Modification to Fender Blues Junior

[Ray]

Apparently, changing the speaker that came with my Fender Hot Rod Series Blues Junior NOS will improve tone quality. The change involves replacing my existing Jensen C12-N speaker with either Alnico Special Design P12N without an end Bell or NINICO Celestion G12 Blue.

 

Not sure if it is worth making the change as I do not know much about speakers - I am just an amp user. Any ideas or suggestions from you knowledgeable members?

 

Thank you.

[kbp810]

Apparently, changing the speaker that came with my Fender Hot Rod Series Blues Junior NOS will improve tone quality. The change involves replacing my existing Jensen C12-N speaker with either Alnico Special Design P12N without an end Bell or NINICO Celestion G12 Blue.

 

Not sure if it is worth making the change as I do not know much about speakers - I am just an amp user. Any ideas or suggestions from you knowledgeable members?

 

Thank you.

 

The two top instant gratification tone changing items are generally the speaker and tubes - depending on how it sounds now, and how I hope it will sound afterwards is usually my determining factor on which to start with (though I have no exact science surrounding how I choose, it's usually just more or less a gut feeling backed by an educated guess)

 

Great tone is such a subjective matter that it can really be a hard decision to make! (hard to go wrong with a G12 blue though)

 

Is there anything in particular that you don't like about the sound now? Or just looking to change the flavor up a bit

[Ray]

The two top instant gratification tone changing items are generally the speaker and tubes - depending on how it sounds now, and how I hope it will sound afterwards is usually my determining factor on which to start with (though I have no exact science surrounding how I choose, it's usually just more or less a gut feeling backed by an educated guess)

 

Great tone is such a subjective matter that it can really be a hard decision to make! (hard to go wrong with a G12 blue though)

 

Is there anything in particular that you don't like about the sound now? Or just looking to change the flavor up a bit

 

Hello kbp810,

 

Although I am happy with the sound as it is, I feel the need to try something different. I have been told that Alnico speakers produce a sweet, warm, vintage tone that is good for Jazz, Blues and possibly soft rock - I find myself trying to play Jazz these days. I guess changing the current speaker (Jensen C12-N) to Jensen Alnico P12N will help to maintain the historic link between Fender and Jensen.

 

Thank you.

[slider313]

My sister bought a used one, on The Gear Page, with an alnico Weber Blue Dog 50 watt (no bell cover). It sounds real good.

[kbp810]

Hello kbp810,

 

Although I am happy with the sound as it is, I feel the need to try something different. I have been told that Alnico speakers produce a sweet, warm, vintage tone that is good for Jazz, Blues and possibly soft rock - I find myself trying to play Jazz these days. I guess changing the current speaker (Jensen C12-N) to Jensen Alnico P12N will help to maintain the historic link between Fender and Jensen.

 

Thank you.

 

I'd have to say that sounds like a fair statement on Alnico's - I've always preferred Alnico's over Ceramics for my style of play as well (except for my bearpaw which is meant to be a heavier/crunchier style tone). For my last amp (homebuilt) I mixed a ceramic and alnico and was really happy with the result!

 

I'd say the P12N is a good choice, and if you go that route I'd also be interested to hear how it turned out. I just started another amp build and was going to do a 2x12 combo, this was one of the speakers I was considering.

[jrfreed]

Keep in mind this is all subjective to your ear, but I would not use a alnico for jazz.

 

IMO an alnico speaker sounds incredable when over-driven giving warm, creamy full tones...but jazz requires extra clarity and almost a bell like tone quality to get those chord tones to really bloom. I find ceramic speakers are better in giving that added punch and clarity in jazz applications.

 

I bought a BJr Limited Edition (green tolex, white knobs, Celestion v30 speaker) and this is an AWESOME jazz amp with my Heritage 530. I tubed it with JAN Philips 5751 preamp tubes and its got a great vintage sound with pleny of headroom even with a 10pc jazz ensamble.

[Gitfiddler]

Speaker tones are very subjective and everyone is looking for different things. I just pulled a brand new Celestion V30 OUT of my BJ. Yes, it sounds great for jazz, but the original speaker sounded better for more overdriven or blues tones.

 

(My V30 is still for sale in the market section)

[wingnut1]

Fender intentionally made the BJ under perform by limiting the tone stack and putting a 12" speaker and chassis in such a small cabinet. While a speaker change can help, modifying the tone stack can really open the amp up. Ask highflyingbird he has a modified BJ.

[Ben]

howbout a Greenback? I've been playing through one in a small cab that is mostly closed as the Fender is, and it seems to be able to do well for me in those categories. The Celestion Century Vintage neos are really sweet as well. I love my vintage Jensens, but they are more colored and break up in a more pronounced way. The current reissue Jensen P12Q I played was completely different than my 58s, even after plenty of break in.

 

at first I thought the suggestion of a V30 in the Blues Jr was odd, then the next day a Jimmie Smith tune w/ Grant Green on it came on my shuffle play at work. I tell you that's probably the perfect rig to get that sound if you've got a nice dark sounding guitar. I wouldn't have much fun with it like that for blues, though.

[212Mavguy]

Preamp tubes are the easiest "sorta" fix for amp tone, but it's better to work from the back end of the amp when you are really committed to revoice an amp...Chris Siegmund (www.siemundguitars.com) refers to the "output trio," speaker, output tubes and output transformer...the output transformer has ther biggest effect of the three, (been there done that, got the t-shirt) but those are a pain in the butt to swap compared to speakers or output tubes.

 

Practically speaking, be careful about spending too much money on a BJ. Better not to put a diamond earring in a pig's snout, even though the Pig seems to sing pretty damn well.

 

Better ways to spend you $$ than pimping out a brand new BJ, imHo...but the Greenback idea is very good if the price is right. The BJ as it comes is too bright and thin, and it doesn't give up the good dirt until you have cranked the master volume into the too loud category. The circuit is designed for lots of headroom, as are lots of low powered tube amps.

 

Just my opinion... lots of right answers for this question exist, and one of those "right" answers from another post might just really float yer boat. Best of luck to you!

 

Peace.

[wingnut1]

Preamp tubes are the easiest "sorta" fix for amp tone, but it's better to work from the back end of the amp when you are really committed to revoice an amp...Chris Siegmund (www.siemundguitars.com) refers to the "output trio," speaker, output tubes and output transformer...the output transformer has ther biggest effect of the three, (been there done that, got the t-shirt) but those are a pain in the butt to swap compared to speakers or output tubes.

 

Practically speaking, be careful about spending too much money on a BJ. Better not to put a diamond earring in a pig's snout, even though the Pig seems to sing pretty damn well.

 

Better ways to spend you $$ than pimping out a brand new BJ, imHo...but the Greenback idea is very good if the price is right. The BJ as it comes is too bright and thin, and it doesn't give up the good dirt until you have cranked the master volume into the too loud category. The circuit is designed for lots of headroom, as are lots of low powered tube amps.

 

Just my opinion... lots of right answers for this question exist, and one of those "right" answers from another post might just really float yer boat. Best of luck to you!

 

Peace.

 

For less than $10 in parts and a little elbow grease you can make the BJ sound a lot better. I've done mods for a lot of blues players here in town and they have fallen in love with the amp.