Blues Jr

[Punkavenger]

A buddy let me borrow a older blues jr he wasnt using ... I kinda like it!

What do you guys think of the blues jr in general and what does it cost to have the Bill M mods made?

Should I just buy a new one for $499 or fix up an older one?

What speaker is best for rock/blues? (Think Peter Green)

How much should I offer him for his? (older, a little beat up, probably needs a good servicing)

Thanks!

[Turdus]

I like tight sounding amps, smooth overdrive, etc. In my opinion, this was not a tight sounding amp.

I bought it, as it was cheap. I think I owned it less than a week.

But if you are a Fender guy, you'll probably love it. I am not a Fender guy.

[murkat]

Good enough for Jeff Beck

actually there is a great article in back issue of Tone Quest Report,

Jeff Beck, gear, etc. with a great dissection of the Jr.

[harry65]

not an amp i dislike more and i am a fender guy , never tried one with mods though..........

[Feynman]

OK - let me plug it one more time - Super Champ XD!

[harry65]

OK - let me plug it one more time - Super Champ XD!

[RichF]

I think a good amount of the appeal of the Blues Jr is that it's a nice grab and go amp. Small, light, decent cleans, decent overdrive, and you can get a serviceable tone in a bunch of different situations. Will it give you an ideal clean tone or an ideal overdrive tone? Probably not for either case. But once again, it's a good sounding amp in a variety of situations.

The early ones suffered from a hit and miss noisy reverb. Some amps were good some were noisy. I owned one for a few months and ultimately sold it because I needed to be able to turn the reverb above 2 without a bunch of noise. The later ones seemed to have addressed that somewhat. They did just release the series III version of the Hot Rod series that makes some other changes.

If you're looking for a new one I would check out the Humbolt Hot Rod version that Pro Guitar Shop is offering (no affiliation with them). Comes with JJ tubes (which are a nice change in the Blues Jr and Pro Jr) and an Eminence Cannabis Rex speaker.

[Wizard333]

Been gigging mine for years and its great. I mod amps as part of my living but I did not find the Bill M mods necessary. The things I did find necessary were 1) Eminence C.Rex speaker, 2) Maple cabinet.

1) will get you most of the way there.

[Gitslide]

Great amp for both small gigs and recording, too, I like to dime (OK, 12) mine and just work the volume control on my guitar. I have a G12M25 in mine, a friend has a V30 in his. Both are quite nice.

The slide clip I posted here a while back was my BJr.

[JGale]

OK - let me plug it one more time - Super Champ XD!

“Hello, ladies, look at that amp, now back to me, now back at that amp, now back to me. Sadly, it isn’t mine, but if he stopped using 6V6 scented smoke and switched to Old Cedar and Ebony, it could be. Look down, back up, where are you? You’re on a stage with the amp your amp could sound like. What’s in your hand, back at me. I have it, it’s an tele with two tickets to that thing you call fabulous. Look again, the tickets are now diamonds. Anything is possible when your amp sounds like heaven. I’m on a horse.”

[Punkavenger]

OK - let me plug it one more time - Super Champ XD!

“Hello, ladies, look at that amp, now back to me, now back at that amp, now back to me. Sadly, it isn’t mine, but if he stopped using 6V6 scented smoke and switched to Old Cedar and Ebony, it could be. Look down, back up, where are you? You’re on a stage with the amp your amp could sound like. What’s in your hand, back at me. I have it, it’s an tele with two tickets to that thing you call fabulous. Look again, the tickets are now diamonds. Anything is possible when your amp sounds like heaven. I’m on a horse.”

I remember when I used to do acid

OK - let me plug it one more time - Super Champ XD!

All that modeling crap gives me the heebie jeebies

[tomteriffic]

Good enough for Jeff Beck

actually there is a great article in back issue of Tone Quest Report,

Jeff Beck, gear, etc. with a great dissection of the Jr.

Wasn't that a Pro Jr., not a Blues Jr.?

Or is the old drain bamage kicking up again?

[Jimbilly]

My old bandleader used one a lot, a real '62 strat through it. He swore by having a V30 in there. It did sound really good.

[JohnnyB]

I owned one for a year. It was worth the $279 I paid for it, but the prices and fancy permutations are not commensurate with the pedestrian quality of the amp. It's OK, you can get a fair range of sounds out of it, but I found that the speaker lays the same cardboardy coloration onto every guitar you plug in and every setting you dial in with the knobs.

If you get a used one for $250 or less, it's probably worth it relative to other tube amps, but at the new price of $499, I'd definitely seek out a Traynor YCV series.

If you pop in a better speaker I'm sure the BJ would sound significantly better.

I also owned a tweed Pro Jr. Way fewer knobs, but a lot more fun amp.

I sold a Crate Vintage Club 20 to get the Blues Jr., and although the 12" speaker of the BJ gives better low end extension, the Crate came with a Celestion Vintage 10 and the amp had way more "jump" to it. The BJ always sounded compressed, which is to say, boring, while the Crate VC 20 had a fast and vibrant dynamic response. I had gotten the VC 20 for about $130 (but this was 1997).

Do you still have the Top Hat? I can't imagine considering a Blues Jr. if you have a Top Hat Club Deluxe unless you want something cheaper to play out with.

[Krank]

All that modeling crap gives me the heebie jeebies

You don't have to use the second channel at all. I run mine clean (channel 1) and use pedals for grit. Works a charm.

[Brooks]

I remember when I used to do acid

me too!! ha

OK -let me plug it one more time - Super Champ XD!

this.

All that modeling crap gives me the heebie jeebies

try one, then decide. channel one (blackface) kicks tha crap outta most fender amps in the same price range (hell, it sounded more chimey fendery that my '66 blackface champ, i shit you negative).

channel two preset 8 is a very decent marshall tone.

add delay/trem/verb/etc to taste, NO PEDALS NEEDED.

only mod is maybe a spkr swap (hell, maybe not)...

[BubbaVO]

add delay/trem/verb/etc to taste, NO PEDALS NEEDED.

+1 on the XD. True that no pedals needed, but it does take my mine very well.

And this sucker can get plenty loud.

[morningstar]

+1 more on the XD. I put some old (1957) RCA (Sylvania green ink) tubes in it and never bother with pedals. The stock speaker is fine, but the XD rips through my old 15" full range Altec and Wizard 2 X 12. The stock tubes were "OK", but Tung Sol RI were better and Sylvanias have "it".

morningstar

[shankyboy]

I bought one of those tweed limited edition Blues Juniors a few years back from Guitar Center. They had the price down to $299!! I get monster tone out of it and I drag it to most of my bar gigs. It doesn't have the roar of my Vibrolux, but for it's size, it roars plenty loud. Especially when I have my Fulltone in front of it. I think it is the perfect amp for bar gigs.

[gorch]

... I think it is the perfect amp for bar gigs.

That puts a relation to acid doesn't it? I wonder that Brooks and Punkavenger can remember.

[Brooks]

i have done a zillion bar gigs, none of them while on acid.

we are trying to point the OP in the direction of a better fender bang for your buck.

if you have your heart set on a blues jr, then by all means, go for it, hope it makes you happy.

[zenmindbeginner]

For $499 you can get a genuine Blackface Champ that will appreciate with value over the years and have the authentic 70's Gilmour tone.

Consider this before you buy...

[harry65]

For $499 you can get a genuine Blackface Champ that will appreciate with value over the years and have the authentic 70's Gilmour tone.

Consider this before you buy...

agreed but if i was prone to go that route i'd spend an extra $200 - $300 and score a silver face princeton reverb or deluxe reverb , two of the greatest amps ever known to mortal man , honestly though i can get pretty close to both with my scxd , took me a while to find my sound but i gig 3 days a week with mine and have no plans to buy anything else , errr well i have been curious about a dr z

[Punkavenger]

I had a genuine Blackface Champ and it just wasnt loud or ballsy enough for me. Even just for home use.

Every time I find a nice Princeton the seller wants butt loads of money for it ... overpriced, but maybe worth it?

Frankly my Koch 2x12 combo has been my favorite amp so far ...

Just need one of those thats not so damn loud!

[Brooks]

channel one (blackface) kicks tha crap outta most fender amps in the same price range (hell, it sounded more chimey fendery that my '66 blackface champ, i shit you negative).