Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb & '65 Princeton Reverb 

I like your demos. You utilize nice chords and phrasing but mostly you let the notes ring out and don't try to put too many notes out there to try to impress people. I want to hear what the amp sounds like and you were very effective at that. Thanks

Nice demo! As echoed by others, I appreciate the clean playing and letting the amps speak for themselves! Absolutely GORGEOUS tones.

Now THAT is how you should demo' gear. Nice clean sound, no effects peddles and NO showing how good a "thrash" guitarist you are! I have an old Princeton Chorus and I would never dream of selling it!

One of the BEST demos of these amps out there... Thanks!

Funny that Fender call the amps tremolo a "vibrato" and the vibrato bridge as "tremolo".

This has to be the best review I've ever seen for these amps. Simple, concise and to the point without any showing off. Thanks, I'm going straight out and buying the Princeton.

Great review and thanks for NOT using pedals. 'Pure' Amp reviews that feature pedals always escape me when the whole point is how the amps sound natively.

Outstanding demo. I totally dig that tune at the end. Sounds like it's right off The Long Run.

We've used no effects save for the effects we've used.

Could never imagine turning up my Princeton to 10 let alone the deluxe. Blimey

Thanks for the comments everyone. Yes it was pretty loud in there and of course that never comes across on RU-vid. I made the track up at the session, obviously using a One Of These Nights feel but with totally different chords, melody, bass line etc. I did everything except drums, which Martin Holmes programmed. It was recorded in Steinberg Nuendo. I thought the guitars were appropriate to the track - yes, nice combination the Tele and 335.

I have the 65 Blackface Princeton Reverb and my Tone-search ended ( right there ). I can get: SRV, Gilmour, Trower, Knopfler, Hendrix and Nile Rodgers tones. Phenomenal Amp for those Legendary glassy-pristine Fender Cleans. oNe LovE from NYC

Love my deluxe reverb but sadly havent properly broken in yet due to family and neighbors.

That 335... I want it.. I want it I want it!! :).. Lovely playing Neville.

Brilliant demo. That Princeton sounds unbelievable.

Love the 65' Deluxe Reverb Amp. Brilliant!

I have the Bordeaux deluxe and I swear it's the most astheticly pleasing amp ever made. The cannabis rex by eminence really wakes these amps up.

The heart of my home studio is two vintage blackface Princetons (one a Reverb, the other an Amp) in stereo. I don't employ the in-cab speaker of the Reverb, but instead use two outboard 12" speakers wide left and right. I do use the in-cab speaker of the Amp, but it sits on a 2-12" vintage Fender cab (with Jensens) in between the right and left speakers of the Reverb. So "stereo" is in to out, not left to right. For two low-wattage amps, the sound is HUGE, wide and throbbing (I LOVE the trem of the Reverb). When setting up this rig (which literally took years, as I slowly re-habbed the amps and acquired speakers) I was VERY careful to phase everything correctly, which is dead critical for an array like this. End result - I have never heard a better in-studio sound. There may be its equal somewhere, but I can't imagine one could be better, for my tastes, at least. The cleans are to die for, and I get my dirt from pedals (a Allums-modded Boss SD-1and a Super Crunch box in series these days). The "stereo" (as opposed to mono x 2) is a product of the stereo out of a TC Nova Delay last on the board. In combination they are sweet enough to put one in a diabetic coma and if you desire, loud enough to make your ears bleed. All of which is to lend credence to me saying that as much as I generally enjoy your demos (I listen to the Les Paul Jr and related guitars video over and over) this one absolutely does not do justice to what the Princeton Reverb has to offer. This is not to criticize, but to sing the praises of the Princeton Reverb as a GREAT foundation for a rig that will yield any sound at all - from crystalline to Zep/Stones/AC/DC (nope - won't quite do metal) and from Nashville cleans to throbbing swamp boogie. Go for it - you won't be disappointed...

this is the best amp i ever bought. I got the one with a Jensen g12-65 speaker. Not sure how much of a difference that makes compared to the stock speaker, but sound good to my ears.

Great little song there at the end, thank you Neville!

Used the Deluxe to test out a guitar I eventually bought back in 2012. Still saving up to buy the amp in 2018. Le sigh....

Great demo and great playing. The Deluxe Reverb is my fav combo. Twin Reverb is awesome for sure but too much for home playing. I had a Hot Rod Deluxe with a Celestion Vintage 30 and the treble mod that had great tone, but the clean on it can't compete with the '65 DR. OK, '59 Bassman is the cat's ass. Tone Monster!!

It's so classic and simple. If you want to have driven signal - please play LOUD :D

The last song, is AWESOME. Very nicely done.

Crikey that deluxe must have been loud at 10! Love the track at the end. I have the deluxe and really should have got the princeton for home use, still love it though :)

Best demo of (ANYTHING) on RU-vid EVER. Watching this made me want to play my guitar tonight. Thanks for such a professionally done demo of these two storied amps. I own a BFPR made in Apr 1966. A honey dripper for sure, and a blast to play. Whenever I play at home now I do it only through headphones (apt living / neighbors, etc). I miss cranking my amps. Again, thanks for this excellent demo, so well done! I'm off to "wanker heaven"... (under headphones).

Great review Neville I personally like a 12" speaker so I went with the Fender deluxe reverb 22watts and never regretted it, thanks for all the reviews you do so well.

Why would you add "a bit of desk reverb and delay" when you are demonstrating an amp that has reverb? So helpful to not know if you are hearing the amp's verb or the added delay. GRRRR

One of the most brilliant demos ever! One of These Nights!!!

I have never really been a fan of Fender amps past the tweed era, but seeing a local band play with a Princeton Reverb opened my eyes to the possibilities of the blackface amps. However, I think what I would probably prefer is a Princeton Reverb with a 12" speaker, over the stock 10 or the Deluxe. It should be a simple matter to make up a new baffle cut for a 12 and fit it with a Celestion AlNiCo Blue. Currently, I play a Rickenbacker 330 into a Mesa F-50 fitted with 12AU7s in the preamp, KT66HPs in the power section, and a Celestion Vintage 30 driver.

Ive built quite a few amps and this circuit design is one of my favorites.

I have always found the sweet spot on either channel of the DR to be 4 on the treble and 5 on the bass. Clip the bright 75pf cap that is on the volume pot on the vibrato channel. And put a Celestion Vintage 30 8ohm replacement speaker in there. You can also get a nice tonal improvement by replacing the output tubes (valves) with new Tung-Sol output tubes and have them biased to 65% of there maximum output dissipation which is 14 watts. Obviously if you’re not used to this kind of work have a qualified technician do it for you. The combination of all these mods that I listed will make a huge difference in tone. All for the better. Also an Eminence Cannabis Rex is a great sounding speaker replacement that sounds great in the Deluxe Reverb for a bit less money. Especially in the DRRI.

for new amps they sound great. the differences that folks notice between the originals and the reissues it the originals are well broken in. the speakers are worn in and the componets have drifted over time but these offer up great potential at a fraction of the price for a vintage 64 or 65 version.

Finally a review that does not put a pedal in front of it for an amp review lol, we all know fender amps take pedals well and we all just want to hear the Amos natural breakup, so this is why this guy has the best review on these amps

Happened to stumble across this. Great review and nice playing. I have the same exact Fender DRRI and I feel like this video has done it more justice than any other.

The last track was so Eagles. loved it.

Best amplifier demo I've seen in RU-vid. Ok, I'm a bit biased, I play Telecaster / Deluxe Reverb...

Outstanding overview 👏👏👏

Would love to see how a Princeton 12” sounds in this comparison but, really, how can you go wrong with either of these amps?

Great job- been thinking of adding a princeton to the collection. When it got to the end where you were jamming the deluxe-I was super glad I bought one! Gret tones, and your style of demo is perfect.

I absolute love them both

In listening to the last song on the 335, the Guitar and DRRI amp would be perfect for covering “One of These Nights” by The Eagles.

Both of us in the band use Fenders. One of us used a super reverb (actually selling to get a deluxe for ease of size.) Fenders sound best clean for sure. However, we both use Lots of pedals and cleaner the better when using pedals. Usually have the amp around 3-4 for gigs/practice

Best comparion od the PR and DR on youtube

I do love little amps...and this guy have a great taste for sounds and plays just awesome !!

You guys do the best demoes on you tube.

Great demo of my two favourite amps,

Great demo, wonderful sounds

It was difficult to concentrate on the comparison because the music was just so enjoyable. I think the Princeton wins though. Beautiful tones.

Outstanding demo and outro Neville!

I play jazz in small venues and I was thinking about getting a Blues Junior for the longest time, but now that I see the Princeton and the built in trem, I think I might need to change my plans. I know you're doing a lot of strumming to show the natural break up for blues and rock, but can the Princeton also keep it clean for jazz?

Fabulous final Bluesy Jam Neville Great playing!

That deluxe reverb on the clean side when its cranked sounds really tight on my crappy speakers.

Even at a gig you're never going to have a Deluxe Reverb on 10, that's insane. Good demo tho!

Tested both today, liked so much better the Princeton, more presence and definition

I own a handwired clone of the PR with a 12" 100db/a AlNiCo speaker. It is a perfectly great amp. Not boxy at all and VERY loud when turned up. Setting the bass to 2-3 when playing at volume settings above 5-6 helps ...

Just a quick LIKE!!! from a fellow guitarist. Very tasty and informative. Use a 65 deluxe ri myself. Changed the speaker to a vintage Jensen and removed the bright cap from the clean channel - my main amp on many hundreds of produced tracks. All the best; Peter

Excellent demo! Both sound great. Thanks.

Great video and love your playing!!!!!

Firstly, excellent demo/comparison of these 2 beautiful, iconic amps. Secondly, I absolutely must know how you achieved that "octaved" effect on the red 335 riff. What did you use? Mesmerising sound. Thanks!

came here for a demo of the amp to hear what it sounds like. never heard of this model before, much less heard one played through... anyway I went back to reading comments on another video about someone cloning this as diy, and left this playing... remarkably groovy demo at the end there... particularly like that run from 12:03.

Love the color...

fuck they both sound so heavenly

really nice... if only others could learn from your demos

Love that jam at the end !!

said it before, you guys have some of the best demos on YT. great work and great playing. I'm curious how loud it was right beside the amps with them on 10? seems like it would be kinda unbearable? and could you notice a perceived volume difference between the two when they were cranked? i.e. 22 vs 15 watts?

Stopped by for the amps and stayed for the nice playing.

What kind of mic is that?

I want the Sonic Blue Princeton on Musicians Friend so bad!!!

Absolutely great demo! Thank you!

Had to hear that final twice. So bluesy awesome :)

I love this oganic overdrive so much

I agree one of the best demo and great playing too !!!

that Gibson sure sounded great - 2 great amps

very nicely done so what kind of harmonizer reusing there at the end? and I agree with some of the other comments all save my money and get an old one but they did very nice but a lot of it was the playing have these days in the lot of clubs at Princeton of the deluxe is about as load as you can get. I have a real nice hand wired Tweed Deluxe clone and it rarely gets to be turned up above three in small clubs I'm thinking about a Princeton

The DR, hands down for me. Thank you for this demo for it really showed the differences in the amp. The Princeton reminds me of my Vox AC15 (though I think I like the Vox better due to the its "jangle"). Well done!

Nice one Nev ... great tones !!!

anyone else grooving hard to that little jam at the end haha

Amazing amps. a dream for E guitar players.

Wow! Good review, man. Sounds great and camera work is amazing! I do reviews, too, and I’m learning a thing or two from you! Thanks!

great demo, thanks!

Can't think of when I've ever had a fender on 10 vol. and also had bass on 10. That being said, 1 of best tones I got was 4 princetons...2 brown face, 1 blackface white knob (killer of the bunch) and Black/silver w/reverb all daisychained---into brown high, out of brown low to high of next, and so on, ending in reverb. crank em all, (bass never past 5-7) more like 3-5, fed from old ts9...sustain allll over the neck, just work guitar knob. Ah, to have another friend that owns a vintage music shop, sigh.

Well i have to admit this does not lead me to go down the Fender amp route. I once owned a Twin in the seventies and hated it, but being older and a bit wiser have often thought that it was probably me as loads of people rave about them. Since those days I have owned many amps, all valve and all different but I am still yet to be convinced by Fender amps.

Important to note that this limited edition deluxe reverb has one major difference from the regular deluxe reverb(aside from look). It uses a 40w Jensen alnico speaker instead of the regular 100w Jensen ceramic speaker, so it has less headroom and less overall volume…and breaks up a bit earlier and more so than a regular model.

Very nice demo sir.

Excellent video. Thank you very much!!!

Yes please for Xmas

A very nice demo. Perhaps a DB/SPL meter would show just how loud the amp is.

Great demo!

Wow, never had my DRRI over 5 without loudness complaints, I can’t imagine being at 10 and that close. I used to have a Pro Jr I could push to 10 but it was loud even not playing it. Good clean up on any ambient amp noise at those volume settings.

Nice funky playing.

This is a great amp and demo.

Great comparison video!! Both are nice sounding, I prefer the deluxe reverb with the 12 inch speaker

Great tele

I've have a Princeton Reissue for one year or so. Always had the treble base and volume at 6 or near. Have not been too happy with the tone. Looking for a more bluesy sound. I don't like using pedals. This video shows the base and volume at 10 with the treble around 7 to 8. I like the sound. I will control the volume and play with the tone with my guitar. Playing tonight and plan to use these settings. Thanks.

Nice play out at the end.

Your style is awsume sounding!!!,,,very fresh

interesting demo of the two amps. I don't understand why you'd add post effects for the track at the end. Frustrating to me (just my opinion. You're playing is great)! otherwise, nice demo.

Looking for a new amp and this sounds the business. Great demo too with real playing :)

Sounds great well done