New Amp Arrived Today...

[steve_man]

New Fender Blues Junior III came in this afternoon. Got to take it for a spin when I got home from work. I have to say... I'm impressed! I loved the Hot Rod Deluxe that I had a few years ago, but it was honestly just too much amp. Looked great, and got seriously loud at 40 watts.

 

This Blues Junior has that Fender clean tone in spades. Both my Tele and my Les Paul sound really good through it. What surprised me is how much Fender has improved the overdrive. Now, I guess the difference is that this is set up with one channel, as opposed to two on the Hot Rod Deluxe. With the master at 4, and the volume at 7, this amp has some really nice overdrive. That was something that my Deluxe did NOT have at all. In fact, you needed pedals to get a good overdrive sound out of the Deluxe. I am anxious to try this amp with some of my dirt pedals. Could really come up with some nice sounds, I think!

 

A guy at Guitar Center had recommended that I get the tweed model with the Jensen speaker. I played through both, and honestly felt like the tone was more to my liking on this model. I like the subtle differences that Fender added to the third generation of these amps. Glad they got rid of the chrome control panel with the labels facing backwards. I also really like the pots they used on the controls. They feel like they are much more solid, and are not loose feeling at all. Feels much more high-end to me. I also like the new speaker that they are using. Not sure what they changed on it, but it sounds great. Ready for it to get broken in... hoping it will sound even better!

 

Reverb is lush... as I figured it would be. Controls are straight-forward, and very responsive to changes. Size and weight are a major bonus with this amp. MUCH lighter than my AC15 or my Hot Rod Deluxe. However, it does not feel like a practice amp, either. And... it can get LOUD! I think this amp is just what the doctor ordered. Kudos to Musicians Friend for getting it here quickly, and for the coupon!

[t_e_l_e]

HNAD

[xStonr]

Congrats!

[thatsbunk]

Looks nice. I had a hot rod deville a few years back but got rid of it because;

 

1) It seemed to have two volume levels: Off and LOUD

2) The overdrive channel sucked ass

3) It was heavy as a mofo

 

It appears this model solves all those issues... Good luck with it!

[onelife]

I prefer the Blues Junior to the HRD because I can actually turn it up high enough to get a good S/N (signal to noise ratio).

 

That being said, with the summer music festival season starting, I'm usually okay with the ubiquitous HRD found in the backline of many stages.

 

[DeepEnd]

Congratulations and Happy New Amp Day. My Frontman has sorta soured me on Fender but I do love their cleans.

[steve_man]

Frontman? Man... you need to try some of their tube amps...

[Phil O'Keefe]

Frontman? Man... you need to try some of their tube amps...

 

My thoughts exactly! Comparing a Frontman to a Fender tube amp is definitely an apples / oranges comparison.

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

A Frontman is a Fender amp like a Lambretta is a motorcycle

[DeepEnd]

Frontman? Man... you need to try some of their tube amps...

And you need to pay for it. Thanks for the gift. I'll send you a PM with my shipping address.

 

[steve_man]

And you need to pay for it. Thanks for the gift. I'll send you a PM with my shipping address.

 

Sorry bro, I started out with a Fender solid state amp years ago, and worked my way up. My response to your souring of Fender amps was to say that before you throw out the entire name brand, you need to try some of their better amps. Honestly, they are not crazy expensive (at least their Hot Rod line), and if you find a good deal on a used one, they're even better.

[thatsbunk]

My Frontman has sorta soured me on Fender but I do love their cleans.

 

Tough to dismiss an amp company as popular as Fender because you don't get along with one of their lower end products...

 

IMO- You don't necessarily need big dollars to get a decent fender amp though. A month or so ago I played at an impromptu gathering through a Fender 85 SS amp & was quite impressed. Nice clean sound & kept up with others who had larger gear. Seemed pretty portable too, which is a nice feature as the older I get, the less I look forward to hauling crap around. I since saw one used at my local GC for $140 & If I wasn't already set in the amp department, I would have grabbed it.

 

I'm not too familiar with the frontman line so can't say whether it's an improvement over yours or not.

[Phil O'Keefe]

[Phil O'Keefe]

If you can swing it, the Super Champ X2 is a very nice sounding amp with a tube output section that sells new for under $400, and even less used. It will walk all over the Frontman.

[ski219]

I made the same switch about 4 years back. Had a HRD that I loved and traded it in for a Blues Jr. I gigged a lot with the HRD but at the time I also was playing a lot of sets with an original band in NYC and all the places we played had back lines and almost always they had a Blues Jr. I liked that I could drive the amp at a lower volume. I still think I like the HRD tone better but the break up I can get at a lower volume plus the lighter weight is hard to beat. WIth my current band I keep the volume down a bit and still get a great tone while enjoying a low stage volume where I actually hear my guitar through my monitor when standing in position. Great because I don't have to blow our singers away to hear myself.

[steve_man]

Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised by the breakup on the Blues Junior III. One of the things I couldn't stand about both of the Hod Rod Deluxe II models that I used to have was the overdrive channel. Just sounded terrible. Now, I have yet to try any of my dirt pedals in front of it, but cranking the volume and turning down the master, you can get a pretty nice overdrive with both hum buckers and single coils. It also gets PLENTY loud, while being small enough to be easily portable.

[GAS Man]

Both my Tele and my Les Paul sound really good through it.

 

A guy at Guitar Center had recommended that I get the tweed model with the Jensen speaker. I played through both, and honestly felt like the tone was more to my liking on this model. I like the subtle differences that Fender added to the third generation of these amps. Glad they got rid of the chrome control panel with the labels facing backwards. I also really like the pots they used on the controls. They feel like they are much more solid, and are not loose feeling at all. Feels much more high-end to me. I also like the new speaker that they are using. Not sure what they changed on it, but it sounds great. Ready for it to get broken in... hoping it will sound even better!

 

Reverb is lush... as I figured it would be. However, it does not feel like a practice amp, either. And... it can get LOUD! I think this amp is just what the doctor ordered. Kudos to Musicians Friend for getting it here quickly, and for the coupon!

 

Yeah, I really think the "Blues Junior" aims to do what its name is, i.e. be a good blues amp, so it plays well with humbucker guitars, IMO, a bit better than it does with single coil guitars. It's like if I were going to grab a guitar out of a store for John Lee Hooker to play "Boom Boom Boom" on a sidewalk with his Epi Sheraton, I'd grab a Blues Junior Tweed for him.

 

But I agree with your assessment on the stock BJ versus the NOS Tweed. The lacquered Tweed looks cool, but the reports have been that the stock speaker on the base model is an overall better sounding speaker, at least "out of the box", and most likely a better match for single coil guitars as well. Check this out: http://billmaudio.com/wp/?page_id=295

I just took an excerpt out of that article where he talks about the speaker in the NOS Tweed model (follow the link for review of other common BJ speaker applications):

"Jensen C12N (stock in tweed limited edition and “NOS” models)

This reissue Jensen is built in Italy by Recoton. They’ve made an effort to capture some of the old “American sound” magic of the Jensens that were so popular in the 1960s, but they fall short in some significant areas. The C12N starts out well in the bass and transitions well to a smooth midrange, but this speaker can be downright shrill on the high end, especially with a Tele or Strat bridge pickup. On the plus side, the C12N cuts well in a band situation and is less likely to be buried. It sounds better after a lengthy break-in period, but it’s definitely not my favorite speaker."

 

And I tend to agree with what he's saying and I own the NOS Tweed version, but actually the bass is rather weak too; however, it's slowly been getting a bit better. It's been hard for me to favor that amp when it's sound was relatively shallow, and that hasn't draw me in to play it enough to break the speaker in more.. But indeed, over the time I've owned the amp, I've heard some increase in its bass response. However, I've got an Emminence Swamp Thang kicking around that I plan to swap into that amp because I'll most likely never be using this amp in the type of setting where I'd get the most benefit from the "cutting through the mix" that this Jensen C12N version of the BJ offers up. Bottom line, I think it's good you ignored the GC guy and went with your ears. I bought mine online thinking the extra upgrade bucks would get me "better tone", but IMO, that's not necessarily what you get with this NOS-Tweed amp, it's more like a "different" tone. I also have a Woody Butter version which has a Jensen P12Q (alnico) which is a little more interesting sounding, but for the kind of music I play the most, I'd rather just have a speaker that would have more of the round black face tone to its character, i.e. more thunk and deeper resonance, which is why I bought the Swamp Thang. I've also got lying around a Cannabis Rex, Weber Chicago and a Celestion 12H-100 (coming out of an old stock Fender Super 112) that I can try out. With 4 good options of speaker swaps in house, I just need to get up the ambition to start swapping them out until I find the tones that gets me most of what I'd like out of these amps. But still, their own bluesy character should be preserved, and it probably will be, since I believe a lot of the character tone of a BJ comes from its cabinet design, and I should resist temptation to attempt to bring its tone closer to a DRRI.

 

Enjoy your new amp, to me they have more of that early Fender Tweed tone and are at their best when the power amp can be pushed. I also like a slightly scooped bit of mids on them, like 5/12, in order to emphasize the lower mids a bit, and give it a touch of a cavernous tone. I first bought a Pro Junior (that just happened to come stock with a blue-belled alnico speaker in it) and then followed that up with a couple different B-Juniors, so you know I'm a bit of a fan. But right now, I'm still mostly enjoying my new Vox AC10. I just like the way it can get a very tubey sounding OD tone going at rather moderate levels while retaining good depth of tone. For the moment, 10 watts seems like my sweet spot.

 

Enjoy

 

[wankdeplank]

Big congrats Steve_man, those are great amps. Love my Pro Jr and had to let my Music Man go cause....it just wasn't Fendery enough.

[steve_man]

 

Yeah, I really think the "Blues Junior" aims to do what its name is, i.e. be a good blues amp, so it plays well with humbucker guitars, IMO, a bit better than it does with single coil guitars. It's like if I were going to grab a guitar out of a store for John Lee Hooker to play "Boom Boom Boom" on a sidewalk with his Epi Sheraton, I'd grab a Blues Junior Tweed for him.

 

But I agree with your assessment on the stock BJ versus the NOS Tweed. The lacquered Tweed looks cool, but the reports have been that the stock speaker on the base model is an overall better sounding speaker, at least "out of the box", and most likely a better match for single coil guitars as well. Check this out: http://billmaudio.com/wp/?page_id=295

I just took an excerpt out of that article where he talks about the speaker in the NOS Tweed model (follow the link for review of other common BJ speaker applications):

"Jensen C12N (stock in tweed limited edition and “NOS” models)

This reissue Jensen is built in Italy by Recoton. They’ve made an effort to capture some of the old “American sound” magic of the Jensens that were so popular in the 1960s, but they fall short in some significant areas. The C12N starts out well in the bass and transitions well to a smooth midrange, but this speaker can be downright shrill on the high end, especially with a Tele or Strat bridge pickup. On the plus side, the C12N cuts well in a band situation and is less likely to be buried. It sounds better after a lengthy break-in period, but it’s definitely not my favorite speaker."

 

And I tend to agree with what he's saying and I own the NOS Tweed version, but actually the bass is rather weak too; however, it's slowly been getting a bit better. It's been hard for me to favor that amp when it's sound was relatively shallow, and that hasn't draw me in to play it enough to break the speaker in more.. But indeed, over the time I've owned the amp, I've heard some increase in its bass response. However, I've got an Emminence Swamp Thang kicking around that I plan to swap into that amp because I'll most likely never be using this amp in the type of setting where I'd get the most benefit from the "cutting through the mix" that this Jensen C12N version of the BJ offers up. Bottom line, I think it's good you ignored the GC guy and went with your ears. I bought mine online thinking the extra upgrade bucks would get me "better tone", but IMO, that's not necessarily what you get with this NOS-Tweed amp, it's more like a "different" tone. I also have a Woody Butter version which has a Jensen P12Q (alnico) which is a little more interesting sounding, but for the kind of music I play the most, I'd rather just have a speaker that would have more of the round black face tone to its character, i.e. more thunk and deeper resonance, which is why I bought the Swamp Thang. I've also got lying around a Cannabis Rex, Weber Chicago and a Celestion 12H-100 (coming out of an old stock Fender Super 112) that I can try out. With 4 good options of speaker swaps in house, I just need to get up the ambition to start swapping them out until I find the tones that gets me most of what I'd like out of these amps. But still, their own bluesy character should be preserved, and it probably will be, since I believe a lot of the character tone of a BJ comes from its cabinet design, and I should resist temptation to attempt to bring its tone closer to a DRRI.

 

Enjoy your new amp, to me they have more of that early Fender Tweed tone and are at their best when the power amp can be pushed. I also like a slightly scooped bit of mids on them, like 5/12, in order to emphasize the lower mids a bit, and give it a touch of a cavernous tone. I first bought a Pro Junior (that just happened to come stock with a blue-belled alnico speaker in it) and then followed that up with a couple different B-Juniors, so you know I'm a bit of a fan. But right now, I'm still mostly enjoying my new Vox AC10. I just like the way it can get a very tubey sounding OD tone going at rather moderate levels while retaining good depth of tone. For the moment, 10 watts seems like my sweet spot.

 

Enjoy

 

Thanks! May have to try it with my Vox Pathfinder in Stereo, just to see how it sounds. Used to run my HRD and my AC15 in stereo, and loved the tone. Who knows, I may end up picking up an AC10 someday to scratch the Vox itch, but for now, I'm sold on the Blues Junior. Just sounds great.

[boostpedal30]

Hey really hope you get the best stuff you like soon.