fender blues jr.

eyesore · #1 08-16-2016, 01:38 PM

hi ; i no longer have an amp for my tele. a few of my friends tell me to pick up a blues junior. when i look at them on line ,it seems there are a few different models. i don't even know what to look for! i don't play electric much anymore.but i want something light and basic.any help here? thanks

Steve DeRosa · #2 08-16-2016, 03:41 PM

A/B the basic black/silver $529 version against the Bugera V22 @$399 - then decide...

RogerPease · #3 08-16-2016, 04:09 PM

If you are looking at new Blues Jrs (i.e. Blues Junior IIIs)
other than the covering on the the cabinet the amp portion
for all BJrs are the same. The speakers can be different.
Basic black BJrs have the Fender Special speaker. The
Tweed BJr has a Jensen speaker. There may be others.

_Roger

muscmp · #4 08-16-2016, 04:27 PM

take your guitar to your local big box store and play a bunch of them. that will give you an idea of what sounds good to YOU.

play music!

eyesore · #5 08-16-2016, 05:08 PM

thank you gentlemen!!

Irish Pennant · #6 08-16-2016, 06:02 PM

I recently bought a Blues Jr III. It's my first tube amp, I'm sort of new to the electric guitar. I didn't care for the stock reverb tank and and so I replaced it, very easy and inexpensive to do. It's louder than I though it would be and as warm as I hoped.

J.R. Rogers · #7 08-16-2016, 06:41 PM

This is one of my all time favorite amps. It has been made in a variety of different finishes and materials including custom shop and limited edition wood cabinet versions, tweed, crazy tolex colors, different speakers and tube sets, etc.. They're all good. Easily customizable but sounds great as it is in my opinion. The magic is the 12" speaker - 15w tube combination I think. That speaker just gives it the right amount of low end at any volume and the tubes work nicely at sane volume levels.

JR

Steel and wood · #8 08-16-2016, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J.R. Rogers

This is one of my all time favorite amps. It has been made in a variety of different finishes and materials including custom shop and limited edition wood cabinet versions, tweed, crazy tolex colors, different speakers and tube sets, etc.. They're all good. Easily customizable but sounds great as it is in my opinion. The magic is the 12" speaker - 15w tube combination I think. That speaker just gives it the right amount of low end at any volume and the tubes work nicely at sane volume levels.

JR

Yep, you probably know by now that I'm a big fan also!

zabdart · #9 08-16-2016, 10:21 PM

For a world of information about Fender Blues Jr. amps and whether you'd benefit from any modifications to them go to billmaudio.com/wp. There's just about everything you need to know in there about the changes Fender wrought from the Series I, to the Series II (the best in my opinion), the the Series III. Also, an extensive examination of speaker options with the various models, circuit board design, etc. Rather than advertise for his mod kits, Bill gives a lot of information about the amp's design and how it could be improved. Whether you choose to make those changes or not he leaves up to you.

muscmp · #10 08-17-2016, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zabdart

For a world of information about Fender Blues Jr. amps and whether you'd benefit from any modifications to them go to billmaudio.com/wp. There's just about everything you need to know in there about the changes Fender wrought from the Series I, to the Series II (the best in my opinion), the the Series III. Also, an extensive examination of speaker options with the various models, circuit board design, etc. Rather than advertise for his mod kits, Bill gives a lot of information about the amp's design and how it could be improved. Whether you choose to make those changes or not he leaves up to you.

note that the site is up but from what i've read on the tele forum, bill is not in the best of health and the shop is not in operation for parts, etc.
very good info about the amp tho.

play music!

Sombras · #11 08-18-2016, 08:27 AM

Probably the best sound I ever got out of a guitar and amp was my AmSt Strat through a Blues Jr. For various reasons I've moved on to a very different guitar and rig, but those months with the Strat and Blues Jr. were very instructive for me as a player. Hard to go wrong with that set up--unless you want a pleasing overdrive sound, in which case I'd strongly recommend pairing it with a quality pedal. The stock OD tone is probably not far off from an elephant with gas.

eyesore · #12 08-19-2016, 01:52 PM

hi sombras ; i had a hot rod deluxe that i absolutely hated. never had a nice tone outta that thing ever!!

Steve DeRosa · #13 08-19-2016, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eyesore

...i had a hot rod deluxe that i absolutely hated. never had a nice tone outta that thing ever!!

Easily fixable - define "nice tone" for starters...

eyesore · #14 08-20-2016, 04:59 PM

well the reverb was not to my liking at all, and the overdrive was just too distorted. i even had new tubes biased and all. ....too heavy ; but not the issue.

zabdart · #15 08-20-2016, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eyesore

well the reverb was not to my liking at all, and the overdrive was just too distorted. i even had new tubes biased and all. ....too heavy ; but not the issue.

What constitutes "good sound" or tone is subjective. What pleases some people turns off others. Some folks won't settle for anything less than a Fender spring reverb tank. To others it's a turnoff. With reverb and distortion, it's all a matter of how much you choose to use. I rarely go above 2 or 3 on the reverb setting, and never above 5. As for distortion, it's there when I need it -- most of the time I prefer clean tones.
But that's just me. Everybody's different.