DetroitBlues Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 Thanks to a fellow HOC member, I am now a proud owner of a Fender Blues Jr. NOS edition. Very cool, lightweight amp with huge volume. I have been using a heavy Peavey DeltaBlues for a few months, and have found this amp to be the little brother of the Deltablues in looks and in tone. Very close on both aspects. Used it with the band last night and I should have some recordings completed this week after the bassist edits them for our demo CD. It has not been modified and I have yet to give it much thought.
Hfan Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 google bills audio for all things Blues jr. Congrats, nice little amps. I've done a lot to mine, its a keeper.
Gitfiddler Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 Good for you, DB. BJ's are cool little amps in their stock form. I waited years to mod mine as noted in a lengthy HOC thread, and am really glad I did. Bill M seems to be updating and expanding the modifications on his website. I had a bunch of his mods done to mine and it sounds killer! http://billmaudio.com/wp/ Enjoy your new amp.
DetroitBlues Posted March 19, 2012 Author Posted March 19, 2012 That has the C30 speaker? Jenson P12N Speaker....
DetroitBlues Posted March 19, 2012 Author Posted March 19, 2012 Good for you, DB. BJ's are cool little amps in their stock form. I waited years to mod mine as noted in a lengthy HOC thread, and am really glad I did. Bill M seems to be updating and expanding the modifications on his website. I had a bunch of his mods done to mine and it sounds killer! http://billmaudio.com/wp/ Enjoy your new amp. A co-worker modded his. I've already been asking questions to our resident HOC amp builder. He's given me some good pointers.
tulk1 Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 Jenson P12N Speaker.... Oh yeah! Forgot they did that on the NOS model. Once broken in, if it isn't already, should sound killer. Might even keep an eye open on the 'bay for Magnavox P-232; thats the real deal vintage Jenson. Just make sure it has the BIG alnico magnet on it, not the skinny little thang.
DetroitBlues Posted March 19, 2012 Author Posted March 19, 2012 The amp really doesn't sound that bad, in fact I rather like it as is. I don't have a strat to use it with, but with the 140, its pretty darn good. If I was going to do the BillM thing, what do I really need to do to it? I've read there is around $200 worth of mod kits, but which are they really necessary?
koula901 Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 Congrats, Detroit! I used mine for the first time, with a full rock band, last weekend, and it was plenty loud - they were asking me to turn down. Good little workhorse, and dial up some really great tones.
DetroitBlues Posted March 19, 2012 Author Posted March 19, 2012 Congrats, Detroit! I used mine for the first time, with a full rock band, last weekend, and it was plenty loud - they were asking me to turn down. Good little workhorse, and dial up some really great tones. Mine was turned up to 3 yesterday on the Master Volume and 3 on the Preamp. I used my Bad Monkey most of the time with it.
schundog Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 Right on, DB. Welcome to the Blues Junior Mafia! We'll work on the secret handshake at PSP...
DetroitBlues Posted March 19, 2012 Author Posted March 19, 2012 Right on, DB. Welcome to the Blues Junior Mafia! We'll work on the secret handshake at PSP... LOL!!!!
Guest HRB853370 Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 Thanks to a fellow HOC member, I am now a proud owner of a Fender Blues Jr. NOS edition. Very cool, lightweight amp with huge volume. I have been using a heavy Peavey DeltaBlues for a few months, and have found this amp to be the little brother of the Deltablues in looks and in tone. Very close on both aspects. Used it with the band last night and I should have some recordings completed this week after the bassist edits them for our demo CD. It has not been modified and I have yet to give it much thought. Yes, I want to buy the one Skydog has for sale!
skydog52 Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 Yes, I want to buy the one Skydog has for sale! Will, That one is mine. You saw mine on DBs thread about trading his amps.
knopfler74 Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 Congrats, Detriot!!!! Blues Jr's are amazing amps! I've owned two in my lifetime and I've regretted getting rid of both! The amp really doesn't sound that bad, in fact I rather like it as is. I don't have a strat to use it with, but with the 140, its pretty darn good. If I was going to do the BillM thing, what do I really need to do to it? I've read there is around $200 worth of mod kits, but which are they really necessary? If you're looking for a strat I have one I'm on the verge of wanting to get rid of! Amazing guitar...shoot me a note if you're really thinking about a strat... Looking forward to hearing some clips of your new amp, dude!
schundog Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 BillM Basic Mods Kit: $22 Switchcraft Metal input Jack: $10 Presence Control: $12 Having a buddy who can do all the mods for you: Priceless..... It starts getting more costly when you start replacing the Output Transformers. I think one of those is $85. Yours already has a great speaker, so no need to do a swap on that, unless you really want a different sound. BillM recommends Eminence Swamp Thang, Cannibis Rex, or Texas Heat. I put the Texas Heat in mine.
jazzrat Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 Nice amp. A buddy has one like it and his tone is just killer. No muss no fuss.
Blunote Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 NIce amp with a really chimey vintage sound. In addition to the mods mentioned above, make sure you do the twinstack mod. It's 1/2 inch of wire and a couple solder joints to jumper a couple terminals. More or less free and really opens the amp up.
koula901 Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 yup - that's what I had done. Really changes the character of the amp - no longer boxy sounding.
DetroitBlues Posted March 20, 2012 Author Posted March 20, 2012 KBP recommends the Power Transformer above all other mods...
Guest HRB853370 Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 Will, That one is mine. You saw mine on DBs thread about trading his amps. Cool, ok I didn't know that. Congrats on that snag DB, I almost bought one of those before having KBP build the Tweed Deluxe. Wonder how they would sound side by side?
schundog Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 Wonder how they would sound side by side? They would sound quite different. EL84s in the Blues Junior, 6V6s in the Tweed Deluxe. Totally different circuitry. Reverb on the Blues Junior. They both sound GREAT, but, to me, very different.
Hfan Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 BillM Basic Mods Kit: $22 Switchcraft Metal input Jack: $10 Presence Control: $12 Having a buddy who can do all the mods for you: Priceless..... It starts getting more costly when you start replacing the Output Transformers. I think one of those is $85. Yours already has a great speaker, so no need to do a swap on that, unless you really want a different sound. BillM recommends Eminence Swamp Thang, Cannibis Rex, or Texas Heat. I put the Texas Heat in mine. BillM Basic Mods Kit: $22 Switchcraft Metal input Jack: $10 Presence Control: $12 Having a buddy who can do all the mods for you: Priceless..... It starts getting more costly when you start replacing the Output Transformers. I think one of those is $85. Yours already has a great speaker, so no need to do a swap on that, unless you really want a different sound. BillM recommends Eminence Swamp Thang, Cannibis Rex, or Texas Heat. I put the Texas Heat in mine. The above are all good ones. The standby switch is nice to have and really simple too install and the heyboer output x former made a huge difference. I did a lot of the mods pretty much one at a time which was good in that I saw the effect of each but bad in that pulling the chassis multiple times stressed the ribbon cables and some of the solder contacts busted. Tryed to resolder them but decided to install straight wire instead which I prefer to the ribbon.
Blunote Posted March 20, 2012 Posted March 20, 2012 Cool, ok I didn't know that. Congrats on that snag DB, I almost bought one of those before having KBP build the Tweed Deluxe. Wonder how they would sound side by side? Be patient. Remember, it's DB. Sooner or later, he'll feel the need for something different, and this one will be available once again.
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.