As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I’ve been using a Henriksen Jazz Amp, but I decided to order a Fender ’65 Princeton Reverb vacuum tube guitar amp from Sweetwater to use with my Collings Eastside LC Deluxe jazz guitar.

Henriksen Jazz Amp

The Henriksen is a nice sounding solid-state guitar amp for jazz, but I've been wanting to get a vacuum tube guitar amp for a while, so I ordered the Fender '65 Princeton Reverb 15-watt 1x12" Tube Combo Amp in lacquered tweed, which has been getting rave reviews.

Henriksen Jazz Amp (left) and Fender '65 Princeton Reverb (right)

The Fender ’65 Princeton Reverb 15-watt 1×12″ Tube Combo Amp in lacquered tweed is a special edition that Fender makes for Sweetwater, and in Sweetwater’s words:

“Fender used the beloved ’65 Princeton Reverb as a starting point, then they added a beautiful and vintage-style lacquered tweed covering that will transport you back to the great Fenders of the 1950s. The speaker has been beefed up to a 12″ Eminence Cannabis Rex for its blend of smoothness and sparkle.”

One of the things I like about the Fender ’65 Princeton Reverb is its tube amp, which instead of having solid-state rectification like some of the other Fender guitar amps, it has vacuum tube rectification which almost always sounds better to my ears. I suppose that’s my audio preferences coming through, but I think it matters.

The tube complement is three 12AX7’s and one 12AT7 in the preamp section, a pair of 6V6’s for power tubes, and a 5AR4 rectifier.

Collings Eastside LC Deluxe and Fender '65 Princeton Reverb

It's way too early in the Fender '65 Princeton's run-in period to make any real comments about its performance, but it was immediately obvious that it was much more evenly balanced across the strings than the Henriksen, which emphasizes the 6th and 5th string more (i.e. more emphasis on the bass strings). 

One thing I might mention is that guitar amplifiers respond to high-performance power cords in much the same way as high-performance audio equipment does. 

For example, both the Henriksen Jazz Amp and the Fender '65 Princeton Reverb benefited considerably from the high-quality Acoustic Revive Power Reference AC cord that I've been using over their OEM AC power cords. 

Anyways, I'll report back after I get some more run-in time on the Fender '65 Princeton Reverb. 

As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!