Pro Jr practical as a practice/bedroom amp with a Tech21/Joyo "Character" pedal in front???

[ssmtb]

I've always wanted a Fender Pro Jr, rad little amp, so much crunch, such a simple rock and roll vibe. But, to reiterate the obvious, it's wayyyyy too loud for home use alone. But I'm still wanting to pick one up for jams and small gigs.

I am wondering if putting a Tech 21 or Joyo character pedal such as the AC tone (Voxy) or British (Marshally) would make the Pro Jr managable at bedroom levels. My thought is I could dial down the volume on the pedal and use its bass/middle/treble tone controls to dial in a good low volume tone. Not searching for bedroom tonal nirvana here, just something useable.

I'd stick said character pedal in my pedal chain after my OD pedals and run it into my mod pedals and out to he Pro Jr.

What say ye? Thanks!

(Postscript) main reason I'm asking is I just picked up a Les Paul Jr copy and just think a two knob amp and that two knob, single P90 guitar would have so much mojo!!!

 

[Chanan]

I've had a pro jr for about a year, and as soon as a bought it I was GASing for one of the Joyo American Sound pedals for exactly that reason - more tone sculpting ability.

Long story short, I was dissuaded from buying one, and ended up with an EQ pedal instead. Its been fun, and got some cool tones when paired with a drive pedal, but last week I finally bought the American Sound, and it's been absolutely incredible! Cannot recommend enough

 

[ssmtb]

I've had a pro jr for about a year, and as soon as a bought it I was GASing for one of the Joyo American Sound pedals for exactly that reason - more tone sculpting ability.

Long story short, I was dissuaded from buying one, and ended up with an EQ pedal instead. Its been fun, and got some cool tones when paired with a drive pedal, but last week I finally bought the American Sound, and it's been absolutely incredible! Cannot recommend enough

Cool man! That's particularly the reason I'm looking into character pedals for their built in, well, character, rather than an EQ pedal or attenuator.

 

[waparker4]

(Postscript) main reason I'm asking is I just picked up a Les Paul Jr copy and just think a two knob amp and that two knob, single P90 guitar would have so much mojo!!!

But your idea is to put a multi-knob amp-sim monstrosity in between.. your minimal-knob mojo has gone out the window.

The Pro Jr. sounds good on its own. I had success getting good tones with an attenuator.

The Boss OD-3 was the best sounding overdrive I tried with the PJr.

 

[Dacious]

Why not get a Champ or one of the many clones - still.loud for an apartment? Better 2-3 knob option if you want tube distortion. The Joyo's not a terrible pedal (I have the AC30 version) but it's still a pedal and you miss the interaction of tubes. If you are turning the PJr down you're losing most of the 'tubiness' anyway.

 

[E5RSY]

But your idea is to put a multi-knob amp-sim monstrosity in between.. your minimal-knob mojo has gone out the window.

The Pro Jr. sounds good on its own. I had success getting good tones with an attenuator.

The Boss OD-3 was the best sounding overdrive I tried with the PJr.

An all BOSS board consisting of RV-6, OD-3, DD-3, TR-2, and TU-3 and you'd be done (I promise ), and still retain the coolness of the platform waparker sings the praises of.

 

[ssmtb]

Why not get a Champ or one of the many clones - still.loud for an apartment? Better 2-3 knob option if you want tube distortion. The Joyo's not a terrible pedal (I have the AC30 version) but it's still a pedal and you miss the interaction of tubes. If you are turning the PJr down you're losing most of the 'tubiness' anyway.

Definitely have a 5f1 type amp on my radar as well, just looking into the PJ because I'd use it (without pedals) to play out.

 

[ssmtb]

But your idea is to put a multi-knob amp-sim monstrosity in between.. your minimal-knob mojo has gone out the window.

The Pro Jr. sounds good on its own. I had success getting good tones with an attenuator.

The Boss OD-3 was the best sounding overdrive I tried with the PJr.

Yes yes, know having all the knobs and gizmos takes away from the "mojo". But, I'm mainly wanting the PJ for situations where I can plug straight in and crank it!

But, the question of this post pertains to those other, sadder, quieter times. Hehe.

Also, my fav dirt pedal of all time is my OD3 so that's awesome news! I've read of others liking the OD3 with a PJ too.

 

[E5RSY]

Highly advise putting a 12AY7 in the V1 spot. It tames the little guy somewhat, and it's what all the old tweed amps were designed to use.

 

[ssmtb]

An all BOSS board consisting of RV-6, OD-3, DD-3, TR-2, and TU-3 and you'd be done (I promise ), and still retain the coolness of the platform waparker sings the praises of.

I do agree, BOSS boards have mojo of their own! Actually working on building up something quite like your suggestion: tuner> SD1>OD3>TR2>delay(dm2 maybe I wish!)>RV3/5/6 rock and roll!

 

[JustABluesGuy]

I'm interested in the American Sound as well.

Any higher watt amp, when used for low volume practice, really needs a dirt pedal in front of it if dirt is desired.

While cool, and I am thinking about purchasing one, I'm not sure if an amp in a box pedal is the best solution for JUST adding gain.

I want one as an amp emulator only, and will likely use my amp's and dirt pedals for the drive sounds, with the American Sound used as intended, to make my amp "sound" like a different amp.

 

[ssmtb]

I'm interested in the American Sound as well.

Any higher watt amp, when used for low volume practice, really needs a dirt pedal in front of it if dirt is desired.

While cool, and I am thinking about purchasing one, I'm not sure if an amp in a box pedal is the best solution for JUST adding gain.

I want one as an amp emulator only, and will likely use my amp's and dirt pedals for the drive sounds, with the American Sound used as intended, to make my amp "sound" like a different amp.

Yes, as I mentioned in my OP I intend to run my OD pedals and rest of my pedal chain into a character pedal, only using the character pedal to tweak tone and EQ.

 

[JustABluesGuy]

Yes, as I mentioned in my OP I intend to run my OD pedals and rest of my pedal chain into a character pedal, only using the character pedal to tweak tone and EQ.

Sorry. My reading comprehension is terrible!

Sounds like a cool setup. I would be interested in the results.

 

[midnight340]

No experience with the Pro Jr, but have the Joyo American Sound. What an amazing pedal it is. I run it into my Pathfinder 15R. So many sounds and they're all good! Highly recommend.

Always like the idea of a Pro Jr and want one, but too loud for my use at home.

 

[bsman]

Pro Jr. Is a great living room amp if you want a pure tube tone, but you won't get grit at manageable volume without some sort of overdrive pedal. I got a cheap ModTone DynoDrive for about $30 on an MF SDOTD, and it allowed me to get a "2nd channel" at reasonable levels. I can't imagine that eh Joyo or the Tech 21 pedal it rips off wouldn't be a great adjunct for the Jr.

 

[Obsessed]

I have the Tech 21 "California" character pedal. I like it with it's on board EQ and huge palette of grit and it is nice as a back up if an amp fails, but to start out with this set-up with the Pro Jr. seems like a band-aid to me. I like the PJ, so an attenuator seems like a better fit for your situation. Otherwise, just get a "normal" dirt pedal you like for low volume crunch. FWIW.

 

[Dacious]

There's also a number of small EL84 15/18/20 watt amps with either a triode or single-ended one-tube mode for lower volume work. If it were me I'd get the Vox AC10 - power scaling via built in attenuator to 1watt. Sounds better than a PJr IMO.

 

[fender_freak]

I'd get a Weber attenuator. Worked well on my Tweed blues junior. Keep it simple!

 

[Commodore 64]

Pro jrs distortion sound comes from overdriving power tubes. Which is why you have to crank it to some degree to get it.

By using a pedal, you are feeding the preamp square waves (distorted sound). So you can run the amp at lower output and get some distorted sounds. You won't be getting power tube overdrive distortion, but you might be able to tweak enough knobs on the pedal to sounds something like it. So, your theory is sound. Go for it!

 

[rave]

I have the american sound and a boss eq pedal and use them in front of my Bugera V5 to get better tones out of it at practice volumes. No experience with the Pro Jr but both of these pedals make my amp sound better so they should work with your amp. The eq and character knob on the American sound do give a nice range of tones and the drive knob goes from grit to really dirty. It is a great pedal for quickly dialing in a practice tone.