Fender Princeton Chorus

My amp was made in 1998. I find that it suits the needs of my sound that I try to create. I lean towards a Alex Lifeson (of Rush) sound especailly from "Moving Pictures". It is a two channel amp comprising of a clean and a distirtion channel. The clean is great especially when used with the chorus feature, and the beautiful reverb. The distortion channel is good as well. It's a nice sound that's not to harsh on the ears. The only feature that I wish it had was a delay, but a pedal can do that. I use this amp at home, I never have the chance to gig anymore. If I did this would be a great amp to use in a small setting. I find the sound is Rich, Deep and full.

I use a 1978 Les Paul custom, with stock pickups. I find that they compliment each other well. The only problem I have is that my Les Paul can have a bit to much bass to it, so I need to turn the bass way down on the amp. Even with this I still get real good sounds out of this amp. I find that this amp is especaily good for the Blues. It works great with just a bit of distortion, as well as clean with lots of reverb and the chorus activated. I also use a Boss DS1 and a Boss CG-3 pedal and get some realy cool sounds.

This thing is bullet proof!!!!!!!!!! I take care of my amp make sure it's free of dust and so far no problems. I have had Fender amps in the past and there name speaks for themselves.

I have never had a problem with this amp. I'm not aware of the warranty, but I bought this used so that really doesn't apply to me.

For the 250 bucks I spent on this, it was worth every penny! The second I plugged into it I new that this amp would suit my needs. It may be small in size but it has lots of bite. I have never played this past 6 on the volume and i bet it could go even further without the sound being compromised.

This amp is a 1995 or 1996 Fender Princeton Chorus amp bought used on ebay but in pristine condition. It is a two-channel, 50 watt solid-state amp with three band eq, gain, limiter, mid-boost, presence, and of chorus, a stereo chorus. Speaker configuration is two 10" "special design" speakers.

I had owned a Princeton Chorus before, and traded it for another amp, but just had to get another, as I believe this amp, and the Deluxe 85 are probably two of the best solid-state amps ever produced by Fender.

This amp was bought for home use and it is plenty loud.

Okay, first of all, let's get something straight. I'm not going to be one of those idiots who comapres a solid-state amp to a tube amp. They are both two different animals. That's like comparing a strat to a les paul. They both might be guitars, but totally different kinds with different sounds and features. If you want a tube amp, go out and buy one.

I use this amp with two American Series Strats, a Dillion DR1500QT, and an SX GG1 STD Les Paul copy.

The clean channel is amazing to say the least, as is with all Fender amps. Couple it with the chorus, and you have one hell of a sound that in my opinion, you will have a hard time matching with any other amp.

The distortion channel is equally as good. I own some newer solid state amps (a Roland BC 60 310 and a Crate VFX212) and both are voiced too bright for single coils, and have little mid-range growl.
The Fender on the other hand, has great sustain out of the dirty channel, and if you add the mid-boost, it makes the bridge single coil growl, and takes out that "ice pick" bite found on my other amps. The limiter is a handy tool too to give the lead channel some compression. The sustain is trmendous, and this amp can give you either a bluesy overdrive, or full hard rock gain.

People who complain about these amps not giving enough gain are full of sh*t, or they bought the wrong amp for their musical tastes. Let's face it, there aren't too many metal players out there playing Fenders. Get real folks.

This is a great amp!!

I've owned several Fenders over the years, and they have all been built like tanks. I've never had a problem with a Fender amp, even the tube amps I've owned.

Never had to deal with them, a good sign.

Fender amps are one the best built amps out there. This Princeton Chorus puts the new Fender DSP amps to shame. Built much better, better sounding, and also this one was made in the USA!

If I lost this one, I would buy another. I won't make the mistake of trading this amp like I did with my last Princeton. The versatility of sounds, as well as the quality are unsurpassed with some of the garbage that is being produced today.

A great amp overall, and one of Fender's best.

Mid 90's (I believe) Fender Princeton Chorus I ebayed from some guy who was probably afraid to plug in with the amp in its current state. When I bought it the thing was a death trap. Plug in, and even slightly move the cable near the jacks and you got this CRACKLE NOISE FROM HELL!!! After about an hour of swabbing out the inputs, though, the thing worked perfectly. Very useable EQ, gain, limiter, prescence, and chorus with depth and speed knobs. Mono and stereo effects loops, and a headphone input. Not to mention it's got a mid boost on the OD channel.

Using it with a Gibson Les Paul Vintage Mahogany, this is NOT a bad amp. 120 solid-state watts of awesomeness. If you're willing to tweak this thing, you can get almost any sound you want. Let me give you examples of some of my settings.


Jazz Sound

Middle pickup setting
Treble-7.5
Mid-8.5
Bass-10
Roll of the tone knob to about 4, 5, or maybe 6


Blues Sound

Treble-8.5
Mid-7
Bass-9.5
Roll of some tone


Classic/Southern Rock Sound

Treble-8.5
Mid-7.5
Bass-10
Gain-10
Limiter-7.5 to 8
Prescence: +5


Thrash Metal Sound (this is a very generic setting but hell, it works great)

Treble-10
Mid-0
Bass-10
Gain-10 or close to it
Limiter-0
Prescence: +5


And I can get a huge slew of guitar sounds out of this amp that are highly useable. I don't find the gain knob sweep as useful as putting the gain at 10 and turning up the limiter to your preferred area. The limiter kind of compresses the distortion in your sound to give a cool sound, you can kind of tell the amp is holding back that mountain of distortion you've dialed in. Try dialing in the gain at 10 and the limiter at 10, and you've got a sound like a vintage Fender beginning to break up. The gain is kind of noisy at high settings, but what amp isn't? The clean channel doesn't break up, of course, it's a solid-state. The distortion needs a little kick in the arse to get a solid metal sound in my opinion, but that's why I personally use an MXR ZW-44 to do the job. High-quality sound, especially for a solid-state. I'm rating this based on how much I had to pay for it, and the fact that it's solid-state. I'm starting to wonder if I should even get a Twin Reverb for clean sounds though, because this thing can shimmer and sparkle with the best of them.

Never gigged with it and haven't had problems yet. Had it for a year and a half now.

Never dealt with Fender.

Played 2 1/2 years, and I own a Gibson Les Paul Vintage Mahogany, MXR ZW-44 Overdrive, Boss BF-3 Flanger, Boss DD-6 Digital Delay, and soon to have a Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor and Dunlop Crybaby Classic. If this were stolen, I'd probably suffice with my Epiphone Studio 10 practice amp, try and hold out as long as I could, and then...it's a Marshall JCM800 for me. I want to get one soon anyway, but only for distortion, overdrive sounds. I'd deal with the JCM800's clean sounds until I could either get one of these again or until I could get ahold of a Twin Reverb. Unsure as of now. I play thrash metal and classic rock and this amp does almost anything I need it to. I just want the tube warmth and the Marshall overdrive sound. It does distortion well, it just isn't the KIND of distortion I want. It can probably do alternative/grunge distortion well, it's what it sounds like to me. Wish it had? Tubes, a Marshall pre-amp in place of this one's overdrive pre-amp, and a speaker out. That and it just doesn't get as warm as I need my rock sounds to get. Overall, a fantastic value considering what you pay for it.

clean chanel, overdrive channel chorus reverb.

For the money, this amp is amazing. The clean is so clean that you can compare to some of the best cleanest tube and solid state amps i have heard. The overdrive isnt bad, but its not for metal heads. but is great for me becuase i can use light overdrive and get a good srv tone and a dynamic bluesy clapton tone.

there is absolutely nothing wrong with this amp. i got it used and i predict it to be still putting out great tones for years to come.

never needed to call due the liabiltiy of this amp

i have been playin for about 3 years i play a mexican strat and use a ts808 for my overddrive in the clean channel. I think this amp competes with the deluxe reverbs clean tone.. infact if you awant a good clean amp you cant go wrong with a fender maost are pretty ausome.

2 x 25W (stereo, not a total of 50W), clean and dirty channels, 2 inputs, 2 10" eminence speakers, chourus and two loop channels.

I picked this up for a practic amp, it was used and on sale. Saw it one night then came home to read the reviews and bought it the next day. I play a Deluxe Reverb and wanted a solid state amp that would be somewhat close to the DR and still keep up with our guitar player's 40W (in rehersal) Deluxe Tweed. The DR has better tone (tubes really do make a difference!!!!!), but this one comes as close as it gets for a non-cyber solid state. It seems that the more I tweak and play it, the better it sounds. I've never played a show with it, but it backs up the DR in case of tube problems (which I haven't had yet). Volume wise, it is about a half notch quieter than the DR (22W) and definitely quieter that the Tweed. I play a Norman accoustic, Fender Thinline Mandolin, American Deluxe Tele and Jaguar HH in a roots-rock/ honky-tonk/electric bluegrass/cow-punk band. I use the clean channel with Boss ME-50 pedel for distortion. This amp sounds good with all of the instruments. Personally, I don't like the stock distortion so the Boss does the job.

Solid state; solid.

Never needed yet.

While it doesn't match the tone of the all tube DR ($1200 cdn), it's perfect for what I need it for. Wouldn't give it up now! I haven't played through every amp out there but this one is the best solid state that I have played through. If I did loose it I would want another. If you are looking for a solid state with that classic clean Fender sound, this one is hard to beat, especially for the price.

Mine should be made in 1996 - it has the BF-cosmetics already, but is still made in USA.
I bought it used in 2003, but I had one already back in 1992 (at that time, a new one - still with Redknob-cosmetics) that I traded in for a VOX AC30 in 1994.
I bought this one as a cheap backup for my Concert Reverb.
You all know the features (or you can read it below on this page), so I just list the misses, that made up my rating:
For a solid state amp, there is no benefit of a non-MV-layout, so why is there no overall MV, to be able to quickly adjust volume for both channels together?
And hows about a switchable reverb and FX-loop?
On the other hand - we have chorus and an additional stereo FX-loop.

I mainly play a 2001 JB Strat. My main style of music is Blues and my sonic heaven is Clapton and SRV. The amp suits this style and target sounds quite good!
The clean channel has really a nice warm tube-like sound and enough sparkle and depth to compete with a Concert Reverb or Super Reverb. Of course you do not get that wonderful harmonics and feel of these on higher volumes, but if you compare it at low levels, the Princeton Chorus might even be the better choice - it is just a matter of how loud you can/may turn up.
The overdrive is not a totally individual channel, but more like an effect, let's call it a built-in stomp box. But a very versatile one!
It is a very good idea to include a compressor into the overdrive circuit - that helps getting closer to the feel of a cranked up tube amp. And the mid boost just perfectly switches between SRV (off) and Clapton (on) - nice! However, the Presence control seems not sufficient to adapt the OD-sound to a more sparkle kind of clean set-up. Means, with the Gain at only a little bit higher settings (let's say 3 or 4), you have the choice between some high frequency hiss or a dull sound with no highs at all. So I use the overdrive only for very slight od and other than that prefer a Tubescreamer.
The amount of gain available should be enough for anyone (only a matter of if you like the sound .....)
The chorus is nice - no more (I prefer my Ibanez CSL).
The reverb is fine - not as good as a tube driven reverb, but better than e.g. the reverb of the Blues and Hot Rod series.

So what do we have here altogether? Good clean sound, versatile overdrive with some good sounds but also many not so good sounds (that was the reason, I sold the amp the first time), good reverb and a chorus ..... I want to do a rating independently of the price, so it is only a 6

Never had any problem

Bad local support in Europe, but very good HP

Playing for a long time now .....
If the amp was lost or stolen, I probably would look also for other amps of comparable price.

I rated the sound only at 6, but I have to add that it is still good value for the money!

Late 1999 made in USA - Princetion Chorus.
Features listed in many review below, won't waste time.

Wish it has speaker outs.

Great sound with my MIA Tele, much better than my 57 AV Strat.
Quite suprised how good is sounds (at least to me).
I usually play Marshall tube combos. I purchased this amp for two reasons 1. Heard good things about them 2. Got a great deal

This is a used unit that cosmetically is in mint condition.
My only complaint is the reverb unit is noisy and emits a "burp" at high volumes or when you bump the amp. I am not sure if this it typical of this model.

Purhcased used, so customer support does not qualify

I won this on the 'Bay for a great price. Seller has good feedback, so I took a chance. with the exception of the noisy reverb tank, this amp looks new and sounds fantastic for a solid state amp.

Most SS Fender amps sound like kaka. This one (perhaps because it was still made in US) is a wonderful exception and a pleasant suprise.

Model made around 1998, With Black Knobs. Great compact size amp or playing small gigs or practicing. Clean and Distorted channel, spring reverb and lush chorus, headphone jack. I sort of wish it had a mellow tube sound. I use the heavier distortion, (gain high, limiter low, presence high), I also love it clean, it rings great tones out in your ears, with the reverb and especially the chorus. It has power for me, since I just practice with it mostly, I only used it once it a group setting (50 people approx) plenty of power. I think it sounds better clean, with a band. But for practicing a home and playing around then the drie channel is fun.

I primarily play with a 1996 Fender American Standard Stratocaster (my baby). Which is a great guitar. I can get that Billy Corgan sound almost exactly. I can get Clapton's woman tone pretty much with my neck pickup. It is not noisy on the clear channel, it is surprisingly clean. It chimes, it rings, it is great clean, with the chorus. I intended to buy a Marshall when I went to the music store (about 5 yrs ago), but after trying several amps. This one won hands down, with price not even the factor. The regular distortion is cool, but your pedals are cool too. I like the amps drive, with a TS-9 Tube Screamer. I also have a Boss MT-2 Metal Zone which is fun over the clean channel (I don't play that type of music anymore though). But it will really distort like that. I think it is good either for clarity/clean channel or for heavy distortion. I think for mild distortion you need a tube amp or some other type pedal. For the $$$ it is well worth every penny spent.

It is very dependable, if I had to do a small gig with it, I would rely on it. No backups needed, it has never failed me in that respect. The only problem I had was the foot switch went out on me, after regular abuse. I easily found a new one on ebay.

I think the warranty was like 5 yrs. But I never had any problems with it. Never had to deal with Fender, they are great company.

I have been playing about 16 years. I own a 96 Fender Amer. Std. Stratocaster. I own a Fender Highway One Telecaster (just got it). I have a Gibson L-4A Acoustic Guitar. If it were lost or stolen I would try something else, just cause I like to experiment. I may get a VOX AC30 or Fender Twin Reverb, those are way expensive, but maybe someday when I want something permanent. For the money this is great, for home, when you do not need to get REALLY loud. I have bothered the neighbors a few times though.

Pretty Basic features compared to newer solid states on the market. Comes with clean and overdrive, gain, limiter, prescence, one eq setting for both channels, reverb, and chorus. Also headphone jack (very useful), footswitch, and effects loops, which I don't use. I think made in 1999, use this amp for gigging in smaller venues and at home for practicing. I play mainly classic rock and blues and use this with a standard strat and a Gibson ES 335.

If you put this next to a Deluxe Reverb, shut your eyes, you can't tell the difference. Just a lot less hassel and headache to deal with for a fraction of the price. The clean is as good as it gets, as well as any tube. The drive channel is useable, and go between a boss blues driver and the on board overdrive. Other than heavy metal, probably all you should ever need. Sounds great with the strat, and truly unbelieveable with the ES. More power than you think. I played at a bar earlier, about 250 or so people, and had it at 6 on the clean, and 5 on the drive, plenty of power, and didn't need to mike it. The bass can get overpowering at times, so it advisable depending on playing conditions to turn this down. Since there is only one EQ setting, I typically play at 7-8(makes a huge differnce)on the treble, about 3-4 on the mid, and 4 on the bass. When I play clean, I like to turn the bass to almost 7, which gives it a deeper sound. I set the gain at 7, sometimed I go to 8, the limiter at 2, and prescence at +3. If I use the chorus, and when I do I use it with the drive and no reverb, I set at 3 on the rate, and 8 on the depth. This gives it sort of thicker sound and also takes out a bit of the ss edge. For the money, the sound is super.

Mine runs like a fine and well tuned machine. Never had a problem any play this thing all the time.

Never had to call them

I also own a Twin, and did own several Marshalls, and Mesa's. The Twin is great, but heavy, a lot work, and expensive. The Marshalls are great too, just they are even heavier and more costly. The Mesa's, just too damm much money for so much work, not worth the aggrevation. This baby, for the price and convenience sounds just about as good as any tube and a lot less time and money. Unless you are either a metalhead or blockhead with your brain up your behind, this is one of the best buys out there,,,if you can find one. I know Eric Clapton has used this on recording for his last couple of CDS, and several other artist as well, so if good enough for them, good enough for me. Try one out, close your eyes and open your head, you'll see what I am talking about. Have been playing since the days of Beatles and Stones, so I think I know a thing or two about music and guitar amplication.

Late 1990's. 2 channel switching with spring reverb and chorus
Headphone jack and stereo line out
Two 10" speakers

Classic Fender sounds especially with a Strat style guitar.
The chorus is beautiful and the distortion channel is quite good with a mid boost switch,limiter control, and presence control.

Mine is in mint condition and I use for recording - so it will probably outlast me.

Doesn't matter, it's out of warranty.

These amps did sell for around $400 brand new, so a used one in good condition for under $200 is a bargin!!! Outstanding amp for recording. Good for gigging in soft/jazz like bands except loud heavy metal and rock. I got this amp for recording. Although it is solid state, it still has those sweet tones. The chorus is great and the distortion channel is one of the best I've hard on an older Fender. I prefer a good sounding amp with reverb, channel switching, and NO special effects. The spring reverb on this beauty is classsic Fender - it can go very deep.
If you can get one of these in good shape - go for it.