Princeton is fizzy?

go49ners

Hi all, this is my first post as I recently acquired a PRRI and I thought this would be a great forum to join. I'm hoping some Fender amp experts can help me narrow down the issue with my amp, but here's the scoop...

So I recently purchased a 65 Princeton Reissue I found for a really great price. When I got the amp I was blown away by the fantastic clean tones. I LOVE THIS AMP. Unfortunately when I use an OD pedal it sounds very fizzy and almost fuzz like. Nothing at all what I think an OD is supposed to sound like.

Keep in mind this is playing at bedroom levels, and the speaker was upgraded to a Weber 10f150t by the previous owner.

I tried switching around some of the preamp tubes and it still sounded fizzy (I put V1 in V4). I also tried dropping a 12ay7 into V1 - still fizzy. My next step is to try putting the stock speaker back in just to experiment and see how it changes the sound and fizziness (i bought it preloaded with the Weber). If there's no change with a different speaker I'm going to try new preamp tubes instead of the stock Groovetubes. I was also told the reverb tank could be causing the issue and to try unplugging it or removing the V2 tube and see if it helps.

Some more details:
-I tried a high quality and hand-wired Tubescreamer Pedal, and also an Xotic AC+ (I never had issues with fizz on my previous amps)
-Volume is around 3-4 on the dial, I tried dialing back the treble on both the amp and pedal settings with no luck. Also tried reverb/no reverb, etc. I basically tweaked knobs for an hour trying to eliminate it with no luck.
-I bought it second-hand, not sure if it was biased recently but previous owner said he had no issues with pedals (and I trust this guy)
-Tubes seem to be all stock Groove Tubes except the very last tube (far left) is a JJ. Not sure if that is what comes stock.

All that to say - not sure what's going on but I'm bummed because I thought the PRRI was supposed to be a great pedal platform.

Anyone else out there experiencing this issue? THANK YOU in advance!

awp

My PRRI has the stock Jensen speaker. I have TungSols in the v1 and v3. Groove Tubes everywhere else. To me it sounds great with most every pedal I put through it. Certainly nothing fizzy. I do tend to run my treble at 4ish. At bedroom volume the bass is at 7ish and as I crank the volume I lower the bass.

Are you using input 1or 2?

Professortwang

I would doubt it's the speaker I use the one that you mentioned in my PR it's my favorite. The princeton has a beautiful natural overdriven sound when pushed. One thing to consider, as volume increases treble and bass response is more pronounced. Our ears are more sensitive to these frequencies. Fizzy is usually associated with treble response. Dial back the treble on the amp or pedal. I still find the bees in a bottle tonality one gets from some pedals taxing. I quit using pedals years ago for this reason. If you think about it makes sense we are using a solid state device to alter the signal and then sending that into a tube amp. I much prefer the sound of tubes pushed to there limit. Small combos are fantastic for this reason.

I would also have the amp checked out by a trusted tech to ensure everything is functioning as it should.

go49ners

Thanks guys. I've always heard the Princetons were fairly pedal friendly so I was surprised the first time I played with an OD. My previous amps (Blues Deluxe and Blues Jr) had no issues with pedals. In fact, they sounded awesome with a quality OD in front of it. So I have an idea how my pedals are supposed to sound, and honestly it's unlike anything I've heard before. It's VERY fizzy so I definitely think something is off in the tubes and/or speaker.

I sat and adjusted the EQ settings on the amp, pedals, and guitar for a while and couldn't get rid of the fizz.

Also, I'm not in a position to play my amp cranked to overdrive on a regular basis, and I prefer a clean platform and then using pedals to shape my sound.

ruger9

The PRs are notorious for NOT taking dirt pedals well- and there's more than one reason for it.... this is something I researched long and hard about, and it is a very common complaint. I'm not saying they won't take ANY dirt pedal well, but it's easier to find one that sounds crappy than one that sounds good thru a PR.

BUT... have the bias checked and adjusted.... if the previous owner changed the tubes without re-adjusting the bias, that can cause all kinds of tonal issues....

BTW I saw your thread over on TDPRI. That's all the info you need. Altho I would still check the bias and adjust if necessary. As a general rule, Fender come biased cold from the factory. And this amp, which is fixed bias, needs to be checked and re-adjusted everytime the power tubes are changed.

go49ners

So I finally got a chance to drop the stock speaker back in last night, and it sounded BETTER than the Weber and was considerably less fizzy. There was definitely still fizz there with an OD pedal, but the stock speaker definitely smoothed it out a bit. Next step, get some new preamp tubes in there!

BlueCajun

That's interesting. I'm curious: Is it the 25 or 50W version of the 10F150T? Any idea of the level of doping?

That speaker gets so many rave reviews. But then again, many reviews have little info about how the speaker is used (eg, volume, style of music, with or without pedals, etc).

I hope you get this squared away soon. Have you decided on a brand of tube?

go49ners

It's the 50w version, and I was surprised how much better the amp sounds (with OD pedals) with the stock speaker back in. It's just a bit smoother sounding and took a lot of the fizz away. I think there's still fizz because the tubes need replaced. A friend of mine is much more knowledgable with Fender amps than I am, and he recommended a Jensen speaker over a Weber, and he also recommend using Russian preamp tubes like Sovtek or TungSol

I will say, with the Weber, the amp was significantly louder, and the clean tones were really, really good.

ruger9

Well, a broken-in/well-used speaker will generally have less fizz than a new one. As a speaker gets used and breaks in, it does get smoother....