[Darcy Hoover]

I really wanted a hand-wired vintage Fender, but being short on cash and know-how kind of limited my options. Managed to pickup a 1970 Princeton farely cheap, but playing it it became obvious why I got it cheap. It was about half the volume one would expect, lots of intermittent weird and strange noises, the speaker was obviousy shot, with various mods and rough wear. I didn't know where to start so got a complete overhaul kit (high end parts across the board) from Torres, and set about replacing the complete circuit board (all caps and resistors, and new board, old one was badly warped) and one of the transformers (lots of rust coming out of it, and the other one was brand new so had been changed). I thought I'd be in for a summer project but when I got going it barely took me four hours. New Weber Vintage alnico speaker in the home-made baffle (I figure someone tried a 12" in there then went back to the 10", but had already destroyed the original) and had my daughter stand-by with the fire-extinguisher, plugged in my Tele and turned it on....woohoo!!

It sounds gorgeous!

Figuring the faceplate is in very rough shape, and it's far easier to locate Princeton Reverb replacements, and considering there isn't much original to worry about vintage value, and considering this stuff is fun, I'm thinking 2 more tubes and a tank and I'll have a hand-built Princeton Reverb to play with!