For Blues Jr owners

TeleBrew · February 5th, 2008, 04:18 PM

I already had an OD pedal when I bought my Blues Jr a few weeks ago. I've found that I prefer the natural overdrive sound of the amp to my OD pedal, especially with the Fat Switch engaged. I love my two fuzz pedals through it, though, dirty or clean.

Does anyone still use an OD pedal with a Blues Jr? I'm thinking about selling my OD now, but was curious about what other people do, too.

tele-martini · February 5th, 2008, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TeleBrew

I already had an OD pedal when I bought my Blues Jr a few weeks ago. I've found that I prefer the natural overdrive sound of the amp to my OD pedal, especially with the Fat Switch engaged. I love my two fuzz pedals through it, though, dirty or clean.

Does anyone still use an OD pedal with a Blues Jr? I'm thinking about selling mine now, but was curious about what other people do, too.

I'm in the market for an OD pedal just to use with this amp. I can drive my 5-10 watters w/o it and get good natural OD but have found the BJ to be a little loud when attempting the same.

FatTeleTom · February 5th, 2008, 04:36 PM

I don't use my BJ that much anymore, but one of its best attributes was that it seemed to take overdrive pedals really well, with no fizziness. Mine's an older greenboard BJ, which are supposedly darker in tone as compared to the new ones--that may have something to do with it.

I use a Barber Small Fry, a Barber Direct Drive, and a Boss Blues Driver, and all have worked well with the BJ.

The overdrive available in the BJ itself can indeed sound pretty good, and can be varied with tube changes. Works great if you want to just control the level of drive by adjusting your guitar's volume control.

The nice thing about running pedals into the amp set clean is that you can quickly get a wider range of different flavors of clean and overdrive sounds.

BrassRat · February 5th, 2008, 05:45 PM

I picked up a used Sparkle Drive and it definitely gives some tonal range that you can't get out of the preamp alone. Nice feature to hit a note/chord and then just "dial in" the balance between the clean and dirty (808-like) signal.

The better buy, though was a Weber Micro Mass (15W attenuator with high and low band rheostats). This allows the output tubes to really sing and gives some control over the freq response. Definitely worth the price of admission ($70).

I'm also working with an old 1996 green-board with JJs in the preamp.

JimiBryant · February 5th, 2008, 06:02 PM

sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.. depends on the tune if it's a recording
situation, although back when I would gig with a pair of 'em I'd always have
an OD on my pedalboard - I particularly like this here box in front of my
Blues Jr with the Eminence Legend.. I guess it's basically a TS808 clone,
but it is good at what it does.. oddly enough, I don't like it as much with
my BJ that has the Jensen reissue!

tele-martini · February 5th, 2008, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrassRat

THe better buy, though was a Weber Micro Mass (15W attenuator with high and low band rheostats). This allows the output tubes to really sing and gives some control over the freq response. Definitely worth the price of admission ($70).

I've been thinking a Weber Micro Mass might be well worth the investment.
Is this unit to be used with amps rated 15w or less? It may even come in handy with my some of my smaller amps . I'm also planning a 5E3 build which is said to be a pretty loud 12w. $70 seems pretty reasonable.

mistermullens · February 5th, 2008, 08:01 PM

Don't have a Blues Jr (yet), but I seem to be able to get some great sounds out of the amp with just about any guitar. Sounds great with Teles, Casinos, and Les Pauls. The master volume gives you a lot of options, but I like BJrs best when Volume & Master Volume are at the same level.

I have an OCD (love it) and I can get a great tone with it through my Epi Valve Jr Head. There is no doubt in my mind it will go great with a BJ. I always prefer to go straight in, but I've accepted that pedals can really help you get where you want to be.

Some people don't like them, but to be honest, it seems like its the only amp I can find that I really like. For a good price that is.

emisilly · February 5th, 2008, 11:15 PM

With mine I always use a Bad Monkey. I really like the 2 band eq on the pedal and how it can "shape" the overdriven tone. This is especially handy when I switch to a guitar w/ humbuckers.

One other plus...the Bad Monkey works really well as a mild cleanish boost, where the pedal eq can remove any harsh spikes if you have an overly bright guitar.

Not to mention it's simply a fantastic sounding od pedal aside from all of that!

BrassRat · February 6th, 2008, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tele-martini

Is this unit to be used with amps rated 15w or less? It may even come in handy with my some of my smaller amps . I'm also planning a 5E3 build which is said to be a pretty loud 12w. $70 seems pretty reasonable.

Yep, 15W max. If you drive it too hard and it fails, you've created a situation where your playing your (now cranked) output section into no load/speaker, which is a quick way to fry your OT. There isn't too much danger of this in normal use since you typically let the speaker at least share the load (keeping some of the watts off the attenuator), so the conventional wisdom seems to be that attenuators rated at your amps power rating are OK. If you need to use the attenuator more like a dummy load (putting most/all of the power to the attenuator), you may want some headroom on the power rating.

I have a Mission 5E3 kit on the bench, well, in the closet, anyway. The Micro Mass is the unit that Ted Weber recommended when I told him I wanted one to tame my still hypothetical 5E3. Nice that it is a good fit for the BJ, also.

leicester352003 · February 6th, 2008, 09:23 AM

I've been thinking about buying a Blues jr for some time. I really want it for its clean tone - for recording and small gigs (mic'd if necessary). At what sort of setting does it start to break up? I've never cranked one of these before, having only played through one in a music store.

Tim73 · February 6th, 2008, 10:47 AM

I was using the Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal - however, I have just put a new Ted Weber speaker in so it could be all change. We'll see.

tele-martini · February 6th, 2008, 11:26 AM

I'm really having a hard time getting this amp to not sound shrilly when hitting notes in the high range and flabby and farty in the bass register. Will have a new OD pedal within a week so that may help add a little dirt. I'm either gonna throw a bunch of mods and upgrades in it or sell it before I dump a bunch of $$ and still end up unsataisfied.

Hard to believe I won't be able to get it where I want it considering the legions of fans this amp seems to have.

TeleBrew · February 6th, 2008, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leicester352003

I've been thinking about buying a Blues jr for some time. I really want it for its clean tone - for recording and small gigs (mic'd if necessary). At what sort of setting does it start to break up? I've never cranked one of these before, having only played through one in a music store.

I crank the volume and keep the master down at 3 to get it to break up, but I only use it at home or jamming with friends. For clean, I'll turn the master up to 7 or 8 and keep the volume at 3. It doesn't have a ton of headroom, but it's got plenty for my needs, and I would think plenty for gigging if you mic it.

Tele66 · February 6th, 2008, 11:57 AM

I use my BJr with a Keeley Modded RAT. I bought the pedal new in the late
80's but both the amp and the mods are recent (Nov-Dec/07). I'm still working out the best sounds with both. I rehearse in a bar with my trio and I've used this set up on a couple of gigs. I set the RAT on the 'mighty mouse' mode, more for volume boost than to drive the amp into distortion. So far I've set the amp for a clean sound - Master WFO and use the volume control for adjustment. With this set up,, 3-4 is plenty loud enough for a pub gig. I do use an old vintage 15w Cdn amp in tandem with the BJr for a bigger sound. Overall I'm happy with the BJr for a small gigging amp. It sounds ok clean, not as good as some, but it's size and portability make it real user friendly.

petebradt · February 6th, 2008, 12:03 PM

My favorite OD pedal is the Nobels ODR-1. Not spendy and VERY good.

Stuco · February 6th, 2008, 12:06 PM

I thought the fat switch sounded too muddy on my blues jr.

EasilyAmused · February 6th, 2008, 12:21 PM

In live shows I'll often just use the amp overdrive, but I wouldn't go out and sell my pedals quite yet...

At 15 watts, the blues junior actually has a fair bit of headroom, and on quieter gigs I sometimes need an overdrive pedal to get my sound as the amp just won't do it at those volumes. Also, if I want to use things like delays, etc, I'd rather run the amp cooler and get my overdrive from a pedal. It just depends what you want for a sound. I always take at least one overdrive pedal to a show - I might not use it, but if I need to be really careful about volume, they come in really handy.

For recordings recently I used a blues junior and on some songs we ran a tube screamer into the blues junior clean and on others we just had the amp turned up really loud. Listening back, I think both set ups created some really nice tones and if I hadn't recorded them myself I'd have a hard time telling you which was which. The guitars sound different, but neither is missing anything IMO.

Durtdog · February 6th, 2008, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petebradt

My favorite OD pedal is the Nobels ODR-1. Not spendy and VERY good.

That's the one OD that's been on my board for 3 years running, I've never taken it off. It's outlasted a FDII, among others.

JohnK24 · February 6th, 2008, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tele-martini

I'm really having a hard time getting this amp to not sound shrilly when hitting notes in the high range and flabby and farty in the bass register. Will have a new OD pedal within a week so that may help add a little dirt. I'm either gonna throw a bunch of mods and upgrades in it or sell it before I dump a bunch of $$ and still end up unsataisfied.

Hard to believe I won't be able to get it where I want it considering the legions of fans this amp seems to have.

Well now...you've found the main problem with the stock speaker...it suqs.
I've tried many speakers in my BJ and the best to tighten the bass and tame the top end, while sounding good both clean and overdriven...the Veteran 30 from www.warehouseguitarspeakers.com This is a perfect clone of the Celestion Vintage 30 speaker and extremely reasonable in cost too. I set up my controls with the master volume at 12, bass around 8 (for singles and 6 for 'buckers), treble around 7, mids 5 and prevolume at 3 to 4. This gives me a full sounding clean platform to add OD pedals (I use a barber small fry). I don't use the fat switch much at all (only with a tele going straight in, no pedals).

hth

TeleBrew · February 6th, 2008, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leicester352003

I've been thinking about buying a Blues jr for some time. I really want it for its clean tone - for recording and small gigs (mic'd if necessary). At what sort of setting does it start to break up? I've never cranked one of these before, having only played through one in a music store.

I should've mentioned that I have the NOS laquered tweed Blues Jr, which comes with the Jensen speaker. I played it against the stock Blues Jr before I bought it, and recommend the tweed over the standard BJ.

bowman · February 6th, 2008, 08:05 PM

I've had a BJr for 4 years or so, completely stock for now. However, I may do several of the Billm mods because of the huge improvement they make to an already good amp. I have lots of OD pedals that I use with all of my amps. Most of the time I keep my amps running clean and use a pedal for the grind. Some of the pedals that sound particularly good with the BJr:
Barber Direct Drive, MI Audio Crunch Box, Keeley Sparkle Drive, Keeley Blues Driver, Aramat Soul Patch fuzz, Boss OD-3. Even some less expensive pedals like the Boss DS-1 and the Danelectro Daddy-O sound pretty good with the BJr. I should mention that I have a Bad Bob booster at the front of the chain that is almost always on, and a BBE Sonic Stomp just before the amp that is also on all the time. I keep the amps Fat switch engaged most of the time, too. Depending on which pedals I'm using, and how they are cascaded into eachother, I can get pretty much any type of overdrive I want, from a mild grind to full-on but completely controllable feedback.

tele-martini · February 7th, 2008, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnK24

Well now...you've found the main problem with the stock speaker...it suqs.
I've tried many speakers in my BJ and the best to tighten the bass and tame the top end, while sounding good both clean and overdriven...the Veteran 30 from www.warehouseguitarspeakers.com This is a perfect clone of the Celestion Vintage 30 speaker and extremely reasonable in cost too. I set up my controls with the master volume at 12, bass around 8 (for singles and 6 for 'buckers), treble around 7, mids 5 and prevolume at 3 to 4. This gives me a full sounding clean platform to add OD pedals (I use a barber small fry). I don't use the fat switch much at all (only with a tele going straight in, no pedals).

hth

Thanks ,I think I'll order one pronto.

kinkstah · February 7th, 2008, 08:54 AM

Most often I prefer the drive of the amp, but when I have to play at low volume I rather use an OD pedal (BOSS OD-1).

February 5th, 2008, 04:18 PM	#1 (permalink)
TeleBrew Tele-Holic Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Kittredge, Colorado Age: 36 Posts: 823	For Blues Jr owners I already had an OD pedal when I bought my Blues Jr a few weeks ago. I've found that I prefer the natural overdrive sound of the amp to my OD pedal, especially with the Fat Switch engaged. I love my two fuzz pedals through it, though, dirty or clean. Does anyone still use an OD pedal with a Blues Jr? I'm thinking about selling my OD now, but was curious about what other people do, too. __________________ "Where do you fit in pthtttpt magazine?" - Pete Townshend Last edited by TeleBrew : February 5th, 2008 at 09:07 PM.

February 5th, 2008, 05:45 PM	#4 (permalink)
BrassRat Tele-Meister Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Arlington, VA Age: 43 Posts: 260 6 Photos	2 options... I picked up a used Sparkle Drive and it definitely gives some tonal range that you can't get out of the preamp alone. Nice feature to hit a note/chord and then just "dial in" the balance between the clean and dirty (808-like) signal. The better buy, though was a Weber Micro Mass (15W attenuator with high and low band rheostats). This allows the output tubes to really sing and gives some control over the freq response. Definitely worth the price of admission ($70). I'm also working with an old 1996 green-board with JJs in the preamp. __________________ "It's not your job to be as confused as Nigel."

February 5th, 2008, 06:02 PM	#5 (permalink)
JimiBryant Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Chicago Chicago that toddlin' town Age: 46 Posts: 1,577	sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.. depends on the tune if it's a recording situation, although back when I would gig with a pair of 'em I'd always have an OD on my pedalboard - I particularly like this here box in front of my Blues Jr with the Eminence Legend.. I guess it's basically a TS808 clone, but it is good at what it does.. oddly enough, I don't like it as much with my BJ that has the Jensen reissue! __________________ I'm sick and tired of following my dreams, so I'm just gonna ask 'em where they're going and hook up with them later! Last edited by JimiBryant : August 24th, 2008 at 03:24 PM.

February 5th, 2008, 08:01 PM	#7 (permalink)
mistermullens Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Atlanta Age: 31 Posts: 1,924 53 Photos	Don't have a Blues Jr (yet), but I seem to be able to get some great sounds out of the amp with just about any guitar. Sounds great with Teles, Casinos, and Les Pauls. The master volume gives you a lot of options, but I like BJrs best when Volume & Master Volume are at the same level. I have an OCD (love it) and I can get a great tone with it through my Epi Valve Jr Head. There is no doubt in my mind it will go great with a BJ. I always prefer to go straight in, but I've accepted that pedals can really help you get where you want to be. Some people don't like them, but to be honest, it seems like its the only amp I can find that I really like. For a good price that is. __________________ When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. - Jimi Hendrix

February 6th, 2008, 10:47 AM	#11 (permalink)
Tim73 Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Berkshire, England Age: 35 Posts: 1,139 21 Photos	I was using the Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal - however, I have just put a new Ted Weber speaker in so it could be all change. We'll see. __________________ Born in the '70's & in my mind, still living there now...

February 5th, 2008, 04:36 PM	#3 (permalink)
FatTeleTom Tele-Meister Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Evanston Age: 40 Posts: 178 3 Photos	I don't use my BJ that much anymore, but one of its best attributes was that it seemed to take overdrive pedals really well, with no fizziness. Mine's an older greenboard BJ, which are supposedly darker in tone as compared to the new ones--that may have something to do with it. I use a Barber Small Fry, a Barber Direct Drive, and a Boss Blues Driver, and all have worked well with the BJ. The overdrive available in the BJ itself can indeed sound pretty good, and can be varied with tube changes. Works great if you want to just control the level of drive by adjusting your guitar's volume control. The nice thing about running pedals into the amp set clean is that you can quickly get a wider range of different flavors of clean and overdrive sounds.

February 5th, 2008, 11:15 PM	#8 (permalink)
emisilly Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 471	With mine I always use a Bad Monkey. I really like the 2 band eq on the pedal and how it can "shape" the overdriven tone. This is especially handy when I switch to a guitar w/ humbuckers. One other plus...the Bad Monkey works really well as a mild cleanish boost, where the pedal eq can remove any harsh spikes if you have an overly bright guitar. Not to mention it's simply a fantastic sounding od pedal aside from all of that!

February 6th, 2008, 09:23 AM	#10 (permalink)
leicester352003 NEW MEMBER! Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Leicester, England Posts: 6	I've been thinking about buying a Blues jr for some time. I really want it for its clean tone - for recording and small gigs (mic'd if necessary). At what sort of setting does it start to break up? I've never cranked one of these before, having only played through one in a music store.

February 6th, 2008, 11:26 AM	#12 (permalink)
tele-martini Tele-Holic Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Hilton, NY Age: 49 Posts: 896 11 Photos	I'm really having a hard time getting this amp to not sound shrilly when hitting notes in the high range and flabby and farty in the bass register. Will have a new OD pedal within a week so that may help add a little dirt. I'm either gonna throw a bunch of mods and upgrades in it or sell it before I dump a bunch of $$ and still end up unsataisfied. Hard to believe I won't be able to get it where I want it considering the legions of fans this amp seems to have. __________________ Nothing is more beautiful than a guitar, except, possibly, two. ...Frederic Chopin

February 6th, 2008, 11:57 AM	#14 (permalink)
Tele66 TDPRI Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 36 2 Photos	I use my BJr with a Keeley Modded RAT. I bought the pedal new in the late 80's but both the amp and the mods are recent (Nov-Dec/07). I'm still working out the best sounds with both. I rehearse in a bar with my trio and I've used this set up on a couple of gigs. I set the RAT on the 'mighty mouse' mode, more for volume boost than to drive the amp into distortion. So far I've set the amp for a clean sound - Master WFO and use the volume control for adjustment. With this set up,, 3-4 is plenty loud enough for a pub gig. I do use an old vintage 15w Cdn amp in tandem with the BJr for a bigger sound. Overall I'm happy with the BJr for a small gigging amp. It sounds ok clean, not as good as some, but it's size and portability make it real user friendly.

February 6th, 2008, 12:03 PM	#15 (permalink)
petebradt Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Niner Country Posts: 3,347 12 Photos	My favorite OD pedal is the Nobels ODR-1. Not spendy and VERY good.

February 6th, 2008, 12:06 PM	#16 (permalink)
Stuco Friend of Leo's Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: GA Posts: 2,829	I thought the fat switch sounded too muddy on my blues jr. __________________ -"You do not merely want to be considered just the best of the best. You want to be considered the only ones who do what you do" J. Garcia

February 6th, 2008, 12:21 PM	#17 (permalink)
EasilyAmused Tele-Meister Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: London Age: 24 Posts: 224	In live shows I'll often just use the amp overdrive, but I wouldn't go out and sell my pedals quite yet... At 15 watts, the blues junior actually has a fair bit of headroom, and on quieter gigs I sometimes need an overdrive pedal to get my sound as the amp just won't do it at those volumes. Also, if I want to use things like delays, etc, I'd rather run the amp cooler and get my overdrive from a pedal. It just depends what you want for a sound. I always take at least one overdrive pedal to a show - I might not use it, but if I need to be really careful about volume, they come in really handy. For recordings recently I used a blues junior and on some songs we ran a tube screamer into the blues junior clean and on others we just had the amp turned up really loud. Listening back, I think both set ups created some really nice tones and if I hadn't recorded them myself I'd have a hard time telling you which was which. The guitars sound different, but neither is missing anything IMO. __________________ Check out my bands' sites: Here (Blues) and Here (Brit Pop)

February 6th, 2008, 08:05 PM	#21 (permalink)
bowman Tele-Meister Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Westborough, MA Age: 56 Posts: 345	I've had a BJr for 4 years or so, completely stock for now. However, I may do several of the Billm mods because of the huge improvement they make to an already good amp. I have lots of OD pedals that I use with all of my amps. Most of the time I keep my amps running clean and use a pedal for the grind. Some of the pedals that sound particularly good with the BJr: Barber Direct Drive, MI Audio Crunch Box, Keeley Sparkle Drive, Keeley Blues Driver, Aramat Soul Patch fuzz, Boss OD-3. Even some less expensive pedals like the Boss DS-1 and the Danelectro Daddy-O sound pretty good with the BJr. I should mention that I have a Bad Bob booster at the front of the chain that is almost always on, and a BBE Sonic Stomp just before the amp that is also on all the time. I keep the amps Fat switch engaged most of the time, too. Depending on which pedals I'm using, and how they are cascaded into eachother, I can get pretty much any type of overdrive I want, from a mild grind to full-on but completely controllable feedback.

February 7th, 2008, 08:54 AM	#23 (permalink)
kinkstah Tele-Meister Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Brittany Age: 37 Posts: 155	Most often I prefer the drive of the amp, but when I have to play at low volume I rather use an OD pedal (BOSS OD-1).