There’s no substitute for a real Princeton (originally launched in 1946, my birth year…) However, if you’re after those vintage tones, I’m proposing a lighter, louder and more affordable alternative. It only takes a good cut of corrugated plastic pipe to combine Quilter’s Fender-voiced SuperBlock US amp and one of Jensen’s premium 10” speakers into an utterly portable and gig-worthy rig.
The photo shows a prototype TOOB 10J cab, with a SuperBlock attached. The grill cloth may not be final. The enclosure is a version of the open-back TOOB 12J model, one of my best-sellers (90 out of 700 to date.) Cost and weight saved through cloth grill, wire leg and generally more Spartan appointments. Weight loaded: around 8 lbs. Available with three 10” Jensen speaker alternatives: 25W P10R-F AlNiCo , 40W P10/40BB (Blackbird) AlNiCo and 100W N10/100TR (Tornado) Neo.
I‘d be happy to build a small batch at a special price for Forum members: 335€ (EU)/299$ (non-EU), plus shipping. This with the P10R-F speaker. The EU price includes the Finnish sales tax (VAT) of 24%. Add 50€/45$ for Blackbird or Tornado. Please note that even the “entry level” P10R-F costs more than the P10R on the $2.8K Fender 64 Custom Princeton Reverb version.
Many readers laud their SuperBlock. Quite a few have chosen a TOOB Metro 6.5GP or BG to go with it. Not quite enough oomph for louder gigs? Larger, more efficient speakers unleash the amp’s potential. With the same settings, the Metro BG produces 105 dB, while the 10JF with P10R-F does 110 dB and Blackbird, 115 dB. The Tornado is even more sensitive.
I hope to add some sort of a sound clip soon. If interested, please send me a PM or fire an e-mail to toobspeakers@gmail.com. I’ll be happy to answer any questions. It will take a few weeks to source components and build the batch. No deposits, just some degree of commitment. If you come to second thoughts, not to worry – somebody outside this Clan will end up paying more.
Bump... just to let you know that I'm putting this project on hold for a while. Three reasons: 1) lack of immediate interest, 2) hands full with Metro orders and 3) awaiting Jensen's new 50W Silverbird 10 speaker for an even more wallet-friendly option. Introduced at NAMM, the Silverbird is supposedly voiced close to the Blackbird AlNiCo. Despite its ceramic magnet, it weighs just 2.2 kg (under 5 lbs); acceptable by my standards.
What thin line Gibsons were made over the years? I know I've seen pictures of a couple of L5 thin lines. They may have been custom made, I don't know. Also ES 125 and Byrdland. BTW, I didn't mean...
This looks to be super impressive to create great field recordings anywhere that automatically sync to the the 4K video on your iPhone—the world’s smallest condenser mic in a tiny block form that...
Probably not (unless he made one to fit the available space) but a Kent Armstrong single coil floater, floating CC from Pete or even a DeArmond 1100 would probably fit.
Yeah, I have never bought, nor refused to buy, any guitar just because of the headstock. I'm unable to see how the headstock shape affects tone or playability. If that were on the list, it would be...
Thank you for all the info Rickco!
I will give it some more thought and will let you know what i will go with. I have a Tele so I am looking for something different. The D'Angelico I'm looking at...
You could play the bottom open E string in many of those chords since it's the 3rd of the chord...
I made an arrangement of Blue in Green that is mostly open string chords, see the attached.
The trio gig went great. We have another booked in June, I'm going to try for more trio stuff. It's fun to be uncomfortable.
You're only 6 songs away from 2 45 minute sets. I do 9 song sets...
The Interweb notation for grips is durn handy. Those are:
x24030
x34000
8x9970
x.10.10.11.0.0
etc...
I had to guess about open versus not played strings.
Gibson Thin line Guitar Models
Today, 11:07 PM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos