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Princeton reverb reissue 68
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stinkbomb
4 posts
Nov 11, 2016
11:15 AM
Hi everyone I have just purchased myself a nice PRRI 68 with celestion speaker, and just wondering what sort of pedals you have before the amp. I do have a boss dm-2 delay which I thought I might try out. Also I see a few people say about turning the amp volume up and use the vc on the mic to control things, how do you get on with this way. Also what are people's favourite settings on the amp for that Chicago crunch sound. Many thanks Ian
SuperBee
4264 posts
Nov 11, 2016
12:59 PM
G'day Ian
Sounds like a nice amp. My friend has the deluxe and the twin reverb in the 68 reissue series. He plays them very loud and the stock power tubes did not last very long at all.

I have a silverface Princeton Reverb (78) and get quite a bit of use from it. The amp is not really significantly different to the 68 (or even the blackface circuit) though component choices have changed and construction methods may be different.
I replaced original speaker with a Weber 10A125-O (edited to get it right!) and IMHO the amp became somewhat less bright as a result.
I still run it with bass on 10 and treble on 0. And it's on the bright side at that. Not muddy at all.
In terms of pedals, I think your delay should be good.
The on board reverb could be ok.

These are rather bright amps and they are quite high gain.

I run a 5751 in V1.

No way would I ever turn the volume high and mute my mic volume with this amp but by all means try it and see what you think. I run volume up to around 3. I can get quite sufficient break up prior to feedback.

If the amp is too touchy around the volume setting, a lower gain tube in V1 will probably have most effect.

Iirc, v2 is the reverb send and usually a 12AT7
V3 I think is a 12 AX7(V3-A: reverb recovery
V3-B: pre-inverter gain stage)
V4 I think is another 12AT7 (V4-A: tremolo oscillator
V4-B: unity-gain (almost) phase inverter)

Changing v2 will only effect your Reverb and I wouldn't bother.
A lower gain tube in V3 will also compromise your Reverb but could be worth it. I would consider a 5751 or perhaps a (nos) 12AY7.
Similarly a lower gain tube in v4 would probably have a significant impact but would kill your tremolo effect. This may be no big deal to you. It's not an effect I ever use for instance. But the PI tube is very important and changing it may be good to help settle the gain but may not be a good thing for other reasons. A tube such as a 12 AV 7 could be interesting here. I've never used one but I believe it is like a 12at7 in terms of its qualities other than gain.
Just wondering aloud here, don't mind me.
Please, do your own research on this stuff. It's not really quite as straightforward as many treat it on forums.

So in summary,
Settings I use:
volume perhaps as high as 3, but this will vary depending on mic and room and how close I have to stand.
I plug into input 2.
Bass 10
Treble 0
Reverb up to 2 or 3 (this will vary from amp to amp) if not using a pedal.
Speed 0
Intensity 0
Pedals usually just a delay if anything (sometimes lone wolf octave but see below)
Mic: usually a Shure bullet with CR element. Or a jt 30 crystal but this sounds much better if I have a high impedance buffering pedal such as lone wolf octave (even switched off)
This seems to enhance lower range tones with crystal mic

I've spent a lot of time with the amp figuring out what I like and also I'm aware it is a vintage amp nearly 40 years old and probably not quite the same as any other amp on the planet anymore. And then there is the human factor.
By which I mean to say, your experience with your amp may be quite different.

Last Edited by SuperBee on Nov 12, 2016 2:10 AM
Havoc
13 posts
Nov 11, 2016
3:46 PM
Wow super Bee, Another new language I'll have to become familiar with down the road!
----------
If you don't cut it while it's hot......
SuperBee
4269 posts
Nov 12, 2016
2:21 AM
Ah yeah sorry I was wordy as can be this morning.

I edited above post to list the correct speaker.

And next time I drag this amp out I'll remember to try it with volume up high (6 or so) and moderate the mic volume. It's not something I'd normally do but I'll give it a whirl.

I believe the real gem (for harp) in the silverface amps is the non-Reverb Princeton. Of course they weren't reissued. Not very popular with guitarists evidently. I'm passively looking for one. I dont really want to find it though. Maybe I'll build one someday.
stinkbomb
5 posts
Nov 12, 2016
2:58 AM
Wow SuperBee thanks so much for that info. I have just ordered a 5751 for input 1 as it has an 12ax7 in which seems quite different to the 2 input and very 'gainy'. I also think that maybe one of the other tubes might need changing as I seem to get like a massive bass surge if I turn up to around number 5 and that's without having any mics in any inputs....weird. I will try out the settings that you use and have a blast this afternoon and see what happens. Many thanks again. Cheers


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