Fender Princeton Reverb - Cabinet mods - sacreligious?

[Funkmeister]

I own two 1973 Fender Silverface Princeton Reverbs. They are both in good shape and are fitted with Weber 10's. I consider them players not collectables.

I am contemplating modifying one of the cabinets to fit a 12" Speaker.

How sacreligious is it to cut the vintage Fender Amplifier Cabinet on this amp?


PS - I also own a Silverface Deluxe Reverb and a Bandmaster Reverb Combo
I can buy a new 1 x12 cabinet for $200.00.

[suave eddie]

I believe a 12" speaker will fit the Princeton cabinet merely by replacing the baffle. I know I have seen this done....I think it is rather common. One of the local jams here usually provides a PRRI with a 12" replacement speaker. You can keep the old baffle for resale. Someone here can probably correct me if I am wrong.

[darwinohm]

I would go for it. It will probably sound better.-- Darwin

[sickbutnottired]

If you can just change the baffle it's a no brainer--fly at it. I am currently doing the opposite. Replacing one 12 in a silverface DR with 2 10's. Ok doing is kind of a stretch, but I am researching. Brother is figuring out what speakers I want.

For experimentation, I would probably build my own plywood cab and screw the chassis to that.

No matter what you do, it's not sacrilegious, it's all about the sound!

[Funkmeister]

The Blackface Princeton Reverbs have removable baffle. The Silverface baffles are glued to the cabinet. One cut there is no going back.
I guess I could put a second piece of plywood with a 10" hole behind the original fixed now 12" hole baffle. It would never pass for stock again.

Is the baffle fixed the same with the Silverface Deluxe Reverb?

Slick - I recently did a Bandmaster Reverb Project. I chose 2 10" 35 watt Jensen speakers. I love them. I then took them out and put my 2 10" Webers in.
It weighed a ton and was heavier than a twin reverb...not what I had in mind. I get a lot of compliments on the tone of the amp. Try the jensen. They are not too expensive.

[louis cyfer]

i would get a new cab for it. leave the old one alone. the 12 will sound nice for sure.

[Boogie Bill]

I would see if one of the many cab makers out there selling replacement cabs for vintage amps can fix you up, rather than cut on a potentially very valuable cab.

Is using an extension cab a possibility?

Bill

[JonL]

Doesn't Weber make cabinets that you could use?

[darwinohm]

If you decide to mod this cabinet, I think you should put the "11" mod on the dials also! -- Darwin

[smileradio]

Bummer about the baffle being glued to the cab... if they are players, and you love playing them, then I would definitely try the 12 inch speaker... I have a blackface PR and I made a 12" baffle for it in an afternoon, and LOVE IT. It sounds a lot fuller, and more low end. This way, too, I could really crank the amp up, and get it a bit louder before the clean breakup starts. I used a Patriot 12" for mine and I think it sounds great. It also means that I don't need to worry about blowing the older, original speaker.

Good luck!

[bassman]

Any Princeton Reverb is getting to be a valued amp.
If you can replace the baffle board and keep the original, i.e its not glued into the cabinet, then that is what I would do.

Once you cut the original cabinet baffle, the value of the amp plummets!

I would make a new cab for it or use an extension cabinet with a 12.

You can also buy a beefier 10" speaker from Weber of Eminence and really upgrade the amp, while keeping the original speaker.

Just my $.02

[Ches]

I had a 1x12 cab made for my '73 SFPR. I think I got it from Mojo, but I can't remember for sure.

[louis cyfer]

Any Princeton Reverb is getting to be a valued amp.
If you can replace the baffle board and keep the original, i.e its not glued into the cabinet, then that is what I would do.

Once you cut the original cabinet baffle, the value of the amp plummets!

I would make a new cab for it or use an extension cabinet with a 12.

You can also buy a beefier 10" speaker from Weber of Eminence and really upgrade the amp, while keeping the original speaker.

Just my $.02

i agree. i did that with my ampeg and tweed deluxe. put away the original speaker and put in an eminence to use it with. improved the sound and m=retained the value.

[kakerlak]

Don't know much about modern offerings, but I know the old cast-frame EV 10s are pretty tight and punchy sounding (and un-blow-up-able). I had an old blackface Tremulux cab loaded w/ two of them, used to play a SF Bandmaster head through it. It was a great sounding rig and a surprisingly good bass amp up to about half volume, when it started to break up.