So I have a few days off work and decided to take on a new adventure. I'd been looking for a new bedroom amp (cue the TM Princeton) and a new lightweigt but powerful gigging amp with lots of clean headroom for the country band and enough oomph for the 80s rock band (cue the TM Twin). And some of you know, I posted extensively on the TM Deluxe (black) and TM Super - both of which I owned previously but got sold because they didn't satisfy my needs: enough clean power (Deluxe just wasn't loud enough, fizzy breakup sounds) and satisfying DI sounds (overdriven DI sounds on the Super left much to be desired).
While I always toyed with buying a black TM Twin, my problems with the Deluxe kept me away. Thus, I decided to go with the blonde edition Twin, and a Princeton for home use - because everyone loves Princetons.
So here is my review after roughly 8 hours of playing time. I focused mainly on three volume levels: Volume on 3 (clean), Volume on 5 (bold clean) and Volume on 7 (Breakup on the Princeton and even bolder Clean on the Twin). Amps are running on full power (12W and 85W respectively), EQ on 6/6/6. Guitars in use were a Baja Telecaster on input 1 and a Les Paul Classic on input 2.
The Princeton packs quite a lot of punch for its size and weight. It is both bold in the lows while retaining a bright, shiny and perhaps airy quality to its sound. While it is obviously limited by its 12W in terms of volume, it did fill out my living room quite nicely and was heard even a few streets away. I consider that loud enough for most home, practice and even smaller gig applications. However, that was with the Vol on 5 and upwards - if you are looking for pure cleans at "advanced" volumes, this is not the right amp. If you are looking for - in my opinion, glorious - break up sounds at acceptable volumes, the Princeton is the right amp. It's bright and shiny living room/bedroom volume clean sounds are an added bonus and might just be what you are looking for. And let me say it - the tremolo is simply wonderful and far more pleasing to the ears than the Twin. If you add an EP booster, the Princeton reacts just like you would expect: it sounds even better! However, pushing it hard on Volume 7+ let me hear its limitations: I did manage to overload the input signal and the amp reacted very weirdly and artifact-like. If you wanna push guitar sound boundaries, this is what you are looking for. If you want more juice for leads, this is absolutely not what you are looking for. Knowing this issue, I was able to circumvent it by stacking more drive pedals in front of the Princeton instead of pushing the levels to the max. Be aware though, that my Princeton was a bit picky with pedals. It's idle noise was very quiet, however not as quiet as the Twin's. So all in all, the TM Princeton is quite a lot of amp - and for 900 Euros, it's quite a good investement considering its weight, and its DI-abilities. However, I personally did not find any use for the output scaling. For my uses, the Princeton is quiet enough at 12W, even cranked. Others may differ, but that's the way I see it living in a single home with enough space between me and the neighbors.
And then I fired up the Twin: and as the saying goes: more is sometimes more. For just 300 Euros more, you get a second speaker one size up, and 85 loud watts. Now the Twin on 6/6/6 is quite a bit darker than the 1x10 Princeton. If you want the bright and ice-picky sounds Twins are sometimes known for, you might need to work the EQ on the amp more or engage the bright switch - or just get the black edition, whose Jensens do indeed have this quality. The celestions sound a little bit different - and that's exactly why I bought it. I was severely disappointed with the black Deluxe's overdriven sounds, and I am glad to report that the blonde Twin sounds a lot better. Everything is there: strong lows you can feel in your chest, grind, pleasing highs and the excruciating volume levels it takes to overdrive a Twin - I had to turn it up to 9, at which point the whole neighborhood was aware of my aural assault. Is it as loud as my '81 2204 full stack? No. Is it as loud as my 70s Silverface Twin with JBLs? Probably not, but close enough. Is it way louder than you might need in almost any modern gigging application? You betcha. Clean and bolder clean power up until 8 on the volume dial speaks for itself - that's the sound of country I know and love. And it is a great clean sound that gets even better with the EP booster engaged. While the tremolo does not have the Princeton's unique charm, it is still useful enough. The Twin also takes pedals excellently - much thanks to the Celestions: Klons sound girthy, Rats sound rich and earthy with just the right amount of fuzz, MIABs sound very convincing (and that's much of the reason why I bought the amp in the first place) and the EP booster does wonders on the front end of all of those. Modulation pedals are also easily put in last place in the chain and work even without a dedicated effects loop. And I especially have to mention the noise level: Nonexistent. Even with the Twin turned up to advanced volume levels, it is dead quiet - more so than the Princeton. And at just 300 Euros more, it's a no brainer to go with the larger amp. The twin sounds great on 2 as well, which is quiet enough for bedroom / living room playing. The Princeton does, as well, but in direct comparison it sounds small, indeed - no wonder, as the blonde Twin has lots of low end on 6/6/6. And then there's the weight - or should I say, lack of weight. Never has a Twin been so light - it is so light that it even moves on its own at advanced volume levels.
I haven't tested out the DI yet - I post an update once I get to it.
In short, the TM Princeton and blonde TM Twin are both excellent amps, however the Twin just offers more - both in value for money as well as in gigging/home usefulness.
While I always toyed with buying a black TM Twin, my problems with the Deluxe kept me away. Thus, I decided to go with the blonde edition Twin, and a Princeton for home use - because everyone loves Princetons.
So here is my review after roughly 8 hours of playing time. I focused mainly on three volume levels: Volume on 3 (clean), Volume on 5 (bold clean) and Volume on 7 (Breakup on the Princeton and even bolder Clean on the Twin). Amps are running on full power (12W and 85W respectively), EQ on 6/6/6. Guitars in use were a Baja Telecaster on input 1 and a Les Paul Classic on input 2.
The Princeton packs quite a lot of punch for its size and weight. It is both bold in the lows while retaining a bright, shiny and perhaps airy quality to its sound. While it is obviously limited by its 12W in terms of volume, it did fill out my living room quite nicely and was heard even a few streets away. I consider that loud enough for most home, practice and even smaller gig applications. However, that was with the Vol on 5 and upwards - if you are looking for pure cleans at "advanced" volumes, this is not the right amp. If you are looking for - in my opinion, glorious - break up sounds at acceptable volumes, the Princeton is the right amp. It's bright and shiny living room/bedroom volume clean sounds are an added bonus and might just be what you are looking for. And let me say it - the tremolo is simply wonderful and far more pleasing to the ears than the Twin. If you add an EP booster, the Princeton reacts just like you would expect: it sounds even better! However, pushing it hard on Volume 7+ let me hear its limitations: I did manage to overload the input signal and the amp reacted very weirdly and artifact-like. If you wanna push guitar sound boundaries, this is what you are looking for. If you want more juice for leads, this is absolutely not what you are looking for. Knowing this issue, I was able to circumvent it by stacking more drive pedals in front of the Princeton instead of pushing the levels to the max. Be aware though, that my Princeton was a bit picky with pedals. It's idle noise was very quiet, however not as quiet as the Twin's. So all in all, the TM Princeton is quite a lot of amp - and for 900 Euros, it's quite a good investement considering its weight, and its DI-abilities. However, I personally did not find any use for the output scaling. For my uses, the Princeton is quiet enough at 12W, even cranked. Others may differ, but that's the way I see it living in a single home with enough space between me and the neighbors.
And then I fired up the Twin: and as the saying goes: more is sometimes more. For just 300 Euros more, you get a second speaker one size up, and 85 loud watts. Now the Twin on 6/6/6 is quite a bit darker than the 1x10 Princeton. If you want the bright and ice-picky sounds Twins are sometimes known for, you might need to work the EQ on the amp more or engage the bright switch - or just get the black edition, whose Jensens do indeed have this quality. The celestions sound a little bit different - and that's exactly why I bought it. I was severely disappointed with the black Deluxe's overdriven sounds, and I am glad to report that the blonde Twin sounds a lot better. Everything is there: strong lows you can feel in your chest, grind, pleasing highs and the excruciating volume levels it takes to overdrive a Twin - I had to turn it up to 9, at which point the whole neighborhood was aware of my aural assault. Is it as loud as my '81 2204 full stack? No. Is it as loud as my 70s Silverface Twin with JBLs? Probably not, but close enough. Is it way louder than you might need in almost any modern gigging application? You betcha. Clean and bolder clean power up until 8 on the volume dial speaks for itself - that's the sound of country I know and love. And it is a great clean sound that gets even better with the EP booster engaged. While the tremolo does not have the Princeton's unique charm, it is still useful enough. The Twin also takes pedals excellently - much thanks to the Celestions: Klons sound girthy, Rats sound rich and earthy with just the right amount of fuzz, MIABs sound very convincing (and that's much of the reason why I bought the amp in the first place) and the EP booster does wonders on the front end of all of those. Modulation pedals are also easily put in last place in the chain and work even without a dedicated effects loop. And I especially have to mention the noise level: Nonexistent. Even with the Twin turned up to advanced volume levels, it is dead quiet - more so than the Princeton. And at just 300 Euros more, it's a no brainer to go with the larger amp. The twin sounds great on 2 as well, which is quiet enough for bedroom / living room playing. The Princeton does, as well, but in direct comparison it sounds small, indeed - no wonder, as the blonde Twin has lots of low end on 6/6/6. And then there's the weight - or should I say, lack of weight. Never has a Twin been so light - it is so light that it even moves on its own at advanced volume levels.
I haven't tested out the DI yet - I post an update once I get to it.
In short, the TM Princeton and blonde TM Twin are both excellent amps, however the Twin just offers more - both in value for money as well as in gigging/home usefulness.
