Pedal suggestions for Fender Princeton sound through Henriksen Blu

[Rob MacKillop]

I love my Blu, but also love the Fender Princeton sound. Happy to use a pedal for the occasions I want that sound. Your recommendations welcome.

[Stringswinger]

The UA Dream 65 will get you a digital Frender sound (supposedly a Deluxe, but pretty close to a Princeton) through your Henriksen, but I found it breaks up earlier than I like for jazz and got rid of mine. A Quilter Superblock US can get you somewhat (about 80 percent of the way there) of a Fender Blackface tone through your Henriksen.

There are other pedals to try as well, but those are the two I have used. The Superblock is a worthy pedal to have on it's own to use as a pedal amp (I am keeping that one).

[213Cobra]

I love my Blu, but also love the Fender Princeton sound. Happy to use a pedal for the occasions I want that sound. Your recommendations welcome.

I haven't encountered the early breakup issue with the UA Dream '65 that Stringswinger cited, maybe because I pretty much only use that pedal with Telecasters. But there are some options that have more headroom than the Dream 65 that sound convincing.

1/ Walrus Audio MAKO ACS1. It can take high output humbuckers without premature clipping, and even a drive pedal before it, too.

2/ Strymon Iridium can do Fender and Vox sound convincingly once you dial it in. Lots of headroom, very clean. A little less organic tonal body than the other two here.

3/ UA Enigmatic '82. While nominally an '80s Dumble emulator and not focused on '60s Fender sound, it clearly has more headroom than the Dream '65 and via its deeper control options you can leverage its crystal clean tone to dial your way into a Princeton/ Deluxe sound. The "Room" control can even stand in for gentle reverb without adding a reverb pedal to the chain. I have this pedal too. It's versatile beyond it's '82 Dumble anchoring, probably because it has to be since there wasn't a singular Dumble sound.

[EDIT}: 4/ I'll add a fourth way to get to Fender Blackface with plenty of headroom. The Dime Head NAM Player would allow you to retrieve and load a free Princeton NAM file from Tone3000 or elsewhere. Alternately, that pedal has several NAM files installed, and the best one of those to use as a basis for dialing in Blackface sound is the included Boogie Studio (Clean) model. Before the Mesa Blue Angel, a Studio in clean mode with Reverb and 5 band EQ was one of the closest approximations for achieving Blackface sound from a non-Fender amp. With that model as base, you can then dive into EQ, Gain, IR, Room settings to steer to Blackface, and there's a Reverb file toggle included. I know some here are resistant to the price of the Dime Head, in the face of newer, cheaper options but the Dime Head really sounds good and has wider controllability than the new, cheap NAM players.

Phil

[omphalopsychos]

I spent a lot of time on this one. I think it's a tricky question to answer because Princetons differ from each other, people set their princetons differently, and people use different speakers in their princetons. But I will tell you what worked for me and what I think is the most efficient solution. Disclaimer: i haven't tried the pedals suggested above just because I have an irrational bias against digital modelers. I'll get over it soon.

To get the sound of a princeton from a henriksen you need to address 1. EQ, 2. Compression, 3. Reverb. Maybe you don't care equally about all 3 and that's fine.

1. EQ. A princeton has a mid scoop compared to a henriksen at about 800Hz-1kHz. Also, a typical "american voiced" speaker has a mid scoop compared to the Emminence beta speaker in Henriksen amps. You can get this with an EQ pedal, but a lot of EQ pedals require too much fiddling. I think it's possible to get close with the Henriksen EQ alone by turning the High Mids down on the amp. I set it almost to zero. As for pedals, I think the Barber Barb EQ can get a close sound out of the box without messing with the knobs too much because it has a black panel fender setting.

2. Compression. A princeton has more harmonic distortion and compression than a Henriksen. You can use a transparent overdrive pedal set to a low level to get something similar to a tube-like response. I like the Fairfield Circuity Barbershop (or the Modele B for a smaller footprint) for this. You can also use a compression pedal, but it will not have the distortion. I think an optical compressor can get close to the kind of compression you get with a tube amp. You may hardly hear the difference, but you will feel it as you play. I like the Diamond EQ, specifically the newer one for reasons stated below.

3. Reverb. Henriksen reverb has a loud slap-back, short decay, and modulated trails. Any spring reverb pedal will do better. The Catalinbread Topanga is great for a fender spring reverb sound.

My personal setup: I use the Diamond Compressor latest generation because it has a EQ section with a bass/knob (moving it one way increases bass while damping treble & vice versa the other way) AND it has a "mids" knob that is tuned to what I think is the exact right frequency that you need to cut from the Henriksen. So this pedal alone solves both the EQ and the compression side of things. If you want to add in some mild saturation, I cannot recommend the Fairfield circuitry pedal enough.

But I would recommend messing with the onboard EQ and getting aggressive with the High Mids before buying anything. I think that can get you most of the way there if you are ok with not having saturation.

[jazzloverfat]

here's a novel idea... if u want the sound of something, get the thing u want? crazy, i know...


i use an EHX Hot Tubes Nano to add a bit of color to my bass SS amp and it also works extremely well to give Telecaster more of everything thorough my Princeton.
plus it's cheap as

[alltunes]

i’ve had all matters of boutique pedals, including a 90’s Fulltone Full-Drive with the dynamo label…King of Tone blah blah

I am here to say my Boss Blues Driver is as good or better them all. Behold the lowly Blues Driver

I’m not sure what the sound of the Princeton is that you’re referring to, but if you wanna just add a little Dirt and warmth to a clean sounding solid state amp I think the Blues Driver can do you well

[mr. beaumont]

I use a Tech 21 Blonde for this.

[Stringswinger]

To be clear, the Quilter Superblock US is not digital.

[Jthompson48]

I'll second the NAM idea. I can't speak to the capabilities or merits of the different hardware platforms, but I just got a GP 50 because it was on sale and am pretty impressed. I'm actually considering returning the toneking imperial preamp that I got recently and like very much, just because it's hard to justify the expense when I can get pretty darn close with the NAMs.

[lesyeuxnoirs]

I think Omph’s advice is spot on

But here is another option, since you’re in the UK…

…sell the Blu and buy a Mambo. It covers the same ground but also has a Fender tone stack

[Rob MacKillop]

As I mentioned at the start, I love the Blu, have no issues with it. But it was not designed to do every kind of amp just by tweaking the eq. For both space and financial reasons, I’d rather stomp on a pedal than buy a second amp.

Thanks for all the other comments. They are appreciated.

[Rob MacKillop]

I think Omph’s advice is spot on

But here is another option, since you’re in the UK…

…sell the Blu and buy a Mambo. It covers the same ground but also has a Fender tone stack

I used to have a Mambo, but returned it. Not for me.

[GuyBoden]

The Fender Princeton is basically the same electrical circuit as Fender's AB763 design (Twins, Deluxe Reverb etc).

Main difference is the Phase inverter and Power tube design.

A Blackface pedal like the TC Electronic COMBO DELUXE 65 will achieve this sound. (I like them and use one.)




A pedal that use NAM files like the Valeton GP-5 will also do this and much, much more.

But, you will need Valeton's smart phone App to configure the GP-5. (If you need any help Rob let me know.)

Princeton 1965
NAM File link:
65 Fender Princeton with Various Mics NAM Profiles

Valeton GP-5 £60
Valeton GP-5 Multi-FX, AMP & IR Loader Mini Pedal - Andertons Music Co.

[rpjazzguitar]

I have 14 bands of parametric EQ but i can’t get the powered speaker to sound like a guitar amp. But the Joyo American does.

[Rob MacKillop]

Thanks Guy and Phil - responses I can work with!

I'll confess to being a technophobe, but I have very sensitive ears. The possibilities generated by IR and NAM trickery is just mind boggling...and scary. I'm kind of put off by so many almost limitless choices. Something like the Combo Deluxe 65 is more attractive, manageable. I've also read up on others mentioned in this thread - thanks for all the contributions, folks! I'll doubtless hum and haw for a while before landing on something.

[Rob MacKillop]

The one things that bugs me about the Combo Deluxe 65’ (and would be the cause of an early death for my wife) is the apostrophe AFTER the 65. Surely it is short for 1965? Which would be ’65. Am I missing something?

[Rob MacKillop]

I’ve ordered the Combo Deluxe, but there will be a delay in delivery - awaiting new stock in most places. That’s OK, there’s no hurry.

[Tom Karol]

Rob, this may be an indirect answer to your question, but ...

When I had a JazzAmp 112, I sometimes used a Carl Martin Rockbug to get it to sound sort of like a Twin Reverb. With my Bud, I just use a Tube Screamer for rock leads* or a TC Electronics Sparc Booster for jazz soloing.

* My full rock rig - which I don't use much anymore - is a Carl Martin Quattro into the Rockbug into the Bud with a TC Electronics BC208 extension cabinet.

All that having been said, the Combo Deluxe 65' (sic) looks like a good bet.

[Rob MacKillop]

Thanks, Tom. I’m not the tubescreamer type, but I recall them being immensely popular when SRV was at his height. It’s more the Fender cleans that I would like to be able to access when the urge arises. I actually have the Jetter Gain Stage Red for Robben Ford crunch, if needed. It has been lying in a box for a couple of decades. I don’t know if anyone remembers them?

[Woody Sound]

Boss used to make a '65 emulating pedal, which includes the "classic spring reverb" and vibrato. Pretty inexpensive used, might be a good way to wet your feet on the idea. If the reverb sounds better then Heniksen's (jmo, it probably does), it might be worth a try.

[omphalopsychos]

Wampler also had a 65 fender emulator pedal. I have used it with my Henriksen. At 9v it has pretty little headroom but is usable at 18v.


Anyway Rob let us know what you think of the TC pedal. Curious for your review!

For some of the commenters here: please take a deep breath and consider things in multiple perspectives. You’ll probably see more overlap and congruity between yourself and others than your initial impression and this might reduce the frustration.

[Woody Sound]

The one things that bugs me about the Combo Deluxe 65’ (and would be the cause of an early death for my wife) is the apostrophe AFTER the 65. Surely it is short for 1965? Which would be ’65. Am I missing something?

Add your own apostrophe where you want it, and black out the other one.

[Rob MacKillop]

Nah… I’ll know it’s there! My wife will get suspicious!

[Christian Miller]

I’d be interested to hear your assessment of the pedal, Rob


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rob MacKillop]

Send me ten quid, Christian, and I’ll let you know