1969 Fender Princeton Reverb Drip Edge Vintage Tube Amp, Black Panel Circuit
Saturday, May 25th, 2024Up for sale, a 1969 Fender Princeton Reverb in near-mint, 100% original condition and in perfect working order, complete with a full vintage RCA-branded tube set. A stunningly clean transitional “drip edge” example of the Princeton Reverb with source date codes on the transformers and speaker spanning late 1968 through the first weeks of’69, this amp retains the same circuitry as its Black Panel-era predecessor. Arguably the perfect portable Fender package, the Princeton’s size, wattage and tonal characteristics are well-suited to a wide range of studio applications while also being an ideal companion for club gigs. This amp delivers both well-balanced, sparkling cleans and smooth, harmonic-rich overdrive when dimed out. The Reverb is lush and the Tremolo has a nice pulse with a wide range of speeds. The circuit is 100% original, and the stock transformers were manufactured for Fender by Schumacher (their primary transformer supplier in the 1960s), dating between the 51st week of 1968 and the 6th week of 1969. The preamp features brown molded caps, carbon comp resistors, and cloth-covered leads. The CTS pots have date codes spanning the 14th week of 1966 to the 7th week of’69. The original two-prong power cable is also present and can be swapped for a three-prong at the next owner’s discretion (no charge). The tube set includes all vintage RCA valves, all but one of which is original to the amp (one 6V6 power tube is an earlier RCA, and the pair is closely matched and properly biased). The Oxford 10J4 speaker has a clean black frame and blue foil Fender sticker on the ceramic magnet. The sticker on the edge of the frame dates to the 3rd week of 1969. The tube chart is also present inside the cabinet and practically perfect. The original smooth black tolex and silver sparkle grillcloth present extremely well, and the faceplate is equally as pristine. All of the original hardware is intact, including the raised logo, handle caps, chassis straps, and sphinx glides (feet).