1979 Fender Princeton

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 7:16 pm

Birth year amp for me.

I was thinking it would make a nice desktop amp that I could turn up a little louder than my big 12" amps and combos. From what I understand, these have less gain than a Princeton Reverb because it doesn't have the two gain stages. I am hoping it has a little natural overdrive. The seller says it does. If not, I always have my overdrive pedals.

It is all stock except a three prong plug. I am going to get it in to have the cap can and electrolytics replaced. Looks pretty clean overall.

1 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

2 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

3 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

4 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

westtexasred · Post by **westtexasred** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 12:02 am

Sweet amp! I used to have this a Princeton Reverb.I think it was around the same year as yours.

finboy · Post by **finboy** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 3:24 pm

I think Mike Campbell from tom petty and the heartbreakers uses a Princeton non-reverb live. I've never played one, but here they are a decent pedal platform because of the headroom.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Sun Apr 09, 2017 1:53 am

Amp came today and I am a little disappointed. Two of the knobs have broken pieces, some of the metal pieces are more tarnished than I was lead to believe by the pictures, the back tube cover is bowed in, the three prong cable has a weird taped up end, and the speaker has a rip in it that makes a buzzing noise when turned up. It sounds ok, but it is hard to judge with the speaker rip. The tremolo is actually pretty weak sounding. The knobs I can replaced I suppose and the metal parts are just cosmetic as is the back piece. What are your guys thoughts? I paid $850 including shipping. It was described as in "Excellent" condition.

http://reverb.com/item/4080481-fender- ... silverface

20170408_183513 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20170408_183526 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20170408_183542 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20170408_183519 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20170408_183446 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20170408_181858 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Sun Apr 09, 2017 10:06 am

It clearly isn't in excellent condition. Cosmetic issues aside, one of the main functioning parts of the amp (the speakers) is critically damaged. It isn't even in good condition. It doesn't work as you would expect an amp to work.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Sun Apr 09, 2017 2:25 pm

Yeah I second that, you paid a premium expecting excellent condition.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Sun Apr 09, 2017 3:08 pm

Seller only offered $50 partial refund so I am going to return it. I can't even get it repaired for that and a new speaker would be almost $100.....

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Sun Apr 09, 2017 3:23 pm

I guess offering to return for the full refund is the way to go? He is going to refund me $100 to either repair the speaker or buy a new one. I should be able to get the tremolo and power cable fixed when I get the cap can and electro's done.

George · Post by **George** » Sun Apr 09, 2017 4:36 pm

If it's got a new or repaired speaker it's going to be devalued if you sell it on, so even $100 is not enough.

I think you should take it back for a refund.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Sun Apr 09, 2017 8:15 pm

Yeah I'd just return it.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Sun Apr 09, 2017 9:08 pm

What the others said, plus, fuck this guy.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Mon Apr 10, 2017 12:09 am

Just dropped it off to be worked on at Velvetone. He said he can repair the little hole no biggie and will work on the rest of the stuff. One of the electrolytics had actually burst and one resistor so far was toast. He will replace the three prong with one not spliced, new knobs, repair the speaker, new cap can, new electrolytics, bias it, test all the other resistors and such to make sure they are within spec, clean the amp, glue some of the loose tolex, etc. Jeff is really attention and detail oriented so I know he will do a great job getting it all sorted out.

I was kind of put off by the seller trying to tell me things like "the amp turns on, so the power cable is fine" and "the amp sounded fine to me, I didn't think there was a speaker issue." Being fine and being done well/correct aren't the same really. (At least not to me.) Inside one of the electrolytics had actually popped. I am betting the seller never looked inside or he wouldn't have listed it as excellent.

The refund will cover the repair work so it should be ok. I will have to pay for the electrolytics and cap can, but I was going to do that anyways.

To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to boxing it up and having to drop it off to send back, but I didn't want to take a big money hit either. I think it was a fair compromise and the amp will be great when it is done. I could always buy a Weber speaker if I don't like the repaired stock one, but I trust Jeff and he thinks it will be great so I will wait and see. Changing the speaker isn't a huge deal to me. There are two other ones for sale on Ebay right now if I wanted to pick one up. These aren't the ones people tend to lust over. Not like they are those awesome Oxfords like in the Princeton Reverbs that go for huge cash.

I am excited to hear the sound difference when it is finished. Should be quite different considering the issues we saw inside.

Corsair · Post by **Corsair** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 7:09 am

I hope that all works out for you. However, I don't like people being deceptive when selling me something especially when there's a high amount of money involved and also the fact its vintage. He should have definitely been more up front about these issues and adjusted the price accordingly. I Don't understand the sellers logic, guitar noobs aren't in the market for these amps. Definitely more experienced players are more likely going to buy them and will notice the differences.
How were his ratings?

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 2:29 pm

Five stars with 96 ratings. I got my LE gold Jazzmaster from him the week before I got the amp. I am guessing the guy just didn't really look through it at all or he would have found those things. I am hoping ignorance was the cause vs deception. Either way, the amp should be done this weekend.

Post by **dots** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 3:28 pm

it may be repairable (even easily), but i don't buy something in "excellent condition" expecting to fix ANYTHING. you should have gotten at least $200 back if not returned it. he's being agreeable because he has to.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 3:34 pm

The only thing I was expecting to repair was the electrolytics which isn't a repair, but a maintenance thing. In the end, I think I will be happy with it. I paid $750 for it and the partial refund covers most of the updating and repair.

Not the best transaction I have had online, but I have had worse.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Wed Apr 12, 2017 3:38 pm

Like when I got my Champ that had a broken and spray-painted grill cloth and dead speaker. I made a new grill cloth frame and covered it and got a nice Weber speaker and now it is baddass. I guess I have a soft spot for stuff that needs to be fixed. Probably the modder in me.

Before

1 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

2 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

After

IMG_6542 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

IMG_6545 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 3:37 am

The work is all done and the amp is home. I ended up putting a Jensen C10Q in it. The stock speaker (even repaired) was too ice pickey for me. There were other mods done along with the repair work. Here is the list.

2017-04-17_08-30-47 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

New gut shot with the new can, capacitors, and a couple resistors.

20170417_160132 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

New speaker.

20170417_202708 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20170417_202737 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

All done!

20170417_202907 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

20170417_202721 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Sat Apr 22, 2017 12:04 am

Played it today just now for about an hour and tried all my different usual effects. (OP Amp Muff, Robot Devil, Total Spack Vibes, Menatone's The King, and DOD Gunslinger with and without my new Boss '63 Reverb pedal) It sounds great! I use it with volume at three, treble at 6.5, bass at 10, and normally tremolo off. It is exactly what I was hoping for. Not as loud as my big amps where I can only play them between 1 and 2 volume and not as trebly as my Champ can be because of the smaller speaker. I only used my Jazzy with the Novak WRHB pickups so far, but it sounds just like I hoped it would. Very happy. It is also pretty quiet considering it is right next to my computer and PS4.

My geeky setup.

20170421_165629 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr

singlepup · Post by **singlepup** » Sun Apr 23, 2017 4:38 am

Nice. Glad the situation worked out for you. Princetons are really beautiful amps when maintained properly.

I have a 78 Vibro Champ but wish it were a 79... that's my birth year as well!