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 Post subject: FrankenPrinceton
PostPosted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 5:23 pm 
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Well, we have about a month left in autumn, so I thought I'd get around to sharing some projects I built in the summer...

I've wanted a real brownface Fender amp since I started coveting vintage gear back in the 1990's. And I'm not talking about a Princeton or Deluxe; I'm talking about a REAL brownface with the brownface treble/bass tonestack, something like a Vibroverb or Super or Pro. They always seem to be about $1-2K more than I can swallow. So I've never had one. I almost built a Vibroverb, but 40 watts is just too much amp for what I can use these days (sound guys and bandmates are sooooo whiny!).

So I decided on a Princeton Reverb format, modified into one of those Fenders-that-never-was-but-should-have-been. I like to think of it as a 1962 Fender Princeton Reverb, but with a 12" speaker (Fender didn't come out with the Princeton Reverb until 1964). What I came up with is this:
- blackface princeton reverb chassis
- slightly larger cabinet for the 12" speaker
- western tooled leather covering (because, COOL!)
- custom faceplate with 1961-1963 brownface-era cosmetics, brown cup cake knobs, wheat grill cloth
- pre amp and reverb are from the 1962 vibroverb (tapped treble pot, 12AX7 reverb driver, different reverb mixer)
- phase inverter in the same as a brownface and blackface princeton (though I did do the Paul C & Stokes mod to it since I'll be pushing it a lot)
- tremolo and power amp is the same as brownface and blackface princeton (fixed bias, bias-vary tremolo, small output transformer)

Meet my new bestie! :D Sorry for the uninspiring photos...


Attachments:
Chassis.jpg
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Bottom.jpg
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Complete Chassis II.jpg
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Complete Chassis.jpg
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Faceplate.jpg
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Amp V.jpg
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Amp IV.jpg
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Amp III.jpg
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Amp II.jpg
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AMP I.jpg
AMP I.jpg [ 327.34 KiB | Viewed 5097 times ]

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 Post subject: Re: FrankenPrinceton
PostPosted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 5:42 pm 
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Location: Truckee, CA
Also, here are some amp building tips that almost no one mentions...

Shield the open side of your chassis! Most production amps have this, most kits leave this out. It helps reject RFI and makes your amp more quiet when it's sitting next to those neon beer signs in the bar on Friday night.

Put the chassis in place and run some masking tape along the back edge of the chassis.
Attachment:
Shielding II.jpg
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Now you know where to run the shielding to.
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Shielding I.jpg
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Add shielding. You can use copper tape, glue tin foil to the cab, Fender used window screen material - whatever works!
Attachment:
Shielding III.jpg
Shielding III.jpg [ 224.34 KiB | Viewed 5113 times ]



If your amp build has reverb, kit builders often have pretty wacky ways of mounting the reverb pan. If the pan is not isolated from the cabinet and speaker, you can/will get some very nasty oscillation/howl/feedback. Fender used a tolex bag to isolate the reverb tank. Sometimes they used 2 bags. I like to use 2 bags. This will cost you an extra $30 or so, but you will not have to worry about reverb feedback (from the pan at least). Fender also attached some sort of heavy cardboard or masonite to the bottom of the pan.

I find that a good, thick piece of cardboard cut to the size of the pan works well.
Attachment:
Reverb I.jpg
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Inner reverb pan bag
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Reverb II.jpg
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Inner bag is carefully packed inside the outer bag and mounted into the bottom of the cabinet.
Attachment:
Reverb III.jpg
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Also, if your amp build is a combo, and you are going to drag it all over the place playing 'shows', you're probably going to wind up chucking a bunch of random stuff (foot switches, cables, power strips, beer cans, flashlights, etc) in the cab because there is never enough room for everything. That stuff tends to chew up speaker cables (among other things). I love the simplicity of 2 18-gauge wires just twisted together as a speaker cable. Go ahead and beef that sucker up with some cable wrap.
Attachment:
Speaker Cable.jpg
Speaker Cable.jpg [ 363.29 KiB | Viewed 5113 times ]


:wink:

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 Post subject: Re: FrankenPrinceton
PostPosted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 12:29 pm 
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Location: Albany, NY
GREAT looking amp, and some very useful tips there, Morg! Image

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 Post subject: Re: FrankenPrinceton
PostPosted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 12:38 pm 
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Location: Beautiful Manitoulin Island
Just beautiful. I love how you and others go all out and make faceplates etc..... to make it look amazing. I end throwing pieces together that I can't really gig with that I tell myself I'll get to finish later.
Need to finish a few projects. sigh
Thanks for the inspiration


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 Post subject: Re: FrankenPrinceton
PostPosted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 1:09 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2006 5:14 pm
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Location: Truckee, CA
Thank you gents!

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 Post subject: Re: FrankenPrinceton
PostPosted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 7:38 pm 
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This is a ridiculously cool build!

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 Post subject: Re: FrankenPrinceton
PostPosted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 9:23 pm 
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Thanks Frag!

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 Post subject: Re: FrankenPrinceton
PostPosted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 4:39 am 
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Location: New Yawk, NY
Frag Magnet wrote:
This is a ridiculously cool build!




+1 Almost makes me want to do a Fender build! :)

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 Post subject: Re: FrankenPrinceton
PostPosted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 3:28 pm 
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That is nice!


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 Post subject: Re: FrankenPrinceton
PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 9:37 pm 
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Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:02 pm
Posts: 716
Location: Elkhart, IA
Stunning, inspiring and pro build.
Bravo!


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