Do you gig with a blues junior for blues?

[marcg71]

I know the blues junior gets a lot of threads, I've read many.

Just wanted to hear from you all doing blues, how the amp holds up at gigs. Especially those that are not Mic'd. I'm getting tired of hauling my Super around due to the weight. And most times I can't get it to where it would break up because its too loud.

Just looking for another option (turn the junior all the way up for solos and back off volume on guitar to clean up)?

 

[bungalowbill]

Re: Do you gig with a blues junior for blues?

It will work, if your drummer isn't a gorilla...just don't expect pristine cleans.

 

[marcg71]

Re: Do you gig with a blues junior for blues?

Thanks bungalowbill! I wonder if I should focus on another route? Maybe a Deluxe Reverb, would that have more headroom?

 

[bungalowbill]

Re: Do you gig with a blues junior for blues?

Thanks bungalowbill! I wonder if I should focus on another route? Maybe a Deluxe Reverb, would that have more headroom?

It will have more headroom and it is a sweeter sounding amp IMHO.

Why not use the Super for clean and use the Jr (or deluxe) for the grease?....A/B boxes are fairly inexpensive.

Edit...
I just scanned your OP...scratch the 2 amp deal. Try the Deluxe...Do you know someone that would lend you one for a gig or two?

 

[marcg71]

Re: Do you gig with a blues junior for blues?

I don't know anyone with a Deluxe. But thanks, you make some very good points. I love the Super sound, I'm just tired of hauling it. I was even thinking maybe picking up one 5:25 Boogie Express amps but don't know much about them....but the Junior is half the price.

 

[bungalowbill]

Re: Do you gig with a blues junior for blues?

I don't know anyone with a Deluxe. But thanks, you make some very good points. I love the Super sound, I'm just tired of hauling it. I was even thinking maybe picking up one 5:25 Boogie Express amps but don't know much about them....but the Junior is half the price.

Boogies do the Fender thing very well..I would check the weight of the Boogie though...they are heavy for their size.

 

[drpietrzak]

Re: Do you gig with a blues junior for blues?

The deluxe is ice picky to me. The older Blues Jr are nice for me and blues. The input jack is the very weakest link, and remember the posts have plastic shafts as I recall.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Do you gig with a blues junior for blues?

Boogies do the Fender thing very well..I would check the weight of the Boogie though...they are heavy for their size.

Word. The guitarist in the band I used to roadie for used a 1X12 Boogie combo, and it seemed as heavy as my dad's Super.

 

[scottish]

Re: Do you gig with a blues junior for blues?

the blues junior holds us pretty well for smallish gigs if it needs to be unmiked. i know jeremy has mentioned several times he used to gig with a blues junior with all the knobs maxed out

 

[Yngwiestein]

Re: Do you gig with a blues junior for blues?

The Blues Jr is ok but don't buy it if you want to squeeze more volume out of it later. If you go for the Mesa 5:25 get the 1x12. I don't like the 1x10 for louder volumes. You're talking a good price gap between these two amps but you get a lot more for your money with the Mesa.

That all being said there are other amp alternatives like a Laney VC30. It's very affordable and sounds better than the Blues Jr in my opinion. Depends on what you're going for. VC30 for great cleans and crunch but Mesa 5:25 has a lot more gain.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Do you gig with a blues junior for blues?

IMHO, a used DRRI and a couple of choice pedals makes a killer smaller rig for most styles of music.

It absolutely stomps a Blues JR, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Do you gig with a blues junior for blues?

i used a blues jr for years and most of what i do is 'blues'

i ran everything all the way up except the reverb and bass, reverb adjusted to taste and bass turned up as high as i could with out it getting farty. worked very well, keep the volume down for cleans, crank it up for dirty tones. i had a greenback in mine and had done little things to it like replace the plastic jack with a real one for reliability and lower the bias a little. blues to me isnt really clean tones or really saturated tones its about varying shades of grit. if you want super clean and super dirty then this is the wrong amp for you but if you can live in the medium gain realm then they can be a great amp for gigging, i sold mine to my bass players brother sans speaker and it sounds great still. i use it when ever i go over there. the deluxe reverb is a cool amp but needs more volume to get the goods which isnt always a good thing.

if i could only have one amp, id rather have something small that i know i can get what i need out of at a low volume than something that i never get to use to its potential. you can always mic a small amp, hard to get your louder amp to break up at a lower volume. between the jr and your super you should be in good shape for almost any gig.

if you do get the jr i suggest replacing the speaker

 

[tone4days]

Re: Do you gig with a blues junior for blues?

i have a jr ... we play mostly blues based classic rock covers ... with a twintube classic or zendrive, it is more than adequate (unmic'd) for the smallish bars we play ... and that is with another electric guitarist, an amplified acoustic guitarist, and a keyboardist in addition to bass and drums

mine has a buttload of the BillM mods but a stock speaker

good luck
t4d

 

[Hoss]

Re: Do you gig with a blues junior for blues?

for true grit...i LOVED mine! i actually wish i still had it!

but, for cleans at gig volume...forget it!

however, that sweet spot it had when cranked was awesome! i played rock with a pretty heavy handed drummer and we mic'd it and it sounded great!