Warm, Clean, Rich-Sounding Amp?

[Joely]

For cleans get an old Hiwatt or Reeves (clone).....these are the kind-ding-a-ling of cleans!!! only down is that there is no reverb is you want that fender wet sound. But then just buy a half decent pedal...

[Skotem]

Originally Posted by tonyp145

Hi folks, I'm playing in a new band that does a variety of music, everything from blues, jazz, country to rock 'n' roll. I play with very little gain and I have a good overdrive pedal when I want some. My problem is my SFPR is just too clean and sterile sounding to me. I can't get a warm, rich clean tone out of it.

I just posted in the stompbox area asking if there's a pedal that could help:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/stomp-box...-eq-pedal.html

What I'm wondering from this forum is does anybody have a recommendation for a different amp? The Princeton has plenty of power, my band doesn't play very loud, but I'm wondering if a 12" speaker wouldn't give me more of the warmth I'm looking for? I guess I could buy an external cab for the PR, I'm not interested in altering a vintage amp. But I'm open to other configurations too (maybe a low wattage head with a 2-12" cab?)

It frustrates me that as long as I've been playing and as much equipment as I've owned, I still can't seem to get it right on something as basic as a clean tone. I love my Tele and my other guitar is a Guild Starfire III which has a beautiful tone. I'm wondering if maybe the Princeton just isn't right for me. Last year I tried a tweed Deluxe clone and ultimately traded that for this amp because it didn't have enough clean headroom. Oy. Anyway, look forward to your opinions.

I use a old Peavey 1-15 speaker cab , when I want to cover jazz, and solved that very issue. They are getting hard to find,may have to build your own.

Sent from my iPod touch using TDPRI

[Durtdog]

Originally Posted by Big_Bend

Sell the Princeton.

I agree. Don't butcher the Princeton hoping it will do what you need, just pass it on and get something else.

Originally Posted by jjkrause84

If you want warm, rich, and sparkly cleans....maybe go Marshall? JTM45?

JTM45 would be my suggestion too. The ultimate amp. They're often overlooked for their clean sounds.

Richest clean tone on the planet, bar none.

[Axis29]

I have two suggestions for you...

The cheaper would be to try a Celestion speaker. I couldn't tell you which, but I have a few friends who use V30's (but they're 12"). They really warmed up their Fender amps.

The other option is to find a brownface voiced amp. I love my '63 Vibroverb RI which is a 2x10 rated at 40 watts. But is very useable at low volumes ad has one of the sweetest warm cleans you could imagine.

I believe that Allen makes a few similar in size and volume to your Princeton.

[black_doug]

Originally Posted by jjkrause84

If you want warm, rich, and sparkly cleans....maybe go Marshall? JTM45?

I haven't heard this model but if it's anything like the Silver Jubilee then I can testify to it. Whichever one's cheaper these days. Get the combo with the 12 inch (Celestion V30 is stock). Model 2554 I believe. It has a master volume so you can dial in the pre-amp gain for a thicker output. Great clean tone!

[jjkrause84]

Originally Posted by black_doug

I haven't heard this model but if it's anything like the Silver Jubilee then I can testify to it. Whichever one's cheaper these days. Get the combo with the 12 inch (Celestion V30 is stock). Model 2554 I believe. It has a master volume so you can dial in the pre-amp gain for a thicker output. Great clean tone!

The JTM45 was the first Marshall amp. It was essentially a clone of a Fender Bassman, with a few key changes (output valves, speakers, transformers, and other technical things I don't well understand). Gorgeous, rich cleans...meaty spank....holy overdrive.

[Rod Parsons]

I have a 1980 silver face Princeton Reverb. My tech friend said it was running with 450 volts on the plates of the 6v6s,.... it had a solid state replacement rectifier in it when he measured. I tried a 5U4, which is what it called for, and it sounded a lot warmer, to me. The solid state yields the most volts, and the 5U4 brought the volts back down to normal, which sounds warmer. But then I read about the NOS 5R4, which will sub for the 5U4 and lowers the volts just a tad more... I have that in my Prince.. Rev. now and it is warmer, and it has a bit of bluesy 'sag' to the sound. And a NOS 5R4 is really cheap and will last decades... NOS= new-old-stock.

[TakkOne]

You might want to try a Dr Z Maz Jr or Carmen Ghia, depending on your budget and how loud and clean you need to be. Equiped with a G12h30 you'll get amazing bass response at any volume. I run a Maz jr 2x10" combo and love it.

[Alex W]

I would look into a different speaker in the SFPR and see how you like that. I got a warm rounded sort of sound out of a Weber alnico Silver Ten (the 10" version of the "Silver Bell" speaker). It made every guitar I was playing sort of sound like it had P90 pickups.

[Dr. Pants]

A single 10" is very hard-pressed to give a full, warm sound.

This has been my experience as well.
I think you're barking up the wrong amp.
Keep the amp, check out a Peavey Classic
30. Or a Fender red knob Super 60, also
maybe a Rivera era Concert.

[JTM45blues]

Warm, clean, rich sounding amp that can play a variety of American music styles from jazz to rock... sounds like a Victoria Bassman to me. Rich sounding at all volumes, built like a tank and IMHO has the most 3D cleans of any amp on the market. The overdrive is also phenomenal, but its pretty loud when it gets there.

[StephaninMelb]

The following amps are the ones I'd recommend suitable for your four main music genre. I have not considered boutique amps over $2000

Top Amps for Blue, Country and Classic Rock Genres

• Fender Blackface or Silverface Twin (2 x 12, 4 x 6L6GC)
• Fender Brownface Deluxe (2 x 10, 2 x 6V6GT)
• Fender Tweed Deluxe (1 x 12, 2 x 6V6GT) <-- genre benchmark amp
  ......or boutique clone of above like Victoria
• Fender Tweed Bassman (4 x 10, 2 x 6L6G)
• Fender Brownface Vibrosonic (1 x 15 JBL D-130F, 2 x 6L6GC or 2 x 5881)
• Fender Brownface Vibroverb (2 x 10, 2 x 6L6GC)
• Marshall JTM45 (original or reissue - based on budget)
• Magnatone Model 435 (2 x 12, 4 x 6973)
• Vox AC30 (2 x 12, 4 x EL84)
• Dr Z Stang Ray (Dr Zs AC30 clone, 1 x 12 or 2 x 12 combo, 4 x EL84)
• Vox TB35C1 Tony Bruno 35W (1 x 12, 4 x 6V6GT)
• Vox TB35C2 Tony Bruno 35W (2 x 12, 4 x 6V6GT)
• Bruno Cow Tipper Pro II 35 (1 x 12 or 2 x 12 combo, 2 x 6L6GC)
• Tone King Imperial (1 x 12, 2 x 6V6GT)
• Matchless Clubman 35 (Head, 2 x EL34)

Speaker(s)

Speakers with Warmer Tone for your Princeton

• Jensen AlNiCo Blackbird 10"
  ......Extremely warm & smooth with a very rich, fat low end & sparkling highs
• Eminence Delta Demon <- warmest Eminance 10"

alternatively add a 1 x 12 speaker cab which increases the number of speaker choices.

Punchy Sound

Jensen Neodymium NEO10-100 - 10"
......Crisp mids, crisp highs and good lows

To increase Spunk and Bottom-end

JBL D-120 (add a “real” JBL D-120 to increase spunk and deepen bottom-end)
To add Warmth select a speaker that lifts the mids.

Pedals

Compression
Select a pedal(s) that can do Dynacomp and Orange Squeezer )
• Dynacomp
• Armstrong Orange Squeezer
• Boss CS2/3
• AnalogMan BiCompressor (Ross/Dynacomp & Orange Squeezer clone)
• Carl Martin

"Real" Vibrato

Big Tone Music Brewery (BTMB) "Maggie" SV280 Stereo Vibrato
(e.g. Duane Eddy, Buddy Holly, Bo Diddley, Lonnie Mack, Robert Ward)

Rockett/Sampson Vibe

Not yet available.
Collaboration between J Rockett Audio Designs the Rockett/Sampson Vibe was designed to produce a vintage Magnatone-esque tone.

Pictures Top to Bottom

(1) Tone King Imperial, (2) Dr. Z Imperial, (3) Vox TB35C1, (4) Matchless Clubman 35, (5) Bruno Cowtipper Pro II 35

[Durtdog]

Jeez.

[Vox66]

AC30 with Celestion blues.

[romiso]

I'd try any of the mid-sized tweeds (Pro/Super/Bandmaster - depending on your speaker preference).

[tonyp145]

Originally Posted by StephaninMelb

The following amps are the ones I'd recommend suitable for your four main music genre. I have not considered boutique amps over $2000

Wow, thank you for doing all that!

[Bartholomew3]

You bought it used, it shouldn't be breaking up at 4, it needs work, tubes & bias, possibly new capacitors and probably a better speaker. Everyone I know including myself changed to JBL silver-cone or Altec Lansing when possible for maximum clean warm sound. I also have a couple of Jensen Blowproofs in a silverface twin that are a bit muddy but not sterile. The Fender original speakers had less headroom and were thin sounding - always.

There's no way your amp has better head-space than a DR in decent shape.

I have a 1974 Les Paul Custom with ebony fretboard, Seymour Duncan pickups and it sounds great through almost anything. Maybe you need to change pickups also.

My vintage tele sounds thin through some amps and nothing personal but one of my friends had a 66 Guild Starfire and it was nothing special with original pickups.

I would start by trouble-shooting the amp with a good tech.

With all due respect to yourself... going to a foot-pedal should be your last choice, not your first. I don't think you can put back what is missing with a pedal but that's just IMHO.

[homesick345]

Originally Posted by tonyp145

Hi folks, I'm playing in a new band that does a variety of music, everything from blues, jazz, country to rock 'n' roll.
It frustrates me that as long as I've been playing and as much equipment as I've owned, I still can't seem to get it right on something as basic as a clean tone. I love my Tele and my other guitar is a Guild Starfire III which has a beautiful tone. I'm wondering if maybe the Princeton just isn't right for me. Last year I tried a tweed Deluxe clone and ultimately traded that for this amp because it didn't have enough clean headroom. Oy. Anyway, look forward to your opinions.

I would recommend the Dumble Steel String Singer.

[Durtdog]

Originally Posted by Bartholomew3

There's no way your amp has better head-space than a DR in decent shape.

The op didn't say a DR. He said a tweed Deluxe. Big difference.

[Singin' Dave]

I have two SFPRs (a '71 w/ 12" Celestion Gold and a '75 w/ a Weber 10F150T), neither of which suffers from lack of or loose low end or lack of warmth.

If you were saying "amp is not loud enough", I might suggest selling and buying something different, but that's not the case. Before dumping a fine amp, in this order, I'd:

Make sure it was properly serviced - all caps etc. up to snuff
Bias it a bit on the "hot" side
Speaker swap . Though expensive, a Celestion Gold 10 might do wonders, as might a number of alnico and ceramic options as per above recommendations
Rectifier tweaks as per above
Have tech "BF" amp by changing a few cap values in key spots

I would bet some combination of the above would get you where you want to go. If not, then you've done your due diligence and can move the amp on knowing you gave it every chance.