How to restore a Fender Princeton tube guitar amp Fix Reverb Crash dead Tremolo the works!

This Blackface Fender Princeton came all the way from Hawaii for total restoration. And boy did it need it. About the only thing left was the output tranny and controls! You would wonder, is it worth the repair cost? Well take a look at the going resale price. This is an original, very desirable piece. I really enjoyed the repair. Lots of cool problems to solve. As you know D-Lab loves challenges. Now this amp is ready for another 50 years of service. I have a whole line up of projects to present. Spread the word, D-Lab is on a roll! I have narrowed down my service targets to Classic tube amps and select Ham tube type radios. Had to, since the demand is much higher than the time I have available. Hope you understand.

[@guydouglas6094]

Good repair/rebuild - very thorough. From Hawaii - tropical climate there to play havoc with hot amp and high humidity.

[@dougtaylor7724]

We repaired the amp and we’ve rebuilt Tony as well. He’s been up on the rack getting a new valve, tubes cleaned out and the doctor said he pulled out the death cap just in time. Ok, hit it Tony!

[@benmace597]

Really like the wood holder you built to hold amps while you work on them.

[@JamesE707]

It is a very satisfying feeling when you have repaired something complex. A sense of control, and continual learning process - well done sir!

[@jpalberthoward9]

Duane Allman had one of those in his Muscle Shoals days. It's on most of the Wilson Pickett, Clarence Carter, Boz Scaggs, and other soul/R&B sessions he did before he started the Allman Brothers Band.

[@faultlessguitarsandamps1116]

Hi Terry . I have had the exact same reverb noise problem on a customers boutique am amp , it sounded identical . And it took me ages to come to the conclusion that it was the transformer . I'd replaced all of the reverb circuit passive components and tube , plus many other parts too before a new transformer was the only thing left to change . And that was a good hole repair ..Best regards Tony .

[@DeathCapAmplification]

Man every time I hear a Princeton come back to life like this, it just sounds so freakin good. Nice job on the electrical restoration Terry. I learned a couple cool tips on this one. Thanks as always for the great videos. Keep em coming!

[@rciancia]

That was a great fix..... You have created a new episode of Hawaii-50 - Well done brother.

[@domperroud4014]

Good job Terry..also enjoyed the grill lite..

[@JamesE707]

A complete re-build, very nice work there!

[@petercornell2002]

Well caught, Terry. Great information to have. Thx

[@darthbubba866]

Great save, Terry; great proof of repair, Tony! 👍👌

[@ThePianoforever]

Another Princeton Reverb lives on for a few more additional decades.

[@renegade44040]

Another great repair video!

[@Bigjoedo66]

Another great tech tips repair video, Terry!!

[@michaeldowning796]

Great Job as usual Terry... Thank you

[@GregsGarage]

He nailed it... That vibrato was STRONG!

[@vicmiller7191]

I am surprised you haven't gotten Tony to teach you some short rifts for testing. Sounds fabulous...

[@drew945101]

G,C,D. All day baby.

[@drewsollars2239]

Maybe an open tuning would sound cool for testing purposes? Might be nice to hear a little slide through these old beauties...

[@jdmccorful]

Looks and sounds good. Good job!

[@dlunsford1980]

The Hawaiian chocolate covered macadamia nuts are no joke!

[@johnsimms3957]

Good job Terry!

[@fredbach6039]

Nice work spottig the reverb transformer. Fixed plenty of Fender amps when I worked for the dealership but I never saw that one before. But then again, it's pretty moist in Hawaii. I lived in dry old Alberta.

[@kendavis8046]

WAY back while I was in college circa 1980, I was in a band where one of the guitarists had a Princeton. He actually had it "re-cabinet-ed" into a custom shell made by a local cabinet shop, all birds' eye maple. It was a thing of beauty. Also sounded incredibly good. Those were and remain great amps. Oh, and the other guitar player (we had two of them) had a combo made by a then relatively obscure boutique manufacturer, Mesa Boogie (which ironically was an evolution of the Princeton.) Both were 1 x 12's that would absolutely cut through the mix on leads. But the fellow with the Mesa had to always carry extra tubes to gigs, because those amps had issues that apparently continue to this day with tubes being burned out. EDIT: Oh, and you have hopefully already gone to one of the big box stores and bought that igniter for your gas-grill! :-)

[@theguitaramptech]

Another great video Terry. Kudos on thinking about the reverb drive transformer. For a simple circuit, that is one brain-twister of a problem. Love your thought process.

[@sinjab5908]

These videos are awesome thanks!

[@MrVasile]

Stray Cat Strut...you rock, Tony!

[@michaelhager4270]

I had that snap crackle fire sound in a 71 Deluxe reverb and thought it was bad plate resistors. It took me ages to figure out it was the reverb transformer arcing. I wish you had made this video 5 yearss ago, it would have saved me a lot of head scratching haha. Love your work mate, cheers from Australia

[@Guitarjosii]

Last night I had this dream that it would be my job to test all the great amps you fix in your videos. It was a nice dream, ha ha. Keep it up and greetings from Germany :)

[@ferraridinoman]

Nice one Young Terry!

[@SwanseaTitanFan]

Another great job.

[@roberthurless4615]

Terry, Terry, he’s our man. If he can’t play it, Tony can. Lol

[@stephensaines7100]

You're an excellent tech! Many would have missed the clue from the pwr xfrmr short (odd in itself) to rvb optx primary. Very good detective work. One now has to wonder on the main OPTX if it's prone to shorting. Nothing like having a heavy metal guitar player thrashing the amp to find out, albeit...on second thoughts...just bench test it on a dummy load at full power. That amp is sweet. Btw! Oversizing that extra cap hole to accept the washer, and using it for a variable bias was sheer genius. Looks like it was built that way. I'm subscribed!

[@f.k.burnham8491]

Neat trick with the washer. You can also find metal snap in plugs that come in various diameters.

[@stephensaines7100]

Yes, but he'd still have to true the hole, which he did with chassis punch, you can see the tell-tale marks on the chassis. That washer was already center-punched, and the end job looks like something from the factory. I'd add a flow of super-glue in the crevice on the top of the chassis to ensure nothing buzzes, and just to give it an extra finished look, as well as add strength. A domed screw-on cover for that bias pot would also be a nice touch, don't know if they're still available. 'In the old days' we'd add a dob of wax or varnish to 'lock' the setting on the pot, then screw on the dome cover. Once set, you don't want anyone but a tech changing it, or a player who knows what to do when installing new tubes or resetting bias as they age. I really enjoyed this vid!

[@adelina1980]

Sounds great! :)

[@alancardoz3577]

I wish you were in Mumbai India or I was wherever you are ... would love to learn a lot of this type of work.

[@daveogarf]

I thought it was a Rectumfier tube... (BRAVO, Tony!) But never mind that - THE SNOZZERAMUS is BACK! Back to save the amp from imminent destruction!

[@stephensaines7100]

My first glance was that was a 5AR4, but they might be building replacement 5U4s nowadays with smaller envelopes.

[@technicalmasternadimji9008]

Yes I am from India I respect to everyone for ideal life. 🤝🤲

[@richardbrobeck2384]

salt air I have seen rusted outlets and switches in houses there

[@tomk1tl39]

Again, nice job Terry........I have Princeton Reverb and they are great amps......unfortunately, mine is a RI and on a PC board...yuk !

[@steffenbrix]

Hey Terry 💥 awesome videos... I have a Fender Super Reverb, Silverface I would love for you to optimize. But since I'm in Denmark it would probably cost the moon to ship back and forth 🙃 Brilliant channel. Keep it up. Love your Fender videos 💥

[@dhpbear2]

I'm wondering if the Output Transformer will be next :)

[@chrisbarnes8867]

Just my opinion: Over the past 30 years I’ve owned several amps. The Princeton is all you need.

[@stephensaines7100]

From an aging bass player, I agree! Especially with the new higher efficiency speakers, that amp is all you need. The reverb and tremolo are big boy quality.

[@Retro.Studio]

Terry great work again, 1Q: was it possible to re’use the “U” coded bracket of the reverb transformer?

My first buy with a lottery win will be a vintage Princeton Reverb.One day they will be more than $500-but money isn't worth a dime now......

[@djefferson5669]

Terry, if you have a shop guitar, you should just have someone put it in an open tuning for you to play.

[@glenndavis6793]

Beautiful sounding amp lotta issues though

[@hestheMaster]

It can get a little damp in Hawaii. Bad place to leave electronics outside even if it's not raining.

[@Andrew-ry7iw]

Looks like it was delivered by submarine 😅👍

[@voxpathfinder15r]

Teri, are 3 prong power cords really necessary in guitar amps? If the power transformer is operating properly, isn’t it basically acting as an isolation transformer? Therefore, no chance of electric shock to the player? Seems to me the only time a 3 prong would be beneficial for a short is if you are plugged into a GFCI outlet, if not the fuse in the amp or the fuse box in the electrical panel will kick in even with two prongs

[@tsyde2008]

Hey Terry, nice amp chassis support you got there. Did you make it? Got plans?

[@yrulooknatme]

i have one of those solid state. reverb not worky. they don't have a transformer like that? when i tap on tank I hear springs. volume pot actuates.seems like the signals not being fed to the tank? got a suggestion on that?

[@daniesahshele3179]

Do you restore or repair peavey stereo chorus amps.?? I have a 1987 model we're down until april of next year.i need to get my amp looked at there are things that need to be fixed. Thanks.

[@ingmarwaffenstrat3449]

Hello Terry, nice job as usual, i was thinking myself about a little trick you could do to enhance your amp repair video endings. If you send me an email, i can send you dry recording guitar that you could inject in the amp with almost everything (at an instrument level) and end the repair with an idea of the amp sound etc.

[@y_x2]

You change most capacitor why not the 2 last blue cap?

[@MaxStax1]

Maybe dabs of silicon where the wires enter the transformers would help keep out high humidity moisture from the inside.

[@stephensaines7100]

Once a short has happened, it leaves carbon tracks. You can go in and clean it all out, very carefully not to break the affected windings, and 'dope' the shorted areas with an anti-arc compound (from the old TV HV days..."anti-corona dope") but it's a meticulous job, and very difficult to guarantee the work after. As he says (gist) "For twenty bucks for the replacement, why fool around?". If it were mine, I'd try and save the xfmr, but for anyone else, I'd replace it.

[@MaxStax1]

@@stephensaines7100 I meant doing that on the replacement transformer to help prevent the same thing happening in the first place in the future. Sounds like the area it came from may be near the sea air high humidity coast.

[@carolegoldby5019]

Hi D Lab, can you possibly help me. I watch your repair on a Fender Princetron 65 DSP amp, I have one with the very same fault. When the amp gets hot after half an hour it goes off. Watching what you have done, I changed the Capacitors 200 mf 2200mf 50v, and the 2 diodes , I also repaired the circuit boards and used me meter to traced that I have soldered the joints correctly. When I turned the amp on it blew the fuse. What Have I Done Wrong. I live on Mallorca nobody can repair amplifiers here.

[@georgeescaped6035]

cost of shipping, new power transformer, new rectifier tube , labor and other parts WOW.. might have been less expensive to buy a new amp!

[@stratcat4450]

A great condition blackface princeton will always be worth whatever you have to put into it. The owner could sell it for whatever asking price is every day of the week.

[@georgeescaped6035]

@@stratcat4450 yeah i have a 67 band master that needs to be upgraded local guy said $250.00 for the work

[@stratcat4450]

@@georgeescaped6035 got to keep these great old amps alive. A serviced grandmaster has got to be at least worth a grand these days.

[@jeancaballero3813]

Amigo necesito el diagrama de una planta de guitarra peavey. Esta barda por un integrad

[@scottbc31h22]

Bad power trans. and bad reverb trans. I would have a very close look at the output transformer.

[@bmwilson79]

Hi, Terry. Love your videos! Do you sell or give away components you remove from the board? If not, could I mail you some self-addressed, stamped envelopes and $$ for certain values of blue molded caps taken out of old fender amps?

[@Retro.Studio]

Hahahha yesssssss SNOZZARAMMUZ is back!

[@1967250s]

Excellent! I am wondering: where do you buy yourvarious components, caps, resisitors, pots? I have some old tube radios to recap. Thankx!

[@ericheder777]

3 chords Terry. And the truth. That’s all you need.

[@russellesimonetta3835]

Or an open e or d tuning and instant guitar player.

[@ericheder777]

Russell E Simonetta true. Or an open G, that way he can jam some Stones stuff.

[@russellesimonetta3835]

@@ericheder777 I'm a student of tunings. I've learned everything from Kottke's six and twelve. Open c is the easiest for learning patterns.

[@alissonpereira8120]

Gostaria de aprender também eletronica podes me dar umas aulas

[@f.k.burnham8491]

As badly warped as the terminal board is, I'd put a sheet of fish paper under the board.

[@stephensaines7100]

There's already a layer of fish paper under the terminal layer. Clearly visible at :41. That (and most other Fenders. Marshalls, Traynors et al) would have shorted to the chassis long ago otherwise.

[@kasakka]

Love the videos but please check your audio levels. There seems to be some clipping happening with the audio on some of your recent videos.

[@olradguy]

Ghoulardi, ha,ha,ha, WJW's tv's best.

[@petaks01]

Interesting failures on this one

[@russellesimonetta3835]

That amp has a nasty case of tweeditis.

[@pedrolourenco2707]

a lot of ghouls come from Portugal? wtf does that mean? AM I a ghoul?

[@kayciecarryl3366]

How about tuning your to an E chord. Then you can sound like you know what you're doing.

[@voxpathfinder15r]

Hey mail me those bad transformers, I Will rewire them

[@Retro.Studio]

Hey buddy nice to have some good contacts where do you live in this world? Cheers R