Any advantage to a 12" speaker in a PR

[jmonk99]

Thinking of putting a 12" speaker in my 70' PR. Pros & cons.
Speaker choices if I do it? i'm leaning towards doing it.
Would a Cestion Blue or Gold fit?

I have a Weber 10F150T in it now. Sounds great but I want this and my Vic 20112 to be my main gigging amps. Mabey even with an ABY.

[rmconner80]

I think it opens up the amp a lot and provides more low end.

Run it into your Victoria cabinet and see if you like it.

[mikefair]

I think a 12 ruins a Princeton. A 10 in a Princeton makes a better recording amp to my ears. If you want to run a 12 for live performance, you can run it out to a single 12 cab. Plus you're not modding your vintage amp.

[guitarznamps]

I agree with mikefair, I bought an aftermarket 12' speaker baffle for my PR. I eventually returned the amp to stock. The 10' speaker has its merits and since the amp is so easy to transport adding a 1x12 cabinet isnt all that expensive and doesnt take up much space! My .02!

[Dawg76]

Better yet, put the SFPR on top of a 2x12 ext cab!
I ABY my (stock) bought-new '76 SFPR and a BJr, each w/ their own ext cabs.

[teleman1]

Dawg76 Did it right. If you have a 70's PR, you should have some NOS in it. Regardless, tubes are expensive. Leo , as we know, was a genius. If he wanted the PR with a 12, it would have had one. But as we know combo amps are hard on tubes. SO, a twelve in a cab not designed for it is shaking the tubes more. Get a 1x12 cab.
And I know from experience that a Gold 10 Celestion sounds really sweet in that cab.

[Demo]

I like your idea, I'm sharing it. It's a personal preference thing, but if you're going to leave it in the 10" cab and drag around an extension cab, it seems like more trouble than it's worth. I want to run a three amp rig and the missing element right now is a BF Fender. In my case, since I'd have to get the amp, it'll be a clone (probably Vintage Sound) because I don't have a BF/SF Princeton, but one of my "other amps" is also a 20112 and the Princeton seems like the right piece to compliment the tweed Vic.

I'm not sure that the 12" speaker will fit into the 10' cab but replacement cabs are no problem. The 12" speaker just gives you such an infinite amount of speaker choices compared to the 10", plus you'd still have the original cab in tact. I say do it.
,

[smolder]

Originally Posted by mikefair

I think a 12 ruins a Princeton. A 10 in a Princeton makes a better recording amp to my ears. If you want to run a 12 for live performance, you can run it out to a single 12 cab. Plus you're not modding your vintage amp.

Not sure I agree that it ruins it, it's just not a Princeton anymore. I would never take the ten out, but I might use a x12 external cab. One of the things that make the Princeton and the Princeton reverts very special is how well they are matched to the 10" speaker, it's tone and character.

[jmonk99]

Thanks for all the comments guys. It really gives me a lot to think about. It's a 1970 PR w/ all the original tubes, except the rectifier that was switched to a 5AR4 per David Allens recommendation. He went over the amp and replaced the bad caps, and also did the Stokes mod. It never sounded better.
I should also mention I'll be setting the amp on an Sound Enhacer amp stand for gigging, so mabey the 10" speaker will cut it.

[62Tele]

I think a Princeton should be a Princeton and a single 10 is part of that tone. If it's not enough, mic it.

FWIW - I had a conversation years ago with Doug Hoffman. He and guys in his shop tried PR's with equivalent 10 and 12's (Celestions if I remember correctly) and they found that the 10's sounded better in the original cab. What I think it gets down to is putting a speaker in too small of an enclosure can choke it off. A lot of guys put 12's into PR's and like it, but I have no plans on switching the 10 in my Kanee for a 12. If I need more amp I just run a 40 watt with a 1x12 EV cab and take no prisoners.

[Totally Bored]

Quess you guys never heard my PR ?


I have a 68 PR with a Celestion G12h 30 watt speaker. Thing sounds huge. The 68 has a removable baffle so I made one for it. This way I wouldn't ruin the original. I occassionally put the 10" back in but it just don't sound as good IMO. Lacks big bottom Bass sound. Makes for a great portable gigging amp YMMV.