Fender Blues Junior

USA-made in 1997. Features described below.

This is a very nice sounding amp. Mine is stock except for output tubes that were replaced last year. You can play any style(yes, even metal) with a little tweaking and FX pedal(s).

Ok, I bought this new in 98 and have easily logged over a thousand hours on it. I've forgottenly left it on for days at a time, it's taken a tumble or two in the trunk of my car, and it's bumped it's fair share of walls. Having said this, the tolex is in great shape, and it's not missing knobs, doesn't have ripped grill cloth, and the reverb works fine.

Up until recently, I have used it regularly at practice and at live performances with no problems.

The biggest reliability issue I've experienced is that i've had numerous tube socket solder breaks with this amp(one of which was onstage). The good thing is that you can resolder those pins without removing the chassis, but it's still sucks and leaves me wondering when it's going to happen again. So I've started bringing a backup to practice and shows and using an A/B AB splitter to run them together in case the BJ takes another dump on me.

Bottom line, tube socket solder job is subpar and this is the USA model. It'll be interesting to see if more users report the same problem with the Mexican model as they age a little.

Warranty expired and I never had to have any repairs or service perfromed on this amp within the warranty period.

I've been playing on and off for about 17 years. Seriously playing and gigging the last 5 or so I guess. I own several guitars, a handfull of older amps < 30 watts. My gigging amps are a Gibson GA-15rvt and the Blues Junior. I like the FAT boost and use it for lead work. I don't use much reverb(usually set it to 2 or 3 at most), but it's fine as small as the amp is.

It's a really nice little amp and has served me well for such a small investment, BUT, it does have it's issues. I don't like the power light location... makes it easy to walk away from the amp and foget that it's still on-especially after a few beers.

If it was stolen, I'd probably buy an Ampeg Jet or a solid state Epiphone Triggerman 60. I wouldn't buy a new Blues Junior.

2007 Blonde Model. Single channel, Mid, Treble, Bass, Reverb, Master, Volume and Fat switch. All tube Circuitry. 3 Groove tube 12AX7's and 2 Sovtek EL84's.

Pretty straight forward amp. Perfect for you blues guys.

Let me first say that if you are expecting a lot of Overdrive, this amp is not for you. Period. I was actually kind of expecting a good amount of OD because of the classic rock and instrumental music I play. But it really suits me when I play stuff by Cream. I like gain for the stuff I play though. I've got a T.C. Jauernig DGTM pedal coming in a couple days so hopefully it helps me on the exact tone I am looking for. I play a MIJ Fender strat w/ Lace Sensor gold Single coils at the neck and middle and a Dimarzio Super Distortion humbucker at the bridge. I like to coil split the humbucker while playing on the OD channel. Sounds great. I like to have my reble at about 7 or 8 and bass and middle at about 5.

I really like the clean channel. Sounds fantastic. Definitely a nice blues sound when I am in the mood for playing a little bit of blues. The cleans with the Lace sensor in the neck sounds awesome.

Apparently changing the speaker makes this amp sound better, but I don't think I am going to do anything to this amp. Maybe, just maybe later on, but I think this amp is good as is stock. Plus there are a few mods out there.

Some of the knobs are very loose. I know it isn't just the knob, the whole pot just wiggles around. The treble, master and middle knobs wiggle, while the others dont wiggle at all.

This amp is only 2 weeks only, so I can't really comment on reliability. I can just hope I don't run into any issues.

Haven't dealt with Fender Customer service ever.

This is actually the only amp I own. I am one of those guys who kind of sells and buys. It's mainly due to the fact that I am a broke student. But of course I am planning on buying a new amp soon and I will keep this Blues Junior, if I manage to get more money. ;)

I wish it had more gain, but hey, I don't blame the amp. It's intended for blues and classic rock. It's my fault for not doing some shopping. But I was on a limited budget and for it's price I don't think it can be beat. Hell finding used tube amps within my budget was very difficult.

One 12 inch speaker, 15 watts of tube power, treble, mid, bass eq, a volume and a master and spring reverb, a fat switch that adds treble and bass. Oh yes, and classic fender tone. Simple is best. I use it for home practice and when playing with friends. Its loud enough to play over any drummer but not too loud that it doesnt sound good at that volume. Its a shocker how loud this thing is.

The amp is simply fender clean tone in a small box. 15 watts of the best fender tone at room volume. You can get some distortion, or should I say very little distortion if you turn the volume up and turn the fat switch on but its not any good. The clean is great. Its the sound of a cranked clean fender tube amp at a level where you can still hear the drums. Glassy warm and clear. Love it. The eq works but it very subtle compared to some other amps. Its there but you cant really get anything too harsh, meaning almost every setting sounds great.

Its a tube amp so its bound to have problems someday. Right now its rock solid and I can depend on it to turn on with no problem.

No idea.

This is the absolutely best practice size amp you can buy. It sounds great quiet but when you turn it up its even better. I compared it with the Epiphone Valve standard, the Crate classic 30, the Roland cubes, everything half decent at this volume and the Fender blues Junior was the only one that had me playing in the store for a good hour. If I lost it I would go out there and get it again. Im thinking of getting another one for no reason. Im a pedal guy so anything its missing can be added, but for the blues plug it in and play. Sound great either way.

Check Fender web site for details.

This is an update to my previous review now that I've played this amp for awhile and have since gotten another amp for some comparision. What I've discovered is that my Strat with single coils is a better suited axe for this amp than my LP. I've decided that this amplifier without pedals doesn't cut it for me. Without pedals this amp sounds single dimensional, boxy, flat, and blah even though I was originally pleased with the tone improvement after doing Bill M's mod to the tone stack. I just can no longer play through this amp without my pedals unlike my new amp which doesn't need any pedal per se. Benefits still remain with this amp, though. The pluses of this amp are its price and availability used, compact size, lightweight, and portability, and lower tube replacement expense. Therefore it's still a keeper amp for these reasons and playable with pedals.

Totally reliable. Not much to break.

Non-existent.

I would still recommend this amplifier for someone who is on a very limited budget or who isn't picky about trying to dial in a very particular tone, and/or who wants convenience and portability. The one worthy feature that is missing on this amp is a standby switch, but that seems to be the case with most lower powered, inexpensive amps these days. I wish it had one. All tube amps shouldn't be without a standby switch.

This is a 1996 black tolex model. Stock it was ok for blues-rock-country styles, but just didn't have a real good tone. It was ok, and had a "tubey" sound, but something was kind of too fat and flabby. Y'all know what this thing's got- 1 channel, reverb, fat button, which exaggerated an already fat condition. Not fancy- just 15 watts of real tube power- loud enough for most small clubs and practice. I recently saw Lee Roy Parnell in concert and this was all he was playing through! What did he know?

Again- fairly good basic sound, but I found a cheap 15-20 minute fix. As you have read, a lot of folks find this amp interesting enought to fiddle with, to try and make it better. Me too. But I just wanted a tighter sound, that projected a bit better, and had a bit more edge to it. I mainly play blues- but also dabble in classic rock and some country, using a 59 RI Les Paul. All I did was to take out the heavy magnet Fender stock speaker, went to Guitar Center and bought a $29.95 Celestion 50 watt speaker. Take the back off, drop 4 screws that hold the chasis- pull 4 screws off the speaker- pop in the new boy, pop all the screws in, and WOW!!!!!!! It transforms into not quite a Marshall sound, but close. Like a fender cloned to a Marshall. Very nice now- I'll use it for rehersal and live shows.Put an Ibanez tubescreamer on it, and you got a real tone maker!

It's worked fine for 5 years. I bought it used, never had 1 problem, and yes I use it with no back up. It's just an old simple Fender circuit- if you don't drop it down a flight of stairs, I'll probably last as long as those 50's tweed Fenders. But it costs $399 new-cool!

Never dealt with Fender. never had to. My local retailer stands behind his stuff real well.

I've been picking over 30 years, in all kinds of bands- opening concerts for name acts- clubs- etc. Always looking for good sounding amp, and I thought this one was cool because it was small, portable, looked good, but it just didn't quite have THE sound till I replaced the speaker. Now it may be my #1 amp for awhile. I have a Marshall, Crate, Peavey, and a Music Man amp. But I love the tone of the Blues Jr better than the rest. It doesn't need any extra frills. It's just a good basic club/recording/practice amp- 1 channel + reverb. It's all you need.

For the money, this is one of the best sounding amps out there. I'm not a fan of the british tone and too many amps sound buzzy and indistinct when they try to go hi gain. This amp is a very smooth sounding amp in overdrive. In stock form, I give this amp a solid 8. Cleans are nice and the reverb is typical nice Fender.

There are mods out there but here's what I highly recommend that is easier to do and has the MOST impact in tone. First of all, you may want to consider changing the speaker. Stock speakers are not always the best. I use an Eminence Texas Lite which is a lite weight neo magnet speaker and sounds really good. Get a good speaker cable. I use a Lava Canare speaker cable which is very smooth sounding.

Here's the pinacle change that I would recommend above anything else...

GET A MERCURY MAGNETICS BLUES JR OUTPUT TRANSFORMER ($90 http://www.mercurymagnetics.com/pages/mainframe.htm )!!!! The sound impact is remarkable, the whole amp is pushed into boutique territory. Look at all the high end boutique amps (Fuchs and Carr use MercMags)...they use quality output and power trannys for good reason. The MercMag is color coded just like the stock transformer so installation is very easy. Just hook up the wires exactly in the same spots as the old transformer. Mounting is easy also. I used one existing screw hole and then drilled another for the second mounting. The MercMag is about twice the size so you have to drill another hole. Very easy, took me about 1/2hr to do.

I haven't done any tone stack mods to this amp as I really don't think the amp needs it now. The MercMag adds so much punch, harmonics, touch sensitivity, smoothness, etc that NO tone / capacitor change can even come close to reaching this level. This amp absolutely ROCKS now. Stock the amp sounds anemic in comparison. You should here the amp with the output cooking. Very smooth, chimey, tight, with a touch of compression that would make you swear there was a tube rectifier in there somewhere (but no mush). I would easily compare this amp to an amp in the $1000 dollar range with the upgrades I've made. Overdrive is rich and ballsy with harmonics leaping out and a nice fat smooth midrange.

The only other change I plan to do is to add another 47uf of power capacitance to take out some more of the output hum that is common with this amp.

Forget all the mods out there. I've been modding amps for a long time and I can tell you from experiance, cap / resistor changes are nice, but for the amount of time, difficulty, and money, changing the output tranny is the most impactful change you can do. High end tube audio and high end tube guitar amps use high quality output transformers. You should also. I'm floored by the impact its made to this little amp. Feel free to email me with questions. The change is very, very easy to do.

This is a black tolex blues junior with the 60th anniversary sign on the back so I guess it's made in 2006.

The feature I don't use that much is the reverb which isn't that good. Maybe they could offer a version without it and sell it cheaper.

Haven't used the amp with the band yet. It's got a great size: it's got 15 tube watts and a 12 inch speaker, yet it's small and light enough for public transport.

I really love the sound of this amp. I had the hot rod deluxe which i liked, but I prefer the blues junior. All I have to do is to turn the mids down a bit and turn the bass up a bit and I'm in tone heaven.
Maybe it's not as good as my 90s model Vox Ac-15 but it's got a warmth that the vox doesn't have. I also tried a pro junior and I have to say I hated it, to me it sounded boxy, muddy, terrible. I prefered a frontman solidstate practice amp to the pro junior. I was afraid that the blues junior would sound similar to the pro junior but it's more like the hot rod deluxe, only better!

To me the sound is warm, clear, sweet and sparkling at the same time. A nice defined sound, not muddy at all. Putting in JJ preamp tubes made the highs rounder and less harsh (not that they are that harsh in the beginning). I prefered the stock sovtek power-amp tubes to the JJs I also tried, though.

I realize that there are many people who prefer this amp with a modded tone stack. I tried these mods (search for billm mods on the internet), but I gotta say I prefer the amp without them. So I reconverted the amp to the original tone stack. The mods will make the amp sound more like a hot rod deluxe, make it sound bigger, but to me the 'sweetness' of the tone gets lost. So I ruined the warranty only to realize I prefer the amp stock. Seem like these mods are a matter of taste, but I knew the risk before and If I hadn't tried the mods I would always think to myself "maybe it would sound even better modded". But

The only thing so far which I don't care for too much on this amp is it's reverb. It's just not as deep and warm as a quality spring reverb like on my pre custom classic ac-15. The amp's tone suffers in my opinion if you engage the reverb. But it is a real analog spring reverb and maybe better than nothing.

But otherwise this amp can sound like a marshall like recent red hot chili peppers or classic fender like on abbey road. I use the amp without the boost switch engaged but I think it's a good feature which boosts and fattens your signal for solos.

Just a sweet sounding amp! But you have to turn down the mids to about 5 and turn up the bass to araound 9. With all tone controls in the middle it sound a little boxy.

Oh and one more comparision: I also tried the ldt version in tweed and with the jensen speaker but I did't like it, sounded harsher, muddier that the standard black model with the eminence in it (which I got, and which sounds fantastic, if I didn't already mention it!)

fantastic amp! Maybe you could give the amp a 10 "for the money", but I rate it a 9 in absolute terms. I even like the way it smells...

Mine is 2004, great for blues and rock'n'roll. I use it home, for small gigs, bigger gigs I mic it up.

I was not satisfied with the sound, it was to boxy. I got me a T-Rex M??ller, overdrive/boost pedal, a Ibanez compressor and KAWOOM! there it was! I also own a Hot Rod deluxe, but prefer my Junior from now on.

Love the lightness and simplicity-one channel, no frills, just plain what you see is what you get

For anyone interested, you can go to Eurotubes.com on the web and the guy there has created custom tube-sets for Blues Jr.'s that help the amp perform according to your desires or needs. For less than $60 you can re-tube with matched sets that either increase cleanliness, or that increase drive at lower volumes, and all points in-between.

Amp is a 2006. 15 watts, 1x12, all tube, 1 channel with master volume, reverb and "fat-boost" (which I don't use). I play mostly blues and blues based prog. rock and some popish-rock stuff as needed. This amp does quite well for me in terms of getting the sound I want and the volume I need. Stands up quite well with a reasonable volume band for rehearsals and smaller gigs. Definitely need to mic it for larger rooms. The enclosure is pretty small so you don't get a TON of spread, but I prefer a lower power amp mic'd up than using more powerful combos and stacks. No effects loop on this thing and I don't need it. I bought it for those "fender-licious" cleans and that's my base. My peal chain works great in front of this amp. I give a 9 because it has everything I need and very little that I don't.

The amp by itself gives a nice full sparkly clean tone. Fender seems to voice their preamps with alot of sweet warmth and fatness. I love that tone for cleans but when I drive it past mild breakup, well the tone just gets "confused" and muddled. Not my thing. With the master volume cranked, I get breakup around 12:00 on the pre. The breakup I get has alot more power tube drive than preamp drive. With the master lower, I get breakup a little later on the pre. As I said....not loving the OD sounds of this amp, but I'm fine with that as I bought this amp for it's clean tones and to use as a platform for my modest pedal board.

Here's my signal chain: '96 G&L Legacy >Planet Waves Tuner > Jekyll & Hyde OD > TS9 > Danelectro Delay. I love this guitar (it's what a strat ought to be) and my OD pedals I put MUCH research into before buying. That being said...the BJr really accentuates and brings out the best in my gear. Sure, it's no Matchless Chieftan, or DR. Z, or Buddha, or any other such boutique amp but for my budget and needs I am quite happy.

No issues yet. Heard some bad stories. Heard some good stories. I know there were some issues with the older "greenboard" ones. I hear they are fixed. Time will tell.

No experience

Been playing about 20 years now. Been getting paid for it for the last ten. I've owned quite a few other amps in my day some were great...some were not. When shopping for this amp I also auditioned Crate Palomino's, Pro Jr.'s, Roland Cube 60, and the hotrod Deluxe.
I just love the sound and portability of the Blues Jr. Plenty loud for most occasions (i.e. practice, rehearsals, pickup jams, small to medium gigs). At $400 new, not much else compares. There are better small amps for like 6-10 times the price. My pockets aren't deep enough to justify. Maybe one day... If this amp were stolen...I would get another.