The History of the Fender Princeton
Leo Fender, an inventor from California, revolutionized the music industry with the introduction of the Telecaster guitar in 1951. Before Fender began his work on guitars, he manufactured amplifiers, including the Princeton.
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Introduction
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The Princeton was the second amplifier Fender produced. It was released in 1947, shortly after his Champ amplifier hit the market. Even though the Princeton was not a powerful amp, it gained a reputation as a "highly valued" recording studio amp for its small size, durability and clean sound, according to "Fender Amps: The First Fifty Years."
The Middle Years
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Fender continued to produce Princeton models, along with new amplifiers, to keep up with its competition and to take advantage of changing technologies. The Princeton Reverb was introduced in 1963 and the Princeton Reverb II--more powerful than its predecessors, with 29 watts--was released in 1982.
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Transition
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Production of the original Princeton was discontinued in 1985. However, variations of the Princeton were still developed, including the solid-state Princeton Chorus, which was released in the late 1990s and became the company's best-selling amp to that point, according to "The Soul of Tone: Celebrating 60 Years of Fender Amps."
Reissues
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Fender reintroduced the Princeton in 2006 by releasing the Princeton Recording-Amp and Princeton 650. In 2008, Fender unveiled a vintage release of the 1965 Princeton Reverb. Its retail price is $1,260 in 2010.
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References
- Fender: Fender History
- Fender-Amp: History of Fender
- "Fender Amps: The First Fifty Years"; John Teagle and John Sprung; 1995
- "The Soul of Tone: Celebrating 60 Years of Fender Amps"; Tom Wheeler, Keith Richards; 2007
- "The Amp Book: A Guitarist's Introductory Guide to Tube Amplifiers"; Donald Brosnac; 1987
