PR's Bias-Vary Trem vs. Others

[markesquire]

I've been thinking about getting a PR lately, but am comparing it with the DRRI. I know that the reverb units are the same, but know that the trem/vibratos are different b/c the PR is bias vary while the DRRI is not.

What does that mean and does it make a difference?

I've been digging this blackface tone: go to www.nadasurf.com then click on "Disco," then select the album "The Weight is a Gift," and the song "Comes a Time." Very cool and the trem is great. I can't tell whether it's a deluxe or princeton, but it can't be a twin b/c it distorts.

[milocj]

There is a definite difference in the sounds of bias vary trem and the opto trem of the DRRI.

Bias vary is usually smoother than the opto style which tends to have a bit more of a pulsing sound to it, and can sometimes have an almost on/off type of sound as the intensity gets closer to maximum (basically the opto-coupler is turning it on and off). The opto version tremolo is probably what most people think of when they hear the heavy tremolo in the '60s surf music, probably because it was used in all of the Fender piggyback amps (save for the Bassman).

The Princeton Reverb's bias vary trem is a little bit weaker than the bias vary trem of the brown Princeton and brown Deluxe, though I'm not sure why. That clip sounds like it's probably bias vary trem (possibly a good pedal), but you may be able to get close to that with a DR, too. I would guess that this would be about the maximum amount of trem that you could get out of a Princeton. This is judging by my 1967 PR. I've never heard one of the Reissues.

[red57strat]

Although it's weaker, I like the tremolo on a Princeton Reverb better.