Blues Jr.

[Sonic Blue 55]

I showed up at the drummer's house with my Paisley H head and a Dan Armstrong Pine cabinet with a 12" Cerwin Vega. I forgot the speaker cable!
There was a Blues Jr. there.
I made some adjustments with it and got a surprisingly good tone from it. The guitarist that owns it cranks up the volume and master with the fat tone switch.
I heard him one night and was appalled at the tone he was digging.
I found it to be a great amp with my McCarty gold top double cut with soap bar P90s. I got a clean sound with a hint of sparkle and had a blast playing Miles Davis, Steely Dan, Jerry Garcia, and
Taj Mahal tunes.

 

[JasonE]

Those are great amps. I am a big fan of Fender amps. I have been gigging a hand built amp that is a modified Vibrolux circuit for the past 8 years. I also have a Hot Rod Deluxe. There are some fantastic tones in these amps as well as the Blues Jr..

 

[nac]

Yep great little amps. Have been for many many years too!

 

[Greywolf]

+1 on those gems

 

[Senor Verde]

I've been thinking about getting one for home practice. There seems to be 4 different version over the life of the product. Which does everyone like and why? I am leaning toward version IV.

 

[JasonE]

I've been thinking about getting one for home practice. There seems to be 4 different version over the life of the product. Which does everyone like and why? I am leaning toward version IV.

If you go to a shop to buy one, compare it to a Deluxe Reverb. Both are great amps. You may like one better than the other.

 

[Greywolf]

Fender Blues Junior - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Rhythmisking]

I've been thinking about getting one for home practice. There seems to be 4 different version over the life of the product. Which does everyone like and why? I am leaning toward version IV.

The first version was built in USA, which one usually assumes is better, but my understanding is that there were some potentially problematic design/layout issues that were fixed in the subsequent MIM versions. Also some people take issue with the stock speakers...

But all in all a fantastic little grab and go amp.

 

[bodia]

Always wanted one, when they first came out, that and he Hot Rod Deville. Never did go there, though.

 

[Mark Ray]

I've got the limited run Blues Jr. "After The Gold Rush," with the factory installed Greenback. Probably played 250 gigs with it. Pushing it with a 10-band eq and a RYRA Klone, it did a great job.

 

[andy474x]

Lots of people crap on the Hot Rod series amps, but I think a lot of that comes from the overdrive tones - the cleans especially are pretty good. I’ve always liked the Blues Deluxe, and played a HRD for a jam that sounded good, too.

 

[WingerRules]

Lots of people crap on the Hot Rod series amps, but I think a lot of that comes from the overdrive tones - the cleans especially are pretty good. I’ve always liked the Blues Deluxe, and played a HRD for a jam that sounded good, too.

I agree completely on this point. I’ve played Hot Rod Deluxe and Deville, and both sounded good clean, but I didn’t care for the OD channels, and much of the feedback I’ve read was either ”it’s really good for the money. I only use the clean channel plus pedals” or it was ”I don’t like it because I need a good clean and a good OD channel and I don’t like the OD channel” type comments. I tried a Blues Deluxe and it wasn’t bad on the clean channel, but didn’t blow me away, but not bad. OD channel was meh.

The little Pro Jr is what Jeff Beck used to hide behind his Marshall stack and mic up to house. Those opened up can sound pretty good. But, there are like at least 4 versions of all of that AND the Blues Deluxe and opinions vary on them based on the model, so I’d always want to play one before buying as some versions are better than others.

 

[El Fenix]

A coworker was looking for an amp around $500. I sent him some listings of used Blues Jr and Vox AC15.
Not sure how to beat either of those at that price point.

 

[Longneck Tenon]

If you go to a shop to buy one, compare it to a Deluxe Reverb. Both are great amps. You may like one better than the other.

I’m sure he might, but the BJ is less than half the price of a DRRI.

 

[Longneck Tenon]

Always wanted one, when they first came out, that and he Hot Rod Deville. Never did go there, though.

I went the Peavey Classic Series instead. First a Classic 20 and then a 30. After that I went to big bottle Marshall’s and Fenders. I have played through Blues Junior and they were a nice little amp.

 

[JMintzer]

I had a tweed one I bought some 15-20 years ago.

In a fit of insanity, I sold it... Don't remember why, since I loved that amp...

 

[Rhythmisking]

A coworker was looking for an amp around $500. I sent him some listings of used Blues Jr and Vox AC15.
Not sure how to beat either of those at that price point.

The BJ weighs about 20 lbs less than an AC15, so there's that...

 

[ViperDoc]

Fender preamp into a pair of EL84s? What’s not to like?

 

[El Fenix]

The BJ weighs about 20 lbs less than an AC15, so there's that...

Didn't know that. This would be a home amp, so it may not really matter in this case.

 

[JasonE]

I went the Peavey Classic Series instead. First a Classic 20 and then a 30. After that I went to big bottle Marshall’s and Fenders. I have played through Blues Junior and they were a nice little amp.

The Peavey Classic series amps are very good as well. I am a big fan of those too.