# Fender Princeton 1962 original not reissue. $1,800.00



## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

hey, is this a good deal or just good cuz it's a vintage amp?









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## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

Dibs.


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## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

Ive emailed saying I would buy it. I kind of assume I am not the 1st.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

yea. even though this interests me I don't think I'm after another low watt 6V6 amp, but it would be cool to have something vintage in my possession again. so, is it a good deal because of cost or valuable because it's 'very rare'? or both..


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## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

Its a good deal because there arent that many of them around and the ones that are for sale tend to go for more. Reverb listings are usually in the $3000 range. This one looks to be in good shape AND it includes a Boss Fender Reverb pedal which also has value.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

I think it's a good price. And the neighborhood the amp is in, is about the right age for something like that.


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## JethroTech (Dec 8, 2015)

I messaged too but haven’t heard back. Please report back to the rest of the group whoever gets it 😁


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## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

I'm thinking what we have is an honest guy, and he's dealing with the first person who responded until he buys or is no longer interested. I would appreciate it if it was ME that was the first haha, but I don't think I was. I've been looking for one of these for a long time.


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

A brown 6G2 Princeton was my main amp for close to a decade. Mine had a changed speaker & I sold it a couple of years ago for $1800, however they have appreciated since. Great amps, very good price based on current market value.


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## JethroTech (Dec 8, 2015)

Judging by the fact he says it’s going on Reverb April 4th if it doesn’t sell locally first, I’m thinking he knows what it’s worth and is just offering a pretty good local deal first. If so, I like the way he operates.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

JethroTech said:


> Judging by the fact he says it’s going on Reverb April 4th if it doesn’t sell locally first, I’m thinking he knows what it’s worth and is just offering a pretty good local deal first. If so, I like the way he operates.


or

I had one of these a couple years back for a vintagey Princeton Reverb where the price was just a starting point for negotiations. slightly, if not completely misleading. you emailed and he said something like Ive got offers for $XXXX now so what is yours...


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## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

vadsy said:


> or
> 
> I had one of these a couple years back for a vintagey Princeton Reverb where the price was just a starting point for negotiations. slightly, if not completely misleading. you emailed and he said something like Ive got offers for $XXXX now so what is yours...


I hate that kind of stuff. A couple of years ago I was talking to a guy about a BF Vibrolux. I thought we'd agreed on price but I took a few days to make sure I could afford that number. I then told him I'd like to buy it and he told me we never agreed on that price, and it would be at least $500 more. I obviously walked away.


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## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

The suspense is killing me here. The longer I go without a response from the seller, the more convinced I am that someone else has got to it first.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Griff said:


> The suspense is killing me here. The longer I go without a response from the seller, the more convinced I am that someone else has got to it first.


we all are but dude is down at the Strathcona Farmers Market getting kimchi and homemade salsa, he's just walking back home to a jammed up inbox


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## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

vadsy said:


> we all are but dude is down at the Strathcona Farmers Market getting kimchi and homemade salsa, he's just walking back home to a jammed up inbox


If you think you're still getting kimchi at 3pm, you're out of your organic gourde.


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## StevieMac (Mar 4, 2006)

That's a very decent price in this market, no doubt. I'm curious about the "maintenance" however as that handle clearly doesn't belong on an "original" brown 6G2 and neither does that speaker. Still, a good deal assuming the iron remains original.


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## Rick in the Patch (Feb 28, 2021)

Is this what Steve Cropper used on those early recordings?


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## Rick in the Patch (Feb 28, 2021)

Rick in the Patch said:


> Is this what Steve Cropper used on those early recordings?


Nope, Tweed Harvard


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## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

Rick in the Patch said:


> Nope, Tweed Harvard


Probably could replicate the tones though... Tweed Harvard was like a Tweed Vibrolux, the difference being the Vibrolux had tremolo. The Brown Princeton and Tweed Tremolux share very similar circuits.


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## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

Anyone hear anything yet? Kijiji says he's read my message.


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## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

I heard back from him. Hoping to chat on the phone with him tonight.


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

Griff said:


> Probably could replicate the tones though... Tweed Harvard was like a Tweed Vibrolux, the difference being the Vibrolux had tremolo. The Brown Princeton and Tweed Tremolux share very similar circuits.


Interesting.....it was a pair of tweed Tremoluxes (Tremolii?) that rendered the brown Princeton expendable.


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## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

Roryfan said:


> Interesting.....it was a pair of tweed Tremoluxes (Tremolii?) that rendered the brown Princeton expendable.


Oops that was a typo at the end. Meant to say tweed Vibrolux is very similar circuit to brown Princeton.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

Listing is gone now, did you get it?


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## thefonz147 (Aug 7, 2015)

tdotrob said:


> Listing is gone now, did you get it?


I know I didn’t lol. Hopefully someone did and the seller didn’t just pull the ad to relist at a higher price.


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## ga20t (Jul 22, 2010)

I paid $600 for mine a while back. Nice tremolo, but nothing that isn't available via current pedal options. As for the amp, I'm not sure I'd pay more than the same again unless I was simply $peculating. I can't help feeling a bit baffled at their current market values (and the Vibro-Champ, and the Princeton Reverb).


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## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

I got it. I'll tell the full story later when I have more time.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Griff said:


> I got it. I'll tell the full story later when I have more time.


That is awesome!! Glad it went to someone who's not just going to flip it.


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## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

Lincoln said:


> That is awesome!! Glad it went to someone who's not just going to flip it.


That's all the seller wanted too, and he felt like I was the guy.


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## King Loudness (May 3, 2010)

Griff said:


> I got it. I'll tell the full story later when I have more time.


Congrats! You got a killer deal. I bought my '62 earlier this year and love it... it get used all the time and is a great amp. Enjoy that beauty in good health.

W.


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## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

Just to wrap it up...

I've been on night shifts this weekend. I browse kijiji pretty regularly, and actually had some "gear cash" ready, looking for a deal exactly like this one. You know sometimes you see those great deals, but you probably "shouldn't"? So I woke up from my night shift a bit before 2, waking up, browsing kijiji, saw the ad. I immediately message him saying that I'd like to buy it if it is still available, gave him my number and said he could call or text anytime.

Then I came here, noticed @vadsy had posted the ad for us all to look at and figured the response was going to be enourmous. I did not have high hopes, but I checked my e-mail anyway. There was nothing by the time I had to head into work, so I mostly put it out of my mind. But when I got to work, there was an e-mail saying that he would like to sell the amp to me. He ended up telling me he had over 40 people interested, many offering him more than the asking. I told him that I would almost certainly buy it, as long as it turned on and made sound, because I trusted that his story (the amp had sat in storage for 43 years) meant that the amp was pretty much fully original.

So today I woke up a bit earlier than I should have for having to come back to work. I gave him a call, like I told him I would. He was a genuinely nice man. I think he'd self describe as an old hippy. Sadly, he has been diagnosed with MS and playing guitar is not something he can do any longer. He wanted to sell the amp locally, to someone who would take care of it and appreciate it and play it. Now I am sure that a lot of the interested parties would have done that, but I sure am glad he chose me to respond to.

We met for a pretty covid-safe deal, which meant I was standing outside. It was starting to rain a bit here so we didn't get to chat as long as I would have liked, but I am hopeful that I'll see him again, and maybe bring the amp by for him to see and hear. He seemed a bit emotional letting it go... he told me he bought it in the mid 60's for $119.

The only thing I feel bad about is that he took the amp to a local "tech"... I won't name names but it wasn't Chuck. The guy charged him $384 for new power tubes and cleaning the pots. This amp still has its original 2 prong cord! The rectifier and pres are original, while JJ 6V6s are in the amp the original Sylvanias came in boxes. The handle is obviously a poorly installed replacement, and the speaker is a 1967 CTS alnico (likely out of a Super Reverb). Transformers are original. Haven't had time to check the chassis but I think it's all original based on the above. He included a Boss Fender '63 Reverb pedal, 9v wall wart, pedaltrain nano board, and best of all a Jimi Hendrix Live at Monterey T-shirt. It all seemed meant to be as Jimi at Monterey has always been one of my favourite performances ever since I bought the VHS from the A&B Sound online store when I was 14.

I feel very lucky to have been able to meet him and pick up this amp.


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## StevieMac (Mar 4, 2006)

Congrats. Even with inflation he did alright however it's too bad so much of his "profit" was scooped by the repair person. Even if the owner asked for "the bare minimum" in terms of servicing, $400 is WAY steep for run-of-the-mill output tubes and no swap of the AC cord. Anyway, nice amp.


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## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

StevieMac said:


> Congrats. Even with inflation he did alright however it's too bad so much of his "profit" was scooped by the repair person. Even if the owner asked for "the bare minimum" in terms of servicing, $400 is WAY steep for run-of-the-mill output tubes and no swap of the AC cord. Anyway, nice amp.


Shockingly bad. Three and 3/4 hours for "cleaning" and a tube swap... and I will wager the tubes didn't need to be swapped. This tech is known to me, though. I wouldn't trust him with any of my amps.


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## ga20t (Jul 22, 2010)

That "tech" sucks whoever he is (I might have an idea). The handle kind of pisses me off, but I think you did well given the insane trajectory re the prices of these things. How does that CTS sound with it? I couldn't get the original Oxford out fast enough when I had mine, so maybe not a negative. But then I'm not the type to romanticize single 10" setups and pretty quickly built a 12" baffle for mine. Mine was a '62, but I'm almost certain I've read somewhere at some time that these later shipped with square magnet CTS speakers.


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## Griff (Sep 7, 2016)

ga20t said:


> That "tech" sucks whoever he is (I might have an idea). The handle kind of pisses me off, but I think you did well given the insane trajectory re the prices of these things. How does that CTS sound with it? I couldn't get the original Oxford out fast enough when I had mine, so maybe not a negative. But then I'm not the type to romanticize single 10" setups and pretty quickly built a 12" baffle for mine. Mine was a '62, but I'm almost certain I've read somewhere at some time that these later shipped with square magnet CTS speakers.


The tech appears to have retired, so I'll spare him any further disgrace here. Yeah, I plan to replace the handle with a more correct looking one but this handle will leave some marks. All part of the story. This amp isn't going anywhere, so it doesn't bother me in terms of it's value.

The CTS sounds pretty good, I'd say! I may try out a 10" WGS G10C/S I have lying around in a box just to see how it sounds, but I won't be in any hurry. The amp sounds great as is, but I'd like to do a cap job on it before I really let her rip...


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## Rick in the Patch (Feb 28, 2021)

Griff said:


> Just to wrap it up...
> 
> I've been on night shifts this weekend. I browse kijiji pretty regularly, and actually had some "gear cash" ready, looking for a deal exactly like this one. You know sometimes you see those great deals, but you probably "shouldn't"? So I woke up from my night shift a bit before 2, waking up, browsing kijiji, saw the ad. I immediately message him saying that I'd like to buy it if it is still available, gave him my number and said he could call or text anytime.
> 
> ...


Beautiful! As it should be! Enjoy!


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