Members Honky-Tonk Posted March 4, 2008 Members Share Posted March 4, 2008 I want to mod my Blues Jr. I like the way it works and sounds, but it just needs a little tweaking that can't be performed with simple knob tweaking. First I want to get a better speaker. Looking at Celestions: the blue one, vintage 30, or greenback, maybe a Jenson. I like the breakup threshold of the stock speaker, but it is way too bright! Maybe the celstion blue wouldn't be the best choice for a high breakup threshold, but I heard the AC15 with the blue speaker, and really liked the results. The three band eq doesn't seem to do much to boost bass, or cut the highs. Next I was looking at replacing the tubes, because I've read of people doing that with the intention of improving sound quality. So, what's wrong with the groove tubes that the amp comes with. GT are rated as high as other brands on musicians friend, but I don't really trust those reviews anyway. Most other brands were around the same price as GTs, give or take a few dollars, there were a few that were relatively expensive. I understand that various types of preamp tubes will effect the breakup point/clean headroom; maybe I'm wrong; my jr. has 12ax7 preamp tubes. I am not knowledgeable about powertubes, other than that my jr. has EL-84s. I feel that upgrading the speaker will probably be my best bet, but wouldn't mind experimenting with tubes once, I have done this. After speakers, and tubes, I was interested in some internal upgrades. New caps, and perhaps a new tone circuit. Nothing too involved, I would like to keep the amp as close to stock as possible; at least superficially anyway. So, please educate me about the sonic possibilities of the Blues Jr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted March 5, 2008 Members Share Posted March 5, 2008 Did you try Omega. They made my friend's Hot Rod tolerable to listen to! It actually sounds pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted March 5, 2008 Members Share Posted March 5, 2008 Read everything this man says. When it comes to modding a Blues Junior, he is god. Better yet just mail him your chassis and throw money at him. Seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Honky-Tonk Posted March 5, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 5, 2008 Did you try Omega. They made my friend's Hot Rod tolerable to listen to! It actually sounds pretty good. I talked to a guy tonight that mentioned Omega. I'll check it out, and I'll check out the link on the post below yours. The guy I talked to tonight pretty much suggested I sell my jr. and buy a real amp; like a handwired, point to point, copy of a Fender deluxe reverb. For around $1000, how can I argue!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metalfanat1c Posted March 5, 2008 Members Share Posted March 5, 2008 I talked to a guy tonight that mentioned Omega. I'll check it out, and I'll check out the link on the post below yours. The guy I talked to tonight pretty much suggested I sell my jr. and buy a real amp; like a handwired, point to point, copy of a Fender deluxe reverb. For around $1000, how can I argue!? You can get a NEW Deluxe Reverb for $950-ish. Maybe $1000... but I personally only trust homemade amps from people I 100% trust to know EXACTLY what they're doing. They're a fire hazard otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Honky-Tonk Posted March 5, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 5, 2008 Read everything this man says. When it comes to modding a Blues Junior, he is god. Better yet just mail him your chassis and throw money at him. Seriously. Very cool. I wish I could try to do the mods myself, but I don't want to electrocute myself. I feel comfortable soldering, but I don't know a thing about circuits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Honky-Tonk Posted March 5, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 5, 2008 You can get a NEW Deluxe Reverb for $950-ish. Maybe $1000... but I personally only trust homemade amps from people I 100% trust to know EXACTLY what they're doing. They're a fire hazard otherwise.True. Seems like a pretty well known shop near Nashville. Wish I could remember the name of the brand of his amps, don't want to mention the name of the shop or the brand of the amp until I know both. I met the guy at a blues jam at a local bar, hosted by a couple local guitar shops. The music shop guys; host the blues jam and get things started, dropped his name between songs, so the amps can't be that bad. Though I wouldn't mind having a real Fender deluxe reverb! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members volkanstrat Posted March 5, 2008 Members Share Posted March 5, 2008 I changed my old jr's tubes(I sold it to buy 71 Vibrolux) with JJ's from eurotubes with balanced Phase inventer tube that was a great uprade, really took out the brittle and make the amp more natural sounding..also try to cut the mids little bit , I was playing with mids at 2..here is a video with the JJ Tubes, master at 2 gain 8 bass 5 mid 2 treble 8..really got compliments about my tone at studio or stage.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metalfanat1c Posted March 5, 2008 Members Share Posted March 5, 2008 True. Seems like a pretty well known shop near Nashville. Wish I could remember the name of the brand of his amps, don't want to mention the name of the shop or the brand of the amp until I know both. I met the guy at a blues jam at a local bar, hosted by a couple local guitar shops. The music shop guys; host the blues jam and get things started, dropped his name between songs, so the amps can't be that bad. Though I wouldn't mind having a real Fender deluxe reverb! Personally, I dig the Twin Reverb sound quite a bit more. But, the DRRI has it's own thing goin' on... Of course, I run my Twin at 10-10-10, so really I don't like the EQ too much, although the bright switch is handy. Fenders always sound best to me with everything dimed. If you get a DRRI, post clips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Honky-Tonk Posted March 5, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 5, 2008 Personally, I dig the Twin Reverb sound quite a bit more. But, the DRRI has it's own thing goin' on... Of course, I run my Twin at 10-10-10, so really I don't like the EQ too much, although the bright switch is handy. Fenders always sound best to me with everything dimed. If you get a DRRI, post clips. I used to have a new twin, and even with the quarter power switch, it had too much juice. Sounded awesome, but just too loud for what I needed. I'm seriously considering selling this amp now. Although, the Vox AC30 mod, in the link above, for the BJ sounds pretty cool.Either way, I've been GASsing for a deluxe reverb for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metalfanat1c Posted March 5, 2008 Members Share Posted March 5, 2008 I used to have a new twin, and even with the quarter power switch, it had too much juice. Sounded awesome, but just too loud for what I needed. I'm seriously considering selling this amp now. Although, the Vox AC30 mod, in the link above, for the BJ sounds pretty cool. Either way, I've been GASsing for a deluxe reverb for a long time. You had the Twin-amp, also known as the Evil Twin from the 80s, the Red Knob Twin from the 80s, a Twin Reverb is a different animal. Both are stupidly loud, though.I always loved the Twin sound, even if they ARE way too loud for just about anything. I can't seem to get mine to the point of breakup without having to be 2 miles away from it. I've heard the breakup, it's nice, but it's HARD to get out of that thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Honky-Tonk Posted March 6, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 6, 2008 You had the Twin-amp, also known as the Evil Twin from the 80s, the Red Knob Twin from the 80s, a Twin Reverb is a different animal. Both are stupidly loud, though. I always loved the Twin sound, even if they ARE way too loud for just about anything. I can't seem to get mine to the point of breakup without having to be 2 miles away from it. I've heard the breakup, it's nice, but it's HARD to get out of that thing. I thought the "evil twin" was some sort of limited run thing from the 90s. Didn't Fender make a "new" twin that ran about 125 or 150 watts tube for a while? That's what I thought the evil twin was.Yes, that amp was super sweet, but never got to use it out; plus it weighed almost 100 pounds. Sold it for some nice boutique pedals. Kind of regret the trade-off, but I get a lot more use out of the pedals; Fuzz Factory, Bud-wah, Fulldrive 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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