Have been using a Princeton 68 reissue for awhile now. Changed speaker to a Weber and I like it but seems to just not be my favorite amp for the price. I’ve been considering selling it and buying something cheaper and use the funds for other things. Have been reading the forum and pretty leaning towards finding an old Peavey bandit or special but also considering a supro blues king or Peavey classic 30 or blues jr. I play mostly rock/country with a strat and looking for more cleans that I can beef up with pedals need be. Play in a 5 piece band. Any thoughts? Thanks.
Amp Buyer Guide Peavey Fender
- Thread starter JADoss23
- Start date
Henry Mars
Tele-Afflicted
Classic 30. It is clean but not fender clean.
The blues Jr. Probably would be ok .... not clean at loud volume. C30 is better.JMHO
The blues Jr. Probably would be ok .... not clean at loud volume. C30 is better.JMHO
Henry Mars
Tele-Afflicted
I played through a quilter yesterday at Sam ash ..
Probably the amp. You need.... and the last one I'll ever need. Better than my tube amps.
Probably the amp. You need.... and the last one I'll ever need. Better than my tube amps.
The Classic 30 is a good amp, I wouldn't object to gigging one of those at all. The Blues Jr. is also a good sounding amp. Sure, there are a lot of haters on the web, but Fender has sold a ton of them for a reason...they are good sounding amps at a good price. I've owned 3 versions of them and gigged the greenboard version for 2 years in a Blues band without complaints. They can be quite loud for the 15W rating.
Neither of those amps duplicate a Princeton tone, but they both sound pretty good.
Neither of those amps duplicate a Princeton tone, but they both sound pretty good.
Les H
Tele-Holic
Classic 30. Even better if you have a broke in Vintage 30 to put in it.
I will admit a C30 maybe isn't the greatest sounding amp when just playing it a home alone but when playing in the band it cuts through the mix and always puts a smile on my face, sounds even better as the night goes on.
On the other hand I have owned amps that sound really good at home but disappear in the band. (My Twin Reverb Reissue...)
I will admit a C30 maybe isn't the greatest sounding amp when just playing it a home alone but when playing in the band it cuts through the mix and always puts a smile on my face, sounds even better as the night goes on.
On the other hand I have owned amps that sound really good at home but disappear in the band. (My Twin Reverb Reissue...)
dukewellington
Tele-Meister
This recipe sounds like Hot Rod Deluxe territory, to me.
You hear that they’re loud, and they are, but they also have a volume knob.
IMO, it’s a remarkably usable amplifier and comes with a good speaker most suitable for American music.I wouldn’t trade a 68 PR reissue for a Bandit or a Classic 30. I don’t think that would be a fair trade.
Marc Morfei
Friend of Leo's
Which quilter?
Henry Mars
Tele-Afflicted
MicroPro Mach 2
Trenchant63
Tele-Holic
Playing next to the other guitarist at a gig recently. Struggling with his noisy tube rig. It reminded me again why I went solid state. Never an issue - dead quiet and great sound. I realize all tube amps are not noisy, but I don’t have patience for their temperament anymore. I used to use only tube amps.
Bob M
Friend of Leo's
I had a 68 PRRI and a 65 DRRI. Sold both when I got a Quilter 101 Reverb. I have a 2 x 10 cab and a 1 x 10 so it is easy to move. I think the Fender amps are cosmetically wonderful. But they are too expensive for what they are-IMHO.
radiocaster
Doctor of Teleocity
I don't think he said trade them in monetary value, but sell it. That said, a lot of money will be lost if it was bought new.
It does make sense to get something louder in a 5 piece band.
Marc Morfei
Friend of Leo's
Ah, that's a good one.
I have used a Princeton Reverb in a 5 piece band and it is NOT enough amp really. They start to fart out a bit in a band mix, especially if you push them in front with an OD.
A Deluxe Reverb is really what you want for clean in the band with enough headroom to keep up. I have used one in 5 piece bands for 40 years.
Blues jr or C30 are cleaner than a PR in a 5 piece band. To me they do not have the clean of a DR. The EL84 tone is bit less clean sound. (but you may think it's fine. It's more a tone difference)
I would be very wary of jumping head over heels to SS amp until you have tried one in the band mix.
A Deluxe Reverb is really what you want for clean in the band with enough headroom to keep up. I have used one in 5 piece bands for 40 years.
Blues jr or C30 are cleaner than a PR in a 5 piece band. To me they do not have the clean of a DR. The EL84 tone is bit less clean sound. (but you may think it's fine. It's more a tone difference)
I would be very wary of jumping head over heels to SS amp until you have tried one in the band mix.
C30s are cheap and versatile. Blues Juniors might struggle, at the end of the evening, if the overall volume goes up- and won't be clean, at that point.
Mine has been a mainstay, for nine years- so I bought a second one.
Mine has been a mainstay, for nine years- so I bought a second one.
Eastbound71
TDPRI Member
Why not just mic the princeton through the PA? I mic my little Peavey Backstage 50watt SS and has plenty of volume. By itself with no mic, no way it would be loud enough.
I have a Peavey studio Pro also and prefer the sound of the Backstage with smaller speaker
I have a Peavey studio Pro also and prefer the sound of the Backstage with smaller speaker
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dukewellington
Tele-Meister
Yup, I got that reading through a second time.
Bandit (practically any of them) is a cheap way… cheap like $50-250… to experiment with more volume in a band setting. They have a good baseline tone that’s easily refined with an EQ pedal. You see them on back lines at bars everywhere for a reason.
If I could plug the HRDx again… those can sometimes be had for a good buy, too. I miss mine. Biggest drawback for some people is the drive channel, but I never touched it on mine. I’ve owned several.
Blues Jr., I agree, is surprisingly competent in volume with a band, although a little different totally than an HRDx. 15W with tubes gives you a lot of juice, depending on the style of music being played, could be all that’s needed.
zhyla
Tele-Meister
You know what's cheaper than a 68 CPR? A used 68 CPR. Those things only fetch around $700. To my ears they blow away the Blues Jr and Delta Kings. I don't know anything about Bandits but my advice is if you have something you like, you're not going to come out ahead by much by selling it and buying something else.
The Bandits are exceptionally cheap used so you might just get one and sell the Princeton if the Bandit works out. That's the only way you'll be pocketing enough cash to make it worthwhile.
I'm really annoyed with the Supro amps in general. They look cool. The Delta King line is very affordable. Some of the others are more expensive but still cheaper than comparable Fenders. But I've played half a dozen of them and none of them were something I'd want to take home.
ReverendRevolver
Friend of Leo's
A C30(or delta blues) is more in line with a Fender HRdlx or Marshall dsl40.
They're all similar loudness, weight, and price range combos.
You mentioned the Blues Jr and Supro BK (presumably the bk12?). Those are similar in size to the Princeton. I'm not a Bjr fan, I feel a Princeton with a 12 is what a Bjr wants to be.
The supro isn't fendery sounding, but is a very useable combo. Reverb is just ok, but you can dial in some interesting sounds and push it into some really cool ones too. If you're gigging unmic'd, you won't have as many different sounds from it. I bought mine the first year they were out, I liked it substantially more than the blues JRs.
Other combos, if you're going the cheaper than a prri route would be a Marshall Origin 20, fender bassbreaker 18/30 (which are the most interesting of that whole series), Peavey delta blues 2×10, or possibly fender supersonic.
I'd always rather have more invested in an amp that does exactly what I want for a given situation than a fantastic guitar and an amp that doesn't do it for me. I. Not saying an affinity strat with a dumble is my ideal rig, but a mim fender and a $1200 amp is perfectly workable.
Heck, I just bought an Excelsior. First amp in a few years that wasn't ordered and built for me.
You could likely pick up a Bandit AND a monoprice 15 for 1/4 the cost of a prri.
I'd reccomend playing the mentioned amps and going from there.
They're all similar loudness, weight, and price range combos.
You mentioned the Blues Jr and Supro BK (presumably the bk12?). Those are similar in size to the Princeton. I'm not a Bjr fan, I feel a Princeton with a 12 is what a Bjr wants to be.
The supro isn't fendery sounding, but is a very useable combo. Reverb is just ok, but you can dial in some interesting sounds and push it into some really cool ones too. If you're gigging unmic'd, you won't have as many different sounds from it. I bought mine the first year they were out, I liked it substantially more than the blues JRs.
Other combos, if you're going the cheaper than a prri route would be a Marshall Origin 20, fender bassbreaker 18/30 (which are the most interesting of that whole series), Peavey delta blues 2×10, or possibly fender supersonic.
I'd always rather have more invested in an amp that does exactly what I want for a given situation than a fantastic guitar and an amp that doesn't do it for me. I. Not saying an affinity strat with a dumble is my ideal rig, but a mim fender and a $1200 amp is perfectly workable.
Heck, I just bought an Excelsior. First amp in a few years that wasn't ordered and built for me.
You could likely pick up a Bandit AND a monoprice 15 for 1/4 the cost of a prri.
I'd reccomend playing the mentioned amps and going from there.
I had an excelsior and I think the lack of eq made me not like it. Is there a big difference in sound between the Peavey C30, C50 and the delta blues? Do they all get pretty clean and loud before breakup? Worth the extra money compared to a bandit or other peavey ss? How does the Vox Ac15 compare?
