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Fender Princeton reverb 11


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A work colleague lent my son this amp to use while learning guitar but now finds himself in need of cash and has asked if I want to buy it from him. Neither he nor myself have any real idea of its worth and I am hoping some of you may have an idea of its worth. It is in good condition for its age but does not have the original footswitch but I have had made an all metal construction footswitch which does the same job as the original all controls work as they should. Any help appreciated.
John

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[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1432291593' post='2780049']
When was it built?
[/quote]

1982 - 86. Wiring on an eyelet board, spaghetti rather than Hi-Watt precision. Some excellent pictures and info here:

[url="http://www.stratopastor.org.uk/strato/amps/prii/PRII_hub.html"]http://www.stratopas...i/PRII_hub.html[/url]

Edited by 3below
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Rivera-era built/designed go for about US$600-800 in the states. Here it's a bit higher (probably the same number in £) as they're not as common.

The Rivera amps aren't perfect (the speakers are often upgraded) but it was a golden age for Fender amps.

Let me know if you change your mind about buying it.

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[quote name='3below' timestamp='1432297743' post='2780147']
1982 - 86. Wiring on an eyelet board, spaghetti rather than Hi-Watt precision. Some excellent pictures and info here:

[url="http://www.stratopastor.org.uk/strato/amps/prii/PRII_hub.html"]http://www.stratopas...i/PRII_hub.html[/url]
[/quote]

Spaghetti is standard Fender practice, but seems to work OK regardless. ;)

I came here wondering what a Reverb 11 was - d'oh. Sometime I need to build a 5E3 and a 5D4 & compare them.

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Nice amps, not worth £600+ though. I bought and sold mine for <£500.

Nicely made, crap speaker (unless it's got the optional EV), pretty good cleans and laughable overdrive.

A Traynor YGM-3 is a much better amp for way less money (typically <£400 for a clean one).

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  • 3 weeks later...

If you want a cheap decent starter amp with a decent sound you can't go wrong with a 2nd hand Marshall Valvestate 8080 they're cheap as chips, fairly reliable. I got 2 2nd hand, 1 for £60 1 for £90. Get a great sound out of them for none of the hassle of valve amps.

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  • 1 month later...

OK after some negotiation price is down to £225 which seems fair and I'm going to buy it thanks for all your various comments and advice and now I need more :blush: any suggestions for replacement speaker as I don't believe the original Fender jobby is doing the amp any favours sonically in any department ie frequency range, detail, volume particularly volume.
As usual any advice gratefully received.
John

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What kind of tones do you like and do you need much more volume? I like Eminence speakers mostly these days, and they are generally extremely efficient and very loud compared to anything by Jensen and some celestions. They have a wide range of tones available to suit, but if you want a typically vintage Fender tone then you should be looking at a Jensen Alnico speaker, probably a P12Q or P12N.

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lots of contradictions here I think on one hand I think it lacks a bit at the treble end of things in terms of frequency and detail that is not to say it is flat or muddy just seems to lack a certain crispness, at the other end of things the bass is in evidence but does not go very low. The overall tone is just a little soft I guess but still clean (don't use the dirty channel)
as for volume I don't need loads more but I feel it should be quite a bit louder than it is. Having just read this back to myself I'm not sure I have said anything that could be interpreted as clear or concise but hopefully you'll get the idea.

It has just occurred to me that I may be describing the amps natural characteristics and that I basically have the wrong amp I guess I wouldn't know as I am really a bass player ho hum

Edited by Captain Rumble
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@ OP: £225 seems a pretty fair price for a nice Rivera Fender. As for replacement speakers, the world's your oyster. Weber units are well respected and they're much easier to get hold of over here compared a few years ago.

The Eminences nearly always get a good write up. I stuck a Copperhead in an SF Princeton and it sounded lush - even spread of tone and bastard loud if it needs to be.

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[quote name='Ancient Mariner' timestamp='1439050553' post='2839670']
18watt.com was the forum, but I'll not mention details (and they may now be erased anyway) to prevent BC from having legal trouble. The founder, Ted Weber, was by all accounts a wonderful guy, but the son not so much.
[/quote]

Ah ha! I had a poke around and found some stuff alluding to this. All very odd.

And it seems they get a bit upset if you suggest their [s]cheapies[/s] entry level speakers are made in China rather than the Yew Ess of Eh. Which they are. Clearly.

They say.

Going now.

Edited by skankdelvar
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[quote name='Ancient Mariner' timestamp='1438815994' post='2837752']
It does sound like you want a Jensen-style speaker in there for more crisp top-end, but I doubt you'll get either more volume or bass out of it if you want to retain authentic Fender tone and behaviour.
[/quote]
I had a feeling that might be the case but I think I would be prepared to compromise the authentic Fender tone to a degree in favour of a gain in frequency extension and efficiency and it seems that eminence is the name that keeps popping up. What about the power of the speaker pro's and con's of low wattage 15 ish against 75 ish have read about speaker break up but not really sure what that means.

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Speaker breakup is where the speaker distorts and compresses too, along with the amp. Some speakers break up very musically (Celestion Greenbacks, Blue, G12H, Eminence Redfang) and others less so (I didn't like the speaker distortion from either the Jensen P10R or Eminence Cannabis Rex). A Celestion G12M sounds like warm thunder when it breaks up, pushed by the right amp.

I recently bought an Eminence Swamp Thang for similar reasons, and can confirm it is very fat and loud, and with 150watt rating, also has enormous headroom (no amp I own will overdrive that). Sounds fine with a 12W single ended amp gently pushing it, and it doesn't need some fire-breathing monster amp to make the cone move like some high power handling speakers. If you like a little sting and bite but want a bigger, deeper bottom end and more efficiency then consider a Celestion G12H - really - because they have a huge tight bottom end, slight mid-scoop and teeth at the top, all in a 100dB/1watt sensitivity. I have 2 here (1 almost new anniversary special sat in a box, 1 from the 70s in a pine home-made cab - both sound just the same) and I like the big bottom end, but find the top end a little too sharp-edged

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[quote name='Ancient Mariner' timestamp='1439307042' post='2841748']
What is presently in there? Eminence 'made for Fender' with square magnet? I can't recall much about the G12-80, other than (IIRC) it was a lower cost high power handling speaker - probably a bit of a blank canvas than having a particular character.
[/quote]

Pretty sure I had one of these g12-80's in a Rivera R55 a while back. Blank canvas is a very apt description; I suspect Rivera used this speaker because it could unobtrusively handle the (over) wide range of sounds designed into the R55. Something that's intended to do 'relaxed Jazz comping' right through to Mesa-ish djent probably needs an 'unflavoured' speaker.

In the OP's context the G12-80 will provide a good basis for comparison :)
[color=#ffffff].[/color]

Edited by skankdelvar
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