Welcome to the family:
Fender 68 Custom Princeton Reverb.
Great little amp. I always loved the Dripedge aesthetic and knew I would get one of the 68 Custom line eventually… I thought it would be the Pro- Vibrolux- or the Deluxe Reverb… but I also heard great things about the Princeton and already missed two of them locally - so I HAD TO try this one. And so far I‘m pretty happy.
It came with an Eminence Ramrod speaker (and the stock one of course) that should already help a little with the Bass-heaviness (which still is kinda extreme).
But that‘s also the reason I got it - the Bassman tone-stack.
Downside: it‘s a bit noisy (hum).
At home I had an additional weird noise issue with the Reverb - which even increased the hum-level. In the rehearsal room this issue was not present. Just the hum.
So, my Bassist got a new (guitar) combo - a 50 watt Mesa Boogie Caliber and also has a Bassman 100 that he wasn’t sure he HAD TO KEEP AT ALL COSTS anymore (he also has a Fender Studio Bass and a Mesa Boogie Carbine M9)
And I too wanted to thin out the herd a bit…my Supersonic 4x12 doesn‘t get much use as the other cabs and a Bassman 100 could possibly cover all my needs (decent Bass and guitar amp that would match my 2x15 Bassman cab - so that I possibly could replace both my Bandmaster and the 6G6-B Bassman clone)… or so I thought.
So we made a little Shootout!
This was the setup for round one:
Fender Vaporizer - Mesa Boogie Caliber - Fender 68 Custom Princeton Reverb
First just the combos - then with the three cabs (Echolette 1x12 with a Fane Speaker, Fender Supersonic 2x12 with Vintage30s and Tube Town (?) 1x15 with a Celestion Full Back)
VAPORIZER vs. PRINCETON
both 12 watts, roughly the same size factor while one is 2x10 and one is 1x10.
At home the Vaporizer is more quiet…especially when activating the Reverb.
And either is too loud for at home use.
The Vaporizer has this neat little drippy-Reverb-only trick and does THAT THING it does very well. When turned up the Vaporizer gets rather „boxy“ - even with an external cab it just lacks headroom - doesn‘t really get louder after 9 o‘clock - just more overdriven.
The Princeton has way more Reverb than I thought it had. Turning it up was nice. We pushed it up to 5 or 6… it is a good amp but (downside) a bit noisy and bass-heavy. It sounded great through either of the cabs.
CALIBER
Even though it has 50 watts - it‘s not very much louder than the Princeton. More clean headroom I suppose.
The Clean channel is very Fender-ish - so great cleans, great Reverb (unlike the Studio Dual Caliber head he also has) a great switchable EQ (I‘d use it as a boost) and a presence knob that is also very useful - but the Gain Channel?? I don‘t know. Not my cup of tea.
Also it has a lot possibilities and so it is also hard to dial in. The stock Celestion MC90 doesn‘t convince me either. It sounds better with the Vintage 30s or the Fane.
Round Two: Dripedge Bandmaster - Bassman 100 - Princeton Reverb
PRINCETON vs. BANDMASTER
they share the same aesthetics (some turquoise in the grillcloth, alu-frame, blue pilot light) and both have the vibrato that I never thought I would love so much.
The Bandmaster sounds WAY better and isn‘t as noisy.
More defined too. The Princeton is nice and while I think I could even play it in rehearsals or even live - it won‘t ever replace the Bandmaster.
BANDMASTER vs BASSMAN
The Bassman is bigger, heavier and due to the position of the transformer(s) also makes it unbalanced/uncomfortable to carry.
They both sound huge!!! (especially with the Bright switch on!) with either of the blonde cabs (the 1x15 isn‘t as loud and powerful as the 2x12 but with the volumes adjusted it was good to compare).
I didn‘t like the Fane speaker too much with the Bandmaster (too much BITE)
We kept the Bassman‘s Master at 10 so that it would be easier to compare them. Both great with the Surfy Bear/Trem or with Fuzz.
We later tried the Bassman with the EV215 cab and Bass.
The metal grill is a bit warped and rattles a bit… but it‘s a decent cab.
Next time we have to compare both amps on my 2x15 diagonal Bassman cab and/or his Fender 2x15 (bigger one… late 70s or 80s with the bass-reflex feature)
For now I went home with only my own and know nothing more than before regarding the question whether or not the Bassman could replace the 6G6-B AND the Bandmaster. But I think I HAVE TO keep the Bandmaster. It just sounds too sweet!
