Agree. I have a Diamond Tremolo ( phenomenal pedal ) to achieve a slower Trem. I loved this Mod. If I lived in Cali, I'd let her do my Princeton. She is very knowledgable.
I did that mod on a 1965 Princeton Reverb and the tremolo sounded great until I turned up the speed. Then it seemed to overload and not have tremolo at all. Come to find out it was a weak tube. I installed a new strong tube and the speed and depth of the tremolo is PERFECT! Thanks Colleen!
Great video! Here's my favorite trick for solder braid: if you want it to really suck away the solder like a sponge, first fan the braid out by pulling the sides gently, and then dab the braid with a liquid solder flux pen, so the wick absorbs the flux. You can let the flux dry in the braid for later use, too. The added flux will draw the solder into the braid with authority :)
if there is no solder wick at hand even the braid copper shielding from cables works. You just touch it with the hot iron over a piece of rosin and it gets impregnated and works a treat.
Wow. You don't really see people repairing these newer Fender amps. It's always the point-to-point wired amps that get shown. Thanks for putting this up! 🎸
I'm clearly in the minority in that I preferred the stock tremolo over the mod, but it's nice to know that this mod is so accessible and easy to perform.
I’m a simple man: I see a notification from Colleen’s channel, I stop working and watch the lady fix amps! After watching: 🤘 Nice work! That made such a nice difference. The tremolo tone is mellower as well as slower.
How great to see a very attractive lady amp tech who clearly knows her stuff. If I lived in LA I'd be in touch for a custom amp build. Regards from the UK🙂🙂🙂👍👍👍
I think you're the most accessible amp tech on UA-cam for complete beginners... everything is explained very clearly and I like the way you dont assume people already know. Thanks I'm so glad to have found this channel it gave me the confidence to repair my amp and now I just love to watch to get the knowledge about mods and good practice. Thanks so much for the videos and the great wealth of information within 👍👍
Nicely done; I remember Uncle Doug pointing out the 330K resistor mod a few years back, and it works like a charm. Deeper tremolo for guitarists is a little like 'more cowbell' for drummers...
Aye, a new tech taking credit for a more experienced tech like doug's work..I done this many a time over the years.. And it does help the newer techs...congrats to her.
@@waynewayne3709 , I hope I didn't appear to be belittling her in any way; I was just pointing that out. I believe UD if a fan of hers, and I wish her luck myself.
Your videos have always been great, but I’m really digging the major bump in production value! Tight edits, better image and sound, more detailed shots, you’ve got it all!
Awesome video! Love the wick method over for example air suction. You are amazing to brave the amp repair and mod world. Need more UA-cam videos like this and people like you.
Thanks Colleen, this video is the first I've found that explains the effect of changing values in the trem high pass filter components. I've used it to tune up my princeton clone. Thanks heaps!
Auntie Colleen, while you have that circuit board flipped up, might a well swap out those IC filter caps with some nice F+T's! I wish my hands were as steady as yours. Don't get old!
Dan, Russell I agree. Swapping the IC caps for F&T's is just a good idea. You're gonna do it sooner or later anyway and with the IC caps, it's probably sooner than later.
Excellent! On these fender pcbs I like using a big led light like you’d stick on a camera to backlight it so I can see the traces and front of the board. Clipping the resistors is SO MICH EASIER on pcbs. Smart!
I love the tremelo sound after. Big difference. Great Video 📸. Love the old amps. The have such an Organic Quality the new do not. Love your shirt 🙂🎽 Enjoy your videos!
Amazing! This sounds so incredible after your mod. I just got a 74 Twin Reverb and want to tweak its Tremelo. This was a great into in understanding how Fender’s circuits can work. (I recognize this is a different model and completely different era, but I’m just doing a widespread study, so this was still super helpful!)
Great vid, this is a must-have mod that I always use with my Princeton builds! BUT, I've had mixed results decreasing the resistor by too much--if the trem signal is too hot, it can cause unwanted distortion along with the oscillation. Another related tweak to try if you really want to take the trem to the next level is replacing the tremolo oscillator triode's cathode bypass cap AND resistor with an LED. Might sound crazy but it also increases the depth!
A red LED should give you a bias around 1.5v (generally) and it acts as a full bypass (think very big cap) and that's where the depth improvement comes in. The other bonus is it pulses in time with the tremolo. It could be mounted to the front panel as an indicator of sorts, or on the bottom side of the tube (for a pulsing tube effect).
Cool video. It's nice to see someone work on a modern PCB amp that isn't a nightmare to disassemble! The trem is way swampier now with the rate and depth modded. All we need now is John Fogerty to put his official seal of approval on it.
.....just noticed how you worked the screwdriver both hands taking the board out...I do that a lot....I imagine every tech out there does it eventually,not just music business either!
Love to watch you work your magic! Your hands move so gracefully around the circuits. I’m like a bull in the china cabinet, yanking, pulling and losing my mind all at the same time! I’m fixing my screwups more than actually doing the planned repairs. I tried to replace the battery in my iPhone and WOW! Sent that one to cellphone heaven. Love seeing the Boss in the videos! Looking forward to your next one.
I see that you have been reading your Gerald Weber books. Ha ha. These are my favorite 2 mods for a Princeton. I also like slowing down the trem on tweed vibrolux amps too.
I love my Princeton 68 reissue. I got it in a package deal for a motorcycle I had for sale…. I would never have bought one otherwise but what a great amp it is. I blast it in stereo thru my pedal board with my hot rod deluxe (or my dsl40c Marshall) and it really enhances my overall sound. A very worthy amp for classic rock too surprisingly! I set the bass nearly off and treble at 8…. with the volume around 4 it starts getttin’ busy🤘! I don’t use the tremolo a lot though it is cool. I do like the slower sound you get here, not sure I dare try it though lol. Thanks! Good stuff.
The stock setting on the tremolo speed is nearly useless for me. Too fast even at the slowest speed, so this is a very useful mod. You don't need to always notice that it's on, it can be a subtle pulsating kinda thing. I don't know if I've ever seen/heard anyone use the trem with the speed higher than halfway. It's a whole different effect then, like one of those useless settings on a cheap multi effects thing. Great stuff as always, even if I don't understand much of it!
This was fantastic. I just watched another Princeton upgrade-video from Psionic Audio in TN. I wish that I knew all this stuff. (I do all my own guitar & bass set-ups, fret work and intonation) This was so cool. Im jealous. Enjoyed your video. oNe LovE from NYC
Very cool. I totally heard what you intended. Plus, I love that you play the same thing on guitar in all your videos. The E major chord with the occasional addition of the G-natural with the pinky on the low E-string. I’ve started doing that when I’m getting my gear warmed up. You’re influencing me as a guitar player. I can’t say that you’re influencing me as an amp guy, because I can’t do any of what you do. But I’ve learned a lot from watching your videos. Thx, and keep it up.
Thanks for your excellent videos. I just did this mod on my PRRI tonight and it sounds great! I used a 330K and 0.02uF caps. Your video definitely took a bit of the how-to guesswork out of it and saved me a bit of headache.
Thank you for sharing. I have been fooling around with a twin reverb and both reverb and tremolo don't sound quite to me. Going to look for that R14 Thanks again c];-)
Recently found your channel. Great video in all aspects. My grandson has developed a fascination for guitars and now owns 6. One of which he is building himself. I would like to start a project with him, restoring an older amp. Your videos have given me confidence that we can do it! Any books or direction before starting?
The tremolo is always too fast. Uncle Doug and some others have the whole world realizing how much better slowing the tremolo sounds. I just doodle with electronics as a hobby and have slowed down several for my friends. Great video!
Great job. I've just as of late been trying to figure out and fix my amps, love your vids. I have a jcm 900 slx 100 watt and it just completely went down one day(the sound).I opened it up the other day just to see if maybe I could see anything and nothing looked burnt or broken , I found one fuse blown and I've replaced it, but I haven't gotten to see if it fixed it bec I need new tunes. Anyway love your videos and the wealth of information, thank you.
Thanks! I’ve been wanting to slow down the tremolo on a Blackface PR clone for a long time. Knew how to do it but was only going to replace one of the .01 caps with a .022. Clearly changing both caps is what I want! On my build the tremolo intensity is so strong no change is needed. May have to do with how I’ve biased the amp.
The original idea with amp tremolo was to emulate vibrato (a la Magnatone). Faster settings sound more like pitch modulation, so that’s how the circuits were configured. The Fender reissues aim to be faithful to those circuits…too much so IMO.
This is very cool, Colleen! A slowed down and rich, dreamy tremolo is one of my very favorite mods! About 3 months ago I bought a 1967 Deluxe Reverb, and I was happy to discover that someone, long ago, had done this mod. It sounds EPIC!
I have a mid 60s Princeton. I had it refreshed by someone experienced/qualified like you (proper grounding and a few other fix/mods). However/unfortunately, my dad replaced the Jensen speaker with some other off brand many years ago. (rather than getting it repaired/restored .. bummer). What would be a good replacement?
Timestamps for comparison
Before - 2:46
After - 8:57
The slower trem sounds much cooler. Love the intro!
Agree. I have a Diamond Tremolo ( phenomenal pedal ) to achieve a slower Trem. I loved this Mod. If I lived in Cali, I'd let her do my Princeton. She is very knowledgable.
yes it is🙌🙌🙌
I did that mod on a 1965 Princeton Reverb and the tremolo sounded great until I turned up the speed. Then it seemed to overload and not have tremolo at all. Come to find out it was a weak tube. I installed a new strong tube and the speed and depth of the tremolo is PERFECT! Thanks Colleen!
Great video! Here's my favorite trick for solder braid: if you want it to really suck away the solder like a sponge, first fan the braid out by pulling the sides gently, and then dab the braid with a liquid solder flux pen, so the wick absorbs the flux. You can let the flux dry in the braid for later use, too. The added flux will draw the solder into the braid with authority :)
if there is no solder wick at hand even the braid copper shielding from cables works. You just touch it with the hot iron over a piece of rosin and it gets impregnated and works a treat.
Thanks for the tips!!
@@ionut5350 Us frugal people use old RF cable braid.
Solder sucker works fine for me
That trem is now perfect Colleen
Wow. You don't really see people repairing these newer Fender amps. It's always the point-to-point wired amps that get shown. Thanks for putting this up! 🎸
I'm clearly in the minority in that I preferred the stock tremolo over the mod, but it's nice to know that this mod is so accessible and easy to perform.
I’m a simple man: I see a notification from Colleen’s channel, I stop working and watch the lady fix amps!
After watching: 🤘 Nice work! That made such a nice difference. The tremolo tone is mellower as well as slower.
You're a simple man who can't think of an original comment. Thats what you are.
@P J Pachasa Jr You sir, are living your life right! 😂
Clear, easy to follow. Well done.
Very nicely done. When I hear that low tremolo sound, I am reminded of the intro on CCR's Midnight Special song.
Same here! Classic tremolo!
How great to see a very attractive lady amp tech who clearly knows her stuff. If I lived in LA I'd be in touch for a custom amp build. Regards from the UK🙂🙂🙂👍👍👍
I think you're the most accessible amp tech on UA-cam for complete beginners... everything is explained very clearly and I like the way you dont assume people already know. Thanks I'm so glad to have found this channel it gave me the confidence to repair my amp and now I just love to watch to get the knowledge about mods and good practice. Thanks so much for the videos and the great wealth of information within 👍👍
Nicely done; I remember Uncle Doug pointing out the 330K resistor mod a few years back, and it works like a charm.
Deeper tremolo for guitarists is a little like 'more cowbell' for drummers...
Aye, a new tech taking credit for a more experienced tech like doug's work..I done this many a time over the years..
And it does help the newer techs...congrats to her.
@@waynewayne3709 ,
I hope I didn't appear to be belittling her in any way; I was just pointing that out. I believe UD if a fan of hers, and I wish her luck myself.
I've got a fever!
Love that Chicago accent coming through on “solder”.
“Sahdur”
Idk why but I always think of The Doors, Peace Frog for the intro of your videos! Love watching you. I have learned so much
I am so doing this to my Princeton. Thanks for the easy to follow guide!
This is a great mod for Fender amps. The sound of a deeper, slower Temelo is eminently more useful.
Not only did I learn about a cool mod, I learned about using a solder braid! Thanks
Your videos have always been great, but I’m really digging the major bump in production value! Tight edits, better image and sound, more detailed shots, you’ve got it all!
God Bless and Protect you for sharing your wisdom with us:)
Thair-a-pew-tic.....watching an accomplished master share these nuggets of experience and steady execution.
Dude. I totally feel like I could do this from memory with out watching the video again. Super-cool.
Awesome video! Love the wick method over for example air suction. You are amazing to brave the amp repair and mod world. Need more UA-cam videos like this and people like you.
Thanks Colleen, this video is the first I've found that explains the effect of changing values in the trem high pass filter components. I've used it to tune up my princeton clone. Thanks heaps!
Just did this mod - awesome! Thanks for making it seem so simple. I've always wanted a slower trem on my princeton - cheers!
Is there a kit you can buy with the two Caps and resistor? Want to do this on my 65 reissue Princeton. Cheers!
Excellent Miss Fazio. God bless
You know your way around the circuit board so well!
Thanks about the VERY NICE filming, that part when YOU did the UNSOLDER is very useful to me... thank YOU for all YOUR VIDEOS 🙏🏽👏🏽🙏🏽👏🏽🙏🏽👏🏽🙏🏽👏🏽
Very cool. Your soldering technique is impeccable!
Love your work and love that new intro! 🎵❤
I've got a 70s Princeton, already has depth changed now will slow it down thanks. Edit: did mid with some Mylar caps and worked great!
Mam,
Your soldering & de-soldering skills are awesome.
Nice amp dude. That pairs so nicely with P90s.
Auntie Colleen, while you have that circuit board flipped up, might a well swap out those IC filter caps with some nice F+T's!
I wish my hands were as steady as yours. Don't get old!
I second that. Dejunk that amp!!
Dan, Russell I agree. Swapping the IC caps for F&T's is just a good idea. You're gonna do it sooner or later anyway and with the IC caps, it's probably sooner than later.
Excellent! On these fender pcbs I like using a big led light like you’d stick on a camera to backlight it so I can see the traces and front of the board. Clipping the resistors is SO MICH EASIER on pcbs. Smart!
I love the tremelo sound after. Big difference. Great Video 📸. Love the old amps. The have such an Organic Quality the new do not. Love your shirt 🙂🎽 Enjoy your videos!
New intro is *chefs kiss*
I was getting sea sick with all that great trem. Thanks for sharing.
Amazing! This sounds so incredible after your mod.
I just got a 74 Twin Reverb and want to tweak its Tremelo. This was a great into in understanding how Fender’s circuits can work.
(I recognize this is a different model and completely different era, but I’m just doing a widespread study, so this was still super helpful!)
Great vid, this is a must-have mod that I always use with my Princeton builds! BUT, I've had mixed results decreasing the resistor by too much--if the trem signal is too hot, it can cause unwanted distortion along with the oscillation. Another related tweak to try if you really want to take the trem to the next level is replacing the tremolo oscillator triode's cathode bypass cap AND resistor with an LED. Might sound crazy but it also increases the depth!
A red LED should give you a bias around 1.5v (generally) and it acts as a full bypass (think very big cap) and that's where the depth improvement comes in. The other bonus is it pulses in time with the tremolo. It could be mounted to the front panel as an indicator of sorts, or on the bottom side of the tube (for a pulsing tube effect).
Does the term wear out the 6v6s faster? And do you think the stock weak tremolo was to not abuse the power tubes as much?
Excellent video. A very unique and more vintage vibe. Much more desirable.
I love soldering. I love the sound of the bubbling rosin core and the smell of the smoke.
In the morning Jason...or any time?
Get some F&T's in there Colerne....Good job!
Cool video. It's nice to see someone work on a modern PCB amp that isn't a nightmare to disassemble! The trem is way swampier now with the rate and depth modded. All we need now is John Fogerty to put his official seal of approval on it.
Just catching up on your videos.I think I was within the first 1500 or so subscribers,nice to see your channel doing so well👍
Nice job, very useful tips on the removal of the soldered components.
This is a sick mod.
Great video! That solder braid looks so much easier and cleaner to use over the those old sucker gizmos.
Thanks again Colleen!
Always packed with so much information!
Bob
.....just noticed how you worked the screwdriver both hands taking the board out...I do that a lot....I imagine every tech out there does it eventually,not just music business either!
Always better sounding with a slower trem
Love to watch you work your magic! Your hands move so gracefully around the circuits. I’m like a bull in the china cabinet, yanking, pulling and losing my mind all at the same time! I’m fixing my screwups more than actually doing the planned repairs. I tried to replace the battery in my iPhone and WOW! Sent that one to cellphone heaven. Love seeing the Boss in the videos! Looking forward to your next one.
Great vid Fazio ... I'm diggin' the tremolo ...
absolutely more usable than stock.
That is really a great mod and not too tough for some of us. Thanks for sharing.
Pleasantly surprised at seeing a beautiful 70's East German "Musima Record" semiacoustic on a wall calendar in LA! :-)
PC boards kinda suck but at least Fender mounted the tube sockets to the chassis rather than the board(s) themselves. Nice, useful mod, Colleen!
Beautiful! The amp sounds good too. And props to your apprentice/sidekick.
I see that you have been reading your Gerald Weber books. Ha ha. These are my favorite 2 mods for a Princeton. I also like slowing down the trem on tweed vibrolux amps too.
Nice to see work done on the newer boards.
Sweet mod and video, can’t wait to do the depth mod tomorrow! Had my old tech slow it down to “Leslie”-ish speed years ago. Thanks!
What a nice difference! The mod sounds soooooo much better.
You solder like a pro, like slower tremolo!
I love my Princeton 68 reissue. I got it in a package deal for a motorcycle I had for sale…. I would never have bought one otherwise but what a great amp it is. I blast it in stereo thru my pedal board with my hot rod deluxe (or my dsl40c Marshall) and it really enhances my overall sound. A very worthy amp for classic rock too surprisingly! I set the bass nearly off and treble at 8…. with the volume around 4 it starts getttin’ busy🤘! I don’t use the tremolo a lot though it is cool. I do like the slower sound you get here, not sure I dare try it though lol. Thanks! Good stuff.
The little dog is amazing!!
Excellent
Perfect !! It sounded really good !
The stock setting on the tremolo speed is nearly useless for me. Too fast even at the slowest speed, so this is a very useful mod. You don't need to always notice that it's on, it can be a subtle pulsating kinda thing. I don't know if I've ever seen/heard anyone use the trem with the speed higher than halfway. It's a whole different effect then, like one of those useless settings on a cheap multi effects thing. Great stuff as always, even if I don't understand much of it!
This was fantastic. I just watched another Princeton upgrade-video from Psionic Audio in TN. I wish that I knew all this stuff. (I do all my own guitar & bass set-ups, fret work and intonation)
This was so cool. Im jealous. Enjoyed your video. oNe LovE from NYC
Very cool. I totally heard what you intended. Plus, I love that you play the same thing on guitar in all your videos. The E major chord with the occasional addition of the G-natural with the pinky on the low E-string. I’ve started doing that when I’m getting my gear warmed up. You’re influencing me as a guitar player. I can’t say that you’re influencing me as an amp guy, because I can’t do any of what you do. But I’ve learned a lot from watching your videos. Thx, and keep it up.
Thanks for your excellent videos. I just did this mod on my PRRI tonight and it sounds great! I used a 330K and 0.02uF caps. Your video definitely took a bit of the how-to guesswork out of it and saved me a bit of headache.
Good mod! The tremolo is deeper & slower. The fast factory speed was unusable for most players & very shallow.
Sounds way better
Well that new sound is just lovely.
Thanks for showing your work, great video, thanks.
wow, sounds great. beautiful amp, too
Nice job.
"Mitchell" Rocks too!
Thank you for sharing. I have been fooling around with a twin reverb and both reverb and tremolo don't sound quite to me. Going to look for that R14 Thanks again c];-)
Excellent session. I prefer a deep, pulsating tremolo when I use it.
Great mod...so chimey and rich.
Thanks
Jeez! 2k+ likes and TWO dislikes. WOW! I don't think I've ever seen a vid with that good of a ratio. Nice job, Colleen! 🙏
This mod is amazing!!
Cheers from Texas!
🤘😎🤘
Recently found your channel. Great video in all aspects. My grandson has developed a fascination for guitars and now owns 6. One of which he is building himself. I would like to start a project with him, restoring an older amp. Your videos have given me confidence that we can do it! Any books or direction before starting?
The tremolo is always too fast. Uncle Doug and some others have the whole world realizing how much better slowing the tremolo sounds.
I just doodle with electronics as a hobby and have slowed down several for my friends.
Great video!
Has the throb of a brown amp's harmonic trem now. Might not be bending note-ends but still makes me wanna fall down lol. Nice work!
Cool new ditty/intro thing! Love it.
i LOVE your vocal cadence...
That was cool and just what I was searching for - thanks! ✨🎶✌🏼
Great job. I've just as of late been trying to figure out and fix my amps, love your vids. I have a jcm 900 slx 100 watt and it just completely went down one day(the sound).I opened it up the other day just to see if maybe I could see anything and nothing looked burnt or broken , I found one fuse blown and I've replaced it, but I haven't gotten to see if it fixed it bec I need new tunes. Anyway love your videos and the wealth of information, thank you.
Whoa what a difference.
Thanks! I’ve been wanting to slow down the tremolo on a Blackface PR clone for a long time. Knew how to do it but was only going to replace one of the .01 caps with a .022. Clearly changing both caps is what I want!
On my build the tremolo intensity is so strong no change is needed. May have to do with how I’ve biased the amp.
Fantastic content. Thank you!
Outstanding! That sounds fantastic!
Great video. Why on earth do they not leave the factory like this? Who likes shallow, fast bumblebee trem?
Great question.
The original idea with amp tremolo was to emulate vibrato (a la Magnatone). Faster settings sound more like pitch modulation, so that’s how the circuits were configured. The Fender reissues aim to be faithful to those circuits…too much so IMO.
John Cho, shallow, flighty people perhaps? 🤔
This is very cool, Colleen! A slowed down and rich, dreamy tremolo is one of my very favorite mods! About 3 months ago I bought a 1967 Deluxe Reverb, and I was happy to discover that someone, long ago, had done this mod. It sounds EPIC!
I have a mid 60s Princeton. I had it refreshed by someone experienced/qualified like you (proper grounding and a few other fix/mods). However/unfortunately, my dad replaced the Jensen speaker with some other off brand many years ago. (rather than getting it repaired/restored .. bummer).
What would be a good replacement?
Love watching and learning from you..
And I thought Princeton tremolo couldn't sound any better than it already does..
Great educational videos!!!
Nice slow CCR style tremolo. Awesome
Very cool. Made a significant difference.