I just picked up one of these amps from guitar center and IMHO, this is one smokin little Tube amp right out of the box. I am not that crazy about the Reverb, but that is not a big deal. How many of you have kept the amp stock, and how many have upgrated the speaker or tubes?
Fender Blues Junior Owners
- Thread starter Stratcat
- Start date
Curly
Moe's Bluesman
Re: Fender Blues Junior Owners
I follow the advice over on the FDP forum, and replaced the speaker with a Jensen RI C12N, and put JJ power tubes in. I use an NOS tube in the first pre, JJs in the others. It made a difference. I'm pretty satisfied with my tone.
As we've talked about before, the newer ones may be voiced a little brighter, and I don't know whether or not they're using the same Eminence speaker they used to.
anyway, I'd say at least try some JJ power tubes for a worthy $15 mod.
I follow the advice over on the FDP forum, and replaced the speaker with a Jensen RI C12N, and put JJ power tubes in. I use an NOS tube in the first pre, JJs in the others. It made a difference. I'm pretty satisfied with my tone.
As we've talked about before, the newer ones may be voiced a little brighter, and I don't know whether or not they're using the same Eminence speaker they used to.
anyway, I'd say at least try some JJ power tubes for a worthy $15 mod.
Curly
Moe's Bluesman
strat_master
New member
Re: Fender Blues Junior Owners
hmm sounds lliek a cool amp, 15 watts of pure tube! You think that is gig worthy? Cuz if it is, then im sold!
hmm sounds lliek a cool amp, 15 watts of pure tube! You think that is gig worthy? Cuz if it is, then im sold!
Fresh_Start
New member
Re: Fender Blues Junior Owners
The best bang-for-the-buck upgrade I ever got was buying a Weber ceramic Blue Dog speaker for my Blues Jr. I'd strongly recommend calling Ted Weber and talking over what tone you're going for. He'll tell you which speaker will do best for you.
The second best upgrade was the Weber Mini-Mass Attenuator. Being able to get fully saturated power tube distortion without going deaf or making the neighbors call the police is fantastic.
About the reverb... well, it's not so hot. There's nothing wrong with the reverb tank itself - I've talked to Accutronics who makes good reverb tanks and it turns out the Blues Jr. already has one in it :smack: The "Blues Jr. Mafia" thread on the FDP talks about this periodically. Bill Machrone- the resident guru there on Blues Jr. mods has a website, including this section on the reverb: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/machrone/bjr/bjreverb.htm
Enjoy!
Chip
The best bang-for-the-buck upgrade I ever got was buying a Weber ceramic Blue Dog speaker for my Blues Jr. I'd strongly recommend calling Ted Weber and talking over what tone you're going for. He'll tell you which speaker will do best for you.
The second best upgrade was the Weber Mini-Mass Attenuator. Being able to get fully saturated power tube distortion without going deaf or making the neighbors call the police is fantastic.
About the reverb... well, it's not so hot. There's nothing wrong with the reverb tank itself - I've talked to Accutronics who makes good reverb tanks and it turns out the Blues Jr. already has one in it :smack: The "Blues Jr. Mafia" thread on the FDP talks about this periodically. Bill Machrone- the resident guru there on Blues Jr. mods has a website, including this section on the reverb: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/machrone/bjr/bjreverb.htm
Enjoy!
Chip
hacker
New member
Re: Fender Blues Junior Owners
The reverb on the blues junior is not bad compared to its competitors (Peavey, Traynor, Crate), but its not the Fender Blackface sound. I agree with Curly, you need tube reverb for that.
I played the "relic" blues junior with the jensen alnico speaker in it and it sounded great-very warm and midrangey with nice sparkle on top.
The reverb on the blues junior is not bad compared to its competitors (Peavey, Traynor, Crate), but its not the Fender Blackface sound. I agree with Curly, you need tube reverb for that.
I played the "relic" blues junior with the jensen alnico speaker in it and it sounded great-very warm and midrangey with nice sparkle on top.
Fresh_Start
New member
Re: Fender Blues Junior Owners
FWIW - I've got a ceramic Weber Blue Dog in my Blues Jr., and think JoeBC does too. Costs a lot less than the alnico and fits just fine.
The Accutronics reverb tank in my TradeMark 10 from Tech 21 is even smaller than the one in the Blues Jr., but the TM-10's reverb sounds really good. Some guys have tried putting a bigger tank on the outside of the cabinet without much improvement in the reverb IIRC. It really is the circuit - not the tank.
Chip
Mac-P said:
FWIW - I've got a ceramic Weber Blue Dog in my Blues Jr., and think JoeBC does too. Costs a lot less than the alnico and fits just fine.
The Accutronics reverb tank in my TradeMark 10 from Tech 21 is even smaller than the one in the Blues Jr., but the TM-10's reverb sounds really good. Some guys have tried putting a bigger tank on the outside of the cabinet without much improvement in the reverb IIRC. It really is the circuit - not the tank.
Chip
