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!
Sorry for the uninspiring photos...