Fender 68 Custom Princeton Reverb Review, With sound clips! Options

[Ben Howell]

Hi Guys,

Welcome to my review of the 68 custom Princeton Reverb review!

This is my first piece on here for a while, and I havn't even had my morning coffee yet so be gentle haha!

The 68 custom Princeton Reverb is Fender's Mexican made custom reissue of the classic Princeton amp. The guitar is a Fender American Special Stratocaster. So Fender and Fender

In the words of Fender '1968 was a transitional year for Fender amps, with tone that was still pure Fender but a look that was brand new. With a silver-and-turquoise front panel and classy aluminum “drip edge” grille cloth trim, the Princeton Reverb received a fresh new face as it remained the perfect recording and gigging amp. Small, light and moderately powered, it produced big tube tone, with world-class Fender reverb and vibrato effects. For countless guitarists ever since, the Princeton Reverb has been the go-to amp for classic Fender sound.

The ’68 Custom Princeton Reverb Amp pays tribute to the classic look, sound and performance of Fender’s late-’60s “silverface” amps. In a special twist, a modified tone circuit gives modern players greater tonal flexibility with pedals, and the amp’s reduced negative feedback gives greater touch sensitivity and quicker onset of overdrive. The ’68 Custom Princeton Reverb’s single 10” Celestion® TEN 30 speaker also delivers a more distinctively rock ‘n’ roll flavor'.

You can find the full specs here at Fenders website: http://www.fender.com/series/vintage-modif...on-reverb-120v/

If you don't know much about the amp do not fret (pun intended) hopefully the sound clips will tell you what it is all about. Think Glassy cleans, warm tube tone and a great base for your favourite pedals!

It is a classic Fender amp in the sense of what Fenders are known for, and sits within the hallowed company of the Twin Reverb and Bassman etc.

This amp is not a metal amp, so if you are looking for an amp for mega high gain look elsewhere. However its is perfect for Blues, Country, Jazz and Rock because of its beautiful cleans. Most people who want an overdrive tone will either crank the amp to 10 or more likely stick a pedal in front of it, which is what I did (The Staxmaster drive pedal which may have a review soon

The amp is only 12watts-but don't let that fool you-its is pretty loud. And by that I mean loud enough for small gigs/clubs.

I had the volume on 4 (the sweet spot just before/its starts to break up) but the volume does go to 10. However past 5 it simply gets more overdriven, not much louder. I think it is a wonderful recording/studio and small gig amp.

One difference between this and other Fender amps (i.e. the Twin, 65 Princeton) is that it is designed to break up (overdrive) slightly earlier, at about 4.5 on the volume knob.


My rating for this amp is an easy 4.5/5 with the following breakdown:

Tone: 4.5/5
Versatility 4/5
Quality 4/5
Value 4/5
Weight 4/5 (light)

PRO's:

-Beautiful classic Fender Cleans/WARM valve tone!
-Great Base for pedals
-Very versatile-all but the thrashiest if metal
-Loud enough for small gigs
-Quiet enough for home use
-Quite light so easily transportable
-Price is bang on imo.
-Looks (I love it-some might not)
-Lovely Blue LED

CON's:

-Wont be the best amp for metal (though its not designed for that so whether a con is opinion....)
-Would be nice to see some metal protection on the edges like other Fender amps
-Looks
-Some might see the 'Made in Mexico' as a con

So here are the clips, all recorded first take and improvised so take them with a pinch of salt. Some have slight gaps for when I change tone controls.

Let me know what you think!


Cheers

B

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This post has been edited by Ben Howell: Aug 11 2014, 11:10 AM