Fender Blues Junior

Here's some technical info: 3 gain stages, 59 Bassman tone stack, long-tailed pair driver feeding 2 class AB EL84's. Fat switch add a 22uf cap to the first gain stage, increasing low & mid gain. Preset "presence" circuit in the feedback loop ala 60's Fender amps. 329 volts for the output tubes, just like Fender's tweed era. Reverb uses TL072 op amp for drive & return. The only thing I wish it had is a dual-gain configuration, to switch between clean and scream.

If the above means nothing to you, it doesn't matter. This amp flat out cranks!! I literally could not stop playing; it sounds that good! Played with a strat, all pickups sound equally well, and when cranked past 6, there's a nice compression to the top end. Breaks up smoothly, not a bit of harshness. Definitely a blues amp (thus the name?), no metal to be found here. Real quiet, as noise goes (it has groove tubes). Very nice bass response, never gets muddy.

Looks pretty well built; I hope I never have to use the warranty.

5 yr. warranty. Never dealt with Fender.

For blues, and at this price, this amp is hard to beat! I bought this amp without even listening to it first, relying on the opinions posted in this database. It's all true!! I would buy another one in a heartbeat. This amp makes you want to play with dynamics, unlike my peavy classic 50. I'm in tone heaven!!

Some of the submissions complain about not enought features on this amp This amp sounds so Fendery how can anyone complain. If you complain about this amp no need in spending money on a Bassmen or Victoria. I fell in love with it the first time I plugged it in. If you don't like this amps tone don't shop for a fender. I give it a 10 if you play blues

I am using a reisue Strat with EMG pickups. It suits my style ( blues & blues bassed guitar) just find. If I deside to play some Gilmore stuff I do go back to my JCM900. It does have some hiss at high settings but not enough to bother me. This little amp is not a high gain monster so but will put out a little dirt just perfect for blues.

I've only had it for two weeks and has performed as expected. I hope it doesn't break because I couldn't stand to be without it while being fixed.

The warranty is for five years. If Fender doesn't back it up there is going to be a lot of pissed off guitar players

I have only been playing for 3 years. I have a JCM900 and HD28 and Carvin PA. If it were stolen I would shoot the SOB and buy another. I love the real Fender tone, the simplicity, and portibility. I wish it came with a foot switch for the FAT feature. If this amp isn't loud enough for you just mike it. It will sound huge

Features include- Single channel 15 watts RMS total power, 3 12AX7 preamp tubes, 2 EL84 power tubes, 12" Fender Gold Vintage Speaker. Controls (all go to "12")- volume, treble, bass, middle, master volume, reverb, on off switch (no standby), input, F.A.T. switch. Located in the back of the amp underneath the chassis is a footswitch jack for the F.A.T. switch, output jack (speaker plugs in with 1/4" phono jack, unplug it and you can pulg in an external cabinet at 8 ohms). No effects loop, no headphone jack. I particularly wish it had a headphone jack since I use it mostly for practicing at home. I also jam with some friends it can keep up just fine. An effects loop would be nice also. At 15 watts, this amp is plently LOUD- perfect for practice at home (get good overdrive at low volume) or jamming. For larger venues, get an extension cabinet (ex. 2 x 12") for more sound coverage or if more volume is needed, you probably have to mike it.

I bought this amp for a good, warm clean (Fender) sound with an ability to get some good bluesy overdrive. This amp delivers. But with some tweaking of the controls and pedals, you can get quite alot of sounds out of it. I use a Fender Strat with SSH configuration. This amp won't (on it's own) give you a metal or grunge distortion, but it will give great overdrive. It's a bassy sounding (dark voiced) amp-the 12" speaker definately helps. Crank the master volume to 12 and as you turn up the volume (preamp tube gain) you get a warm clean that starts to overdrive nicely at about 5 or 6. Hit the F.A.T. Switch and it hits the preamp tubes harder-I think it sounds like suddenly cranking the volume (preamp gain) up about 3 notches- good for solos. This amp has a suprising amount of clean headroom. Reverb unit is small, so it won't sound like a Fender Twin, but I think the reverb unit sounds fine- it's a little noisy when you turn it to max (12) and have the volume way up but aren't playing. Reverb doesn't feedback at fairly high volumes. If you stick to the single coil neck and middle pickups you can grok some great bluesy clean (preamp volume <6) and overdriven tones (SRV, Clapton, Hendrix with preamp volume >6 and or earlier with FAT switch on), switch to my bridge humbucker (higher output) and you can get some kick'n 70's style distortion (preamp >6 and hit FAT switch).
I also use a Boss DS-1 and Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-5 Soundtank. Tube screamer sounds great with this amp-gives you great overdrive at lower volumes and in conjunction with the higher preamp settings (>4) it will go from warm overdrive to scream'n distortion (especially with the FAT switch on). Tube screamer gives the amp some great sustain and ability (at higher preamp gain on the amp) to get some controllable feedback. Boss DS-1 works well if you keep the preamp settings fairly low (<7)- but you can balance it with the distortion level on the pedal if you crank the preamp volume past 7. With the DS-1 I can get some pretty heavy distortion. Just for a kick I hit the DS-1 on full, Tube screamer on full, and hit the FAT switch, with the vol=5 and master =5- RESULT- extreme distortion on the edge of being out of control! Pretty cool though.
I play blues, rock, a little metal, and want to play some jazz. This little amp is a blues monster. On its own it will give you a great warm, fat clean (Fender sound) through to a warm overdrive, to a 70's type distortion (a little more with a PAF high output pickup). I wanted an amp with a good clean sound and some nice bluesy overdrive (this amps got it) since I could dirty it up with pedals. With some knob tweak'n and pedals, I was pleasently surprised at how many different tones I could get out of this amp. My amp came with SOVTEK (Russian) tubes, I know Fender is shipping now with Groove (USA) tubes, so I don't know how this will affect the tone of the amp.

I've only had the amp for about 1 week, so I can't comment on it's reliability. But being a tube amp, it will need some re-tubing at some point.

I called Fendera couple of times with some questions about this amp, including aftermarket installation of a headphone jack. I had a tough time getting through (BUSY, BUSY, BUSY....) and the service people I spoke to were less than friendly and were NOT very knowledgable or helpful. Peter Bruni, a salses person at Steve's Music Store in Toronto was very helpful and got me the information I needed from their Fender rep. and also gave me some information on authorized service people. Shame on you Fender- improvement in customer service is needed.
Warranty for the amp is Fender standard (covered by the store)- 5 years on electronics (circuit boards, transformer, etc.), 1 year on the speaker, 90 days on the tubes.

I've been playing for around 14 years (off and on) and also own a Traynor TS-50 solid state amp, Boss CE-5, Crybaby wah-wah, Boss BF-1 flanger, and ovation acoustic/electric. I would definately buy this amp again if stolen- nothing comes close to the sound with this price and at the lower (managable) wattages. I love its warm sound and creamy overdrive and its tone versatility with the addition of pedals. Only 32 lbs too! I am building a 2 x 12" cabinet for it with two 30 watt Jensens. I wish it had an effects loop and headphone jack. I don't really miss a 2nd channel- the FAT switch or a pedal solves this problem almost all of the time. I wish the reverb tank was a little bigger, but I don't mind it.
I compared this amp with amps about the same wattage including the Marshall JTM 30 (not very warm clean, overdrive was to harsh), Crate Vintage Club 20 (not very much clean headroom, not very warm, overdrive came in to early and very harsh), Peavey Classic 30 (TOO LOUD before you get overdrive, not as warm clean, and gain channel overdrive was harsh). For fun, I compared it to a Fender twin (about 3X the $$) and the Blues Jr. still sounded pretty darn good. For the money-you can't beat an all tube amp with 12" speaker and Fender tone.
I think if your looking for a good warm "Fender sounding" amp with great clean and creamy overdrive for bluesy tone at reasonable volumes, this amp is it. Depending on how loud you play, this amp with do for home practice, recording, and jamming. When you add some pedals, you can extend the range of this little amp. When you try this amp out, ask for some pedals at the store and experiment with it before you dedcide to buy it-it may surprise you even more.

15 watts (hard to believe--boy this thing can crank), separate volume and master volume, bass, middle, treble. 12" Gold Label speaker. One channel w/ "fat" switch for more middle and bottom response. Optional footswitch available to switch on "fat" option. Reverb. About 28 lbs. Made very well. Not alot of extras--pretty basic.

I play a strat w/Texas Specials in it and it sounds quite good. Allows for a fairly wide range of tonality. Unbelievably loud for 15 watts. Seems as loud as my Peavey Bandit (80watts) but sounds alot better. Ideal for clean to moderately overdiven blues. With humbuckers, I'll bet the Blues Jr. distorts alot more than with my strat. This baby puts out fantastic gutsy clear tone if you crank the power tubes (crank Master to 12) and use the Volume knob to control loudness. SRV is in the house with the Volume on about 4 or 5 (Till the cops come that is). OR...for Hendrixy light fuzz crank Volume to 12 and set Master to about 3 or 4 (get ear plugs!). Super versatile. Not capable of heavy distortion. Not for metal/thrash. Pure tube-boogie heaven. w/Volume on about 4 or 5. Reverb sounds good up to about 4. I also have the larger (40 watt) Hot Rot Deluxe (sweetest sounding amp I've ever owned)and this baby actually keeps up with it fairly well.

Seems very well constructed--heavy gauge plywood, well applied Tolex covering. It doesn't come with a cover so BUY ONE (about $17). It's well worth it. Tubes vibrate loose so check them periodically. Not problems so far (knock on wood). I have a good Fender dealer and am not worried a bit.

I hear that Fender is not very customer friendly. I am mixed on this. Several years ago I called them to ask for help determining the date of and old strat and they were EXTREMELY helpful. Recently, I called to get info on an amp and they totally blew me off. I don't really about it though, my dealer is fantastic. This is the key. You really need to buy from a good dealer.

Been playing for 20 years. Also have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Have owned many amps from Ampeg, Fender, Vox, Peavey, Univox, Traynor, Roland, Crate, Sunn, and others. Have always come back to Fenders. Maybe I'm a sucker, but I just love the way they sound. The Blues Jr. is not the best sounding amp there is, but it does what it does very well and for the money, I think it's hands down a better tone than the small combo Boogies (Heartbreaker) and the Peavey Classic 30. I like this amp. It has a really gutsy tone for only 15 watts. LOUDDDDDD!!! (Did I mention how loud this amp is?)

Enough options to play around with - fat switch and master/volume give some flexibility. Wish list item is a headphone jack.

Seeking classic Fender (tube) blues tone. Found it. Great, great practice amp. I use it in bedroom. With the volume at 4/5 I can express myself while not getting too much louder than the tv. (That was my objective) Tried a distortion pedal for fun ... you can tell it's still a tube amp

Just bought it 2 weeks ago. Will re-post if I experience any problems.

Haven't dealt with any issues yet.

Beginner, about 2 years. Play SRV & California Strat plugged directly in. Traded a Blues Deluxe which was overkill for bedroom. After playing the Blues Junior in the store for two minutes I knew I found the perfect amp for me. It only got better when I got it home. This amp was EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. (Bedroom practice, classic blues sound, enough volume to sound good but not bother the neighbors) May not be the best amp for everyone, but it is PERFECT FOR MY SITUATION. If it was stolen I would buy another one immediately.
P.S. If any more experience players have knob setting or effects suggestions, please email me. I have a Boss Blues Driver ... Tubescreamer seems like the thing to get.

What can be said about this amp that has not already been stated? The amp is perfect for those of us who know what we want. It's true, the amp does not have an effects loop, headphone jack or standby switch. All of those things may or may not be needed and judging by all the positive reviews of this amp aren't needed. What it does have is reverb, tone controls (treble, mid and bass), volume and master controls along with a fat switch. I use this amp mostly for home practice and jammimg with a group. For only 15 watts of tube power, it is more than loud enough to be heard while playing with saxes, drums, bass and keyboards.

I mainly use it with a strat with 3 single coils and play blues, R&B, rock and a little jazz. It seems perfectly suited for the styles and varieties I'm into. Distortion is only mild for those rock tunes and the overdriven tubes are perfect for the blues. You can always add a pedal for a hard rock crunch sound. I have noticed some hum and feedback noise when reverb is set at 6 or higher. I'm still trying to figure out how to eliminate that noise.

I've only had it for a year. No problems so far!

No contact with customer service yet but I will give them a call about the reverb noise just to see if they are helpful.

I've been playing for only 2 years but, during that time have experimented with many different amps trying to find the perfect one for me. I always thought that I would buy one of the smaller Mesa Boogie's or Peavy Classic until I heard the Blues Junior. It seemed like every weekend I was in a guitar store trying out a different amp but now, I can spend that time playing. I would definitely buy this amp again!

This amp has Master/Volume which rates a high score for its price, you can dial a good tone, clean or crunch and play with your kid sleeping next door. This was one of the reasons I chose it.

Cant beat the sounds for the price. I play STD US Telecaster with stock PU's. Blues and R&B. Reverb a bit hissy and weak (its solid state), but this doesn't bother me. Clean is clean and distortion is punchy and dark.

This is my only grump. Firstly it is rather poorly finished. The covering probably won't last long, I understand some of the electrics have been compromised but I hope the insides will still work in 10 years, after all its a real Fender at real competitive price, I dont care so much about the outside. My problem was that I had ordered it from my store after testing one and took it home10 days later still in its packing. On opening the box one of the power tubes fell out, the other was barely still in place. The power tubes have a kind of spring-bracket to hold them in place(but didn't), the pre-amp tubes are just stuck in with nothing to hold them. Why don't they ship with the tubes packed and not installed ? Secondly I noticed after 5 minutes of playing that low notes started to sort of electrically vibrate (like a nasty distortion). I took it back to my store (who are great), they agreed immediately, tried changing tubes to no avail and determined the speaker was the cause (you can attatch an external speaker). They brought it back to Fender who fitted a new speaker and I got it back 2 days later. It is now playing like a dream.

They changed the speaker pronto so I have no complaints. This was Fender in Duesseldorf (Germany). I dont know what they are like elsewhere.

Whatever the grumps (reverb is solid state and a bit thin and hissy) for the price this amp is a killer. I haven't really spent a long time playing it dialled up but I understand it is loud enough to play with drums and bass. If I would play a big venue then I'll need a bigger amp, but that bigger amp will sit around just waiting for venues because the BJ is the one I can and want to practise on.

Excellent at what it does: it is very versatile within its range of darkly voiced sounds, but if you play with the volume controls you can go from fairly clean to smoothly distorted. FAT switch is nice for mid boost for solos, etc.; invest in a footpedal for it. This amp is surprisingly powerful for 15 watts: can play quite loud and I've had it in small clubs where it's done fine, and other players have remarked on how good it sounds. Greath tube warmth, darkly voiced.

I use mostly a Heritage 535 and a Gibson ES-125TC, playing blues. Good clean crunch, nice smooth tube distortion, and it can play well at loud volume, where distortion is smooth, not shredder harsh.

well made, 5 yr. warranty. Have taken it out a few times and it's been knocked about a little, but looks mint still and no problems....

have not dealt with them...

Can't see doing much better for under $300 for real tube warmth and some versatile sounds.

Treble, Bass, Middle, Reverb, Fat switch (footswitchable), Master volume, 1x12, 15 watts,3 12AX7's, 2 EL84's. Oh yeah, this amp just wants to sound good!

I use this amp with a PRS EG (the one with the Fralin pickups), and a 335. Man, honestly this amp has no bias, single coils and humbuckers both sound great without having to readjust the amp's settings. I play blues and I use this amp for practice and it just kills. The distortion is quite flexible. It is really easy to get a good SRV type of tone as well as a very cool Bluesbreaker type of thing going. In fact I wish I could get my gigging amp to sound as good as this thing. This has got to be one of the loudest 15 watt amps made. I originally bought it for practicing around the house and decided to try it at band rehearsal and was blown away. Especially that it could hang with our drummer no problem (he's pretty loud). It probably would be loud enough for smaller club gigs (unmic'ed) too. Had read about the Mesa Subway Blues and tried it and decided that it couldn't come anywhere near the Jr. in terms of sound (not to mention in price). Have heard of guys swapping tubes in the Pro Jr.'s with positive results, anybody out there tried it with this amp?

No problems with it yet. Wouldn't have a problem gigging without a backup.

Haven't had to find out, although I've heard that they can be jerks to deal with on the phone. Comes with the standard Fender warranty.

Been playing 14 years and have to honestly say that I'm really impressed. I have owned Blackface Princetons, Peavy Classic 20, etc. and was never really all that excited about any of them. If you're in the market for a killer blues machine look no further than this. I have also heard a lot of very positive things about the Pro Jr., I haven't had the chance to check one out but would have to believe that it is every bit as good as the Blues Jr. I would definetly buy this amp again in a heartbeat and have recommended them to all of my buddies in the market for a small tube amp.

The specifications on this amp have been stated before. The options are limited but I knew what I was buying and what I was looking for tonally. And fortunately this amp has it. I was looking for an amp that would distort at low volumes without the need for OD pedals of any sort. Just plug in and play. I use this amp for practicing at home and jamming with freinds. It is just loud enough for playing with drums and bass. I have not played out with this amp however. The amp is more or less a one trick pony; great bluesy overdrive. But this fact suits my playing needs perfectly. This is definetly not a shredding amp. Great weight too.(~35pds)

I play a japenese reissue strat with vintage style pickups through the blues junior. It sounds excellent with just about any setting on the amp. I even played a friends subpar korean squire through this little beast and it sounded ten times better than it did plugged into his Crate solid state. Much fuller bodied tone. This is my first tube amp experience, and I must say that I am completely sold. I can't imagine how good one of those 2500$ Matchless amps must sound. For 300$ this amp has suprisingly good tone and bite. I also have a Fender solid state 112SE that doesn't come close as far as blues tone. The 112 does however sound better when played clean(much more headroom at high volumes). If your looking for a very clean sounding amp this amp probably isn't for you. I've got a JC120 that fits this bill perfecly. But if you like great sustain and mild overdrive at low volumes this amp kicks ass. I've read some of the other reviews about this amp that state that the reverb tank is noisy.. I haven't encountered this problem at all. The reverb is quiet all the way to the top(and sounds pretty good too). I keep it set between 3 and 6 usually. The junior distorts nicely with the master cranked and the preamp set about 4 or 5. Just right without being to loud.

I've had it about two weeks now and had now problems to speak of. I ordered this amp mail order and it showed up with one of the preamp tube dislocated from its seat. It was lying in the bottom of the cabinet. I'm not sure if it came out before or after shipping, but after sticking it back in, I was in tone heaven. Otherwise, I think the amp is built quite sturdy. Dependable knobs, speaker cabinet etc. The corners of the amp could use a little more protection, however.

I think for 300$ this amp has what I was looking for. Iv'e been playing for about 6 years and had solid state amps up until this time. I think SS amps have their particular strong points(clean tones), but the junior makes me smile every time I pick up my axe. Hopefully someday I can afford the custom shop amps, but at the present time I am completely satisfied with this thing.