Who of you own a Fender Blues Junior

G

gtds

New member
Hi

If you have owned or currently have one of these amps, can you please let me know what your experiences have been....

1.) How do you rate it?
2.) What styles does it cover (will it do Zep, Jimi, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Teletubbies..)?
3.) Have you had any problems with it I should be aware of?

PS - This would be my first tube amp. I would mainly use it for recording and practising. I currently own a Peavey TransTube Blazer so I am aware that it will be alot louder.

Thanks
gtds
 
I recorded one last weekend. It was a pretty sweet little amp. The guy mainly plays blues on his telecaster and it got a nice sweet dirty sound.

It has more volume than it can handle and relatively low noise.

I hooked up my Les Paul just to play with it and it sounded great. The distortion on it is best for a dirty sound. For heavy rock I would still use a pedal or rack for distortion. It's only one channel so you would need that anyway if you want to switch tones at a live gig.

We tried his TubeScreamer pedal with the LP and it sounded awesome.

Overall its a great amp.
 
...back to the top!

I thought I'd put this thread back to the top of the list.

I'm quite surprised no one else has any input on this. Surely there must be some Blues Junior users in this forum...?

gtds

PS - TexRoadKill ...thanks for your reply...
 
Blues Junior

I picked up a Blues Junior a while ago and when I have it in my room with my Blues DeVille 2x12 I always went to the DeVille for the better sound. But then I took it to Guitar camp and in different surroundings I really enjoyed the hell out of it. The size is perfect to haul around and there is plenty of volume to jam with, may be not a gig, but in the right situation I am sure it would work for that also. I got a lot of help at the Fender Forum about it and it is very popular there but the two reoccuring problems were described as a hiss in the reverb at full to moderate use and a frame rattle. It seemed about 50 % of the people had problems but mine is just fine. Many of the users were changing out the stock tubes with others and some reccomended a company called eurotubes. Another popular mod is a speaker switch with a whole host of opinions about the proper choice for that. I would not choose this amp at this point in my life if I could only have one but I sure do enjoy having it around and do not see myself selling it anytime soon. For the price I feel it is a good choice. But I am getting the hunger for a 65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue for it's Fender clarity......:D
 
I've been seriously thinking of getting one of these. I have a Blues Deluxe. I love it, but it's just too damn heavy to lug around to every practice.

The Blues Jr. looks tempting, but it also looks so similar to the Deluxe I wonder if I'll stop using it altogether.

I've also looked at the Pro Junior. A tiny amp with only volume & tone. Never going to be anyone's "real" amp, but it might be perfect for practice.

Anyone use this?
 
Get one!!! These amps kick the monkey's pink butt. Great clean sound, awesome crunch sound. My only complaint is the 10" speaker, but you can hook it up to a 12 if you prefer. They're awesome!

rory
 
rory said:
Get one!!! These amps kick the monkey's pink butt. Great clean sound, awesome crunch sound. My only complaint is the 10" speaker, but you can hook it up to a 12 if you prefer. They're awesome!

rory
Click to expand...

You're talking about the Pro Junior?
 
the blues jr rules...i have two. i have the new tweed limited edition with the jensen and the basic black tolex one. they both have a different sound because of the speaker. i like the black one for a really dirty blues sound and the tweed for a cleaner sound woth a tighter low end. they both kick ass.

interestingly...i tried a pro junior and wasnt impressed but many people seem to love them. i did recently pick up a 65 RI deluxe reverb and that amp kicks serious ass but it has a different sound than the BJrs.

im now in the market for a princeton reverb.
 
gtds said:
Hi

If you have owned or currently have one of these amps, can you please let me know what your experiences have been....

1.) How do you rate it?
2.) What styles does it cover (will it do Zep, Jimi, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Teletubbies..)?
3.) Have you had any problems with it I should be aware of?
Click to expand...

I have one, and it's a cool little amp. Its only prob (if you can call it a prob, since it wasn't designed for it) is that it doesn't do clean very well. My Les Paul sounds great through it; I like a clean glassy sound from my Strat, and it won't do that.
 
ggunn said:
I have one, and it's a cool little amp. Its only prob (if you can call it a prob, since it wasn't designed for it) is that it doesn't do clean very well. My Les Paul sounds great through it; I like a clean glassy sound from my Strat, and it won't do that.
Click to expand...

ggunn, that's weird becuase I love the clean tones on my blues jr. Mind you, I only have tube amps and can't compare it to a solid state amp. I got one so I wouldn't break my back moving 100 watt combo amps around. I've since discovered it has a great clean & crisp tone when used with my Strats. And when I use it for jazz comping with an H575, I can get a sweet mellow tone from it. Crank up the volume and hit the "fat" switch and you can get a singing tube sustain with a bit of crunch for blues tunes. Put a pedal board in front of it and the little beast want to be a 5150 stack. For 15 watts, this amp is the best thing around in its class and it only weighs in at 30 pounds. Highly recommended for bedroom practice or even small jams.

#1 Strat
Heritage H-575
H150CM
 
It's a small tweed amp and it sounds like one - it's got a less "open" sound than my 2x12 combo but has a gorgeous tone and breakup. Nice to have but I wouldn't want it to be my only amp.
 
Dave_M said:
ggunn, that's weird becuase I love the clean tones on my blues jr. Mind you, I only have tube amps and can't compare it to a solid state amp. I got one so I wouldn't break my back moving 100 watt combo amps around. I've since discovered it has a great clean & crisp tone when used with my Strats. And when I use it for jazz comping with an H575, I can get a sweet mellow tone from it. Crank up the volume and hit the "fat" switch and you can get a singing tube sustain with a bit of crunch for blues tunes. Put a pedal board in front of it and the little beast want to be a 5150 stack. For 15 watts, this amp is the best thing around in its class and it only weighs in at 30 pounds. Highly recommended for bedroom practice or even small jams.
Click to expand...

My main amp is a '65 (original) Deluxe Reverb with a JBL D120; my Blues Jr., while a very fine little amp in its own right, doesn't deliver the sweet glassy clean sound from my Strat in the bridge/middle position that the DR does. Like I said, that's not a slam; it's a different amp for a different job.
 
Here, from another of my posts on the subject:

I think are there still some shortcomings with even the MIM whiteboard Blues Juniors (never mind the numerous serious design problems with the MIA greenboards), but they are all easily remedied. If it were me, I'd look for an old greenboard for around $200 and do Bill Machrone's modifications on it for a few bucks in parts.

A couple of years ago, I bought a spotless, stone mint blonde/oxblood MIA Blues Junior with a brand new set of JJs, some NOS Tung-Sols, a new GB-12 speaker ("The Bomb" for a Blues Junior replacement driver!), the original speaker, the original tubes...all delivered, for $190. I've never done any greenboard upgrading/retrofitting, though I had many conversations with Bill on the FDP about them while he was developing them.

The Blues Junior is an OK amp and in its various upgraded presentations (blonde, tweed, relic, exotic wood) is a very interesting looking piece. It's also very loud for a nominal 15WRMS, especially when upgraded with a more efficient speaker, such as the GB-12. I think the GB-12 adds about 4dB over the stock speaker, which is quite noticeable. It's actually giggable.
Click to expand...
There are serious noise problems with most of the earlier greenboard ones, related to a terrible reverb circuit design and PDB component layout, but as I said, these can be easily repaired and the current whiteboard versions have been corrected. I also find the so-called "FAT" switch more of a "MUD" switch, but this of course depends on what guitar and effects are in front of it. Normally, I don't use effects.

Like I said, it's an OK amp. Not the be-all and end-all, but OK. Most purists I know prefer the Pro Junior.
 
i have one and it's one of those pieces of gear i will NEVER sell. you can overdrive it by turning the volume past about 5 or so; it's also got a killer clean sound. it's as simple as they come: volume and tone - that's it. i use a Nobels OD-1 overdrive pedal, and the combination is just fantastic.

i used to own a fender twin, but sold it b/c it was just too much amp for studio work, and it was heavy as h3ll.
 
mrbowes said:
i have one...
Click to expand...
You're referring to the PRO Junior, not the BLUES Junior, right?
i used to own a fender twin, but sold it b/c it was just too much amp for studio work, and it was heavy as h3ll.
Click to expand...
The Twin-Amp is ridiculous, an anachronism. I bought one brand new on sale a couple of years ago and have never found a use for it except for producing lower back problems. It's way, way too much amp to be in a combo configuaration, especially with only one, badly-placed, handle.

The manifold engineering idiocies of the Twin concept are another thread, however! :)
 
KKM1 said:
i have the new tweed limited edition with the jensen and the basic black tolex one. they both have a different sound because of the speaker.
Click to expand...
They may also have different sounds because they are different amps, if one is a greenboard and one is a whiteboard.
 
I've got a Blues Junior and also a Hotrod Deluxe. Very different animals.

For one thing, the Hotrod has much more power. Also channel switching. The way these 2 amps break up into distortion is completely different. For recording a nice crunchy blues or overdriven rock sound, I prefer the Blues Junior for most things. The Hotrod does clean sounds a bit better, and it's a lot edgier with the overdrive.

There's some interesting info at www.eurotubes.com about tubes and tube amps in general. Basically what this guy does is take JJ european tubes (nice) and he'll do a custom matched set to suit your playing style and amp. He'll sell you a set that will stay clean if you're playing Jazz or country, or a Blues set that will crunch up nice, death metal set for emergency combat amplification... whatever. He's also got some ideas about switching tubes around that I haven't run into before. Ever stick a pair of 6v6's in your Hotrod Deluxe? A bit less power, but way different crunch, apparently. I've never used his tubes, but I've heard good reports from guys that have.

But yeah, I really like the Blues Junior. Nice amp.


sl
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top