Jump to content

Fender Blues Junior Opinions!


burton4snow

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 55
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Members

 

Originally posted by burton4snow

Looking for a tube amp for Classic Rock and Blues

 

 

 

 

The Blues Jr. is a cool sounding el84 based amps. The earlier models had rattle and revrb noise problems. I think they fixed those problems in the recent MIM models but I dont know for certain. Someone else here will prol' ring in with the answer to that.

 

Have you tried the Peavey Classic 30? More watts (also uses EL84's) and headroom. . Has cool blues and classic rock tones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Great little amp that is surprisingly very loud for a small amp. Sounds great with my strat. With my LP it sounds muddy. I have one of the older models (over 10 years old and no problems). if the newer ones are improved on that I dont think you can go wrong. Also a reasonable price for a solid tube amp. I bought a Marshall 1974X for my LP and unfortunately after about 8 hours use on the thing it has now been sitting with a marshall authorized repair guy for the last 2 weeks with a blown power transformer. Its 18 watts and sounds great when it plays, but after having my fender amps last so long without problems, this has been nothing but a complete frustration to me. Also paid over $2,000 for the amp. Marshall claims that they had a bad batch of PT's and have since corrected the problem, so the replacement should solve the problem. Its got a 5 year warranty so I have time to see or if not sell it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Originally posted by burton4snow

Looking for a tube amp for Classic Rock and Blues

 

I think they excel at Blues but you'll be able to pull off some decent rock tones as well with your pedals. Try them out first because the one I actually got off the internet (to save a buck) was a dog and one (of the few) I played in the store had a broken reverb unit. I have a Vox AC15CC, notorious for breaking down, so I bought the warranty just incase. The 5 year Fender warranty may save yo butt.

 

:thu:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I liked my Laquered tweed blues junior so much I kept it for 3 weeks before returning it to Guitar center,you wanna know why it went back?? It was awesome looking,had a great build and speaker,had a nice warm clean too,,but......I played a Crate V16 Palomino and damn near pissed my pants! The Crate has the warmth,the nice look,lots of balls when push and made in the US ,Dont get me wrong,I liked the blues junior,but the Crate won the battle!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Originally posted by favata5

I liked my Laquered tweed blues junior so much I kept it for 3 weeks before returning it to Guitar center,you wanna know why it went back?? It was awesome looking,had a great build and speaker,had a nice warm clean too,,but......I played a Crate V16 Palomino and damn near pissed my pants! The Crate has the warmth,the nice look,lots of balls when push and made in the US ,Dont get me wrong,I liked the blues junior,but the Crate won the battle!

 

 

 

I agree with this 100% In fact, head to head, I thought the Traynor YCV-20 WR was nicer than the Blues Junior, and the Palomino better still. However, I understand from the Fender Forum that there are several mods (i.e. Billm mods) that will really bring the BJ to life. I like the DRRI better than any of these.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Originally posted by tlbonehead

Small,boxy,muddy,middy,with horrible overdrive. And cheaply built from what I've seen.

 

You must really hate the Blues Jr. to post that three times. ;)

 

 

They're decent little, lightweight amps. They really should be modded though as they can really shine with mods. Check out the BillM mods. A tech would probably charge around $100 for the parts and labor.

 

But it all depends on what you want to use the amp for. If it's for bedroom practice, it's way too loud. That's why I sold my modded BJ. If it's for jamming with others or gigging, it'll work well.

 

But I can't help but think that there are better options out there for similar dough. I'd check out:

 

Crate Palamino

Carvin Vintage 16

Peavey Classic 30

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Originally posted by AtomHeartMother



You must really hate the Blues Jr. to post that three times.
;)


They're decent little, lightweight amps. They really should be modded though as they can really shine with mods. Check out the BillM mods. A tech would probably charge around $100 for the parts and labor.

 

The tubes in a BJ should allow for mods that approximate the 18-watt Marshall...a killer configuration.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Originally posted by AtomHeartMother



You must really hate the Blues Jr. to post that three times.
;)


They're decent little, lightweight amps. They really should be modded though as they can really shine with mods. Check out the BillM mods. A tech would probably charge around $100 for the parts and labor.


But it all depends on what you want to use the amp for. If it's for bedroom practice, it's way too loud. That's why I sold my modded BJ. If it's for jamming with others or gigging, it'll work well.


But I can't help but think that there are better options out there for similar dough. I'd check out:


Crate Palamino

Carvin Vintage 16

Peavey Classic 30

The site is slow and my patience is low.:wave:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Stock I would have to say that the Crate Palomino is better than the Blues Junior. More presence and a better build quality. The Blues Junior does beat out the Palomino in two areas: The reverb is slightly better with the BJ and the BJ is a little less heavy.

 

But if we're talking about a tweed Blues Junior (better speaker) modded by Bill Macrone (I mailed it to him and he did all his mods for around 120 bucks)...Well, it's my favorite amp and I own about 7 tube amps.

 

Check out his website for more info....

 

Basically he installs a bias control. Blues Juniors are biased way too hot. Some sort of factory flaw. He also adds orange drop capacitors and reworks the tone stack. Gets rid of the boxy sound. Finally he adds a presence control that really helps get the mud out.

 

It sounds like a "boutique amp" The first item I'd run to if my house was on fire.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...