NAD: Barn-Aged Princeton Chorus

[Recalcitrant]

If you owned one of these you probably remember it for its fine Fender cleans and lovely stereo chorus. Fender brought forth their “II” line of solid state amps during the Rivera era in the 80s-90s, sporting mean-looking red knobs to grab the eye. The Princeton Chorus (which in no way resembles the Princeton Reverb) had spring reverb and analog overdrive, effects loop, headphone out, through 2x10 speakers, in 25W per channel stereo, all for around $300. They must’ve sold tons. I had one, and loved it until my son borrowed it permanently two decades ago.

If you owned one, have one, or know history or stories about them, I invite you to share here.

It turns out this item, except for crackling pots, works very well. My brother, a hoarder, is presently moving all his [stuff] three states away, and so decided he maybe wasn’t going to learn guitar after all. Luckily for both of us I was there with the right solution.

 

[kuch]

there's a couple of them listed on our local CL. $300

 

[RoscoeElegante]

My first amp after a long hiatus between having/not having any electrical equipment. I've never bothered to clean its crackly-dirty knobs, but it works well for what it is. We ended up using it primarily as our bass amp in a small group and venue. Nice solid cleans, and the chorus is useful. The other features...not so much.

 

[bluescube]

Bought one in 1989. Loved it. Miss it.

 

[Apollwn]

I had one of these many years ago. Great amp with lovely Fender clean tones, but too loud. I don't think I ever really turned the volume past 2 or 3, and it would still be too much. I had to move it on and bought a smaller amp that I could use in my flat.

 

[zencat]

If you owned one of these you probably remember it for its fine Fender cleans and lovely stereo chorus. Fender brought forth their “II” line of solid state amps during the Rivera era in the 80s-90s, sporting mean-looking red knobs to grab the eye. The Princeton Chorus (which in no way resembles the Princeton Reverb) had spring reverb and analog overdrive, effects loop, headphone out, through 2x10 speakers, in 25W per channel stereo, all for around $300. They must’ve sold tons. I had one, and loved it until my son borrowed it permanently two decades ago.

If you owned one, have one, or know history or stories about them, I invite you to share here.

View attachment 1050938

It turns out this item, except for crackling pots, works very well. My brother, a hoarder, is presently moving all his [stuff] three states away, and so decided he maybe wasn’t going to learn guitar after all. Luckily for both of us I was there with the right solution.

I had one about twenty years ago as a bedroom/rehearsal amp. It was the black knob - silver grill version. Great tones out of it. Very nice chorus. Pleasing lead channel with smooth distortion. Eventually not loud enough for rehearsal.

 

[Churchjack]

I had one, from a pawn shop, must have been a later model. The knobs weren't red (maybe just on the tips?), and had a DSP section had a variety of very useful modulations, flanger, chorus, different 'verbs. Great squeeky cleans. I think it even had a short delay built in? I recall that I was able to dial in a sound just like Cross Canadian Ragweed. My nephew has it now.

It was the amp that got me thinking about tubes, and perceiving the whole signal chain as one instrument. And concluding that $guitar thru $$$amp > $$$guitar thru $amp. I sure do miss it!

 

[myfenderissues]

they

If you owned one of these you probably remember it for its fine Fender cleans and lovely stereo chorus. Fender brought forth their “II” line of solid state amps during the Rivera era in the 80s-90s, sporting mean-looking red knobs to grab the eye. The Princeton Chorus (which in no way resembles the Princeton Reverb) had spring reverb and analog overdrive, effects loop, headphone out, through 2x10 speakers, in 25W per channel stereo, all for around $300. They must’ve sold tons. I had one, and loved it until my son borrowed it permanently two decades ago.

If you owned one, have one, or know history or stories about them, I invite you to share here.

View attachment 1050938

It turns out this item, except for crackling pots, works very well. My brother, a hoarder, is presently moving all his [stuff] three states away, and so decided he maybe wasn’t going to learn guitar after all. Luckily for both of us I was there with the right solution.

they don't sound good. but it\s ok for a practice amp. maybe bring 75 dollars on the used market.

 

[myfenderissues]

I had one, from a pawn shop, must have been a later model. The knobs weren't red (maybe just on the tips?), and had a DSP section had a variety of very useful modulations, flanger, chorus, different 'verbs. Great squeeky cleans. I think it even had a short delay built in? I recall that I was able to dial in a sound just like Cross Canadian Ragweed. My nephew has it now.

It was the amp that got me thinking about tubes, and perceiving the whole signal chain as one instrument. And concluding that $guitar thru $$$amp > $$$guitar thru $amp. I sure do miss it!

years ago i'd check out pawn shops out for music stuff occasionally, but i have to say i never saw anything related to guitars or amps in a pawn shop that wasn't broken in some way

 

[Old Plank]

All I have to add, is that I really wanted one and liked playing thru a friend's, but then found a '68 Super Reverb at the same price and went with that.

 

[brookdalebill]

In their day, they were Fender’s biggest selling amps.
Congratulations!

 

[schmee]

I had one for a while. In some ways I liked it (for SS anyway) It's a $175 amp. I paid $150 for a clean one that was available a long time. People are trying to get more though, especially now days. The chorus was nice. Forget the OD channel.
There was one thing I couldn't resolve on it though; Setting the tone seemed to be impossible, it went from harsh to mud with a tiny tiny rotate of the treble pot. Maybe the tone pots were all interactive, not sure. I just could not quite get in the zone. Otherwise I would have kept it just for goofing around. Sold to a buddy for his keyboard at home.

 

[TeleRooo]

Might be worth while to contact - Lyle @ Psionic Audio on YouTube - https://www.psionicaudio.com. He is real knowledgeable about Fender Amps and their needs. IMHO - check out some of his videos.....

 

[eichaan]

I had one about twenty years ago as a bedroom/rehearsal amp. It was the black knob - silver grill version. Great tones out of it. Very nice chorus. Pleasing lead channel with smooth distortion. Eventually not loud enough for rehearsal.

My experience was exactly like Zencat's. I got mine in 1993-ish and kept it for 10 years until it just didn't work for my band. I wish I had more understanding of FX loops back then.

 

[Willie Johnson]

I tried to buy one used and they sent me a Princeton Reverb instead. Oops.

I do really want one of the older analog solid state Fenders with spring reverb and an effects loop. A made in Japan Sidekick 30 or similar with a nice high sensitivity speaker would be cool.

 

[trandy9850]

In their day, they were Fender’s biggest selling amps.
Congratulations!

This was the biggest selling amp in Fender history….over 70,000 were sold….later the Hot Rod Deluxe supplanted it as #1….Fender has sold over 90,000 Hot Rod Deluxe’s.

 

[Mechanic]

I on one and played it tonight. Drive channels aren’t the greatest. Tone circuit works by cutting the volume i its range. I like to keep the pots at 5-7 or above that and cut what I don’t want. There is an owners page in the amp club section.

 

[foundjoe]

I was enamored by the stereo chorus and stereo effects loop, but it was too clean to the point of sounding flat and lifeless. The OD was harsh and fizzy. I had downsized from a Twin Reverb, but didn’t realize I was losing all the tone. Sold it long ago and do not miss it.