fender blues junior

eyesore · #1 10-24-2021, 04:22 PM

Hi ; I have a Bugera tiny little amp that I use for home use. It won't cut it with a band though. Just want to know if a blues junior would sound ok for home use ;at low volume. I 've never even tried one yet.I play a Tele real clean anyway.If so; then on the occasion I want some dirty sound ;will it do that? Thanks guys.

BoneDigger · #2 10-24-2021, 05:39 PM

Yes, the Blues Junior will do those things just fine. People tend to have a love/hate relationship with them but it's the amp I usually plug into when testing guitars at GC.

Steve DeRosa · #3 10-24-2021, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eyesore

Hi; I have a Bugera tiny little amp that I use for home use. It won't cut it with a band though...

Why not just keep it in the family - one of these can be had brand-new for under $400 if you shop around, and IME it's way more amp on every count than the BJ:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...tube-combo-amp

- and if you still need more clean headroom and/or audience coverage for the big gigs, the 55-watt version is only about $50 more...

SalFromChatham · #4 10-24-2021, 06:05 PM

I have a blues junior and love it. At home I play with a few pedals and low volume. And it can crank more than I can handle.

YamaYairi · #5 10-24-2021, 08:43 PM

I recently repaired a Blues Junior and I thought it sounded pretty good. It will do what you want.

welshruss · #6 10-25-2021, 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SalFromChatham

I have a blues junior and love it. At home I play with a few pedals and low volume. And it can crank more than I can handle.

That’s me too a few pedals, a Telecaster and my blues junior.

raysachs · #7 10-25-2021, 07:45 AM

I had one of the very early Blues Jr amps, I think mid-90s? Maybe they've changed the formula (the recent ones seem to be much better liked) but I liked it a lot as a loud amp, but not as a quiet one. It seemed like there was a VERY NARROW sweet spot in the volume control, where if you got it just exactly right, you could play at a reasonable home volume, but just a tiny nudge below or above that point and it was either barely audible or WAAAAY too loud. Most of the time I had it, this wasn't a problem - I had a basement and if I played loud down there, it didn't bother my wife or kids two floors above. Then after the kids left, my wife and I moved into a condo and I had to sell it - I just couldn't find the right volume. I have a Blues Cube Hot now, which is the same basic size and spec as the Blues Jr, but is solid state with an attenuator. At 35 watts, it gets louder than I'll ever use, but at 0.5 or 5 watts I can always find a comfortable volume for playing in our spare bedroom, where it sounds great (clean or dirty) and neither my wife or the neighbors are bothered by it.

-Ray

posternutbag · #8 10-25-2021, 09:43 AM

I like a Telecaster through a Blues Junior. It’s a pretty clean tone, but to my ears it sounds great. It has the sound of the solo from Walkin’ Blues by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

FrankHudson · #9 10-25-2021, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by posternutbag

I like a Telecaster through a Blues Junior. It’s a pretty clean tone, but to my ears it sounds great. It has the sound of the solo from Walkin’ Blues by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

That's a good sound to have!

To the OP: YMMV. Tolerable at home volumes vary, as do tastes in level of gain and sound. I can't flat out say that the Blues Jr will or won't work for you. It's sometimes hard for me, even now, to accept playing electric with headphones as "real" -- but that's the one way I know to get the widest variety of sound with the lowest volume.

As to band volume, I used to play with a guy who used a Blues Jr. We weren't real loud, but he could keep up with a non-pounding drummer. He actually didn't care for his amp's sound and moved over to a Princeton later around the time I lost track of him.

I haven't played them myself, and they're pricier than the Blues Jr, but something like the Tonemaster Deluxe Reverb strikes me a interesting solution to loud enough for a band and yet quiet with similar timbre at home. And the weight (or lack of it!)

Dru Edwards · #10 10-25-2021, 01:42 PM

Make sure you get a nice OD pedal to go with the amp so that when you do want a little bit more of an overdriven tone you don't have to crank it.

standup · #11 10-25-2021, 04:41 PM

Blues Jr’s are good amps. I’ve been playing in a roots rock band for years (bass)(looks like we’re on hiatus).

But for gigs in all kinds of venues the vocalist/rhythm guitar guy had a blues jr. the lead guy had a rotating cast of amps, but most often he played both a vintage Princeton and heavily-modded blues jr. he could get any tone he wanted. He ran both amps at once.

posternutbag · #12 10-25-2021, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

That's a good sound to have …

I love that solo. It’s only 10 seconds long, but it says everything it needs to. I have often wondered if that was Bloomfield or Bishop playing that solo.

dnf777 · #13 10-26-2021, 03:30 AM

Mine has been a reliable amp for 5 years. I agree with the others about an OD pedal. Mine is pretty clean below 7, which is pretty loud. I use a Keeley Aria OD/conp, and get all the tone I need at reasonable volume.

ghostnote · #14 10-26-2021, 10:28 AM

I've had one in my amp stash for probably 15 years, and I always liked it. A lot of gear snobs on the net used to slag these for sounding "boxy", but when questioned it was obvious most of them were just parroting what they'd heard from others. I know, unsubstantiated opinions on the internet, who'd have thought it?

My own opinion, based on experience, is that it's a good amp at a fair price. Is it the best amp I have? No, but with a couple of pedals I'd use it for any gig without apprehension. (and I've done that many times in the past)

Brent Hahn · #15 10-26-2021, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghostnote

I've had one in my amp stash for probably 15 years, and I always liked it. A lot of gear snobs on the net used to slag these for sounding "boxy", but when questioned it was obvious most of them were just parroting what they'd heard from others.

Then you'll find this refreshing. I do a lot of house sound, and the issue I have with Blues Jrs is that they blow past the player's ankles and there's there's ice-picky treble "beam." Especially with single-coils. It's very directional and annoying and out of balance for the folks out front, and the band is usually unaware of it. With one guy I couldn't convince him until I got him to tip it back some and aim it more at his head. The next time I saw him, he had a Princeton.