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Fender Blues Jr. with BillM mods, upgraded tubes, and footswitch - $375 shipped
Well, I suppose you must be thinking: "Is this dude on crack? Why is he selling a Blues Jr for almost the new price?" Simple.
1. It's an older USA made one (not the newer MIM made ones).
2. It has the older green board. The newer cream boards are WAY too bright.
3. Most importantly--it's got all of the BillM mods professionally done by a tech at Daves Guitar. If you were to send the amp to Bill to do the mods, you'd be looking at $100+ bucks to do the mods plus shipping. These things are a ***** to work on, especially getting the circuit board out, so many techs refuse to work on them.
4. It's also got upgraded tubes (JJ 12AX7, Groove Tubes 12AX7, Philips 12AX7, and Fender/GT power tubes). I also got a generic footswitch for it that works fine. The LED doesn't work, but that's because it's not supposed to with this amp.
Anyway, the following BillM mods were done: Tonestack Kit, Reverb Kit, Bias (not the adjustable ones though), Presence/Bright switch/knob Kit.
In my opinion (and most Blues Jr. players) these mods are essential. In stock form, Blues Jr.'s tend to sound boxy. The older models (the green boards) were also a bit dark and had reverb hiss.
In comes the BillM mods. The Tonestack got rid of the boxiness and really opened up the tone of the amp. The reverb kit got rid of the hiss and made the reverb more natural and open sounding. The presence/bright switch/knob is dual acting: in the down position it's a presence knob that can be adjusted like any other knob but adjusts presence (not normall adjustable on this amp). In the up position, it's a bright switch that that can be controlled like any other pot. Finally, the Blues Jr.'s, for whatever reason, leave the factory running a bit hot; the bias mod brings down to a more acceptable level.
For more info, check out the following site:
Anyway, the amp sounds beautiful with the mods. I'd put this up against any boutique amp out there now. Also, modded green boards are FAR better than current cream boards if for only one reason: with the mods, I can go from the normal darker tones of the green board to the bright tones of the cream board with the pull up of the bright switch; you can't do that with the cream boards and you can only get cream board sounds.
Anyway, functionally, it works perfectly. Cosmetically, it has a few small blemishes here and there, most of which are on the back. I'd give it a solid 8.0-8.5 overall. Check out the pics.
In case you know nothing about these, check out Fender's website for specs. It's basically a single channel 15 watt EL-84 tube amp.
Stock Blues Jr.'s (including MIM ones) regularly go on ebay for $325-330 shipped or more. Considering the mods that were done, I feel that this is a real bargain at only $40-50 more. I'd personally NEVER own an unmodded Blues Jr.; they're kind of ho-hum in stock form. But with the mods, the amp REALLY shines.
Paypal is preferred. You must have a confirmed account, though. I'll also consider trades toward an acoustic guitar (plus or minus cash). Seagull guitars intrigue me quite a bit.
PM/Email if you're intersted or have any questions. I have more pics if you want them.
Well, I suppose you must be thinking: "Is this dude on crack? Why is he selling a Blues Jr for almost the new price?" Simple.
1. It's an older USA made one (not the newer MIM made ones).
2. It has the older green board. The newer cream boards are WAY too bright.
3. Most importantly--it's got all of the BillM mods professionally done by a tech at Daves Guitar. If you were to send the amp to Bill to do the mods, you'd be looking at $100+ bucks to do the mods plus shipping. These things are a ***** to work on, especially getting the circuit board out, so many techs refuse to work on them.
4. It's also got upgraded tubes (JJ 12AX7, Groove Tubes 12AX7, Philips 12AX7, and Fender/GT power tubes). I also got a generic footswitch for it that works fine. The LED doesn't work, but that's because it's not supposed to with this amp.
Anyway, the following BillM mods were done: Tonestack Kit, Reverb Kit, Bias (not the adjustable ones though), Presence/Bright switch/knob Kit.
In my opinion (and most Blues Jr. players) these mods are essential. In stock form, Blues Jr.'s tend to sound boxy. The older models (the green boards) were also a bit dark and had reverb hiss.
In comes the BillM mods. The Tonestack got rid of the boxiness and really opened up the tone of the amp. The reverb kit got rid of the hiss and made the reverb more natural and open sounding. The presence/bright switch/knob is dual acting: in the down position it's a presence knob that can be adjusted like any other knob but adjusts presence (not normall adjustable on this amp). In the up position, it's a bright switch that that can be controlled like any other pot. Finally, the Blues Jr.'s, for whatever reason, leave the factory running a bit hot; the bias mod brings down to a more acceptable level.
For more info, check out the following site:
Anyway, the amp sounds beautiful with the mods. I'd put this up against any boutique amp out there now. Also, modded green boards are FAR better than current cream boards if for only one reason: with the mods, I can go from the normal darker tones of the green board to the bright tones of the cream board with the pull up of the bright switch; you can't do that with the cream boards and you can only get cream board sounds.
Anyway, functionally, it works perfectly. Cosmetically, it has a few small blemishes here and there, most of which are on the back. I'd give it a solid 8.0-8.5 overall. Check out the pics.
In case you know nothing about these, check out Fender's website for specs. It's basically a single channel 15 watt EL-84 tube amp.
Stock Blues Jr.'s (including MIM ones) regularly go on ebay for $325-330 shipped or more. Considering the mods that were done, I feel that this is a real bargain at only $40-50 more. I'd personally NEVER own an unmodded Blues Jr.; they're kind of ho-hum in stock form. But with the mods, the amp REALLY shines.
Paypal is preferred. You must have a confirmed account, though. I'll also consider trades toward an acoustic guitar (plus or minus cash). Seagull guitars intrigue me quite a bit.
PM/Email if you're intersted or have any questions. I have more pics if you want them.
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