Princeton + humbuckers = bad idea??

[presence]

I've succumbed to all of the Princeton mania lately and have basically decided to get a Princeton mainly for home use. But now I'm having second thoughts after reading some who say they're not that great with humbuckers? I mainly play PAF-to-moderately powered humbuckers with light-to-70s rock overdrive (I would use a pedal with the Princeton). My idea is to get a small amp with great cleans because I want to start playing much more clean, and use the overdrive occasionally. I'm sure I would also start playing single coils more if I did get a Princeton.

Anyone out there ever use humbuckers a lot with a Princeton?

I would try it out for myself, but I'm not close to any stores that carry them. Most of the sound samples I've found on the net feature single coils, but the few with humbuckers sound good to me too (for example on headstrong's website).

If I do get the Princeton, I would use the 10" speaker in order to keep the volume under control at home.

Thanks for any thoughts...

 

[FlyingVBlues]

Here's a clip of my 1966 Princeton Reverb at blues jam with a Historic ES-335 straight into the amp. The pickups are Voodoo 59's The amp does a nice job of keeping up with a pretty energetic drummer.

http://www.flyingvblues.com/clips/princeton.mp3

FVB

 

[presence]

Thanks Flying V, sounds great. That's what I'm talking about. I had actually listened to your clip during my research but it got lost in the information overload...

Is that a 10" or a 12" speaker?

 

[FlyingVBlues]

It's a 10" Eminence Ragin Cajun.

FVB

 

[Robertito]

Joni Mitchell's albums "Court And Spark" and "Hejira," among many others, prominently featured Larry Carlton playing a 335 through a Princeton Reverb. I can't imagine a much better tone.

 

[B_of_H]

I've always preferred the humbucker>cranked fender tone myself. More so than the strat>marshall sound. (although both are great in their own way)

 

[japhy]

Sometimes people forget about the second input on Fender amps.

I plug my 345 into input 2 ,crank it up , turn the guitar volume down , and its work pretty darn good.

BTW , I installeed a Weber DT-10 , put a 5751 in V1 and JJ 6v6s in my PR.
Great headroom with no real mods . ( the original speaker is safely put away )

 

[3m3r5]

Joni Mitchell's albums "Court And Spark" and "Hejira," among many others, prominently featured Larry Carlton playing a 335 through a Princeton Reverb. I can't imagine a much better tone.

Thanks Robertito! I always wondered which recordings Larry used his PR on, do you know of any others? Do you know what year his PR was?

 

[mbratch]

presence, are you talking about the non-reverb Princeton, as opposed to Princeton Reverb?

I noticed some responses are relative to Princeton Reverb, and the results will be different. I've had both amps. Both sound great with humbuckers but are different in tone/sound.

You can get a good clean sound with the Princeton NR and humbuckers. It will be a little darker and cleaner than the Princeton Reverb. As japhy says, people neglect input #2 which is a good way to reduce the amount your pickups are overdriving the pre-amp stages. A lot will depend upon the speaker you use.

And the Princeton NR is great with pedals.

 

[cander328]

My '65 Princeton Reverb sounds great with my PAF pickup guitars (ES175D and ES335TD) at a full range of volumes using input 1. My higher output Les Paul does seem to overwelm input 1 past a volume of 4-5.

 

[Robertito]

Thanks Robertito! I always wondered which recordings Larry used his PR on, do you know of any others? Do you know what year his PR was?

He said he used the PR for most of his clean tracks, like the Michael Franks albums. Check out his solo on "Down In Brazil" - amazing!

 

[bc-cosmo]

My Princeton Reverb is rapidly becoming my #1 amp for virtually any situation where massive volume is not needed--home, studio, small club. Great with HBs, great with single coils. Just make sure you have good tubes and an efficient speaker. I have a Weber 10F150 in mine.

 

[presence]

Thanks everyone for the very useful replies so far, I feel much better about going with the Princeton, and I've checked out Larry Carlton tones on iTunes.

I would get a Princeton Reverb-Amp clone, and use a 10" Weber 10A125.

 

[Rotten]

I notice that 335's don't drive an amp as hard as a Les Paul, even with the same output PUs. I think the scoop in the mids makes them a lot easier for the amp to handle. I would use a super efficient speaker or some low-wind PUs.