1963 Brownface Fender Princeton Demo
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- Опубликовано: 27 авг 2024
- This is a demo of a vintage Fender 'brownface' Princeton guitar amp. We think this little amp is awesome and making the demo seemed like a fun thing to do.
We take our tone tour via a Strat, a Tele, and a Fano PX6. Each guitar is stock and plugged straight into the amp and mic'd with a Shure Beta58 - no EQ, Reverb, etc.
We love tone, you love tone, here are some tones.
one of the best demos on youtube, i love how you did a graphic illustrating what pickup position you were using, very cool idea
Love the way you put the amp corner and pickup selector in the corner. Thanks man, great demo.
I agree, great demo. I actually have one of these amps (similar transitional cosmetics, too) and he makes it sound way better than I ever could.
Wow. I just have to applaud the production quality of this video. Bravo.
+vetacoth Thank you!
In the summer of ‘19, I found myself in the market for a small-gig sized tube amp. I’d recently bought a ‘79 Deluxe Reverb, but found that it was too much amp for my purposes, with a very efficient speaker. I started seeing mentions of 6G2 Princetons, and the Stapleton reissue had just been released.
After watching this video, it sealed the deal for me. I ended up working with a startup boutique builder of clone amps, who built a 6G2 to my specs... I had him put an Eminence Maverick 12” speaker in there. The Maverick has a knob on the back that adjusts the speaker’s sensitivity, which allows for a great deal of flexibility in dialing in the amp’s “sweet spot” at the appropriate volume.
Anyway, long story short, the 6G2 is the perfect circuit for playing rootsy classic rock type tones at small gig levels. Thank you for taking the time to post this. I wish more people who do such videos took the time and effort that you did in this one.
One more note: I’m an apartment dweller, and my 6G2 sounds great at low volume with a “transparent” overdrive pedal. I use a Clear Sky pedal with mine (it’s supposedly a Timmy clone), and it’s sonic nirvana. I’ve found that, because the brownface Fender circuits lack the “mid scoop” of their later amps, Tube Screamer style pedals don’t work well with a 6G2.
I hate this. Not because the video was bad - it's amazing, but just because that's a tone to die for and I'll never have it. I just hope my AC30 doesn't read this.
Well, your VOX is no slouch, Sir!!
Very well done review. The graphic with the knobs & selector switch is brilliant. Great amp, too.
Lovely sounding amp, very well demonstrated. I'd love to own one!
Lovely playing and gear!
Thanks for the kind words. That Strat is a Fender Custom Shop John Cruz Masterbuilt. I believe the pickups are wound to Cruz's specs in the custom shop for his guitars.
Honestly was waiting for the overdriven sounds but didn’t realize I’d like the cleans so much too.
That's the ultimate tone right there
"A Quick One/ While He's Away" great song choice!
I used to have a 64 with the white knobs and black faceplate which are seen all the time. This is the only one i've seen of this "early transition" style, (with brown knobs and brown faceplate in a black cab) which i assume to be ultra rare. Mine broke up later than this one, so i assume this really was the same circuit as the 61-63 Brownies. The 64 with white knobs has just a couple of differing values giving it a little different/later breakup than the true Brown ones. This is hands down one of the best demos on the internet!
Indeed. These Princetons are great!
Probably the best demo ever
+Jay Sullivan Thanks!
Awesome sounding amp.
Very nice amp. It sounds so great. I’m so envious. I’ve never seen one irl. I’m in South Australia and we don’t see nice gear like this. Enjoy it. 😁👍
Very nice job all around and great selection of tunes to demo the amp
Who is the one idiot who gave this a thumbs down? Great tone, great playing, just the right amount of talking before getting down to business.This is how demos should be done!
Ha! Thanks for the kind words!
I never realised that there was a black cabinet with brown face and brown knobs version between the all brown one and the 64 'tuxedo' version with black tolex black face and white knobs. Makes sense. 3 cosmetically different versions of the same amp and all as cool as hell. I have the 64 'tuxedo' and with a vintage LP with P90s it's unlike any other Fender. Sensational classic rock sound.
Right on. Sounds like you have a great rig! Yeah, I think during the transition from brownface to blackface the Princeton got a few unique looks.
Sweet amp, sweet tele, sweet playing
Thanks for watching. Glad you like it.
That was a nice treat on a Christmas Eve.
Thank you.
that tone is outstanding
JED TAYLOR Thanks, glad you're digging it.
yes you do us all a great service in demonstrating vintage heaven
Magnificent tone
+JED TAYLOR Thank you. We like it too!
+MrMisterdongus What gives it that extra tone
I hear the amp and the guitar and the excellent reverb but is there more pedals or a mod to anything .
........ for only having one video in your uploads. Really well done, enjoyed the demo. And wish I owned the Fano.
Killer demo and playing. One of my favorite amps - very nice!
Perfect tone man!
I love the sound of the Tele and the Brownie together...
+Manuel Arslanyan We do too! It's a great combination.
Great presentation of a great "secret weapon" amp !!
Excellent demo, thank you!
Christopher Markus Lacapra Thanks!
Nice overview. Just discovering the brownface Princeton. Definitely on my want list.
Thanks. We love this amp.
I'm looking at Brownface now, thanks for the great demo!
Glad you like!
Love the tone and overall high quality of the video.
BTW this proves that you can get a great tone with a single ten inch speaker!
Thanks! We love a good 10" speaker.
when you whipped out the tele, I knew I was in for a treat, but man, that Fano is great! Now I got a jones for the amp and guitar. I will be sending my bill directly.
Thanks for the great demo/
Thanks! It's hard to have a favorite, they are all pretty great. Lately I have been enjoying the Fano the most.
I love your tones! Need to find a 6g2 real soon. Thanks for the great video. A quick one , yea !
Thanks! The 6g2 is a great circuit.
I love all the Van Morrison chops.
This amp sounds just like the one on His Band... Rad.
Thanks! Glad you dig it.
Great demo man. Had a gig in Tucson and showed up to practice and there was a 62 brownie there. Still dreaming bout it
Gracias, amigo. That sounds like a pretty fun practice!
Well done demo from start to finish. Thank you! Beautiful tones with all guitars. The P90s tone on Substitute at 5:33 , just Wow.
Thank you-glad you dug it.
Thank you. We now have a couple new demos too.
You're welcome. That Fano really is something!
Great sounding amp, especially with the Tele . .i do think Dr. Brian May might have something to say about playing "We Will Rock You" thru a Fender tho :)
thanks for the demo. I recently bought a "Fudge Brownie" Princeton and love it.
You're welcome-thank you for the kind words. Duly noted on the Queen riff....
Very nice demo. I own two BF Super Reverbs, one w/4X10, the other, 1X15. Neither compares to the warmth of my brother's 1960 Pro. Absolutely love the Browns.
Glad you like the demo. The browns are something special. And BF Super Reverbs are of course great, too...We have a 1968 drip edge w/CTS alnicos that we love.
Yessir! The blackfaces have their place, which is running loud in the middle numbers ... clear and snappy punch, but not so good for the bedroom, at 40 watts! The brownfaces are a little sweeter even when running at lower volumes ... love the warmth! This Princeton is the beez kneez!
I have one of these amps. I also have a 69 deluxe reverb. i put a good reverb pedal on the brownface and the sound is stunning. For home use the dr doesn't get a look in. these amps are amazing. Ive been there too: mesa marshall vox et al.. none touch it. How they got these to sound as they did using basic electronics baffles me. but magic is magic. not for the first time they (he) rang the bell and won the coconut
Inspired me to take my 63 BrownFace Princeton out of storage after 10 years. I bought her in the early 90s. She had been wrapped up in covers sitting in the dark for a long time. Time to see the light of day now I'm playing again.
Right on. Get that amp cookin'
The Brian may part sounded so spot on to his Ac30s
I have one of these and it is truly a gem. Everyone, and I mean everyone, who plays it trys to buy it off me. Hard to figure why Fender only made them for a short time.
Great amps. I love mine. Nice professional demo.
Thanks. We are working up a few new videos - probably a week or so away.
Excellent demo! Nicely done.
@lookupyourfaces. Glad you liked the demo. We just shot another which will hopefully get posted next week.
Yeah, that Fano is pretty special.
And btw, your two part comment cracked me up.
Dong you have a real knack for video and editing as this vid is six years old and very well done. You could have a heck of a following with consistent uploads. Just an observation.
tremolo didn't change in the Princeton or Vibro Champ models... both brown and blackace have Bias Vary tremolo...
I don't recall for sure whether we compressed the signal at all after the fact. The amp definitely starts to give a compressed sound as you turn it up beyond 4--it gets more overdriven, but not much louder.
Thanks for the kind words.
great demo and useful background infos
thank you
we want more :-)
the who medley sounds so good. I agree with Entwistle's quote from his Bass Culture book; Pete got his best stage tone with those Gibson SG Specials.
+MuscleDad420
Thank you very much. Great call about that Townshend tone--I agree!
Absolutely killer playing and tone...nice job! I have a '63 Deluxe that I should dig out and record a quick vid!
Just posted a couple more demos last week. They are a bit more concise. Let us know what you think. Thanks.
I have a 64 BF Princeton. It sounds very similar to this. Great sound, man!
If you are into electronics, a Fender 6g2 is not the most difficult amp to make. You can even leave out the tremolo in the circuit and it is super simple with three halfs of a 12ax7, two gain stages and a cathodyne PI. Two 6v6 in push pull, with a fixed bias (make it adjustable -bias circuit). Being even simpler would be to cahode bias the output stage, and then later build a negative grid bias for more punch. Magnetic components has great and not too expensive transformers.
Sick playing man! great review
+Adam Stringer
Thanks, Adam!
The Brownface overdrive the best.
Domino made my day.
Thank you man.
Gorgeous!
Thank you!
Thanks. Gotta love some Van the man.
The Fender Tweed f511 Vibrolux is roughly the same amplifier I installed a 12” Eminence Legend and yes the Tremolo is perfect but replace that 10” speaker
Amazing tone!
the room dynamic as well as p 90 has that combining effect. that my p90s on my tube amp does a similar. ATMOSPHERE to certain void space may be my accustomed ear. me jumping to my ears defense. thanks. will pay attention
Great Demo of a great amp! Cool! :)
I'm getting one tomorrow... too stoked to sleep.
Congratulations!
@Peter Thanks! That's 'Domino'
Much appreciated.
I could cry. Why don't they just stop trying to make new stuff and churn these out? Good grief, it's the best amp I've heard in my life.
I agree. We need to build a time machine.
The Hitmaker * No not a time machine, FENDER just needs to build good about again! well that's not quite fair because FENDER does make some good amps just not any thing like this, maybe if they just went back to PTP wiring the boards and good old hand wound transformers, ohh yeah and the old black plate tubes from the 50'$ and 60'$ than we colud buy these from FENDER today, but since some one would complain about clean head room and other things that these amps don't do FENDER would be called glorious and ass holes at the same time just can't win for every body.
They do make these but they can't replicate THIS! Different manufacturing techniques for the electronics, plastics, etc.People can argue about tone woods all day, but in the end it's about the electronics in your guitar, the amp, and speaker.
I don't have experience with the 10" Oxford speaker. I do find that there is always some variation between vintage amps - even with the same model speaker. This particular one is a real gem and it is the same circuit (6G2) as a '61 Brownface just different color tolex.
the person singing in the background made me laugh... I had a early blackface vibro champ... the tone, like this was awesome... thanks for using The Who songs... Pete started with a Fender Pro and then powered his Marshall cabs with Bassman and Bandmaster heads.
I believe it is a Jensen c10Q. Original speaker with the gold and maroon colored label.
Thanks so much.
Chewy goodness
I wish I could play like that! Wait tip Tomorrow and Domino. Sheesh!
I subbed... Brown sound is smooth
a quick one !!! nice
Great demo. Thanks. PS: Just what is it about these vintage Fender amps that makes them so special that with all of today's modern technology they just can't quite duplicate? Would someone who knows please tell me?
Awesome demo and I love that Fano! I know this is an old video but I just got an amazing deal for the same amp just with white knobs. Looks like you’re running JJs. Have you tried any other tubes? Any recommendations? Thanks!
Glad you like the demo, thanks! Yeah, that Fano is great - best sounding non-vintage p90 guitar I have played. Unfortunately I sold it a few years ago in moment of bad decision making. Regarding the tubes, I often use/like EHX 6v6's in amps like this. That said, I love the sound of this amp as-is, so I leave the JJ's in there. IMO the voltages and bias are critical factors, perhaps more so than the tube brand. Of course other folks will have differing opinions.
@@MrMisterdongus that makes sense. I was on the fence about going with some TADs vs NOS and decided a few days ago to go with NOS. Just felt like this thing deserved some vintage companions. Got some JAN Sylvania 6V6GTYs in but haven’t tried it out since I still need a three pronged cable swapped in. Definitely planning on getting the bias checked and can’t wait to try it! Thanks for the reply! Curious if you’ve tried a deluxe 6G3 and how you think it compares to the Princeton. I’m really enjoying the hunt for some of these vintage circuits lately.
@@matthewtoeneboehn7784 Right on. I imagine those NOS will sound great. For me a three prong is a must as well. Coincidentally, when I purchased the 6G2 (somewhere around 1999 or so) the shop also had a great sounding 6G3. It was a virtual toss up as to which one to buy - they both sounded awesome. Of course the 6G3 was a bit louder with more bottom. It had a definite Keith Richards vibe. I wish that I had bought them both. With these old amps, I happen to think each individual amp is a bit different and needs to be evaluated on a one-off basis. Enjoy the pursuit!
@@MrMisterdongus wow that’s awesome being able to play both side by side. Hopefully one day I’ll get to experience that as well. My friend just picked up a ‘62 bandmaster so we might have to try that and the 6G2 side by side. I’d be interested to hear this harmonic tremolo that everyone is raving about next to the bias trem. Im definitely loving the bias trem and seem to keep it on almost constantly. Definitely better than any trem I’ve used before!
That thing sounds PHAT! I need to build me a clone
Thank You!
Thanks.
more demos plssssss
NICE
Did you use any compression for the recording? If not, that amp is giving a good amount of nice sounding compression.
good luck finding one of these things
Great - now nothing in my price range will do!
Great demo of a great amp. I have a 64 Transitional 6G2. These are special little amps. Like a smaller 5E3 or 6G3. Sounds amazing. What speaker are you using in this demo? I am running a WGS Veteran 20. The stock speaker in mine is long gone. Thx.
+keithb7 Agreed, these 6G2 amps do sound amazing. The speaker in this amp is the original Jensen C10P (mistakenly referred to as a 'C10N' in the video).
superb!
+Trevor Rohwer Thanks!
+Christopher Markos
i just purchased my first 63' brownface today. brown tolex ;)
Trevor Rohwer Congratulations! I love these amps, great tone and easy to service when needed. Is it a Princeton?
+Christopher Markos
yup early 63' Fender Princeton.. i paid $1800.
from Willies American Guitar here in St. Paul, MN. nice little shop with all sorts of vintage pieces. thanks for your great demo video.
+Trevor Rohwer Right on. I'll have to check out that shop next time I'm up that way.
I was playing my 6G2 today and the tremolo stopped working. It has all original parts. Any idea what the most likeky problem is?
There are probably better people to answer... but I would start by swapping the 12ax7 (closet to the 6v6s). Do you use a on/off pedal for the trem, because that is also something to trouble shoot. The trem should stay on with no pedal plugged in. After that, check the resistor values and caps of the tremolo portion of the circuit (only if you are comfortable working on amps due to electrocution concerns - be careful!).
Great demo who needs a distortion pedal haha
Thanks! Domino
Awesome.. On my need list already xD hahaha do I hear a little of Rush in your playing maybe? Wich by the way is amazing!
Great tone! Specially with the Strat. Which Van Morrison song is it at 03.00?
I think I used to live in that building
Sounds awesome! What speaker is in it?