Based on a ’62 Princeton that country artist Chris Stapleton has been using for years, and which carries a 12-inch speaker in place of the original 10, this new signature edition follows suit by sporting a 12-inch Eminence speaker in a solid-pine cabinet. The hand-wired circuit also mirrors the original via dual 6V6 output tubes running in fixed bias (a novel feature for a small Fender amp in the early ’60s), combined with a split-phase “cathodyne” phase inverter, which afforded the 6G2 a little more grind at lower volumes than its bigger brother, the brownface 6G3 Deluxe. The CS Edition Princeton features Schumacher transformers and Fender vintage-style “blue” tone caps, and the workmanship, done entirely in California, makes for a sturdy amp that’s easy to service. The protective metal cage around the power tubes is the only reminder that we can never go back to the JFK era.
The ’62 Princeton also looks awesome with its brown textured vinyl covering, brown front panel with dark-brown radio knobs and a stitched-leather handle. There’s also a brass plate on the back with Stapleton’s signature. Weighing in at just 34 pounds and measuring 19 inches wide, 16.5 inches tall and nine inches deep, this amp is an ideal grab-and-go tube rig.
The increased heft of a 12-inch speaker is worth it, too, as the ’62 sounds deliciously full and complex whether played cleanly or wound up to where the output tubes add their own sweatiness to the distortion brew. And this amp gets very aggressive in an old-Marshall kind of stringy/presence-y way when the volume is up to five or higher. Badass! Tested with a Reverend Gristlemaster and a new Gibson Anniversary Les Paul, the ’62 Princeton responded equally well to single-coils and humbuckers and was super easy to dial in with just