Lets talk Blues Jr III's

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Ventilator

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I'm not really trying to do a review with this post since I dont own it and haven't played on in any proper context yet. However this was my first impression of the amp:

I played one at Sam Ash the other day and loved it. I especially liked how the knobs on it could really shape the tone. The two volume controls could go from a beautiful clean to a great classic rock distortion. The three band EQ was really responsive. They seemed to make a much bigger effect on the overall tone than other amps that I've dealt with. Reverb was superb. In the room I was in, turning it up to about 3 or 4 made it somewhat reminiscent of a chorus effect. Maybe that's just me though. When it was turned all the way, it sounded very true. It did not give off the ringing kind of feedbacky sound you get out of other spring reverb units when it was all the way up. I was playing a strat on it. The fat switch did its job very well. I figured I'd have to switch it off when I plugged a les paul into it, but I was wrong. It still sounded better. Perhaps that's just the way with anything that has moderate output pickups in it. Bottom line: I want one.

I've done a little digging and found that these are popular amps to mod. Things like presence control knobs, clean boost and stand-by switches can be added to this without changing its tone. Then you can still swap tubes and the speaker if the stock sound doesn't suit you. I'm not sure how much of that is actually necessary or useful, I mean I do love the way things are stock on it, but I do love to tinker with things.

So two things:

1) does anyone have anything to say about the amp as is (stock)? You know: thoughts, opinions... etc.

2) does anyone have any experience with a modded blues jr? Like how the mods affected the amp and/or how easy they were to install.

Any opinions on the Blues Jr III would be appreciated.
 
Re: Lets talk Blues Jr III's

I was going to buy one except there was a Hot Rod Deluxe III right next to the Blues Junior III I was going to buy and it was priced super cheap so I went with it. I still want the Blues Junior but I couldn't resist a deal like that.

The new Blues Juniors are awesome. They have some of the sweetest cleans you can ever get in an amp of that size. I ran my new MXR 78 Custom Badass Distortion through it and it was awesome. There was a little tube rattle at high volume but I think it has been improved a little bit over the older model.

The speaker didn't break up until it was near maximum volume. I don't know if it's because the speaker was brand new or if they changed the stock speaker. It sounded awesome though. I could just imaging that an Eminence Texas Heat would be great for one of those.
 
Re: Lets talk Blues Jr III's

i had a BJR they are quite nice amps - especially for the money! BUt they can stand to take a few simple improvements. i did a few well known mods on mine (most of which i reverted back to stock). the only one really worth doing is known as the "twin stack mod". Which is very easy and gives your eq even more flexibility. The rest of the circuit mods and not really an improvement IMHO, but change for changes sake. Heres why:
After playing a Bjr for a while a lot of players tend to wish the thing had a bit more bass, and also a bit more definition. So for a few bucks they buy some sprague caps and change a few values here and there. The issue is not with the current circuit.
There are 3 big factors in why this particular amp sounds good/or bad depending on how you look at it. Two of them are changeable for a reasonable cost but luckily they make biggest improvement. Ill start with what you can change:
1. Its an el84 amp....they sound the way they do because of that. It will never be a 'big" sounding amp. Howver, putting in a set of JJ el84s will increase your headroom and make the amp sound a bit fatter (especially if you like the fat button!). More headroom = more bass. You can still get power tube breakup if thats what you like, so JJs are a defintie and noticeable improvement. Keep the original tubes as spares for a gig. Tung sols or EH in the preamp also sound better than the rebadged sovteks that fender use.
2. The stock speaker is total rubbish. Even the modest 15watts of a BJ will cause it to flab out in the bottom. The top end is also very bright and unpleasant. There are plenty of great speaker options out there for you. This more than anything will make you amp transform from a cheap sounding amp to a really nice 15watter. Depending on what youd like to change after playing the stick one for a while you can most likely get something perfect from eminence. Maybe a texas heat, red white and blues or a cannabis rex depending. The weber 12f150 will also sound killer - its a clone of the old jensen c12ns from the sixties (the current jensen c12ns are not so good).
3. The cabinet itself is particle board. You cant change this at low cost, but luckily because its not such a big powerful amp its not a really big deal in this case.

Hope this all helps!

ps. you will find the fat switch as less and less effect the higher you turn the master volume. I works kind of like a "loudness" control on stereo systems. Changing the tubes to jjs and a nice speaker will give yo more fatness at all volumes.
 
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Re: Lets talk Blues Jr III's

gibson175 said:
i had a BJR they are quite nice amps - especially for the money! BUt they can stand to take a few simple improvements. i did a few well known mods on mine (most of which i reverted back to stock). the only one really worth doing is known as the "twin stack mod". Which is very easy and gives your eq even more flexibility. The rest of the circuit mods and not really an improvement IMHO, but change for changes sake. Heres why:
After playing a Bjr for a while a lot of players tend to wish the thing had a bit more bass, and also a bit more definition. So for a few bucks they buy some sprague caps and change a few values here and there. The issue is not with the current circuit.
There are 3 big factors in why this particular amp sounds good/or bad depending on how you look at it. Two of them are changeable for a reasonable cost but luckily they make biggest improvement. Ill start with what you can change:
1. Its an el84 amp....they sound the way they do because of that. It will never be a 'big" sounding amp. Howver, putting in a set of JJ el84s will increase your headroom and make the amp sound a bit fatter (especially if you like the fat button!). More headroom = more bass. You can still get power tube breakup if thats what you like, so JJs are a defintie and noticeable improvement. Keep the original tubes as spares for a gig. Tung sols or EH in the preamp also sound better than the rebadged sovteks that fender use.
2. The stock speaker is total rubbish. Even the modest 15watts of a BJ will cause it to flab out in the bottom. The top end is also very bright and unpleasant. There are plenty of great speaker options out there for you. This more than anything will make you amp transform from a cheap sounding amp to a really nice 15watter. Depending on what youd like to change after playing the stick one for a while you can most likely get something perfect from eminence. Maybe a texas heat, red white and blues or a cannabis rex depending. The weber 12f150 will also sound killer - its a clone of the old jensen c12ns from the sixties (the current jensen c12ns are not so good).
3. The cabinet itself is particle board. You cant change this at low cost, but luckily because its not such a big powerful amp its not a really big deal in this case.

Hope this all helps!

ps. you will find the fat switch as less and less effect the higher you turn the master volume. I works kind of like a "loudness" control on stereo systems. Changing the tubes to jjs and a nice speaker will give yo more fatness at all volumes.
Click to expand...

I believe some of the improvements you mentioned are in the new Blues Junior III.
 
Re: Lets talk Blues Jr III's

I like the stock blues jr III's. Like a little EL84 deluxe reverb normal channel.
The lightning bolt speaker sounds a good bit less harsh than the thing they used to use, but I still would want to throw an eminence in there. I like the PGS clip of the C. Rex BJr.
 
Re: Lets talk Blues Jr III's

I just got a Blues Junior III last week I think this version stock sounds real good right out of the box, I think the biggest improvement is the Lightning Bolt speaker...it's actually usable.

I'm not new to the Blues junior I had one a couple of years ago that I did some of the popular Billm mods to as well as a speaker & tube change, The Blues Junior III I feel you dont need any circuit mods but I did change all the tubes out to JJ ECC83S and JJ EL84 power tubes and I actually like the Lightning Bolt speaker.

I only use the amp clean and use the Fulltone OCD with it and the amp sounds much bigger than it looks, the amps OD sounds descent in the BJ III but I think the OCD sounds 10x better. I'm using my Les Paul with the SD Jazz neck and JB bridge and the amp is a little rock'n machine!
 
Re: Lets talk Blues Jr III's

I like the new vesrion much better than previous-

The limited edition with the Vintage 30 was also quite good (speaker makes such a difference on this amp), but have you guys seen this exclusive from PGS?

 
Re: Lets talk Blues Jr III's

A speaker upgrade was absolutely necessary with the older Blues Jrs. Glad to hear they're putting something better in the III.

Anybody know if Fender added a bias adjustment or dialed back the bias a bit? The only mod I've done inside my "green board" Blues Jr. was to add a bias adjustment so that I could get a cooler bias. Stock, the old ones literally burned up power tubes IME. The tone is sweeter with a somewhat cooler bias too, at least IME.

I know that lots of guys have successfully modded Blues Jrs. However, the cheap construction makes that amp pretty darn delicate IMHO. Fender needs to do it that way to hit a really nice price point, but every time you lift that circuit board you are tempting fate and gremlins. YMMV.

Last but not least, anyone know where I can find a schematic for the Blues Jr. III? It's not in the usual place on the Fender site. I'm planning on gutting mine and building something different using the chassis, trannies, cab & speaker (Weber Blue Dog). The problem is reliability issues, not the stock amp.

Cheers,

Chip
 
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