Fender Princeton Abuse

This original Princeton came to me having been modified to more of a Deluxe Tweed which is a completely different type of circuit. The customer asked me to restore it to it's original glory.

[@bvfgfvbgch4853]

Brilliant. I watched from start to finish and subscribed.

[@7171jay]

Really nice restoration !!! The only negative thing in my opinion was drilling into the control panel to add the Standby switch which is intrusive and pretty useless in spite of the owner thinking he "needs" it. The electronic work and the back panel looks great and the amp sounds wonderful. Would have been cool to hear the amp pushed into some tweedy distortion. What kind of 10" speaker did you end up going with?

[@borg3575]

I didn't want to add the standby switch but he has no intention of selling it so he didn't care if it was modified. The speaker is a Jensen P10R-F. It a new design.

[@VesaGuardian]

I could immediately from the get-go see and hear that we have a master at work here. Subscribed in a heartbeat!

[@jpalberthoward9]

Mine is an August '56. (FH on the tube chart) I've had it since 1988. People yell at me when I tell them that I added a bypass cap to the second stage of the 12AX7 and disconnected the negative feedback loop. That makes it really kick ass for harmonica as well. The cabinet on that one looks way better than mine, but that's OK. Mine is ugly enough that nobody wants to steal it. People are weird. when they see it, they hold their noses and get out cans of disinfectant. (It doesn't smell bad, I think modern people smell with their eyes,) They don't want me to bring it into the house, then they hear it, and try to buy it from me for 5 times what I paid for it. There's scene in "La Bamba" where the sax player sees Richie's Tweed Champ: 'What the hell is that?" "It's my amp" 'That looks like something somebody threw away" "Yeah, well it's mine now" The next time mine changes hands will be at my estate sale. I just hope whoever has it after I'm gone will understand it and appreciate it.

[@borg3575]

The mods you made are easily reversed. What's the big deal? Is yours the 5F2 circuit?

[@jpalberthoward9]

@@borg3575 3 solder joints. 2 on the cap and 1 on the feedback wire. it takes maybe 15 minutes, including taking the back off of the cabinet and heating up the iron . It's the 5F2A without the choke. I don't understand modern people. i think most of them are nuts. Besides, it sounds way better with the extra gain in the preamp from the cap, and not having the negative feedback opens it up and makes more sustain. Rolling back the guitar's volume control or playing with less right hand attack makes it sound stock again. i think most collectors are weirdos.

[@MichaelForbes-xp8fv]

That’s my amp! And it sounds great!

[@alanpecherer5705]

I might have implemented the standby switch using an on-off-on 3 position toggle switch on the AC mains so as to avoid any drilling on the panel.

[@borg3575]

I think you are right. With a DPDT on-off-on I think it could work.

[@borg3575]

Only issue is the momentary disconnect of the power transformer when switching from stand by to on. I can't seem to find an off-on-on DPDT rated high enough for the B+ though. Although that would be ideal.

[@alanpecherer5705]

@@borg3575 I fully recognize, you will not find an adequately rated DPDT. switch. You can find a 240 volt but not a 350-400 volt one. I think the issue is less with a tube rectifier rather than diodes, hopefully with a rough and tumble 5Y3 vs a pansy GZ34. And if you think about it, when the B+ switch is running +350 and the AC side swings to negative volts you really have a huge voltage differential. I'd still try to resist drilling the panel. Maybe switch to an inline fuseholder and take over the fusepost hole with your stby switch. My activites in tube amp building/repair world mostly date from the 60's and 70's, we never thought much about drilling new holes. Now its sacrilege!

[@alanpecherer5705]

@@borg3575 The other possible solution would be to use a WIDE (and expensive) 4PDT switch and use the widely separated outer terminals only. Costly, maybe you can find a surplus one. But at least you're probably gonna find a high-quality Cutler Hammer or Carling switch instead of a chinesium one. You're still outside the ratings, there's no question about it.

[@borg3575]

@@alanpecherer5705 I completely understand the sentiment.

[@iplayloud2]

Let's be honest a diode-rectified Deluxe with a 12" speaker was a much more giggable amp, before that box became collectable.

[@alanpecherer5705]

I find it sort of curious how Fender never had a 12" dual-6L6 40 watt amp until the 80's. And even those were Riveras, I think. I converted numbers of Princetons and Deluxes (yes, silverface ones) to 40 watt during the 80's. They usually turned into killer little amps. I unfortunately had a Princeton Rev and Deluxe Rev burn up in the No California fires of 2017/2018. I built an extra gain stage into that little Princeton and it had trannies from a Dynaco Mark 4. That amp was one little bastard of a badass amp.

[@jonnybeck6723]

Thanx for this... You got my sub... Cheerios (but not the cereal)

[@garypannone7755]

WoW Great Video and you do it all. I just subscribed your videos are very interesting.

[@FLmxer]

Awesome. Very cool project.

[@jaysorensenIBEW]

Not too shabby. Kudos, sir👍

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

Great stuff, which 10" did you decide on putting in it?

[@borg3575]

The speaker is a Jensen P10R-F. It's a new speaker modified to sound more like the vintage Fender amps. Thus the "F" in the model. This was also the customer's decision although I didn't disagree with his choice.

[@trickfall8752]

Excellent

[@roboravitz5572]

😮this narrator sounds like "Brad Paisley"

[@borg3575]

I had to listen to Paisley interview to find out if this was compliment or a slam. He sounds OK to me. Probably knows more about amps too.