Considering doing a bunch of BillM mods to a Blues Junior

[Angry Old Man]

Anybody have any feedback on the BillM mods?

Thanks
AOM

 

[s360guitarist]

No, but you could check over at the telecaster site on their amp owners page. Search out the TDPRI forum and you will get some info...

 

[ekamal]

I'm loving mine after the mods, didn't care for the amp stock. But I've seen people enjoying the sound of the amp stock, so I guess each to his/her own.

 

[stratotastic]

I dunno--if it were me, rather than spend that kind of coin to upgrade a mediocre amp, I'd rather just combine the cost of the amp and the mods to go get an amp that sounds better in the first place.

 

[The Kid]

I dunno--if it were me, rather than spend that kind of coin to upgrade a mediocre amp, I'd rather just combine the cost of the amp and the mods to go get an amp that sounds better in the first place.

Indeed.

 

[mds]

Let's see, how to put this. I bought a Blues JR entirely due to the fact I could fit it in a suitcase for a tour I did a few years back. I traveled all over Europe with it playing in a duo. We had a blast. The only thing the amp did that I liked was not weight much, haha. I'm not a fan of this amp...I did pretty much all the BillM mods to it and I still didn't like it. Cold, brittle, uninspiring. Very glad I sold it.

YMMV, of course, just one man's experience.

 

[glblues]

Let's see, how to put this. I bought a Blues JR entirely due to the fact I could fit it in a suitcase for a tour I did a few years back. I traveled all over Europe with it playing in a duo. We had a blast. The only thing the amp did that I liked was not weight much, haha. I'm not a fan of this amp...I did pretty much all the BillM mods to it and I still didn't like it. Cold, brittle, uninspiring. Very glad I sold it.

YMMV, of course, just one man's experience.

i somewhat agree, though with one caveat. like all amps, it depends on the speaker.
i sold mine as i felt the sound of the pro junior trumped it even after the mods, but then again, i hear recorded sounds of it and it was much better than i expected.
i might one day give it a chance if i hadnt bought a tweedyverb which more or less serves the purpose i wanted the blues junior to be: light, loud and bluesy with reverb.
if you're on budget, i didnt mind it as a workhorse amp. i had mine loaded with a C rex.

 

[mds]

Mine had whatever they came with. Some Fender/Jensen type. Nothing to write home about. I put a tonkerlite in it for portability and it sucked, haha. I think I tried a couple other speakers in there before selling it, but I didn't see any potential in that amp for me. That said, I play/write/record for a living so my needs may be quite different than others.

 

[jlagrassa]

I've got the Blues Junior III which I like the best out of all the versions there were,But I sill did a few mods anyway and it does improve the amp. I should mention I only like this amp clean for use with pedals and with the right ones the amp works very nicely, The amps OD no matter what you do isnt that great... at least for the style I play

What I did on my amp was add the Tone stack mod, Power Supply stiffening mod, Cooler Bias mod and changed out the Output transformer I tried the Twin stack mod but did not care for that one I also changed all the tubes to JJ tubes Pre and Power. The stock Lightning bolt speaker is actually a nice speaker but I'm going to replace it I have a WGS reaper on order and should have it Friday, I also put the chassis into a larger cab it's the size of a Hot Rod Deluxe the cab alone adds a lot of depth to the tone and I also put in a 17" reverb tank.

It sounds like a lot of work but it s not, mods are really easy to do if you have the skills and the parts are cheap to buy... the cab only cost me $155!

Here is my BJ III

 

[SGspecial]

I'm looking for a grab & go amp. My question is, after you do all those mods to the JR, plus new speaker and new cab, how much coin do you have invested in it?

 

[jlagrassa]

I'm looking for a grab & go amp. My question is, after you do all those mods to the JR, plus new speaker and new cab, how much coin do you have invested in it?

Well the Speaker and cab will be the most expensive but if your just doing the simple circuit mods its under $50 or under $100 if you add the upgraded Output transformer, I spent about $275 in all the mods I did and is worth it to me plus its an easy amp to repair/mod my self!

 

[Snap]

I did most of the BillM mods for my Blues Jr including a new speaker.
I use the amp for rehearsals and practice at home but it still sounds too boxy when recording and too thin when playing live.

 

[Frank Speak]

You'll be throwing good money after bad, IMO. If I were you, I'd cut my losses, unload the thing and use the money you get out of it, plus the money you were going to dump into it, and buy an amp that sounds good out of the box. There are too many great sounding amps in the world to waste time, money and energy trying to polish a turd.

 

[dysorexia]

You can put lipstick on a pig...

 

[glblues]

it wasnt as bad as i remembered it and thinking back, i wouldnt have minded gigging with it on a permanent basis.
here's a clip of it. rough recording, band back then was pretty rough as well. but an idea of the tone with billm mods and a c rex speaker.
neck pup, tone's rolled back

 

[GCDEF]

I dunno--if it were me, rather than spend that kind of coin to upgrade a mediocre amp, I'd rather just combine the cost of the amp and the mods to go get an amp that sounds better in the first place.

Makes sense to me. There are plenty of amps out there for the price of the BJ plus mods that will sound better.

 

[champster]

I dunno--if it were me, rather than spend that kind of coin to upgrade a mediocre amp, I'd rather just combine the cost of the amp and the mods to go get an amp that sounds better in the first place.

Yep, you could buy something like a used PRRI for that much. The BillM mods are fine if you already like the sound of the blues jr. If not then you're chasing tone that you won't get from a blues jr even with the mods.

 

[Angry Old Man]

I had a 95' BJ that sounded great. It was not treblely or spikey at all. However I had heard the post-2001 BJs had too much high end, and from a couple of you mention it must be so.
As far as a bigger amp, I have not heard all the newer RI's but I have heard several RI Deluxe Reverbs and to me they dont sound good at all. Way too much top end(shrill)
A vintage DR sounds Much more musical(My brother has 4 Blackface DR's), but it is of course over $2000

I can compromise and get a BJ because I will use this amp at home mostly and it is built for home play(Voiced)

 

[twostring]

It all depends on what you're looking for. I actually liked my Blues Jr stock. Paired with my esquire, I could get Brad Paisley rhythm tones easily. After a the basic mod package, the amp is missing that growl that I loved. It's a little too tame now...it doesn't break up in a musical, natural way anymore...the gain is fuzzy and metal-ish now. Boo-urns.

 

[Angry Old Man]

It all depends on what you're looking for. I actually liked my Blues Jr stock. Paired with my esquire, I could get Brad Paisley rhythm tones easily. After a the basic mod package, the amp is missing that growl that I loved. It's a little too tame now...it doesn't break up in a musical, natural way anymore...the gain is fuzzy and metal-ish now. Boo-urns.

Wow
Guess I am used to reading the BillM site which of course everything seems to be rave reviews.

Its the growl I like too