Fender AA1164 Princeton Reverb

Compared to the Deluxe family of amps, the often overlooked Princeton has a few interesting things going on, so I decided to build it.

For this build, I used Hammond transformers (power transformer: 291AEX, output transformer: 1750E, reverb driver: 1750A), Jupiter capacitors, JJ filter capacitor, CTS pots, carbon comp resistors, Carling switches and Switchcraft jacks.

The cab was built by JD Cabs and it is absolutely amazing. It is made of solid pine, just like the originals, while the speaker baffle is made of 15mm birch plywood and the back panels of 13mm birch plywood to prevent warping. To make things interesting, I opted for black 'western' tolex and aged grillcloth. The amplifier is paired with a Jupiter M10C speaker.

I tried to keep mods to a minimum but as usual I added a couple of things. So, first of all, I added adjustable bias. I also added a 3-way negative feedback switch with the following options: 2k7 (stock), 5K6 (decreased feedback) and negative feedback lift. Following Rob Robinette's suggestions, I added a phase inverter grid stop resistor, which mellows the phase inverter's overdrive behavior by preventing nasty sounding double frequency blocking distortion, as well as power tube grid stop and screen resistors, which help the power tube circuit deal with heavy overdrive and sweeten the overdrive tone. I also used 1W carbon film resistors on the input jacks to reduce the hiss that carbon comp resistors could introduce in this position.

As usual, special attention was paid to the lead dressing and the grounding scheme. For this build I used the grounding scheme found in Rob Robinette's excellent page. It uses a buss (with a single point of contact) for the preamp grounds and a star for the power amp grounds. The result is excellent and I am really pleased with how quiet the amp is.

Sound-wise, the amp performs marvelously. Compared to its Deluxe brother, this one utilizes a cathodyne phase inverter, which imparts a different overdrive quality. Similarly, the lack of a choke in the power supply makes it a bit softer with more power supply sag and compression. The reverb and the bias tremolo sound fantastic. The clean and inbetween sounds are to-die-for and when pushed to overdrive, the sound has presence and authority. Thanks to the compact design and the pine cab, it is very portable too. What a fantastic little amp!