Fender 64 Custom Handwired Amp Shootout - Princeton Reverb Versus Deluxe Reverb

Fender 64 Deluxe Reverb Custom Handwired, Pine cab, Jensen C12Q 12" Speaker, all RCA old stock preamp tubes and RCA Blackplate 6V6GT power tubes, Mullard (Great Brittain NOS) 5AR4 4 notch rectifier
Fender 64 Princeton Reverb Custom Handwired, Jensen P10R 10" speaker, Pine cab, RCA 12AX7A in V1. EH Preamp tubes elsewhere. JJ 6V6 power tubes.
Drive Pedal: Vemuram Jan Ray
Vertex Clean boost VII on clean solos

[@JTMP12]

Your videos keep making me buy new amps…😃

[@gair1944]

I apologize and you’re welcome?😉 what’s new or next for you?

[@user-lg6ye1jx7v]

The “little boy” 64 is more pleasant for my ears, sounds balanced. Bug surprise for me. The deluxe is bigger sounding. Great demo again.

[@gair1944]

Thanks for watching. So you preferred the 64 Princeton? I love it too.

[@user-lg6ye1jx7v]

@@gair1944 For only home playing I think, the 64 Princeton is better choice. My sensitive ears liking the low volume playing situations. For gigs no question the "Big Boy" is the right answer.

[@gair1944]

@@user-lg6ye1jx7v I agree and I do some gigs where the Princeton is still 'more than I need' and its easier to carry.

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

..back for another listen to those little beauties and your funky attack style Guitar playing...what a treat. One Man and his passion for Music, priceless!

[@chrisv924]

that hand wired Deluxe is really outstanding!!! The Princeton sounds excellent, but i prefer the Deluxe! Great comparison videos you’re ma king :)

[@gair1944]

Thanks for the kind words. I agree the Deluxe is the one! I let go of the Princeton.

[@markslist1542]

A very impressive, well-done, and satisfactory, review of those two amps. Thank you.

[@gair1944]

Thank you. I'm glad it was helpful. I always wanted to know how they would stack up side-by-side too.

[@dave64k]

Nice video Gary. For me the Princeton just seems a bit fuller/wider, especially when you hit that top E. I'd normally look for a 12" speaker for a bit more low end but that 10" seems to work really well.

[@adam6ism]

Magic 👍

[@benmcgurk1]

Really nice review. Nice melodic playing. Both sound great. Both very organic sounding as is that Tele. Good stuff.

[@gair1944]

Thanks!

[@garretfox7807]

Beautiful playing and great video!

[@tonezilla7077]

I have the hand wired champ and it’s amazing. I now want the deluxe reverb for more head room and versatility. Appreciate your videos

[@gair1944]

Thanks for watching. The 64 Handwired Deluxe is more robust in terms of overall fullness and it does have more clean headroom at gig volume for me.

[@kmjansen]

Beautiful playing!

[@gair1944]

Thank you!

[@kbanderson7102]

The tone is great for the non-studio set up. and great playing-

[@gair1944]

Thanks very much.

[@everglass]

Thank you the great demos! Looking forward to hearing the RCA tubes. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m curious about the noise of both circuits. How did you find the (idle) noise of each when comparing the two? Many thanks!

[@mikefull8330]

Have I told you lately that I love you... Really nice job Gary. Deluxe Reverb here I come.

[@gair1944]

Haha! Cool!

[@scottverni8333]

Ahhh the shootout that was bound to happen !! Both sound great , the Deluxe sounds little fuller less mids. The Princeton has a touch more mid push , maybe it’s just speaker difference coming through. If I needed more headroom I’d use a Deluxe. Otherwise the Princeton is my first grab Looking forward to hear the Princeton broken in and retubed!

[@gair1944]

I agree the Princeton has more midrange. If I was not comparing side by side the Princeton would always make me extremely happy. In ways it is actually more balanced than the Deluxe. But this deluxe has some magical sparkle and harmonic sweetness that is so satisfying. Both are great. I can’t wait to get the RCA’s and an old stock British Mullard rectifier in the Princeton!

[@johnmirabile3535]

THAT DELUXE! AMAZING! BOTH BUT THE BIG BOY TAKES THE TITLE! VERY CLOSE THOUGH!

[@gair1944]

I agree and let go of the Princeton Reverb. Kept the Deluxe

[@user-lg6ye1jx7v]

Amazing, You absolutely give back tha amp in room feeling. I am very close to buying HW 64 Princeton Reverb, and this presentation helps a lot to make the final decision. Yor CS telecaster sounds great. What color is ?

[@germanjdevalcarcel7150]

And the fun continues …

[@anthonyrichard461]

Love both hard to decide

[@gair1944]

I actually sold the 64 Princeton Reverb in favor of the 64 Deluxe Reverb Handwired.

[@anthonyrichard461]

@@gair1944 I have a 72 Princeton Reverb with upgraded speaker and a mid 70's Deluxe Reverb. The Deluxe gets loud real fast like on 3-4 but rocks. I had an original 65 Deluxe Reverb but got rid of it cause someone offered me crazy money for it. I also own 4 original Tweed Deluxes that I love. 1949, 1951, 1954 and a 59/60. Hehe!

[@gair1944]

@@anthonyrichard461 Yeah, you kind of have the basses covered. Laughs!! Nice collection sir!!

[@thecappy]

Own both, prefer the deluxe.

[@billsstudio2528]

I have the 64 HW Deluxe. Love it. Think I’m gonna get the 64 HW Princeton to complement. The Princeton tends to cut a bit with that 10 inch. Stereo!

[@007snipershot]

Same here and I also have an original 1964 Super Reverb so I guess getting the 64 Princeton would round off my collection just fine! Finally after 61 years. Lol

[@Paul_Atreides7276]

Both are great but the PR has always been my favorite. A bit boxy sure, but so charming.

[@realitynuggets6204]

Can play my Princeton clone longer with less ear fatigue than the Deluxe. The Deluxe delivers a bit more visceral "feel it in the chest" thumping than the Princeton. You need both. The Princeton stays in the smaller room :-)

[@alohamark3025]

I was wondering how much of a difference swapping out the factory preamp tubes with the old stock RCA blackplate tubes makes? To do a fair test, you might need to match the transconductance of each tube (vintage vs. modern). I haven't compared the schematics of the new vs. old amps to see what changes Fender made to adapt the current power tubes to the more robust tubes of the past. Wouldn't you need to rebias the amp for the operating characteristics of different power tubes?

[@gair1944]

Yes, the amp needs to be biased for any change in power tubes. I’ve come to believe that strong new power tubes sound just fine. Are old RCA’s sweeter in some ways? Yeah probably. But nobody listening will know the difference. That’s for the “player”.

[@jdmoney1000]

Very good presentation here. You got a really nice sound out of that Princeton using your telecaster. Do you still endorse and sign off on the hand wired Princeton after having it for a while? Very nice playing as well…

[@gair1944]

Hey Uncle Sally, I actually let go of the 64 Princeton Reverb. It was absolutely great. But I prefer the fullness, greater headroom and voice of the 64 Deluxe Reverb.

[@jdmoney1000]

@@gair1944 Yeah hopefully I don’t feel the same way when I get mine next week… I am a little bit unsure about a 10 inch speaker amplifier… I guess that’s why they have a 30 day return policy at most big box stores…

[@gair1944]

@@jdmoney1000 It very much outperforms its size. That 10" is full ,rich and loud. But if you have the 64 Deluxe Reverb handwired, the Princeton is a bit less capable for some of the larger venues and events I play. I think you'll love the 64 Princeton Reverb handwired.

[@TapioHaanpera]

@@jdmoney1000 How did you like the Princeton 64?

[@jdmoney1000]

@@TapioHaanpera Overall I’m very happy with it. Sounds a lot smoother compared to my 1971 silver face. I think it’s worth the extra money for the hand wired thing if you can afford it… It’s not essential but, there does seem to be a little more magic to this amp. And for home recording I unplug the 10 inch speaker and plug the amp into a 12 inch isolated cabinet. Sounds really good for recording. I am more of a hard rock guy and have been using an old school rat distortion pedal combined with a boss SD1 overdrive… it’s a pretty impressive combination if you’re looking for that type of sound… So, overall I would recommend it and I plan on keeping it…

[@jimmyjams1974]

Well done! If you could only have one and would be mic’d most of the time? I have a typical cover gig of 250 people. Would you choose the deluxe?

[@gair1944]

Yes the deluxe works be my choice because it still gives a fuller stage Volume.

[@jimmyjams1974]

@@gair1944 Thanks for the reply. DO you think the Princeton could gig like 100-150 people adn then be mic'd? I am renting a backline deluxe sometimes for the one bigger gig per year but most stuff I would play would be less than 250 and I am guessing mic'd most of the time. I Las have a copter x I could use with it. I have a Gilmore 25 but am wondering how close these are to that. I am thinking of selling my helix and just having the two amps.

[@jimmyjams1974]

I need a goo base sound that I can use some pedals with. Compressor, Couple of OD's (Nobels mini, Ts mini, pantheon) and a halo delay. Trying to decide if the Princeton is enough.

[@jimmyjams1974]

I am really liking the midrange of the Princeton to be honest. I guess different speaker in the deluxe could give that though as well.

[@gair1944]

@@jimmyjams1974 it depends. What level of clean headroom do you for stage volume or will you also have guitar in a monitor mix? If the latter, yes it will be enough. The 64 Princeton is sweet. Just know it breaks up when you get it around 4-5. Then it just gets a bit squishier the more you push it. I wouldn’t choose the deluxe for those larger shoes. If I could only have one, I’d choose the Deluxe.

[@sergethiriet3740]

So witch one do you prefer?

[@gair1944]

They are both completely Satisfying. If I could only choose one, It would be the Deluxe. But this a Princeton will get played a lot!

[@azcharlie2009]

My wife brought home a "Princeton 65" a year or so ago... It has reverb.. I just about shit my pants... I thought it was a "65 Princeton"... They are different unfortunately... The "Princeton 65" sounds wonderful, but it is a transistor amp... Not the tube 65 Princeton Reverb... God bless her though. She only paid $35 for it... (-:

[@gair1944]

Great story ands thoughtful wife

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

You.are a lucky Man, my Mrs used to attack my guitars saying "you love that thing more than me"! .

[@smoochie3331]

Buy the originals the price is not that much different and they sounds great.

[@gair1944]

If you find a great one that you love, sure. But I am happy I don't have to worry about a cap job or the other challenges 60 year old amps are often faced with.

[@ColocasiaCorm]

4:07 5:10

[@ColocasiaCorm]

princeton sounds more balanced but sounds smaller/has less low end. although when i tested the princeton in person it had too much low end. so who knows!!

[@gair1944]

@@ColocasiaCorm It has a huge low end that surprised me as well.

[@LATBauerdick]

Gary, your playing is as beautiful as the comparison videos are useful to me -- thank you! I am coming back to the guitar after not playing for 30 years and am looking for the right amp for me (my old amp, tape echo etc somehow got lost in the past decades...). Both the Deluxe and the Princeton are high on my list, I am looking for a clean tone and I love how you make your Tele sound. Did I hear the Princeton start to break up with the bridge PU? How much more headroom at comparable volume dose the Deluxe have over the Princeton? Thank you for these wonderful videos

[@gair1944]

Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad this was useful. The Peter Florence Voodoo TE60 bridge pick up is on the hotter side of some tele pickups. So when I dig in and push the Princeton or Deluxe with the Bridge PU, it get can some nice dirty break up by attacking harder or it can clean up with a lighter touch. Yes, you heard some natural amp edge of breakup. For many of us, that is exactly what we want. PA: I do feel the Deluxe has more clean headroom but not a lot. It's more a matter of staying clean with a fullness that the Princeton at times cannot compete with. All depends on your needs. I play solo and duo shows most. So I am not competing with drums or a dense music mix. If you're playing alone at home mostly, the Princeton Reverb is excellent. Very musical and sweet.