AA1164 Princeton Reverb Style Component Pack – Reverb Only, Excludes the Tremolo

The components to hand-wire the 1964–67 Fender AA1164 Princeton Reverb circuit with the tremolo deleted: one channel with Volume, Treble and Bass, Fender spring reverb and a pair of 6V6s through a 5U4GB rectifier into a 10" speaker. Values are checked against RobRobinette's AA1164 "Tremolo Deleted" layout, with Hammond transformers suited to Australian 240V mains.

About the project

The blackface Princeton Reverb is one of the most loved small Fenders: around 12–15 watts, a big clean tone at bedroom and studio volumes, and one of the best-sounding reverbs Fender ever made. This version drops the tremolo. That frees half of V4 (the old tremolo oscillator), removes the tremolo's load on the signal and makes the build simpler, with fewer leads to dress around the preamp.

The signal path runs: input > V1A gain stage > blackface tone stack (fixed 6.8k mid) > Volume > V1B > V2 12AT7 reverb driver and 4AB3C1B tank > V3A recovery > reverb mix > V3B third gain stage > V4B split-load phase inverter > 6V6GT push-pull output. Bias is fixed but not adjustable: it is set by a 22k divider resistor, and a lower value gives a hotter bias.

What makes this pack different

• Built for Australia: Hammond 291AEX power transformer (125P1B equivalent) with a 240V primary, no death cap, ground switch or AC outlet
• A drill pattern has been provided to help with turret board
• 1W metal oxide resistors throughout (1W carbon film on the input jacks), 2W and 3W metal oxide for the dropping resistors
• Bias feed split into 2 x 47k so no resistor runs above its voltage rating
• Evatco coupling and tone caps, silver mica treble, reverb and bright caps
• JJ 40/20/20/20uF 500V filter can, with the 40uF section on the first node for a firmer low end
• Includes sockets, shields, retainers, jacks, switch, pilot lamp  – not just the board parts

Specifications

Circuit	Fender AA1164 Princeton Reverb, tremolo deleted
Output	Approx. 12–15W into 8 ohm
Valves	3 x 12AX7, 1 x 12AT7, 2 x 6V6GT (matched), 1 x 5U4GB
Controls	Volume, Treble, Bass, Reverb
Inputs	2 (High and Low)
Reverb	12AT7 driven, 4AB3C1B long 2-spring tank, footswitchable
Speaker outputs	Main (shorting) and Aux, 8 ohm
Mains	240V AC, 50Hz, slow-blow fuse
Bias	Fixed, set by a 22k divider resistor

What's in the pack

Transformers and tank

• Hammond 291AEX power transformer, 120/240V primary (125P1B equivalent)
• Hammond 1750E output transformer, 8.5k:8 ohm, 15W (125A10B equivalent)
• Hammond 1750A reverb driver transformer (125A20B equivalent)
• MOD 4AB3C1B long 2-spring reverb tank

Valves

• 3 x JJ 12AX7 / ECC83S
• 1 x JJ 12AT7 / ECC81
• 1 x Electro-Harmonix 6V6GT matched pair
• 1 x JJ 5U4GB

Capacitors

• 1 x JJ 40+20+20+20uF 500V filter can, with clamp
• 5 x 25uF 50V axial electrolytic (cathode bypass)
• 1 x 33uF 160V axial electrolytic (bias filter)
• Metal Film Capacitor: 3 x 0.1uF, 1 x 0.047uF, 2 x 0.022uF, 1 x 0.0033uF
• 3 x silver mica 500V: 250pF, 500pF, 10pF

Resistors

• 3 x 1W carbon film on the input jacks: 2 x 68k grid stoppers, 1 x 1M grid leak
• 1 x 3W metal oxide 1k – power supply dropping resistor, node A to B
• 2 x 2W metal oxide 18k – power supply dropping resistors, node B to C and C to D
• 2 x 3W metal oxide 470R – power tube screen resistors (an upgrade, not on the original circuit)
• 26 x 1W metal oxide:
  • 5 x 100k – V1A, V1B, V3A and V3B plate loads, tone stack slope
  • 4 x 1.5k – V1A, V1B, V3A and V3B cathodes
  • 3 x 220k – power tube grid leaks (2), V3A grid leak
  • 2 x 1M – V2 grid leak, phase inverter grid leak
  • 2 x 56k – phase inverter plate and tail loads
  • 2 x 47k – bias feed, in series
  • 1 x 1k – phase inverter cathode
  • 1 x 2.2k – V2 reverb driver cathode
  • 1 x 2.7k – negative feedback
  • 1 x 47R – negative feedback tail
  • 1 x 6.8k – fixed mid resistor
  • 1 x 22k – bias voltage divider
  • 1 x 470k – reverb attenuation
  • 1 x 3.3M – reverb mix
• 1 x 1N4007 bias rectifier diode

Controls and switches

• Alpha pots: 1 x 1M audio, 2 x 250k audio, 1 x 100k linear
• Heavy duty DPST power switch

Sockets, jacks and hardware

• 4 x B9A ceramic sockets with shield base, plus 4 x valve shields
• 3 x Fender-style ceramic octal sockets, plus 3 x octal retainer clips
• 3 x Switchcraft 12A jacks (2 inputs, main speaker), 1 x Switchcraft 11 (aux speaker)
• 3 x Switchcraft RCA jacks (reverb pan in/out, reverb pedal)
• 3AG fuse holder and slow-blow fuse, cable gland
• Fender-style pilot lamp holder, red jewel and #47 bulb
• Turret board blank, forked turrets, tag strips, grommets and earth lugs
• Vintage cloth pushback wire, shielded wire, heater wire, buss wire and speaker plug

Not included

• Chassis and 1x10 cabinet
• Knobs (A personal choice)
• 3-core 240V mains lead
• RCA reverb tank leads and footswitch
• Speaker – the Jensen C10R 10" 8 ohm is the original-style fitment and is available separately

Circuit reference: RobRobinette's AA1164 Princeton Reverb pages.

Need help choosing valves or a speaker? Contact us or call 0428 679 676.