Fender Tweed Champ or Fender Princeton 68

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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11413
    shaunm said:
    @ICBM said:
    Given that the Champ is actually more expensive than the Princeton it's not even a close call - Princeton. So much more amp for the money, and the bigger speaker, reverb and EQ make it much more usable at home volume even though it's more powerful.

    I had an original '59 Tweed Champ, and it *did* sound nice at home volume, but it needed pedals to get anything more than a slightly boxy clean tone.
    @icbm what if you were going to use it to record also?
    Download the free version of Amplitube.  Will probably give you better results than mic'ing an amp is likely to.

    For the cost of an SM57 to mic things with, you could download the Scuffham stuff.
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  • algroves1algroves1 Frets: 17

    This is what my Princeton sounds like at home levels, much prefer it to the THR I had at any volume.


    That clip sounds great!  Mind me asking what pedals you're running through there?
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  • menamestommenamestom Frets: 4641
    edited June 2018
    algroves1 said:

    This is what my Princeton sounds like at home levels, much prefer it to the THR I had at any volume.


    That clip sounds great!  Mind me asking what pedals you're running through there?
    Thanks.  Think it was just a Sweet Honey Overdrive.

    EDIT:  Sorry, obviously the looper as well, was a Zoom G3.
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  • My Princeton Reverb has a master volume mod that lets me run it quieter. Also consider turning the amp, up to around 5, and turning the volume down on the guitar. It sounds way better than the other way around. 
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  • p90foolp90fool Frets: 31368

    This is what my Princeton sounds like at home levels, much prefer it to the THR I had at any volume.


    That sounds very nice @menamestom ;
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71959
    p90fool said:

    This is what my Princeton sounds like at home levels, much prefer it to the THR I had at any volume.
    That sounds very nice @menamestom ;
    I find it surprising that anyone can't get a usable tone out of an amp like this at home levels - and I don't mean loud, I mean TV volume. The pot taper is very nice on them.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • menamestommenamestom Frets: 4641
    p90fool said:

    This is what my Princeton sounds like at home levels, much prefer it to the THR I had at any volume.

    That sounds very nice @menamestom ;
    Thanks!  I'm currently thinking I need to get those pickups back, why did I sell them :s 

    ICBM said:

    I find it surprising that anyone can't get a usable tone out of an amp like this at home levels - and I don't mean loud, I mean TV volume. The pot taper is very nice on them.

    Exactly, TV volume.  Nice clean base tone, no background noise, decent sized speaker for home, takes pedals well.
    It's all you really need.  Just a bit of gain from a pedal to add some hair to the sound.
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  • munckeemunckee Frets: 12255
    See now you chaps have me thinking about selling my tweedie champ and getting a used princeton to mod with a master volume.  Its not tweed but built in fender tremolo and reverb.  hmmm.
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  • shaunmshaunm Frets: 1591
    munckee said:
    See now you chaps have me thinking about selling my tweedie champ and getting a used princeton to mod with a master volume.  Its not tweed but built in fender tremolo and reverb.  hmmm.
    Dibs
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  • munckeemunckee Frets: 12255
    shaunm said:
    munckee said:
    See now you chaps have me thinking about selling my tweedie champ and getting a used princeton to mod with a master volume.  Its not tweed but built in fender tremolo and reverb.  hmmm.
    Dibs
    If I can bear to part with it you will have first shout mate.

    Anyone close to Portsmouth area care to lt me try a Princeton?

    @thecolourbox I thought the 68 was supposed to be better due to more gain, but watched a couple of videos and I think I would definitely prefer the 65, which means spending a bit more and no break up and house volume unless I got it modded.
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  • p90foolp90fool Frets: 31368
    @munckee if you're handy with simple mods you can buy either and turn it easily into the other one. The 65 RI and 68 Custom Princetons have no fundamental circuit differences, just a handful of component value changes, unlike the bigger amps in the range. 

    Tbh the difference in how early they break up is overstated generally, there's really not much in it and tonally they differ subtly, not much more than a speaker change would. 
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  • munckeemunckee Frets: 12255
    edited July 2018
    Thanks @p90fool I can solder pickups etc, I'm wary of touching insides of amps because I am allergic to massive electric shocks. I have watched a few videos which say the 68 is much louder which won't be what I want but I suppose a speaker change could help there.

    As mentioned on another thread missus munckee out today so I have played the champ at full volume and it did not disturb my son in another room or my neoghbours.  Makes me more confident that a Priceton might be fine for my take on home volume. 

    Plus Im happy to use tubescreamer, I like the idea of bigger speaker, fender reverb and tremolo.

    I do however hate this place I would never have considered a 12 watt amp for home if I wasn't on here : )

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  • p90foolp90fool Frets: 31368
    Haha I know, but the Princeton really is a lovely thing. Whatever your natural style or that of your band, you can just lose yourself noodling away without any idea where the time went!
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  • kt66kt66 Frets: 315
    I had a similar quandry a couple of years ago, found out I much prefer the sound of older Fender amps, ended up with 77 Silverface Vibro Champ for half the price of a new Princeton, it's not my only amp, just used for home, where it does the job perfectly.  Plus it'll hold it's value and more 
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  • BluesyDaveBluesyDave Frets: 410
    kt66 said:
    I had a similar quandry a couple of years ago, found out I much prefer the sound of older Fender amps, ended up with 77 Silverface Vibro Champ for half the price of a new Princeton, it's not my only amp, just used for home, where it does the job perfectly.  Plus it'll hold it's value and more 
    Vibro Champ is a great amp for home or studio.  I really miss my old one.  Shouldn't have sold it.
    No Darling....I've had that ages.
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  • munckeemunckee Frets: 12255
    Right I've splurged £650 on a princeton 68 custom as a direct result of this thread so if you boys want to start the whip round that would be great : ) @ICBM is right its perfectly useable at home I can get to 3 on input 1 or 4 on input 2 no bother even in the evening.  the tremolo is by far the best bit for me and it sounds great with pedals, I even tried it with my utterly cack arion plastic distortion pedal from 1834 which sounded nice with the guitar volume rounded down a little.

    I saw a video of the deluxe 68 where they swapped the celestion out for the jensen thats in the 65 and it made the clean a bit more like the 65 so I may try that.  As someone else mentioned it is bassy I have bass on 1.

    Plus its actually beautful to look at!

    https://i.imgur.com/nOrDTKe.jpg
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  • JezWyndJezWynd Frets: 6021
    Any opinions for or against these?


    I had a Princeton Recording Amp for several years. I loved it; for home use and recording it was fabulous. I've never found another amp with such a beautiful glassy clean sound (I'm no expert on amps though).

    They got a bit of a bad rep, mainly due to the attenuator which was prone to crapping out if the amp was driven hard (though it's something I never experienced in all the time I owned it). Another problem with the attenuator is the large control knob stands out from the fascia and was prone to getting knocked which could damage the internal workings - def not a gigging amp imo. My amp tech told me that the attenuator was a type of circuit more usually found in hi-fi kit but it worked well for me, letting me drive the amp at 4-5 on the volume control at home play levels.

    The onboard effects are a bit meh. I. didn't like the overdrive much but in a pinch it was quite sufficient to do the job. The compressor was a crazy thing; I've never found another comp that can level and squeeze your sound as much as this one but used judiciously it's a perfectly useable comp.

    If I could find another at a sensible price I'd love to have one again. I lucked into mine on an eBay auction for 350 approx but I've seen people asking double that for them. They're heavy, 48lbs iirc which was a deciding factor in moving mine on eventually.
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11413
    munckee said:

    I saw a video of the deluxe 68 where they swapped the celestion out for the jensen thats in the 65 and it made the clean a bit more like the 65 so I may try that.  As someone else mentioned it is bassy I have bass on 1.

    I've put a WGS Veteran in mine.  Definite improvement for me.
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  • munckeemunckee Frets: 12255
    crunchman said:
    munckee said:

    I saw a video of the deluxe 68 where they swapped the celestion out for the jensen thats in the 65 and it made the clean a bit more like the 65 so I may try that.  As someone else mentioned it is bassy I have bass on 1.

    I've put a WGS Veteran in mine.  Definite improvement for me.
    What sort of improvement did you get? I don't need any volume or headroom, wouldn't much a touch less volume and cleaner clean.  
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11413
    munckee said:
    crunchman said:
    munckee said:

    I saw a video of the deluxe 68 where they swapped the celestion out for the jensen thats in the 65 and it made the clean a bit more like the 65 so I may try that.  As someone else mentioned it is bassy I have bass on 1.

    I've put a WGS Veteran in mine.  Definite improvement for me.
    What sort of improvement did you get? I don't need any volume or headroom, wouldn't much a touch less volume and cleaner clean.  


    It is more of a traditional Fender type speaker, so it doesn't have the mid range mud of the Celestion.  I think it's WGS's take on the classic 10" speaker that was originally in things like 60's Princetons.  It's possibly a bit less ratty in the low end than some of the Jensens.

    http://www.lean-business.co.uk/eshop/wgs-g10-veteran-20w-10-guitar-speaker-8ohm-p-1939.html

    The Jensen is a good speaker as well, and is a bit cheaper (looks to be around £37).  Either of them will be an improvement over the Celestion.

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