Vintage Sound Amplifiers VS112-DP

This amp is essentially a beefed up '64 Princeton Reverb (two inputs, volume, treble, bass, reverb, speed, intensity). In addition to the stock handwired Princeton circuit, Rick does a few things to improve the standard circuit tremolo, wires the power tubes up like a Deluxe Reverb, puts in a 12" Ceramic Weber California and adds a standby switch. The result is a 12-15 watt amp that can compete toe to toe no problem with a Deluxe Reverb in terms of clean headroom and overall balls. Mojotone cab with black tolex, silver grille cloth, purple jewel light, and white chicken head knobs to tie it all together. Best reverb and trem in the biz

I play everything from George Benson to Derek Trucks to Sting to Pink Floyd. Jazz, blues, pop, R&B, funk, fusion and rock. My two main guitars are a '56 NOS one-off Strat with Duncan Antiquity Surfers and a '57 R7 Goldtop with Duncan Antiquities. The amp suits my needs perfectly. I was looking for headroom in a small package and this fits the bill. Perfect for recording and band practices. The 12" 85 Watt Ceramic Weber California gives this amp a fat clean tone, which is great for using with pedals. Between 3 and 4 has this surprisingly giant clean tone! Once it's past five it starts to break up and gets dirtier as you wind up the volume.

Classic fender clean, all surfy and cool with that trem and verb as well. Distortion tone is great too, kinda fuzzy but great for that Derek and the Dominos tone with the bridge pickup of a strat. My Xotic AC booster with high gain and the Les Paul yields a great tone for slide think Allman/Trucks. However, the dirty tone is very clear in a way. You can hear the individual notes of a chord very well compared to most other amps.

This amp is everything one would want out of a Princeton and then some. The tremolo is a work of art, it just sounds so buttery and adds a great dimension to the tone, best tremolo I've ever heard. I replaced the stock Groove tubes preamp tubes with JJs just to warm up the tone a little bit and add a ballsier dirty tone. That is just a matter of personal preference and now the amp stays a little tighter and thicker with the volume high. There was also a static noise when I first got the amp. If I cranked it up, and then turned it back down, the clean tone would have this nasty static. It went away after a few days though, and I haven't heard it since I got the amp about 2 months ago. Probably something to do with the tubes breaking in, it is no big deal now.

The only problem I've had with the amp is the static noise when the volume is turned back down from cranked. But as mentioned before, it went away after a couple days and was probably an issue of the tubes breaking in, not of the amp. The mojocab and all the other parts are of utmost high quality. The thing is wired so neatly and everything feels and sturdy. I bring it to various band practices all the time and a few recording sessions and all is well.

Rick answered all of my questions within 24 hours, the kind of service I've never gotten from anybody else. He was very cooperative and patient on the phone and helped me pick the right amp and specs. The order and payment process was a breeze and the amp arrived on time. No problems in this field at all.

Although it takes pedals very well, this is a plug and play amp at heart. The sound quality is excellent all the way around the volume knob (bass has to be turned down at higher volumes like on most Fenders or it gets way too flubby and muddy). It is a great take on a Princeton Reverb, sounds much bigger than any other I've played. Compared to the Princeton Reverb Reissue that came out recently, the VS112P has tremolo that sounds 500% better and has a much thicker clean sound with much more headroom. In addition the cab is of much higher quality. Just a better built and sounding amp overall and well worth the extra bucks. This amp is priced very well for a handwired PTP boutique amp and was a buy that I would definitely do again if I had to.

A BF Princeton Reverb on steroids. AB1164 Princeton circuit with beefed up output stage (22W) into a 12" Weber speaker. Intended for jazz/blues, small combo, small- or medium-size room use. Basic but effective classic Fender-style design. Mine was built into a lacquered tweed cabinet (special order).

Using a classic jazz box with a floating pickup the amp is a natural extension of the guitars acoustic sound. Warm, wonderful and natural tone. Same is true for my nylon string. With a Strat, you get everything the Fender line is famous for, from biting reverbed country or surf twang to full bodied rhythm or lead tones. The tremolo is perfect. With the guitar on 10, the amp starts to break up at about 5, in the desired way!

Still new to my world, but the quality of construction is very high. I will use it without backup.

Rick Hayes has been consistently available to answer every question at every stage of the ordering, purchasing and construction process. The amp comes with a 5-year warrantee, though the buyer is responsible for all shipping costs.

I've been a pro player since 1976 and have owned more pieces of equipment than I can remember. My decision to buy from Vintage Sound was part of a decision to buy only top-drawer gear for the "grown-up" portion of my career. Compared to other boutique shops, VS is very reasonably priced and delivers the classic look and tone at competitive rates. I believe my amp hunting days are over!