Blackface Fender Princeton: Repair of buzzing and distortion.

The Blackface Fender Princeton was in need of some TLC. The owner wanted to make the transition from a collectors amp to a reliable gigging amp. This is an important decision that requires due respect. In the end, an amp is made to be played, not looked at.
If you are interested in the repair of a vintage Fender amplifier with an annoying buzz and distortion, this video may be perfect for you.
This is the non-reverb Princeton version. My favourite. If the techno-talk is too much, just jump over to about 17 minutes to hear how the repaired Princeton sounds. (Hint: It sounds awesome)
PS. If you need amp repairs in Sydney Australia, give me a call. My details are on my website guitaramptech.....

[@mariofabrizi5050]

Gidday mate just found you! I never get tired of watching you guys (Uncle Doug & D-Lab as well) repair old valve amps. As a guitar player I am thrilled to understand how these babies work. Keep up the good work . People like me need people like you. Cheers from NZ

[@theguitaramptech]

Thanks Mario. I appreciate your kind words. Yes, I am also a fan of D-Lab, Guitologist, and a proud patron supporter of Uncle Doug. ❤️

[@lmd8175]

The cup washers weren't missing. They weren't originally put on these amps. They weren't on blackface princeton reverbs and champs in 64-65 too.

[@theguitaramptech]

Thanks Louis. I learn something new all the time.

[@xonxoffxonoff]

Hiya, just wanted to say hi, and thanks for all the great videos. I'm a Brit currently living in NZ and trained in electronics a loooong time ago, so I still try to service my own gear although I haven't worked in the industry for many years. Videos like yours are a great source of info. Love the humorous bits too!

[@theguitaramptech]

Thank you Mark. Enjoy your time in NZ? Have you come across fellow Kiwi @elams1894? He does excellent work and I LOVE his camera angles.

[@Turboy65]

I'm currently working my way through a collection of Princetons and Deluxe Reverbs. I don't replace original components without a legitimate reason to do so, because originality only happens once and originality is valued. However, I find these amps which distort very quickly even if the reservoir capacitor is fresh and good, and what I'm finding is that certain coupling capacitors, particularly the white Mallory 25/25 ones, don't need to have very much leakage before they become the source of the distortion. I've found this by replacing one that measured good but not perfect on the ESR check. Just putting in a new Sprague Atom to replace it solved the distortion problem. These amps are SENSITIVE to capacitor condition. If you really want to preserve as much original as you can, when chasing down a distortion problem, don't be afraid to pull and check the caps, write down their measured values, and then put in new ones as a comparison. You'll find that a lot of caps you HOPED to save, aren't really good.

[@theguitaramptech]

Thanks Whirled. I like that comment “originality only happens once”. An excellent point regarding the 25uF caps. (I think you meant cathode bypass cap rather than coupling cap, but I agree 100%)

[@krauz111]

very entertaining and educative

[@shckltnebay]

I always wipe that drip of the tube after spraying that Deoxit, that stuff newer drys and collects dirt where its left, very nice tube tester.

[@theguitaramptech]

An excellent tip. Thank you Eric. Yes, the Maximatcher is expensive, but excellent, with good accurate and repeatability.

[@Madas905]

Love this stuff.

[@theguitaramptech]

Thanks, mate

[@montygore]

Deoxit is very expensive here in the US also. I have tried the cheaper stuff but always end up going back to deoxit also.

[@theguitaramptech]

Me too, Monty. I wish I could find something just as good but cheaper.

[@ianbourke4397]

Very interesting !

[@theguitaramptech]

ian bourke you are clearly a good judge of blackface Princetons. 😉

[@montygore]

I thought I wanted one of these but I looked them up. Reverb has them from 2500 to 3500. Wow.

[@theguitaramptech]

I know Monty. Scary prices. Even the Silverface are out of my reach. If you can get a SF, you can very easily BF it.

[@georgescarlett2320]

volume would be nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@theguitaramptech]

I am not sure what you're referring to, George. Are you referring to the overall volume of the video? I know I went from "too low" to "clipping" as I tried to find the ideal recording volume. I hope I am closer with the latter videos. Thanks for the "headsup".

[@moodyga40]

Looks horrible wave bad caps

[@theguitaramptech]

Spot on Ian!