Fender Blues Juniors

Post by **Doog** » Mon Feb 22, 2016 12:47 pm

So I'm really missing having a little amp to plug into without needing to fire up my desktop, and plug in the ol' iPhone for amp-simmy stuff. Plus tubes, etc.

I've really liked the sound of all of these vanilla Fenders (clean sound mainly but the Jr seems to have a less pony drive section than the Devilles etc), so they seem a pretty accessible candidate without spending silly money.

Anyone got any good or bad anecdotes?

Would totally buy one of these if I could justify it
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Deco-T ... SwB4NWwkdy

vojtasTS29 · Post by **vojtasTS29** » Mon Feb 22, 2016 12:58 pm

Get a Pro Jr. It can get you through a gig, and the 10" speaker sounds vastly better at home volumes, compared to a 12"

Post by **Doog** » Mon Feb 22, 2016 1:18 pm

vojtasTS29 wrote:Get a Pro Jr. It can get you through a gig, and the 10" speaker sounds vastly better at home volumes, compared to a 12"

2 knobs? Thanks dude, but no sale.

Post by **Mike** » Mon Feb 22, 2016 2:13 pm

I've always loved that series. I played Stew's Hot Rod Deluxe at the shortscale Stokey gig and it was looooovely. I reckon the Blues Junior would be a nice cuter option.

If I get a small tube amp again it'll most likely be one of those.

I used to lust after the Princeton but they're just too bloody expensive, I've given up on that idea.

Post by **Doog** » Mon Feb 22, 2016 2:36 pm

Mike wrote:I've always loved that series. I played Stew's Hot Rod Deluxe at the shortscale Stokey gig and it was looooovely. I reckon the Blues Junior would be a nice cuter option.

If I get a small tube amp again it'll most likely be one of those.

Yeha man, I always really enjoyed Stew's live guitar sound, I think those Hot Rods get way more flak than they deserve; amazing bases for pedals without being super sterile.

Post by **Mike** » Mon Feb 22, 2016 3:10 pm

Yup, I think they can cop that deep bass, sparkly treble "Twin" thing really well and sound lovely with a nice dirt pedal. I'm guessing a lot of the hate is due to people not liking the Drive circuit because it's not really that balanced EQ wise with the Clean sound, the sensitive master volume (think they sorted this on the newer version III models?) and the fact that people expect too much from amps. If it does one sound great and works well with pedals be happy with your lot...

singlepup · Post by **singlepup** » Mon Feb 22, 2016 6:05 pm

I have used a Blues Junior many times and they're great IMO. They have plenty of sparkle and headroom. I also owned a Blues Deluxe at one point. Very similar amps on the whole. The Blues series tend to have a "boxier" sound which lends itself to a slightly darker and smoother tone. Quite different from (and IMO much better than) a DeVille or a Pro Jr.

However, my bedroom amp is a 1978 Vibrochamp. About the same price as a Blues Junior on this side of the pond.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Mon Feb 22, 2016 8:34 pm

I was also going to recommend the pro jnr over the blues junior. They have a really great character and you'd be surprised how much the single tone knob can do!

Blues juniors are cool too but they are a little more generic sounding. The Laney Cub 10 might be worth checking out too.

Johno · Post by **Johno** » Mon Feb 22, 2016 9:05 pm

Anybody tried out the Fender champion 600? Cheap as chips at around Â£100 second hand.

Post by **Doog** » Mon Feb 22, 2016 11:09 pm

While I'm sure those other 2 knob amps are well and good, the thought of dropping a few hundred on something that does a few sounds doesn't really make me get out my fucking chequebook

Gabriel wrote:Blues juniors are cool too but they are a little more generic sounding. The Laney Cub 10 might be worth checking out too.

Good shout!

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Tue Feb 23, 2016 1:31 pm

Do an Laney VC-15 I like mine very much... Cub looks cool also.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Tue Feb 23, 2016 8:48 pm

Mike wrote:Yup, I think they can cop that deep bass, sparkly treble "Twin" thing really well and sound lovely with a nice dirt pedal. I'm guessing a lot of the hate is due to people not liking the Drive circuit because it's not really that balanced EQ wise with the Clean sound, the sensitive master volume (think they sorted this on the newer version III models?) and the fact that people expect too much from amps. If it does one sound great and works well with pedals be happy with your lot...

This sums it up the best, I hated how loud it got and how ice picky it got as well while playing clean (I've heard a speaker swap makes a world of difference), but honestly if you take a bassy sounding guitar with one of these and really take your time to get that eq perfect it's a great amp, just really heavy and loud. The only reason got rid of mine was because my silvertone 1483 (which is pretty much a fender deluxe from what I hear) does it all for me with a couple of pedals, without the ice picky treble and half the weight, and I needed some cash at the time. My HRD was the first or second run though, the 3rd one actually really did fix a lot of the issues.
All that said though, that Blues Jr. is really nice, sounds a lot better to my ears, also weighs way less and is still pretty loud.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Tue Feb 23, 2016 8:52 pm

Also what made the hot rod deluxe useless for me was it actually got too loud at gigs and for any practice application because the best sound it made to me was when you cranked it. Actually really liked it cranked without pedals, just was way too loud for me.

Jagtornado · Post by **Jagtornado** » Tue Feb 23, 2016 10:52 pm

Is the blues junior loud enough for gigs and can you keep it clean?

Post by **Doog** » Tue Feb 23, 2016 11:13 pm

15w tube might get you loud enough but not clean, nuh-Uh.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Tue Feb 23, 2016 11:19 pm

I guess it depends on the music you're playing. For me 15 watts has always been plenty, but then again I'm not playing in any loud rock bands. With an efficient speaker a 15 watt amp can be plenty loud though.

Post by **Doog** » Wed Feb 24, 2016 10:56 am

True enough, but for most Kurdtz-approved gig situations, I don't think this'd keep up totally clean.

I heard the new III model has a bit more headroom, and I'm sure you could pick tubes and bias settings wisely to help even more.

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Wed Feb 24, 2016 11:50 am

Never needed more than the 15watts for a gig.

singlepup · Post by **singlepup** » Wed Feb 24, 2016 10:38 pm

Gabriel wrote:I was also going to recommend the pro jnr over the blues junior. They have a really great character and you'd be surprised how much the single tone knob can do!

Blues juniors are cool too but they are a little more generic sounding. The Laney Cub 10 might be worth checking out too.

I agree the Pro Jr is a great amp--it does sound much more "alive" than the Blues Jr. The big advantage with the Blues Jr, in my mind, is headroom.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Thu Feb 25, 2016 2:11 am

They're the same power amp circuit, only difference would be speaker efficiency but that could easily be matched with an eminence speaker. The pro junior I had kept up with a band easily. Miss that amp, sounded killer with pedals.