• The Gear Page Apparel & Merch Shop is Open!

    Based on member demand, The Gear Page is pleased to announce that our Apparel Merch Shop is now open. The shop’s link is in the blue Navigation bar (on the right side), “Shop,” with t-shirts, hats, neck buffs, and stickers to start. Here’s the direct link: www.thegearpageshop.com

    You’ll find exclusive high-quality apparel and merchandise; all items are ethical, sustainably produced, and we will be continuously sourcing and adding new choices. 

    We can ship internationally. All shipping is at cost.


What amp is the Blues Jr. supposed to sound like?

Blue Tile Fever

Blue Tile Fever

Member
Messages
855
Is it supposed to have a Blackface tone? Tweed tone? Some other kind of tone? What amp do you think it sounds like? I only ask because supposedly it was used extensively for the Son Volt OATMOR album and i LOVE the tones on there! But then i wonder was it modded in some way or plugged into some kind of extension cab. I just find it hard to believe that such a cheapo amp could sound so good :dunno
 
E

Eric Dahlberg

Member
Messages
192
A stock Blues Jr. has some weird circuitry in-line but can still be dialed in to sound similar to a black face Fender. If it uses the same reverb circuit as the Hot Rod Deluxe, clipping out a single resistor will help immensely. It's a cool amp, in any case.

Regarding an external cabinet, a lot can be helped by mic technique and selection in the recording process so you shouldn't use the album as a gauge of whether to use the internal speaker or not.
 
hacker

hacker

Member
Messages
1,172
Blues Juniors and Pro Juniors have been used by a lot of pros, including Eric Clapton and Warren Haynes.
 
B

Billm

Member
Messages
574
The Blues Junior is actually closer to the Bassman and its bigger siblings in the Hot Rod line, the Blues Deluxe and Hot Rod Deluxe, because all of them have two stages of gain before the tone stack, then a blackface tone stack. Like the HRDx and BDx, it has a mids control and master volume.

The Blues Junior takes mods beautifully, and can expand its range of available tones from crisp blackface to compressed tweed. I've modded many hundreds of them and I've never had a reason to clip a resistor in the reverb circuit.
 
PatrickE_FenderADV

PatrickE_FenderADV

Silver Supporting Member
Messages
27,437
I'm taking the BJr plunge tomorrow... I'm trading my VERY loud US made Blues Deville 4x10 in for a new MIM Blues Jr. I'm going to wait on the mods at first and take some time to tweak the amp in its stock form. After reading so much on TGP about this amp, I'm actually excited about a MIM product from Fender.
 
Last edited:
A440

A440

Silver Supporting Member
Messages
4,721
I think the pro jr was originally thought of as a descendant of the old white amps which were a fender student model I think.

maybe the blues jr is an extension of that ?
 
Jon Silberman

Jon Silberman

10Q Jerry & Dickey
Silver Supporting Member
Messages
41,866
I've owned both. Features aside, I did not view their tone as comparable at all (YMMV which is always cool). :)
 
O

OnlyVees

Member
Messages
838
Blue Tile Fever said:
Is it supposed to have a Blackface tone? Tweed tone? Some other kind of tone? What amp do you think it sounds like? I only ask because supposedly it was used extensively for the Son Volt OATMOR album and i LOVE the tones on there! But then i wonder was it modded in some way or plugged into some kind of extension cab. I just find it hard to believe that such a cheapo amp could sound so good :dunno
Click to expand...

Funny you should mention that album... I just bought a used Route 66 pedal that I run in front of my little Super Champ XD on the BF channel. It gets really close to a lot of sounds on that record. (with my Fender Jag of all things)

Much respect for the Blues Junior. I should have bought the used LTD tweed unit that I spotted recently. Who knew a Fender with EL84's could sound so good.
 
Z

zombiwoof

Silver Supporting Member
Messages
5,906
The thing I like about the PJ is that when you get the volume about half way up, increasing it doesn't really get much louder, it just gets more saturated. It's a great little amp for home playing, kind of tweedish, unlike the Blues Jr, which I would say is more Blackface in response. One of each is a good mix.

Al
 
Guitar Dave T

Guitar Dave T

Member
Messages
10,700
Billm said:
The Blues Junior is actually closer to the Bassman and its bigger siblings in the Hot Rod line, the Blues Deluxe and Hot Rod Deluxe, because all of them have two stages of gain before the tone stack, then a blackface tone stack. Like the HRDx and BDx, it has a mids control and master volume.

The Blues Junior takes mods beautifully, and can expand its range of available tones from crisp blackface to compressed tweed. I've modded many hundreds of them and I've never had a reason to clip a resistor in the reverb circuit.
Click to expand...

Circuitwise, this is certainly true, though tonewise, there seems to be a bigger difference between my two Blues Jr's and original '93 Blues Deluxe.

One tone characteristic they both have in common is the many non-Fender characteristics they both have when driven hard.

The Blues Jr is extremely touch sensitive and articulate, much like an old tweed Deluxe, though with a strong EL84 vibe, making it a kind of a tweed Fender/Vox-ish hybrid amp when driven hard (back to the OP - there really isn't ONE amp that the BJ sounds like, IMO). This quality also makes it different than most blackface and silverface Fenders, which have their own cool thing happening. (I've owned a boat load of old blackface and silverface Fenders in the past 34 years).

OTOH, using the Blues Jr as a clean amp reveals that strong Fender clean thing we're all familiar with, and so does the Blues Deluxe, for that matter.

The Blues Deluxe's difference becomes apparent to me when I overdrive the clean channel or use pedals with its clean channel; It starts to go in a JTM45 direction, tone wise. Also very cool, and unlike a lot of Fenders we all know and love.

And I love the mid controls on both BJ's and BDx's, and find them to be very useful.

Wish the BJ had a presence control too, but its absence doesn't really seem to detract.
 
Guitar Dave T

Guitar Dave T

Member
Messages
10,700
FenderBigot said:
You do know there's a BillM mod for adding a presence control, right?
Click to expand...
Yep, but like I said, its absence doesn't detract. No disrespect to Bill's mods, some of which I've heard, played and liked, but I actually like the stock amp with just a speaker and tube upgrade (and a proper biasing).

I mention this because I believe this is really a good amp on its own.
 
B

BanditPanda

Member
Messages
26
Guitar Dave T said:
Yep, but like I said, its absence doesn't detract. No disrespect to Bill's mods, some of which I've heard, played and liked, but I actually like the stock amp with just a speaker and tube upgrade (and a proper biasing).

I mention this because I believe this is really a good amp on its own.
Click to expand...
Super necro thread! My apologies but.....
Can the latest Blues Jr. iv do the latest Pro Junior iv?
I can understand that the BJr is a better all around amp because of alot of tonal options available and the MV. The reason I ask is because I am on an open G 5 string Tele tonal quest to get pretty convincing close to the Keef sounds. If the Bjr can get it there then I am better off because of the tonal options.
Thanks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.




Trending Topics

Top