1963 Fender Princeton
The Fender Princeton is one of the
classic combo amps. This particular example has the "ML" stamp on the tube
chart, indicating that it was manufactured in December of 1963. The speaker code is
465-231, signifying that it is an Oxford speaker, manufactured 31st week of 1962. The
unusual cosmetics consist of a numbered black panel with white knobs, a solid gray grill
cloth and an oversize (19" wide) cabinet. The circuitry uses a pair of 6V6 power
tubes, a 5Y3 tube rectifier and two 7025 preamp tubes. The 10" Oxford ceramic speaker
completes the package. This is a transitional unit from the original tweed Princeton, and
is more similar to the tweed Vibrolux. This amplifier was purchased in June of
1996 from the Guitar Emporium, and is in near mint condition. It has the browner
tone of the tweed amps, and is particularly magic with my Jazzmaster.
I recently replaced the Oxford speaker with an Eminence Copperhead, which really
improved the sound. The Oxford was just getting old, and rather than
recone it, my wonderful amp tech, Dave Hirsch, recommended the Copperhead.
It gives the amp a bit of a blackface Super sound, increasing the bass response
quite a bit. Highly recommended. I also run EL-84 power tubes using
THD Yellowjackets from time to time. They rebias the amp to class A, and
you get a bit of the Vox/Marshall chime. Usually I switch back to the
6V6s, but it is fun to play around. I also add a Marshall 1X12 extension
cabinet for a little more power and bass. Highly recommended if you can
find one. Barber Electronics
makes a very cool pedal, the
BarbEQ, which puts a three band eq with Tweed, Blackface and Marshall
voicings in front of the amp. This is the sort of amp for which this pedal
was designed, and it is a great combination. I can't say enough about how
cool Barber pedals are, and I refer you to my
Barber Pedals page for more
thoughts.
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