Fender Blues Junior

You should know the details...

So I've been playing guitar for about 8 years now, with 1327 shows under my belt. My first performance amp was a Marshall Mode Four Head and 1960 cab. I also was in a garage band playing grunge and horrible 90's rock covers at the time. Since then I have owned amps from about every popular company, Line 6, Vox, Gibson, Crate, other Marshall, and lots of Fender's. With my increase in knowledge and experience, and increase in skill, I have come to realize that you don't need all the hoop la and fancy bells and whistles to get great tone. My musical preference has also evolved for the better. I play mostly blues, jazz, and funk, but get called to play shows with all different types of bands with different types of music, from rock to country. I'm not a Malmsteem or EVH, but I get compliments on my tone at every show. I bought this amp about 6 months ago, cause I was sick of lugging around my Blues Deville. The tone out of this tiny amp is every bit as warm and rich and plenty loud to rehearse with a band. I'm not into all the different effect pedals, I basically use this amp on clean, with an overdrive pedal, with a solo boost. I now use this amp almost exclusively due to fact that I'm sick of moving gear and taking forever to set up. Stock tubes that were in it were ok, I mean it sounded good, but it sounded WAAY better after replacing with mesa tubes. On bigger shows we tend to use a bigger p.a. system, so I just mic it. And if you don't trust that your sound man can do his job with the mix, he shouldn't be running sound in the first place...
As far as axes, I run an American Standard Strat, a PRS Custom 24, a thinline tele, Japan Strat with EMG's, Les Paul Studio, and they all sound good...

I always carry a back up rig to my shows, because mechanical things alway can break down. But since I replaced the tubes, I haven't had any issues with this amp.

Never had to deal, but the info is all on the Fender website, easy to find.

Ease of use, portability, tone. Excellent amp. It even looks great, black with silver grill cloth.

I have a Fender Deville, Fender Twin Reverb, Line 6 Spider II head with 4x12 cab, Marshall JCM 800 head with 1960 cab, Gibson Mercury Head with 2x12 cab, Fender Reverb 30, Vox 15R Pathfinder, Vox Valvetronix VT30, and a Marshall JCM 2000 DSL401. They are all great sounding amps in their own respect, but they are getting lonely...

1990's USA made tube amp (green circuit board type for you gearheads). Has master volume which is nice, but no standby (which would be a nice add) - the tubes can get burned out faster than nec. without a standby. No effects loop.

I used it for practice and recording. The 15 watts are plenty loud for my uses.

I used the amp with a USA tele - all single coil.

This amp's sound is MUDDY. Hardly any of the character of the instrument comes through (with our without pedals). The "Fat" switch is pretty much worthless. It sounds dense and harsh with or with it.

The reverb is very low quality with cheap parts. Mine broke and I had a better one put in which only cost less than $20.

I couldn't say it breaks up much because the sound is so darn muddy at low and high volumes that it really doesn't matter.

I have a really great 1964 Pre-CBS original Princeton and a very inexpensive Epi Valve Jr. - both are way and away better than the Blues Jr. Save yourself a few hundred bucks and get the Epi Valve Jr. for half the price of the Blues Jr. you get a nice clean amp that distorts nicely (although it is not well built - if you bang it up much the fuse is likely to fall out of its place).

The reverb tank is very cheap and broke.

Also, some circuitry malfunctioned and it kept turning off its sound for no reason right in the middle of playing.

Save yourself some trouble and don't buy this amp.

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I would never buy one of these again - I sold mine at a loss just to get rid of it and recoup of few bucks.

Sounds awful(muddy at any level), breaks easily - what's to like (the name I guess).

one channel with volume and master volume, B/M/T, reverb

great clean.

distortion sounds like ***.

Loves pedals.

Very happy with fender cleans @ $550

built well, survived many airports.

without all the bells and whistles that, at the end of the day, take away from your sound. You have a nice budget amp with great clean fender sounds. Play it through a 212 cab. tames the highs on the reverb and it sound more open. good amp. like it better than some othe fender amps.

I bought the amp a couple of months ago (Aug. '09) and I love it. The features are basic but all I really need for practice and rehearsals. I play blues/rock and I can get a nice warm crunch out of it, though I usually use a tube driven pedal for better control.

I rate sound quality as high based on it's size. Of course I get much richer sound out of my quad Super Reverb - but that's nasty to haul around. I mostly use it with an Epiphone Sheraton. The humbucker pickups give much nicer crunch and sustain than say a Strat with single coil pickups. And don't be fooled - this little amp sounds great when cranked up!

Never a problem. I've been hauling it out my weekly rehearsals and it's never let me down.

I've never had to contact Fender directly, but their web site has loads of information.

I've been playing off and on for 20 years but only recently joined a band. I've tried solid state amps in the past and they just don't have the warmth (esp. with distortion) as a tube amp. The big tube amps sound fantastic, but you really need to crank em up to get the nice tone - and for that you need a big room. I was concerned that I would be sacrificing a lot of tone with this small size and I was pleasantly surprised at how great this amp is for it's size.

The features on this Amp. have already been described; so no need to go over that.

I'm writng a 2nd review from the previous one stated in the "triplej@india.com" I wrote in Aug.

I've since decided to sell this amp. as I feel for "live" gig situtions it's just a tad small; it tends to push the speaker when cranked with a drummer up to about 7 - 9 on the master; this forces it to break up way too much and sound rather harsh; at least for the blues rock style that I play.

I don't like using the PA to mic. it up as the venues I play in never have the time /luxury of a sound check, and there is never anyone around to run the board so the levels are never right; so I used this straight off the stage; this is where the prob. begins.

I ended up buying a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, its the big brother to this amp; and does the job for those medium sized venues w/o the need of a PA mic. so I can use it stright off the stage.

Don't get me wrong, this is a gret amp. for the bedroom and small venues; just not quite large enough for those 200 - 400 people bars w/o a PA mic.

For this I give it a 7.

No probs. here !

Never dealt w/ Fender.

The perfect amp. for the bedroom and small venues; a great tube/ bluesy sound. It lacks the guts for larger bars w/o the PA mic. Perfect for clean tones and low gain stuff; harsh when it comes to anything with any med - high gain material.

All info has been dragged out to death, so I won't bore anyone with the details here.
Mine has a nice tweed covering. Great looking little amp.
I wish it had an effects loop, but it's okay that it doesn't.
I use this amp strickly for home practice, or as a second amp for practice at home thru dual output delay unit. More than enough power for practice at home. Fun to hear two amps, the other is a Fender Deluxe.

I am using this amp stock. It is a shame that everyone needs to 'mod' the thing to death. I have found that most mods do not make the amp sound all that much better, just different. I am only tempted to change speakers, but I do that alot for fun. I do like the sound of Celestion V30's too.
Amp is not noisy. It sounds just fine for what I push through it. I play mainly rock and blues. I use an extensive pedal board set up.
The distortion is not brutal on this amp. That's good. It's fairly clean sounding, and I dirty it up at will through my board. I run the amp fairly clean.

It's a Fender. This one is dependable. It has never given me any trouble.

Never had to deal with them. I deal with the store where I purchased. They deal with Fender if need be. They say that the Fender folks are pretty reliable and pleasant to deal with.

Been playing since 1975. Own a Deluxe and a SuperSonic. All great amps. Own a Carr too, always something wrong with it. Sounds good when it's working, which is not often.
I like my Fender amps. I have owned at least 12 of them over the years. I have never had any problems. Guess I am luckier than most.
I play a Heritage H137 with dualP-90's, a very good Strat, a MusicMan AxisSuperSport, a Gibson Les Paul Jr. double cut single P90, and a home made Tele that is just awesome sounding with SD antiquities in it.
If this amp were lost or stolen? I would end up finding another. I like it's sound, size, look and portability. It's perfect for what I use it for.

I am the proud owner of an ???Acoustic Control Corporation??? 160H guitar amp???. Don???t worry, I???d never heard of them either until I discovered it (covered in dust) in a dingy old guitar shop. It???s a 1981 all valve amp and I personally have never heard an amp that has a smoother overdrive, crisper clean or sweeter reverb. If I were forced to describe it, I???d say a cross between a mesa and a fender twin. But why am I writing this???

Last year I moved to University and needed an amp to bring with me. I didn???t want to bring the ACC amp as it was too heavy, too valuable and irreplaceable. My style is very blues based ??? influences are Clapton, Gilmour, Knopfler, Stephen Stills???you get the idea! After much research (mainly harmony central!) I concluded that the Blues Junior was the way to go, along with a boss blues driver to boost the drive for the heavier stuff. I ordered online and was very excited when it arrived???

The first thing that struck me was the controls facing what I consider the ???wrong way???, in other words the knobs are dials upside down as you face the speaker. Maybe I???m missing the point, but it wasn???t a great first impression...

Now believe me, I wanted to love this amp as much as the ACC, but after many hours of playing it with my Strat, I felt somewhat disappointed. I had two big issues with it; the main one being the reverb which I felt was terrible. I couldn???t find a happy compromise ??? either you couldn???t hear the reverb at all, or it just swamped the whole sound and not in a nice way. Another problem for me was the harshness of the overdrive, with or without the blues driver. It totally lacked the ???smoothness??? that I like. After the hours of playing, I fired up the ACC and realised that it was in a different league altogether.

Having said all this, there is no question that the Blues Junior is ???good??? (the other reviews will fill you in on the good bits), but I wouldn???t say it was great. Perhaps it???s unfair to compare it with a vintage classic, but the blues junior didn???t make my strat ???come alive??? in the way the ACC does. In the end I sent the amp and boss pedal back for a refund and brought the ACC to Uni with me, the sore back is worth it!

I???m really sorry fender ??? you make great guitars but your Blues junior doesn???t quite make the grade in my books. I???m sure with some valve upgrades and other tweaks it would sound better, but I feel that after spending nearly ??400 on a 15watt amp, it shouldn???t need further attention. Finally, please bear in mind that these are only my personal opinions ??? you may love this amp, but don???t make the mistake I made of not trying one out before clicking ???BUY ???.

You know the drill on this. The only reason I don't give it a 10 here is the lack of a "standby" switch.

Beautiful for the bars I play in and the distances I travel. I place it on a bar stool for small bars { 100 - 150 people } and mic. it for med. - larger venues { 250 + }. I travel to and from gigs by bus.
I've read many reviews for mods on it; I don't get it, it's fine right outta the box; "joe beer drinking bar fly" doesn't hear the tone differences so what's the point?

No probs. as yet - had over 100 gigs to date over the past year ...

I live in Korea, is Fender even over here ?

For what I do { three piece blues / rock }, it's just what the doctor ordered ! I don't use any pedals: never have / never will w/ any amp. - use your fingers and heart !

Alright, what to say first. Well I can't really say too much, because there really aren't that many features to this amp. Which isn't really a bad thing. Volume...Gain...3 band EQ...reverb...Middle Boost (of sorts, it just adds a little spank) It was just what I was lookin' for. I'm a gigging country musician in nashville and am a Guitar player for the US Army and well, we play a lot of country tunes. It sings for classic rock and I'm convinced that you could play some heavier rock through it if you wanted. My only real complaint, is about the reverb. Its a little loose sounding to me. But that's fixable at lower levels or through a sound board.

I'm running an American Telecaster with Bill Lawrence naked singles, and it sings. It is a little bright but easily fixed with a simple EQ Pedal of your choice. I also rigged it up to run with an extension cab that I built that has an Eminence Patriot Texas Heat in it. Nothin' but beautiful sustain and country twang comin' out of this amp. I've been playin' around with my pedal board and there isn't a single thing that sounds the least bit questionable. Great Compact Gig amp.

I already use this on gigs without a backup. And all i have to say about the reliablitiy is:

"Its a Fender"

Take it for what its worth.

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overall this is a great little compact gig amp. Very light and it doesn't take up much space. For the money you can't get a better amp. Like I said, the only thing is that its a little too bright. That's it.

Heavily modded. nice if it had a tremelo. Tubes just sound better.

The tone stack has been changed. all now work properly. Bias of el84s now lower and vintage 30 speaker added to a brown tolex amp.
My amp tech is great. He recommended after the mod a 12at7 in the 1st spott. I'm using 3 electroharmonics 12ax7 with good results. the el84s are jj. It could use a slightly bigger cab made of pine. Distortion is good. Clean so so. but u dont use a 15 watt amp for the cleans unless playing fairly soft.

It works bring extra tubes. Nice midranngy with vintage 30. It will do close to stevie but you need to do the mods.

I've been playing 45 year and have many or had many amps. Ive played many boutique and other amps and think with the mods this is a nice sounding amp. about a 9. Its close to a vox or matchless except for the cab.