Fender '65 Princeton Reverb RI

Standard features for a single channel amp. Volume, treble, bass, reverb and vibrato speed and intensity.

I have used this amp with a original 73 tele, 52 reissue and a 62 custom tele. All Americian made. The 52 has a Lindy fralin Blues special pickup in the bridge and a 2% over stock in the neck postion. The amp without a clean boost sounds sterile. No soul what so ever. Trebles are shrill and the lows are muddy and dead sounding. The only good thing the amp has to me is a nice reverb and vibrato which all Fenders are known for. I even tried using NOS Tung Sol tubes with no luck. Maybe its because I'm use to playing through a Swart Atomic Space Tone amp 99% of the time and had forgotten how cheap production line amps are today. To me, this amp is like putting a picture of a Corvette over a Chevette. The looks are there, but beyond that, I would be just as happy with a crate amp. I've been playing 30+ years and I feel like Fender is playing on looks more so than sound. Nothing near the tone of the vintage amps. I've owned both. I give it a 3 considering the cost of this amp and what it is SUPPOSE to mimic. The only decent sound I got from it, was when I used a Burriss Boostier pedal to add some sparkle to the tone. Still, nothing amazing, but considerable better. Of course, its a $250+ pedal so the amp should sound this way on its on for $900 and it being a single channel, 10" speaker, 15 watt amp.

As long as I had it, I never had any problems with it. Of course, it rarely got played. I bought it used so it must be reliable. I'll give it a 9 in this area.

Only dealt with on one occasion for a faulty footswitch. They sent another out in about 1 1/2 weeks from the time I notified them. I'll go 9 here also.

I've been playing over 30 years. A little less than half of that time was professionally. If stolen, I would claim it on the insurance and seek something else. Probably, save up and get a current hand wired amp with newer components. The only good thing as I mentioned was the reverb and vibrato, but that still doesn't justify $899 for one of these. I have a Electro Harmonix Holy Grail that sounds just as good. I gave $70 on eBay for. As far as a tremolo, I have a Demeter trem which was $125 used...yep, eBay again.

Perfect combination of wattage and features. Would MUCH prefer a 12" speaker.

I'm using this amp for some practices with a Jazzmaster & an SG. I am the owner of a silverface Pro-Reverb and a silverface Vibrolux-Reverb as well. The Princeton RI sounds nothing like the older two. Trebly, brittle & grainy are the terms that come to mind. As far as guitar tones; I tend to dig Peter Green, Tom Waits albums, the first two Taj Mahal albums, the Black Keys , Cake, Dutchess & the Duke etc. I was looking for a MUCH warmer & responsive amp that bites only when you attack the strings harder. The reissue tends to make lots of farting, flabby speaker noise as opposed to genuine power section overdrive. In fact, I'm not sure this is any better, or as good as the common little Blues Jr. amps you used to be able to buy in the neighborhood of $350. I only wish I had an original to compare it to. I used to think that all the hype surrounding the vintage model fenders was a bunch of poop, now that I'm finally in a financial position in life to say I have owned both, I'm not at all sold on the reissue BS, or Fender for that matter.

I doubt it.

Meh.

I've been playing for a good part of my life (I'm 37) and I own and have tried lots of expensive crap and cheap little gems (old crate V-series amps) and could not genuinely suggest this particular amp to anyone- I agree with the last poster who stated that the price should be less than half. Are they seriously selling any in this economy?

5-40 watts, tremolo & spring reverb are all a truly good guitar amp needs (and all should have).

Sweet sounding amp. My '65 Bandmaster was better, but lacked reverb, and only lightened my wallet by five bills (I payed $1200 for this little guy).

I wouldn't count on the circuit board being repairable once things go awry, and they do eventually. It may be a very reliable amp/construction, but once you actually hit the road and spill beer on it and bang it around in the back of vans..... I have a friend who used a performer 1000 for pedal steel and it blew up halfway through a pretty important set. The stupid thing was in and out of certified repair shops for about a year until we had to bury her.

The term "You get what you pay or" does not apply to the company associated with the Fender name. It's getting to the point where you can buy a hand-built, taylor-made copy that doesn't omit important design improvements in the name of "reissuing" a classic- a classic that isn't even remotely built the same way the original was. Liars!

This amp has all the features that one could want in an amp, minus one: it should be priced at around $500. Listen, if I'm going to spend $1200 on a PRRI made by computers & chinese & mexican children who work for a bag of rice, do you think that you'd at least have the decency to pass along some of the savings and only charge me three bags of rice? Ever think of all the precision, tech, and electronics components that go into that cellphone that's glued to your hand? Supply and demand you say? Well, Fender's definitely not creating any demand at these prices, they're just hyping everything to death and not following through. Lazy!

This review is to tell about my mod to the Princeton.....I have a '65 Deluxe Reverb RI and love it, but even at 22 watts, it was just too loud - the sound guys kept making me turn it down to about "2" and that was just barely alive.....so I got the Princeton, now can go up to "3" or "4", a sweet spot for the amp.

But the Deluxe just seemed to sound "bigger", and the 10" Jensen had a high-frequency peak (check the speaker specs) that made it sound like the bright channel on the Deluxe. I wanted something flatter in response....so I got another 12" Jensen C-12K just like the one in the Deluxe and shoehorned it into the Princeton (even kept the 10" hole, so I could go back if I wanted). Just had to chop a teensy chunk of wood off the box to be able to center the new speaker.

Now they sound almost exactly alike - nice, noticeably bigger, roomier sound from the Princeton, but at lower volume than the Deluxe.....

With the mod above, I get the sound I want. A Deluxe in a small box.

We'll see......

Not needed so far.

The Fender '65 Princeton Reverb RI is a no-nonsense clean-tone amp with volume, treble, bass, reverb, and tremelo (via 'speed' & 'intensity' knobs), hence a very easy amp to set up. The 15 Watt output into a Jensen C10R provides a big sound, however there's an external speaker socket on the rear panel. With a compact size and manageable weight, it's easy to load into the car.

The Princeton is a lovely sounding amp. I like clean tones, and the Princeton does it nicely. For country & surf rock, the Princeton is ideal. The reverb is 'Fender-deep' and the tremelo is a much-loved feature. It also takes pedals quite well, however I like to avoid spoiling the natural sound of this amp.

Just recently, I heard a nasty buzzing sound coming from the amp when playing the low E string on my Telecaster. As it turned out, it was just the footswitch sitting in the bottom of the amp cabinet that was vibrating! As soon as I removed it, the amp sounded clean again! This had got me thinking to understand that anyone who tests one of these amps in a music shop may possibly hear some abnormal sounds, particularly when it's common for the shop staff to place the owner's manual & circuit diagram sheet inside the cabinet. If the paperwork was touching the speaker cone, it would no doubt spoil the sound quality. Furthermore, the footswitch comes in a Jiffy bag that is actually STAPLED to the timber panels of the cabinet (this is a pain to remove, so why do it Fender, ya hear me?). With all non-amp items removed from the cabinet, the amp shouldn't give any strange buzzing.

Only time will tell if the PCB construction is a good thing or not. For the time being, I won't lose any sleep over the fact that it's not a point-to-point wired amp. At the price I paid, I am happy to accept the PCB design.

With a 5-year transferable warranty, I'm confident that I won't have any issues anyway.

My PRRI was made in 2007 and purchased early 2009, so it may have been sitting in the music for a while. I picked up the Princeton brand new for $667US ($1000 Australian) here in a local music shop in Perth, Western Australia. I thought it was a really good price, so I snapped it up! If the dollar weakens, it'll be even more of a bargain!

The Princeton and the Telecaster are really suited to each extremely well. A great sounding amp that's affordable and not too high powered. Simply good!!!

Has tube driven spring reverb and vibrato, single channel, no effects loop, vintage vibe. 10in Jenson speaker, 15 watts loud enough for practice with band or mic'd through PA. My first tube amp, I dig the touch sensitivity this amp has. It comes with foot pedal for rev/vib.
This has that vintage sound and you can do anything from 60's surf, rock, country and blues. It does not do metal well, but neither do I.

I use this with a Custom Shop Tele and a Dean PRS copy and it sounds wicked awesome clean to mild break up. Dirty gives more a fender overdrive sound than a marshall, but that is what it is. You can put the volume on 10 and adjust loudness/dirt with your guitar volume knob.

New, not broke, no buzzing. I wouldn't use a tube amp without a backup on a paying gig.

5 year warranty
Haven't used customer support.

a little pricey for a small tube amp.

versatile ,,well not that versatile but the sound makes up for the lack of features just plug and play and your in tone heaven ,this amp is not meant to have multi channell and a bunch of gagets its meant to give you the best clean tone everrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

what can i say im was blow away the fist second i pluged into this amp,this amp sounds like no other i never knew a amp could sound that good its like tonal bliss with a chery on top,and mine as no ratle what so ever just pure godly tone piano and bell like tone just freaking insane most pure tone i have ever experience.wen i got this amp i pluged into all the fenders in the shop i was `at i was looking for a good clean tone so i tried the blues jr much to dry sounding,then the hot rod delux nothing special there, then a twin good but not great, then a 65 ri reverb amp good but nothing to brag about,then i pluged into this litle amp that was `sitting all alone in the corner and that was it it was the one i was taking home with me no matter how much it cost i was hooked now i understand what great clean tone is all about.

looks well built

best freaking little amp for clean ever put out on this plannet so far.

It has every feature I will ever need.

This has the potential to become my favorite amp. I also have the '65 deluxe.

It should last for a very long time. It is almost a certainty that this amp will require a few tweaks right out of the box. Mine had a dead tube, two rattling tubes and the dreaded cabinet rattle.

As ironic as it seems, the only amp to ever arrive ready to play was a Chinese Vox AC15CC1 (also a very good amp, in a very different way).

I have dealt with Fender on a warranty repair for a Guild guitar. They needed a little coaxing to cover the repair.

Despite that one episode they do make fantastic products at really good prices.

Musicians Friend is a great place to shop. They take better care of their customers than any mom and pop I've ever dealt with. They are a Ten.

I have been playing a long time and have owned lots of great amps.

As limited a feature set as you can find, but exactly what I was looking for to replace my Fender Hotrod Deluxe - prefer to get distortion off a pedal (an Ibanez Tube Screamer). I use this amp for blues, R&B, and Jazz, and with a versatile guitar (I have a Gibson Cs-336 and a Clapton Strat) having too many controls on the amp in a live setting can just get in the way.

As noted above, I have two pretty versatile guitars. The Princeton paired with the 336 is a great blues combo, especially if you're style is more BB King than SRV. The same combo works well for older blues (Little Walter) / jazz styles.

Haven't gigged using the Strat yet, assuming I can get the Derek & The Dominos era sounds. Possibly a little more line noise from the Strat than the Gibson, but nothing that should get in the way recording.

As to the debate about the rattle, I haven't heard it - knock on wood, maybe I got lucky and found a good one. Played it for an hour in the store before I bought it, never heard anything questionable. I gig with a 10 piece band (4 horns, 2 guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, and harp), and in small clubs (100 people or less), it cuts through the mix shockingly well without miking. Breaks up around 4.5 - 5, I've kept the volume on or below 4 and it stays clean. My trumpet player has a great set of ears; he thought he heard some speaker cone breakup on one song we did when I had pedal distortion and the reverb turned all the way up (I was trying to simulate a very odd recording setting live), other than that he thinks it sounds fine.

If in fact the rattle exists at volumes 5 and above, I don't disagree that Fender should address the problem, but at the same time, why would you want to push a 15 watt amp (without miking) at that level as opposed to getting something with a little more capacity - a Deluxe, a Vibrolux, etc.? It is what it is - it is very loud at 4, if I need more I'll mike it or bring my Twin reissue instead.

Only had it a month, too soon to tell. I've had very good luck with Fender amps over the years; use to blow fuses back in the '60s and '70s on a Vibrolux, that's been the extent of any problems.

Don't know; never called. Had whatever service (tube replacements) needed through authorized reps with no problems.

Been playing for over 40 years, feel fortunate that I'm still gigging at the "professional amateur" level. I'm admittedly a Fender Blackface junky; owned a Vibrolux and Super Reverb in the old days. (Had Ampegs, Polytones, Peaveys as well, borrowed a Mesa Boogie for a few gigs, and have recorded through a Line 6, but in my dotage will probably stick with Fenders). Currently own a Twin Reissue and the Princeton; prefer the sound of this series to the Hotrod (which I had for 15+ years - a workhorse ). The Twin & the Princeton gives me the versatility to pick the right amp for the venue while keeping the overall sound relatively constant. As previously noted, I consider the lack of features of the classic Fender designs to be a plus - went the effects processor route in the '80s (a Roland GP-8), but found it too hard to control live. If I were going to own only ONE amp, it might be a Vibrolux or a Bassman reissue.

So far, I'm very impressed with the Princeton - great sound in a small package. Would definitely replace it if stolen.

Made in 2008. The back label says "A product of Fender Musical Instruments Corp., Corona, California" So.. it never really says "Made in USA" so I assume it was assembled in the US but the chassis/circuit boards/transformers were probably made in China. The tubes tubes are made in Russia, and the speaker was made in Italy. I guess the leaves us with the cabinet made in the US? Not exactly loaded with features, no one buys a tube reissue amp for features, we are simply trying to get a great sounding amp.

I'm using several strats, mostly American, an Eric Clapton strat, and a Deluxe with the Bill Lawrence SCN pickups with the S1 switch. I also play two semi-hollow bodies and a Les Paul. The natural breakup on mine happens around 5 or 6. This is pretty much the whole reason I bought the amp. I also swapped out the power tubes for the more powerful and bottom-heavy 6V6-S tubes. I have also swapped out the speaker and currently have a JBL D110F in it. I put the Oxford from my 68 Deluxe in it, broke up earlier, but sounded kinda bright. The Jensen C10R isn't really the same speaker that I used back in the Seventies, I had two of them and this current Italian version sounds much darker. I have dimed this a few times, sounds better the louder you crank it, which is pretty loud for a studio. I think it takes a little tweaking of tubes/speaker/pickups to dial in the tone I am looking for, but pedals help here too. It gets a good deal of bass even with single coils. I like to roll off the tone a little on the strats, dial in a little boost on the EC strat, and I am in blues heaven.

After reading the reviews here, I took mine apart dispite not getting the "rattle" others have gotten, and was disturbed by the fact that 3 of the 4 screws holing the particle boad baffle in were stripped, leaving the baffle hanging in there by just one screw. The four screws holding the speaker in were also loose. I have built dozens of cabinets over the years and I an surpised to see Fender still using particle board for the baffle. The whole idea of "it has to 100% just like the original" is stupid. if that were true, then just yse a 2-prong ground cord. I made a plywood baffle in about 15 minutes, used the same grill cloth it came with, and within an hour a had a solid cabinet. If stripped screws remain loose, the gap between the baffle and cabinet let some of the sound escape, and produces some God-awful out-of-phase sound, so hopefully I cought mine just before the big "Buzz" but I can see where this is an issue. It is rather ironinc that the only part made in the US is causing problems. I don't think the quality matches the high price tag. I will give 10 for the chassis here, 6 for the rest, averages out to 8.

I have owned Fender gear for 8 years, maybe 20 guitars and 15 amps, mostly tubes and am a big fan, but you are better off dealing with the place you got it from rather than Fender. I would expect nothing from them. Why is there main office in Arizona? I think a lot of their products' componets, especially their amps, are actually made in China or Mexico and just assembled here, calling them "American" It does have a five year warrenty and Fender products of mine in the past have been extremely reliable, just not very consistant in quality.

I have been playing for about 30 years, so I was kid when Fender so I kinda grew up on silverface amps. Overall, the reissue series blackface amps sound much better to me than siilverface amps of the mid to late seventies. I also own a few vintage blackface amps, 1967 Super Reverb, and a 1965 Deluxe Reverb. There is no way they can make a reissue sound as good as the real thing from the blackface era. I'm guessing this amp is marketed toward baby boomers who are tyring to re-create the blackface sound of the sixties, and for that it does come close. They need to come down on the price.