Blues Junior or AC15

[cjp54]

Bying an amp for my 17 yr old son for Christmas. He has a humbuckered LP and likes Green Day, Classic Rock... I have a Komet K19 and a Mesa Rectoverb. Which of the two amps in the title would you purchase for your kid? I'm going to try both tonight but always like other opinions. Thanks!

 

[GCDEF]

Neither for classic rock, but in general, almost anything other than a Blues Junior.

 

[jlagrassa]

A blues junior III and a good OD/distortion pedal would work fine with the amp set clean, never tried a AC15 so I have no input to add on that amp.

 

[picnic]

I have had both multiple times. I would vote for the vox. Try a Peavey Classic 30 also. that's where I wound up.

 

[SgtThump]

A blues junior III and a good OD/distortion pedal would work fine with the amp set clean, never tried a AC15 so I have no input to add on that amp.

I just returned an AC15 today. The amp sounded really cool with all volumes cranked! The amp had this 3D swirly, chimey, jangly tone that you read about and it was cool! But with the volumes down low to get a clean tone, the bright caps seem to make pedals sound harsh and downright painful. Im not going down the "bright cap clipping rabbit hole" either! Lol

I read the entire Internet about this issue and man, its so true. Not a real convenient amp IMO.

OP - Id go Blues Jr with a pedal FOR SURE! Just my opinion.

 

[SgtThump]

I have had both multiple times. I would vote for the vox. Try a Peavey Classic 30 also. that's where I wound up.

Actually, id take the Classic 30 over both as well!

 

[MikeFM]

I don't think you can wrong with either. a year ago, I went to my local store to make the same choice. In the end I felt that the AC15 was a little more versatile. I had a love/hate thing with it for the last year or so, but have come to realize that the problem was me, not the amp. It can an unforgiving amp that doesn't appreciate all pedals, but I've heard the same thing from blues junior owners too.
I can tell you one thing, if your son is looking to take it to band practice, the AC15 is not light. But man, is it worth it.

 

[manimal]

Fender Bassbreaker 15 combo all day everyday. Can be as clean as the Junior or Vox, or have twice the gain as either one, way thicker sounding, more sustain, more bottom end, also has reverb....
Head and shoulders better for a rock player in my opinion. Wanted a Blues Junior in the past....was just ok when I've played em. Played one today again actually at GC...one of the NOS Tweed ones. Gorgeous looking, sounds "nice".....ish. Good size and volume, warm tone, but middy, boxy and harsh at gain levels on bridge pickups wjith any guitar. Vox is a much better amp, I've owned an AC15C1X for a while and it's magical for blues and Petty style rock, sick 3D cleans and crunch. But it will not inspire to do a lot of classic rock or hard rock.
Bassbreaker excels in evvvvverything for the money. Please check this one out.

 

[MikeFM]

I just returned an AC15 today. The amp sounded really cool with all volumes cranked! The amp had this 3D swirly, chimey, jangly tone that you read about and it was cool! But with the volumes down low to get a clean tone, the bright caps seem to make pedals sound harsh and downright painful. Im not going down the "bright cap clipping rabbit hole" either! Lol

I read the entire Internet about this issue and man, its so true. Not a real convenient amp IMO.

OP - Id go Blues Jr with a pedal FOR SURE! Just my opinion.

Bright cap "mod" took me all of four minutes to do, and this is coming from someone who knows nothing about electronics. I was absolutely scared to open the back of my amp for fear that I'd touch the wrong thing and electrocute myself. I put mod in quotations because I really just went at it with a pair of pliers and ripped the thing out. Done.
At first I really didn't hear a difference, and thought "oh well, no harm done either way" but I slowly realized that the amp was taking any pedal I threw at it convincingly and without harshness. I don't blame you for bringing it back. I'd contemplated doing the same, but am i ever glad I didn't!

 

[MikeFM]

Fender Bassbreaker 15 combo all day everyday. Can be as clean as the Junior or Vox, or have twice the gain as either one, way thicker sounding, more sustain, more bottom end, also has reverb....
Head and shoulders better for a rock player in my opinion. Wanted a Blues Junior in the past....was just ok when I've played em. Played one today again actually at GC...one of the NOS Tweed ones. Gorgeous looking, sounds "nice".....ish. Good size and volume, warm tone, but middy, boxy and harsh at gain levels on bridge pickups wjith any guitar. Vox is a much better amp, I've owned an AC15C1X for a while and it's magical for blues and Petty style rock, sick 3D cleans and crunch. But it will not inspire to do a lot of classic rock or hard rock.
Bassbreaker excels in evvvvverything for the money. Please check this one out.

Hmm, interesting. I've been meaning to check these out. My perception is that it is a jack of all trades, master of none. which is why i haven't bothered yet. Now, I'm curious.

 

[WhoJamFan]

Ac15 all the way.
The bright cap is a simple snip-(don't rip, you could damage the traces on the board) no desoldering or taking everything completely apart to remove it. It was just put there so it would chime at bedroom levels.
Also, it looks much cooler IMHO.

 

[SgtThump]

Bright cap "mod" took me all of four minutes to do, and this is coming from someone who knows nothing about electronics. I was absolutely scared to open the back of my amp for fear that I'd touch the wrong thing and electrocute myself. I put mod in quotations because I really just went at it with a pair of pliers and ripped the thing out. Done.
At first I really didn't hear a difference, and thought "oh well, no harm done either way" but I slowly realized that the amp was taking any pedal I threw at it convincingly and without harshness. I don't blame you for bringing it back. I'd contemplated doing the same, but am i ever glad I didn't!

Oh, i didnt mean its hard or anything. I just wasnt going down the path of tweaking this and that to force it to work for me. Cool amp for sure, but just not for what i wanted!

 

[yeatzee]

AC10. I like the AC10 more than the AC15 and I also own a BJIII that has all the typical mods done. The BJIII is actually a really good amp, but if I had to pick one itd be the vox and stock for stock its the Ac10 100%

 

[Ash Telecaster]

I have both. The BJ has a very nice low volume clean. Personally I don't care for it's cranked tone. The ac15 is all around a better amp in my view however it is a lot heavier! It takes a little more knob twisting to get the best results. Super nice amp though. I own 8 amps, some expensive and yet I will always enjoy owning an ac15.

 

[manimal]

Hmm, interesting. I've been meaning to check these out. My perception is that it is a jack of all trades, master of none. which is why i haven't bothered yet. Now, I'm curious.

I dunno.....I thought it was an absolute blast to play. Inspiring, fun, and plays WITH you....not against you. Clean or high gain. It is a master of clean and high gain for the money...great great crunch/mid-gain too. Doesn't suffer from EL84 high-gain-Itis that most amps do. I've been playing over 20 years and have played or owned just about every EL84 amp ever created hahaha.....and this is the amp that nails it. Gets a lot of the characteristics that you'd want from a good el34 Marshall...without the harsh high end...no flubby mushy lows. Just great. Can't say enough good things

 

[cjp54]

Thanks for the replies. I tried both today at GC. Lot of your comments are spot on. For my ear though, I liked the BJ better. I played with almost no treble though. The VOX had to be up too loud to get the breakup I was looking for. And as usual I was told to turn down. I wasn't even as loud as I wanted to be! You really need to crank an amp up to see what it has. The VOX weight (48# vs 31#) put me off for my son as he's going to be going in and out of the house with it and he's a small guy. I have two other amps mentioned he'll end up with down the road anyway. The Bassbreaker head with cabinet puts me over my limit for this purchase. He's still learning and his equipment at this point is above his playing level anyway. I went with the Tweed BJ. He'll love it. I'm making a guitar for him also. I started with a 66 Jaguar Neck and him and I designed a body I had machined on an CNC. It's definitely a mix between a Fender and Gibson. I'll post a thread when I'm done in a week or two.
Thanks!

 

[Silverthorn]

If they're available I'd look a laney cub 12r for it's low watt input plus reverb and effects loop. Good value for money. My brother bought one on my recommendation and it was as good as I expected.

He recently did a live gig with it and he is quite happy with it so far.

 

[AlanH]

I'm interested in the Egnator Tweaker myself....

 

[eigentone]

I've got a couple ACs. I have no problem getting good crunch and classic tones with them.

 

[PatrickE_FenderADV]

Of those two I would pick the AC15C1... it's a solid amp for the money and has some good tone. BUT... Look at the BB15, he might find it better for his music tastes.