Fender Princeton ???

[Mark]

Being a Plumbing contractor I go to a lot of homes. So I was at a house and setting between some boxes in the garage was a Fender Princeton amp I wasnt able to see the entire front but Im sure it is an older one but just how old I dont know but from the look I did get it is probably 60-70 era. I plan to check it out tommorrow. Ive also checked Princetons out on the net and obviously the older the better but I figure if I can get it for say a hundred bux or so it might be fun to bring her back and get it dialed in and have an old classic to compliment my nice new shiny Vox AD50vt. Anyone have any experience with these any opinions?

[ZoSo65]

Hell, I would say if you could get it for under a $100, your in!!!!,,,,A buddy I work with has one, not sure how old it is, but the chorus pots where creating a ton of static, even if he didn't use it,,,anyhoo, I re-soldered everything for him and it cleaned it up a lot, but every so often he get's the same noise/static,,,just need to replace the pots for the chourus which is a "gotta order it through fender thing", BUT, I found out how to get by without getting it from Fender, just gotta make a bracket up to hold the pot, and it's really easy, found the info on the web,,,,I think I bookmarked it,,if so I'll post it.
Other then that, the amp sounds great, especially for a non-tube amp,,made some mods to it so he could get a little more head room out of it, and it works great!!!!
As of right now he slaves it to a Fender Dyna-Touch III Deluxe 900, which is also a non tube amp, it sounds friggin awesome though!!!
Actually it was one of my choices when I was deciding on an amp.


ZoSo

[Spudman***]

The silverface Princetons from the mid to late 1970's are kind of blah. I still have mine and hardly ever use it. There is a mod for them called the "prince o' wails" or "prince of wails" that is pretty good. Turns it into a very usable amp. It replaces the speaker and some other stuff. I can't remember off hand who does it. Just Google it. The 70's silverfaces are not talked of in good terms mostly. People are pretty disappointed by them yet they still go for major $'s. I think the amp sounds better when the speaker is bypassed and you use an extension cabinet.

If it is a blackface then you have an amp that will resale for $600 on up depending on condition and who sees your ad. Highly collectible. If it is tweed...I'll be right there. Very rare.

I hope you have found a gem. It's quite a thrill when you do.
Best wishes.

[Mark]

I didnt get to see the cloth but I could swear the knob panel was black. Ill update ya tommorrow.

[warren0728]

good luck mark....maybe you could barter for it....then it would only cost you your time (which is definately worth something).

I have bartered quite a bit with my business (creative services - photography, web design and print media). The car i am driving today was bartered for a logo for an upstart business and my new fender acoustic guitar with a maple quilt top was bartered for the recreation of a logo where the client had lost the digital file.

ww

[Robert****]

Hi Mark, welcome by the way, great you could join. I agree with Spudman, if you find a tweed Princeton, wow! They are fantastic, but the "newer" ones not as exciting.

[Mark]

Hey there Robert, sorry to hear of your dads passing. Your sites have been very helpfull as I start getting back into playing. Many thanks!! On to my big find well its a strike out! So happens to be a late 90's Princeton Chorus actually in pretty good shape and I can have it for a hundred dollars. But since I have my Vox I debate buying it and then seeing if I could get maybe 150-200 for it to help re-coop the price of my Strat that as we speak sits in some cold dark dreary Fedex truck or terminal not being played till it finds its new home here tommorrow. Waitin is the hardest part. So excuse me Ill get back to waiting .............

Update Im not sure of the year as all the info I find doesnt cover this one as it is a Princeton chorus but it has the red knobs is made in the US and has serial # LO121118 either way its not the tube type I had hoped for.

[Spudman***]

Mark
I'd skip that one as far as a keeper. You might be able to make a little $ reselling it but I've seen that amp in a lot of pawn shops so I think it is pretty common and not much market for it.
My $.02 worth.