I agree, I think of my scope like my snowblower. I'd typically only need the shovel instead of dragging out the snowblower but sometimes we just need it and use it appropriately. Excellent videos, keep them coming!
I have a july 1965 Princeton reverb. Blew my speaker (still got it eventually get it reconed) and some caps otherwise all original even has the original tube chart, reverb tank cover and foot switch.
I thought the original 60s princetons had the grounding running from case to case of the potentiometers, but that doesn't look to be what's happening on this one. Is that metal strip, which seems to run beneath the pots and connect to the board in a few places the grounding? and if so is this something that's been added later or part of the original design? Thanks!
“I’m not some hack out here with just a soldering iron and a meter following instructions they found on some Internet forum.” Whoa, no need to make it personal.
Balanced (and biased above ground) heater supply would almost be worth doing on the Tweed but having one side of the pilot lamp assembly bonded to the frame makes that impractical without replacing it. I'd definitely go there if building a clone but not on a clean original.
subbed after watching a few vids. Been obsessed with the Princeton Bordeaux with 12" Jensen that I scored a few weeks ago for $500. Now looking for another Princeton or a 65 DRRI for stereo.
If the owner wants these amps to be as quiet as can be I'm surprised that he doesn't have you convert the heater supply to twisted pairs with an artificial center tap. Perhaps he's trying to keep it closer to stock/original. The balancing-resistor centertap arrangement is of course safer for the power transformer in case he should suffer a shorted tube, and that alone would seem to justify changing up the wiring in order to preserve original transformers. Your thoughts?
I’ve owned the new ‘64 handwired Princeton from Fender since February. I love the sound of this amp but am finding with guitars with humbuckers or even P90s, when you get down to that low A or E string, there’s an unpleasant high pitch rattle that comes from the chassis. I’m on my second tech trying to source the problem. Wish I lived near you!
@@PsionicAudio that’s exactly what’s in there! GT6V6-S. Two got replaced with JJ6V6 (pair), but high pitched ring is still present. Maybe I just need to have them replace all the tubes.. Thx for the help! Watch you all the time…
@@rdstreets you should see if all the exterior screws are tightened, I've had that happen before where I play low notes and the vibrations make a loose screw rattle. hope that helps
@@matthewtucker1699 thanks Matthew. Everything in and around the cabinet looks/feels locked down tight. The noise seems to be coming straight out of the chassis..
Lyle, you are, at least temporarily, a Prince among men. If you had a pink Strat to go along with these amplifiers, she could be the Princes's Bride! Hopefully none of these will turn out to be problem-children, but if any one of them does, you could get all Shakespearian or Beckettsian or whatever and say, "Will no one rid me of this troublesome [Prince]?" I'm sure you'd have plenty of volunteers to take a "Prince" off of your hands....🙂
@@PsionicAudio , you were referencing Ibsen recently, not something I can do with any real knowledge of the subject, so I figured you'd be tolerant of my bad jokes. "Get thee to a punnery", you say!
The 64 not only sounds great it's pretty on the inside. I can't believe that there's people who think you a hack. Watch just one video and you can clearly see that you're not a hack.
There’s just a prevailing attitude that a tech should just be sitting with sine/square wave generators and a bank of scopes. And that’s one way, but I’ve played a lot of amps that came out of a scoping process and they just didn’t sound very good to play. Everything inside was safe, but nothing was optimal. Has to feel right too.
So the scope of this video is Rigol? :) sorry, easy joke I'm still strugling to fully understand how transformers work about center taps, half, full wave and bridge rectification and yet how filaments can be wired with a single wire while the other wire goes to ground. This is how hobbies can get "dangerous". Mistakes can and will happen.
Well, the earlier two were certainly "student"models when they were originally built; if you were playing on stage, unless it was a tiny club you needed a bigger amplifier, because PA systems back then were either non-existent or not up to the task, and on-stage monitoring was invariably non-existent. You also needed a bigger more powerful amplifier so you could hear yourself over the drummer. By 1976, with better PA systems and on-stage monitoring, you could indeed play gigs with the Princeton, though perhaps not a big venue or outdoor venue..
A tweed princeton is basically a champ (the student model) with a bigger cabinet and a tone control. That one was definitely a student model, a slight upgraded student model but student model nonetheless. I don't think the blackface Princeton was much of a student model, that was mostly a tweed era thing.
@@YeatzeeGuitar , being a Princeton *Reverb* might indeed lift it up above "student level" (and at that point even a blackface Champ had a tone control). Still, in 1964, a PR was probably not that much of an "aspirational" amp, was it?. A Deluxe Reverb, perhaps yes; a Twin Reverb, definitely!
@@goodun2974 Yeah, no clue. I wasn't around in 1964 so hard to say what was and what wasn't aspirational at the time haha. What is known is that the blackface champ and vibro champ are very different amps from the princeton, the princeton is much louder and bigger sounding and has reverb. Big upgrades make me think it wasn't a student model, but more the next step up. With the tweed princeton, it's more a slight upgrade sort of like how the vibro champ is a slight upgrade to the champ (obviously they upgrade different things). I own an all original untouched '59 princeton and it is SUPERB. Everyone that plays it is blown away by the amp. I also own a '64 handwired reissue princeton which is fantastic, but it's much louder. Different class of amp imo (I prefer the tweed fwiw).
I agree, I think of my scope like my snowblower. I'd typically only need the shovel instead of dragging out the snowblower but sometimes we just need it and use it appropriately. Excellent videos, keep them coming!
I have a july 1965 Princeton reverb. Blew my speaker (still got it eventually get it reconed) and some caps otherwise all original even has the original tube chart, reverb tank cover and foot switch.
Man, those Princeton's sound great, especially the 64!
Magnificent. I enjoy the tones that you get from these amps. Tone is king, not volume in my book.
I thought the original 60s princetons had the grounding running from case to case of the potentiometers, but that doesn't look to be what's happening on this one. Is that metal strip, which seems to run beneath the pots and connect to the board in a few places the grounding? and if so is this something that's been added later or part of the original design? Thanks!
Two videos today? We are so spoiled. And these are some great amps. Been keeping my eye out for a vintage Fender
I've got a swear-jar and an um-jar. The proceeds go toward whisky.
“I’m not some hack out here with just a soldering iron and a meter following instructions they found on some Internet forum.”
Whoa, no need to make it personal.
xD
Haha, you do you, man.
Balanced (and biased above ground) heater supply would almost be worth doing on the Tweed but having one side of the pilot lamp assembly bonded to the frame makes that impractical without replacing it. I'd definitely go there if building a clone but not on a clean original.
Freeing that lamp connection from the solder isn’t difficult.
Thanks for your insights as usual. Nice Pink Floyd Moment at the end.
If I were Brad, swearing would be the least of my concerns.
subbed after watching a few vids. Been obsessed with the Princeton Bordeaux with 12" Jensen that I scored a few weeks ago for $500. Now looking for another Princeton or a 65 DRRI for stereo.
Very cool...the Pink Floyd as well😉😎👍
If the owner wants these amps to be as quiet as can be I'm surprised that he doesn't have you convert the heater supply to twisted pairs with an artificial center tap. Perhaps he's trying to keep it closer to stock/original. The balancing-resistor centertap arrangement is of course safer for the power transformer in case he should suffer a shorted tube, and that alone would seem to justify changing up the wiring in order to preserve original transformers. Your thoughts?
I’ve owned the new ‘64 handwired Princeton from Fender since February. I love the sound of this amp but am finding with guitars with humbuckers or even P90s, when you get down to that low A or E string, there’s an unpleasant high pitch rattle that comes from the chassis. I’m on my second tech trying to source the problem. Wish I lived near you!
See if you have JJ 6V6Ss. They may be labeled Groove Tubes. Very prone to microphonics.
@@PsionicAudio that’s exactly what’s in there! GT6V6-S. Two got replaced with JJ6V6 (pair), but high pitched ring is still present. Maybe I just need to have them replace all the tubes.. Thx for the help! Watch you all the time…
@@rdstreets you should see if all the exterior screws are tightened, I've had that happen before where I play low notes and the vibrations make a loose screw rattle. hope that helps
@@matthewtucker1699 thanks Matthew. Everything in and around the cabinet looks/feels locked down tight. The noise seems to be coming straight out of the chassis..
@@rdstreets Did you find the problem?
You can hack the firmware on those Rigols to make them 100Mhz instead of 50Mhz.
No need. I can only hear up to 30Mhz…
@@PsionicAudio 😂
Lyle, you are, at least temporarily, a Prince among men. If you had a pink Strat to go along with these amplifiers, she could be the Princes's Bride! Hopefully none of these will turn out to be problem-children, but if any one of them does, you could get all Shakespearian or Beckettsian or whatever and say, "Will no one rid me of this troublesome [Prince]?" I'm sure you'd have plenty of volunteers to take a "Prince" off of your hands....🙂
From Rob Reiner to the Angevin Dynasty.
Such is my life.
@@PsionicAudio , you were referencing Ibsen recently, not something I can do with any real knowledge of the subject, so I figured you'd be tolerant of my bad jokes. "Get thee to a punnery", you say!
The 64 not only sounds great it's pretty on the inside. I can't believe that there's people who think you a hack. Watch just one video and you can clearly see that you're not a hack.
There’s just a prevailing attitude that a tech should just be sitting with sine/square wave generators and a bank of scopes. And that’s one way, but I’ve played a lot of amps that came out of a scoping process and they just didn’t sound very good to play. Everything inside was safe, but nothing was optimal.
Has to feel right too.
Vote #1 for a shop tour!
1054z a nice software updated 100mhz scope. The time need to explain waveform is not very productive use.
😎👍
So the scope of this video is Rigol? :) sorry, easy joke
I'm still strugling to fully understand how transformers work about center taps, half, full wave and bridge rectification and yet how filaments can be wired with a single wire while the other wire goes to ground. This is how hobbies can get "dangerous". Mistakes can and will happen.
Students models? They set you back what ? $3000.00
Well, the earlier two were certainly "student"models when they were originally built; if you were playing on stage, unless it was a tiny club you needed a bigger amplifier, because PA systems back then were either non-existent or not up to the task, and on-stage monitoring was invariably non-existent. You also needed a bigger more powerful amplifier so you could hear yourself over the drummer. By 1976, with better PA systems and on-stage monitoring, you could indeed play gigs with the Princeton, though perhaps not a big venue or outdoor venue..
A tweed princeton is basically a champ (the student model) with a bigger cabinet and a tone control. That one was definitely a student model, a slight upgraded student model but student model nonetheless. I don't think the blackface Princeton was much of a student model, that was mostly a tweed era thing.
@@YeatzeeGuitar , being a Princeton *Reverb* might indeed lift it up above "student level" (and at that point even a blackface Champ had a tone control). Still, in 1964, a PR was probably not that much of an "aspirational" amp, was it?. A Deluxe Reverb, perhaps yes; a Twin Reverb, definitely!
@@goodun2974 Yeah, no clue. I wasn't around in 1964 so hard to say what was and what wasn't aspirational at the time haha.
What is known is that the blackface champ and vibro champ are very different amps from the princeton, the princeton is much louder and bigger sounding and has reverb. Big upgrades make me think it wasn't a student model, but more the next step up.
With the tweed princeton, it's more a slight upgrade sort of like how the vibro champ is a slight upgrade to the champ (obviously they upgrade different things).
I own an all original untouched '59 princeton and it is SUPERB. Everyone that plays it is blown away by the amp. I also own a '64 handwired reissue princeton which is fantastic, but it's much louder. Different class of amp imo (I prefer the tweed fwiw).
Brad swears? Really? I'd never effing noticed ;-)
Only when he's in a good mood ;)
When I'm in a bad mood I just sigh and give a 1000yd stare.