Fender Princeton Chorus Amp

ArtPalazzini · Post by **ArtPalazzini** » 16 Dec 2006 8:25 am

Anybody using this amp and do the mods I have been reading about have to be done to this amp. I believe this amp has 50 watts pwr. and 2 -10 inch spkrs. Saw one at resonable $$$.

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 16 Dec 2006 9:31 am

What mods are you talking about? I suppose upgrading the speakers would be a start, but what else would you need?
A friend of mine has one of these amps and it's not bad. He doesn't play steel through it, and I haven't tried mine through it.

ArtPalazzini · Post by **ArtPalazzini** » 16 Dec 2006 11:11 am

The mods I am reading about were theones to increase head room, bias shift, tube changes ect... . By speaker change do mean replace with larger size or better quality?

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 16 Dec 2006 11:58 am

The Princeton Chorus is a solid-state amp. It has no tubes or any of the stuff you're talking about to modify.

I would not mess with the electronics. I have had a couple of these - they have a nice clean tone. I just used one on a moderate-volume pedal steel gig with upright bass and acoustic guitar a few weeks ago, sounded nice. A bigger amp would have been too much, and a Champ or Princeton Reverb wouldn't have been enough. It's a nice cheap substitute where something like a Deluxe Reverb would be OK, although it's a bit cleaner than the Deluxe.

Of course, a larger speaker might improve the bottom end, but the speakers in it are pretty robust 10"-ers. If you do that, match the impedance of the stock pair - probably 4 ohms - or lose power. You'd need to cut a new baffle and find a good 12" speaker. I wouldn't do it, just my opinion.

I see these for $200 or less, and they're fine for what they are. But I don't think it would replace a larger amp like a Session/Nashville series or a Twin Reverb, no matter how you mod it.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 16 Dec 2006 11:58 am

This amp has no tubes in it, so a tube change would be a really big job.

Walter Killam · Post by **Walter Killam** » 18 Dec 2006 10:25 am

I have a Princeton Chorus that I like to use for practice, for me it's a reasonable compromise amp, capable with guitar, mandolin, & PSG. It's not something I'd gig or record with, but it's a lot lighter than my twin! That said, it all SS, it was cheap enough that I consider it to be largely disposable. I don't plan on making any changes until it breaks!

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 18 Dec 2006 4:10 pm

I miss mine.. I sold it to a forumite for a pittance... The tone was pure classic Fender.. I will go as far as to say it had the sweetest sound of any SS amp I ever used followed by my old JC 120... However, They are NOT very loud at all.. I think they are OVER rated in the wattage specs.. Sounded more like a 15 watt amp to me.. Ok for quieter gigs, light as a feather too.. Just don't bring it to those Garden shows you have coming up... bob

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 19 Dec 2006 6:00 pm

I bought a new one of those when my old tube amp had problems. After my old amp was fixed I traded the new one for a Fender Vibrosonic Reverb, a 1974 model, which I still have. The new one didn't impress me at all, maybe because I always had tubes.