Help me make a decision...

vladmarr

vladmarr

New member
I'm stuck trying to decide between 2 amps...
Vox ac15 and the Fender blues Jr. they're both selling at the same price at my local shop. i like the sound of both, but i want to get some input from you amp connoisseurs out there. give me some pros and cons on each amp to help me narrow it down. i need a low wattage versatile tube amp cause the place i play at is too small for my 50w amp. your thoughts are appreciated
 
Re: Help me make a decision...

which jr, the normal stock black one?

which ac15? if its the hw with the pentode channel jump on it but i assume that its the ac15cc with the wharfedale.

both are cool amps but they sound pretty different. i havent heard of one or the other having significantly more reliability issues so i would just get which ever one suits you better.
 
Re: Help me make a decision...

it's gotta be the whahrfedale one, the one with the alnico blue is like 900$ or something usually.

The Vox is kinda bright... the blues jr can sound kinda "boxy".

overdrive pedals can sound kinda harsh on brighter amps. I demo'd some OD stomp boxes the other day thru an ac30 and it could get wayyyy to grating.

the blues jr has lots of mods available to give it a better sound.

The AC15 has tremolo right? Would you even use that?
 
Re: Help me make a decision...

yeah, the Vox is the 15cc and the Blues jr. is the tolex one not the tweed.

the Vox did sound kinda bright clean, i did not try it with effects. they only had some junky stuff so when i buy it i think i'll bring my pedal board along and try it out on both.

Good to know that there has been no major concerns with reliability issues with either... though it does not make the decision easier.

the Vox does have a trem, but i hardly use trems. so i guess that's an option i don't need.

how does the Jr. handle pedals?
 
Re: Help me make a decision...

Those are both great amps. I like the tone of the AC15 a lot personally, but it kind of looks cheaply built to me - plastic jacks and so on.

The Blues Jr is a great small amp, and can be improved drastically with a speaker swap. Not to mention there are tons of mods out there for it. It loves pedals. Your FTL Drive is going to sound awesome on it.
 
Re: Help me make a decision...

the blues jr takes pedals so well that it's ridiculous!
 
Re: Help me make a decision...

Lots of pros are using blues juniors. But I would aso recommend a speaker swap. Maybe a Jensen C12N. Pretty much anything will gve you more bass and focus than the tragic stock fender/emi speaker.
Re: Circuit Mods - I tried many of the well known ones on my BJ and found that it sounded best when stock. I think the circuit currently is at revision D or E which means Fender have been working on it for a long time now. Swapping a couple of capacitors away from factor spec. will not create miracles.
It is a good amp - but much better with a better speaker.
 
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Re: Help me make a decision...

well, i've been leaning towards the blues Jr. the mods thing kinda interests me, what kind of mods are there besides the speaker swap?
 
Re: Help me make a decision...

TOne stack mod - The twin mod (midrange pot jumper) is good.
TOne stack - more bass - to me just made it a little looser.
Filter caps doubling - not really any change that i thought was positive - actually took away some warmth to me.
A new transformer - expensive - but i havent tried this one.

Adding more sugar or whatever to a chocoate cake recipie will still give you a chocolate cake in the end. You need a different recipie to bake bread.
 
Re: Help me make a decision...

I would go for vox ac15, with Celestion blue if possible. It sounds so good and loud with the master vol at noon or higher. I used it once, live with the band and played blues-rock and hard rock and ac15ccx sounded so good. With JB in the bridge, straight to Vox, it gave me just enough crunch and gain for rock and hard rock, and with middle and neck SSl-1 sounded more bluesy. Great vintage rock tone, really.
I heard Blues Jr. in a bar and it wasn’t that loud and usable with the band and sounded to ice-picky with some kind of a strat, way to bright and clean.
Jr. is maybe better for bedroom playing only, not sure..
For country to hard rock Vox ac15 ccX, pushed hard with the band, wins this competition easily, but costs and weights more as far as I know.

Great review:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaWcvDS6EGU
 
Re: Help me make a decision...

I like VOX's so I'd go VOX and while it doesn't take all pedals easily you can still find ones that work them and nothing beats an ac type amp for chimey cleans and semi cleans but like said the blues junior is probably more versatile and can be modded.
 
Re: Help me make a decision...

I would go w the AC15, as i had one (got stolen)

My church has a BJr.
I prever the AC15 by a mile !!!


My 2cents
James
 
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