NAD '65 Princeton Reverb, Sweetwater edition!

[pope858]

I've got the same amp. Maybe we have different definitions of breakup or hearing loss, but I don't run mine past 4.5 on the dial and it's not breaking up at that point.

If I set the volume on the amp to between 6-7, I can use the volume on the guitar to generate some distortion without blowing the doors off! Otherwise I have some pedals that give me break-up at manageable volumes.

 

[Dana Rudd]

Congrats and HNAD. Enjoy that Princeton.

 

[gb Custom Shop]

Congrats on the new amp! I have the same one and love it.

Eventually I want to try an alnico speaker in there, but not sure what to go with...anyone here have suggestions?

 

[OldPup]

Hey OldPup, thanks for the suggestions. The noise is there when the amp is disconnected from everything. No power strip involved and I tried the amp at a different outlet and had no change! Maybe I am just hearing the sounds of the circuit? While the noise is always there, it is well beneath the amplified guitar in all cases and at volumes up to 5, it is really not a factor. It's not a 60hz hum, in fact it reminds me of the sound you would get on an inexpensive record player, at the start of the record, when the needle was first placed on the record. A kind of scratchy, crackly, white noise whose volume rises and falls with the sweep of the volume knob. Maybe a noisy tube, but I've no idea which one(s) to check!

Man, I'm going to develop a well-deserved reputation around here... but I'd recommend cleaning your tube pins and sockets. There should be videos on YT that go over the process. I've calmed a few amps down by doing this, cleaning pots, and ground connections. It doesn't totally quiet down every amp, but it's good basic maintenance. It does seem a little odd that you'd need to do it on a brand new amp though. Was it open box?

 

[zhyla]

I did something I probably shouldn't have done today. I put my Sweetwater Princeton Reverb back to back with my '68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb and ran the Princeton into the Vibrolux's 2x10 cabinet.

Wow. What a difference. I think the C-Rex is a good complement to the Vibrolux's bright and boomy 2x Ten-30's. It's kinda my late night quiet blues amp at this point. But I can see how different the PRRI is with the C-Rex.

 

[ETMusic777]

I've played one of these and it sounded and felt very nice.

 

[mad dog]

I have a '65 Princeton Reverb RI, with the 10 speaker. Louder, more robust than I had anticipated. The speaker in there now - a Naylor Special Design 50 - is one big reason why. Excellent speaker. No extraneous noise in mine, though I have yet to turn it past 5.

 

[markeyd123]

I had that problem with my PRRI. Took out the cheapo PCB input jack assy. and installed switchcraft 12A 1/4" jacks. Problem solved. My reverb never worked right until I made this change. Works great now. View attachment 990760

I would like to swap out the barrel jacks in my 68 Custom PRRI reissue. Do you have a diagram, or more photos, so I can see how you did it? Thanks!

 

[pope858]

UPDATE: Thanks to the folks at Sweetwater, the noisy amp has been replaced with another one without the random, scratchy white noise I mentioned when I first got the amp. I was a little concerned that I was misinterpreting the noise I heard, but the new amp proves my ears were right and the additional noise was indeed a "problem". I suspect the problem is one of the tubes, but no longer my worry. The new amp sounds wonderful and I am grateful to the folks in Indiana for making everything right!

 

[teleman1]

I say, a Princeton Reverb with a 12" speaker, IS NOT A PRINCETON REVERB. It is something else. Not saying bad, but a PR does not sound like one with a 12. Leo used a 110 and it is sized to the cabinet.

 

[Sparky472]

Well, the Tone King Gremlin is on it's way back to Indiana, a nice amp, but I knew pretty quick it wasn't one for me! In its place comes this new '65 Princeton Reverb with a 12" Cannabis Rex speaker in a lacquered cabinet. A nice amp, to say the least. My first impressions are positive. The amp is certainly loud, but there seems to be some ability to get some natural break up without totally annoying friends and neighbors or damaging my own hearing. The reverb is incredible! From subtle to cavernous and most everything in between! The Tremolo does what it's supposed to do. Probably not a big deal in my world, but it sounds nice anyway. The Cannabis Rex speaker sounds fine to me, but then I like the darker, more subdued sound of this hemp speaker over most common Celestion speakers. The C Rex speaker has a nice, smooth sound and I suspect it may get a little better once it loosens up some? Lastly, the Princeton seems to take my small selection of pedals very well. I have a couple different distortion pedals that add some "grit" to the mix when wanted.
If there is any concern about the amp it is the background noise, while the amp is idling! It's noticeable but nothing objectionable until you get the volume above 5. From there up to 10 the noise level increases as the volume level is turned up. I'm not sure if that is a normal characteristic of these amps or not? Any one with more experienced opinion on that I'd love to hear any solutions! Here is a picture of my mini "wall of sound". The tweed sure looks good in the mix!

View attachment 990517

I just picked up one of these last weekend. About 1 year ago or so I bought a Twin Reverb Tone Master, thinking it’s the perfect amp to gig and play at home. I wasn’t wrong, but I haven’t been gigging and don’t expect to be in the foreseeable future, so I wanted to get something smaller. Found saw this on CL, like new condition. When I went to check it out and powered it on, I turned the volume all the way up and didn’t hear a sound. I thought maybe it was dead. Super quiet. Finally got the chance to play it a bit yesterday and while I didn’t get to spend a ton of time with it yet, I’m pretty damn happy with the purchase. Hope you enjoy yours!

 

[teleman1]

UPDATE: Thanks to the folks at Sweetwater, the noisy amp has been replaced with another one without the random, scratchy white noise I mentioned when I first got the amp. I was a little concerned that I was misinterpreting the noise I heard, but the new amp proves my ears were right and the additional noise was indeed a "problem". I suspect the problem is one of the tubes, but no longer my worry. The new amp sounds wonderful and I am grateful to the folks in Indiana for making everything right!

So, you own a tube amp, but you know not enough about tubes to have changed them around? I can't believe Fender didn't have a better remedy other than to return it. And the tube they replaced it with is the same low quality brand that can fail as well as the new one. Did they say what tube it was? Did you ID it. The whole thing seems like a failure of policy on Fenders part. Except that the logical way to handle this is more expensive than shipping the amp back and shipping a new one to you. I recommend you remove and reinsert your current tubes for you to practice. It is sort of like not knowing where to put water in your car, certainly not the gas tank. I still can't get over Fender having the balls to call this a Princeton Reverb.

 

[pope858]

So, you own a tube amp, but you know not enough about tubes to have changed them around? I can't believe Fender didn't have a better remedy other than to return it... Did they say what tube it was? Did you ID it. The whole thing seems like a failure of policy on Fenders part. I recommend you remove and reinsert your current tubes for you to practice.... I still can't get over Fender having the balls to call this a Princeton Reverb.

It seems you have a problem with variations on a theme, and you're quite willing to make many assumptions. I know enough about tubes and circuits; I was trained as an electronic technician (MOS 33S10) by the Army in the mid 70's! While I don't work with electronics anymore, I retain a general understanding of how it all works. When it comes to my gear, I don't keep a wide assortment of tubes on hand, nor is it my job to troubleshoot a problem on new gear! (FYI, I did roll the 12AX7's, but it didn't help)
In case you missed it, there has been a problem with vacuum tube supplies for a few months now. This is the second time this year this vendor has decided to replace the piece of equipment, rather than send a bunch of tubes for me to change out. You also keep referring to failure on the part of Fender, when they are not the vendor; this is a "Sweetwater" variation! Regardless, the Fender, '65 Princeton Reverb RI, Sweetwater Edition is a nice looking, great sounding and performing modern tube amplifier!

 

[teleman1]

You also keep referring to failure on the part of Fender, when they are not the vendor; this is a "Sweetwater" variation!

So, you are saying Sweetwater is the mfg of this amp or did the modifications? Your amp will probably be sent to a Fender repair station or Sweetwater has an in-house guy.

 

[teleman1]

65 Princeton Reverb RI, Sweetwater Edition is a nice looking, great sounding and performing modern tube amplifier!

Never said it wasn't. I have said that placing a 12" speaker in a Princeton is a mod and changes the characteristics of a PR to something else. Something else may be to your liking, but it doesn't keep it in the Princeton tone category. Otherwise, lets just call all amps Bassmans. Get your Bassmans with 8", 10",12",or 15" speakers, They all sound like Bassmans. Yeah, right.

 

[pope858]

So, you are saying Sweetwater is the mfg of this amp or did the modifications? Your amp will probably be sent to a Fender repair station or Sweetwater has an in-house guy.

No, as a new product, Sweetwater replaced it, as per their policy. Their dealings with the manufacturer (Fender, USA) do not concern me in this transaction.

Never said it wasn't. I have said that placing a 12" speaker in a Princeton is a mod and changes the characteristics of a PR to something else. Something else may be to your liking, but it doesn't keep it in the Princeton tone category. Otherwise, lets just call all amps Bassmans. Get your Bassmans with 8", 10",12",or 15" speakers, They all sound like Bassmans. Yeah, right.

Lets just call them guitar amps and stop trying to maintain some mythical distinction between "then" and "now". My 80 year old Martin Mahogany 00 is built differently than my 22 year old Martin Mahogany 00, does that mean I have to refer to it differently? If I plug a PRRI into a external cabinet, it is no longer a Princeton Reverb? The amplifier circuit is the exact same as the modern California assembled PR w/ the 10" speaker. Viva la Difference!

 

[pope858]

Bottom line, I think I'll defer to the Expert! Fender calls it a Princeton Reverb, I can't argue with that!

 

[kuch]

Hey OldPup, thanks for the suggestions. The noise is there when the amp is disconnected from everything. No power strip involved and I tried the amp at a different outlet and had no change! Maybe I am just hearing the sounds of the circuit? While the noise is always there, it is well beneath the amplified guitar in all cases and at volumes up to 5, it is really not a factor. It's not a 60hz hum, in fact it reminds me of the sound you would get on an inexpensive record player, at the start of the record, when the needle was first placed on the record. A kind of scratchy, crackly, white noise whose volume rises and falls with the sweep of the volume knob. Maybe a noisy tube, but I've no idea which one(s) to check!

Have you tried turning the reverb and tremolo to zero?
And maybe the treble and bass knobs.

 

[Esquire Jones]

I recently bought a SW PRRI and it came out of the box with a static noise related to the reverb.

I traced it back to a faulty reverb return tube (12AX7). Replaced the tube and the problem was solved.

Sweetwater also asked me to return the amp and exchange it for a new one.

I thought that was crazy since it was obviously just a bad tube.

Not sure what my point is. Y'all got this.