Difference between the new Blues Junior IV and the previous incarnation??

[Jared Purdy]

Greetings,

It's been a looonnngggg time since I posted here. Can anyone comment on the tonal difference between the new BJ versus the previous model? The Fender web site states that there has been some modification to the tone. Without having the ability to play the two variants side by side, it's impossible to know what the difference is.

I can buy a new, older model, in tweed, for a very good price ($600), compared to the newer one, which I'd have to pay closer to $800 for.

Regards, Jared.

 

[Old Tele man]

The new SIX is smoother and more creamier than the old HALF-DOZEN (sarcasm).

 

[tominwa]

Yes, saw one last weekend on the floor and tried it. Already trying to justify selling old one and taking the loss. Agree with above, Smoother? a right word. Fuller? It just sounded better than my stock BJ III.

 

[Jared Purdy]

Yes, saw one last weekend on the floor and tried it. Already trying to justify selling old one and taking the loss. Agree with above, Smoother? a right word. Fuller? It just sounded better than my stock BJ III.

I haven't had the chance to play either one. I went into one store today, just on a whim, and they had what looked like the new one, but I was pressed for time, so I didn't check it out. It was $800. Later, I went to another store to see what they had in stock, and they had the BJ III, in tweed, new, for $600. The CS person told me that they have all of their amps marked low as they just aren't selling. Problem was, the amp was defective, power came on, but no sound, so they have to get the tech to look at it. If it's a dud, he sad he'd give me a good price on the IV. Without having heard either one, I've got no bench mark.

 

[tominwa]

Oh they can be tricky. Two weeks ago i was in the store and pointed at a blues Jr to the sales guy I was walking with and said "hey is that the new one?" Straight faced he said it was the latest model. It was a III. They pretended they didn't know there was a IV out. Now a couple weeks later that III is gone and the IV is on the floor. They knew....they knew.

Don't get me wrong, My BJ III is a great amp, not knocking it one bit.

 

[tce63]

I love my Bjr Tweed III

 

[Big_Bend]

I miss BillM

 

[Jared Purdy]

I miss BillM

I seem to recall that he became quite renowned for mods to the BJ?

 

[Veltek]

I seem to recall that he became quite renowned for mods to the BJ?

Yup, he was the Blues Jr Modder! passed away this past year though.

 

[zombiwoof]

Greetings,

It's been a looonnngggg time since I posted here. Can anyone comment on the tonal difference between the new BJ versus the previous model? The Fender web site states that there has been some modification to the tone. Without having the ability to play the two variants side by side, it's impossible to know what the difference is.

I can buy a new, older model, in tweed, for a very good price ($600), compared to the newer one, which I'd have to pay closer to $800 for.

Regards, Jared.

Jeez, I remember when they first came out, they were around $250 or so new. Fender prices have really escalated over the last few years.
Al

 

[GenoVox]

I have had many Blues Juniors... green board, cream board, Tweed, black, with and without BillM mods and replacement speakers.... some were really cool, some sounded like a cardboard box with a head-cold

The previous mkIII version was way too harsh and bright.... so I just bought (& sold) the newest mk IV version

I could tell where Fender tried to tweak things, but it felt very stiff and unforgiving to me... even run through a nicely broken-in speaker. And it got really loud, really quickly – similar to the old HRD volume taper issue

Best Blues Juniors I've had were the initial run of the NOS Tweed (stock), and an early cream board that had a few of the BillM mods and a C-Rex in it. I do find they are often hit & miss though....

 

[JD0x0]

I heard the 4 incorporated a lot of mods that techs were commonly doing to the earlier amps to make them more reliable and sound better.

 

[alnicopu]

$600.00 for a used Blues Junior? Wow, they go for the $300.00 to $400.00 on the Atlanta CL. I saw a tweed “special edition” asking for about $475.00 a while back but that just means I have to yank out the p12r and put in a legend.

 

[TommyJK]

I haven't had the chance to play either one. I went into one store today, just on a whim, and they had what looked like the new one, but I was pressed for time, so I didn't check it out. It was $800. Later, I went to another store to see what they had in stock, and they had the BJ III, in tweed, new, for $600. The CS person told me that they have all of their amps marked low as they just aren't selling. Problem was, the amp was defective, power came on, but no sound, so they have to get the tech to look at it. If it's a dud, he sad he'd give me a good price on the IV. Without having heard either one, I've got no bench mark.

Curious where you are seeing good deals being offered on amps in Toronto? I've been around to the usual suspects and everyone has the exact same pricing, including BJIII Tweed which is $780 at every place I've been to.
Thanks

 

[VintageSG]

Have they always been MDF cabinets?. Just looking at the Fender site and they cite particle board.

 

[brbadg]

Jeez, I remember when they first came out, they were around $250 or so new. Fender prices have really escalated over the last few years.
Al

He's in Canada.

 

[zombiwoof]

He's in Canada.

Oops, didn't notice that!.
Al

 

[Vizcaster]

Some of the tweeds were FSR (Fender special run) for certain venders and there's a name plate on the back - the only importance was that some of the tweeds had "Jensen" reissue-branded speakers which IRRC when I got mine the speaker was a little smoother and less sizzly (trying not to say ice-picky) compared to the normal speaker at the time.

 

[MilwMark]

Even at the conversion rate that is expensive, even for list. Should be more like $688 Canadian list and willing to deal from that.

 

[TommyJK]

Even at the conversion rate that is expensive, even for list. Should be more like $688 Canadian list and willing to deal from that.

Sorry for all the confusion I've created. Saw that JP is from TO and wanted to know where he saw good pricing on BJr.

Our list up here on the new IV is C$800 which at the current exchange rate is just over US$600, exactly what the amp lists for in the US. We're sitting on a 75 cent dollar up here.