how to date sf princeton reverb?

[DanTheBluesMan]

I'm trying to figure out what year my silver face princeton reverb is? I'm the original owner, but I was only 13 or 14 when I bought it. Never thought I'd keep it this long, so I didn't remember the date. How do you date a SFPR? I have a pretty good idea, but it could have been NOS back then. It was 205 dollars, which was a LOT of money in those days.

I bought it new from John at Progris Music in Nashua, NH. I would be amazed if there were any Forum members who knew him.

[Tim C.]

You could check the numbers on the transformers and get a good idea. Also on the inside will be a date stamped on the chassis (usually).

There might be some letters stamped on the tube chart that would help us guess the year.

Does it have a silver trimmed edge around the grill?

Also the speaker would have a date code on it.

Tim C.:)

[DanTheBluesMan]

Hi Tim

on the back of the chassis left side is stamped A 30107. Does that mean anything?

[GGJaguar]

It's most likely a '74. See my amp dating article at:

http://home.att.net/~ggjag5/fendamp5.htm

GG

[DanTheBluesMan]

...that I need to get a life. I just spent about 2 hours doing web research and found excellent information from 20th Century Guitar Magazine. And I know my former teachers will be upset with me for not providing the author's name, but oh well. Apparently, based on the serial number, and also by the EIA code on the transformer, my Princeton is a late 73', early '74. Damn, how long did I play a guitar without an amplifier? I remember screwing with stereos, radios and cassette players as I was trying to find ways to move air by playing the guitar, but I coulda sworn I had this amp sooner than that. Well, it was expensive and I had to save the money for it. That probably took me close to 2 years. Funny thing memory is. I thought I started playing around '70/'71 Now I'm beginning to think it must have been '72/'73 and I didn't get my prince 'til late '73/early'74. So i guess I had better wait 'til the end of 2004 before I can proudly declare "making loud noise for 30 years". Also, I used the same sources to figure out my Musicmaster bass amp is an early '72, first year they were made. Now to get out of the house for a while.

[SteveK]

Oops! The author of the article in 20th Century Guitar is the same guy that posted immediately above you!

Hi Greg

[GGJaguar]

Thanks Steve!

:tw59

GG

[DanTheBluesMan]

Hi Greg,

Thanks for the great articles. I've learned a lot from them. I almost traded my Princeton last year, but the guy at the store talked me out of it. He said you had it this long, if you trade it, you'll regret it. Then he plugged in a Tele custom, played it on 5, then 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. It sounded great. They don't make them like this anymore.

BTW - are you still collecting data, or is that done now?

Dan

[GGJaguar]

Yup, we're still collecting info. We are using new info to validate and fine tune the dating tables (so far nothing has changed) as well as to identify production trends. We also hope new data will fill data gaps, especially for early tweed amps and silverface amps.

GG