An unoffical
website devoted entirely to one model of amp only,
the Fender Princeton Reverb II, a guitar amplifier produced by
Fender 1982-86.
If it ain't got the "II", this page ain't for you.
(October
2024 - still collecting data!
Sometimes people email me asking if I'm
still doing this; yes, gimme what you got.
Thanks....)
If you've got a PRII or any other amp or speaker cabinet
from the "Fender Rivera* era" (1982-86), please email me at
the address above (manually delete the capital letters from
the address) and tell me the serial number of your amp. In
return I will tell you when
your amp was made. If you can give me any speaker or
transformer date codes, even better, but the serial number
is enough. (The Fender Blue Label speaker, by the
way, is always Fender
part number 019465 -
the date code begins
either 109 or 67; and the transformer date codes all begin 606
-thanks.)
It is a myth that all serial numbers starting "F2"=1982,
F3=1983 etc. From the data I've collected, it's clear that
Fender tried to use that system but abandoned it within a
year. Using my database of over 2000 Rivera-era serial
numbers, I can 'date' an amp fairly accurately. I also know
roughly how many they made for each of the 14 amp types in
the range. Here's the results of my
research so far - but I would still appreciate it if you
could email me your amp's serial number.
...and if you're selling
a PRII or other Rivera-era amp online,
like on eBay or Craigslist,
and you link to this site to help your sale, how about dropping
me a line and letting me know the serial number as a return
favour?
* that's Rivera. Not Paul
Revere, Paul Riviera, or even Jake Riviera. At least two of
those are real people, but not the man in question.
Introduction
The Fender
Princeton Reverb 2 (wrongly named here on
purpose to help people searching for "2" as well as "II")
is a 22W single-channel tube/valve guitar amplifier combo designed
by Ed Jahns under the supervision of Paul Rivera (see the magazine
article...) and produced by Fender between 1982 and 1986.
There didn't seem to be much on the web concerning this amp, so I
thought I’d devote my extremely limited html skills to sharing
what I’ve found out so far. I estimate there were around 6200
built, so this website will naturally be totally absorbing to the
owners of about 6200 amps. Minus the ones not using the internet.
Minus the amps not working any more. Minus the ones who are too
busy playing to become amp geeks. That leaves... er... you and ...
er... me. Funny how this page gets 30-40 hits per day... they must
be looking for something else....
There are many different models of Fender Princeton and if
the above photo doesn't look like your amp, you've come to the
wrong place, unless you came for Rivera-era Fender footswitch
info or schematics
for other Rivera-era (II series) amps. There's nothing here
for any other model of Princeton. Nothing. Niente. Nada. Nichts.
Rien. Gornischt. Zip-diddly-doo-dah.
The rear of the PRII (UK 220V model) looks like this with the
upper rear panel removed: (sorry about the dust on the speaker;
it's all the dog's fault). My PRII has the reverb unit in
the bottom of the cabinet - others have it mounted vertically on a
side panel, but they should consider
moving it to the base... it will sound better. There were 2
other standard issue speakers - see the speaker
page.
If you spend
longer today looking at this site than you do practising the
guitar, please rethink your life priorites. This has
been a public service announcement. Thank you.
Additions, comments and
corrections welcome! If you can see anything wrong here, if
you’d like to add something, if you’d like to suggest a link, or
if you’ve produced a relevant page and would like me to link it,
then please email me at (remove the capital letters) SPAMDEFEATstratopastor@hotmail.com
Schematic/Circuit
diagram for this amp as a .gif file on the screen, or a
download link for a wonderful .pdf file of the schematic, parts
list and wiring diagram - big thanks to Mark Carson
Modifications
you could do. One of these mods deals with the single most common
failure mode. Credit for that belongs to John Philips,
Edinburgh(UK)-based amp tech - on the Fender Discussion
Page he was "Unquiet". On the subject of mods, if you've
found something you'd like to share, email me.
Reviews
from Guitar Shop Magazine, Jan 1998, looking back at this range of
amps. Thank you, Bob F, for sending me this. Includes a
tribute to designer Ed Jahns and a photo of his signature on the
factory prototype PRII on 2/2/82. You lucky people. Also on this page; Review of
the PRII in UK magazine Guitarist from September 1984; big
thanks to Gordon Trunkfield for sending this in, and (new June
2022) Fender's price list for 1984.
Owner's
Manual (about 2Mb) ... this amp is so simple and intuitive
to use, the manual's almost a waste of paper. I doubt it's going
to tell you anything new. But hey, I was curious to see
it, and former PRII-owner Curtis was kind enough to get it
scanned in, so here you are.
Speaker
Options Some folks rave about the results when they
fit an alternative speaker. Can you add to this page for me?
Includes write-up of the Jay Mitchell speaker directivity modifier
for the PRII
Picture
Gallery .... a work in progress. SEE a new-in-box
PRII for sale in April 05! SEE a wood-finish PRII, one of a
limited edition from the factory!
Links I've
found helpful; Tech and Vendors
J.White
Guitar
Workshops are a UK guitar tech (near Aldershot, Surrey). Joe
White did a wonderful refret on my Strat.
Since moving to the
NE of England I've found Nigel's Guitar
Workshop in Richmond, N.Yorkshire. He's done a
brilliantly-blended-in partial refret on one of my acoustics.
(July 2014)
South Valley Vintage Amps in Gilroy, California, USA. He
does parts (speakers etc) as well as amp servicing. Scott
Kinkel, proprietor, is an incredibly helpful guy and and I am a very satisfied customer.
Antique Electronics Supply
in the US are one of two places you can get a replacement cap can.
I was pleased to get mine from them when I did the cap job in Sep
2010. Go there, and then capacitors / multi-section / FP type, and
scroll down to find their 80/40/30/20 microFarad cap can,
which is a direct replacement for the original, right down to the
way the 4 connections are labelled. You can also get one from Frag' Jan Zuerst in
Germany and Tube
Amp Doctor.
Voc Rock
sell current-production valves (tubes) and other accessories.
They're in Nottingham, UK, and I recommended them warmly.
The Gear Page
is a range of discussion boards; frequented by helpful and
encouraging people, and carefully moderated, so disagreements
don't get out of hand.
Likewise, the Telecaster Discussion Page ReIssued
- is a range of discussion boards; not just about Telecasters;
frequented by helpful and encouraging people, and carefully
moderated.
The Fender Discussion Page
(FDP) closed at the end of 2019 after 20 years of helpful
discussion and friendly advice. I miss it, and take my hat off to
Chris Greene for running it all that time.
The Fender Field
Guide has (Sep 08) been taken over by
www.mojotone.com. It was clearly a labour of love by its
originator, Mark of Ampwares. I don't know why it needed to be
handed on, but hats off to Mojo for stopping a good thing dying.
The navigation was better in the original Ampwares version which
has been archived
here by another parts firm, The Vintage Sound;
on this version there are 'prev' and 'next' links at the bottom of
each page which give you a way of going backwards, one amp at a
time, to the original Princeton (4 watts!). All the earlier
Princetons were developments of each other, but the PRII was a
complete redesign. I get the impression that earlier Princetons,
with or without reverb, are regarded as classics, but the PRII
itself isn't. Indeed, it may never achieve that status because of
its more complex circuitry. (All previous Princetons have
valve/tube rectifiers, with the resultant 'sag' which many
guitarists seek, and they don't have a switchable gain-stage.)
Harmony
Central has reviews by PRII owners. Some useful tips, but
read carefully as some owners make some factual errors concerning
the amp, and one of the reviews on its PRII page is actually for
the closely-related DRII.
http://www.geofex.com/
for general stuff about valve (tube) tube amps; faq; a useful
valve amp debugging page.
Some folks play around with
the component values associated with the tone controls (the tone
stack) - any revelations you'd like to share? There's this cool
free software download called the Duncan Tone
Stack Calculator which graphs the frequency response as you
play with component values. If you change c1 ( c1 on the diagram
within the software, not c1 on the PRII schematic) to 27n (27
nanofarads, 0.027microfarads) you can simulate what happens when
you pull the PRII mid boost switch. You lucky people.
-------------------
I know of a few other 'single amp' websites and
they are.....
superchamp.dk was a 'single
amp' site, nicely designed, full of useful info about the Fender
Super Champ - the little brother to the PRII. I hope it comes back
online some time. The page has been archived
by the Wayback Machine here.
The Fender Hot Rod Deluxe had its own wonderful website written by
Justin Holton. He has (2009) abandoned that excellent site to the
public domain. I and a few others are hosting the contents as an
archive - I
offer it as a zip file here. Better yet, (Dec 2015) web
designer Mark Newcomb has built a new
website around Justin's original work. Please do not email
me with questions about the Hot Rod Deluxe, as I only know that I
once tried and failed to fix one.
The Fender Blues Junior was championed by the late,
great Bill Machrone and the related business is being carried on
by his family. Also check out his homemade guitar, the
Formicaster. Wonderful.
Rob Robinette has built a superb resource
for the Fender Deluxe Reverb (AB763) and much more.
---------------------
Try Praying
I became a Christian when I was 19 (i.e. a long time ago) and God
has been consistently faithful and good to me. OK, it isn't directly
about the PRII... but 100 years from now, the fact that Jesus
found me will matter more than which amplifier I used!
http://www.analogman.com/singblues.htm
again, isn't about the PRII but it was recommended to me
by PRII owner Jason S. in Milwaukee, USA, and it is funny.
Affiliation
(or lack of it) It hardly needs saying, but I am in
no way associated with Fender or any of the other esteemed
companies mentioned in this website.
Trademarks
All trademarks and copyrights are acknowledged –
Fender, their amp model names, their schematics, their
advertising copy and photos, Rivera, Celestion, Jensen,
Eminence, EV, Velcro, Head and Shoulders, and any others I've
missed.
Safety /
Damage Disclaimer
Valve (tube) amps develop LETHAL VOLTAGES while
running, and store them in charged components EVEN WHILE
SWITCHED OFF AND DISCONNECTED FROM THE OUTLET / MAINS SUPPLY.
These voltages are MUCH HIGHER than the outlet voltage, and
higher than anything you’ll find inside a transistorized amp. If
this scares you, good. Inside a chassis, don’t use your fingers
to touch anything which isn’t insulated or earthed (grounded).
Don’t stick more than one hand in at a time, and keep the other
hand well away. Use insulated fine-nose pliers to
manipulate components. NEVER, ever, work
inside a live amp while holding a connected guitar.If you’re not sure what you’re doing, get local help.
The details in
this whole site are believed accurate but you act on them at
your own risk. I have to disclaim any responsibility for injury,
damage, loss of value or loss of gig due to inoperative
equipment. Opinions are those of the contributors. A lot of
amp-speak is highly subjective and your opinion of
reported 'improvements' may differ.
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