Gitfiddler Posted July 24, 2014 Posted July 24, 2014 I don't know how I became so enamored with the line of 80's Rivera-era Fender amps, but over the last several years it just snuck up on me. Now I'm hooked. (Champ II; Super Champ; Concert and Princeton Reverb II) Not sure if it is the 'bang-for-buck' value of these special amps, or if it simply appeals to my cheap skate nature. Oh wait, that's redundant! I do know that I love good amp tones, and these babies have that in spades. Also, I find it hard to resist US made, high quality, point-to-point, hand wired Fender Blackface amps. Paul Rivera did an amazing job for Fender in the early to mid-80's before they foolishly let him go. The rest is history! My latest maneuver was to sell off a well used, but not abused Princeton Reverb II to a local jazz guitarist. I gave the amp a lot of TLC, new tubes, Emi Cannabis Rex speaker and a NOS Fender PRII cover. It looked so good I almost didn't sell it. But the tones fell a bit short of my taste and its gone. The buyer LOVES it for his old modified Gibson L4. He's a great player who should get many happy years with this great little grab and go amp. I missed that little amp. Seller's remorse kept me checking around for another PRII...Nothing got my attention...until now. Fast forward to the present. Last week I spotted another PRII for sale that was in almost like new condition PLUS it had the optional EVM12L speaker. The price was well below current market, plus the seller agreed to free shipping! I had to have it!! Last night it arrived and after re-installing the original (2) Fender (Smoked glass RCA or GE?) 6V6 tubes, (2) JJ 12AX7s and (1)12AT7, I cranked it up. WHOA BABY! That EV speaker sounded like Fender cleans tones from the gods! Thick bass, pristine highs, and sweet midrange!! This thing sounds nothing like the former PRII. Much sweeter on all levels. Even the wife commented on how great it sounds. She is a pro singer with an amazing ear. Bottom line...Tone Monster in the house!! KEEPER!! Plus, she's easy on the eyes!
davesultra Posted July 24, 2014 Posted July 24, 2014 I had one of those but with the regular Fender speaker. Not quite sure why the hell I sold it. That was about 10-12 years ago. Nice snag, and a HNFAD!
Vanschoyck Posted July 24, 2014 Posted July 24, 2014 I've heard lots of good things about those. EV speakers are great if you like to strain the amp but not the speaker.
JeffB Posted July 24, 2014 Posted July 24, 2014 Totally get the fascination. Nice score. The Rivera Fenders arent so available over here and when they do turn up theyre unrealistically priced. What ever that means. Probably means Im a cheapskate.
Gitfiddler Posted July 24, 2014 Author Posted July 24, 2014 I've heard lots of good things about those. EV speakers are great if you like to strain the amp but not the speaker. True. I like the 12" EV much more than the 10" Force model that came in the Super Champs. I put one in my Champ II and it's loud, but not as refined as an Emi Ragin Cajun.
RhoadsScholar Posted July 26, 2014 Posted July 26, 2014 Huge fan of the Rivera era fenders. I use a concert as my number one. Wish I never sold the princeton reverb II. Eventually, I would love to get one of each flavor while they are still affordable (unlike their blackface era counter parts). On second thought, everyone should stay away from these amps for a years until I can aquire a few more . Nice score and that one appears to be in mint shape congrads.
Hfan Posted July 26, 2014 Posted July 26, 2014 I don't know how I became so enamored with the line of 80's Rivera-era Fender amps, but over the last several years it just snuck up on me. Now I'm hooked. (Champ II; Super Champ; Concert and Princeton Reverb II) Not sure if it is the 'bang-for-buck' value of these special amps, or if it simply appeals to my cheap skate nature. Oh wait, that's redundant! I do know that I love good amp tones, and these babies have that in spades. Also, I find it hard to resist US made, high quality, point-to-point, hand wired Fender Blackface amps. Paul Rivera did an amazing job for Fender in the early to mid-80's before they foolishly let him go. The rest is history! My latest maneuver was to sell off a well used, but not abused Princeton Reverb II to a local jazz guitarist. I gave the amp a lot of TLC, new tubes, Emi Cannabis Rex speaker and a NOS Fender PRII cover. It looked so good I almost didn't sell it. But the tones fell a bit short of my taste and its gone. The buyer LOVES it for his old modified Gibson L4. He's a great player who should get many happy years with this great little grab and go amp. I missed that little amp. Seller's remorse kept me checking around for another PRII...Nothing got my attention...until now. Fast forward to the present. Last week I spotted another PRII for sale that was in almost like new condition PLUS it had the optional EVM12L speaker. The price was well below current market, plus the seller agreed to free shipping! I had to have it!! Last night it arrived and after re-installing the original (2) Fender (Smoked glass RCA or GE?) 6V6 tubes, (2) JJ 12AX7s and (1)12AT7, I cranked it up. WHOA BABY! That EV speaker sounded like Fender cleans tones from the gods! Thick bass, pristine highs, and sweet midrange!! This thing sounds nothing like the former PRII. Much sweeter on all levels. Even the wife commented on how great it sounds. She is a pro singer with an amazing ear. Bottom line...Tone Monster in the house!! KEEPER!! Plus, she's easy on the eyes! Holy cow, it looks like new and with original tubes? Great score. These things still pop up used for reasonable coin. Another member here (Jeff?) used to post about his traveling with him for many years without a hiccup. What's the lead level pot do? Gain levels?
barrymclark Posted July 26, 2014 Posted July 26, 2014 I have become enamored with the Princeton. Never played one of these though.
Gitfiddler Posted July 26, 2014 Author Posted July 26, 2014 Holy cow, it looks like new and with original tubes? Great score. These things still pop up used for reasonable coin. Another member here (Jeff?) used to post about his traveling with him for many years without a hiccup. What's the lead level pot do? Gain levels? Hfan~ This is a two channel amp...Clean & Overdrive. Pull out the Vol. pot to switch from Clean to OD. Then the Lead Level pot is engaged. Even without switching to the Gain channel, the amp can be driven into OD via the Vol. control by turning it past 5. Then control the volume with the Master Vol. to sweeten to taste. Even pushing the Midrange past 6 or pulling the knob out for Mid-Boost pushed the amp into another level of OD. Tons of knob twisting options. Some users never explore what these amps can do and give up. But like Boogies, the tone rewards come to the patient and those willing to explore the possibilities. Rivera era Fenders were the first channel switching amps of the brand. The PRII has 3 gain stages!! Very cool stuff. Here's some interesting reading material about this and other Rivera-era amps: http://www.stratopastor.org.uk/strato/amps/prii/PRII_hub.html
Hfan Posted July 26, 2014 Posted July 26, 2014 Hfan~ This is a two channel amp...Clean & Overdrive. Pull out the Vol. pot to switch from Clean to OD. Then the Lead Level pot is engaged. Even without switching to the Gain channel, the amp can be driven into OD via the Vol. control by turning it past 5. Then control the volume with the Master Vol. to sweeten to taste. Even pushing the Midrange past 6 or pulling the knob out for Mid-Boost pushed the amp into another level of OD. Tons of knob twisting options. Some users never explore what these amps can do and give up. But like Boogies, the tone rewards come to the patient and those willing to explore the possibilities. Rivera era Fenders were the first channel switching amps of the brand. The PRII has 3 gain stages!! Very cool stuff. Here's some interesting reading material about this and other Rivera-era amps: http://www.stratopastor.org.uk/strato/amps/prii/PRII_hub.html Thanks for the link Gitfiddler. I'll be reading up on them. They do pop up around here on CL. There was a guy with a Concert I believe with 4 10" speakers. He originally had it listed as a 60s Blackface at $1,200, I actually e mailed him just to tell him it wasn't a 60s, got a nasty reply ha ha. The ad evolved and eventually the price dropped to $400. Then this minty looking 84 Twin II popped up today on CL. I already have an old Twin and just bought DB's YGM3 Traynor but it looks cool. I need to keep off CL ha ha. http://cnj.en.craigslist.org/msg/4562610321.html
Hfan Posted July 26, 2014 Posted July 26, 2014 Great site there Gitfiddler, I was going to ask about output wattage but I see it's 22w.
Gitfiddler Posted July 26, 2014 Author Posted July 26, 2014 A 4x10 Concert with a price drop to only $400 is a steal! That's how much (or little) I paid for my 1x12 Concert. Best deal ever for a quality 60 watt tone monster! This latest PRII score with EV speaker is a LOUD little grab n go amp. I'm done with amp purchases!!
rockabilly69 Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 I had a Princeton II with a Weber Feromax speaker. It was a very good amp, with a little more modern high gain added in.
Spectrum13 Posted July 27, 2014 Posted July 27, 2014 A 4x10 Concert with a price drop to only $400 is a steal! That's how much (or little) I paid for my 1x12 Concert. Best deal ever for a quality 60 watt tone monster! This latest PRII score with EV speaker is a LOUD little grab n go amp. I'm done with amp purchases!! Really? How about some Vox, Ampeg and Marshal to extend the spectrum.
Gitfiddler Posted July 27, 2014 Author Posted July 27, 2014 Really? How about some Vox, Ampeg and Marshal to extend the spectrum. You really want my wife to put me out, don't you!
Gianluca Posted July 31, 2014 Posted July 31, 2014 Congrats on your PR II, I agree those Rivera amps are great, I'm the owner of a Montreux which is just fine, not a tube amp but the job is well done for me. Last year I decided it was time for checking health and status, I had the speaker needed to be swapped and mounted a Celestion V30(I kept the original) which gave it a warmer voice to the amp. 2 years ago I had to look for two ICs implementing analog switches and got the reverb back and 1<->2 channel switching fixed because it was gone. Finding those ICs was a challenge, they were obseleted Texas Intruments' so I had to search the web accurately for alternates/replicas, but found them on littlediod.com and thanks to the Fender vintage customer care they sent me the circuit schematiks and components list and all the technical docs they could. That let my techinacian have a deep introspection of the amp. It's a great amp, I use it with 1990 LP Classic 1960(humbuckers), ES135 using P100s and my wonderful H535Custom, when I tap the H535 PUs and get the single coils the amp does a better job imHo, feels like it's more for single coils PUs. The 2nd-channel natural overdrive is warm as you want it to be with a wide tone range and type of saturated sound goes from warm to rough and cut. Great amps ciao, Gianluca
Gianluca Posted July 31, 2014 Posted July 31, 2014 ...and this pic is when I got it back home and happily play it ciao, Gianluca
Gitfiddler Posted July 31, 2014 Author Posted July 31, 2014 Gianluca~ This is the first I've heard of the Fender Montreaux amp. Looks like you've got a rare bird solid state Rivera-era Fender. Cool stuff! I found a bit of information about this and a couple of other solid state amps made under the guidance of Paul Rivera. http://www.stratopastor.org.uk/strato/amps/twoseriessolidstatefenders/twoseriessolidstatefenders.html
Gianluca Posted August 8, 2014 Posted August 8, 2014 Gitfiddler: thanks for linking to that cool page indeed it is a bit rare and It's loud and heavy too
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