Silverface Princeton

[guitarpicker_ma]

On an exploratory expedition today I found a 1970's Princeton (non-reverb) at a nearby guitar shop.
Cosmetically it was somewhat beat (although nothing near the tweed Champ they had), but sounded amazing. They want $379 for it. I didn't have a great seleciton of guitars remotely similar to my '66 Guild Starfire to test it with, but with the G&L ASAT, and new made in Korea Gretch it sounded pretty darn good.
I was wondering what people's opinions were on this amp (tone, ease of maintenance, etc). I play across the spectrum, but stick mostly to jazz and jam band (ie. Phish, Dead, Allmans), and love a nice round tone thats really clean but nows how to rock.
Volume isn't an issue, as I'd rather mike it and run through the p.a. than fight fight the try to be heard over the pa from the stage. Thanks for you input.

Jesse

[58Super]

I like the tone. There's not as much gain a reverb model but it does Fender clean really well. Great tremelo on that amp. It's wired on a circuit card so it's pretty easy to fix. If it hasn't already been done plan on a cap job for it after 30 years its time.

[Joe M]

IMHO, $379 for a "somewhat beat" 70's Princeton is way high. The one's I've seen locally are closer to $250 in better condition than what you describe. The only way that price could begin to be justified is if the amp has been serviced with new caps, tubes, etc. Otherwise, I'd pass and look around, these do come up from time to time at a much bette price.

[rayh]

$379 is a really high price. You can find them on Ebay for 250-300 all the time. Those amps do sound pretty good, if you find a good one. That's the catch, I think. You'll be taking a chance if you buy on Ebay and will probably end up paying around $350 after a cap job, better speaker, and who knows what else.
Maybe you can try to make a deal with that shop or trade something in to drive the price down.

[dave-gtr]

The 70's Princeton is an incredible clean tone machine. A dead on mint (read: doesn't need any tech work) Princeton should not set you back more than $350. If any of you Princeton owners also have a Champ, try this out. My fave tone these days is to use the Champ (for dirty tone) and the Princeton (for clean tone) together using a Lehle a/b box. It's wonderful. Best of both worlds. Warning: steer clear of the Morley noise, I mean a/b, box. You get what you pay for with the Lehle. It's dead quiet. The Morley is a noise machine.

[guitarpicker_ma]

Thanks for the input. I'll keep my eyes open for another one. (or just sink the $ into re-tubeing my Ampeg Gemini I)

Jesse

[DanTheBluesMan]

Originally posted by guitarpicker_ma
(or just sink the $ into re-tubeing my Ampeg Gemini I)

Those Gemini are pretty nice in their own right. Retube that puppy, it'll be like a brand new amp.