JAM Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 A chance meeting at my Dr’s. office last week led me to the owner of this 1973 Silverface Princeton Reverb Amp. The owner said he’s had it since ’81 and hasn’t used it much in the past year, so was considering placing it for sale on CL or eBay, but didn't wanna go through the hassle. Owner lives just a short distance from me, so I arranged to go over and look at it. He said in 2010 he had it re-capped, had the orig. Blue label 10” Oxford (10J4-5B w/ correct date code 1973) rebuilt and re-coned and installed all NOS RCA tubes (5u4gb, 6V6GT, 12AT7, 7025) – says tubes have less than 10 hrs. on them. Looked great, all tranny codes match, sounded really good. Visually, it’s an 8.5/10 (due to two small dents in the Tolex and a non-orig. repro Footswitch). Functionally, it’s a 10/10. Sounds great, incl. Reverb w/ orig. tank cover. Also came with orig. Amp cover. Plate Voltages measure 398/397 w/ Idle currents of 28.8/29.0 mA respectively. After a little bit of wriggling, we arrived at a number we were both happy with (several $Cs under Mkt. Price), and I brought it home to add to the collection. Also have a new 2014 Fender American Deluxe Ash Aged Cherry Burst Stratocaster on the way direct from Corona (friend works there), arriving in the next 14 days. So pretty excited to have this PR... can't wait to hear the new Strat through it ! Cheers! Jim
rockabilly69 Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 I like the ROCKAFELLOW stamp on the inside. Those are great amps, have fun with it!
schundog Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 Wow, that baby looks super clean! Congratulations. I, too, dig the Strat. Leo sure got it right with that design. Easily the most comfortable guitar to play, for me, ever built. Maybe I need to rethink my "I never go to the Doctor" theory.... You really aren't helping my Princeton GAS/Curiosity. Enjoy your new finds!
Billgelder Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 Welcome to the Princeton Club, you are going to love that amp.
Guest HRB853370 Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 Talk about freakin showroom condition, why cannot I get lucky like this!
fxdx99 Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 What a clean amp! Congrats. My friend has a '73 and it's a fantastic sounding amp.
Redsand Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 Thanks for inciting a GAS attack!! THATS A GREAT PAIR…..ENJOY!!!
Gitfiddler Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 That Princeton Reverb is a museum piece! Congratulations on a great score. And that Strat is sweet too!
tulk1 Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 I like the Silver Face Fenders! That is one gorgeous amp. Congrats on that steal of the day!!
JAM Posted February 13, 2014 Author Posted February 13, 2014 Talk about freakin showroom condition, why cannot I get lucky like this! Well, they're out there... remember, these are mass-produced amps. Lots of really clean ones still exist, I've proven that with the '67 blackface Deluxe I picked up a couple months ago and now this one. I think you need to know what you want, be ready to pounce once you see it (or walk away if you don't), then throw in a touch of Luck, Fate, Kizmet... whatever you wanna call it. In this case, the owner is also an MD and friend of my Cardiologist. He was visiting while I was there and my Dr. introduced us and told him I was a guitar player too. We were chatting and I mentioned the Deluxe I'd just gotten, how excited I was about finding it, when he brought up his PR. Said he wanted to sell it, but didn't have time to meet people and didn't want a bunch of 'Tire Kickers' traipsing through his house on his day off. I mentioned he could always consign it... or that I might be interested at the right price, based on condition. I think that's what did it... he didn't really need the $$ and my interest offered him a chance to to sell it quickly and cleanly. So we arranged for me to inspect, and ultimately, buy it. He knows he could have gotten more for it, but just didn't want all the hassle. cheers! Jim
slider313 Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 Nice score. That's in great condition. Is the chassis photo before or after the cap job?
JAM Posted February 13, 2014 Author Posted February 13, 2014 Nice score. That's in great condition. Is the chassis photo before or after the cap job? It's after... the day I brought the amp home - untouched, just opened it up to snap some photos. The Caps are pretty much no-names so far as I can tell. If it were me, I'd go with Sozos, F&Ts, Mil-spec carbon comps, etc. (USA/EU components ONLY - none of that India/China crap), like I did w/ my '67 Deluxe (see pics). '67 Fender Deluxe overhaul: But right now, it sounds really great as-is, so I'm not tampering with it for now. When the time comes, I'll upgrade the components as well as alter the Bias Balance circuit to include an adjustable pot. Probably add a 'Standby' circuit as well (this fits neatly where the useless Ground toggle is now). Cheers! Jim
slider313 Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 It looks like the Princeton never had a cap job. The white Mallory cathode caps are original and the twistlock power supply cans' solder joints look original. As far as no name coupling caps, the blue drops are made by Mallory.
slider313 Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 A little "tip" on the power supply caps in the Deluxe. I go with either a 20uf@500v or a 30uf@500v on the first node to the rectifier. A 475v cap in that spot may fall a bit short as the voltages can easily reach 500v coming off standby.
JAM Posted February 13, 2014 Author Posted February 13, 2014 A little "tip" on the power supply caps in the Deluxe. I go with either a 20uf@500v or a 30uf@500v on the first node to the rectifier. A 475v cap in that spot may fall a bit short as the voltages can easily reach 500v coming off standby. Appreciate the 'Heads Up' on the PS Caps, and generally, I agree with you. But, that's one of the reasons I use F&Ts, Sozos, and in a pinch Jupiters, exclusively. I've corresponded separately with each of these manufacturers who confirmed that they under-rate their caps by 15%, 20% & 15% respectively. That means a 475V rated F&T Cap is designed and tested to 550V, the Sozo 500V rated Caps are actually 600V caps and the 400V rated Jupiters are actually capable of 460V - continuous. The person at F&T said they under-rate them for both quality reasons and also because 550V is not an Industry Standard voltage. He also said that they will even warrantee a failure in a 550V designed circuit. By contrast, the OEM 450V Mallorys Fender used had a high failure rate at 430V. One tip for you - The Bias circuit calls for a 25uF 50V cap, but if you look at the schematic, it's a -55V circuit also subject to surges up to 100V from the rectifier coming off Standby. It's best to use a 25uF 100V cap (difficult, but not impossible, to source). This is not a Tone circuit and so little effect is heard from even using a 100uF 100V cap, which are easy to find. Cheers! Jim
RhoadsScholar Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 Very Clean..... One of the best amps (IMHO)..... Rock it
JAM Posted February 13, 2014 Author Posted February 13, 2014 It looks like the Princeton never had a cap job. The white Mallory cathode caps are original and the twistlock power supply cans' solder joints look original. As far as no name coupling caps, the blue drops are made by Mallory. The repair bill states all NOS parts. The Cap can was definitely replaced... very visible from the underside. The photo isn't the best, but in person, you can see all the new solder and such. I confirmed all components are in spec with a DMM and Capacitance meter when I opened it, also confirmed Idle current and Plate Voltages w/ my Bias-Rite. I have a high confidence level that the work stated on the bill was performed... then again, who can say for sure..?? Still, it sure doesn't sound like a tired 41 y.o. Amp Cheers! Jim
DetroitBlues Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 Nice combo of Fenders! In my opinion, low wattage amps really don't need standby switches...
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