So I recently purchased an old red knob Princeton Chorus and I absolutely love it.
I know you're all going to grumble at this - but, FOR ME and the music I play it has outclassed every tube amp I currently and I think have previously owned in terms of clean tone and ability to take pedals.
Now I've discovered this old solid state wizardry I want more, specifically in the forms of Roland or Fender.
I know there is a guy on here selling a JC120 at a ridiculous price but he's at the other end of the country otherwise I'd go for it. There is a local guy selling a JC77 that has caught my eye, and there is also another localish guy selling a Fender Ultra Chorus.
I guess my question is - Am I going to see a significant improvement over the Princeton Chorus with either of these amps, I love the idea of having a JC and the 77 seems a little more manageable than a JC120 but It's going to cost considerably more than the bargain bucket Fender I currently use.
Comments
Whether it's "better" than the Princeton is something only you can answer really - it does have an iconic sound, but I find it more limited than the Fender especially when it comes to taking pedals.
The Ultra Chorus is very much just like a bigger Princeton Chorus - it's not going to be a lot better, or even a lot different, unless you just need more power and bottom end.
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
There's also the new JC40 - which I can pick up for about 100 quid more than a second hand JC77..... I have seen some utterly stonking reviews of the JC40
Princeton Chorus and a JC40 could be a very interesting stereo set up.
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Also lots of country.
Then again I thought the same about late-70s Fender guitars, and people pay silly money for those now.
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
We discovered something with those amps that just turns them into the ultimate eighties hair metal amp. If you short the 2 grounds of the speaker wires together and turn on the chorus then the whole amp becomes a totally different beast with more gain, a much wider chorus sound and much fatter lower mids. Once we discovered this that's how those amps were used all the time
I've repaired a few Princeton Chorus amps .... they use use a pair of TDA power IC's to drive 25 watts into each speaker. The pre amp and tone are all bog standard TLO72 opamps. Very simple design and easy to repair
"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
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein