Allen Custom Princeton Reverb 112 Combo

This is a 70's SF Princeton Reverb that has been reworked with upgraded transformers, 6L6 tubes, and a long-tailed phase inverter (sacrificed the tremolo). With 6L6 tubes, the amp puts out about 30w, with 6V6 and a rebias, it puts out about 20 watts.

The amp has two inputs, single channel, and has controls for volume, treble, bass, reverb, midrange, and the Allen "RAW" circuit. It has a Weber "Copper Cap" rectifier, or a SS rectifier plug if I want to go that route (rarely do).

The cabinet is a special-made 1x12 that fits the PR head, with a 12" Weber California speaker in it.

The amp has enough power for what I need (small to midsize club gigs, and playing in my basement) but is a short on headroom. I've had to change my plans for using the amp with humbuckers, and use it with a Strat w/single coils.

Using it with a Fender Strat with Fralin vintage hot pickups. No complaints with the sound with this guitar. Nice and punchy. It's not an exact match for my musical style, which is jazz/funk/fusion. The amp is a blues/rock monster, but I don't play much of that stuff any more.

The amp sounds like a 30w BF Deluxe Reverb. Completely awesome for that sound; easily one of the better "Deluxe Reverb" sounds I've had. I've owned 4 or 5 of the real ones, and this amp compares extremely well with them.

The quality of David Allen's work is beyond reproach. I'd gig without a backup (in fact, I'd have to), and I expect the amp to last a long time. Tubes, fuses, etc. factor in and make the amp less than a 10 in reliability.

This is a tough one. First, let me say that the content of David's support and email is always professional in tone. Second, let me say that I've bought four amps from David now, and the experience of dealing with David for the first three was flawless.

When I ordered the amp, David and I had several email and phone conversations about what I needed the amp to do. I told him I was looking for a loud, clean amp in a very small package. We talked about 30-35 watts, with enough headroom for gigging.

When I got the amp, I could not have been more disappointed. The amp sounded awful. Complete, unpleasant breakup at 3, with a Strat, noise, etc. etc. Turned out to be a tube, but before that did David ever start whistling a different tune. He finally asked me exactly how much headroom I was looking for (after the amp was built and delivered) and when I told him he said it was impossible and unrealistic, etc. etc. etc. I'm not joking that the amp was sounding awful at 3--I've never played any amp that broke up completely at that point, or sounded so bad doing it. So, I was having trouble believing that my wanting more headroom than the amp had was very reasonable.

At any rate, I started swapping some preamp tubes around, and the amp started sounding much better. Still not quite the headroom, but a workable amp so long as I stuck to single coils.

I was completely unimpressed with David's ability to gather clear requirements before the project started. He just kept saying the amp would have plenty of headroom, without either of us quantifying that.

On the other hand, I was very impressed with David's overall professional tone even when some pretty heated email was flying back and forth. And, to be fair, he'd been very good to work with on the other three amps--and he's been there on this one, too.

I gotta give him high marks for support even though I'm not completely happy in the latest experience. It's only fair.

I hate this section. I can play. I'm not the best I've ever heard, and not the worst. If lost or stolen, I would not replace it. I love it's blues/rock sound. I hate that it isn't the amp I thought I ordered.