Fender Blues Junior

Newer one...probably made in 2005 or so. Master volume, single channel with spring reverb. Eminence speaker. Nice black tolex cabinet covering. Lightweight and easy to carry around. Fat switch adds some gain and fatness (Duh, what else?)
Good EQ section. EL 84 duet. Three 12ax7 pre amp tubes. Well built (I hope!). Hencho en Mexico, amigos.

This is a terrific sounding little amp with the perfect amount of power and volume for me.
I liked this amp right away after demoing it. and so I bought it. Frankly, I can't imagine what's not to like on this little amp, assuming players look at it because it is a Fender with the Fender sound.
I installed a Weber #4 Beam Blocker (18 bucks) to compensate for the small cabinet but I kept the amp dead stock, otherwise. I'm using it for a coffeehouse gig I play regularly. It's small, sounds really good and nails the low gain Fender charm, which is what i was looking for. No need to mod it with new tubes and /or a new speaker, IMHO.
I play a Gibson Les Paul with 490R and 498T pickups or an Ibanez SA 160 (HSS) Fat Strat. The character of both guitars shines through the Blues Junior. Great 3D tone with the Beam Blocker installed. I use a Metal zone for a smooth, crunchy, rich sounding drive tone. The Metal Zone's gain is set to a hair's breadth above zero. Sounds great with the Blues Jr. Just step on the FAT switch for solos. Easy. Overall great sound in a compact package. It can easily cover my requirements in a small coffee shop / bookstore setting. Ikeep the Master volume dimed and the gain below 7.
Can't recommend the Weber Beam Blocker enough. It disperses the speaker's output and totally smooths out the way the high frequencies project. The amp just sounds bigger and more Fender-like with this simple, inexpensive device installed. Don't waste your dough...get a Weber Beam Blocker for your Blues Jr. before spending one cent on anything else. The Beam Blocker was made for this amp!
Overall I rate the Blues Jr pretty high for its out-of-the-box sound. Any deficiencies are cured with a 20 dollar investment in a Beam Blocker. Works for me.
No. I don't work for Weber! LOL

Time will tell.

I don't buy amps so I can drop another 100-200 bucks to "make it ALMOST boutique" sounding. To me that's just plain stupid. If you want a boutique amp, spend the dough and buy one. Assembly line amps like the Blues Junior are never going to match up to a hand built, point to point amp built by some amp building Einstein using the finest components available, no matter what speaker or tube set or Bill M mod you toss into it. Don't buy an amp that doesn't sound good to your ears. It's that simple.
On the other hand, buying the Blues Jr. is a no brainer. It has got to be Fender's best selling amp of all time. I bought mine used for a good price and I'm very happy with it. I think they are way overpriced but people seem willing to pay the big money to buy them so they are obviously people pleasers. I would buy it again (used) if it were lost or stolen.

see the dtails left bu other posters all I'll say is all this needs to be perfect is a standby switch. The Fat swithch is a HUGE plus

This is a great puchy little amp with the clean Fender tone most of us have come to LOVE over the years. The Fats switch gives me all the tone I can use for houshold settings. I had a Deville 4X10 buy i could never get the volume over 2 witout the police comming over. This is the best Tube amp for the money with the best tone bar none!!If you've got a Start ot a Tele and don't own one of these you don't know what your missing!!!!

Never had a problem. owned it for 8 years without any difficulties. change your tubes evry 2 years for the best sound...Normal maintinence and this amp is bullet-proof!

I won't comment and really get anoyed at reading I heard there this so...or I read that....if you don't know...don't anwser!!

This is the best little tube amp available at any price...blows a peavy or Blackheart or even a Traynor out of the water without even trying. The Fat switch adds versatility that most tube amps only dream of. I don't think (IMHO) there is a better 15 watt tube amp available and I'll include Vox when I say that (way too chimey and jangly and shrill for my tastes). This amp was made for Strats and Teles and is the best house amp money can by.In my opinion it gets a 10

Pretty good features for a tube amp this size. Basically the "fat" switch, master volume and reverb above and beyond the standard knobs. I don't care for the fat switch personally, but I can see how some players would find it very useful, particularly during live performances or just for higher gain. I think mine is one of the earlier versions of the newer board, MIM. The inards look very nice and well put together, but the speaker is sub-par, and the tubes are low quality.

I use Strats, Teles, LPs, and a Dano, and play mostly blues, with a little jazz and rock. I use the Blues Jr. mainly for recording, but I take it to practices, and some gigs when I need a particularly small or extra portable setup, and mic it. I play 60% slide in open tunings and the rest in standard. I think if you want the most from this amp, you've got to replace the speaker. I went through several and found that a Vox like speaker works the best for me. I'm currently usin' a Weber ceramic blue dog and I really like it. The AlNiCo Blues prolly sound pretty good too, but all the AlNiCo speakers I tried barely fit. I also replaced the tubes, which made a favorable difference. The reverb is what you'd expect with the short tank and solid state drive. I don't use the master volume at all. The Blues Jr. sounds pretty sweet through a 4x12 cab too.

I've put mine through it's paces and it's doin' fine. However, the EL84's always worry me if it's the only amp I've got. I keep mine swapped out regularly though.

I say 8 considering the price for what you get. If you factor in the parts you need to replace you still come out ahead of most everything else. I don't think the Blues Jr. is ever gona sound "great" in the big scheme of things, but with a new speaker it's certainly good enough to hold it's own. It's loud enough for small gigs and I've found it's tones very useful in the studio.

Very limited with the features if you compare to some competitors... But have exactly what I needed. I ran a pedal board for FX...This is OK with me. Won't explain the features, since I'm the 500 and something to talk about that amp. It's a 2007 made in Mexico, and it's find with me. Bought new in my area Music store.

I'm playing 3 guitars. A 2000 Gibson Les Paul Standard, a 2007 Standard Telecaster and a 2006 Epi Les Paul Ultra. Mainly the Gibson of course, and this little amp makes that guitar sounds great. I'm gigging with it (mic ) but even not mic, this amp is surprisingly loud by itself to play in a night club. Nothing to complaint yet about knobs, pots or speaker. When you need clean...you can have very clean...You need distorsion...you can easily get distorsion, just by turning the volume and the Master opposite ways. Can't be easier to settle. No noise comes out of it..even with my "single coil" telecaster. This is not a "brute" amp. It's a Fender after all, and this is not a machine for Metal. I'm playing in a cover band, Classic rock, rock and ballads and it suited all of those.

It feels reliable. It's Fender...should be good. Always carrying a back up and a full set of spare tubes, but it's just to avoid problems...

Prefer not to talk about service from Fender with Canadians..it's a joke :-(

Playing for over 40 years in a multitude of bands with so many guitars and amps, it would take a few pages to enumerate...I'm suffering of G.A.S. once in a while :-)
I have 4 amps. This Blues Jr just replace a Marhall Valvestate AVT50 as my main amp. I also have a Roland cube 30 to practice at home and an old Beckemer ( made in Quebec ) just collecting dust in my studio. I really needed a tube amp to perform, but every time I bought one, they were to "loud". We really don't need a lot of watt anymore, like it use to be in old time. Playing mic, makes everything easier, and that little bastard is so loud, but just at a point it will cut nicely because you are using most of his 15 watts instead of playing at a low volume with a higher wattage amp. Before I bought it, I test drove a Peavey Classic 30, Crate v18 and v33...and that little fender came over anything else for my needs. If it get stolen...I'll run to buy another one.

Pretty simple all tube amp.single channel with boost,3 band eq and reverb,single 12 eminence/fender speaker.

Out of the box the sound is good but not great.Its a very warm sound even with a usa telecaster which is my main guitar.It overdrives nicely at higher volumes both on the pre and power side and cleans up well by knockin the volume back a bit.the bjr is also LOUD!! Dont be fooled by the 15w.The eq is pretty standard fender fare and is useful in a subtle way.the reverb is adequate on lower settings but gets a bit washy on higher levels.
the speaker is a bit muddy and lacks clarity so i swapped it for a vintage 30 and the difference is amazing.the whole sound opened up.the warmth is still there but with a clear midrange and top end.its also louder now too.i also changed the tubes for a set of jj's and this smoothed the overdrive considerably.
my rating is for the amp with the speaker change.its a 7 with the original speaker.

the bjr could be used for blues obviously,country,pop....anything except death metal!!!!
it also works well with pedals,,,my ronsound hairpie sounds HUGE with it!!!

so far its been great but who knows what will happen.
ive swapped the speaker for a vintage 30 and the pots for cts metal stem pots and the sockets for switchcraft jacks.the plastic pots and sockets are junk but can be replaced cheaply by an amp tech and i think will improve reliability considerably......

overall this is a cheap tube amp with a great sound once the ****** speaker is swapped out.
if it was pinched or died id get another one in an instant.

It would be nice if the amp had an EXF in/out. Other than that the amp is pretty well put together.

When I first got the amp a did a lot of experimenting with different speakers. Finally, I broke down and bought a Celestion alnico blue.
What I have now is almost an identical sound (minus the tremelo) to a Vox AC15CC1x which runs about $950. I have about $700 rapped up in the fender. You can not use the same cabinet when using a Cellestion alnico blue. The speaker definitely made a difference. I have a Vox ac30 with a Celestion set up and pretty much use it only for big venues. If I am playing a smaller club, I prefer to use the Fender--30 pounds vs 68 pounds with difference in sound minimal.

So far so good. No problems

When I first got the amp the the tubes were loose. No problem. I took it Hendrix Sound in Kissimmee (He's Fender's fix it guy in Central Florida) and had it back home with new valve sockets in a week with no charge.

Playing for over forty years
Guitars: Guild Bluesbird AAA
Taylor T5 Custom
G&L Legacy (I prefer Leo Fender's guitar to CBS' Fenders
Gibson Angus Young SG
Gretsch White Falcon

Amps: Fender Blues Junior
Peavey Classic 50 212
Vox AC 30

If anything happened to the Fender I would probably replace it with another Blues JR and change the speaker to a Cellestion Blue.

Fender blues jnr 2008 made in mexico ....very self explanatory controls very well put together
it's a Fender and a tube amp so high expectations.....

i have to admit i kind of rushed into buying this amp as i had some gigs coming up and my old Vox was getting a bit tired.....i read all the reviews and took into consideration all the points and i'd agree with most of the comments here .....initial sounds are good ...it's clear warm and loud!...... just like it should be....but lacked a bit of vibe!!!...but i felt like i'd made a commitment to this amp and have made a few upgrades ...i've replaced the stock speaker with a Celestion 30th Anniversary G12-H.....a huge improvement in tone .....the eq actually doing something!!...and bought replacement valves from Dan Torres in the States ...2xruby tubes EL84 1xgroove tubes 12ax7 1xtungsol gold 12ax7 and one electro harmonix 12ax7 ....and the difference is remarkable ...i'm glad i stuck with this amp as i now love it ....every day i get up and can't wait to play again!!

so far so good

haven't used them

After years of just playing everything and anything i decided that when i bought this amp i was going to start listening a bit more .....and i'm glad i did...... most times you don't need as much gain or as many fx as you think you do!...... this amp will let you start playing like YOU...it's been an education to be honest ......i feel i know a lot more about guitar tone..... tubes and speakers etc....and can become a real tube amp geek!!! ha ha ...so as i say it's a good amp but with a couple of upgrades it's terrific.....

Enough for a single channel amp. Master Volume is very handy.

I play Jazz with an archtop and been using my telecaster recently. small to medium venues. the amp is clean and loud enough for me and breaks up when you hit the strings a bit more.
I love the sounds of Grant Green and young Kenny Burrell and this little amp is able to produce similar tone.

so far the amp has not let us down. It actually is the amp of our bass player, but recently I prefered it over my polytone.

nice amp!

2008 made in mexico...standard version with Eminence speaker. Basic EQ plus reverb and FAT switch. It's not a swiss-army amp, so if that's what you want look elsewhere or be prepared for a tangle of wires and pedals. The main feature is pure all-tube, old-school tone in a highly portable package.

Using it with American Telecaster. I'm coming to this amp after 3 years with a Line 6 Flextone. It's my first tube amp. There IS a difference. The tone out of this thing is warmer (despite the hallmark "brightness" of any Fender amp) rounder and more dynamic. It's strong and loud when it needs to be, but also sounds sweet at practice volume. The highs can be a little ice-picky at volume -- using a Tele doesn't help -- but you can adjust by rolling off treble and tweaking guitar tone knob. I'm not a pro but as far as I can tell it takes pedals just fine. I use a Boss Fuzz, Chorus and Phase Shifter for a range of blues and classic rock tones.

So far so good. Like the person below my reverb wasn't working out of the box. But before I panicked and sent it back I took a hard look inside and one of the plug-in connectors was unplugged at the reverb box. Problem solved.

I'm sure there are better small boutique tube amps but for 408 bucks (with a musicians friend 15%-off e-mail deal) it's hard to imagine doing any better than this. I considered a Vox ac15 as well but it's 600 bucks and a lot bigger and I wanted something I could tote from room to room or use out on the deck or wherever and this is perfect. I'm glad I went for a tube amp and glad I picked this one.

Don't know when it was made. Amp is reasonably versatile. Doesn't work with pedals all that well. Used for C&W, rockabilly music.
Kind of multi channel. Has a "FAT" switch. A gain boost, really.

I wish it was 6l6 based. Bought it thinking it might be a small HRD. Nothing like it.

Using Telecasters/Strats-Single coils.
Amp has a brittle sound. Really have to tweak the knobs to smooth things out. It is also a little noisy. Especially the reverb.
It can make a fair number of sounds. Overdrives OK.

I had issues out of the box. Not sure how this will hold up.

Fender was friendly but dumb on the service side. I bought the amp and it was delivered with the reveb not working. I sent it back and the reverb in amp #2 didn't work. I took it apart, found a loose wire, and repaired it. When I called Fender (thinking they would appreciate this tip off) they could care less.

I've been playing for 40+ years. Fender guy through and through. Have a HRD which has been great. The Blues Jr is simply not what I hoped it would be. I recently got a Kustom Dart 66-more versatile than the Blues Jr. by a long shot.