Dead in the water Princeton Reverb Amp

[royb1953]

I have a vintage Fender Princeton Reverb amp. It was playing fine until one day it came on but no sound! Is this a power tube issue and if so, how do I find out?

[52 Bill]

This could be any one of a million different problems.

Start by ruling out the simple stuff. Check all guitar cables, etc. Check the guitar. Then check the speaker and speaker wiring. If all of this is ok, then move on to the amp itself.

First check the tubes. Do they all light up and look fairly normal? In a Princeton it would be rare for both of your output tubes to fail at the same time, so I would first check the rectifier tube. If the rectifier dies, the front pilot lamp will still light up, but there will be no high voltage available for the amp to run on. If you have no way to test the tube, try substituting another one in its place. If this doesn't bring it back to life, then it's time to pull the chassis if you are qualified.

Or it's time to take it in to the shop. Let us know what you find.

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

I have a vintage Fender Princeton Reverb amp. It was playing fine until one day it came on but no sound! Is this a power tube issue and if so, how do I find out?

If the fuse is OK and the speaker is plugged in, probably a bad speaker or dead preamp tube but the #1 issue with these seems to be the 1 watt 1000 ohm screen node resistor.
They blow up all the time.
Far left side of the eyelet board close to the filter cap.

[royb1953]

re: Fender Princeton dead in the water

Ok, guys, and thanks!! Yes the speaker itself is ok, cuz I slaved it to my Behringer GX212 and it worked just fine. Not good at electronics, but I have a bud that will check out the tubes and things for me. Will let you know!