# NAD/Build - Ordered a custom Princeton by Brian Luckhurst (Toronto)



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

Hey there CGF!

I just put down a deposit on a Princeton point-to-point 1x12 combo made by a guy in Toronto named Brian Luckhurst. I heard about this builder on the Gretsch-Talk forum. I reached out and he got back to me right away. He had one just completed and I went over yesterday to try it out.

WOW! One strum and just WOW!

Cabinet is being made by Derrick Bell, and he has already got it framed up. Going to be wine red taurus and black and tan grill cloth. Sort of along the lines of a Traynor YCV20WR. Note about Derrick Bell. He also got back to me quickly and answered all sorts of annoying questions I had.

Brian's work is clean and his workspace mirrors that too. He uses the original AA1164 schematic. He makes the Princeton's all with 12" Vintage 30s, and in a few power ratings. 12, 22, and 40. I opted for the 22 Watter. He is using Electrohome transformers. He claims they are the best sounding he has heard, and from what I heard myself, he may be right.

His price is awesome. Cheaper than a current Fender made with a flimsy circuit board. Point to point and serviceable. I plan on keeping this beast forever.

If this goes well, I am eyeballing a Moratto Bluesbreaker to cover the Marshall side.


----------



## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Derrick told me about Brian when I met him in TO a few cabs ago, I meant to follow up. Please let us know how it works out.


----------



## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

davetcan said:


> ...a few cabs ago


A new time measurement system for guitarists?


----------



## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

greco said:


> A new time measurement system for guitarists?


Only those of us with a problem.


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

davetcan said:


> Derrick told me about Brian when I met him in TO a few cabs ago, I meant to follow up. Please let us know how it works out.


Will do. I just asked Brian tonight if the unit I tried has NOS tubes in it. It did. I asked if those were a part of the deal. He said yes. I like this guy more and more!


----------



## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

Watching...

I never would have thought a V30 would be the speaker for a Fender, but my Blues Jr came with one and it sounds great. Excellent choice. Can’t wait to see/hear the finished product.


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

BSTheTech said:


> Watching...
> 
> I never would have thought a V30 would be the speaker for a Fender, but my Blues Jr came with one and it sounds great. Excellent choice. Can’t wait to see/hear the finished product.


That was my feeling going in too, but the V30 sounded so good in his built unit that I didn't want to roll the dice with a different one. The guy that turned me on to Brian suggested an Eminence 1258. Says it is very Jensen like. They are only $80 so I may grab one of them and compare.


----------



## Tone Chaser (Mar 2, 2014)

I like a well broken in V30 with 6L6 tubes and an open cab. Damn near perfection with a Telecaster or Stratocaster. My experience with other tubes in amps has been disappointing for one reason or another.


----------



## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

Definitely subscribing to this thread. I'm super curious to hear your impressions about the amp when it's all done. As for speakers, I can tell you that the Eminence 1258 is a great speaker, along with its 10" counterpart 1058. However, my ears are tuned to British styled speakers like Celestions, and Weber (British series), and I have them in all of my Fender style amps. To my ears, the Princeton sounds best with a Greenback in it, 10" or 12" for that matter.


----------



## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

Group buy!


----------



## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Another thought on speakers for an open-back NVM amp: the Eminence FDM speakers.

I use a Maverick with my DRRI. At 22 watts, it is a little loud for some smaller jams and I find the up to 9 dB of attenuation the speaker allows is the perfect solution for dialing the amp in. Sounds good in that amp, too.


----------



## WCGill (Mar 27, 2009)

Electrohome transformers. Something new with an old Canadian name?


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

WCGill said:


> Electrohome transformers. Something new with an old Canadian name?


His Reverb listings say he pulled them from old organs or something. He warranties his stuff, so I am not worried.


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

Update...
The cabinet is done and delivered. That was super fast. Unexpectedly so! Looks amazing!


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

Amp build is moving along too.




























DROOOOOOOOL!


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

High/Deaf said:


> Another thought on speakers for an open-back NVM amp: the Eminence FDM speakers.
> 
> I use a Maverick with my DRRI. At 22 watts, it is a little loud for some smaller jams and I find the up to 9 dB of attenuation the speaker allows is the perfect solution for dialing the amp in. Sounds good in that amp, too.


I think I'm going to look into this one. That is A LOT of attenuation! How similar is it to a V30? Any idea?


----------



## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

madhermit said:


> I think I'm going to look into this one. That is A LOT of attenuation! How similar is it to a V30? Any idea?


Not much, IMO. I'm not fond of V30's but quite like this speaker (I have the Maverick) for this amp. The Brit voiced speaker (Reignmaker) may be closer to the V30, if that's what you're looking for. I have no experience with that speaker. 

The tone changes a tiny bit as you attenuate but not in a bad way, from recollection.


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

Latest gut shot.


----------



## canoeplayguitar (Dec 13, 2011)

this looks great! Does he have a website or how do we contact him? interested!


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

No website I am aware of.

Contact info
bdlmarine AT rogers.com

He is in the West end of Toronto.

I may have the amp this week!


----------



## canoeplayguitar (Dec 13, 2011)

Thanks!


----------



## canoeplayguitar (Dec 13, 2011)

Emailed him already and talking about a build


----------



## Clean Channel (Apr 18, 2011)

Wow, lovely!!


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

canoeplayguitar said:


> Emailed him already and talking about a build


Nice!


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

canoeplayguitar said:


> Emailed him already and talking about a build


Do a build thread too!


----------



## canoeplayguitar (Dec 13, 2011)

madhermit said:


> Do a build thread too!


pulled the trigger on a 15 watt model! thinking of doing a tweed look for the cabinet. and yeah I will do a build thread too!


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

canoeplayguitar said:


> pulled the trigger on a 15 watt model! thinking of doing a tweed look for the cabinet. and yeah I will do a build thread too!


NICE! Looking forward to another Luckhurst build!


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

Amp is done. Should have it this weekend. Am stoked!


----------



## Budda (May 29, 2007)

madhermit said:


> Amp is done. Should have it this weekend. Am stoked!


That was quick!


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

Budda said:


> That was quick!


I know. I feel like I may have just been lucky and caught Brian and Derrick both at the right time. Derrick had the cab built the next day and delivered in about 3.


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

Behold!
Don't think I will keep the Eminence badge on it. And will likely end up with plain cream knobs. But the black ones do look pretty good!


----------



## canoeplayguitar (Dec 13, 2011)

sweet! looks awesome!


----------



## canoeplayguitar (Dec 13, 2011)

can we choose knobs or do they come with the black fender standard ones?


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

canoeplayguitar said:


> can we choose knobs or do they come with the black fender standard ones?


You can choose.
This is the cream type... Vintage Fender?


----------



## RBlakeney (Mar 12, 2017)

Cream knobs.


----------



## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

I vote for the cream knobs too. Nothing wrong with the black ones though.


----------



## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

+2 on the cream knobs. 

Happy NAD!


----------



## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

Late to the speaker party, but FWIW I’m a big fan of Blues in tweeds. IME they break up better than Jensens & add a little chime to the clean tones. 

BF amps may not need any more chime & sparkle, but FWIW I briefly had a Ltd. Edition DRRI with a Cream AlNiCo (90W version of a Blue) that sounded quite nice.


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

I got the Eminence Maverick with the attenuator on it. Brian (builder) says it sounds good. I will hopefully pick it up tomorrow.


----------



## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

madhermit said:


> I got the Eminence Maverick with the attenuator on it. Brian (builder) says it sounds good. I will hopefully pick it up tomorrow.


I think you'll like it. For some reason, they are quite the under-rated speaker.


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

Very little info out there about them. Maybe I’ll do a recording and volume balance for the attenuation so all one hears is the shift in eq frequencies. From the charts, it looks like the bass gets attenuated less than the rest, so it may sound darker, but I doubt it is anything the eq can’t really make up for.


----------



## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Any EQ change I hear seems to be flattering - like Fletcher/Munson curve compensation (loudness switches on old stereos).


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

It is home! I played it briefly at Brian's place. It sounds glorious! HUGE!

First impression of the Eminence Maverick is very good. At low volume, the attenuator seemed to lower the bottom end, the opposite of what I expected. Will try it more later, and maybe post some clips. Gotta attend to my 4 year old now 

Brian is a class act and I really enjoyed this process. Way faster than expected too!

Love the cream knobs.


----------



## DaddyDog (Apr 21, 2017)

Congrats! I'm late to this party, but Brian repaired a vintage amp for me once, and a friend in Oshawa has a Brian-built Princeton. Now he has Brian building a Bassman.

According to my guitar tech, Mr Luckhurst took a bit of a hiatus from amp work, but is getting back into it. He lives just 15 mins from me. I'd love to have him build something for me.


----------



## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

DaddyDog said:


> Congrats! I'm late to this party, but Brian repaired a vintage amp for me once, and a friend in Oshawa has a Brian-built Princeton. Now he has Brian building a Bassman.
> 
> According to my guitar tech, Mr Luckhurst took a bit of a hiatus from amp work, but is getting back into it. He lives just 15 mins from me. I'd love to have him build something for me.


He has more time during the winter months as he does marine stuff during the summer. I gave the amp a good workout yesterday. It is magnificent! Huge and warm, with some spank if needed. Reverb is great and vibrato is nice and chewy. 

I wish I thought of getting amps built 15 years ago!


----------



## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

madhermit said:


> I wish I thought of getting amps built 15 years ago!


I'm forever wishing I woulda got Simon Jarrett to build me an amp - back when the wait time was a month or so and the buck was $1.10 US.


----------

