Fender Princeton Reverb II

Extremely versatile. I have used it for recording and small clubs. Excellent clean tone, which distorts nicely at lower volumes for recording.

I have used this with a Les Paul Studio, Standard Strat, and currently run a Tele with Lace sensors. It has gone the gamut from country to all types of rock beautifully. I love the harmonics at higher volumes. I rarely use the overdrive channel, due to the lack of a foot pedal. I consistantly use an Ibanez Tubescreamer for added distortion. It really helps fatten the sound.

I kept blowing fuses, and discovered a spring on the circuit board. No idea how it got there. Other than that, it has been completely reliable. I replaced the tubes five years ago, and am starting to get gremlins again.

No warranty, and the standard story of searching for an elusive foot pedal. Come on, if they built one, they must have plans or something. How hard can a foot pedal be?

I love this amp. I bought it when I first started playing, and lucked out. The seller needed a "bigger" amp. I have always been able to cut through a mix, even with more powerful competion. Fender definitely had their act together on this baby, other than the foot pedal issue. Several amps have come and gone, but the Reverb II stays by my side.

As everyone has already said, plus the much sought after footswitch for lead and reverb, with looong lead.

Clean is CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN, the reverb is gorgeous, and the overdrive is classic. I don't even have this amp
yet, but I know it will sound fantastic with my Hamer Sunburst and Standard, and Tomkins Tele w/B-Bender !!

No problems in the past with other Fender amps, so I don't anticipate any with this one.

Never needed it before.

As someone has already stated, everyone seems to go for the Super Champs, but the Princeton Reverb II does everything the Champ does, just a little louder. I foolishly sold a Super Champ in '88, having owned it for about 3 years. In the past couple of years I realised the error of my ways, and I've been on the lookout for another. I've got
a Marshall 25/50, but that only does one sound. The Princeton fell into my lap one day, and at AUD$600 (about US$365), I feel it's a bargain for the quality of tone it produces - an absolute gem.

Just wanted to make a retraction in my review. I stated that the amp had an effects loop. Well, I had my Deluxe 112 sitting next to the the Princeton and as I was writing the review I glanced around to see If I missed anything and zeroed in on the Deluxe 112. Sorry didn't mean to miss lead anyone. There is not an effects loop on the PRII just an input jack on the front and a line out jack and speaker jack on the back. I stand by the rest of my review. These are great amps. Good job Paul!!

This is a 1982 unit - the Rivera influenced channel switching model with 20 LARGE watts and a beefy 12" EV Force speaker. Point to point wiring and very impressive craftmanship. All tube with three 7025's and a 12AT7 in the preamp and two 6V6GTA's in the power section. DEEP reverb and Boogie-like overdrive. Got this used, so no footswitch was included and they're damn near impossible to find, so any channel swithing requires a pull/push on the knob.

I use a pair of Strats ('57 Reissue and Std) and a Tele through this amp. They all sound beautiful. Im own a couple of other amps that I play out with, but this one has the TONE. This amp is a real sleeper. Its 20 watts will simply overpower many higher rated boxes. No probelm being heard, even with a loud drummer. The clean channel is classic Fender and the OD channel can be dialed in to get just about any amount of fuzz you'd care for. Personally, I use just a touch of OD since I play mostly blues and classic rock. But it has the capability to deliver the Marshall/Boogie type of sound if needed. In a word, this little amp is GREAT. If you can find one, grab it! You won't be sorry.

Solid as a rock. Paul Rivera was behind this design and it shows through in the heavy duty construction and variety of tones it produces. Never had a problem with it and doubt that I ever will. The Fender-Rivera team was a good one.

Never needed it. Never will, in all likelihood.

I've played for awhile and I own several other amps. All are tube, most are Fenders. All have good to great tone. But this one's my favorite. I got it used on the recommendation of another guitarist and I'm SO glad I did. Collectors seem to have a thing for the early 80's Super Champs. Well, this is the Champ's big bro', and it rocks. If you like the Deluxe Reverb, you'll LOVE this one. It does anything a DR will, and more.

Early 80's Rivera designed PR II. I play the blues and nothing else. This amp is excellent for my taste in music.
20-22 watts. Great reverb. Rich and lush.Two channels clean and overdrive. Channel switching via the "rare" factory footswitch. (Yes I have this switch and no I don't want to sell it.) The lead channel is very responsive to tweaking and can go from mild OD to over the top OD. The clean is exceptionally clean, almost like crystal clean. The amp has an effects loop which I don't use. The only feature it doesn't have that would make it more attractive, for me, is a headphone jack. A useful feature for apartment dwellers.
I use this amp at home and to jam with friends and other musical acquaintances. When I first got this amp, I researched various avenues for increasing the wattage. I thought if I could squeeze 30 watts out of it I could use it for gigs. Then I started to jam with a guy from work who uses a Marshall 1/2 stack. This little amp sounds remarkable up against this Marshall and holds it's own until you get to upper sonic levels that only dogs should hear.

I play a tele. Don't even own another electric besides my Godin BG IV bass, which I have played through this amp. I disconnected the speaker and ran it through a 15" bass cab. Sounded great. This amp fits all my needs. It has plently of clean and distorted power. It's light and compact. In a crowded practice room with other amps and guitars in close quarters it can get noisey on the drive channel. But, keep in mind, I use a tele with stock single coil pickups. With a little tweeking and manuvering I can overcome the noise.This little amp can go from clean country, to blues, to over the top distortion. The clean channel is clean to way into the upper volume levels. Add an OD pedal to the clean channel and you can get some excellent blues OD. The drive channel can be driven into varying degrees of OD without a pedal. Add a pedal here and you have endless sonic possiblities.

I've only had the amp for four months, but it has never even given any indication that it wants to break. I don't know how old the tubes are (two 6V6's, and a full complement of 12ax7's), but they seem to work fine. I would be tempted to gig with this amp without any backup. But, I seldom gig anymore.

Never dealt with the company. Never needed any repair, yet. No warranty. The amp is nearly twenty years old.

I've been trying to learn and play guitar for almost forty years. I own several other amps, but this is my pride and joy. If it were lost or stolen I would definitely buy another PR II. I love everything about this amp, just wish it had a headphone jack for practicing. I've owned several amps over the years. I've always been search for something that was compact and powerful enough for gigs. This amp seems to fill the bill. I paid a premium for this amp because of the sound and the fact that it has the all to rare factory footswitch, but it is worth every penny.

This is a 1983 model and I use it to play rock and blues. The amp has channel switching, but I never use it because it did not come with a footswitch and they are near impossible to find! There are a couple of overdrive stages which are Boogie like, and the reverb is very good on the clean channel.(reverb also work when overdrive channel is used. Vibrato would have made this a 10.

I us a Les Paul with Super distortion humbuckers.Most of my playing is studio work, and I can get any sound I want except for heavy metal transistor scream. For that I use a Peavey Studio pro 40.
The speoker has been changed to a 1980 estion G1265, sounds great

Have had this amp for over 10 years, no problems, just new tubes.

The couldnt get a footpedal to save their soul.

I have been playing for 25 years. I have a Boogie, Vibrolux, Concert112 a Traynor and a Mitchell 100. This little amp gets the most use of all and if it were stolen or destroyed, I would get another one.Vibrato would be nice though...

This fine little amp was built by Mister Rivera in '83, I guess. It have a so-called lead channel. Switching by pull poti or foot switch (almost impossible to get one, weird system). Wonderfull mid-boost, good enough for the sixties blues-stuff like Canned Heat, Chicken Shack etc. If it had a tremolo, it was perfect!

I play with several bands, mostly sixties/seventies stuff and dinner music. My bread guitar is a '66 Stratocaster, but I often use a '78 Telecaster and my '80 Guild Starfire too. The Princeton is fine for every of these cuties. I use several stomp boxes: t.c. Chorus, the Boss Overdrive SD-2, Ibanez Delay, Boss Acoustic Simulator. In every situation, the sound is ok, sometimes its to die for! Shure, you can't compare the clean sound with my Super-Reverb, but the crunch and lead thing is compact, gutsy and melodic. I use the built-in overdrive (lead-channel) quite seldeom. At little club-sessions, sometimes; when I am to lazy to carry my stomp gear. But I have to tell you, my wife always says at those eves: Best sound you ever had! One thing about the 22 W RMS: There ist not too much headromm in clean - no Country Roads at higher levels! But if you love the warm, slightly distorted sound: hit the pawnshop and get you an Princeton Reverb II!

The usual tube-amp thing: one fine eve you will have a problem with the power tubes. But you can't compare with my Vox AC-30! That Amp is a mean thing. The Fender is ok, it's the backup for my bigger amps!

Tried to get an footswitch. No hope, no help. They bug me!

I'm in my late 40's, I try to play the guitar since I am 15. I have the Selmer amp, the Super Reverb Silverface and the 69'Vox AC 30. If the Prince were stolen, I would try to get me another one. I love the sound and how easy I can get it, but I hate the worries with the foot switch. One thing left to say: This is not an bedroom-amp, drive it to the limit!

This amp is God...in almost every way. Good for jazz, vintage rock, modern rock, everything...the other guy wrote about it's features.

Amazing clean sound...I can play jazz, rock, or whatever I want, with minimal adjustments. One problem...which isn't really a problem...more of a fact of life; when I run my boss fz-3 fuzz pedal into it on full fuzz, the amp just explodes, but i guess that's they way it is with most amps.

the tubes have lasted for about 15 years, and it's tough as a brick...also heavy like one too.

Warranty's over... bought it new in the early 80's, and i haven't had to have anything changed or fixed.

Just nab one right now. Sounds great with all vintage pedals...especially tape echos.

Great Rivera design ,channel switching ( really lead mode using the reverb drive) 1 --12" oxford speaker .vol treb bass mid (with pull for mid boost) Reverb(only in normal mode) Master vol & presence..20 watts rms (sounds more like 50 watts)

Great clean Fender sound,and Boogie type overdrive sound....

Have had it 2 years no problems

N/A this amp is 15 yrs old totally out of warranty

Very satisfied uI use it for practice at home and i've used it to play with full group.Cuts thru the mix fine..