Fender blues jr amp

[Cape Cod Dave]

I currently have a fender blues jr with a cannabis Rex speaker. Trying to get a good blues tone from it but having problems.
Should I be looking to get another amp, change the speaker. If anyone has one what are good settings.
Help appreciated thank you

[Steve DeRosa]

What guitar are you using, and what are your knob settings at both ends of the signal chain...?

[Brent Hahn]

The Blues Jr., to me, is a bit shrill with the stock speaker, so the Cannabis Rex sounds to me like it's as good a speaker as you're gonna get for it.

A "good blues tone" can be many things. Have you investigated pedals? A lot of people derive pretty much all of their tone and overdrive and so forth from a pedal (or several) and use the amp itself just to make it loud.

[glaze3]

A Tube Screamer and delay.

[BoneDigger]

You looking for a SRV edge of breakup sound, a clean blues sound, or something more driven?

[Cape Cod Dave]

A clean blues sound

[BoneDigger]

Unless you are really cranking it, the Blues Junior should be able to give you enough headroom for clean blues. However a Pro Junior, Princeton Reverb, or Deluxe Reverb will do that better.

If not hung up on Fender, a Vox AC15 or a Bugera V22 might fit the bill. A Supro Delta King also has good clean tones.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Originally Posted by BoneDigger

Unless you are really cranking it, the Blues Junior should be able to give you enough headroom for clean blues. However a Pro Junior, Princeton Reverb, or Deluxe Reverb will do that better. . . .

A blues guy here. Yeah, a '90s tweed Pro Junior with the stock blue alnico speaker was my main amp for years. Almost always played single-coil Strats and Teles through it.

That plus a one-knob reverb switch was all it took, though I did dress it up with a two-knob trem pedal from time to time.

Blue to the bone. Went through a few overdrives, too, but didn't use them often.

[rmp]

With a few of the right pedals and a speaker swap, you can probably find your sound with it

I have had a few Blues Jrs. I thought they'd do the job for me.

but.. They've never held my affection for long, a bit boxy sounding in my experience and I wasn't interested in playing speaker swap games

I have a blonde Deluxe Tone Master now, I am sure I will never sell it.

I know it's not a tube amp but these things sound awesome

with the power attenuator, you can get that classic fender spank, at almost any volume. and the reverb on these is so good!

my son has a 65 deluxe and that is a very nice amp as well.

[Matthew Sarad]

I tried a Blues Jr at a jam. Got a clean sound without pressing the button. Rolled off the treble. Volume 12 o'clock, Master about 3. Used the volume pot on the guitar.
My main amps are Tweed Deluxes turned up to 3.

[stephenT]

Try putting a Nobles ODR-mini in front of the Blues Jr. The Nobles has a very natural sound but can add a boost and a bit of dirt. $79, hard to go wrong. The Nobles is Nashville studio musicians best kept studio secret.

[printer2]

If you have a mismatched pair of output tubes the unbalance will give you more second harmonics without having to clip the amp.

[rollypolly]

Originally Posted by Charlie Bernstein

A blues guy here. Yeah, a '90s tweed Pro Junior with the stock blue alnico speaker was my main amp for years. Almost always played single-coil Strats and Teles through it.

That plus a one-knob reverb switch was all it took, though I did dress it up with a two-knob trem pedal from time to time.

Blue to the bone. Went through a few overdrives, too, but didn't use them often.

I’ve always liked pro juniors as well and known a few pros who use them. The blues junior tends to get mixed opinions, some folks say they hate it and some love it. Since many out there love it then I’m sure good tone is possible. I’d try a little overdrive pedal and reverb in front of it.

[stevecuss]

I'm pretty sure the Blues Jnr is an EL84 tube amp. The EL84 is a fine tube of course - but is not the classic 'fender' clean blues tube - that would be the mighty 6L6 or 6V6.

It may be worth trying a classic Fender clean amp at a store to see if you can get your tone. I'd probably start with a Deluxe or Princeton if budget allowed, or some of the wonderful Vibro series.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by stevecuss

I'm pretty sure the Blues Jnr is an EL84 tube amp. The EL84 is a fine tube of course - but is not the classic 'Fender' clean blues tube - that would be the mighty 6L6 or 6V6...

FWIW thetubestore.com has a tube package that swaps into a Blues Junior, and gets you very close to the classic blackface tone associated with the Princeton/Deluxe Reverb:

https://www.thetubestore.com/blues-j...remium-package

FYI the 7189 power tubes (a heavy-duty industrial substitute for the 6BQ5 and EL84 used in vintage American and British amps respectively) are Soviet-era mil-spec surplus, the Eastern Bloc equivalent of the American JAN tubes all the hardcore Fender guys would sell their 'nads to get, and are as tough and long-lasting as you would expect. BTW I've been using this exact set in my Bugera V22 combo for the last 12 years with no signs of quitting, and with the high-efficiency (~102dB/1W/1M) replacement Eminence Swamp Thang speaker it sounds like a 50-/60-watt American 2x12" combo rather than a $350 MIC practice/small-room amp - big, fat, round, and smooth, with none of the brashness associated with the EL84 (this puppy will hang with my '65 Super reissue right to the limits of my hearing, and handle a 600-700 seat house with no problem); the only caveat is that you absolutely will need to get a rebias job (about $100 in my neck of the woods), but once you do you'll not only have tone/headroom for days but they'll likely outlive your grandkids...