Fender Princeton Reverb II

Photo Gallery - Modified Amps

PRII home

email me... (remove the capitals)
NOSPAMstratopastor@hotmail.com
You probably know what a PRII looks like. So do I. If you're thinking about sending me a photo of yours, I'll only put it here if there's something special about it.


January 2024; nice Tolex-removal job

Higgy in British Columbia kindly sent me these photos - he writes
"
Tolex removed, pine cabinet treated with light amber Minwax poly (very thin finish, looks like natural wood). The chrome corners and straps were heated in a forge (I was a blacksmith) then scrubbed with a brass brush for patina. I forgot to do the handle, need to get to that."

higgys amp


higgys amp again


August 2017; one of two-of-a-kind from the Fender factory
Big, big thanks to previous owner Jerry L for the initial contact and for these photos

This amp was built by Fender to exhibit at NAMM, 18-21 June 1983. As you can see it's got a plain oak cab, but is minus the 'Super Pro Series' badge and EV speaker that came with the 100 'woodies' which Paul Rivera had made behind the CBS bean-counters' backs. According to Tom Wheeler's wonderful book 'The Soul of Tone', p332, (where this one is pictured) two of these amps were made.  The dovetailing of the perspex and wood is a nice touch. The owner of the other one (not shown) has emailed, and I replied, but I haven't heard any more from him. This one belonged to Don M. in North Carolina but was on sale with Reverb in 2022.

perspex woody


perspex woody

perspex woody

perspex woody

perspex woody


Here is a photo of the other one, emailed to me in December 2021. HW, if you're reading this, I would love to hear from you again. 

the
                    other plexi


May 2017; Looking for that EVH Brown Sound?

This one was spotted in Guitar Center, Warwick, Rhode Island. I lifted the photos off their website and asked if I could put them here. I'm posting them now (Aug 2017) on the assumption that silence indicates assent. And no, this is not how to get the Brown sound... nice recovering-job-plus-new-grille-cloth, though.

brown PRII
brown PRII


Feb 2015: if you want to get ahead...

I am indebted to Rick in California for these photos - he's just completed a project to split his PRII into a head-and-cab setup...

rick head front

He had a new cabinet made and Tolexed for the head

rick head rear

nice job, eh? and as you can see, the speaker cab is the original combo, minus the chassis and with the gap filled in where the front control panel used to be.

ricj cab front

Nice to know Rick vacuums up after himself. This work is so good, one day someone will think Fender originally made PRIIs like this as an option...

rick cab rear



Jan 2015: Blond und Krokodil


  Isn't this wonderful? Big thanks to Michael S in Germany  for these photos. He has owned two PRIIs for some time. He recovered one in blonde Tolex some time ago, and now... look at this beauty in crocodile finish.

Michael S amps rear

I wonder if the Weber speaker gives the amp extra bite?


Michael S amps side

see you later...


Feb 2014; 2-tone woodie..

wood cab front

On eBay in the US, this PRII boasts several modifications including this beautiful 2-tone wooden cab. The white knobs look good too. In my opinion.
Which isn't worth much on the appearance of things. If you believe my wife.



wood cab side

The circuit has been modified by a couple of L.A. techs to include (and I quote)... " the overdrive now screams; new Mercury Magnetics Fat Stack Deluxe Rev. output tranny; new Mercury Magnetics choke;new 4 stage filter can: replaced the IN4007's with FRED's; new bias caps; 1 stage filter; all caps upgraded to Sozos; modded the treble and mid pull boosts; 1 meg master volume and a few other tricks; passive insert for pre-amp out / power amp effects loop -- true line in and line out; updated TRS footswitch jack for normal 1/4" two-button channel select footswitch; tuner out; full sized Accutronics reverb unit (replacing the smaller stock unit); second 8 OHM speaker tap; new Austin Speaker Works version of the Celestion G-65." Please note, I've put the mods I don't know about in italics. You can see the relabelled, re-tasked  connectors on the rear panel below.

wood cab rear


July 2012 - In Your White Room...

white PRII

This amp, neatly painted white with a black/sparkle grille, is owned by Gary in North Carolina, USA, and he was selling it as of mid-July 2012. I don't know where it is now.



July 2012 - Gentlemen, Strat Your Engines

brians prii

(I don't know if Brian plays a Strat. I just couldn't resist the pun.)
This one belongs to Brian S of south-west Tennessee. He calls it 'the Intimidator'... note the cool blue pilot light jewel and tilt-back legs.



Feb 2012 - Someone feels the need for tweed...

I am indebted to Brad of Arizona, USA for these photos of his PRII. It's from the first production run back in Spring 1982. He's had it since 1994, by which time it had been given a 10" JBL speaker, shortened in stature, had some cabinet depth shaved off too, and then tweedified. Since then it's also had some mods inspired by John McIntyre's Prince o'Wails (those mods not really intended for a PRII but for a Princeton.... don't ask me for more details... Google is your friend) Cool little amp, no? I bet it makes a fabulous grab'n'go amp... Brad tells me the reduced cab depth adds to the tighter responsiveness, though of course the 10" speaker will be another factor. Also... just in case anyone's thinking this is how to get the 1950s tweed sound... no, it isn't.

tweed front


tweed rear

Nice neat re-covering job, eh? Note the re-shaped top edge of the upper rear panel... made necessary by the loss of cab height. Photo courtesy of Brad.


November 2011 - Surf's up!

Ed R of Colorado, USA has kindly sent these photos of his PRII done out in Surf Green tolex complete with white drum-style knobs and a green pilot light. It's a matter of taste but I reckon this is the coolest cosmetic re-think I've seen so far on a PRII. Many thanks, Ed.... careful how you load it into that Little Deuce Coupe...

surf green PRII

surf green
                PRII


surf green PRII

above 3 photos kind permission of Ed R


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July 06... woo hoo! look at this!

Mike (aka tweed addict) in Geogia, USA, has just bought this beauty... it seems he's already had approaches from people wanting to buy it from him...

super prii front


I'd been running the website for nearly 4 years, but until Mike emailed me I had no idea these amps existed. It's a limited edition "Super Pro" PRII  from the Fender factory. It seems they made 100 Super Champs, 100 PRIIs and 100 Concerts like this (and they made them without permission from the bosses... Paul Rivera pushed the idea through, got the cabs and from badges made up out-of-house...) Looks like it included an EV speaker (aluminium centre dome). The serial number (F338xxx) puts it in early 1984 (same time as the woodie Super Champs). Here are 2 more pics... good grief, he's even got the original footswitch...

woodie badge
woodie top




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This next one belongs to Dave P. It doesn't look very special from this angle, especially compared with Viviens's pristine example on the other gallery page. However....

protoype front

photo by Dave P


....it's got a F1xxxxx serial number (should be F2,3 or 4) with the word 'sample' written over it......

serial number plate on
          prototype

photo by Dave P

.... and transformer date codes dating from late 1981, and a little signature  inside ...

prototype inside

photo by Dave P

which on closer inspection reads  "OK   Ed Jahns  2/2/82"

Ed Jahns signature

photo by Dave P
...so it dates from before the PRII went on sale, and it's signed off by the designer. Even with the non-original speaker (the Greenback fitted probably sounds better anyway) it's got to have a special place as the oldest known PRII on the planet. Special, no? Big thanks to Dave P for getting in touch, telling all, and taking pictures.
More about Ed Jahns on the magazine page.

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Feb 05... below -  here's a French PRII - recent photos from a longterm correspondent, Francois B. It was Francois' idea to start a list of owners and serial numbers.
As you can see, Francois' speaker, or indeed le haut-parleur de Francois, is a Celestion G12.



prii with celestion
            speaker

...but here are the pieces de resistance...  he's fitted tilt-back legs AND a blue lens on the pilot light! How cool is that? Note also the added standby switch.

tilt-back legs

... and what a clean-looking amp. Nice one, Francois - judging by that classy-looking Telecaster, looks like he's left-handed. A sign of  intelligence. Ask any left-hander.


Do you know, I was describing this page to my wife this morning, and she hinted that not everyone would find this interesting.

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Rub Your Eyes in Disbelief!

April 2006; Big thanks to John Hargnett... his PRII had some cosmetic surgery performed by its previous owner... John calls it a Princetovox...!
I can't decide; is it very, very wrong? Or is it rather attractive? It's certainly well done...

princetovox front

princetovox rear

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Bright Ideas Dept.

Mark C amp group


This amp belongs to Mark C. This amp originally belonged to his GRANDfather. Now that DOES make me feel old. Note the extra power outlets installed in the back! Mark plays guitar and sax and you can see him demontrating the PRII's overdrive effect on

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=rXwHwuZKlcI

May 09 - Mark likes the PRII so much, he bought another one. The latest one has a Celestion Greenback speaker, which Mark says really doesn't sound much different to the Vintage 30 shown above, execept the Greenback has a little more high end.
2 PRIIs
(is that equivalent to four PR one's?)

email me... (remove the capitals)
NOSPAMstratopastor@hotmail.com
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