounds great! I use it with volume at three, treble at 6.5, bass at 10, and normally tremolo off. It is exactly what I was hoping for. Not as loud as my big amps where I can only play them between 1 and 2 volume and not as trebly as my Champ can be because of the smaller speaker. I only used my Jazzy with the Novak WRHB pickups so far, but it sounds just like I hoped it would. Very happy. It is also pretty quiet considering it is right next to my computer and PS4.

My geeky setup.

Image20170421_165629 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
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StevenO
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Re: 1979 Fender Princeton

Post by StevenO » Fri Apr 21, 2017 6:29 pm

Here's the thing with Princeton amps... If you end up liking this amp, it will end up changing your life for the better. On the other side... If you end up liking this amp, it will ruin your life because no other amp will compare.

I have two Princetons. I'm ruined. :whistle:

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Re: 1979 Fender Princeton

Post by Ursa Minor » Fri Apr 21, 2017 7:02 pm

I had a Princeton problem for a while. At one point I counted four at the same time. I still have two of them. Nothing wrong with that at all. :whistle:
The artist formerly known as kosmonautmayhem.

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marqueemoon
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Re: 1979 Fender Princeton

Post by marqueemoon » Fri Apr 21, 2017 7:34 pm

cestlamort wrote:
marqueemoon wrote:
beauzooka wrote:I'll definitely try Velvetone next time I need some amp work.
Yeah. Sounds really promising.
Great to have another good person up here. (I tend to go to t warren. But this is another level of service)
I should probably bring in my Carmen Ghia to see it can be tweaked more to my liking before giving up on it.

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Re: 1979 Fender Princeton

Post by wproffitt » Fri Apr 21, 2017 7:49 pm

I'm glad you got this sorted out. I'm going to build an amp soon, not because I want to replace my PR, but because I want a different flavor. My only fear is that it may different, but won't measure up to my PR! :)

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Re: 1979 Fender Princeton

Post by Ursa Minor » Fri Apr 21, 2017 8:18 pm

wproffitt wrote:I'm glad you got this sorted out. I'm going to build an amp soon, not because I want to replace my PR, but because I want a different flavor. My only fear is that it may different, but won't measure up to my PR!
Build the 6G2 circuit! You won't regret it. Its a great complement to a PR.
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Re: 1979 Fender Princeton

Post by finboy » Sat May 06, 2017 5:53 pm

kosmonautmayhem wrote:
wproffitt wrote:I'm glad you got this sorted out. I'm going to build an amp soon, not because I want to replace my PR, but because I want a different flavor. My only fear is that it may different, but won't measure up to my PR!
Build the 6G2 circuit! You won't regret it. Its a great complement to a PR.
Image

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Re: 1979 Fender Princeton

Post by StevenO » Sat May 06, 2017 6:42 pm

Third'd.

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Re: 1979 Fender Princeton

Post by sookwinder » Sat May 06, 2017 8:32 pm

Great to hear you are now happy and excited with you PR.

I do have a question... I have no idea what this sentence means:
he has a machine to basically manually adjust the preamp gain in the ground reverse so
Is he changing the B+ voltage into the preamp section by changing the anode resistors (normally 100k) (ie making the preamp hotter or colder) ?
The fact that the preamp has been moved to a higher B+ node than stock, means you are moving away from the PR tone and getting closer to a DR (the PR and DR are essentially the same amp, but with the PR set up a little quieter and cleaner)
The stock PR B+ for the preamp is 240V, then next one along is 320V.
This is a large increase.

If you are happy with it, as I said ... great.

I also question by the Negative feedback resistor was changed from 2700 to 100K.
What this change does is basically give you no NFB which will causes the signal (sound) to get more edgy/spikey, which may explain why you didn't like the sound with the stock speaker and needed a duller sounding speaker like the modern Jensen C10N (IIRC that is what you now have in it)
relaxing alternative to doing actual work ...

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Re: 1979 Fender Princeton

Post by HNB » Sat May 06, 2017 8:42 pm

It was a machine that worked like a pot. It had adjustments where you could adjust resistance in 10's, 100's etc to be able to find the resistor value that had the sound with the speaker that I liked best. Once we determined the value, he soldered a resistor there. The adjustments didn't change the breakup with the stock or new speaker, but it change the tone to slightly louder and a bit more bass and mid. (Fuller?) He used the dials to let me hear stock value to different values. I don't know circuits better or I could probably be of more help. It was just one resistor that was changed. I got to hear the amp through four different speakers (the stock and three other ones) and picked the one that I thought sounded best. I still have the stock one, but it was pretty tinny even at stock value. (Sounded kind of ice picky and lacked bass.) Could have just been a bad speaker though.
Christopher
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Re: 1979 Fender Princeton

Post by HNB » Sat May 06, 2017 8:45 pm

All the above adjustments was just the negative feedback loop resistor. I reread his notes. I don't think any of the anode resistor values were changed.
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Re: 1979 Fender Princeton

Post by sookwinder » Sat May 06, 2017 8:52 pm

as I said... if you are happy wit the sound of the PR then that is all that matter.
I personally live the PR and amps in general that run 10" speakers !
relaxing alternative to doing actual work ...

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Re: 1979 Fender Princeton

Post by Despot » Mon May 08, 2017 2:19 am

Glad this worked out for you - they really are the perfect amp volume wise (Princetons, as opposed to PRs which are just that little bit louder).

I love my PR - and it gets a lot of use. But when I'm at home and I just want to plug in without irritating the neighbour downstairs, it's the Princeton I reach for.

As much as I have always loved my Swart, I have to admit that I haven't turned it on in months...

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