Fender, Princeton, 1964 - Ray Monette (Rare Earth)

Tabs

Specifications
Builder: 
Fender
Model: 
Princeton
Year: 
1964
The Story Behind

The Fender Princeton was a guitar amplifier made by Fender. It was introduced in 1947 and discontinued in 1979.[1] After Fender introduced the Champ Amp in 1948, the Princeton occupied the next to the bottom spot in the Fender line. Fender Princetons (as well as their sister amp the Princeton Reverb) from the early models into the 1970s models are highly valued particularly as recording amplifiers.

This is a vintage 1964 Fender “White Knob” Princeton-Amp 6G2 guitar amplifier. While not the most popular amp, this Reverb-less Princeton was made prior to the model being offered with the effect. This pre-CBS Fender Princeton is the epitome of a great practice/recording amp: simple, small and sweet.

The 6G2 Princeton utilizes: (1) 5Y3, (2) 6V6, (1) 7025, and (1) 12AX7 tubes (all of which are original) through an original 1 x 10″ CTS speaker.

As briefly mentioned, this amp is great for in-home practice, recording and light rehearsals. It is definitely loud and efficient with surprisingly prominent head-room, but it is low wattage enough to enjoy at high volume levels. The vibrato is fantastic and seems to be more dynamic than your typical Fender amp with vibrato: as the sine wave is more pronounced than usual which creates a very bold and striking effect.

This Princeton was owned and used by Ray Monette of Rare Earth. It was used on the road, in the dressing room for tuning up. There were no simple to use tuners in those days! All Ray had at that time was a tuning fork and the amp. It was all done by ear. The amp was used for years until tuners came out. Ray did also do some recordings with that great little amp.

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