Custom '68 Princeton Reverb vs Vintage Amps I've Owned

[takeittothemall]

I've only been able to spend a couple hours of quality time with it, but so far my reaction is that this little thing is flat out awesome for at-home playing.

I've had three different '65 blackface reissues, all of which turned me off due to their inherent stiffness, ice-pickiness, and unwillingness to break up. Since those reissues, I've devoted myself mostly to vintage blackface and silverface amps. With the exception of a 1966 Bassman I had, this amp definitely has more body than I am used to in traditional Fenders. The cleans aren't super sparkley, but rather chewy and full. With my Strat, the cleans are a very close approximation of the cleans I've always idolized from bands like Built To Spill, Yo La Tengo, and Pavement.

The amp is very responsive to knob turning. The range of the reverb allows for some more out-there sounds, but below 4 the reverb is classsically Fender. The tremolo is better than any vintage Fender I've owned--including a brownface Vibrolux that hypothetically should beat the pants off a modern day, PCB, hecho en Mexico amplifier. The speed and depth both have tons of highly usable range.

The amp operates extremely quietly, even when cranked. The break-up is smooth, with, to my ear, a lot of volume coming between 5 and 10 on the volume knob, which is not necessarily good or bad, but not what I expected.

In short, thus far I applaud Fender for a job well done. While this amp won't replace my mainstay blackfaced 74 Deluxe Reverb, which provides me the prototypical Fender scoop and sparkle, this amp is good enough and different enough that between the two amps, I don't see myself amp shopping for quite a while.

Two thumbs up. If you buy used or on-sale, great value for the money.

[takeittothemall]

[garyfanclub]

Great write-up.

I've had my eye on the '68 Vibrolux reissue for a few months now. Still waffling back and forth on whether to go with one of those, or with an original SF Vibrolux (about the same price). Seems to be all the things I like about a SR, without the enormous size/weight. The local Sam Ash has a Deluxe Reverb, which sounds great, and if that's any indication, I'm sure the VR sounds just as good.

Currently have a '76 Twin, which was great when I was playing out, but is way the hell too much for home use. Not to mention, it sounds pretty stiff at less-than-blistering volumes.

[Arthon]

I've had my eye on the '68 Vibrolux reissue for a few months now. Still waffling back and forth on whether to go with one of those, or with an original SF Vibrolux (about the same price). Seems to be all the things I like about a SR, without the enormous size/weight. The local Sam Ash has a Deluxe Reverb, which sounds great, and if that's any indication, I'm sure the VR sounds just as good.

I have a '68 Vibrolux rerverb and I had two '65 PRRI. I sold my last 65' PRRI because I needed more clean headroom for my band, but it was a mistake. The PRRI sounds so much better (I am not in the band anymore...). Maybe it's a thing of 6V6 vs 6L6, but the Princeton reverb was so much more dynamic and expressive. The reverb was also better. I am convinced that people dont like the '65 PRRI because of the standard Jensen speaker. With a better speaker, I never found a more pleasing amp (and I have a original 1967 blackface Vibrochamp).

For the '68 Vibrolux, it's not a bad amp, but it's alot less responsive and more dry. The thing that bug me the most is that the amp comes alive on 4 on the volume knob (lifeless before that) but crunch at 5. It's very difficult to adjust a great sound with it. I have put Webers speaker in it; it was more alive at low volume with the originals Celestion speakers, but It crunched earlier too.

Those '68 Princeton Reverb are great all around amp; I still prefer the '65 reissue for the sparkles and reverb (more lush).

[garyfanclub]

I've had my eye on the '68 Vibrolux reissue for a few months now. Still waffling back and forth on whether to go with one of those, or with an original SF Vibrolux (about the same price). Seems to be all the things I like about a SR, without the enormous size/weight. The local Sam Ash has a Deluxe Reverb, which sounds great, and if that's any indication, I'm sure the VR sounds just as good.

I have a '68 Vibrolux rerverb and I had two '65 PRRI. I sold my last 65' PRRI because I needed more clean headroom for my band, but it was a mistake. The PRRI sounds so much better (I am not in the band anymore...). Maybe it's a thing of 6V6 vs 6L6, but the Princeton reverb was so much more dynamic and expressive. The reverb was also better. I am convinced that people dont like the '65 PRRI because of the standard Jensen speaker. With a better speaker, I never found a more pleasing amp (and I have a original 1967 blackface Vibrochamp).

For the '68 Vibrolux, it's not a bad amp, but it's alot less responsive and more dry. The thing that bug me the most is that the amp comes alive on 4 on the volume knob (lifeless before that) but crunch at 5. It's very difficult to adjust a great sound with it. I have put Webers speaker in it; it was more alive at low volume with the originals Celestion speakers, but It crunched earlier too.

Those '68 Princeton Reverb are great all around amp; I still prefer the '65 reissue for the sparkles and reverb (more lush).

Thanks - that's good to know. Maybe I'll see about tracking down and old one and skip the hunt for a reissue.

[takeittothemall]

I've had my eye on the '68 Vibrolux reissue for a few months now. Still waffling back and forth on whether to go with one of those, or with an original SF Vibrolux (about the same price). Seems to be all the things I like about a SR, without the enormous size/weight. The local Sam Ash has a Deluxe Reverb, which sounds great, and if that's any indication, I'm sure the VR sounds just as good.

I have a '68 Vibrolux rerverb and I had two '65 PRRI. I sold my last 65' PRRI because I needed more clean headroom for my band, but it was a mistake. The PRRI sounds so much better (I am not in the band anymore...). Maybe it's a thing of 6V6 vs 6L6, but the Princeton reverb was so much more dynamic and expressive. The reverb was also better. I am convinced that people dont like the '65 PRRI because of the standard Jensen speaker. With a better speaker, I never found a more pleasing amp (and I have a original 1967 blackface Vibrochamp).

For the '68 Vibrolux, it's not a bad amp, but it's alot less responsive and more dry. The thing that bug me the most is that the amp comes alive on 4 on the volume knob (lifeless before that) but crunch at 5. It's very difficult to adjust a great sound with it. I have put Webers speaker in it; it was more alive at low volume with the originals Celestion speakers, but It crunched earlier too.

Those '68 Princeton Reverb are great all around amp; I still prefer the '65 reissue for the sparkles and reverb (more lush).

I've had a TRRI, DRRI, and SRRI, but never the PRRI. I did try a PRRI for a few hours once and concluded that it suffered from the same stiffness. I imagine that a speaker upgrade would work wonders.

[shoule79]

I've liked the 68 Deluxe and Princeton Reverbs i've tried. They are actually what I demo new guitars/pedals with in stores, if available. Probably my favorite major brand, off the shelf tube amps at the moment.

That being said, i've owned a fair share of SF Fender over the years (currently still have a SFPR) and the 68 and 65's aren't quite there. Maybe I have to spend more time with them and play one with broken in speakers?

Re: Vibrolux Reverbs, I had a mid-70's one that was dead stock and in pristine shape. Stiffest sounding amp i've ever owned. Even after new tubes and a cap job it wasn't anywhere near the league of my other SF amps. I wanted to love it (perfect size, wattage and great trem), but couldn't get rid of it fast enough.

[garyfanclub]

I've liked the 68 Deluxe and Princeton Reverbs i've tried. They are actually what I demo new guitars/pedals with in stores, if available. Probably my favorite major brand, off the shelf tube amps at the moment.

That being said, i've owned a fair share of SF Fender over the years (currently still have a SFPR) and the 68 and 65's aren't quite there. Maybe I have to spend more time with them and play one with broken in speakers?

Re: Vibrolux Reverbs, I had a mid-70's one that was dead stock and in pristine shape. Stiffest sounding amp i've ever owned. Even after new tubes and a cap job it wasn't anywhere near the league of my other SF amps. I wanted to love it (perfect size, wattage and great trem), but couldn't get rid of it fast enough.

Yikes - that's disappointing. Guess I'll be sticking with my SFTR for the time being. Were the speakers in the VR stock?

[takeittothemall]

Oddly, I also had a silverface Vibrolux--a 1974 with ceramic Weber Ferromax speakers--that was the stiffest of any vintage amp I've owned. I've had multiple other 1974 amps that did not exhibit this characteristic, including a 1974 Super Reverb with original CTS alnicos that was the exact opposite--super chewy and smooth and definitely one of the best amps I've played. The only reason I parted with it was because it too much amp for my use.

[shoule79]

Yikes - that's disappointing. Guess I'll be sticking with my SFTR for the time being. Were the speakers in the VR stock?

Yeah, original Utah Alnico speakers. Other than the reverb tank the Vibrolux was stock, down to the tubes. Like I said, after a cap job and new tubes it didn't really improve. Even through an Eminence loaded 1x12 I had at the time no joy.

My amp tech said he could have modded it to be more to my liking (he had a godly sounding 69 Twin that I'd stupidly sold to a buddy in for service at the same time for reference), but I figured that after spending a lot of time and money chasing what I want it to sound like, I may still be disappointed.

Picked up my SFPR right after and it sounded right from the get go, even with an Eminence 75 watt speaker instead of the original (one positive of this is that it has no trouble keeping up with a loud drummer).

[adamrobertt]

Nice write up. I have the '68 DRRI and I also love it. My only issue with it is that it does have some idle hiss that I found annoying at first, but I've gotten over it. It isn't loud enough to be an actual issue, but was annoying when I was focusing on it/looking for it. Great sounding amp otherwise.

[Gswearengin]

I've only been able to spend a couple hours of quality time with it, but so far my reaction is that this little thing is flat out awesome for at-home playing.

Wow, you must be able to play a lot louder at home than I can, especially if you're getting it to break up! I fell in love with these amps, but ended up having to pass on it because it was just too much. I would have been playing through the quieter input with the volume and tone knobs at 2 to make it as quiet as possible, and still be worried about pissing people off!

Well, that and the fact that every one I played here was super noisy. And the fact that they go for stupid money here in Europe. Oh well...maybe if I ever move back to the US. I ended up with a Laney Lionheart L5t, which I'm very happy with. But the Fender stuff still feels more like home.

Anyway, 'gratz on the new amp! I'm jealous, in case you can't tell...

Gary

[lwatford]

I had one and loved it, but traded it away. I'd really love to have another, mine did break up earlier than the '65 RI that I had before it.

[Ursa Minor]

Big thumbs up for the 68RI PR! I usually gravitate towards those to try guitars out. I was very impressed when I gave one a go a few years ago. Much nicer sounding than the 65RIs I'd tried. I've a 72 at home which I can safely say is my desert island amp. The 68 was definitely in the ballpark. If I had to find a new one of get one for a backline I would not hesitate!