At higher speeds, this tremolo harkens back to your favorite spy theme with an intense, rhythmic pulse. This tremolo starts off slightly faster at its lowest speed setting in comparison to later Princetons. This style waveform tremolo is unique to vintage Brownface Fender amps, and produces a lush and dreamy tone with less choppiness than a later blackface circuit. The Chris Stapleton Princeton features period correct 12AX7 tube biased tremolo. A guitarist can turn up on stage and not be tossed off for inciting a loudness war, making this amp a sound engineer’s dream. Guitars are more or less mid-range instruments, and what makes this Princeton great is it gets loud in the right places without competing negatively with bass and treble frequencies. It oozes with the sweet sound of soul, love and heartache that dominated the radio in the ‘60s and is faithfully created by Chris Stapleton. Its simple circuit responds artfully to a player’s dynamics and volume control. It most certainly can be cranked in the heat of battle, but around 4-5 across the panel is where this amp lives. This Princeton amplifier is one of the most organic sounding amplifiers on the market today. The Brownface Princeton sounded the absolute most like the guitar being played through it.
The Silverface Princeton had the fullest bass and a flat preamp, providing a lush, clean tone with plenty of headroom - perhaps an ideal platform for a pedal enthusiast. The Blackface Princeton was the brightest and most present, making it a perfect fit for country twang and blues. I was able to test the Chris Stapleton Princeton against Fender’s two standard production Princetons - the Blackface and Silverface reissues - using a Fender Jazzmaster, with no bias towards any particular amp. A Filson fabric cover is supplied for protection, and vintage correct single button footswitch to engage/disengage tremolo. This amp features a 12” Eminence “CT” speaker, and is housed in a lightweight and durable Pine cabinet. In the ‘60s, these were “everyday” capacitors, adding an extra mystique as to why these amplifiers sounded exceptionally good. The Chris Stapleton Signature Princeton Amp is at its electronic heart a true 1962 Princeton, driven by a pair of 6V6 power tubes (rated at 12 watts), with two 12AX7s in the preamp, and “Blue” tone capacitors. He purchased a second Princeton amp, which was outfitted by its previous owner with a 12” speaker, making this amplifier more road-reliable for the Grammy-winning songwriter and guitarist. However, Stapleton found the original 10” speaker underperformed in a live band scenario. After working with various small and large amps, the 1962 Fender Princeton found its way into the forefront of his rig.
The Brownface Princeton has become a reflection of Stapleton’s guitar style and tone.
Thanks in part to Nashville’s own Chris Stapleton, the Brownface Princeton is finally here and ready for its next chapter in recording and live music. They hit with a direct punch, and come loaded with a unique tremolo circuit unlike the Fender amps to come after it. Brownface Fender amps are coveted by collectors, and were only produced for a few years. Reverb was not yet a standard offering on a Fender amp, making them lighter and easier to transport. The Brownface era of Fender amplifiers debuted in the early 1960s, identified by its brown front panel, radio-style knobs, and wheat brown tolex-dressed cabinet. Nonetheless, Fender historians have still long been waiting for the Brownface circuit to return. All stay tried and true to their vintage predecessors, while being outfitted with modern reliability. Over the last decade, Fender has listened to its customers’ desires and produced faithful updates of classic Fender circuits such as the Champ, Bandmaster, Tweed Deluxe, high- and low-power Tweed Twin, and most recently a hand-wired Blackface Deluxe Reverb. Vintage-inspired guitar players can finally rejoice - a Brownface Fender amplifier reissue is now available.
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