The Fender Princeton Reverb was introduced in 1964 as the upgraded version of earlier low-powered tweed amps bearing the same name. It was the smallest amp in the blackface Fender line-up that featured both Reverb as Tremolo effects and the typical scooped-mid Blackface sound. With 12-15W RMS and a 10 inch speaker Princeton Reverbs sound quite full and thick even at lower volume, with the volume past 4 there’s a great crunch that responds well to the guitar volume control but won’t be too overpowering to use at club levels. Because of the portable size and weight, the output level that’s very well suited to club gigs and the great base tonality and effects the Princeton Reverb is well loved by musicians on small stages and in the studio.

This Princeton Reverb was built mid 1965, shortly after the CBS takeover of the Fender company. This amp was used but not abused. It has a great overdrive sound and nice compression going. All in all a fantastic amp that makes very clear why Fender reissued exactly this version of the Princeton Reverb a few years ago.

This amp was recently serviced with new filter capacitors fitted and sounds great without any hum or crackling. The most important alterations to this amp are the speaker that was replaced by a CTS Alnico ‘Fender Special Design’ 10” speaker from 1971 and the power transformer that might not be original. Weirdly this amp has a pre-1961 Standard Transformer Corp (later ‘Stancor’) transformer with the exact same specs as the Schumacher transformers Fender used for Princeton Reverbs in this era. Stancor sold transformers to Fender during the mid-late ‘50s with exactly the same looks and label as this one. The install of the transformer looks very much like factory work. It’s plausible that in 1965, at the height of the American guitar boom, Schumachers may have been temporarily unavailable and Fender used an older stock transformer to finish this amp. Still it’s impossible to tell exactly when and why this transformer ended up in this amp.

Specifications:

• Potentiometers: Speed: 1965 wk08, Reverb: 1964 wk38, Bass: 1965 wk08, Treble: 1965 wk08, Volume: 1965 wk06
• Cabinet and chassis inspection stamps: both VF1265 (wk 12 1965)
• Transformer codes: Reverb 606-5-05 (wk 5 1965), Output 606-5-02 (wk 2 1965)

Modifications:

• Power transformer is a Chicago Standard Transformer Company (Stancor) PM8407 from before 1961. This transformer has the correct specs for a Princeton Reverb and is possibly original to the amp (see description).
• Added hole to the bottom of the chassis
• Footswitch inputs replaced by jack inputs, footswitch has jack plugs
• 1971 Fender Special Design speaker
• New filer capacitor cap can (original part saved)
• New bias cap (original part saved)
• New cathode bypass caps (original part saved)
• 3-prong power cord (original part saved)
• Ground switch and death cap bypassed
• Replaced amplifier feet
• New 6V6 and 12AT7 tubes, rest NOS
• Some small nail holes in the cabinet around the corners from added but removed corner protectors