Tonemaster Princeton Speaker Swap?

AndyJP

Hey all,

Has anyone swapped a speaker in one of these and had good results?

American roots player here. I’ve got a Tonemaster Deluxe with the creamback neo and love it. Considering the Princeton also. Reviews often cite it sounding too hifi. 

AndyJP

Anyone?

dazzajl

Over a hundred views without a reply suggests you might need to try it and tell us….

I’ve had the TM Princeton and I can understand why people might say it’s a bit too hifi but it’s certainly not a bad sounding amp in any way out of the box. 

stickyfiddle

I would also like to know but I have nothing more to add beyond an assumption that the cab is the same and the chassis should be less bulky so I think it would work. 

I had a TM Princeton for a little while - great little amp and if I could 12" it I'd be keen to have another 

stickyfiddle

Looking at images it's clear that the chassis doesn't protrude downwards so it should be doable. 

Just bear in mind that the IR on the DI out would still be a modelled 10" speaker

AndyJP

Yeah not much about speaker swaps at all on the web.

The five watt world guy put a 12” in but had to use a larger mojo tone cab.

stickyfiddle

I sold mine to a buddy but he's out of the country at the moment. I'm sure he'd be happy to let me borrow it and measure up once he's back but that might be a while for obvious reasons...

AndyJP

Thx @stickyfiddle ;

The five watt world guy said the chassis dimensions were different to the standard reissue size.

Good to hear your fans of Princeton.

Was I initially thinking would stick to a Princeton with a 10” speaker  because I’ve got the DR which I can switch down to 12 watts.  If I went 12 i would probably keep it more in the Jensen ballpark

fretmeister

Why not pick a different sounding 10?

AndyJP

Yeah tempted. Keen to hear if anyone else has had good results I guess.

Hoping to use a Princeton without any pedals. So needs to have enough mid range to cut. From online videos I can’t tell if it’s the tonemaster Princeton that’s lacking mid range or the speaker.

stickyfiddle

I didn’t find mine any lower in mids than a valve one. If in doubt turn the tell down and volume up 

AndyJP

Gonna get in to try one I think.

dc77

I have a TMDR and recently picked up a TMSR. 

If anything the TMDR is a little more mid forward than the valve reissues to my ears. 

stickyfiddle

@dc77 Oooh how is the Super? I'd love to try one

AndyJP

@dc77  do you have the Creamback version of the deluxe?

Yeah it cuts and band mix without pedals. Hoping for the same from the Princeton with a speaker swap.

dc77

stickyfiddle said:

@dc77 Oooh how is the Super? I'd love to try one

I’ve not had it at rehearsal/gig volumes yet, but so far on the lower output settings it’s has the glorious room filling sound you’d expect. Vibrato and reverb are stunningly good. Remains clean till around 7 on the volume so I can see the power selector being put to full use. Seems smoother than my DR and hasn’t got the upper mid raspiness I have on mine at certain levels. Due for rehearsal session this weekend and will be getting it cranked more. I’m on a purge of my pedal set up currently to go minimal, so be interesting to see how it’s performs with my stripped back board. 

One thing I have noticed with the TM amps is that the level has to be backed off a bit from the valve equivalents on drive pedals. Can cause an isssue when stacking drives. 

AndyJP said:

@dc77  do you have the Creamback version of the deluxe?

Yeah it cuts and band mix without pedals. Hoping for the same from the Princeton with a speaker swap.

I have the Jensen Neo speaker in mine which I think is a closer variant to the reissue than the Celestion. But I get why the celestion would be stronger in the mids. I may be wrong. But I think the DSP has been programmed to be as close as possible to the originals with the Neo light weight magnets in both the Jensen and Celestion so I’m not sure how they would sound will a full fat speaker. 

I think TPS ran both through a Zilla 1x12 with a WGS speaker and the TM didn’t come out to great. 

AndyJP

Yeah that pedal show video wasn’t great. Wish they would give the blonde version a shot.  

stickyfiddle

AndyJP said:

Yeah that pedal show video wasn’t great. Wish they would give the blonde version a shot.  

I love those guys but it’s inevitable that they would hate it given their use case is a controlled studio with no drums or bass where they can play as loud as they want and don’t have to deal with sound guys or loading in up wonky stairs in the rain. 

I have no doubt I would adore a hardwired one or even the reissue but the TMDR sounds 95% as good in isolation, 99+% as good in a live mix but also has the benefit of actually being able to use it at the “5-ish” sweet spot of compression without everyone else screaming at me to turn down.

dc77

stickyfiddle said:

AndyJP said:

Yeah that pedal show video wasn’t great. Wish they would give the blonde version a shot.  

I love those guys but it’s inevitable that they would hate it given their use case is a controlled studio with no drums or bass where they can play as loud as they want and don’t have to deal with sound guys or loading in up wonky stairs in the rain. 

I have no doubt I would adore a hardwired one or even the reissue but the TMDR sounds 95% as good in isolation, 99+% as good in a live mix but also has the benefit of actually being able to use it at the “5-ish” sweet spot of compression without everyone else screaming at me to turn down.

Full agree. 

Last 2 gigs I went to see the bands were using TM amps. Sounded great and I pretty sure no one in the audience cared in the slightest. 

fretmeister

stickyfiddle said:

@dc77 Oooh how is the Super? I'd love to try one

Me too!

I really want a Tonemaster and thought I wanted the Bassman but from the demos I'm 50/50 between the Bassman and the Super.

At some point I'll have to find a shop that has both so I can try them next to each other, and maybe take a few of my pedals.

MartinB

dc77 said:

stickyfiddle said:

AndyJP said:

Yeah that pedal show video wasn’t great. Wish they would give the blonde version a shot.  

I love those guys but it’s inevitable that they would hate it given their use case is a controlled studio with no drums or bass where they can play as loud as they want and don’t have to deal with sound guys or loading in up wonky stairs in the rain. 

I have no doubt I would adore a hardwired one or even the reissue but the TMDR sounds 95% as good in isolation, 99+% as good in a live mix but also has the benefit of actually being able to use it at the “5-ish” sweet spot of compression without everyone else screaming at me to turn down.

Full agree. 

Last 2 gigs I went to see the bands were using TM amps. Sounded great and I pretty sure no one in the audience cared in the slightest. 

Yeah, I've played bass with a guy using one, I don't think I'd have been aware it wasn't a regular Deluxe Reverb if it didn't have the badging and I hadn't lifted it into my car boot giving him a lift. 

I think my main stumbling block with DI or FRFR modelling setups is that they're just not driving a guitar speaker in the room at gig volume - actually setups with a modelling front end and a normal guitar cab sound fine to me for gigging.