Princeton Reverb spring tank dummy load required?

[bent765522]

Hi all, I have a Princeton Reverb style amp that I'm considering putting into a head cab for session work.

The issue that may well arise, I'm told, would be excessive hum from the spring reverb tank's proximity to the amp transformers, if in a head cab. I don't really need the spring reverb on the amp as I run a bunch of pedals to handle reverb and delay.. so my question is, if I install the chassis in a head WITHOUT the spring tank, would I need an 8ohm load connected to the reverb send at all times to avoid stress on the reverb driver etc? (I'm told the input impedance of the spring tank is 8ohm).

Thanks in advance

Ben

[sluckey]

Wouldn't hurt to do that. Much easier to just pull the 12AT7 driver tube.

[martin manning]

The return side of the tank is most susceptible to hum pickup, so the tank orientation may be the key. I would put the return end towards the input end of the chassis, away from the PT. You could easily try that position out by unscrewing the tank and holding it up near the chassis. This might lead you to how far away the tank has to be to avoid hum, and to the height of the head cab you'd need to stay hum free.

[pompeiisneaks]

Yes I had a reeves space cowboy in for repair once, the reverb on that thing is amazing, but it's a head and it had a decent amount of hum, I added some cardboard inside the bag, which helped a little, but what helped most was just trying to rotate it 180deg and then move it back and forth a bit until I had the tank slightly rotated and pushed quite a ways away from the transformers (as best I could with limited space) IT did eventually sound good, just took a lot of work.

~Phil

[sluckey]

Bandmaster Reverb mounted the tank in the bottom of the head. The cab height always looked abnormally tall to me.

Sunn had good results with their reverb tank in a head. Very close. Your results may vary. Best to experiment with the chassis on the bench before committing to any particular head dimensions.

[Stevem]

As posted, just yank the AT7 and continue on with life!

[thetragichero]

make sure it's mounted correct side up for the tank type

[bent765522]

Thanks all for the replies.. I’ll try rotating and nudging the tank position to see if that fixes it. Might not be an issue after all. Would pulling the reverb driver effect the dry tone at all? I know pulling the tremolo tube on blackface trem amps can effect the dry tone by allowing additional current to the preamp tubes, or something like that...

[sluckey]

Would pulling the reverb driver effect the dry tone at all?

Why not pull it and tell us.