Fender Blues Junior Club

What kind of pickups are you using?

 

ahh,, Yes I would ask the same thing. I have a les paul with 57 classic and classic+, several strat's, I'm using rumplestilskin's in my main strat and some texas specials in others. My telecaster has jb in bridge and duncan rythm pup in neck. So I am using a vast array of pup's, obviously the les paul has the most grind but I have been playing through tube amps long enough to hear it sounds kind of enemiac. Where I am lost is why the clean sounds so thick and good, pure fender classic tone. Maybe the tubes are not the best grade groove tubes, I read they have a number system for how quick they break up, maybe if I try other tubes I'll know. But was not wanting to crack amp open considering I just got it. Thanks for reading

 

ya know after playing this amp all night, I just love the tone i'm getting right now. I have a nice clean tone with some grit if I dig in, this is what I wanted this amp for anyways.

I will investigate diming the volume another time and maybe try some different 12ax7's. I get some weird sounding notes as well when it's dimed, almost like there not blooming. Another day for all that. Thanks I'm done, just gonna shut up and play the dang thang. Thanks again

Edit: I had my eq pedal going through the amp and obviously the settings I have it set to are for my delta blues and do not sound good for bl jr. As soon as I shut it off the amp sounded normal again. Jeesh these noobs.

 

Count me in this club. Bought one about 6 months ago. I can definitely understand a lot of the talk about the bottom end being muddy and indistinct. It's worse when I plug my Les Paul into it, as it's an all Mahogany guitar and has a dark tone to begin with.

I'm thinking about doing a Humboldt style mod by throwing a Cannabis Rex and Russian tubes in it. I also wish the EQ knobs did a little more than they do. Overall, I like the amp for what it is. My upcoming Vox AC30 will be the gigging amp with headroom.

 

My "Blues Junior" with its big brother "Blues Deluxe Reissue"...

 

I just happened upon one of these today, so far I really, really like it.

 

Bought me a used 1999 (green board) last year. I prefer the slightly darker tone of the green board over the cream board. I ordered the billm basic mod kit away, but I didn't get around to installing them for several months. In the meantime I played it stock, but never really liked playing it clean, and definitely the reverb was pretty much useless to me. But I still loved it, just a fun little amp.

Then I finally installed the basic kit, and while it was not a huge difference, it opened up the clean tones for me where I was now really liking what I was hearing, plus the reverb is actually useful now. At that point I just had to order most of the rest of the mods:

- presence control
- high voltage pre-amp mod
- metal input jack
- clean boost
- TO20 output transformer
- re-cap kit
- aux jack, line out jack, Fat/clean boost footswitch jack

also followed the instructions for the twin stack mod.

Besides the mod kits, I also replaced those 12 year old tubes with JJ's and EH's.

All I can say now is "wow". Lots of people have already described the tone in all kinds of picturesque words, so I won't go there. But I like it! So does everyone else who hears it.

I play an American Special tele through it, no pedals. Typical settings: vol 8-9, bass 4, treb 8, mids vary from low to high when I really want some extra crunch, reverb 7, Fat out, clean boost in, presence 2 o'clock. My tele vol is rolled back for cleaner tones and maxed for distortion and leads. Or, I noticed after all the mods the amp is way more responsive to pick attack. At those settings I get lots of different tones just in how I play.

I play mostly on my churches worship band, and I have a Line 6 Spider IV which I use because its various models allow me to dial into a specific sound with the variety of songs and styles we play. But recently I have been leaving that at home and bringing the BJr... way more fun, and as a result I have been playing way more creative.

Next up, I plan to get the sparkle control mod, standby switch, and audio taper for master vol. I am debating whether to follow the instructions for the cathode follower mod. I would *really* someday like to go to 6V6 power tubes, but Billm doesn't sell the kit for green boards... I think because novices like me can brick their amp doing that one.

 

My new LTD, Eminence Cannabis Rex Speaker, Emerald Green and my BAJA Esquire

 

My fender Blues Junior blew one of its tubes...again...

The first 12AX7-type tube blew.
It was still glowing, but it was gone. I put a spare in it and it was OK

The Factory Tubes are:
- 3 x 12AX7,
- 2 x EL84

I have heard EUROTUBE is a good place to get tubes.

I have order complete sets like below from EUROTUBE in the past, but it seems the 1st 12AX7-type (V1) tube goes more often.

Fender Blues Jr Low Output Low gain Blues Option
Price: $55.00
Description: A matched pair of JJ EL844's for reduced power:
- a standard ECC83S for V1,
- an ECC81 for V2 to reduce the gain &
- a balanced ECC83S for the phase inverter in V3.

I ordered the following from EUROTUBE: "ECC83S Matched and Balanced" which are upgrades to the Fender 12AX7 tubes.

 

me too, this time it rattles like a light bulb... ? oh well seems to be a thing around every 4 months I have to change out the V1 tube. I've also tried 12ay7 and a 12at7 and cooked them as well. any one else have this problem ? is this a ongoing problem with the Blues Jr. ? my buddy has a anniversary model and it still has all the original tubes and sounds great ???

 

I'm experiencing the same thing with mine. First tube seems to rattle a bit; yanked it and put another one in, but it rattled too.

Is it the amp? Or just two bad tubes?

 

Just got me the tweed model yesterday. I'm really digging it. Fits perfectly with my needs, and it looks cool to boot. Initially I picked up a Vox AC15C1, but I had to take it back becuase it had a really bad hum. Decided to go with the BJ instead. Glad I did though, because you just can't beat that Fender sound.

 

I'm kinda diggin' the Humboldt. No mods required.

 

Hello, I've got a Blues Jr. III, pretty good match for my '59 Bassman.

 

Try a 12AY7 as preamp tube and it will sound like a small Bassman

 

as V1?

 

I really wanted that green Humboldt BJ from PGS shop like MrMartin but below is my earlier tweed

 

Yes, as V1.

Greets

 

I really like the 2000 Blues Junior - either as a stand alone studio amp or through a Marshall 1965A half stack.

I did install a new 'Ruby' reverb tank, but other than that absolutely no issues and such sweet tones

Some photos;

 

Yet Another hum question

I'm wondering what is "normal" for these amps. I've searched alot, read alot, been to the fixing hum section of Billm's website, and I guess I still have questions. I've only ever played mine, and I live pretty far from retail opportunities to get play others to compare with mine. So what is typical in regards to hum/hiss?

On mine, here is what I get:

1) Nothing plugged in: maxed every control, it is pretty quiet. A little hiss, a little hum, but I have heard worse in other amps.

2) Plugged in (tele, texas special pickups), volume maxed, master low (< 3), guitar volume and tone maxed, it is fairly quiet. Same hiss as (1), but a little more hum, to be expected with single coils.

(3) Plugged in, master maxed, volume low (< 3), same guitar settings: very quiet. In fact this tone is pretty awesome, one of the favorite ways I like to play this amp

(4) Plugged in, same guitar settings, one of the amp volumes maxed, bring the other one up and it becomes unplayable IMO very fast, way before both volumes are high. The hum sounds like 60 cycle hum, way too loud for me.

I wish I could test with humbuckers, but I only have the one tele

Is my experience typical? I have attempted lead dress suggestions, new set of power tubes, making sure wires from PT are twisted pairs (tight twists even). Should open it up and re-flow solder on every point, especially the tube board? Do I have a gounding problem somewhere? Or is this amp just really hummy?