12" spkr. in my SFPR

I didn't really care for the permanent baffle board in my '79 Princeton Reverb. I had already played it with an extension 12" cabinet and it sounded great. I cut the original permanent baffle from the cabinet, filled in the dados with pine and built a new baffle board and made it a floating baffle, like the older Fender amps. I put in a '66 Jensen Vibranto speaker. I played a gig last weekend and my amp sounded great, with a '68 Tele B-bender.

Just wondering if anyone else has done this. I'm sorta new to this forum and may have missed if this has been discussed previously.

Well, I put a 12" in my blackface Princeton 30 years ago ... and have been regretting it ever since. But if you already tore up the stock baffle on that Fender, it's too late to save it, I guess just enjoy the slightly louder Princeton. Frankly, I'd have just bought a Deluxe Reverb and left the Princeton alone.

a BF PR should allow you to remove the original baffle, save it, and make a new one for a 12".

My personal opinion is that you didnt really hurt the value of your 79 SFPR. Those particle board SF baffle SUCK, and replacing them with a removable baffle only helps the amp, regardless of it its 10" or 12"- plus its nice to have both.

If I had a SFPR, and some day I will, I'll probably throw a 12" in there.

I have a 10" in my SF Champ, and it is great.

Many of those stock SF speakers werent that great (but some were).

Well, I put a 12" in my blackface Princeton 30 years ago ... and have been regretting it ever since. But if you already tore up the stock baffle on that Fender, it's too late to save it, I guess just enjoy the slightly louder Princeton. Frankly, I'd have just bought a Deluxe Reverb and left the Princeton alone.

30 years of regret?! Dang, strat a various, it's just a baffle... :lol:

Tele wacker- It sounds like you did a great job on your SFPR... I'd love to see some pics!

I really dug my BFPR clone w/12" speaker, would've never gone back to a 10. My DRRI was slightly more open sounding, but the BFPR had more "attitude," and was the one I always grabbed for a gig (still do). The DRRI is long gone (traded), but I'll never get rid of the BFPR. Btw, I recently got a good deal on an Allen 1x15 cab for it, so the stock-sized 1x12 cab has been retired, at least for a while. :mrgreen:

a BF PR should allow you to remove the original baffle, save it, and make a new one for a 12".

My personal opinion is that you didnt really hurt the value of your 79 SFPR. Those particle board SF baffle SUCK, and replacing them with a removable baffle only helps the amp, regardless of it its 10" or 12"- plus its nice to have both.

If I had a SFPR, and some day I will, I'll probably throw a 12" in there.

I have a 10" in my SF Champ, and it is great.

Many of those stock SF speakers werent that great (but some were).

Back in the 70s, we didn't think we were hurting the value of the amp by modding the original baffle ... those amps were cheap and plentiful, we didn't foresee them going on to revered vintage status, they were only 6 or 7 years old at the time.
Soon, Silverface amps will be as rare and as valuable, particle board and dados notwithstanding. Chopping up silverface Champs and Princetons is shortsighted. Like de-clawing a cat, or (God forbid), docking a Pitbull's tail. It's just wrong.

We're going to have to agree to disagree.

There are many more SF amps out there than BF.
I'm sure they will increase in value over the long term, but I cant see them becoming legendary hands-off amps. These are CBS amps, not Leo amps. They are not sacred, its about tone.

As for hacking up a sf champ baffle- I'll a/b this with any stock champ baffle/speaker combo and the stock will lose outright. I bought my amp to play, not to invest in. And even as an investment, lets be honest here- I got my champ for $250, and how high can a pristine SF champ get in the next ten years? $500-550? There are a lot better ways to make $300 in a 10-12 year investment!

Absolutely, we disagree, no problem. But my issue with chopping up Fender amps has nothing to do with money value. CBS took over during the blackface amps, I don't care about CBS, they did a lot less harm than the forum know-it-alls claim.
I wouldn't deface an old Fender for the same reason I wouldn't draw a moustache on the Mona Lisa, not because it's worth a lot, but because there's only so many DaVinci's and they're so cool. Yes, I'm comparing Mona Lisa to a SF Princeton, so don't ask rhetorically.
When I was a kid, I cut up and modded far too many neat amps and guitars. I matured enough to not do that anymore. No offense intended to anyone who still has to carve into old Fenders, I just don't think it's advisable.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1620/996154/4108189/36378751.jpg

I had a Weber Cali 12 in my SFPR, it made it sound huge. I had also tried it with a cali 10, that was great too. In hindsight, if I had to do again, I'd just stick with the 10"

Buddy of mine built a replacement baffle for his and put in a 12 inch Weber. sounds durn good and it's louder.

How much would one expect to pay for an original baffle board for, say, a 1969 Princeton Reverb?

Tim

Tim, Rogers sells PR baffles (repros, not original) with aged cloth on eBay, with either 10" or 12" spkr cut, for $75.00. I'd expect an original would cost a few times more. See It Here (http://cgi.ebay.com/1x10-Baffle-W-Aged-Grill-For-Fender-Princeton-Reverb_W0QQitemZ260463377724QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_ DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ca4d3bd3c&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14)

The pic shows what the aged cloth looks like next to a piece of new cloth.
http://i18.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/bc/17/b872_1.JPG

In PRs with the removable baffle, it makes a ton of sense to remove and store the original and buy a replacement with grill cloth etc. that fits a 12"

I'm in the same boat as the OP - seriously debating having my '72 PR routed for a 12" speaker. I know this hurts collectable value but I'm looking for something I could gig with a bit that can fit in tight stages where even my '73 DR is challenged.

I hear strat a various on this one though....I already own a cherry '75 that is all stock down to it's RCA tubes throughout and that one will stay stock. The '72 has had a Stokes Mod and some other mods so I'm really torn.

I have a 74 SFPR that had the baffle board cut out for a 12" before I bought it. When I bought the amp there was a 12" Peavey Black Widow in it and I took that out and sold it. I put in a Fender labeled Eminence that sounds great. I have been wanting to try a Swamp Thang or a Cannibis Rex someday. I get quite a few compliment on the sound of the amp as it is. It's my favorite...

seriously debating having my '72 PR routed for a 12" speaker. I'm really torn.

There is also the option of using an aftermarket cab for a 12 PR?

Newell for one yes?

Retain the original, glued in baffle...go to another cab, store the original.

Or get a really sensitive, loud, 10 incher with a 1.5-2 inch voice coil. Some one here noted that with today's 10 inch speakers being so loud and beefy, the need to change to a 12 may not be as needed for some folks as it was years ago. This will add weight also, a concern for me!:mad:

The Ragin Cajun in my SFPR is quite heavy and breaks up later that the 70's CTS AlNiCo I have in there now. I wish I could flip a switch and change between the two. :lol: Both have amazing qualities, just very different.

I would like an all pine cab and a Eminence speaker together...ah nice.

Tim, Rogers sells PR baffles (repros, not original) with aged cloth on eBay, with either 10" or 12" spkr cut, for $75.00. I'd expect an original would cost a few times more. See It Here (http://cgi.ebay.com/1x10-Baffle-W-Aged-Grill-For-Fender-Princeton-Reverb_W0QQitemZ260463377724QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_ DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ca4d3bd3c&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14)

The pic shows what the aged cloth looks like next to a piece of new cloth.
http://i18.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/bc/17/b872_1.JPG

Thanks!

I ask because I have the baffle with original grillcloth for my '69 PR, and I'm definitely not gonna put the amp back to original OR sell it (I guess my heirs can someday), so I was pondering putting the baffle on eBay. But I think I'll wait and see if the market for vintage stuff goes back up a little first!

Tim