I own both of these amps. I prefer the 68. The 65 I cut the treble and boost the bass. The 68 I boost the treble and cut the bass. I actually run together in stereo. It’s magical.

I have the 65 and I think it was the better . The 68 seemed to break up too early and at low volume the clarity of the 65 seemed better to my ears. I really love the warm , clean tone of the 65 PRRI.

I demo the 68 and it had no problem with clean headroom. You have to really crank it to get dirty. The 68 is so warm and lush!! The response is amazing. Brilliant amp.

Thanks for this video. I just bought the 68 and was looking for comparison video. I've noticed that in comparison people use the EQ of both amps in the same manner, but I think the EQ of the 68 works totally different. Although the 68 is more bassy than the 65 it is when you crank up the treble and the bass you get the best clean tones. The 68 is mid heavy and if you crank up the treble and bass you heer less mids and it leans to the 65 but fuller and les sharp.

today i have tried the 68 in the store and it sounds much better than here, very warm and lusch, with enough treble.

I have a 65 PRRI and I absolutely love mine. I was quite surprised to hear how different the 68 modified model sounds in comparison. I love the Fender clean sound, and this 68 model is just not the same from what I am hearing.

Have an original Princeton, bought in '75...perfect, unearthly warm sound took me years to appreciate; when I got it repaired people wanted to buy it. My first ever amp😊

I like the clarity of the 65.

In agreeance with Shane. '65 clean, and '68 overdriven are the winners. If I was buying one, the '65.

Well one thing's for sure, the 68 looks a lot better!

I think the 65 is more of what I'm looking for I love how bright and clean it is. My pedals will sound amazing through it

I have been considering one of these two amps for a while now. I think I like headroom and clarity of the '65 better for my use.

Great demo! The strength of the '65 is straight into the amp, beautiful tone and reverb that Fender is famous for. The '68 may take to distortion pedals better than the '65, but still not a great pedal amp ... gotta go with the '65 reissue!

Man, I was already sold on the '68 by the overdrive comparison but the '68 clean absolutely kicks arse. :)

The 68 is more natural sounding with organic imperfection. I am totally sold.

Thank you Sir, in one simple statement, you have perfectly summarized the difference between the 2 in 2:02. Saves me hours of research to hear the tonal difference.

SAME speakers? Both sound good in their own way, but the 65 has much better clarity, almost hifi sounding. The 65 is almost Voxlike the way it jangles!

Glad you adjusted the treble on the 68. I actually prefer the 65 in this video but own a 68!

It's all about the 65'! I adore Fender for their clean tones! Of corse I use pedals when I want to get dirty but I love staying clean with my Princeton. I'm not a fan of how early the 68' breaks up.

Was considering the 68 until your demo. Very fair and clear advantage to the 65. Would have liked to see you rock the Royal Flush on both too but I think I heard all I needed to. Great comparison!

Wow - completely different! I like them both - I'll take the '65

once you put up the treble on the 68 it became awesome.... i also like hearing the room (it happened in one 65 clip)

You MUST go compare these for yourself at your local music store. Some of the recordings of the '65 vs '68 comparisons are terrible (not this one). Both of these amps sound great, but different. Some people have commented that the '68 sounds like crap in the KZfaq comparisons. It's just the recording. I just got back from checking them out myself and I picked the '65, but the '68 sounded great also, just a bit darker or "thicker." I guess I was taken by the clarity of the '65. If my local shop had not had a '65 for me to compare to, I'm sure I would have bought the '68. I don't see how you could go wrong with either amp. I plan to put pedals in front of my '65. I only have a Tube Screamer at the moment but that's where I am starting.

i always thought the silverfaces were the ones known for clean headroom

'68 sounds muddy even with the treble pushed a bit. '65 for me all the way!

Great video Shane! I've owned both amps and still have the 65. I wish I still had the 68 as I have heard that a different speaker can make a big difference. My 68 had so much bass. I didn't know how to get the best out of the amp at the time, so sold it! Keep posting these great vids!

This guy is my hero - he's a lefty with great chops and he plays lush amps too. I just wish he'd sell that butterscotch tele to me.

I originally bought the 68 but ended up exchanging it for the 65. Very difficult decision but the 65 just sounds better. The 68 had better tremolo though.

I prefer the 65 reissue Princeton in this video. However when comparing the 65 Deluxe Reverb and the 68 Custom Deluxe then I prefer the 68. Takes pedals better than the 65 and has the every and vibrato on both channels. I owned the 65 but sold and bought the 68.

Ohh Shane, Shane, Shane, don’t you know the only way to truly do this is ; American Strat with the 65, Mexican Strat with the 68, Kidding, thanks for the work you do!

Got a 65 and at rehearsals I never go past 5 because it kills the drummer! Problem is, this amp is super clean up until this point, and drive pedals don't work very well on a super clean signal. Like he says in the video, he prefers the 68 with the overdrive pedal.

You know me, I'm a dirt guy, but in this demo I prefer the 65 in all cases. Nice demo as always :)

Great Video Shane! | I bought myself a 65 RI almost a year ago. Love It Shane! I'd watched this video several times prior to making that choice too, and this helped me immensely. Now that I am going back and watching it in a different light, as an owner of my 65 RI, I am able to appreciate better, all that you are doing here. I love your work brother, you are a fantastic player. Really tasteful stuff. I know you are just making licks and runs up off the cuff or just noodling around, but your soul is showing, and I love what I can see, hear and all that you are doing. Kudos. Just a note too, or maybe it's a suggestion for a follow-up if you ever get access to both of these amps again, I would have liked it if you'd of thrown that Klon on the 65 too, and do a small section where you take a sec to dial in your preferred sound settings, on each of those amps. that your ears tell you that you like, on each to make them sound as good as you could get them and then show off a bit. But bro, all in all, great, awesome video. | Blessings.

Get both, stereo it up, heavenly.

I'd love to hear the 68 Princeton with a WGS ET10 (little bro to the ET65). The ET10 would probably boost the head room a touch and still keep that pleasant drive character.

Thanks for your shootout. What a huge difference in amps, surprising!

old old video: but i think something was wrong with that '68. the drive tones at 1:55 are just not what you'd expect from this amp, even with it having reduced negative feedback to be a bit dirtier. sounds like something is wrong with ten 30 speaker which is a typical problem for that speaker. i wouldn't say anything but since this video is one of the first that pop up when comparing these amps figured i'd mention it

Very helful video! I ordered a 68 before I saw this and sent it back for the 65. I think the 68 is more of a recording and bedroom amp as a 12 watt amp that starts serious breakup around 4 1/2 is useless at a gig or reherasal with a full band. Also it's very dark and bassy it doesn't have the fender chime.

Thank you for this shootout. I own the 68 and it doesn't break up at all at 4.5. I can get a very clean sound until 5. Then it starts biting a little bit more. Does this come from your guitar? I have an american standard strat from 96.

love my 65 Princeton with Zend drive ..done

I have the 65 version and if you put the volume up to the max it is like the 68 but with more low end clarity and girth.I use a Carl Martin dc drive and a Friedman be OD for filth and the amp really compliments pedals -if you upgrade the internal speaker it is fantastically loud,highly recommended!

Definitely the 65, I am a sucker for that incredible clean. I have an MI Audio Crunch Box, I don't need amp gain! Haha

That 68 custom almost had a tweed break up going on. Not bad if you're into that sound.

Warm and fuzzy = Lovely Clear and glassy = Lovely That's why they made two.

Both sound good but I prefer the 65 for the fullness and clarity of the tone.

I think Fender could have done everyone and themselves a big favour by including a push pull pot to defeat the bright cap on the volume control of the 65. Around 5:20 when you turn the 65 down its shocking how much low end that cap sucks out. The 68 doesn't have one. An eq balancing act as always the two amps can be set closer but you have to be much more radical with the eq on the 68 to achieve the same amount of cut. This is why the 68 is more flattering to drive pedals and boosts, but that low end getting through reduces headroom even more. By making two products more exclusive from each other it does increase the marketing scope sadly, that's what it's about these days.

Nicely played overview. I like both amps but lean towards the '68. Playing through both amps would be ideal.

Also these two amps are chalk and cheese - having played both, the 65 is a dream but I really like the earlier breakup of the 68. Tough call.

It should be noted that the '68 in not intended to be a reissue of the '68; hence the name 'custom '68', not reissue. Quote from Fender: "The ’68 Custom Princeton Reverb also has modified tone circuitry for greater tonal flexibility with pedals and reduced negative feedback for greater touch sensitivity and quicker overdrive onset." In the Fender demo of this amp, they talk about it's 'modern' features. That said, I agree with you, I much prefer the '65 with is intended to be truer to it's '65 heritage.

I think I prefer the sound of the '65, but the '68 sounded much better with the treble turned up..

The 68 sounds broken....

68 is more usable to me, but within the next 11 months I'm sure I'll find a reason to buy the 65 also. They are bought really good. (So I'll Start with the 68.)

As much as I like Shane, his very cool videos and freindly style, I think he was wrong with this one. To dial the amps the same is an error in the first place, since the tone stacks are completely different. The 68 is like a Mesa Boogie I used to have. You should start with treble and bass at 0 and start by adding treble, leaving the Bass at 0, and then add very little amounts of it (bass) to get where you want to.. The treble knob is like some kind of preamp secondary stack, which you have to dial upwards combined with the volume. That's how it was explained in the excellent Mesa Boogie manual (it was an F30), and remember the first Mesa was a Fender on steroïds. That's how it works. Putting everything at noon will make it sound like in this video, crap. Maybe he didn't know that at the time... And a lot of people killed the reputation of this amp on demos like this simply because they didn't know how to use it.

I have the '68. Some say it has too much bass and I agree, that's why I did the very simple R34 mod. Fender added an extra resistor to the tone stack, bypass it and you get to turn the bass down.

Your 65 PRRI appears to be $83. If that's the case I'll take 3, thanks.

Nice demo! I prefer the 65!

I have both and their different, if you can only grab 1 get the 68.This didn't set the EQ right

There's a few variations of this amp that one can choose from though. Each comes with a different speaker. By the way, doesn't the '68 Custom have a different circuit anyway? So, you get a Jensen C10R in the vintage '65 reissue and a flubby sounding Celestion Ten 30 in the Custom. I dig that '65 vintage joint! Either way, I got's to change the speaker in either one of those. A Celestion G10n - 40 or perhaps a Jupiter 10LC comes to mind. I gotta have headroom, but that's just me.

The 68 sounds super muddy in this video... I've heard from '68 owners that they usually keep the bass below 3 because any higher it holds back the clean headroom. But I've also heard that the 68 takes pedals better and flourishes at higher volumes whereas the 65 sounds better clean and at low volumes. I really want one of these amps but so hard to decide between the 2!!!!

Great Demo Shane the 65 sounds better ❤🎸👍

Easily the '65 - super clean tone. With a boost pedal, just adjust treble a bit and it will diver there too - thanks for demo

the 68 sounded muddy until halfway through the video when he turned the treble up, then the 68 kicked in and didn't loose the low end when distorted like the 65 seemed to ....

I like both amps, but if you're plugged straight in the '65 wins pretty easily. The '68 isn't without it's advantages though - the speaker will handle a fair amount of distortion where on the '65 there is a limit as to how much distortion you can use before the speakers sound super harsh, so it has its place.

I've had both when they were first issued. The '65 is hard to beat. The '68 is from the CBS era. Yuck. My '65 now has a 12" Weber in it. Simply amazing. The '65 Reissue is more true to the original Princeton.

Well after reading several more comments and reviewing a ton more video demos I think I'm going to have to flip the Switch and Go with the 65 first. Or maybe I should start calling around find out what store has one of each. Then go out and play them side-by-side. Don't know anymore, Going to have to make that Journey!

Fender 65' prinston sounds overall better IMO. the 68' sounds grainy with low treble or too bassy.

I’m not sure if it was mentioned. The 65 is US made, and the 68 Mexican made. A factor when it comes to holding its value.

At the end when you did the clean tones, it sounded like you had the bass way down or something on the 65. That amp has way more bottom end than that.

I had the ‘68 but it never sounded quite right. I also had to modify it to stop a nasty resonance vibration in the cabinet which is apparently quite common

In small volume I prefer 68's clean fat sound. 65 is too thin for me. However in big volume, 68 becomes too dirty and muffled on the other hand 65 has brilliant overdrive sound. I wonder which one to buy...

Setting the knobs to the same position on both amps doesn't make any sense. Pot values and taper might be different, but who cares? Set them to a good sound on one amp and see if you can duplicate that sound on the other amp. It doesn't matter, if the settings are different...

I picked the 68 after returning a 65. I liked the tube sag on the 68 better. Really liked the tremolo on the 68 a lot too. One issue I have with a lot of my fender amps as well as a two-rock is a bit of mysterious cabinet rattle. Otherwise I'm very fond of the 68 - especially with a telecaster.

If Leo Fender heard these, he would've chucked both of them in the rubbish bin!

65, thanks for the video

As others have already expressed,; very nicely done comparison. AGREE ENTIRELY with you and others, the 65 I prefer over the 68. That said, I got the 68 for $500 new after someone didn't like it for the dark/bass heavy sound. I had the amp worked over; Celestion Gold speaker, changed the volume pot for a bit brighter tone, and had the caps & resistors changed out from the junky type Fender put in to much better quality ones Also, changed the tranny. Yes, a lot of work but now it sounds much nicer and I would stack it against the 65 and like it as much if not better. Fender did a much better job on the 68 Deluxe Reverb and Vibrolux. Don't know what happened on the 68's. Thanks again for the posting.

I know it would sound different there in the studio, but from what I'm hearing on youtube, I would almost say they would sound best if you ran through both. I know the consensus here seems to be that the '65 sounds better, and it certainly does sound less muddy than the '68, but it also sounds less full in the bottom end. '68 -- muddy, '65 -- thin. I get a beautiful, well balanced sound with my '66 Princeton Amp (non-reverb) through a 12' speaker.

Great comparison as always Shane. Results were as expected the 68's always sound darker and break up sooner than the 65. I'm not sure why or how but the 65 has a little more power than the 68 as well [15w vs 12w] . I really don't understand why the 68 exists considering how much better the 65 sounds. The 65 wins by knockout.

I am thinking about getting my first princeton reverb today, i got my first strat two weeks ago

The '68 is just too dirty and dull sounding for me. I found a similar dullness and lack of sparkle on the '68 deluxe reverb too. I ended up getting a '65 deluxe reverb reissue and I love it--the "Fender clean" that my ears want to hear, and an awesome crunch if you can play it that loud.

Thanks for the shootout. I agree, I like the '68. Hey, do you think it sounds good with the Overzoid pedal?

Would love to see you demo the 65 and 68 Deluxes. Not enough headroom for my taste in these little guys, but that 68 Princeton seems to take pedals really well!

I have a 68 and i think it sounds kind of dull and muted without some kind of external EQ. I've been using a Joyo American Sound or a Joyo AC Tone for that. I do really like how the 68 breaks up though! I bought the Joyo pedals after seeing one of Shane's demos. :-)

I have a 68, it's hot a breaks very nice, but too much dark, only sounds good with my telecaster and bass control at cero and high at 10. I changed the speaker to a Jensen pr10 and still sounds muddy!

Great comparison. The 68 seems a lot more muddy when it breaks up.

Do you think these are loud enough for small gigs under 250 people and worship scenarios? Most of the time I would be mic’d.

These amps deserved an American Strat

Personally I am a fan of the 65, if I want distortion I will use a stomp box.

Trying to decide between the two. Cheers mate great video. 🎸🇦🇺💪

I have the 68. The bass is extreme on it. I keep the bass down quite a bit compared to other amps. I really wish I had the other one. It's so much clearer. Where did you have bass and Treble?

The ‘68 is better with the treble on 7 and bass on 3. 5 and 5 is ok for an archtop. I put a Celestion G10 Gold in it. Not really worth doing major surgery on it to “blackface” it. My Tele neck pickup has a lot of fullness clean. I just posted a demo on my KZfaq

Wonderful demo!! Thank you!

I wanna like the 68 with the bassman circuit but man that one just doesn't sound right at all. I would love to hear what they sound like with a 12" greenback. Might have to go to a deluxe. I really want the bassman circuit but I don't know if 12 watts would cut it. I also have heard they have a rattling problem. Don't know what that's about. I want something to go wet/dry with my Friedman pt20.

Your theme music reminds me of the transition music in the show "Ask This Old House". :-)

Is there more clean headroom on input 2 on the '68?

I just played a 68 and this representation of it doesn't sound right at all.

Nice video...Did you actually buy both models? What's interesting, is the 65 sounded fuller to me than the 68 model during the clean playing at the start of the video, but towards the end of the video (with clean settings) it seemed to be reversed. Not sure if all the settings were consistent, but both amps had their advantages, in my opinion. I am currently considering a Princeton amp to buy, primarily for recording cleaner (and warmer) overdrive sounds when you push the power tubes, as opposed to pushing the pre amp tubes. I have a Mesa Boogie Mark IV, and that amp sounds great for the high gain stuff, but the clean channel has so much headroom, it won't overdrive, and the crunch channel (channel 2) is a little too heavy for the sound that I am looking for. I always liked the Princeton amps, and love the way the Black face models look...Again, nicely done on the video. Phil NYC Area

Neither of these are "original", they're both reissues. Reissuing these 2 amps separately is totally a gimmick by Fender because way until the mid-70s the PR still had the exact same circuit as the black face amp. Sure it had a 5U4 rectifier later but with either rectifier tube that amp pulls far too little current to create any sag/compression whatsoever. By the way the reason the PR has half the watts or the DR with the same power tubes is because of the half-tail phase inverter, which is not known to distort in a good way musically. Remember in 1965 people were playing surf music, big clean sound.

Because of your review of the Roland Blues Cube Artist 1x12, I purchased the amp. It was an upgrade from the Line 6 Spider IV 15 I had. The BCA still blows all expectations. This review is making the Princeton Reverb 1965 RI sound great. I will buy one for sure soon! You have any other suggestions i should consider minus peavey ( peavey isnt sold through my local store)

Which of these is best with a Tele for classic country?

Question.. Do you find extraneous noise on the 68' custom? The reason I ask.. I tried one out at a local store, heard a noise and had it checked by the tech. We found it improved if the tubes were held in place. The store then ordered in a second to see if it was better. That one, when played on 4 and you play a low note between F# and A, created a weird metallic noise in the chassis. So the store returned both and got two more in.. I never even got to hear them because the salespeople tried them and reported to me it was the noise. At low volume. I realize there will be the noise of the amp breaking up, as well as there can be other noises with the baffle board etc.. But all the demos (and this one was quite good, I feel) make the amp sound great. So.. I ask.. Did you find odd amp noises? I'm just amazed 4 so far and all making that weird low note noise in the chassis.