Any luv here for Fender Princeton Chorus amps

I got a super good deal on one at my local pawn shop, and have been messin around with it. It's a great living room amp, the chorus is just amazing. I would like to know if you guys ( or girls ) have one , and how your dials are set. Does anyone gig with theirs? Mine is made in the USA and i'm not sure of the year it was made. Late 80's early 90"s ? ( pic is to the left )

Picked up mine on Ebay for a song.
Great amps, for the time being it is my only amp.

I have a DSP version. Bought it new. I use it every week at big band jazz rehearsal, and sometimes when I do jazz gigs. Sounds good, and is very versatile. Also works well as an acoustic amp.

I've been checking these out at pawns shops & Music Go Round. Hopefully will pick one up soon. They seem to range from about $120 to $170, is that what you are seeing?

Just picked one up on Ebay for $128, freight and all. Really impressed so far. Just living room duty currently, but hoping for better things eventually. :smile:

I bought a red knob one new in the 80's. Nice amp for cleans and chorus. Crap OD. For a clean amp it was quite nice - punchy.

They are Pretty cool little Amps...but like most Fenders on the lower end, they benefit Greatly from Speaker upgrades....and I'm not wild about the plastic input jacks...but still a good Bang for the Buck $$$

I have one with the black knobs and silver face. I've had it since it was new and have gigged it. Great clean amp and takes pedals well. I really like the real spring reverb. It has taken a beating and has never failed me.

I'm not sure what the timelines are on these amps, but I know there's the black knob ones, the red knob amps, and the ones with DSP, probably more.

Besides the black knobes, mine has metal jacks instead of the plastic ones. As for settings on the chorus, I usually run the rate below 3, and the depth at 9 and use it to thicken things up.

I have one with the black knobs and silver face. I've had it since it was new and have gigged it. Great clean amp and takes pedals well. I really like the real spring reverb. It has taken a beating and has never failed me.

I'm not sure what the timelines are on these amps, but I know there's the black knob ones, the red knob amps, and the ones with DSP, probably more.

Besides the black knobes, mine has metal jacks instead of the plastic ones. As for settings on the chorus, I usually run the rate below 3, and the depth at 9 and use it to thicken things up.

I have the one with black knob/metal jacks as well. Made in USA. I bought it new in 1995 and I love it. As far as SS amps go, it's pretty amazing. The clean channel is nice. I like going with my Strat's neck/middle pickup here for a sweet bell-like chime. You can here a bit of a "Tunnel of Love" Dire Straits sound here. With or without the chorus sounds really good. The chorus is really as good as I've heard, lush and in stereo, really fills the room.

The overdrive channel is good but, like most SS amps I've tried, it's hard to get a good lightly overdriven sound out of it. However, with the gain maxed out or nearly so on this channel, it sings pretty well.

This amp has great reverb, big and springy. Also, it's built like a tank.

I have a DSP version. Bought it new. I use it every week at big band jazz rehearsal, and sometimes when I do jazz gigs. Sounds good, and is very versatile. Also works well as an acoustic amp.
I just picked up a very nice Princeton Chorus at GC in Plano for $150 and it sounds fantastic!

Hey that is great news to hear that it works as an acoustic amp since my next guitar purchase will probably be an Ovation.

Robert

One thing, and this is huge, that I don't like is that it does not sound very good when it's cracked. Might just be my speakers but it gets muddy at louder volumes. For getting a wide range of nice tones when my kids are asleep it's awesome, but I can't imagine gigging with it.

I've got a mint black knob version I picked up on CL for $100. Works great. Beautiful lush chorus although I play with just a touch. Usually play through a Bad Monkey which kind of adds a roundness to the notes.

Changed the speakers to a couple of Eminences although the stock ones were fine. Had the gain up on the Bad Monkey last night and the amp volume up. Getting some nice sounds! Great amp, nice portable size. Would do great for the kind of gigs I do. It's a keeper.

I like mine.

It takes pedals well, as mentioned. I have a modded SD-1 I use. And a Mesa Boogie V Twin floor unit. That thing is fun :mrgreen:

I have been contemplating a speaker change....any suggestions?

I like it much but opted for the Ultra-Chorus - I believe it's the same circuitry with a little more power. I love the clean sound, Chorus, and reverb. I actually like the overdrive for a little edge for blues.

I bought mine back in 1988 or 89. It's a great practice amp and good for recording to. Nice clean tones but the gain side is hard to dial in. The Chorus is the best I have heard for inside the amp. I have a Marshall 8280 stereo chorus that does not come close to the Chorus in the Fender Chorus.
Put a nice TS-808 clone in front and it rocks.
I used it for recording for some time. Now that my son started playing guitar, I'm giving it to him. I built him a David Gilmour Strat and a 808 clone pedal.
The picture of Stevie Ray Vaughan stays with me. :smile:

I never liked the overdrive channel until I started messing with the limiter and presence controls. Still not the best overdrive, but, much more usable when you get the hang of those controls. Also, the mid boost on the OD channel is quite useful.

I never liked the overdrive channel until I started messing with the limiter and presence controls. Still not the best overdrive, but, much more usable when you get the hang of those controls. Also, the mid boost on the OD channel is quite useful.

Yes, the drive channel is a unique circuit to this amp, and it works quite differently than you might think. This is where the manual and some patience and willingness to experiment come in handy.

Yes, the drive channel is a unique circuit to this amp, and it works quite differently than you might think. This is where the manual and some patience and willingness to experiment come in handy.

That is for sure!

One of my Dad's favorite sayings is "When all else fails, read the directions."

I picked a red knob model up as cheap as they get...$0.00. I stopped thinking about buying a new amp at least temporarily. It has a real nice clean channel that sounds compressed and a bit like a tube amp to my ears. I'm using a cheap bad monkey od pedal and it sounds excellent IMO for practice and home use. I was going to pick up Blues Jr until I started reading about all the mods needed.

I just picked up a Princeton Chorus to give me some more watts than my Blues Jr for gigging.

Can't seem to get any volume improvement without the sound getting muddy and boomy. At least when adding bass...

Curious as to why you need to turn the tone controls up to get any volume at all? I can run my Bjr with all the tone knobs turned to zero but not the Princeton.

Saw a suggestion for replacing speakers in a post above, any recommendations?

So far I'm not really impressed, it doesn't seem like much of an improvement yet.

Mine served well for a few years as a small gig and lesson studio amp. I kinda dug the cleans. Wish I still had it around sometimes, it never gave me any grief and always sounded consistent.

Peace, Mike.

I have a Red Knob. Love it, but I love a good solid state amp. If I could afford it I would get a Fender Jazzmaster Utralight, but for the time being the Princeton Chorus will fit the bill.

In my opinion the PC doesn't take digital amp modeling pedals very well. It's not bad, but the original sound is so nice that it really doesn't need it.

Yes, the drive channel is a unique circuit to this amp, and it works quite differently than you might think. This is where the manual and some patience and willingness to experiment come in handy.

Just came across this thread. I own an Ultra Chorus I bought used - no manual. Any suggestions for using the drive channel more effectively?

I have a Princeton Chorus that I bought in the early to mid 90's new. It was my only amp for a long time but has since been joined by an Egnater Tweaker.

I still like the PC for late night jamming.

My '92 has Eminence Delta 10A upgrades in it and sounds pretty sweet. I use it as a knockaround for days when we are throwin down out on the deck. Not bad for some blues chops.

Just came across this thread. I own an Ultra Chorus I bought used - no manual. Any suggestions for using the drive channel more effectively?

When I had a Princeton Chorus, I found that if I cranked the presence and the drive, and then engaged a compressor in front of the amp, I could get a really good, creamy overdrive.

cheers
dt

Checking in with a Princeton Chorus. I bought it brand new in about 1990 I think it was. Black knob version. Still have it but a few pots are acting up. I think I'll take it apart and clean them up as it is one of the best solid state amps I've ever played through. A nice sounding amp, and a great chorus. I've been using it at band rehearsal for the past year steady, but I just picked up a PRRI which I figure I'll slide in at next rehearsal.

Ok found the club for this amp. I'm a bedroom player, but this has more volume than I need at this time. Love the cleans, verb and chorus. What do you all set yours at. The OD on mine dosen't seem to work but every thing else does.

I bought a princeton chorus from a friend a few years back decently a fairly good amp for small gigs was wondering if anyone owns one or has owned one .. I havnt heard much about them but have read they made a reissue of it a few year back mines from the 80's has the red chicken head knobs and the reissue has black as far as I know

Checking in with a Princeton Chorus. I bought it brand new in about 1990 I think it was. Black knob version. Still have it but a few pots are acting up. I think I'll take it apart and clean them up as it is one of the best solid state amps I've ever played through. A nice sounding amp, and a great chorus. I've been using it at band rehearsal for the past year steady, but I just picked up a PRRI which I figure I'll slide in at next rehearsal.

My Princeton chorus was used and hadn't been played in a long time when I got it and a few pots were messing up and sounding real staticky and I took all the knobs off and sprayed it with control/contact cleaner and lubricant I picked up at radio shack works great now

I have the black knob later version. I run other 5 watt tube amps into it for gigs and effects work well this way. I like a touch of tremelo and blend it with the PC chorus and people ask me about it all the time. Other musicians are impressed. Cleans are all Fender, but the OD isn't great.

I love the Princeton Chorus. Hands down one of the best solid state amps ever made by Fender, way better than the Frontman series in my opinion. Mine is fom the mid nineties, black knobs, USA made. You get that wonderful Fender clean tone and it can handle a surprisingly large amount of low end. Good spring reverb too. The chorus sounds fantastic and really opens up the amp. I like to keep the rate at 4 o' clock and the depth at 6' o' clock and run my echo/delay effects through the loop. As these amps can easily get loud and boomy I hardly ever crank the volume past 2 for home use unless I want make the walls rattle. As others have mentioned, it pays to experiment with the limiter and presence controls on the drive section to get some decent and usable OD, although these days I typically run an OCD and a Big Muff in front of the amp. And they do take pedals very well.

I just bought a used PC, but it has to arrive yet.
When I get it I'll report my impressions.

I like it much but opted for the Ultra-Chorus - I believe it's the same circuitry with a little more power. I love the clean sound, Chorus, and reverb. I actually like the overdrive for a little edge for blues.

That's the biggest variation, right? 2x12"? Have you compared it to the JC 120? I'm wondering how loud the Fender line gets (played clean).

Have you compared it to the JC 120? I'm wondering how loud the Fender line gets (played clean).
I have a Morley A/B/Y switch and the first thing I did was use it to compare my Fender Princeton Chorus to my Jazz Chorus 77. First off the JC, even the 77, is waaaay louder than the Fender; but I wasn't comparing the two volume levels of the amps. I wanted to compare the two amps' Chorus.

Identical! There is ZERO difference between the Fender Princeton Chorus and the Roland Jazz.

And being that the Princeton cleans and overdrive are far better than the Roland Jazz amp, it is a no brainer that the Princeton Chorus is the far better amp.

I have had my Fender Princeton Chorus for about twenty-five years. It was my first amp and I now know I sure got lucky with my uninformed purchase at that time. Since that purchase I have bought a Roland Jazz Chorus and a VOX AC30. Neither of those amps blew me away. Why? Because the Fender Princeton Chorus is such a fantastic amp that even the higher level amps sound ordinary in comparison.

No joke, the greatest amp ever made:

http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv224/taxmanharrison/PICT05redo.jpg

I have one of these. I ave had it about 18 years. I traded a Crate amp for it and some cash I guess from a used shop. I don't recall what the decision point was. I have just got back into playing a lot and the amp was all crackly. I replaced the input jacks (impressed with myself that I could). I got it dialed in where I like it on the clean, but I could never get a good sound out of the OD channel, so I just bought a pedal to work with it. Much better. The chorus is awesome. All the more so with headphone on.

I'm having a new issue with it. Periodically, randomly, the highs will drop out. Then they come back with no intervention on my own. It's odd and annoying. I probably need to spray the pots with some cleaner again, but looking for any other thoughts since I don't want to take it apart again unless I have to.

I just bought a used PC, but it has to arrive yet.
When I get it I'll report my impressions.
I had to bring it to the tech. The chorus did not work.
I'll come back to this thread when I have got it back

Has anyone found the need to change the speakers out on these?

I bought one brand new around 1990, and at the time, was really impressed because the chorus was in stereo and the effects loops were stereo. As for a basic clean sound, I thought the amp was very flat and the overdrive was terrible. The longer I had this amp, the less I liked it. Finally sold it several years later, and I would never buy one again. Long before that, I had a Twin Reverb that I guess had spoiled me, but unfortunately I had sold it during a time I was strapped for cash. Would be fun to have the Twin again, but I've come to appreciate much smaller amps. If you want stereo chorus, you can run an effects box through the computer. Works just as good.

I picked one up at GC for $50, one of the jacks was supposedly bad. But it works fine for me & I love the sweet chorus sound!