Fender Princeton Reverb 68 VS Vox AC15C1

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Unicorn Warrior
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Re: Fender Princeton Reverb 68 VS Vox AC15C1

Post by Unicorn Warrior » Sun Aug 28, 2016 9:56 pm

Having a Jaguar as my main guitar for a while, I would recommend the Fender and this is coming from a vox player. The fender you would be getting is just a better quality amp over the ac15s you're looking at. Unless you decide to get the HW version of course. I've owned a vintage Princeton in the past and can say that princetons are just a more versatile amp all around. Fender is a platform you can paint any color using your effects. That's not to say that the vox isn't versatile though. As someone said before, vox amps excel at producing some awesome searing high lead tones and some beautifully "sludgy" clean tones for lack of a better word. Voxes are picky about their dirt though. I use a rat and it works great.

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Larsongs
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Re: Fender Princeton Reverb 68 VS Vox AC15C1

Post by Larsongs » Sun Aug 28, 2016 10:55 pm

I read the back story in Vintage Guitar a while back about Vox & JMI Amps origins. USA Guitars & Amps were very scarce in England in the 50's & 60's. So Vox & JMI pretty much copied Fenders design for Amps. Same with Vox Guitars. The Teardrop was their Tele & the Phantom was their Strat. They even used Fender Parts on the early models.

I have Fender, Vox & Marshall Amps. They're all great Amps. As far as Vox Amps, to get the best Tone & Sound you want one with a Celestion Alnico Blue Speaker. They cost more but they are superior in sound & tone.

The Princeton 68 Reissue doesn't have the headroom of the Princeton Reverb RI. It's a matter of the sound you're going for.

I own an AC15CC1X with Blue & a RI Princeton Reverb.

Between the Princeton 68 RI & an AC15 with Blue Spkr. The AC15 will be more powerful & have more headroom + great Dirt with the Top Boost. The Princeton with 12 Watts & 10" Spkr breaks up earlier. Doesn't have the headroom at higher volumes like the Vox. The Vox has 15 Watts & 12" Spkr.

To say one is better than the other is purely opinion. Depends on the Player & what you play more than anything.

You gotta try them out.

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Re: Fender Princeton Reverb 68 VS Vox AC15C1

Post by cestlamort » Mon Aug 29, 2016 7:09 am

A Princeton will definitely get you to the Galaxie 500 reverb thing (although better with a Les Paul). My SFPR, however, has had trouble keeping up with a louder drummer (well, can still be heard but no longer clean at all). An AC15 is loud enough to play with other folks (until you get really loud). But the Princeton is one of my favorite sounds for a guitar.

To echo others here: Try both out and go with what you like better.

The PR will certainly be more money, but it's worth saving up for something you like better. You can find used AC15cc1/c1's for pretty cheap if you're patient. (Or you could probably track down a used Twin Reverb for around $500 and be set for any occasion. Well, more than set, actually). If you do go with the AC15, I'd plan to replace the reverb tank ($25) and tubes at some point. A blue (celestion, or a Weber ceramic even) is a great upgrade, too. (You can do this all yourself).

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Re: Fender Princeton Reverb 68 VS Vox AC15C1

Post by Larsongs » Mon Aug 29, 2016 1:33 pm

cestlamort wrote:A Princeton will definitely get you to the Galaxie 500 reverb thing (although better with a Les Paul). My SFPR, however, has had trouble keeping up with a louder drummer (well, can still be heard but no longer clean at all). An AC15 is loud enough to play with other folks (until you get really loud). But the Princeton is one of my favorite sounds for a guitar.

To echo others here: Try both out and go with what you like better.

The PR will certainly be more money, but it's worth saving up for something you like better. You can find used AC15cc1/c1's for pretty cheap if you're patient. (Or you could probably track down a used Twin Reverb for around $500 and be set for any occasion. Well, more than set, actually). If you do go with the AC15, I'd plan to replace the reverb tank ($25) and tubes at some point. A blue (celestion, or a Weber ceramic even) is a great upgrade, too. (You can do this all yourself).
Vox without the Celestion Alnico Blue Speaker are less expensive by a couple hundred bucks. They don't sound as good though. Some will say it's subjective. If you could find a used AC15CC1X (Blue Spkr) that would be great Amp but the rarely pop up. But the best thing for you to do is play both the new Vox's & the Princeton.

However the Princeton Reverb reissue will have more headroom & breakup later at higher volume than the Reissue 68's.

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