Upgrade to RI '65 Princeton Reverb??

[duhvoodooman]

I currently own a nice Fender Blues Junior amp that I bought used a couple of years ago. But I just came across a guy selling an essentially brand new RI '65 Princeton Reverb amp on the local Craigslist:


http://albany.craigslist.org/msg/1487214665.html

I've read a lot of nice things about the RI amp--has a reputation of really nailing that Blackface clean tone. He's asking $675 but the wording in the listing suggests he'd take less. They go for $900 new pretty much everywhere. I'd definitely have to get rid of the Blues Junior if I went for this, but it seems like a nice upgrade.

Just wondered what you guys think?

[piebaldpython]

At first blush I say GO FOR IT!! Especially if it will give you the sound that you want.

That being said.....the watts between the Blues Jr and the Princeton are the same. Both are tube driven. I was surprised to see the Princeton is a 10" speaker, as IIRC the BJR is 12". Essentially, they are similar animals and hopefully the Princeton will be a serious upgrade in quality over the BJR.

So, I guess the question is.......is the difference in the amps "drastic" enough to warrant the expense......AND.......will it be a "one-trick" pony (it nails Blackface)? OTP's are fine if you plan to spend the majority of your playing with that one-trick.

IIRC, the BJR does a good job of sounding well over a variety of playing styles.

Keep us posted.

[sumitomo]

Or you could build some 5e3 guts to go into the blues jr!Sumi:D

[markb]

At first blush I say GO FOR IT!! Especially if it will give you the sound that you want.

That being said.....the watts between the Blues Jr and the Princeton are the same. Both are tube driven. I was surprised to see the Princeton is a 10" speaker, as IIRC the BJR is 12". Essentially, they are similar animals and hopefully the Princeton will be a serious upgrade in quality over the BJR.

So, I guess the question is.......is the difference in the amps "drastic" enough to warrant the expense......AND.......will it be a "one-trick" pony (it nails Blackface)? OTP's are fine if you plan to spend the majority of your playing with that one-trick.

IIRC, the BJR does a good job of sounding well over a variety of playing styles.

Keep us posted.

I'd say they are very different sounding amps. The BJr leans a bit towards a tweed tone (a bit, I said) with more midrange and an aggressive power tube breakup. The PRRI is pure blackface, more scooped (but not as much as a Twin) and with a smoother power tube overdrive. I won't even bother mentioning the preamp drive on the BJr because that gets us into an apples and oranges situation (and preamp drive is just fuzz anyway).

[otaypanky]

I have both and they are quite different amps. I sometimes wonder why I have both, and one or the other can be my preference, depending on the day and the guitar used. But there are some differences that are more constant. The PRRI gets flabby on the bottom quickly. The tone was gorgeous at low volume but the amp broke up way too soon for my tastes. My NOS tweed Jr with the stock speaker holds together much better. I replaced the tubes in the PRRI with a set of gold pin JJ's. Nice tone, but the early break up was no better. Bias adjustments didn't help. I switched out the baffle board in favor of a 12" with maybe a slight improvement, but it's not what I was hoping for.
My next thought was changing the transformers, but I realized I was trying to make something out of the PRRI that it's not. So I kind of quit trying. It's good at what it does.

The PRRI has great tone at low volume, hi and lo powered inputs, and tremelo. The Jr holds together on the low end better, has master and main volume controls, and a Fat setting that can be button or foot switchable.
The guitar used makes a big difference. Certain guitars are an obvious match up with one or the other. Just when you think you love one amp more than the other, you plug in a different guitar and now the other amp is the favorite.
They are similar enough to make you wonder why have both, but they are different enough that you want both, does that make sense? LOL
But after this long wordy post, it's the PRRI that is my most often played amp for home use and weekly band practices.

[Spudman]

I put an alnico 10 inch into my Princeton and it helped a lot with the flabby bottom end at higher volumes. Still not perfect but lots better any way. Maybe another different speaker would help with that. But ya it's a mid scooped amp for sure. Maybe a bit like a Twin Reverb without the bleeding ear syndrome.

[Tone2TheBone]

I'd keep the Junior.

[tunghaichuan]

As I posted in the other thread, if you want to upgrade, I'd look for a Silverface Princeton Reverb. The Reissues may nail the BF tone, but aren't built as well as an SF amp.

tung

[Spudman]

I'm with T2B. I think if those are your choices I'd keep the Jr. What really makes the Princeton sound good is an expensive Celestion Gold 10 inch speaker and I don't think they are cheap.

[duhvoodooman]

Thanks, all. You guys convinced me--not going to rush into this for now.