Fender Blues Junior Mods

[liamtarpey]

Hi everyone,

I'm sure you've all seen these type of posts a million times about this amp but here goes.

Just bought a tolex blues junior. Absolutely love the sound, I did have an Orange Tiny Terror but it didn't suit my style of playing at all, just love the creamy overdrive of the fender amps. Basically my perfect tone would be the Clapton tone from the Royal Albert Hall with Cream gigs. (2005)

Anyway, of course amp isn't perfect, as it loses clarity at high volume and top end is really shrill at times. I was looking into changing the speaker, been looking into the Eminence Texas Heat. Anyway what I'm worried about is losing the tone I love so much, or will the speaker just improve it?

Might seem like a stupid question but I'm unsure about how drastic the change will be?

Also was thinking of swapping out the tubes for some JJ/Tesla ones (I hear they're better quality)

Anyway, any advice or recommendations would be nice and just a bit of help really as I'm a bit of a novice with tube amps ;)

Cheers

Liam

[electric larry]

I have 2 blues jr's. One is stock and has the fender tone you like so much and the other has an 8 ohm hellatone 12H30. The difference is amazing. I A/B them and the the one with the hellatone is way warmer and ballsier and will bark if you push it. Almost VoxMarshall like and it has way more headroom.

After a lot of research, I found the Eminence Cannabis Rex (my next purchase) to be the preferred replacement to maintain the fender sound, with much improved low end, sweeter high end and improved volume. I'll have one jr. for blues and one for jazz. The C.Rex is an american sounding speaker. You have to make up your mind if you want British or American.

[liamtarpey]

thanks for the reply larry, I'll check out the speaker

definitely want to keep the American sound, and avoid Marshall/Vox/Orange tone if possible

[metz420]

Also look into the Eminence Swamp Thang. I've heard great things along with the Texas Heat. I've got a Governor in mine which is closer to a Celestion V30 and it sounds great. I know you're avoiding the British sound but the point is that any good speaker will only enhance the tone of these great little amps.

[jw112]

Texas heat should get you where you want, based on my experience

[TweeDLX]

Texas heat should get you where you want, based on my experience
Liam,
The Texas Heat or Emi Red, White & Blues are both great "Fendery" sounding speakers. I've also heard good things about the Cannibis Rex and Swamp Thang (both of these have a more subdued treble response). Tung Sol RI preamp tubes sound fabulous. The JJ's are more consistent in QC, but most modern production tubes are pretty much a crap shoot any more. If you have the $$, go with a good NOS tube in V1. You won't regret it. I have heard very good reviews on the JJ EL84's.

Mike

[loudguitarz]

I use a Cannabis Rex in my Blues Jr

[liamtarpey]

I use a Cannabis Rex in my Blues Jr

do you have any sound clips of it?

[Champ]

Hi everyone,

I'm sure you've all seen these type of posts a million times about this amp but here goes.

Just bought a tolex blues junior. Absolutely love the sound, I did have an Orange Tiny Terror but it didn't suit my style of playing at all, just love the creamy overdrive of the fender amps. Basically my perfect tone would be the Clapton tone from the Royal Albert Hall with Cream gigs. (2005)

Anyway, of course amp isn't perfect, as it loses clarity at high volume and top end is really shrill at times. I was looking into changing the speaker, been looking into the Eminence Texas Heat. Anyway what I'm worried about is losing the tone I love so much, or will the speaker just improve it?

Might seem like a stupid question but I'm unsure about how drastic the change will be?

Also was thinking of swapping out the tubes for some JJ/Tesla ones (I hear they're better quality)

Anyway, any advice or recommendations would be nice and just a bit of help really as I'm a bit of a novice with tube amps ;)

Cheers

Liam

Dropped my NOS Blues Jr off at Billm's before I went to the amp show to have his mods installed. While discussing the various mods, he plugged his modded amp into my stock Jensen speaker. I could not believe the differance! My origional plan was to do the mods then change the speaker later. Not anymore. It's not the tubes or speaker causing the problems with the BJ, but the short comings in the Fender design. Bill's mods correct these. I'm a believer. GT

[Kingbeegtrs]

Dropped my NOS Blues Jr off at Billm's before I went to the amp show to have his mods installed. While discussing the various mods, he plugged his modded amp into my stock Jensen speaker. I could not believe the differance! My origional plan was to do the mods then change the speaker later. Not anymore. It's not the tubes or speaker causing the problems with the BJ, but the short comings in the Fender design. Bill's mods correct these. I'm a believer. GT

All I did was swap the stock Jensen with a Tone Tubby Ceramic and what I basically have now is the tone of a Vibroking at a third of the volume. What a bad little amp!

[lawrencedesigns]

I did almost the complete set of Billm mods, and put in a Cannabis Rex.
Absolute Fender Tone Heaven.


Keeth Lawrence
Lake Arrowhead, CA

[methenyesque]

I did almost the complete set of Billm mods, and put in a Cannabis Rex.
Absolute Fender Tone Heaven.


Keeth Lawrence
Lake Arrowhead, CA

Just got my Billm-modded NOS tweed back from the shop and...whow is all I can say. I have the cannabis rex also, along with an extension cab with a Jensen C12N.

Unbelieveably clean, resonant tone. The new Allen/Heyboer OT makes a big difference IMO.

To top it all off, I just ordered an NOS JAN 12AY7 for V1 and a Mullard CV4024/12AT7 for V3. The icing on the cake.

[champster]

Over the years I've owned two blues jrs. I found that tubes and speakers are the things to change. My last one I did all the BillM mods and found them to basically be a waste of time. The mod that made a difference was the tone stack mod. With the other mods it still just sounded like what it was, a blues jr.

[Trotter]

Do yourself a huge favor and install an Eminence Cannabis Rex and some good tubes.

[methenyesque]

For me, the upgraded output transformer made a big difference. Deeper bottom end and added fullness of sound. The stock BJ OT is pretty low quality IMO.

[EJstratinSC]

IMHO, The BillM mods brought my BJunior to life. In addition to the basic mods(tone stack, twin stack, power supply stiffening), I installed the high voltage pre-amp mod, Heyboer 22 watt OT, and standby switch. Plus, I swapped stock EL84s for TADs. To say that I am pleased is the understatement of my life. Rich tones and tight bass from an otherwise Blah little amp.