1946 Fender Princeton "Woodie" Amp.....Rare, Valuable, and Really Nice !! 

Thank you Uncle Doug for your thorough and humorous review and repair of my old Fender Princeton. When I proudly tell people that I have a "woodie" I get very mixed responses. What's up with that? The schematic that I sent to you was the earliest that I could find and was from Radiomuseum. They dated it from 1948 as the 5B2 circuit with a duo triode 6SL7 preamp tube and 6V6 output. The next iteration, the 5C2 from 1948 , uses a 6SC7 and a 6v6. I have found several model 26 pictures that show the tube designations written in pencil on the chassis. This leads me to believe that this amp originally did have a 6SJ7, a 6K6 and a 5Y3 as the chassis markings suggest. Until other research proves it different, let's call this the "5A2" circuit. Some his later amps had Leo's name penciled on the bottom of the chassis which he probably would have only done unless he had other employees wiring amps as a method of QC. Since Lily and Lupe were not yet his employees, he likely hand soldered this thing himself. Simply amazing. Radiomusiums.

I love seeing the Heathkit capacitor tester. My dad bought a Heathkit tachometer dwell meter kit from Heathkit in early 1960s. I learned a bunch of really colorful words from my dad when he was putting it together. Mom didn't appreciate it much.

Uncle Doug, you are the most talented and entertaining host on U-tube! Thanks for the sharp and creative wit and the detailed repairs you cover! Your understanding and historical information about each device you cover in your presentations! Your client this time surely was inspired by your sense of humor, and I thoroughly enjoyed this episode! This is a beautiful old amp! Thumbs up!👍😄

Just subscribed after putting my infant to sleep with your voice. I know nothing about amps or electrical---but your manner of speaking is so engaging, I'd listen to you talk about anything. My husband is the guitar and amp guy in the family and has been watching your videos for months. Like it or not, you are a part of our family now, Uncle Doug!

I admit that after playing nearly 50 years, most of this shoots straight over my head...but your presentation and character are infectious....and I never miss an installment. Thank you for the effort it takes to put all this together. Much peace to you and your moggies!

When life gets me down I just watch the newest Uncle Doug video and everything's just a little better.

I’ve never seen one of these amps before, it’s amazing to think that it was built a few months after the end of WW II .

I wish there were more creators sharing this kind of content. A simple and honest look into the garage of an analog circuit wizard. This made my day, doug. I cant thank you enough.

Finally a demo with the amp cranked all the way up. ;) we need more of those

What could possibly be any better than the first day of spring ,on a sunny sunday morning and new Uncle Doug ? makes my day complete !!!!!

Those stickers remind me of the old peechee folders they used to sell.

That Heathkit capacitor checker is a wonderful piece of gear. I have one and I love it. It is actually used in that video I asked you to critique. I used it to reform some capacitors in a 59 tweed deluxe, then I replaced the capacitors anyway because 'I don't trust reforming capacitors. Ha. Great video as usual.

Thanks Unc. we had the old willys jeep out in the bush today! Cheers bud!

Went from watching videos of current world events to this one, the humor and knowledge drop is much appreciated.

Been occupied with work and health the better part of 2022. Just remembered hadn't seen a new video of yours in a while and it made me smile to be back here. Wonderful to see the video as always :D Good health and luck to you :)

220614 - The war was over and all the soldiers were back in the states with their woodies. They had steel in their laps. Their eight inch Jensens had no shielding on the tubes. The resistance was low and the leakage was high. The house was a rockin' and the stork came a knockin'. That is the true origin of the baby boomers. Now you know....... the rest of the story! Awesome video, Uncle Doug! Can't wait for your next goodie.

Hey Unkie! I will try to keep this one short,,, Yeah right! The peanut gallery is never short of word count. I already probably exceeded my word allocation replying to other comments. (Amazing how fast these comment sections fill up. I don't know how possible you seem to read 'em all! Another reason you're so Great!) Yes these Woodies are awesome piece of history and it would seem as though they are built as strong as a Tank! I don't know where the heck one would find that type of velour grill cloth but it certainly was a fabric built to last. Every Woodie I have seen (not more than half a doz or so) all have immaculate grill cloth. Even the the dyes used have seldom faded much. They have been seen in variety of colors from red, blue and gold. Gold seems most subject to fading. Also it has been rumoured that after his split with Kaufman and no longer building the K&F amps, Leo originally started building Woodies in his spare time on his kitchen table... Not sure to the accuracy of this trivia but I love the thought of that grass roots effort! Regardless, I have seen both published and first hand his actual initials penciled underneath the chassis of a Deluxe #26. Much similar to the often found masking tape "Lupe" that you have discovered on later amps. Man, I loved the back story of how this amp was obtained by it's owner. A misidentified or incorrectly described vintage speaker on E'bay! Those are the type of rare finds that folks hope for at garage sales and such. I came across similar situation when I was bidding on items from an online amateur radio estate sale auction. Buried down below many listings of very desirable ham radio gear was a listing for two old tube audio chassis for parts. An original and pristine unmolested 5F6a and an old Allen Organ Amplifier Chassis ! Very few knew or cared about what audio stuff was offered. Towards the last hour of the auction, I did encounter a bidding war. After two or three go around's, I said "F" it and went all in. I quit screwing around and threw an outrageous bid and after testing the waters a few more go around's my opponent gave up. My final price ended up being only being 1/5th my max bid. I got the 5f6a and was pleased to later learn that the Allen Organ amp is a highly prized monobloc by a cult of DIY audiophiles. It was worth double my winning bid ! NICE!!! Congrats to the Woody owner for similar great fortunes. Also kudos for a nice job stuffing those caps! I am looking very forward to viewing your upcoming videos of the Heathkit Cap tester! What an excellent machine that must be! I have often been very critical of measuring caps and what useful or often useless info may be derived from often meaningless test procedures and equipment. At least for our own specific applications in vacuum tube technologies. Same goes much the same for much the world of tube testing devices. So often we never measure at the application voltages and we miss much of the story of how our component performs in actual dynamic action! Short of custom or specialized laboratory measurement instrumentation, we don't get much useful data with standard low voltage static measuring tools. The gold standard for caps seems to be the Sencore analyzers. But oh so expensive! I am very interested in seeing how Heathkit fares in your videos, as well as your take on testing caps and the great advice and practical hints you usually provide and share with your audience. Thanks for letting me share and throw my two cents into the forum!

Haven’t even watched yet but I already know the next 51 minutes is gonna be the best of the day!

Another great video. Thanks for sharing, and putting smiles on our faces.

Wow, historics and hysterics combine again with Uncle Doug! Loved this one... great to see the humble beginnings of the Fender dynasty.

Bowel and bladder orientated :) You crack me up Uncle Doug and I haven't even seen the amp yet

I watched your videos and built a great 57 champ circuit. Thank you for teaching me enough to do this.

Uncle Doug, thanks loads for your contents..we enjoy your reviews a lot.. please post more..nice job (Y)

From an Aussie, I'm pretty sure that Tip Top (which is still an Australian Bread Company) released comemorative stickers to celebrate the 1956 Olympic Games that were held in Melbourne. Very Cool. They may have been water transfers.

Guitar history right there! Very cool! 😎 Great video as always Uncle!

I really enjoy your humor and sharp descriptions you make Uncle Doug 👌👍👋😊

Another absolutely wonderful video Doug. I was blown away by the difference in bass response between the 6V6 and 6K6. Learned something new. Thank you.

Iam so glad to see another Uncle Doug video.

Hello and welcome again, Doug. Nice to see you here once more. It is always a pleasure. And what a nice amp!. Never saw nothing like it. I love those times when things were made to last...almost forever!. Lucky you for having the opportunity to put your hands over it. And luckiest for receiving such an extraordinary piece like the Heathkit cap meter. Thanks for being here, and best regards from Spain.

That's the coolest Fender amp I've ever seen. Keep up the great work, Uncle D

Finally a Fender a year older than me. About in the same shape :-)

Very nice old amp and great job of bringing her back to as near perfection as possible!

Doug, I grew up in southern New England and we had Tip Top bread. In the sixties Tip Top was the only bread mom would buy!

Great review! Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful day! 👍👍👍

OMG gotta love the owner’s sense of humor

Uncle D....Not sure if anyone posted this yet but growing up in '60's NY Tip Top bread was all over the place. Right up there with Wonder Bread. Excellent video.

Hey man I don't know if anyone has answered this but I love your videos and I'm from New Zealand. New ply plymouth to be more specific. Anyway tip top is a brand of bread here in nz. So I will imagine that he went to New Zealand or lived there for some time! Full respect to you uncle doug. You are a legend. From aotearoa with love ❤️

OMG kudos to the guy who packed that amp. Soo funny. When my wife and I first met she had a membership to one of those bulk type grocery stores. While we were there shopping she said she needed to use the restroom. As it was the adult diapers were right by the bathrooms. While she was in there I filled the shopping cart with them, and when she came out I yelled I got those Depends you wanted. Decades later we still laugh about it. So as you might guess I can relate to this.

Turned out a great Sunday having this vid to watch. As always, fantastic!!

Hey Uncle Doug, thanks for that really great video. I just wanted to say that as a child growing up in the very early 50's in Chicago, IL. I ate a considerable amount of "Tip Top" Bread, so I think that although it is still available in Australia that it was widely variable in Chicago back around 1951 or so. I have no idea if it was owned by the Australian company or if they were competing as I was just a kid. Keep up the good work !!!

That is a beautiful amp. Much history to that old wood.

Southwest? I was stationed at Ft Huachuca, AZ for many years! Loved the desert, hated the wind! But I adore your videos, even if I am approaching the Depends phase of life myself! Thanks for your incredible teaching Uncle Doug!

Wow, watching you work on that amp I can smell the components and it takes me back to a very happy time in my life. Thanks! Shalom/gw

The owner found a rare gem for sure. I don’t really like how the “Woodie” amps sound but I’d jump at the chance to own one in a heartbeat. I’ve been looking for a high voltage capacitor tester in good working order for a while now. They are a great tool to have around. Ol’ Jackie is as handsome and silly as ever.

Well that was one of the funniest unpacking's I've seen in a while ... I'm surprised there wasn't 2 or 3 bottles of Milk of Magnesia in there as well ...Lol ... Great vid as usual ...

Vintage of this era just looks so cool-thanks for your efforts to preserve these types amplifiers as close as possible.

How thoughtful and creative to pack the amp with personal protection and lavatory supplies. Must have known you were low on supplies. 😂

Thank you U.D… Nice to see you again Buddy! ;•)

Another great video-Uncle Doug-you are the Man !!!

6K6 also wants a different impedance/load possibly explaining some of the lower output. It also wants lower voltage but that amp is already there. I added a switch on my 6v6 project amp to also allow for 6k6. Terry at D-lab mentioned how cheap they are so I scored 6 Sylvanias for about $9 each. They all appear NOS and bias within 2ma of each other. Glad to see than Uncle can still get a woodie.

That is hilarious. Its great to see your customers with the same sense of humour as you, Uncle Doug.

I am honored to be a fellow El Pasoan with you.

I love a good amp repair extravaganza and this does not disappoint. Thank you Uncle Doug!

Great as always. As an Aussie I can confirm the Tip Top history. Interesting the stickers focused on gridiron and baseball, rather than rugby league and cricket.

"Bowel & bladder oriented packaging" 😅😂🤣! You're a funny bugger uncle Doug! I can confirm 'TipTop' as being a major Aussie bread bakery. I never knew of them giving away promotional decals, but then again I wasn't around til the early 60's. Might this amp have been wired up by Leo himself then, as suggested? That would make this amp almost priceless, or four figures worth anyway.

HI Doug, as usual another great video. Sorry that I haven’t commented on your last video but we have had a family illness and unfortunately my sister passed away a couple of weeks ago. She hadn’t been well for a while but her death was unexpected. All the best to you and your family (both human and feline).

Greetings Uncle Doug, One of my clients acquired the inventory of a local technician/enthusiast recently. Along with roughly 30 antique mixer-amplifiers was a large container of tubes. We haven’t finished counting or testing them yet, but I imagine 50+ lbs of tubes is a pretty big number. Amongst them are a dozen or so 6K6 pentodes. After watching this episode, I’m now looking forward to swapping them into a Deluxe 5e3 clone I’ve owned for a while. Depending on the outcome of this test, who knows what will happen next. Thanks as always for sharing. Howard Rose

Great video, I understood very little of the electronics gobbledygook but you narrated it so well that you kept my interest throughout.

@25:20 Love the Fender Telecaster "top hat" switch knobs.

That amp was made the same year my mom was born. 😲. Thanks uncle Doug for the vid.

I learn something new each time you post a video, Uncle! Jerry and the gang say hi, and that they think Jack is really starting to sound good on the guitar. Next time someone asks what they should use for packing material when shipping an amp, you can say, "Depends...".

I love your channel! What a cool amp, and your humor is hilarious and appreciated as always :)

the „foreplay“alone is worth every second of our attention 🙏🍾

Doug, what a great a sense of humor you have! And absolutely great work. Thank you!

Doug, your videos are a great source of education and entertainment. Thanks once again.

A real jewel. The comparison chart is a nice overview.

I had a rescue cat that used to go underneath the carpets like that in order to sleep. I think it was something he learned when he was outside on his own

Thanks again, Doug! This was an unexpected treat for a lazy Sunday afternoon. Best wishes!

Wow, what a treasure. Your video is extremely interesting to me as a huge fan of Leo Fender. Is this amp also in the Smithsonian as a shining example of American technological ingenuity and creativity? I've read a lot about Leo, and I never cease to be amazed at how he accomplished all that he did. Not just in amplifier design and construction, but in guitar design and innovation and high-quality mass production---- and on top of all that, having the genius business sense to market and sell his products to the whole world. And to this very day, almost everyone else --- except a few other legendary names---- is following in his footsteps.

Certainly one of the most magnificent woodies I've ever seen on the interwebs. I'll get me coat...

Uncle Doug yet another entertaining yet educational Sunday and opportunity thank you!!!;

The bakery must have used it as a PA. The stickers are bread adds. Thank you for going through these in such detail. There is always something to learn here. I would pack the amp in tampons and send it back.

I enjoyed the extra added vintage character of the 6k6 tube compared to the more typical R&R voice of the 6v6 tube.

Another good one Uncle Doug please keep them coming.

Thanks Uncle Doug👍👍

A thousand thanks Unc...This is simply a splendid video. Thanks to Charles?..? ..Was it that sent it to you...FYI, I enjoy these over, and over sometimes, they are that good.🙂

@Uncle Doug that amp is beautiful and the owner was wise to send it to you for work.

Won-der-ful! UD! Sunday morning with the “Woodie” Princeton and multiple cups of hot dark roast! You are truly the tube amp “GURU”! Love from NW Colorado. Thanxz

Hi Doug. Here in Australia Tip Top is still a major bread maker, at least on the east coast. The stickers include what looks like American football and baseball which are not popular sports where I live now but have a presence through all our media options. Why these stickers are for sports from a time when they were virtually unknown in Australia is strange. I can only think is was related to the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Melbourne in the state of Victoria, Australia not Melbourne in Florida where this came from.

Sounds like that app is back in the game. Uncle Doug good job.

What a rare and great amp. Very cool Doug. Enjoyed it beyond legal limits.

What a beautiful amp. And can't wait for the capacitor tester video. Just look at all those knobs and switches! So cool. Thanks Uncle Doug.

I've tried the 6K6 in my 5F2 Princeton and I didn't hear any change in the tone or the break up. It still sounded fine. The only thing that changed was the output level. I keep both the 6K6 and 6V6 handy for different situations. My conclusion was that the 6K6 will placate a code blue snowflake. The more militant factions will still scream at you to turn it down. In the future, guitarists will be playing unplugged solid bodies, and PA systems will consist of pairs of earbuds lined up across the front of the stage. And soon after that, the code red snowflakes will be screaming at everybody to turn it down. For the time being, the old woodie sounds spectacular as usual, thanks to your dilligent efforts. If a harmonica player ever got hold of it, they would need the undergarments and the rump ribbon that you got with the amp. It sounds that good. Thumbs up and hats off once again!!

Doug, I am a little envious that you get to work on older amps like this Fender and the Oahu. The good thing is, I get to see them on your channel. There is something about the early forays into guitar amp construction that I really like. The last repair I did was on a Marshall JCM 800 2204, I think they use the sound of the 'High' channel on those amps to cut diamonds. That relatively recent high price of toilet paper has been overtaken, at least here in Australia, by petrol at $2.20 a litre. Occasionally you see a car that would double in price if you put a full tank of fuel in it. Looking forward to Heathkit capacitor tester video. Stay healthy. Regards, Jeff.

Woah! When you read "bread" on that sticker I just flashed back to a faint childhood memory from the very early '70s of bread coming in bags with characters printed on them that you could cut out and stick to windows just with water. (Might have been a Canadian thing, not sure.) Just tried Googling for it and didn't find anything. I've found some old photos of breads that came with stickers included in the bag as a "prize", but I distinctly remember cutting these ones out from the bag itself.

I see you got your very own Heathkit Capacitor Analyzer. Great find. I think those are hard to find nowadays.

Love watching you Uncle Doug! 👍 Always learn something new. ✌️

Doug your wit is unsurpassed, march wind is a good sign. I love the old amps. Stay well my friend.

Because of you Doug, I now have to go to AA twice a week. I've started my own local chapter of Ampoholics Anonymous. Sometimes after the meetings we compare filter cap burns.

Nice packing job. This customer cares about his amp.

thanks for all those closeups of the grill cloth. i suspect it is chenille red fabric upholstery

Another amazing video from Uncle Doug. Wow, what a classic amplifier and it looks so cool. Then the Healthkit cap checker with adjustable voltage. Incredible package combo of vintage electronics. Congratulations!

What a beauty. Liked the comparison at the end as well.

Beautiful little amplifier 🎉

Thanks, Unca Doug!

Lovely amp, so well kept. I love every one of your episodes. It was a great idea to use the outer shells of old caps stuffing them with new ones - preserving the old aesthetic with perfectly functional components. These power cords sure as hell were expensive, but they are quite the lookers. Pity that the conductors' insulation got cut through. I'd redo it until I get good result. Yes, I'm a damn perfectionist :D I'd also consider modding the amp a little bit by ditching the death cap and rewiring the heaters (with cotton-clad wire, of course) for symmetrical AC, grounding the center tap. The Heathkit is a thing of beauty and a joy for ever in itself. Hope it's so nice on the inside as well. Waiting for the video of you goinh through its insides and correcting possible bugs, because you never know. Will definitely come in handy in your work - I already feel bad that I do quite some old amp and radio servicing, and still don't have a proper cap tester, relying on an ohmmeter or even a voltmeter, testing them in circuit. It ooks like IT28 has an EM84 eye rather than the old 6E1. I'll be building a capacitor leak tester / reforming device inspired by these Heahkits. Always appreciating Jack :)

Another great video, thanks, Uncle Doug!

Very informative Video! Love the way you explain circuits and point out differences in the Amps. Thank you! 🎶🥰🎶

another one this month!!! NICE !! THANKS UNCLE DOUG !!!!

Marvellous old amp with the decals. Are you a pole vaulter ? no i'm German, but how'd ya know my name was Walter ?