Blues Jr vs Pro Jr

[1kidc]

Other than a different size speaker, what's the difference(s) between the Fender Pro jr and Blues jr?

Which would you use for recording?

 

[Jon Silberman]

The BJ, of course, has reverb, a fat boost function that's footswitchable, and bass, mid, and treble controls. The PJ is just volume and tone.

The real difference, however - and I'm guessing this is what you're really interested in hearing about - is in the tone stacks. The PJ is derived from the tweed champ, the BJ is closer to BF (not that the amp truly sounds BF, just that the tone stack is relatively closer to one).

But perhaps someone else with more specific info. can also chime in.

 

[1kidc]

Ahh - very enlightening. I hope others will post more info. What's the difference (if any) tubewise? el 84's in both?

 

[jwz]

Tried both Blues Jr & Pro Jr at the same time for about a week. Returned the BJ and got another PJ. Blues Jr is more versitile "out of the box" reverb, EQ, etc. (distortion boost is horible!)
But the PJ . . . Pure, raw el84 rock. Dial back the volume on guitar, cleans up enough for me. Under battle conditions, you gotta love just a vol & tone!
I been gigging with a pair of PJ's in stereo for a while now. They do it all night. Stock pre-amp tubes are problematic, change em out. Top, center screw on the back plate usually contributes to a distinctive hum. Replace it with a shorter one. Reverend Alltone 1025's make a great difference. I also changed tranny's: Mercury Mag multi-drops 4,8,16ohms. (if you're really brave, disconnect the feedback loop, (safe amp repair practices, yada yada))
A Pro Jr through a good 12" vs a Blues Jr will show you what "all that other junk" in the BJ's pre-amp does to the tone.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[guitguy28]

I own a Pro Junior- I did try a Blues Junior once, and I have to agree with jwz- in my opinion, the extra features of the BJ don't add a whole lot. You're not lacking anything with just a volume and tone, and if you need a gain boost, just use your favorite pedal. I didn't care for the reverb on the BJ either.

 

[Jon C]

Bjrs. vary widely. Mine has a LOT of headroom compared to a PJ and is actually a pretty good sounding amp (tho with the boxy cab it sounds more tweedy than BF, even tho the tone stack may be more BF as Jon S describes).

If you don't need any clean in your tone a PJ is fine, or two of them! if you need any clean tone the PJ doesn't have it at anything approaching gigging volume in my experience.

My BJr has served well through dozens of gigs over 7 yrs. with nary a hiccup.

regards,
Jon

 

[GreenTea]

Pro Jr for recording. Have not owned one but was so having fun I played one in a store for about an hour. Very sweet little amp out of the box fwiw.

 

[cyclerob]

In my humble opinion, the Pro Jr sounds better than the Blues Jr... Actually, I had a Blues Jr at some point and I didn't keep it very long... You have less features available on the Pro Jr, but at least you have a decent basic sound to work with... I wouldn't say that of the Blues Jr!

Dominique

 

[TheGrooveking]

I can safely agree on this one, the Pro Junior is the way to go, I guess that is why I have two of them. I used to run a triphonic rig, a Blues Deville 410/60watt in the middle/dry and two Pro Juniors running off a Rocktron Replifex/BBE 362. Sounded fantastic, kind of loud, but you know what I could never here them screaming to turn it down, so it didn't matter. But man they sure screamed!

TheGrooveking:RoCkIn http://community.webshots.com/photo/174718661/174720432VUIgHW

 

[blair]

Having had both I agree on the Pro Jr rather than the Blues Jr, even with all the extra bells and whistles if you want EL-84 tone. Definately stay away from the early BJ's 'cause many times the reverb just flat suk'd! I had one and tube/spkr changes didn't help.

I don't have either anymore and prefer a Tweed Champ Clone kit I've built from a reputable supplier of which there are quite a few. All are using top notch componants these days to stay compeditive and excellent instruction manuals too. Most will also build for you at and added charge of $100. Not bad for that sweet Vintage tone of the fifties and sixties. Many, many songs were recorded in the studio with those little beasts and they react well to tube changes too! Other than a rectafier tube, it's a 12AX/AT7 and a 6V6 of your choice for different flavors. I like that....... No 'Verb but if ya drink enough coffee for shakey fingers or do your 'neck stretching/shaking' you can fake it! Back to pure basics........

Good hunting for your tone quest.

Hammer on.......Blair

 

[Louis1969]

I just spent an hour comparing the two, and ended up buying the Blues Junior.

At first the pro sounded better to me, but after spending time tweaking the Blues , I found it sounded better ( closer to my hot rod de ville ) the fat switch sounds pretty crappy unless you cut off some bass ( that's how I found my tone ) overall I felt that having the reverb and more control on clean power tipped the scale in favor of the blues Jr.

hope this helps.

 

[phsyconoodler]

Either amps are ok,but modded they can both sound great.I absolutely love the pro jr after the fromel mods.Wow!
Blues jr's are ok stock but again,modded they are pretty damn good.
None compare(after all the mods) to a nice hand-wired amp with good tubes and transformers,but for the price they are good grab and go amps.

 

[John Thigpen]

I've had a Pro Jr since the nineties, and have always enjoyed it. No mods other than an Eminence Ramrod speaker.

I've always been curious what people thought about to what extent these two EL84 based Fender amps lean towards Vox tones. I like EL84 amps, and most of my amps over the last 20 years have been EL84. Fenders are known for 6v6 and 6l6 amps of course. Does anyone find these two to fit more into the Vox camp?

 

[78deluxe]

Pro Jr is a better sounding amp. No question.

Modded they are fantastic little amps.

 

[notthatguy]

I've been modding my BJ via Billm's various mod packages and I have to say, any tone that was capped up (no pun intended) is mostly unleashed for me now (sounds great). That's still using EL84s. I'm stepping up to 6L6 madness eventually. Have not heard a PJ myself. Used my BJ for about seven years until I started modding it.

 

[TimmyP]

We have several of each. The Pro's all sound better than all of the Blues. (All are stock.)

 

[bobotwt]

A pro jr through a 2x12 is a thing of beauty! I imagine it would sound even better through a 4x12. Glorious, I bet.

Josh

 

[DeaconBlues]

I've got a PJ with the Fromel mods(also, did the .22 resistor change @ R6) and an Allen TO20 OT. It's in a Tonedog 1x12 cabinet, for the time being. I get a lot of positive comments about the tone of this amp and it holds it's own in a band situation. No problem with having enough clean headroom.

 

[62deluxe]

I'm a big fan of the BJ. A great, and very versatile, small amp. My secret is that I set up my base tone with the Fat switch ON, but with a fairly clean tone at about 6 on my guitar volume. Tuning up the guitar volume drives the amp wonderfully, or I can kick in my Zendrive or other OD pedals. I turn the Fat switch OFF when I want to get really clean (like for surf music), works like a charm.

I will add that I have a REV C cream board amp (last revision before the new BJ III) with a Fender labeled Eminence Legend in it. Great amp straight out of the box. My buddy has an older green board amp that took many mods and a new speaker to get it sounding as good as my amp.

 

[62deluxe]

I've had a Pro Jr since the nineties, and have always enjoyed it. No mods other than an Eminence Ramrod speaker.

I've always been curious what people thought about to what extent these two EL84 based Fender amps lean towards Vox tones. I like EL84 amps, and most of my amps over the last 20 years have been EL84. Fenders are known for 6v6 and 6l6 amps of course. Does anyone find these two to fit more into the Vox camp?

I have a Marshal that has EL84s and a Fender that has EL84s, The Marshall still sounds like a Marshall and the Fender sounds like a Fender. There's a lot more to it than just the power tubes.