Blues Junior. Is it the Modern Princeton/Deluxe Reverb?

Guitar Toad

Guitar Toad

Toadily Stratologist
No I'm not saying that is sounds like a DR or a PR. But, it's seems from reputations that the DR and PR's where great portable combos that could go anywhere with you and sound great. Not, a straight clean amp. It gets dirty. No it doesn't have 6v6 tubes either. That's why I say that perhaps it's the 'modern equivalent' which may make it a bit more versatile than the DR and PR.

You can practice with it and you can gig with it...and even comes with reverb.

Blues Junior. Very cool 15w amp.
 
Re: Blues Junior. Is it the Modern Princeton/Deluxe Reverb?

My Blues Jr. is the first amp I ever bought. I used to love it but after playing through a Tweed Princeton clone and a real Blackface Princeton, it's noisey and the reverb is lame (and noisier).

You can tweak the things to death (see Bill Machrone's site for that). Just swapping the speaker and tubes makes a big improvement.

IMHO the Blues Jr. is a great amp for the price point, but it's kind of a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. It's definitely not Tweed. Not clean enough to be Blackface and the tone stack is a modified Marshall, but it doesn't do classic Marshall exactly either. Definitely not Mesa.

I'm not trying to offend anyone - it just doesn't work that well for me anymore.

Chip
 
Re: Blues Junior. Is it the Modern Princeton/Deluxe Reverb?

I am deeply offended by your statement that the Blues Jr. does not sound like a Mesa. Deeply. Offended. :biglaugh:

Anyway...no real experience with those old school amps but I could get by with a Blues Jr. Solid little box of amplification.
 
Re: Blues Junior. Is it the Modern Princeton/Deluxe Reverb?

i love my blues junior. i use it for recording in my basement when im too lazy to get to the studio. i tricked mines out via bills website and its now a really nice amp.

not bad stock at all...but as someone said, it doesnt quite know what it wants to be. you have to tell it
 
Re: Blues Junior. Is it the Modern Princeton/Deluxe Reverb?

I'd really love to run my guitar through a Blues Deluxe... but I think that if I did, I'd have to buy it on the spot! :lol:
 
Re: Blues Junior. Is it the Modern Princeton/Deluxe Reverb?

The Blues Deluxe is a different animal altogether. It uses 6l6 power and has a nicer clean. The drive is able to sustain better on the BD, but all that said, the Blues Junior is a cool little amp.
FWIW, I've always felt that Ampeg's Jet 12 (J12-T) just SMOKES the Blues Junior, but that's only my opinion. It's a bit more uncouth and gets closer to the edge of Freakout like a good amp should. A big plus of the design is that it won't let you crank the preamp without getting the power tubes cooking. No fizzy, low volume sh!t here, just FAT tone and power tube crunch. End of advert/rant.:crazy:
 
Last edited:
Re: Blues Junior. Is it the Modern Princeton/Deluxe Reverb?

Todd, long time, no see. :)

The Junior may not be as sophisticated as a Princeton or Deluxe, but it is a great amp fror the money. I gig and rehearse with one all the time.
 
Re: Blues Junior. Is it the Modern Princeton/Deluxe Reverb?

bungalowbill said:
Todd, long time, no see. :)

The Junior may not be as sophisticated as a Princeton or Deluxe, but it is a great amp fror the money. I gig and rehearse with one all the time.
Click to expand...

Hi Joe-

From the history of posts on the Blues Jr. that I've seen around here, those who use 'em really seem to like them. I've been ampless for 6 months now. I can't afford yet what I know I want. I may be able to swing the Blues Jr. I'm hoping to get over to the Musician's Friend store this weekend to see what they have. I'm thinking Blues Jr is what I want. I keep saying to myself, if the Blues Jr is good enough for Bungalow Bill, then it must be good enough for me.

If I have to get the soldering iron out the tell it what to be, then so be it. :)
 
Re: Blues Junior. Is it the Modern Princeton/Deluxe Reverb?

I agree it's a jack of all trades, but master of none. I ALSO AGREE that it's the modern Princeton.

Goto Larry Carlton's site and he demos and discusses his 335 AND TWEED PRINCETON. Apparently, back in the day, session players had a lot of gigs, but got paid no cartage. To make up for this they would haul around the Tweed Princeton. His fascination takes hold where the Princeton set at 3 - 4 just barely breaks up when you dig in. Carlton reflects that this was the magical tone that was not only all over TV and Commercials, also it was the sound he used for many of his own landmark sessions.

I think the Blues Junior holds the same magic, however we might not yet know it as no famous players have really sold that concept. I think the BJ can produce many tones, and the TWEED BJ with Jensen, or a BJ with a G12H30 can produce some mojo!

I played almost every room in LA for 1 1/2 years with a Tweed BJ and a FD2 and it was amazing! I regret sometimes that I ever left that setup.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top