NAD '68 Custom Princeton Reverb

ChasFred

ChasFred

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Well it has arrived. Played through it for abt an hour, and then put it up on the workbench.
There is a protective cage around the power tubes, that's ok except it is painted GRAY. So I have removed it to paint it black.
The speaker is so-so, it has been replaced with a Celestion Greenback. I also have a Weber Alnico I can try out in it.

It does bark that is for sure.

I have been doing research and there is only 5 components difference between this and the '65 Reissue.
Thinking of possibly doing a mod to switch between the 2 voices. Looking at the drawing. I do think it is doable.

This is my First NEW amp since about '69-70. That amp was a Gibson Dou-Medalist.

Pics to follow soon.
 
ChasFred said:
For anybody who owns a '65 or'68 reissue Princeton Reverb. Talking to you @gball , you may find this page of interest.
Just for the information and comparison.

Princeton PPRI 65 and 68 Custom Princeton Reverb Schematic – Princeton reverb 65 vs 68
Click to expand...

Interesting information, but I have no interest in converting it myself. I tried the two amps side-by-side and chose the '68 over the '65 for a number of reasons. Mainly it takes pedals a lot better and I will be using it most of the time with some sort of dirt pedal in front of it. But it also sounded a lot more full-bodied at lower volume.

I played mine with the stock speaker for a couple of weeks to get a feel for it. Ended up pulling it out and dropping a Celestion Gold into it, and that was a huge improvement. I only have about 6 hours on the speaker over the weekend but it immediately opened up the top end and gave it more chime, and really significantly tightened up the low end. As the speaker breaks in it will get sweeter sounding for sure.
 
ChasFred said:
Thanks, but not as cool looking as yours though.
I am already thinking of changes to the cabinet, different covering, grill cloth, maybe even a new speaker baffle for a 12'.

Just can't leave well enough alone for a minute.
Click to expand...
12 foot speaker, huh? Just kidding, I know you meant 12 inches.
If you do a 12 incher, make sure that the particular 12 incher will fit in there. A Princeton Reverb baffle designed for a 12" speaker should be offset towards the input side of the chassis/cabinet to enable the 12" speaker to clear the old style Blackface Princeton Reverb's output tranny. Is the layout of the Custom Silverface's trannies set up the same?
 
Actually the cabinet already has area cut 10 fit a 12" speaker. The bottom piece of wood that the speaker baffle attaches to is cut for the speaker.
That will be down the road though. Want to run this Greenback first to see if I like it in here or not.
 
ChasFred said:
Actually the cabinet already has area cut 10 fit a 12" speaker. The bottom piece of wood that the speaker baffle attaches to is cut for the speaker.
That will be down the road though. Want to run this Greenback first to see if I like it in here or not.
Click to expand...

Is that a Greenback 10 or 12? Curious.

I've used Greenback 10's in other amps and felt they are not right for this amp for me, the top end is a bit soft and the low end kind of wooly in them. I wanted something tighter and brighter so went with the G-10 Gold.
 
hope all went smooth with the move -- are yall in FLORIDA???

Pics when you can then --- ;)
 
gball said:
Is that a Greenback 10 or 12? Curious.

I've used Greenback 10's in other amps and felt they are not right for this amp for me, the top end is a bit soft and the low end kind of wooly in them. I wanted something tighter and brighter so went with the G-10 Gold.
Click to expand...
Its a 10" that I had bought for an older project. I will give it a go. I also have the Weber 10" AlNico Chicago also.
 
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