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Owning and loving both a 1965 Deluxe Reverb and a 1959 Harvard has caused me to become more and more curious about revisiting the brownface amps of 1960-1963. The last time I owned a brown amp, I was in High School. I looked around and realized that Fender had recently released a hand-wired 62 Princeton. Kindly, they sent me one to check out. In this video, I take a look at the history of the Princeton from the tweeds through the BF model, and of course, put Fender's new Chris Stapleton Edition amp through its paces.
Gear for this video
1957 Fender Esquire with an added neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Bridge pickup re-wind by Ron Ellis
Strings:
D'Addario NYXL 10-46
Pick:
D'Andrea MH 351
Amp:
Fender '62 Princeton Amp - Chris Stapleton Edition
Effects used:
Boss DM-2 Delay
Boss RV-2 Reverb on PLATE setting
#askzac #chrisstapletonprinceton #telecaster
Chris used this at the superbowl when he absolutely nailed and slayed the national anthem and made it his very own. Best rendition EVER! Nobody sings with so much soul as Chris. The trem on this amp has a cool phase shifter quality that resembles Waylon's tone on so many great songs. Adds a beautiful haunting quality that brought the ghosts of the Star Spangled Banner to life like never before. Just incredibly beautifully touching.
I love pedals, but sometimes, all you need is just the guitar and the amp.
I was helping my father-in-law move from his house and he had this old amp in the corner. He told me he had bought it in the 60s when he was stationed in California. He told me that I could have it and after some research, I found that it’s a 1963 Princeton “tuxedo”!! It still had the original USA speaker and tubes!!! #bestfatherinlaw
I bought this amp and it knocked my head off. Very loud amp. Fought with it for a while, tried a number of less robust speakers which mostly did not jive well with it (greenback, Creamback, Jupiter, C12Q etc).
Popped an NOS Mullard 12AT7 in V1 and it has made the amp much more usable for recording and living room dreamer applications.
Great review. And I second the Filson cover sentiment.
One thing worth noting is that Stapleton opted out of artist royalties for the sale of this amp and directed 100% of the profit to him and his wife’s charity “outlaw state of kind”.. That’s a very noble gesture in my opinion.
The two best modern Princeton amps tone wise I've got to plug a telecaster into were the Fender Limited-Edition '65 Princeton Reverb 12W 1x12 Tube Guitar Combo Amp Bordeaux Reserve and the Chris Stapleton Brown Edition.
This amp was the first amp I bought when I started playing a year ago. It seemed like a good idea to buy a good guitar and a good amp. I feel like I made good choices.
Bro, you'll never need an upgrade! What guitar did you go for?
How are you liking it? I'm actually thinking of getting this as my first tube amp. It's not cheap and maybe overkill for my skills/experience at this point, but thinking of going all in.
Terrible choice. I’ll take it off your hands and do you a favour
@@WS-bk7uuUnless you’re a full time musician who feeds his family by playing sessions, gigs, gun for hire, etc, then you do it for the enjoyment. And trying and buying nice gear, is part of the fun. Don’t think you’re not worthy of good gear, because you are, and your playing level has nothing to do with that. Good gear makes you play more and want to play more, which makes you better. I wonder how many people started playing on crappy sounding or hard to play instruments and stopped because it was uncomfortable, uninspiring, or just plain boring.
You’re going to either never want another thing, or want everything and realize you never needed anything else. Brilliant choice.
I’m a drummer but to my ear this is golden! Love the tone! Doesn’t hurt that a great player is demoing it!
I have cherished my ‘62 brownface Princeton for 25 years , best Strat amp of all time
Dad Gum, what ever Chris Stapleton uses or does sounds murderous. Very few musicians are in his league. He has the Count Basie approach: don't do a lot but make it mean something. Good show cuz.
Thanks, Cuz!
Beautiful sounding amp!!! Thanks for the in-depth talk. Plus, your licks were killing, Zac!! Another great video by the king!!!
A great clip!! WOW!! Now, you have me wanting one of these!! Great tones!! Love it.
Just ordered my Chris Stapleton Princeton! Thanks for the demo and review…super excited!
I find it odd how I started out playing wanting as many pedals and amps as possible all at the same time, guitars with as many pickup combinations as possible etc
And now I got older and just want to plug an esquire straight into a 4 knob tube amp haha
I did the same, I still have my collection but I play everyday and it's a G&L asat classic into a sunface into a toneking gremlin. Clean to peeling paint with the volume knob is so much more satisfying than tweaking knobs thinking you're leaving something on the table. It took me a long time and thousands of dollars to get back to what guys like Rory Gallagher and Peter Green showed us from the start.
I can understand and empathize from a sound explorer perspective. However, I was the extreme opposite as I learned some simple songs on a $10 electric with a tiny clip on pignose Amp, I listened to Robert Johnson and it changed my life so drastically that at 11 yrs old, I made the decision that if I was going to master the instrument, I'd do it purely without effects or amplification. I made it to 32 yrs old without plugging one in and now at 36 yrs young I've been digging this style of telecaster with a bit of reverb and fuzz like they were traditionally in the early outlaw country days when Willy Nelson still wore tyes, Merle hadn't worn a hat yet and Johnny was still popping black beauties 😉 I'm going to throw myself into it soon as I've done just about everything I can with and acoustic and it will probable remain my passion but this sound is something special. Would you gentlemen have any advice on settings to get as close to the descending scale he does in the beginning of this video?
@@accuser_of_the_brethren7816 For Tweedish amps, check out the Carr Rambler. It's kinda halfway between a Brown Deluxe and a Princeton Reverb. The main thing is with no master volume, a good attenuator is a really good companion investment. I use a $100 dollar Weber Mini Mass. The big difference between that period of Fender amps is the transition from cathode bias (Tweeds, squishy and warm) to fixed bias (63+ BF, punchier and galssier). Zac is also perfectly correct that a really good 12" is so much better. I play a homebrew BF princeton reverb head through a 15" cab and it's magic.
For Settings, the pre BF princeton's have the tweed style single tone knob. I find this best at about 75% on the amp and just leave it there. The main tone control is actually your guitar's volume knob + your stage volume.
Same. You’ve just described my version of tonal heaven.
@@MatthewSpringer thanks so much for the technical advice as most people wouldn't give it out as graciously considering the trial and error behind a decades worth of purchasing amps will jade even the most pleasant of musicians 😀 I'm going to get into the Carr Ramblers you mentioned and have a look around. Thanks again
Happy centennial episode. Give us hundreds more!!
Great video Zac! I had been anticipating this episode and hoping you’d play for us the 57 Esquire, thanks for that! I wish my Princeton Reverb reissue (FSR w 12” C.Rex) would magically transform into a hand-wired version overnight. Volume at 8-9 with a Tele bridge pickup is the bomb, it made me happy to hear you crank it up!
Lol nearly played the Better Call Saul intro at 7:05
I've got the 65 reissue but this amp blows it away.....Nice playing Zac, fabulous tone.
Great vid! That amp is truly a fire-breather 🔥🔥
Thanks for the review - your knowledge and experience and opinions(!) really shine through in your gear talks. Always a treat.
My pleasure!
Great review Zac, appreciate the way you give the history behind whatever you are talking about.
always learn something new in everyone of your episodes.
loved the " paper thin " lick turned up, sounded awesome!
You caught the Hiatt!!!
Now I want one. Thanks, Zac!
Just wanted to stop by and say I thoroughly enjoy reading your column in Vintage Guitar Magazine every month. I enjoy all of your videos as they are packed with really interesting information, explanations and stories. You are truly a "Guitar Historian" to say the least.
Thank you kindly!
1) A high school friend's big brother had a brown tolex Deluxe. We used to plug a turn-table into it and listen to records through it. I thought it sounded pleasingly warm, but then we never cranked it up with a guitar plugged in.
2) Thanks for helping make up my mind. I've had an amp head sitting in the basement for a decade, that I wanted to turn into something. It was some no-name that has power and output transformers, and sockets, for a 5Y3 rectifier, two 12AX7/7025 preamp tubes, and a pair of 6V6 power tubes - exactly what I'd need to make a 6G2 Princeton. I have a Jensen C12R from the mid-'60s sitting around that seems ideally suited to this sort of amp. I was torn between several other older Fenders, like a Tremolux, Vibrolux, or Harvard, but I think this cinched it.
3) A word about the Tone control. It is the identical circuit as on my tweed 5F2-A Princeton. This sort of control operates in reciprocal fashion. That is, it provides either treble cut in one direction, via a .005uf cap to ground, or treble emphasis in the other direction, via a 500pf cap the straddles the input and wiper of the Volume control. The "emphasis" is really just a variable "brite" function, instead of the on-off switch found in later Fenders. It also operates identically to the bypass cap found on so many Fender guitar volume controls.
That approach to treble emphasis originates from the "loudness" controls, found on stereos, that provide an advantage to the low and high ends of the spectrum in low-volume situations, to compensate for the "Fletcher-Munson" curves in human hearing. If one has a stereo with a loudness switch, you'll find that turning it on and off at a high-volume setting yields very little audible change in tone. In the guitar context, such bypass caps also compensate for the manner in which turning the volume down loads down the guitar signal, such that less treble is transferred to the amp over the cable.
I mention this because, just like on your guitar, where the bypass cap adds nothing when the volume is up full, the amp Tone control provides less and less treble advantage as the volume is turned up. The treble *cut*, via the .005uf cap to ground, works the same way, no matter where the volume is set, but the treble emphasis always depends on the volume setting.
I think we tend to notice the impact of bypass caps on guitar more, because we run our guitars at full tilt, and turning the volume down results in an audibly thinner sound. In contrast, we often run our amps at less than full volume, so we rarely or never reach the point where these sorts of tone controls seem to have no effect on treble. I suppose it is also the case that , when pushed to the hilt, the amp is producing additional harmonic content, which we are disinclined to want to turn down.
Nice demo and playing. I want to score a Princeton soon. This helps a lot. Thanks!
love the videos you are making. Here you are on point as always. In your element
Glad you like them!
Great video. It’s great to have so many amp choices these days.
It really is!
There’s a very nice palette of sound to be had with this. Quite lovely.
Thanks for yet another really interesting episode - always enjoyable.
Thank you, Stephen!
I have wanted one since they came out, and I hope to make it happen next year. Good review.
Thoroughly enjoyed this €:-)
You sounded great and teaching me what I want in an amp, especially Fender amps my favorites .
Thanks once again Zac.👍
My pleasure!
Thanks a lot. Thought I had too many amps. Now I want one.
Kenny vahn from the marty Stewart band has been using one his whole career and no pedals and I think he has the best sound ever heard and he said that they the best tone machine money can buy
When I see Kenny Vaughn’s videos he’s always playing a black face.
I fell in love with the sound of the 6G2 circuit the minute I heard it. Couldn't afford one so about 3 years ago I scratch built one from vintage parts I scrounged up. Have been running mine with a 12" Jensen also dated 1962 adds quite a bit of headroom.
Amazing channel! Great reviews Zack! Definitely should have at least a half million followers! Amp sound really vintage , specially compared to al the 57 tweed line
A few years back I started a 6G2 Brown Princeton build. I had to stop the build for a couple of years, but got back into the build early this year. I was originally going to build it with a WGS G12Q and started testing the freshly working chassis with that speaker. A great sound, but not quite what I wanted from this amp. I then tried an Eminence Josh Smith JS1250, it was fuller and cleaner, but still not what I was after. I then went to a Weber AlNiCo Signature 10 (smooth cone)and wow, that was close to what I was after. I ordered up a Weber 12A125A and found an incredible sound, but was a touch too bright. I found a deal on a 12A125S, which is a later design with a warmer voice with the treble a little more restrained but still present. It was perfect for me!
It's now a toss-up between my AC15C1X and this amp. I found my sound with the two together. My favorite is the AC15's (reverb wet) normal channel with the Princeton dry tone. I got the idea from Rich Robinson and the Black Crowes. I liked his tones from semi-clean to crunchy. It might have started as more of a Blues/Rock sound, but it works well across much more. Give it a try (even with the Chris Stapleton) if you can.
Sounds great. The Trem surfy- Diddley-esque!
Great demo of this amp! Thanks Zac!
My pleasure!
Great sounding amp and sounds great when cranked.
Love the review. Love these Amps too. And they should be very lovable for some 2000-2200 dollhairs
And you nailed it with the fact that it caters to the Jazzmaster......really shines with it. I use it primarily with my 62 JM
Speaking from owning a 60’ Concert Amp for a few years… the brownface era amps have their own sound
Seems like the perfect companion for my hand wired champ
I own this amp and it has become my go to. I did have NOS RCA tubes installed from the 50's, it took it to another level.
Me too - all NOS now, big difference. What started me was the rectifier started ringing, so - well guess it's time to change them all.
Great video. Absolutely love Princetons with 12" speakers.
Same here!
In the early 80’s I used two brown Fender Concert amps. It was a great sound, I should have never let them go.
Love seeing that framed Steve Cropper picture on your shelf
Thanks Zac...I've been waiting for this
Hope you enjoyed it!
I bought this amp about a year ago. I'm not a fan of the mega ceramic magnet on the 12" speaker, as I thought it lacked upper range articulation that is present in my tweeds. So I swapped it out for a Celestion Ruby 12 Alnico Speaker. Now it's a good amp! I'm also not sure why they chose to use modern Carbon Film Resistors in the circuit board vs period correct...Carbon Composition Resistors. Lastly, the electrolytic capacitors used throughout are the cheapest money can buy. It would have been nice to see some Spragues or F&T's in the circuit....for 2k. However, it's still great!
Chris is su h a talent glad to see you do a run down on it and wow it sounds phenomenal.
I absolutely enjoyed this review. I bought this amp just before Covid killed off any chance of me gigging it on stage. The plan was and still is, to use it with my Fender valve reverb tank. My Fender Bassman which I still have was beginning to be a bit heavy to lug around for a 76 year old, and the smaller and lighter Princeton is just fine for me. The tone of course is completely different to the Bassman, but I love the Princeton's simple setup which makes it very easy to get a really great Fender tone. Then there's the lovely built in tremolo that also means one less pedal too.
I'm enjoying using it at home with a Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander for now, so I can crank up the volume without shredding the wallpaper off the walls. I use a Strat and a Tele but really want to get a Jazzmaster Pro 2 when they become available in Sydney.
Same timing! I have been out with it since spring of '21, with a Celestion Century Neo speaker, and 3 vaccines! Total great lightweight full sounding amp. I'm 66, and not up for the Bassman, but a great amp too.
Sounds great turned up !
Great expository video on this amp and circuit. I would love to see more on the all the brownface amps, especially the 2x10 Super, and the diff between the 6G4A and 6G5A circuits, soundwise.
I was just playing my 5f11 I built right along with you and I imagine it’s very similar
Sounds great, Zac! Thanks for the review! On first impression, that amp sort of reminds me of my mid-90s Ampeg Jet-12T. A great little 15 watt el84 combo. The midrange sounds similar, as does the tremolo. Of course, it can be hard to judge these things without actually being in the room.
Thanks, Richard!
Great video Zac! Love a brown face amp. The closest I’ll get to that is playing a Vs Audio Blackbird on the brown setting through my Twin for now 🙌
Perfect match with your Tele.
Good tubes have my CS putting out about 17 watts on the scope. Plenty for any gigs I play. Nice review, thanks!
I heard one of these originals at a guitar show years ago. I thought it was one of the best sounding amps I’d ever heard. Would really love to have one.
The tube bias tremolo isn’t overpowering too like the Blackface amps tend to be! It’s clear and not muddy. This is my ideal dream amp! Thanks for posting this Zach, I might just consider buying this amp in my future! You definetly pointed out the good stuff on why these amps are so marveleous, I’ve always like blackface amps but now I think this amp is going in my collection someday!
The handwired series is indeed very good. I’ve bought three over the last few months. Pricey but the real deal, ( made a bit easier to absorb by my Fender deal set up by Marty S. back in my Nashville days though thank goodness…He is of course the real deal defined.) Highly recommend the series. Very nice demo as always Zac. Keep ‘‘em coming☝️
love the video
I bought the 65' Princeton Reissue FSR with the 12" speaker and tweed covering. I use a attenuator with it, keep the volume on about 7. Fantastic sounding amp.
Very nice!
You make that thing sing Zac! I have the Sweetwater exclusive 65 Princeton Reverb with the 12" Eminence Cannabis Rex. I really like it.
Got a chance to play this amp and it was 🤩, but can’t justify the price quite yet. I do love the simplicity of these amps.
Kind of wish it had Reverb. Good Show Zac.
Bitchin' amp! I was encouraged by Mike Pascale in Petaluma of Fat Jimmy fame to replace my baffle in a '64 non-reverb Princeton w a 12" and WGS ceramic speaker .. wow. Loved the amp before but going to a 12" WGS made this my favorite amp of all time. I've always preferred hi-quality alnico speakers but this swap has made me rethink speaker things. Thanks always love your take on gear!
Zac, Thanks for diving into this amp too! I have some great amps with lots of power but I want something like this without the power and lots of tone. These smaller amps seem to get to their "sweet" spot turning them up and not destroying your hearing in the process. Another plus is that they really bring out Tele tones with great clarity!
I watched your last 2 videos in reverse. Listening to the amp without modification. I have to say I’m very impressed with how it comes from the factory. Still mid forward with nice highs.
I think you are right.
8:40 The main riff to John Hiatt's "Paper Thin". Nice!
Good job Zac...
Nice Zac, thanks for sharing.
You bet
Sounds great! Great licks!
Thanks a lot!
I'll keep my '62 Deluxe, but that sounds damned nice.
OK, so I just did a sound check in my buddies garage with 2 of these running through a stereo CHOPPER pedal :insane: and a Juliana pedal in stereo and ... I am happy to report that I am keeping the amps! A. Lifeson eat your heart out! Good to have an amazing pedal-board to support you when you play these Princetons at lower volumes...and no volume drop btw when you play at lower volumes...Fun fact: they kick in at vol. 2.1 so watch out!
I wish I never sold my ‘61 brown Vibroverb. It was the best amp I ever owned.
I paid $600 Canadian for an original Brown Princeton like that about 20 years ago.
I couldn’t afford to keep it; the power output and small speaker nixed it as my main amp.
I settled on a ‘73 Deluxe Reverb.
I do remember that lovely little Brown Princeton’s sound and tremolo …. great!
I love that citrus orange Dano. I have a minty Seafoam green U1. They're awesome!
Thank You. Nicely Done.👍🏽
Thanks for watching!
One thing that trips me out is how on one day an amp or a guitar will cause me to
love it and on another day or even hour my taste will flip to something else...
I know right , sometimes they sound magical sometimes they sound like a mess. .
@@truckercowboyed2638 The mood dictates...
Sometimes without mercy
Agreee. Great amp.
That last run of licks 👌
Love 💕 to listen to these songs my mind relax 🌹🌹🌹
Digging the John Hiatt riff. 👌
When dialing in my 53 Deluxe I hit a big chord and slowly turn the tone knob and just listen to when my ear says tone is right!
I love that T-shirt and wear it often Zac. Dig my cap too..
Thank you, Grant!
I have an original '63 princeton that has a g10 gold in it versus the original 10". It's one of my favorite amps.
I have an original '62 brown princeton and also replaced the original oxford speaker with a g10 gold. Great tone and the tremolo is the best i've heard. Great amp!
It' s a nice sounding amp I agree.
But the real must have is your Telecaster.
I guess I' m not the first one who said so.
Thanks for your videos and cheers from Germany.
Great sound sells itself! What tone! I’m a Bluegrass/hillbilly picker who recently bought an Epiphone mando-bird on a lark. I realized I was not going to be happy with it until I got a good amp. I responded to an ad for a tweed pro junior iv. I tried it out and liked it. The guy had a tweed Princeton with a 12” Celestion for sale as well. He warned me not to try it, and he was right. I plunked down $1000 for the Princeton just to play some electric fiddle tunes. Now I’m considering spending twice that much for the CS model. Whew. I guess I had better go plug in my electric mandolin, flip on my tweed Princeton, and never watch this TH-cam video again. Haha.
All a man really needs!! Peace brother
Love you and “Both” your channels! Your experience is tremendous! Make a video about your take on guitar speakers. You hint in a lot of your videos on speakers, but a look at what’s out there to gain certain tones would be helpful. Also…..is this Princeton cabinet the same size as the BF 64’ Princeton? That cover is very nice, maybe it would fit a BF 64’? Love from NW Colorado. Thanxz
I think the brown might be slightly bigger....
....I bought a '66 Princeton Reverb off of CR many years back. I took it to my Amp tech for service. Upon picking it up I was informed that it had 23 watts of output. Now THAT'S a FIREBREATHER.............
I played/demoed this amp and loved it. I have a brown Ltd DRRI and it is an amazing beast as compared to the black 65 DRRI. Maybe Fender will forget they leant it to you :)
LOL, this gets posted THE day I make the decision between a 5F11 and a 6G2....went with the 5F11
Love that white tele. That neck is super ambered up. Amp sounds nice. I prefer my vibrolux reverb though
Very interesting. Those brown Deluxes from the early 60s really rock hard but they don't do the clean sparkly thing very well. Since I'm a clean player by and large, I learned that the fire breathing brownface Fenders are not for me. But man are they great sounding amps if you want some grit and grind.
Brown Princetons are awesome, almost the exact same circuit in the Gibson GA-18T. I see that tweed Super though... now that's an amp
Nice one Zac!
Thanks!
I built a clone of this amp with a 12" speaker in it. Absolutely love it! And it was a whole lot cheaper than $2K...
I built the 6G3 clone and just love it madly. Didn't expect the 6G3 shade from Zac, but he's a clean, tidy boy, I get it... =p
Did you buy a kit? I was looking at both options and there's not much I can find that's under $1k for a kit. What would you recommend?
@@kmatax9237 Nah, I scrounged around, sourced the parts and pieces I didn't have, and put it together. Been building amps awhile so I had most of the parts on hand. Likely, most new amp builders don't have the tools and stash that it takes to do something "on the cheap". But once you're in, you're in! And you can build a bunch of cool circuits. But ya gotta be careful. There's high voltage in some of those there parts...
BTW: The 12" speaker is absolutely the key, as Zac says.
@@kmatax9237 sorry, I guess I missed your question. If you really want to build one, I would suggest studying the schematic and layout for the amp. Then, start putting together a bill of materials: resistor values and types, capacitor values and types, tube sockets, transformers, and everything else. A number of suppliers offer "project" pages where you can start populating from your BOM. Get a black panel Princeton Reverb cab and a blank PR chassis (although if you search eBay, I think someone is offering a 6G2 chassis).
That's about the least costly approach, but it will take time.
Then, join a forum for tube amp builders, ask questions and start soldering.
Same with my vox ac10, has a 10" but plug in a 12" extension cabinet, it’s all you need
Hank williams SR would fall in love with that Brown. Fender