guilty blues junior pleasures.

[drpietrzak]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

I have done no mods (mine is a 2000). I love it with pedals. Great pedal rig. A new speaker is all I would think about myself.

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

I've got a Weber Blue Dog in mine, but also tried it with a Weber California. The Blue Dog isn't as efficient and has more of a "British" feel to it. The California was more of a classic Fender sound, cleaner and louder (more headroom), which wasn't what I was after.

Most guys seem to really like the JJ EL-84 power tubes, but I'm very happy with Ei's after trying several different sets. They aren't as dark as the JJ's, but they have a really smooth breakup and aren't as brittle/harsh in the high end as most other EL-84s.

For the preamp tubes, V1 makes the most difference. The Blues Jr. only uses 1/2 of V2 and changing it doesn't seem to have much impact. V3 is the phase inverter and putting a 12AT7 in there does seem to add more clean headroom.

As far as tube brands go... the Shuguang (9th generation Chinese) tubes are a great deal, the new Tung Sols seem to run hot and a bit nasty (in a good way), JJ's are popular but sound a bit dark/warm to me, EH's are very reliable w/o much character, and Ei's sound lovely until they go microphonic (which they probably will do, quickly). IMHO, put JJ's or EH's in V2 & V3, then buy a handful of better tubes to try out in V1. Some people really like an NOS 5751 in that first spot if they're going for a cleaner sound with less preamp distortion.

I've had good experience with Doug's Tubes, but YMMV.

Chip

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

Somehow I missed "page 2"

The Weber Silver Bell is listed under the "British Series". Do yourself a favor and figure out what sound you want, then call Ted Weber. Either he or his son will set you straight. They make the darn things after all.

I love using the Mini-Mass with my Blues Jr. but that's 'coz I love power tube breakup

IME if you call Eurotubes, you'll end up with JJ's. Others may have different experience there. Not saying they're bad tubes... BTW there's some disagreement about whether or not having "balanced triodes" in the phase inverter is good or bad. IMHO it's more marketing than something you'll actually be able to hear, but what do I know?

HTH

Chip

 

[benbenben]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

haha well you know more than me. I just dunno what i want anymore.
I always loved the Fender classic blackface cleans, but i know i can't do that with my B Jr. And that fact that it has el84 just brings me further.

Should i just give in to the brit, or should i just do whatever. In terms of speakers what do you think. Brit or American. I know I can get the original Fender sounds, but to my ears the stock speaker sounds pretty good. Whast can i do to make it even better?

What tubes should i get, should i do the Eurotubes thing?

 

[benbenben]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

okay, after much deliberation.
i think the question i should be asking is;
'does the blues junior perform better as a british style or american style amp?'
considering that the type of tubes makes such a big difference, should i just follow the nature of the tubes and go for the britishy sorta tones, or should i twist it around its nature and go more vintage, american.
I know people love it both ways (that sounds wrong, but let's just talk amps) but in terms of how well it does as an american and british amp, which does it do better.

I realise i'm not actually after a particular sound. I've played my friends blackfaced-silverface Twin and i love it, and i've played another friends english-made AC-15. Both very different, but i love em most. Maybe i can do sorta a hybrid or just a in between sound of the two?

From what i can gather, American amps are more flat, more even across the board in terms of frequency projection. They seem to have more bass and seem slightly scooped compared to the british. The british is just middy and that's what makes it british yeh? It just cuts through?

I play with pedals which i've invested a fair amount into, so the amp MUST work well with my pedals. Just a quick sum, i have a clyde wah, fdii-mosfet, dd-20, tweak fuzz, and on the way is a hot-cake, crunchbox and a smallstone.

Playing a tele with antiquities and a paul with JB/Jazz.



Oh i wanna use that Weber Micro Mass as well, Fresh Start can ya just quickly brief me on them things. I know the general idea is to crank your amp as cranked tubes really sing and thats where it's at. Is the attenuator basically reducing the volume of that good tone, but keeping it's tonal qualities?

Thanks guys, you guys are my family. you help me in every way possible. Well yeh whatever

: )

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

Mini-Mass: 15 tube watts can be pretty darn loud! An attenuator will let you dial in the mix of preamp vs. poweramp distortion, then cut the volume down (some). Frankly, I never really heard the Blues Jr.'s power tube distortion until I got the Mini-Mass - just couldn't turn the master volume up that loud!

BTW you are going to lose some tone with any attenuator, especially if you really throttle the volume down. Weber's products seems to work pretty well, but you can't get full on distortion at "bedroom" listening levels. You can keep from breaking glass and may avoid a visit from the police though (depending on neighbors, etc.).

HTH

Chip

 

[benbenben]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

Alright, the mass sounds good. Okay any more tube and speaker suggestions?

 

[benbenben]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

bump to my big comment above?

 

[3Tone]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

Here's what the folks on the Fender Forum suggest for the Blues Jr:

http://www.fenderforum.com/forum.html?db=&topic_number=610718

 

[drpietrzak]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

It is a between amp to me. It is not really pure fender or pure marshal. There is not much vox in it to me. Speaker helps, but the greeen board (mine) seems more marshall and the white board (current production) is more fender.

 

[benbenben]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

So what sorta stuff would you put in it. More british voiced tubes and speakers or american.

 

[EveryMn]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

So what sorta stuff would you put in it. More british voiced tubes and speakers or american.

I'd do Brit voicing since I'm into the Brit sound... really, think of your influences and playing style. Concentrate real hard... and if all else fails, make a thread about it.

 

[benbenben]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

Can you sorta sum up what the two different styles are more a bout?
I know British is AC30, really classic rock, and more middy?
American would be more Fenders, more SRV, sorya bluesy and vintage? I dunno?

 

[EveryMn]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

Can you sorta sum up what the two different styles are more a bout?
I know British is AC30, really classic rock, and more middy?
American would be more Fenders, more SRV, sorya bluesy and vintage? I dunno?

British is Marshall, Vox, Hiwatt, Orange, etc.

American is Fender, etc.

British is Celestion, Fane, etc.

American is Jensen, etc.

 

[skyydogg01]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

ok, hypothetical question ...

if one was to do the variable bias mod, and change the tubes to 6v6's, would it work? would it sound better or worse?

ok, it was a 2 part hypothetical question

 

[benbenben]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

What im asking is does the Blues Junior do a better job with speakers and tubes with are british voiced, to match the el84s or does it suit the American tones better? This will probably determine how i voice my Blues Junior and my future amp will be.

 

[Rushfan2112]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

It'll do a better job if that's the tone you're looking for. Honestly, it's up to you, now, for what you want.

 

[EveryMn]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

What im asking is does the Blues Junior do a better job with speakers and tubes with are british voiced, to match the el84s or does it suit the American tones better? This will probably determine how i voice my Blues Junior and my future amp will be.

Yeah, you're going around in circles here. I'm going to try helping.

Here's an idea, though: buy one, get out the screwdriver and soldering iron and try out every possible tube/speaker/misc mod combination you can imagine, and DECIDE WHAT YOU LIKE BEST.

 

[drpietrzak]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

The Blues jr, like most amps, will have more of the the British or US flavor if you do things. It will not sound like either really. It will sound like a Blues Jr. tweaked to sound more like ...

I have JJ power Tubes, with a 12ay7 in V1. It has more of a tweedy voice that way. But, it is a tweedy element to the Blues Jr. It remains a Blues Jr.

I have tried different speakers as well.

 

[benbenben]

Re: guilty blues junior pleasures.

I see, yeh fair enough.
Okay just one quick question from me.
What are the britishy tubes and americany tubes. So i can get a few. What sorta stuff should i experiment with.
Obviously i don't wanna be buying like 3 or 4 speakers til i get the 'right' one. What should be one i can get and be happy with the sound. I think i'll go for the 'british' feel to amps.
Whats a good british speaker, thats not extremely pricey, and will be good enough. Same with tubes, however i don't mine experimenting with tubes, just gimme a direction
Cheers again guys, you guys ARE my heroes.