Fender Blues Junior

As noted in several other posts, this amp is rather sparse on features. I am using it for a practice amp, and it fills that bill quite well. It produces a wide range of tones, from clean to nice, warm distortion. In contrast to some previous reviews, I found that the reverb sounds fine at all settings. I have noted two inconvenient aspects of using this amp. First, changing the distortion level requires adjusting both the pre amp and master volume controls to get consistent volume. The FAT switch boosts the pre amp, and helps some with this, but channel switching would sure be nice. Second, while the clean tones are sweet and clear, it's not possible to get a clean volume equivalent to that produced by overdriving the pre amp.

I play mostly blues-related music, and some folky stuff. My primary guitar is a '78 Strat, which sounds excellent at all the amp settings that I have tried. My other guitar is a '62 Gibson ES 125 hollow body. It has a very warm, bassy sound through this amp. However, some notes at some settings of the amp controls, cause a raucous rattling with the Gibson (not so bad with the Strat). I'll take the back off and see what is loose inside - possibly the reverb springs, as mentioned in an earlier post. My previous amp was a Crate G40C, and both guitars sound infinitely better through the Blues Jr, particularly at the bottom end, which the Crate made very muddy- sounding. Also, the distortion on the Fender is much more appealing than the harsh and thin sound of the Crate, and far better suited to blues.

Too soon to tell, I've have had it only a week.

Fender's 5 year warranty sounds good. However, the lack of a customer service number in the manual makes it seem like they'd rather not be bothered with service.

The sound is a huge improvement over the Crate, and I am quite happy with the Blues Jr as a practice amp. It will also work fine for small jam sessions. In both circumstances, adjusting the controls to change the sound is not a major inconvenience. Now, if I can just figure out what's making that rattle...

15W, 12" speaker, 2 EL84 and 3 12AX7 tubes in an small, handy cabinet, (mine is black but I believe they also come in tweed). The one-channel amp has reverb, 3-band eq, volume and master controls. In addition there is a so-called FAT-switch for beefing up the middle. This can be operated by footswitch, but the jack-connector is hidden inside the amp, and it's positioning was chosen by Harry Houdini. Alot of people complain about no standby switch, effects loop or line out, but what do you want for the price

I am a harp player and need a Chicago blues sound as well as a rock sound.The amp really does the job. The simplicity of the controls helps a lot. I just set the preamp on full and tweak the power amp, or the reverse, according to what I want. The eq is on liitle or no high, a lot of low, and a bit of middle to beef up the sound. Like any harp player, I fight with the feedback blues, but this amp is so small that I can just place it anywhere out of the way, and reduce this problem. The amp is loud, and needs no extra mike to the pa at "normal"-sized venues. It can hold it's own against the worst guitar heroes. Reverb is a bit noisy but I don't turn it up too much anyway. I guess I could get a better sound from a vintage amp, but not for this price. A tip might be to unplug the speaker (jack-plug) and connect up a 4x10 cabinet. 10" speakers are known to be more favourable for blues harp.

I use the BJ at gigs, although I've only had it a few months and can't say how it will hold up in the long run. I'm considering having a case made as I'm a bit nervous about the tubes. The sockets don't look too solid to me and I don't want one knocked out during transport. The amp comes with Groove Tubes /Sovtek tubes and these are basically pretty reliable. The amp only weighs 30-odd lbs., which means it's light enough not to drop or bang about when being carried.

No idea!

I've been playing harp for 10 years. Prior to this I played guitar. So Ive tried many amps from vintage Fenders, Marshalls, and Roland solid state. At present the BJ is my only amp and I use the band's pa as a backup. I use different mikes, SM58, Hohner BluesBlaster, even a Shure condesnor, but the Shure Green bullet is my favourite. All these mikes work through the BJ. Yes, I'd buy another BJ if this one disappeared. It does the job, it's compact and it's cheap. There are improvements that could be made but what would that do to the price? One basic improvement would be to move the FAT-switch pedal jack-connector to a place where normal people can get at it ( it took me 3 days to discover that there was one at all!). When I bought it I checked out Peavey's Classic range, other Fenders and a Carvin. I won't say any of these are worse than the BJ, but I fell for the old-time tone and the put my trust in the Fender name

This amp is about 9 months old. Has one channel. Has your standard 3 band eq, reverb, volume and master, plus a fat switch(Would be nice if there was a footswitch for this feature). I stand in front of my amp, so it would have been nice to have the controls facing towards the front of the amp, instead of behind. This can be a real pain sometimes. I have used this amp for small clubs and outdoor gigs(when I am miked) and the sound is incredibly good. Not too much volume to run the crowd away, but plenty enuf to be heard. Would be nice if it had an effects loop. Yeah, that way I could run a stomp box delay through it.

I have a custom strat and an Ibanez Artist 100(1980) that I use with this amp. I play jazz, fusion, blues and some rock. This amp is great for the blues and jazz(with a little edge). When I crank the preamp and adjust the master volume, while adding some compression, I get a killer fusion tone for soloing. I can back off the guitars volume to clean it up if I want to. Not much internal noise, except when the reverb is turned up past 5 or 6. I especially like to do jazz soloing with my strat this amp is perfect for me. I really like the way it is voiced.

Have not had any problems yet(K.O.W.). But i have only had it 2 months.

See the above.

Not sure if I would buy it again. This may sound wierd, but when I originally bought this amp, I was looking for a practice amp. But the way this thing cranks, It almost has enuf volume for a regular gig. Maybe I would consider getting a comparable Fender with a few more watts. But don't get me wrong, I love this amp to death and would not trade it for anything in its class. It's alot lighter than my Boogie MKIV or MKII(about 30 lbs). My Boogies give me plenty of preamp overdrive, so its nice to get power tube distortion for a change.

15 Watt all-tube amp with a 12" inch Eminence speaker and spring reverb. It has a FAT (Fender American Tube) Switch that beefs up the tone a bit. Overall the amp insn't that versatile being that it really only has one channel and you need to alter the volume setting every time you want a little more drive or to clean things up. It could really really use a second channel! It's good for practice and for warm-ups, but not loud enough to gig with.

I play this amp with a Parker Nitefly IV which has 2 singles and a humbucker at the bridge position. It also has a piezo under the bridge for acustic sounds. This amp has a really nice clean tone, but doesn't break up very well when you want to get heavier tones from it (Can be solved with effects boxes). The amp is surprisingly loud for 15 watts, but like i said before, really lacks in the heavier overdrive department. The reverb is a bit hissy and tends to ring a lot at any setting over 3.

The amp is pretty tough, but I never gigged with it, so I wouldn't be able to tell you. It's really more of a practice/warm up amp. It is all-tube, so you might want to have a backup at small gigs just in case.

I've never had to deal directly with Fender and I've heard mixed stories about their customer support. The amp does, however, come with a 5 year warranty, so I guess Fender has a lot of confidence in their product.

I have been playing for about four years and this really is a decent amp. If you don't have a lot of money and really want a good sounding amp....go for it. I will confess....you're gonna go crazy having to change the volume every time you want a distorted tone. If it were lost or stolen, I would definitely go to one of the higher "Hot Rod" series amps, like I did. I went up to a Hot Rod Deluxe and it just has so many more features than the Blues Junior.

The usual high,mids,bass,preamp,masterand reverb.Nice feature is the fat switch,seems to boost the mids.The amp seems best suited for rock,bluesand jazz.One shortcoming is the lack of a standby switch.My other beef is the fact that they charge you extra for the footswitch that engages the fat switch.This amp is LOUD and has plenty of power for any small club or recording gig.Mine came with sovtek tubes in the pre and power sections.New ones come with groove tubes from the factory.

Tex-Mex Strat with Texas special pick-ups.This amp suits the SRV,KWS sound that I crave.Great for blues/rock,not a heavy metal amp!I run a TS9 and a micro-vibe and boy does it SCREAM!Nice bell-like clean sounds too!

Never any problems,backed by Fender`s 5 year warranty

read above

I`ve been playing for 18 years,diehard strat fanatic.If this was lost or stolen I would replace itin a minute.I love the TONE of this amp,and it`s plenty loud.I`ve owned Marshall`s,Peavey`s and nothing comes close to the sound of this amp.The lack of astandby switch stinks ,but I`ll deal with it.I disconnect the Fender speaker and run a 212 Marshall cab with Celestions.This gives the a nice "big" sound.

I think everybody knows the features

I play a 1988 American Standard Strat w/ Texas Special single coils. Pedals: Boss Super Overdrive SD-1, Ibanez Analog Delay AD-9, and Ibanez Stereo Chorus CS-9. Musical style is Roadhouse Country (Lee Roy Parnell, Delbert McClinton) Lots of slide. Mine was one of the earliest ones made. I don't have problems with the reverb being noisy like most people do, I play it with the reverb on 6. I have the master volume on about 5 and the volume on 7 for a semi-clean tone, then use the overdrive pedal for full-drive.

This amp has been incredibly dependable. I've had it for 2 and a half years without a hint of trouble. And I'm not talking about occasional use in the garage. I'm American, but I'm touring in Europe (Denmark)and I use this amp a lot. I never have a backup with me at gigs.

never dealt with Fender

I've been playing about 6 years, but only a couple professionally. I own another strat, acoustic, pa system, keyboard, etc. If it were lost I would get another immediately. I love the tone, the reverb isn't that great, but the tone is the real deal. My other guitar player in my band plays a '69 tele through a '65 Blackface Deluxe Reverb. I routinely listen to DAT recordings of our shows and I know for a fact that it would shock most guitar players to hear just exactly how this amp sounds in a real gig setting, up next to one of the all-time holy grails of guitar amps.

Features include treble, bass, mid, spring reverb, master volume and volume. Also included is the fat switch which Keep on all the time. My amp came with Sovtek tubes. Doesnt have channel switching capability ,effects loop , head phone jack, or a stand by switch. It is just an all tube beauty and has everything that I need. It is a loud 15 watts. Have never had to crank it up all the way to be heard at any gigs. I give it a 9 because I would like tube reverb.

I play a Gibson SG Std thru this amp and it sounds like heaven. I compare it to that old Freddy King tone or that Blues Breaker tone with Fender sparkle. I play mostly Blues and some classic rock n'roll and it fits my needs to the tee. I havent had any problems with noise from the reverb tank at all so no complaints there. This little gem leaves out all that annoying Fender brightness and thinness that I've experienced with fender. This amp has sweet overdrive and fatness that I expected from my JTM 45 without driving people out from the clubs. I have always been anti Fender amps but this thing has sold me. This amp has some tonal variety depending on the settings you choose. You can dial in some classic fender tones or really darken the sound up. Yes the tone controls do work! I personally keep the master volume cranked and the volume around 5. Trebble on 12, mid at 10 and bass at 8. Fat switch is always on. My gibson overdrives the amp nicely at these settings. A strat my take more pre amp volume to get that overdrive. The distortion is smooth and very classic not harsh at all. Im not going from some cheap solid state amp or some low grade tube amp so Ive had some great amps to compare it to. To me this is the best new fender amp out there, then again good tone is in the ear of the beholder. Check it out, I see people paying thousands for amps that don't compare.

Ive had mine for about 6 months and have had no problems yet.

Have never dealt with fender or anything repaired under warranty. I think my warranty is for 5 years.

Ive been playing for about 14 years but playing clubs for only about 3 years. I also own a JTM 45 reissue and a 4x12 cab with greenbacks. The guitar that Ive settled down with is a Gibson SG std.I've always loved that classic Gibson/Marshall sound but even 45 watts is too much. I really researched this amp before I bought it. I first bought the Pro Jr but traded it in for the Blues Jr because of the 12 in speaker and reverb. The Pro jr is also a great amp and will probably get one of those too again. If I lost this amp I would buy again the same day. I would like to hunt down one with tweed. I love everything about this amp. It has the big fat tube sound I've been searching for and it fits in my car unlike my half stack. Before I bought it I compared it to the 59'bassman reissue, 65 twin reissue, Blues breaker combo, all the Hot rod Devilles, not to mention owning various Marshall JTM's. I may try the Deluxe reverb, Ive heard some good reveiws. Im really leaning to the low watts amps, their just more practical. If you go try one out give it some volume, this thing was made to be cranked. The bad reviews that I've read about this amp made me wounder if they were talking about the same product. To me this has the ultimate blues tone, so get one before Fender jacks up the price.

This amp is really cool. I find it to be better than the Pro Junior just because of the features and because of the "Fat" switch and reverb. Has one channel. No effects loops, no headphone jack. It gets distorted at high volumes and you can adjust the max. volume with the master volume control. I really wish the Blues Junior had an effects loop and maybe a vibrato control. I use this amp for stuff like musicals I play guitar in, a back-up amp, jazz band, and many other situations. It definetly gives you enough power for 15 watts. It's got 2 EL84's and 3 12AX7's. I replaced them with Sovteks to get more of a gritty feel, and I also replaced the speaker with an EV that can handle 200-300 watts; the results were cool. It now breaks up at higher volumes.

I use a Tex-Mex Strat with new custom 50's pickups and a custom-made Fender Relic-style body through this thing and it sounds cool. I play blues (ala Blues Junior) and it can suit that just fine. It will also suit anything like Classic rock or lighter than that. It doesn't get too noisy to bother anybody. I usually leave the settings at: Volume-4 M. Volume-12 Treble-6 Bass-4 to 5 Middle-7 Reverb-3 This gives me a nice clean sound, then I put my TS-9 in front of it and spice it up a bit. I wouldn't suggest a wah in front of it, it sounds tooooo trebley. The distortion is not high, it is just a nice warm, round, fat, Tube Screamer-like distortion that suits me just perfectly.

I rely on this amp to back me up on stage if I'm in trouble, I would not use this as my main up, but just as a back-up for my Twin Reverb. It has not broken down yet, I take good care of my equipment.

I've never had to deal with Fender yet. It comes with a 5 year warranty.

I've been playing for almost 2 years now. I own my tweaked up my Tex-Mex Strat, a Martin DM, a Kay Strat copy, TS-9 reissue, Sovtek Big Muff, Vox wah, Boss ME-8, Twin Reverb, and the Blues Junior. If it were lost or stolen I would hesitate to buy it and look at the other small amps out there. I do love the quality of this amp at such small wattage and price. I'd just like to add that if there's anybody out there that has this amp, but plays it with a metal pedal, GET A GOD DAM LIFE!!

the features are fairly decent. can't really complain about that. it's a small amp so any features is good features, i guess. a footswitch would've been nice (as a gesture of...something, i don't know.)

i played a few strats through it. the amp sounds small. that's my biggest complaint. it just sounds like a tiny little amp (which it is) but i've had a few fender amps (blues deluxe HR deville, HR deluxe, princeton) and the blues jr just can't hang. small, boxy sounding and the reverb is...well, it's there, i guess. let's just say there's not much of it.

i had the thing for 3 weeks and one day it shut off, started burning and then came back on. i returned it ASAP. maybe it was a fluke, but it happened.

i've heard fender's customer support is sub-par. ive never dealt w/ them but i know someone who has and it took a long time. i'm sure everyone knows a story. i guess the fact that i returned the amp instead of trying to get it fixed says something about their reputation.

i might buy another one...no, i take that back. i'd look for a used princeton reverb. the blues jr is a goodidea and it has a really good reputation but, to me, it's only an okay amp that comes in a convenient size. a HR deluxe down too low still sounds WAY better than the blues jr.compared to other fender amps i've owned, it was a huge disappointment.

I think we all know the features by now. Whether you're a gadget head or a purist, I'd still give this a 6. I'm more of a purist. I mark it down for solid state rectifier, op-amp driven reverb, and dime-a-dozen garden variety Eminence 12" speaker (with Fender badge on it). Word is the first generation of these had Fender blue-back Alnico speakers, and sounded better.

If you had asked me a few months ago, I would have given it a 10 like so many others exhuberant over discovering this amp. And if you're coming form a ratty-ass solid state amp or even some of the rattier cheap tube amps (I'm thinking low-level Crate & Peavey), the Blues Jr. is a treat for the ears. You can also improve the sound significantly by swapping in better tubes. I put in military surplus Philips 12AX7's and Groove Tube Tesla EL84s. Both fattened out the sound nicely and the 12AX7's made for better touch sensitivity.
If a Matchless or a 1961 Fender Deluxe is your idea of a 10, then this is a 7. Not bad at all. Better sound's gonna cost a lot more.
It's actually a fairly quiet amp until you turn up the reverb, in which case it gets pretty hissy. Has a nice warm tone, not capable of a lot of brightness. Gives out good overdriven tones (but not crunch/shred). Not the last word in transparency or low-level touch response, but very good for under $350, and no solid state amp in that price range can touch it.

I think this is very reliable. When the reverb tank springs loosened up, I started getting some feedback when the reverb was turned up. Reverb tank bags are for preventing speaker backwave feedback through the reverb springs, and the Blues Jr. has not tank bag. But an authorized repair station fixed it in under a week under warranty.
I would have no qualms about gigging without a backup. The pots are quiet, it shows no hint of fussiness or unreliability.

Transferable 5-yr warranty. See above for customer support experience (very positive).

I've only been playing elec. guitar for a year, but I've been a musician for 37 years and a sound nut for 29. I own two G&L ASATs, one of which is a classic Thinline. Really, it was the Thinline and it's dynamic range and finely nuanced tone that prompted me to sell the Blues Jr. and get something else. Still, I never hated the Blues Jr.; it just wasn't up to bringing out the best in the G&L's.
If it had been stolen or lost, I would have been hard-pressed to find something better for the $318. Right now, however, you can find some closeouts (at around $325) on the green vinyl Trace Elliot Velocette, which is a far better amp. To be fair, the Trace's normal street price is around $500, and has only volume, tone, and a bright switch.
There are several decent $350 15-watt tube amps out there -- the Blues Jr., the Ampeg Jet II R, the Epiphone Electar 30. I recommend you take your geetar to the store and try them all out.