Fender Princeton Reverb II

To me, this has got to be just about the perfect amp. Just the right size, weight and power output. A good looking amp too. Just the right classic Fender black face cosmetics except the power switch is front mounted. An improvement, I think. Plywood cabnit, first rate reverb, a very useful master volume, 3 band EQ with a mid boost and all point to point wireing. All this for a third the cost of a modern boutique amp.

The best discription I can give of the sound is like that of a black face Deluxe Reverb but punchier. The Princeton II has more control over tone also. The Treble, Mid and Bass controls are very effective and overall, it's not short on either highs or lows. The reverb can go from light to way deep. This amp runs very quietly too,very good for recording. My amp is all stock except for NOS Westinghouse 6v6 power, JJ ECC83S preamp and JJ ECC81 reverb tubes.

This amp may not have enough power for bands with very high stage volume. But I will say that if it's too loud on stage to hear a Princeton II, I'm not having fun anyway. I use it in a band with 2 horns, bass,drums and keys with Hammond without any problem. I do have a Shure 57 sending a signal to the fronts in bigger venues.

1983 Fender - Rivera - 1x12 stock Fender speaker - newish Fender (Chineese I think) tubes - 6V6 - 6V6 - 7025 - 7025 - 12AT7 - 7025.

22 W class AB push pull on a pair of Chineese 6V6GT(s) - overdrive effect circuit - not point to point a la Matchless but a la Fender, Kendrick, Trainwreck etc. Reverb tank on side. NO footswitch came with the amp but I have some for other amps that work.

Bias adjustment on the back!

WOW! Low noise! As a previous owner of at least 2 dozen vintage and newer tube amps, and a current owner of a 9/10 5f6a (1959 Bassman - NOT THE RE-ISSUE) clone, this amp is the shit. I bought this amp due to: 1) its reputaion, it has a very good one and 2) the reviews on this board HERE.

I play jazz, blues, country, funk, rock, rockabilly and this amp has what it takes to cover me in all those styles. I play two electrics: one 1958 6120 - w/redone filtertrons, and a 1997 Tele - w/Bardins.

The tone on the clean channel is like the blackface/silverface Princeton reverb(s) - same 6V6 ring/shimmer/sensitivity with a fantastic response - but tougher sounding too - I attribute this to the stock speaker. Nice, nice, nice sound from this box.

With the distortion activated, you go towards Mark I/early Boogie territory, familiar Boogie snarl, yet very fender-like. Nothing like newer Fender tube amps - you know the Hot Rod ________ types, this distortion is user friendly, and better than most pre-amp distortion tube circuits.

Why did I buy it? 2 reasons ? 1) CHEAP, GAWD!!! THIS IS BIG TIME TONE FOR 400 BUCKS PEOPLE, GET ONE WHILE THE GETTIN? IS GOOD!! 2) Because I like to open amps up, and a 5f6a is too much power if you play with horns (I do), and this 22W is perfect, you can still drown your bandmates wide open, but you can get more 6V6 ? output tube punch at reasonable levels than the 6L6 push pull designs. This gets a solid 10 here, you could spend thousands...but why, when there are these things around.

Based on other Fenders I've owned, I expect good things here.

Fender just sucks in this catagory.

I wanted big Fender 6V6 (Deluxe/Princeton) tone for cheap (who doesn't) and this amp went well past my expectations. This distortion is great too!

See the other reviews - no need for me to be redundant here. I use all the available features of the amp.

I'm using it with a Strat, and pushing it thru a 4x12 cab in addition to the stock 12" speaker. The extra body added by the closed 4x12 turns it from a good amp to a great amp.

The reason I'm writing this review is to impart some potentially useful info. I didn't have the standard footswitch (rare, apparently) so I used a Peavey dual switch. Turns out that the sweetest sound available in this amp is an overdrive (NOT the distorted 'lead' sound available from the front pullswitch) which is available only by avoiding the RED switch input entirely. In the PLAIN jack, the tip switches reverb and the ring accesses this overdrive. This is probably the "mythical Rivera Ciruit" you hear so much about.... lemme tell you it ain't a myth. It's real, and it's awesome. Not long ago I was gonna trade this amp in fo something else, but since I found this overdrive I'm keeping the amp.

I do like the 'lead' sound too.... I'm in the process of customizing the amp to make the normal, overdrive, and lead sounds (and the mid-boost too) available from footswitches. It's like having 4 different sounds at your feet. Who knows - when I figure it out maybe I'll market it or something.

Never broken down. Got dropped right on a top corner once, and only scraped off a bit of Tolex. Th wood stayed intact, and the amp is fine.

n/a

Now that I've found just what's available under the hood, this amp gets a 9 rating from me. Only reason I'm not giving a 10 is because of my own preference for separate heads & cabinets.

The setup is very similar to early Mesa Boogies. Two channels that share volume and tone controls. This can be a hindrance if you are looking for the "ultimate" clean and distorted sounds out of the amp. In my case, it doesn't apply: please read on.

A buddy of mine owned one of these amps and was constantly "blowing away" anything that I had both in volume and tone. 15 years later I finally decided that I wanted one too! This amp was designed by Paul Rivera. He used to have a little shop in San Diego where I lived and he was the go-to guy for Fender or Marshall repairs/mods. I have owned a R50 and a R100 Rivera amp in the past and have pretty much enjoyed them. Which brings me back to this 35 lb. bundle of dynamite.
Mine came with a footswitch, not the original, but a correctly built copy. So I am able to access everything that this amp has to offer. That said, my tones are found without the footswitch, and with the pull boost pots pushed in. I don't care for the overdrive tones out of the amp, and would rather adjust it for the ultimate clean tone. What heavenly clean tones are found here! The tone stays clean at stage volumes too! Imagine a 35 lb. Twin Reverb with a little more mid and here you have it. NOT the typical jangly Fender clean, but something a little different, but wonderful non the less. Did I mention that this sucker is loud? Imagine a Deluxe Reverb on steroids.

Built like a brick s**t house. Real pine cabinet just like the classic Fender amps of the past, hand wired, a thing of beauty under the hood. I replaced the ORIGINAL tubes that were still in it with a new set of Electro-Harmonix. It turns out that one of the original power tubes wasn't even working, but the little bugger still functioned. Try that with a Hot Rod Deluxe...

Don't need them...any competent amp shop could work on this.

If you are looking at HR Deluxes, Blues Juniors or anything in that power/price point, do yourself a favor and look for one of these. It'll still be churnin' out great tones when the other ones are coffee tables. Don't worry about finding the footswitch, you'll be able to get great usable clean tones out of this amp without it. Just invest in a good distortion pedal. This amp LOVES pedals too!

I thought I bought mine new in 82 , but I may be wrong as I have heard they were not available then, so mine is a '83 . I bought it because it was the right size really. All the solid state ones were just too heavy. Its funny because I was in to a bright sound then and it worked great, Now I look for a different tone flavor and its still there! an extremely versatile amp. I enjoy the direct / Line out for recording a signal late at night. I am a pedal freak so I dont mess with the pull channel much unless I need a real loud raunchy tone. I also sometimes just pull out the Mid knob for a boost , this will add a threshold of distortion thats very cool .

I have two Telecasters one has 2 single coils and the other a Humbucker in the rythym position. I have played in bands with various styles, Blues , ska , Reggae , Punk and straight ahead Rock and Roll. the PR 2
has handled it all. I have miked it in bands that have louder drummers ( hey 20 watts is 20watts) . It response well to the twang . I keep the reverb @ 4 if I have a delay on . This thing has a real wet reverb (hence the name )I favor distortion pedals because I dont want to be pulling knobs between songs.I favor a Pro Rat and a MXR . The clean channel is why I bought it and have kept it so long. There was no switching pedal, I always thought it activated the reverb so I never looked into it .

This amp has logged some miles and some years so here's the history.

Bought in 82? -
in 94 I noticed a crackling noise when it warmed up - took it to the local amp guy. He rebiased the it and dropped in some of those Russian tubes, It was noticeably louder but lost that treble bite so I brought it back and He dropped in a set of Chinese tubes instead and that was the trick. Killer tone , very warm with the full range of grunt and shimmer.
94 - The little bulb in the off /on light blew out - I was playing a gig and thought I had blown it up. Lucky for me I waited and it still worked- But it freaked me out not seeing that jewel light.
95- The electrical plug wiring became exposed, a typical Fender thing. So I had a new one put on - and thats it . I used to kick it to get that crash reverb thing and I am sure it fallen over in the truck several times and always worked . 20 years now

Work well under warranty - Never had any dealings with the Fender people. I am sure user groups are much more informative.

Only thing I own that probably worth more today than when I bought it so that is a good thing. I have had amps that have had built in tremelo, that would have been a good feature but tremelo pedals are cheap, and I dont use the effect on every song - Many people in the industry admire it and I have had cash offers after a lot of gigs. I have bought and sold other amps but this one just agrees with me - I love it.

I've submitted before - tow down fom here - mine's a 1983, bery happy with it. Main reason for submitting is, I've built a website with useful Princeton Reverb II links and a write-up on how to rebias the output valves (tubes). I hope it helps someone; comments welcome.

www.geocities.com/princerev2

see previous/other posts

This is an update to a previous post I did I a few years ago. I replaced the stock speaker just recently with a Celestion Blue Alnico - 12" 15W 8ohm. Apprehensive at first because of the cost of the speaker (list $395.00 US, got it for $200.00), and wattage rating. This speaker is said to be designed for low power class - A amps, but.... popped it in, used at a gig right off the bat. Fantastic. Never took master/channel volume over 5/5. (okay, I pushed it up to 7 or 8 during one solo). The tone was fabulous at all volumes. I found it amazing how different the tone controls respond to this speaker. Almost make it a different beast. One note of caution to those pondering the same swap - I could not remove any of the original speaker mounting screws. The original speaker is mounted with eight screws, the Celestion Blue has 4 screw holes. I broke off 4 - yikes...but it did the trick. This set up made my Strat with Lindy Fralin pickups sound just like I dream about. I intend to use this rig for recording and low volume gigs. I'll bring the Vibro King when I need to move more air.

Recently acquired amp; gigged twice; loving it; nothing to add to other reviews. MAIN REASON FOR SUBMITTING REVIEW is, I'VE GOT A FOOTSWITCH DIAGRAM sketched by someone at Fender in 1986 and faxed to the original owner. I haven't built it yet (neither did the original owner) but it seems to make sense and includes indicator led's (green reverb, red lead channel). If you want a copy, email me. I will build one soon.

See other reviews for more info. Basically it's a 20 W combo with 12" speaker and two channels: ?Clean? - typical Fender and ?Dirty? (I haven't heard any other Fender amp with similar sound). Very versatile for its size and price.

I play Strats. It's not the best sound in the world, but for the price I'll give it 10. Rivera did a really nice job. The amp should be cranked up for best results, but I am afraid to screw my 12" alnico which is rated at 20W.

Never had a problem.

They sell photocopies of schematics for $5.00. Idiots.

The amp is fantastic value. If you can get one don't miss it, even if you already have a similar amp (not too many around). It's all point-to-point and more powerful and versatile than BF and SF Princeton Reverb. By the way, the reverb is fabulous. I'd like to know what's the better deal for the money (see review bellow).

1986 mdl. 100% orginal
changed tubes to 1 12at (reverb) 5751 (preamp) 2 12ax7's
Small gig amp
i use A 1966 Jensen c15n in an extention cab

Called a 2 channel amp, but it is not even close to being independent. The amp shares the reverb tube in the 2nd channel. Removing the reverb from the mix (THIS WAS DUMB. The volume from the 1st channel controls the gain in the second. (very dumb). Footswitch, its a one of a kind that works only with the rivera amps. (this is also dumb)

This amp has 2 good sounds. a warm (kinda) clean sound and a pretty good overdrive when you push the amp around 6-10

2 sounds, tone controls very sensitive and change the tone a bunch.

its a tank

Its ok, its a PTP all tube amp, but its not a real fender nor does it sound like one. They are a great amp for 250.00-300. More then that and there are some others that are money better spent