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Fender Princeton Stereo Chorus Reviews  3 / 5 based on 2 reviewsI bought this from a 72 year old guy that I know who said he used it to gig at nursing homes (and he only drives his car to church on Sundays... yeah... right). He wanted $100.00 for it, but I found out the distortion channel was blowing chunks. When I kicked in the distortion, it started squealing like it was about to explode. I ducked for cover and assumed the fetal position as my ears were tearing to shreds from this horrible noise eminating from this amp. He said he never used the distortion and wasn't aware of its problems (there goes that church on Sundays thing again). I offered him $20.00 and he took it.
I love the fact that I only paid $20.00 for it and after opening it I found a bent up staple had somehow fallen into the gain pot and was shorting it out. I removed the staple and the distortion channel worked again. The clean channel and the reverb are typical Fender... really nice. The chorus allows some real neat tones too. Mix in the limp-wristed distortion and you can have some fun with it.
The distortion is weak. You can get some decent blues tones out of it, but its not for metal heads. With the distortion on, it hisses like any other Fender product. I swear Fender must do this on purpose. Every damned Fender product out there has this annoying hiss. I wish Fender would stop that. Thank God for every other manufacturer out there! I can only think of one other amp, other than any Fender product, that hisses and that was on one Peavey Studio 112. The back side of the amp states its a USA model but it has the black knobs!!?! I've read the black knobs indicate a Mexican made and the red is a USA one!?!?!?!?!
Seems to be okay... I went to the Fender site and found that this model was made in January of 1995. I'm supposed to be the third owner. There are no marks on it whatsoever. The tolex was filthy, but after cleaning it, its in "new" condition, The chrome corners are shiny and bright. All the black (I wish they were red) knobs work smoothly and there is no "snap-crackle-pop" when you turn them.
Its a decent practice amp, but I can't see this thing making it over any more of a gig than a coffee house setting without a drummer. It has 51 watts bridged and 25.5 watts stereo through 2-10 inch Eminence made Fender "custom" speakers. Its a good starter amp for a beginner to intermediate player who doesn't have too much money to spend. Personally I wouldn't give $150.00 for it new, but I see them selling used for more than that on EBay. Go Figure. Bill C. rated this unit on 2003-03-13. Bought at Guitar Center for about $500 to use as a home practice amp.
Clean sound; chorus and overdrive are OK
The input jacks are connected via a plastic backing. This results in the jack becoming disconnected after some usage. I've had the amp two years, play it a few times per week and have already had to get the input jacks repaired. The repair shop said they see these all the time from Fender because the construction is poor.
The speakers have excellent tone and the cabinet is fairly sturdy except for the face-plate where the input jacks are mounted.
Great sounding amp, but the cheap quality of the input jack means you'll be bringing it to the shop all the time Joe rated this unit on 2001-10-12.
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