Blues Junior ?

[SamBooka]

Ok.. I have read the reviews (good and bad). Know about the BillM mods.
A lot of opinions are from Blues and Rock players. Any jazz players (aside from BillM himself) use one?

Thoughts? What style do you play and what guitar do you run through it?

I picked one up dirt cheap (250$). A 2008 but dead mint (still has the film over the name plate).

Just wondering what the jazz peoples think.

[Jake Hanlon]

When i moved into my office there was a blues jnr in it. I put it in the closet and it has stayed there ever since. IMO they are absolute trash. Sorry, but that's just the way I hear them as horrible amps that can sometimes sound half decent, but for me sometimes sounding half decent means it's useless.

I wouldn't play one if I was paid to... wait I am paid to, but I still won't play through it.

Some people play them and like them, most of those people in my experience are not professionals or they just have yet to play through a real legit amp OR they have spent twice what it cost to buy it upgrading it, to each their own but be warned, they break easily, they don't have the volume to deal with an aggressive rhythm section and if you're buying it because it's light and easy to move around, please refer to the 'it breaks easy' comment I just made.

[JohnW400]

I use(d) it on smaller, low volume gigs. I don't think I used my classical but I did use:

Telecaster
ES 350T (thin body version)
L-5
Super 400

I don't think I've played any guitars with floating pups with it though. For those I would have used a 50w amp at low volume

It sounded fine. Just don't use the fat switch and watch the volume level. For $250 you got a deal.

[FatJeff]

I've got one and I have used it on small gigs with med-sized combo (drums, piano, bass, couple of horns). It's not quite loud enough for me, so I'm considering some of the Bill M mods (e.g. bias) to improve my clean headroom. It starts to get a bit dirty at the volumes I need in that situation. I don't think it would hang with a big band. But I love its tone and it's a really fun amp.

For my junior recital last spring I used it in conjunction with a ZT Lunchbox (had an active splitter box)...that seemed to work pretty well.

EDIT: I play a Samick JZ4 (basically an L5 copy) and as expected, I get some amount of feedback if I'm not careful. That guitar has a single floating pup. I wish this thing was available in a 25W version (I think it's rated at 15W).

[JohnW400]

Jeff,

I agree, 25w would make this an even better amp. The only other Fender option I see is the Deluxe Reverb at 22w but that's more than I would want.

[ESCC]

Originally Posted by Jake Hanlon

When i moved into my office there was a blues jnr in it. I put it in the closet and it has stayed there ever since. IMO they are absolute trash. Sorry, but that's just the way I hear them as horrible amps that can sometimes sound half decent, but for me sometimes sounding half decent means it's useless.

I wouldn't play one if I was paid to... wait I am paid to, but I still won't play through it.

Some people play them and like them, most of those people in my experience are not professionals or they just have yet to play through a real legit amp OR they have spent twice what it cost to buy it upgrading it, to each their own but be warned, they break easily, they don't have the volume to deal with an aggressive rhythm section and if you're buying it because it's light and easy to move around, please refer to the 'it breaks easy' comment I just made.

Jake, don't hold back, tell us what you really think about the Blues Jr?

[Pothcra]

The blues junior is not trash, like someone said. Everyone search for a different sound, and if it gives you a sound you like, that's ALL that really matters. It is true that it breaks up easily, but in some situations I don't dislike that. I like the fact that its got bass/mid/treble EQ. I play it with my ES-335. I also tried it with my Eastman 805CE (floating pick-up), but it sounds better on my princeton reverb. You can also easily put at least 3 beer bottles on it...

[Jake Hanlon]

Originally Posted by Pothcra

You can also easily put at least 3 beer bottles on it...

i admit that is a nice feature

[Drifter]

Has anyone tried the new limited edition with a Cannabis Rex speaker yet?

FENDER BLUES JUNIOR III LTD CREX - Thomann UK Cyberstore

[Elias Graves]

I have one, as does my nephew. It's not quite loud enough for many gigs, but a mic will fix that easily enough.
It gets dirty....fast.
The reverb was made for playing Beach Boys tunes.
EL84 tubes don't sound all that much like a Fender amp.
I give it a C, but will likely replace it with an Ibanez Tube screamer amp. It has 15 watts and uses 6L6 tubes and the clean channel stays clean almost all the way up. Way more Fender-y sounding to me than a Blues Jr.

EG

[jorgemg1984]

I have one and done a lot of mods to it, some Bill M, others myself. Its a good amp but the best is to get one cheap and do just some mods. For me the bast part was the learning process actually. You can mod it a lot but its still a 15w amp in a small cabinet. You can set the amp to have a lot of headroom but this amps sounds very sweet at low volumes and too agressive at high volumes even if it stays clean.

Bill M is a great guy to deal with but he sells his stuff expensive. The Blues Junior must be one of the most sold amps in the world - creating a mods site was a great idea. I liked most of his mods but didnt liked his tone stack values - giving a lot of bass to a very bright amp just gives you too much of everything.

For a starter its a great amp. If you always mic your amps it might fit you. For jazz and jazz only there are better solid state options at that price.

[SamBooka]

Thanks. I could flip it but that isnt my style (I still have a couple of Valve Jr, they make ok bookends).

I might have a blues rock gig this fall. I can try it out then. Using a 78ish vibrochamp with a holygrail and it is hard to beat but doesnt even come close to holding up in a jam situation.

I actually like the fat switch on it. Like the master volume. I DO have to frig a lot with the tone knobs to get something I like. With the 12in it seems to fit nicely between my reverbs princeton and deluxe.

[jbear]

I'd try it for yourself...plenty of people love this amp. Many of them are serious players...at least the ones I've hung with. I know I dig mine...albeit it's heavily modded along with a C. Rex and extension jack.