How much will JJ tubes improve my Blues Junior??

[emisilly]

I just got a Blues Jr. the other day from fleabay. Its a MIM version, w/ the cream board. This is my first tube amp, so I'm a total novice when it comes to tubes and tube amp maintenance. Now, the basic tone of the amp is what a blues jr. should sound like, however there is some minor popping and static at the end of notes, even worse when overdriven. Also there is a faint "poingy" sounding decay at times, even w/ the reverb off (which is not noisy). Is this a microphonic tube? The preamp tubes are Fender and the power tubes are GT. They all are glowing and appear to be working, but I dont know what a "bad" or "worn" tube sounds like to be honest. I just know the other blues juniors I have played did not have these symptoms.

Everywhere I read online swears that a JJ tube swap will change any amp for the better. How much? Is this mostly hype or the real deal. They seem affordable, so I am fully ready to do a complete swap if it could help. Or do you think the amp might have some other issues?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!!

[JohnK24]

With the amp on, no guitar plugged in, set the volumes at 5. Now take a pick and tap on each tube, not hard, just enough to make contact...if you hear the click being amplified...Microphonic tube.

As far as a JJ/Tesla upgrade for tone...unless you are playing loud and alone (because with a band, no one is gonna hear a difference), skip the $40 to retube and buy a dozen sets of new strings. I did the JJ upgrade a month after I bought a brand new '03 BJ...you know what...I should have bought 3 cases of Bud, it would have been a better investiment. IMHO, you don't hear a noticable tonal change in that amp with top shelf tubes.

Another thought is invest in a better speaker. That will give you an instant tonal change, like taking a blanket off the amp. Buy used on ebay. I just saw a newer Emi Cannabix Rex go without a bid and the asking/starting price was $45.

ymmv,

John

[Mickey]

Originally Posted by emisilly

Everywhere I read online swears that a JJ tube swap will change any amp for the better. How much? Is this mostly hype or the real deal.

In my limited experience, the real deal. I had issues with brittleness and muddiness in a Pro Jr. so I contacted eurotubes.com. Best $25 bucks I've spent in a long time. I was going to switch the speaker, I was looking into mods. Now I'm not interested, the tubes did the trick. You tell them what you're hearing and what you want to hear, he'll make a good suggestion.

Would a better speaker really open it up? Probably. People also talk about using a cabinet. But I'm not there yet. I'm still loving this basically stock Pro Jr.

But, I'm not an amp doctor. If you're still under warranty, I'd bring it in to an amptech first to see if the issues you're talking about are more than the tubes.

[Fret Wilkes]

I retubed my BJ with JJs and although the amp sounds good, I can't honestly say I noticed any difference from the stock tubes that were in there. I had no issues before hand with popping and extraneous noise, I simply changed to hopefully make a good amp "better".

I also retubed my HR Deluxe at the same time for the same reason. I did notice the bottom end to be much tighter and robust after the change. I thought the preamp tubes were a little lifeless, and I switched back to the Sovteks. I'm actually gonna go back to the Fender GT 6L6s that were originally in there to see what I think now that the JJ 6L6s have been in for a while.

I'm starting to think that for this series of "working man" amps, the standard tubes may be just fine. Certainly was the case for my Blues Junior. I know Eurotubes will work with me to get "my sound", I just can't be bothered chasing what I would consider to be diminishing returns in this case. I think Fender had it right for what these amps are.

I will say that Eurotubes is an excellant vendor with good prices however. I had no problems whatsoever with my transaction.

Good luck!!
Fred

[KC]

well the problem is that I replaced the tubes and the speaker at the same time, so I guess I don't know how much to attribute to what. but the combo of the new JJs from eurotubes and the ceramic blue dog from weber made that amp 100% better, instantly. I might try speaker first, than play the tubes till they wear out, then try some new ones -- but if you put in that blue dog and it doesn't float your boat, then it may be the tubes after all. good luck.

incidentally, I don't think much of the argument that you shouldn't sink the extra $125 or so into a $300 amp. the gain in efficiency alone converts this into a legitimate small-gig amp, which it wasn't when I got it. and it just sounds 100% better to me. I feel like you get twice the amp for a little more money. check the prices on 18-watt marshalls and ac-15s by comparison.

[geddyleedog]

First, I want to say that Bob at Eurotubes is one of the good guys. He's an excellent and honest guy to deal with. I have a Traynor YCV40 and I switched to JJs simply because it was time to change tubes, and I heard many good things about Eurotubes. However, if I noticed a change in sound, it was subtle at best. So, if you need new tubes, I would highly recommend Eurotubes. He's a great guy, JJ tubes seem to be good, and prices are good. I wouldn't expect to hear any drastic changes. However, I replaced the speaker and that did make a dramatic difference. I have to say that it bugs me a little when people say to contact Bob at Eurotubes and he'll give you good advice to help you select the right tubes for your amp. He only sells JJs. Therefore, if you go to him, you'll get JJs.

[reverbbb]

As some of you may already know, I did an extensive MIA to MIM A/B test a while back. Part of that test was swapping tubes around in the amps. I had some JJ that I put in the rotation. I used my digital recorder and did the assessments with very discriminating ears - during and after the swaps.

There was so little difference in the various tube arrangements. The recordings did not detect the differences nor did my ears while I was playing.

[4mal]

Originally Posted by geddyleedog

I have to say that it bugs me a little when people say to contact Bob at Eurotubes and he'll give you good advice to help you select the right tubes for your amp. He only sells JJs. Therefore, if you go to him, you'll get JJs.

True - but he test the tubes, matches them in pairs and uses the test results to determine which are suitable for higher headroom and which are suitable for earlier crunch. That chat with Bob itself is pretty much worth the cost of the re-tube IMO.

I'm not sure if it's Bob's testing or the QC at the JJ plant, but I find them more consistent than other tube brands. I have had some Rubys, Sovteks and GT's that were absolute junk. I tried a Mesa 12 ax7 which was horrible. I have yet to hear a bad JJ.

FWIW - I retubed my recent Velocette with JJ's and had BJ done a while back. I'd have to say that the results with the BT were a subtle but there. It's a little warmer and smoother and in my case quieter. Mine was old enough 2002 as I recall, that I felt a re-tube would be in order anyway. 2 to 3 years for a small amp that may have been pushed hard, especially one like the BJ which has a reputation for eating power tubes isn't unrealistic to me. Definate improvement but not dramatic.

For the Velocette, the tubes that came in it had been ridden hard and out away wet ... a huge improvement. His set matched for early breakup has more headroon than the set that came in the amp. The amp is much sweeter as well.

Bob isn't the only tube supplier out there. He is a great guy to deal with and the JJ's seem to deliver a very high bang for the buck to me.

Further on the BJ. I have a Pro Reverb loaded with 12 in Altec 417's. Running at 4 ohms, you don't want to be in the same room with it if it's breaking up - that sucker is loud. So I removed the stock wiring harness and I'm testing it running 1 of the 12's. I'm running the other with the BJ. This is in my project studio. It would be awkward at best to move around and setup for a gigging situation. The BJ through a high quality speaker in a larger enclosure is a huge improvement. The altec is not the right speaker as it is pretty bright so I'm after a new combo cab to house the BJ amp and probably a single 12 after turn of the year. Should be a fun project.

[Kingtone]

I've got an old pro jr, I put it in a custom pine cab (Mojo), and replaced the speaker with a reissue jensen P10R, the final mod was a set of nos tubes. With all the mods the amp sounded great and delivered the tone I was after. I started to play out more with this amp and decided to get a set of JJs as a backup, I put them in to check them out. My son came in the room ( he is also a guitar player ) and he said " Wow dad! What did you do to your amp? It sounds amazing!" I agreed with him, tighter bigger lows stinging highs. I still have the JJs in the amp.
If you want a Chevy go to a Chevy dealer, If you want JJs go to Bob at Eurotubes , http://www.eurotubes.com/index.htm
I think you'll hear the difference....

[DougF]

I swapped out the stock speaker with a Celestion V30 and it made a world of difference. Of course you have to justify the 100 bucks...

[bgood]

I found the JJ's to really sound better. I did the speaker and tubes in different stages. The Weber Blue Dog was a big improvement and the JJ's were definitely an audible plus. I actually was going to swap the original GT's in today to AB it but was having too much fun playing. Get the JJ's and the case of Bud, order a Weber and you will have a nice blues amp and a buzz - hopefully not from the amp.

[bongo]

I vote for changing the speaker first - I put a new Celestion Greenback 25 watt in my BJ (kept the stock tubes) and it made an Immediate improvement. Also changed speakers in my Classic 30(vintage 30) and Boogie.22(celestion G12H80) and in those amps it made and Immediate improvement-I have a tin ear but could hear it & feel it. try the speaker first-it's worth the money :)

[WrapAround]

Originally Posted by emisilly

I just got a Blues Jr. the other day from fleabay....<snip>

I'd try swapping out the tubes.

Everywhere I read online swears that a JJ tube swap will change any amp for the better.

This certainly is not true from my experience. It's highly dependent on the amp. For example, I've found JJ EL84s to sound rather boring in my amps. However, JJs may be longer lasting tubes than some others under certain conditions (say like in an AC-30 or something).

[TG]

I uses to swear by JJs in the HotRod Deluxe I used to have. But in my Blues Junior I put a set of JJ power tubes in last year and half way thru the first gig with them I actually stopped the band, shut down the amp and waited for it to cool enough to put the old Sovteks back in (luckily I always have a spare set with me). The JJs made the amp very dark and there simply wasn't enough treble even with the tone controls on full. And that was with a telecaster.
It could have just been that set, but I'm sticking with Sovteks from now on anyway. I know the amp well as it is and I don't want any more 'improvements'.

I did put a Jensen speaker in and that made it sound better. Fuller and tighter at the same time.

[shakedancer]

Just put JJ6V6's in my Super Champ. I love them!! I was so impressed I'm going to re-tube my Bassman RI with all JJ's and put JJ's in my classic 30.

[GlennLewis]

7591's in my Ampeg reverb-o-rocket2 and it sounds awesome now.... best $35 tone adjustment possible.

Go for it!