1966 Fender Princeton Reverb

One of the most collectible Fender amps ever made, and one of the most recorded amps in history - The 60’s Black-Panel Princeton is just a killer sounding amp period. This guy however was not in killer condition upon arrival. All the parts that should have been replaced - filter caps, power dropping resistors, bias caps - were left in. All the parts that normally last near forever - coupling caps, 1/2 watt resistors, transformers - were replaced. And replaced with fairly low quality parts and lazy workmanship. The baffle board was also partially converted to a 12” speaker and then left undone, destroying the integrity of the board. The PT and OT date from the 9th year of a more recent decade, while the only original Transformer - the Reverb driver - is still from ‘66. Also the rectifier tube installed was the wrong type - a 5AR4 instead of the correct 5U4GB. It had all sorts of issues with random noise and crackling sounds. A lot to be addressed here.

All caps were replaced with upgraded voltage and temperature rated MOD brand electrolytic’s. The cap can was replaced with a new vintage spec CE brand multi-section 20/20/20/20uf 475v type unit. New 2 Watt Metal Oxide power dropping resistors were installed for better reliability and lower noise floor. All coupling caps were replaced with high quality CDE Orange Drop's to replace the non-original and cheap parts that were put in by other tech's. Same reasoning for replacing all the carbon film resistors with new vintage spec correct 1/2 Watt Carbon Comp resistors. The correct resistors and capacitors restores the collectors value and originality to the amp. The non-adjustable fixed bias was cooled down by changing the bias resistor network bringing the Class AB Plate Dissipation to a correct %65 with a B+ of 404 VDC. The death cap was deleted for safety reasons rendering the ground switch non-functional.

All tubes were replaced with a new lineup specially picked for this amplifier to enhance tone and reliability: V1 = JJ 12AX7MG, V2 = EHX12AT7, V3 = Sovtek 12AX7WA, V4 = EHX 12AX7, V5-V6 = JJ6V6S, V7 = JJ 5U4GB. The baffle board was replaced with a vintage spec one custom made by Mojotone. The new baffle board is much higher quality - made from void-less Baltic Birch plywood, whereas the original was fairly low quality pressboard. The upper back panel was also replaced with a vintage spec Mojotone reproduction complete with new stainless steel hardware, as the original was missing. All pots were cleaned and all hardware was tightened. Almost every resistor and capacitor in this amp were replaced as well as a whole host of other parts - but it was worth it, it now sounds like a million bucks!