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Hello,
I have a question regarding the fender blues junior amp.... I heard so many good things about this little amp, great sound and a low price tag, and I've almost decided to buy it, since I haven't found any dealers in my town who has it.
But my concern is:
- with 15 w, isn't it overdriving at a low level when I play with humbuckers? I know it'll be great for rock or blues, but when I play jazz I want a clean sound. My main guitar is a les paul, but I'm about to get an archtop also.
This site recommends it as a jazz amp in the gear section, so I assume that some of you guys use it. It like to hear your experiences with it in live settings also. How does it function at a gig, do you mic it or not etc.?
Thanks!
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04-08-2009 06:46 PM
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That amp has EL84 tubes; kinda bright and crunchy, like a Vox. The cabinet is too small for any decent low end, and the circuit lends itself more toward a rock thing; bright, crunchy, not a lot of clean headroom. For the same money (the new price must be up over 600$) you can buy a nice old 60's/70's Ampeg, a Polytone, an Evans, a Lab Series amp, even a Peavey Bandit would work better than that amp for jazz. Whoever recommended it for jazz has not played jazz through it...buy a better amp used, save a bundle.
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I had one, but thankfully not for long. Hated the damn thing. No headroom, too rock and rolly, the clean sound was, quite frankly, awful. There's a reason they call it the BLUES Junior, no? Maybe I got a lemon, who knows?
Thankfully, I lucked into a Polytone Mini-Brute IV off of ebay for LESS than a Blues Jr and have never looked back.
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With my tele (humbucker in the neck position) sounds great. For the Archtops it's only good for small rooms - low volume stuff, practice amp, nothing with drums.
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I sold mine after a few months. I figured for the cost of upgrading the speaker and possibly other upgrades, I could just buy an amp I like better.
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I have the Blues Jr NOS, which (along with tweed covering) has the Jensen speaker. I understand it is less fizzy than the Fender speaker in the standard model. I changed out the reverb pan for a Ruby Reverb, and added a Weber Beam Blocker. The latter is a great tool for taming a harsh top end. I installed one on a Pignose G40V project amp -- while the Pig is by no means a jazz amp, the Beam Blocker transformed it from an OK harmonica amp to one with a focused, useful sound.
Right now, I'm pretty happy with the BJ, but tomorrow I'll get a new Fender Band-Master VM to hook up to a 15" speaker cabinet I have, and that may be closer to what I want (is any tone ever perfect?).
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there's nothing wrong with a blues junior, and with using it for jazz, but it's not going to be a dark, super clean tone. but they do have quite a bit of clean headroom-- i wonder sometimes what kind of groups people are playing with when they say they can't get enough clean volume out of a 15 watt tube amp thru a 12 inch speaker. Then again, I'm playing with single coil neck pickups mostly, and the one humbucker equipped arctop i occasionally play has a relatively low output mini humbucker...still, i just have a feeling that a lot of folks are just playing too damn loud most of the time.
but again, you aren't going to get a dark, modern, jim-hally tone out of a blues junior, or many tube amps really. that's the realm of solid state.
as for polytones, all of the minibrute line are good choices, as is the mega brute (which is very small, but still packs a punch)
i play a MiniBrute III, which is reverbless (got a great deal--friend left it at my house and basically said "keep it") so i do carry a alesis nanoverb around with me in case the room i'm playing in is really dead acoustically.
(an aside--as ES350 mentioned, the older ampegs are really sweet, and it seems the vintage police haven't caught on yet, because you can still find them at reasonable prices--if you can find them)
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Agreed -- as I have posted elsewhere, my main squeeze has been a Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight. I'm constantly surprised that more people haven't found out about these little gems. But, as C.A.JO. pointed out, part of the fun is trying out new gear.
So I get less "Jim Hall" and more chime out of the BJ, but that's a good thing. There'd be no point in having several amps with the same tone.
I am also the past owner of a couple of Ampegs, both bass amps: a '63 B15N and a more recent (and solid state) B100R. Excellent bass amps, and I'm always ready to try out an Ampeg guitar amp if ever I find one.
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how much would you say the cab for the ultralight weighs? i'm pretty satisfied with my polytone, but i do think if i ever bought another amp, i'd go the "small head that has a little carrying bag and a light speaker enclosure" route.
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The speaker cabinet is 17 lb (the total is 25.6 lb, plus the carrying bag, cables and foot pedal) so maybe 30 total. The speaker is of neodymium-magnet construction, which helps keep it light, but is 2 ohm, which limits its usefulness with other heads. In fact, the feet of the head nest in magnetized sockets in the cab, so it's silly to try to mix and match. It sounds like a good Super Reverb (literally: it sounds like my friend's good Super Reverb) but without the bulk.
I did some serious downsizing last year after finding myself with a 150 lb bass stack, a 65 lb bass combo, a 91 lb guitar combo, and on and on...now I have the Blues Jr and the Pignose (each circa 30+), the JM, a lightweight Hartke head + 2-10 cab for bass, and my old faithful '63 Silvertone Twin Twelve, which I've owned since 1974. Nothing (or, at least, no single component) over 50 lb.
The JM is small and unobtrusive and "sounds like a Fender." I don't know of another way of saying it. But it's the focused sound of the blackface tube amps rather than the chime of the Blues Jr. I highly recommend it to anyone other than those rockers who consider large stacks as male jewelry.
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I play my Hofner archtop through a blues jr and i can get decent clean tones from it. On the other hand i don't mind the sound being a bit on the threshold of break-up. Don't get me wrong, the amp HAS some headroom, obviously if the volume is not full blast. For massive headroom in live conditions I use my 1984 Fender Concert 4x10". Having said that, I must say I prefer the sound of older jazz guitarists that used tube amps, like Charlie Christian, Montgomery, Burrell, Grant Green etc, which couldn't avoid some tube break-up here and there. It's a matter of preference I guess.
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I've used the Fender Blues Junior (owned by a friend)- probably the nicest, best-sounding of any of the smaller amps.
a few pluses:
-small, easily portable
-it kicks it out really well for a small amp and sounds much bigger than a 15W
-classic tube amp sound
-it is a workhorse as a practice amp or for smaller club gigs, OR if miked for medium or larger venues.
downsides:
-only has one channel
-fewer options as far as clean vs. overdriven sound- you pretty much get what you get- which is a very nice sound, but that is it- to get anything else out of it you'll need to use effects pedals...
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I'm not sure about "versatility." I tend to change guitars and amps rather than using the same amp for everything. I prefer to find an amp that suits a guitar I like, then dial it in. After that I'm not too adventurous. I just replied to another of your posts about the Jazzmaster, and that one is definitely versatile.
I like the Band-Master for the richness and warmth of its tone, even though the rig is a little heavier than my ideal. But it has two channels (clean and drive) and comes with a footswitch for the channels that also selects reverb, delay and chorus. I've tried out the various effects, but I don't actually use anything other than a little reverb shimmer. The drive channel does a good job on distortion, but I haven't taken any time to try to dial it in -- I have other amps that I like for that.
As to price, the head is online for $650 (mine was a "scratch and dent" for $565, but I couldn't find a mark on it, and it was in a factory-sealed box). There is also a 2-12 cab for $350 -- however, I was specifically looking for a head to use with the Hartke cab. I'd love to have another 15 to compare it too. I suspect a paper cone might be a little mellower, but I had the Hartke at hand, and since I was stymied in trying to find the discontinued Jazz-King, this is what I ended up with.
There is a Deluxe Reverb VM (not to be confused with the '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue) that has the same head in a 1-12 combo. It goes for $800 and weighs 40 lb. I didn't consider that because, as I said, I was looking for a head to mate with the Hartke.
I may end up with a different speaker, but for now I'm happy.
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I would think you could just keep the volume dialed down and possibly mike the amp if you like the tone for jazz... If you are going to be playing any rock or harder edged blues- particularly in any mid-sized or larger venue, I would recommend something with a bit more umph...
The way someone described the Blues Junior to me, which seems to fit, is that it is "a one trick pony."
It is a nice trick, but what you get is what you get...
Originally Posted by C.A.JO.
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I have a 1996 Tweed Blues Junior. The secret with a BJ is setting with a good NOS Tubes. Chage the 12AX7 (V1) for a 12AY7 Tube and 12AT7 (V3). Low Gain set up, more clean sound. The amp break later.
Other upgrade is a better speaker. The eminence is poor. Weber and Jensen is a great choice (P12R, Alnico)
Thanks
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I have major concerns with the Fender PCB construction; poor design, bad layout, crummy components, subpar mfg and QC. They are made to be price-point rocknroll amps. They break allatime, every single one I've had since the mid 90's. I gave the first two away and the BJ I have I took in trade. Meanwhile the 3 old Ampegs I have work flawlessly everytime I turn them on, and have done so for the last 20 years. As far as amps, I generally wouldn't buy anything made after about 1970...
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well, that's true to an extent--a PCB amp will never be as easy to service as a ptp wired amp. but i've had a blues junior for ten years, and it gigged weekly for a good spell of 'em, and it works fine today...i don't think it's a case of me getting a good one, because i'm not exactly the most careful with equipment! (i'm a certified klutz)
that said, really and truly, if it's reliability i'm looking for, it's those dang roland cubes...mine even spent a year in the band room at a high school (gasp!) and it works fine...
i'm still not giving up my polytone, though...i've heard folks say they have reliability issues too, but i came into mine well worn and i've experienced no problems so far...
so maybe i am getting lucky.
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I’ve used the BJ for about four years now doing blues gigs with my Tele. Mine has been modified by billm with the tone stack, present knob, and different reverb tank along with adding a Cannabis Rex speaker. It’s light, sounds good, has held up to road abuse, what more could you ask for?
I just recently starting playing my ES175 through it, and it sounds great. Now I’m not clubbing with the 175 yet, but in the studio at lower volumes it’s rich and full.
Some will say for the money I’ve spent having the mods done to the BJ, I could have bought something else that would have perhaps sounded better. Maybe so, but for what I have been doing, I disagree with that comment.
Without the mods it does tend to sound a bit muddy, more so with my Les Paul then the Tele. With the mods, that problem was solved.
Just as a note, Billm that does the mods plays jazz, and his mods are a result of solving his jazz needs with the amp.
I've seen folks love this amp, and folks that don't care for it.. Like anything gear I suppse, you just need to let your ears make the call.
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Hey all,
The more I play and get familiar with my new (used) Epi Joe Pass, the more I love it! Now I'd like to get a vintage style amp that will do it more justice than my $90 Solid State Raven.
Local GC has a used tweed Blues Jr. amp for a halfway decent price. Played some guitars off the wall through it, and think it sounds fatter and warmer than most of the other amps there.
Any opinions from the jazz guys on this model?
Thank you!
PS: They also have a used Pro-Jr. for even less, but it's a smaller amp. How does it stack up? Thanks again!
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I don't know about the pro jr but I own a non tweed Blues Jr. Great little amp and versatile.
Works good with the Archies and the Telies. Not that great for classical though.
I use it for duo work. Add drums and you would need a bigger amp so that you don't feed back when the drummer goes into Billy Cobham mode
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I briefly gave a try to Blues Junior 2 and 3 but did'nt compare them side by side. Originally Posted by Retroman1969
However, if memory serves me well the BJ 3 sound brighter/ thinner than the BJ2.
I tested both with my archtop Gregg bennett Jz4 which has a Bartolini floater.
I could get quite convincing tone from the BJ2 by tweaking EQ, gain and with "fat" button on.
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I think they're a pretty great budget tube amp. Even though I bought a vintage princeton last year, I'm still hanging on to my old blues junior.
The distorted tones are a little "boxy." Not really a problem for us jazzers who like it clean, and even though it's an EL-84 based amp, the cleans are pretty "Fender-y" in my opinion.
The Pro-Junior is a cool amp because of it's simplicity, but there's a good deal less headroom and tone tweakability. They're kinda like a Champ on 'roids. Wouldn't be my first choice as a jazz amp.
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The blues Jr. is aimed more at crunchy tones than clean ones, which blues players love. Therefore, the sound will begin to break up when the volume is turned up past 4-5. For that reason you should try it out before buying to see if it offers enough clean headroom for your needs. If not, Blues Deluxe may be an alternative - not because you need all it's 40 Watt volume, but because it's crunch threshold is at a higher volume.
The good thing about the Blues Jr. for jazz is the 12" speaker which gives a fuller and more open tone than a 10" speaker. And if the speaker is too bright, it can easily and rather cheaply be swapped with say an Eminence Cannabis Rex (it's called that because the cone is made of hemp fibers), which has a nice round and mellow high end, very suitable for jazz. Tone Tubby, who specialize in speakers with hemp cones, may have somthing similar, but more expensive. I use an old Cube 40 for practice in our summerhouse. I replaced the speaker in that with an Eminece Lil' Buddy (the 10" equivalent of the Cannabis Rex). The amp will never have a devine sound, but the new speaker removed the "icepick" treble completely and makes the sound tolerable for jazz:
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I've done trio gigs with a blues Jr. no prob, although it was with single coil pups.
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blues jr with the jensen speaker is very sweet...i push my les paul with 57 pups through it ... for small rooms it works fine for all styles ...even with some effects ..
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