Fender Blues Junior

made in 2002 even though i got it new in early June 2003. It fits my style well, i play music along the lines of Oasis and Coldplay but i also play a lot of blues (BB King style). It has one channel, which is fine with me cos it doesnt have other channels to take away any tone. What really let me down was the lack of tremolo on it. I really wanted it. The 15watts are perfect for playing at home and when i get another band going, ill bring it to practice and maybe even small gigs. Considering this has everything i wanted (one channel, reverb) except tremolo, i give it the appropriate score.

I use a Gibson Les Paul and a Fender MIJ Telecaster. It fits what i play perfectly. I just throw a Boss DS-1 in front of it for my dirty sounds and i'm set to go. The reverb is fantastic if you ask me, i've heard some people say its not up to par with the other fender amps, but to me its great. The clean is superb. Its that classic fender clean that everybody loves. I dont bother pushing the tubes to get its overdrive because to me, its horrible. It has no sustain or anything, so i dont even bother. But, i don't care really. I bought the amp for its clean sound and portability. If i want drive i'll turn on my DS-1 or fire up my Marshall.

dealt with fender before. had a good experience and a bad one.

I've owned several amps. Fender roc pro, Soldano Astroverb (which i a friggin retard for selling), Marshall JCM2000, Peavey Delta Blues, and a few others. I actually sold my Delta Blues for this. Despite the fact the Peavey had decent drive, 30 watts, and tremolo, its tone didn't put up a fight with the fender blues jr. plus, i wanted something ultra light to carry around. If it were stolen, i wouldnt get another cos i'm too poor. I'd just be pissed off i guess. Then when i got money to get a new amp, i'd get a different fender one channel amp. Not because i dislike the blues jr at all, but because i'd like something that i could gig with in places other than small bars. something 30-40 watts. And maybe even tremolo. but the blues jr kicks ass. I took it over the classic 30, vintage 30, and sold my delta blues for it. Its truly the best in its class. Just wish it had that friggin tremolo

Bought mine as a tweed in 1997 or so. The only amp I can remember that I bought new. Only because it was a blowout great deal. The amp has what I need in a small to medium size amp. I think if you play you really need various amps for various clean to dirty sounds at different volume levels. THis amp gets the call most of the time for
simple harmonica blues garage jams.
Rating is fair to good because it has a 12" speaker and Reverb with tweed
Feautes: Basic gain, Vol, treb, bass mid, and Reverb, 12" speaker, TWEED (nice)

Sounds is excellent!, someone (Ross) said that it is a terrible match for his '52 RI tele. Sorry Ross but for me it is HEAVEN. No pedals, no effects, to nothing but tele TONE, crunch, chime what ever.
Then again I am a tele freak and the tele bite is what I live for.
Great garage volume level amp. Always gets the call

I have depended on it and have even guigi out with out a backup (probably not smart).
Ok, It is PCB so that sucks, oh and these 90's Fender FAT series have the stupidest Input jacks that will and do go bad.

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Very Tele Frindly Amp. Big time crunch with my '52 TI Tele.

This amp was bought new, about a month ago, though I believe it was manufactured last year (2002). So it's new and clean alright.
I've been a player in the Branson area for the last decade, though I was born and spent most of my life in Los Angeles, playing all styles of music. I tend to stick to jazz, swing and some classic rock when I'm just having fun, but I've had to play it all at some point, whether live or in a studio.
Working live onstage twice a day, six days a week for a number of shows in town has shown me the importance of a quality-made amplifier. It needs to take knocks, sound right for many styles of music (a swing/jazz show in the mornings, country and classic rock in the evenings, it changes every few months!) and have enough presence to cut through the band when doing lead work, but for rhythm, just sit well quietly and sing softly. It also needs to be light and portable enough to travel each day from stage to stage, and take the torture well. I think I've finally found MY amp for this work out here!
I have been using the Fender Blues Junior for about a month. This seems short but when you consider I'm playing 18 shows a week with it, that's a pretty fair workout and enough time to really evaluate this amplifier.
The all-tube Blues Junior only has one channel, and it's nice and clean. A simple treb/mid/bass set of knobs are here, as is a very basic reverb, and of course the Master and Volume controls. There is a 'fat' button (can be manually depressed or switched with an optional footswitch)which increases preamp gain for extra distortion and sustain, and while you can tweak distortion out of it between the master and volume knobs (good ol' chicken-heads!)it is not a very big or punchy distortion.The reverb is a little shallow, or thin, but I use it very little so it's fine with me. So, one channel, not much distortion and only one footswitch option for the 'fat' feature doesn't make for a very versatile amplifier if you need sounds and effects in the amp itself, but since I use pedals/effects boxes anyway, this does not bother me in the least.
There is no effects loop, headphone output. But I don't need those features. Those who do should look elsewhere.
So as far as versatility goes, it is no match to the amp I was using previously (Fender Deluxe 90 DSP) but it sounds a thousand times warmer and louder, even at it's 15W RMS rating. The D90 was always a headache for me, and didn't have the roomy sounds I needed. THIS amp does that trick far better!!!

I am using this amp with a Fender Classic 50's Strat (single coils, etc.) and a 24 year-old Ibanez AS100 semi-hollow/335 look-alike. With both instruments, and in ALL styles I have to play, I get the tone, warmth and sustain I need, with more than enough headroom for volume.
At high levels of volume, there is a slight hum (this *is* a tube amp, and it's better or less noisy in some theatres/venues than in others, given differing electrical systems and grounding, etc.) but it is not at all intrusive, unless you play so quietly that it would have to be turned down anyway, in which case you don't hear noise at all!
As I said previously, there is not any power to the distortion attainable, so if you want beefy distortion in the amp, the Blues Junior is not for you. But if you can live with using pedals for distortion or other effects you may need, the tone and richness of this amp is a killer!!!

I have used it without any serious backup amp for a month now, and not noticed a single problem. Tubes are still seated fully in their sockets, even with toting it around all over town. The knobs, power cord, speaker, the whole enclosure isn't dinged, creaky or fatigued in any way. Another year from now, who knows? But so far it seems pretty solid. Again, compared to the Deluxe 90, this amp while smaller, still feels lighter but built more ruggedly.

There is a 5 year warranty on this amp, and while I've never needed service or support for this amp, I did for the Deluxe 90 and Fender was slow to respond, but attentive once they did get to me. I am not a huge fan of Fender's support team, but their manufacturing tends to do THIER job well enough that I usually don't need to contact the support staff.

I feel the Blues Junior is a great value and a solid workhorse. It is warm, sweet, clean and loud, and can proudly sit beside me in any gig.
It is not for those who need big, bone-splitting distortion or effects loops or other features like modeling, DSP, etc. IT is just a small, lightweight, rich, toneful amp that does what it's supposed to do.
I've used many amps over the years, and while there are a few which will ALWAYS be my personal favorites (Ampeg tube bass amp for jazz, Roland JC120 for rock, etc.) the Blues Junior is lighter than those, travels well, has the tones I need, and acquits itself beautifully when called to action.

Bought new in Sept. 2002. Made in Mexico.
Features are minimal, they way I like them. Could use a stand-by switch. This amp has plenty of power for most of my needs. I use a 90 Deluxe when required. Play blues, country, rock, and a little jazz.

I use a stock hard-tail American Strat.
The original speaker is usless to me. It is way too big for the cab.
I use a ported cab (made by Songbird Music in Ottawa) with a single 10" alnico of unknown make. This set-up is just great. It's a nice warm sound and even the stock reverb sounds good. My rating is with 10" cab.

Too early to tell. No problems so far after about one year.

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Been playing for forty years. Have had more amps than I can remember, tube and SS. I'd replace this little dear in a flash if it was lost.

Update of previous post.

This is an update of my previous post (from about three years ago). When I first posted, I think I gave the amp a 9 in the "Sounds" category. Since then, I've learned a whole lot about tube amps and about tone... mainly because about a year ago I purchased a 1977 Fender Vibrolux Reverb. After playing the Vibrolux for about a year now, in all good conscience, I have to downgrade the Blues Jr's 9 to about a 7. This is not really meant as an insult to the Blues Jr. A score of 7 is nothing to sneeze at when you're dealing with a $300 all tube (except the rectifier) amp.

I'm also writing this because I recently found, like a few of the reviewers below, that (as any master volume tube amp will) the Blues Jr sounds MUCH better if you're able to run it with the Master wide open and the Volume between 2 and 5. Chords and notes will sound full and clear. Running the amp this way also helps make the reverb sound a lot better as well... more lush and wet... and less hissing.

Had it for about five years. No problems. Just replaced the power tubes.

Haven't had to deal with them yet. Hopefully, I won't as this little baby's five year warranty is up in a couple of months.

After owning the amp for about five years, I think it's finally safe to say that I have a working opinion of the Blues Jr. So here it is:

As a tube amp, the Blues Jr is OK. Good, but not great. It doesn't compete with more expensive, high-quality amps, but soundwise, it holds it's own against tube amps in it's price range ($300 - $400). I don't regret buying it, but there are a few similarly priced tube amps (Peavy classic 30, and Crate Vintage Club series to mention a few) that smoke the Blues Jr. on features, wattage, etc... If my Blues Jr were lost or stolen, I might consider one of those. But, in the end, I'd probably just bite the bullet and pay for a 1970's Princeton Reverb.

2003 Fender Blues Junior 15-Watt, single 12" speaker. The amp is black covered and Made in Mexico.

Simple amp that's great for Blues and early Rock n' Roll which I play at home, jamming along with records and a friend now and then. The amp could definitely be used in a band in small clubs as I know a guy that uses it in this setting and he comes through fine.

I play a Fender Stratocaster for Blues, Rythmn & Blues and early Rock n' Roll. This amp lacks the famous Fender tremolo and sometimes I wish it had it.

The amp isn't overly noisy when using Master volume up at 12 and dialing in the the volume control for the desired distortion. Reverb is fairly quiet too when using the above volume scheme.

Only have had it three weeks.

Never used it.

I compared the Fender Blues Junior to the Marshall Valve State 20 and thought the Fender being an all-tube amp, except the rectifier section, sounded more open and of course it has the famous Fender sound.

I'm returning this amp not becuase of it's sound or fit and finish which are all excellent but because firstly, it's Made In Mexico and secondly, it didn't come with Groove Tubes as stated on one of the feature cards that are attached to the knobs by string. Perhaps these are niggling points but this same model amp, six months to a year ago, was Made In U.S.A. I have nothing against Mexico but feel that Fender has a tradition to live up to as the All-American guitar sound and should be made here. If Peavey can do it, why not Fender?

Due to reading overall favorable reviews elsewhere on this site, I've ordered a Peavey Delta Blues 30-Watt tube amp that has the features of the Fender Blues Junior plus tremolo, a 15" speaker, and all for $40 more. Supposedly the Delta Blues is made here in the States, and it has a really neat 1950s retro look!

As an amp, I really have nothing negative to say about the Fender Blues Junior. If you can get a Made In U.S.A. model (which are still available) do it. If I had to, I could live with this amp!

Features as stated all over this thread. I bought it for my '52 telecaster looking for that vintage all tube Fender sound. Was satisfied with features except for lack of standby switch.

This is a great amp, but old Tele users beware!!!! (Again, mine is a '52 American resissue with stock pickups.) Honestly, this amp is NOT a good match for the bright sound of a telecaster, especially with the bridge pickup. You can get some terrific lead tones, but for chord-based rhythm type stuf, it's unusable. Too ringy...too bright...makes the ears bleed. And the tone isn't nearly as versatile as I feel it ought to be.

The super-wet soudning spring reverb makes the tele jangly treble all the more irritating, especially on the bridge pickup.

I play all sort of styles and the tele/Blues Junior combination woudn't be very well suited to most of them.

No comment here as I've only had it for a little while. I've had lots of Fenders, however, and never a problem.

I've been playing nearly fifteen years and had the pleasure of owning lots of great Fenders. (Twin reverb, princetone reverb, champ, pro-185..) This is probably a great amp, especially for the fatter, warmer-toned guitars out there, but it's about the worst match for a vintage tele that I have ever encountered. Virtually unusable unless all you do is solo brightly.

Actually I'm just sharing a couple of ideas based on my experience with the amp...

You'll get the best sound from this amp if you always run it with the Master WIDE OPEN and the Volume (gain) at 2-5 depending on your distortion requirements. This will yield a surprising amount of overdrive, especially with humbuckers, without being overwhelmingly loud. You're just driving the low-wattage power section instead of the preamp, which will sound MUCH BETTER as the preamp is just serving as a signal booster without adding too much of its own distortion which can sound harsh. Same principle as using a pedal to drive the power section of an amp which doesn't have a master volume control - typical blues player trick.

If you get the power section cooking properly in this way, you should notice you can set all the tone controls around midway and still get plenty of clarity. If you're having to add lots of treble to get a clear sound I would venture that the power section isn't getting enough juice. Boosting the mid control, however, will give more punch (and distortion). People running the amp with the stock speaker might also want to back off the bass a little bit if you're using neck pickups and/or moderate distortion.

Another improvement as a consequence of running the power section maxed will be noticed in the reverb, strangely enough - it just seems to come out sounding deeper and less harsh if the amp is really cooking.

just my two cents. Happy to compare notes/talk shop etc - email address below.

I won't get into the features since most people have already pointed these out. The only thing I wish it had was switchable reverb but I'll just use my boss reverb for that.

First of all I was really impressed with the sound quality on this amp. I wasn't really expecting much - but from the moment I plugged the thing in I knew I had a replacement for my Blues Deville 4x10 - I have major back problems and can't be lugging the 4x10 to rehearsals twice a week. Originally the Blues Jr was intended for rehearsals at our drummer's house since it's a small room but tonight I took it to the rehearsal studios and had it compete with a 4x12 half stack - I couldn't believe this sucker -- it held it's own ! I've heard before that you can get a lot out of low wattage amps - now I a know it's true. I was so impressed that I think I am going to gig with this amp and retire the 4x10.

I use a standard strat with the David Gilmour pickup set - and for those of you that own these pickups I mostly play in the neck position with the mid tone on zero. I run it through 2 tube drivers, boss compressor, a few delays and a boss reverb.

I play indie rock and some experimental looping / ambient music. For my band this amp does the job - It's very quiet when cranked up. As I stated up there this amp went against a 4x12 half stack with no problems. It probably wouldn't keep up if the music was metal but for our minimalist / mogwai / sigur ros/ godspeed type sound I can cut through and be heard.

I was really impressed on how clean the amp was when I cranked it up - My setting are as follows:
Vol=3 1/2 Bass=6 / 12 Treble=3 Mid=10 Master=9/10 Reverb=0 --

If I need a bigger sound I bring up the Volume and bring down the Master a bit but this will give you some distortion. You also get a bit of distortion with the fat switch but for my band it works out just fine.

As far as variety goes you can't really get too many variations in sounds but that's why I have the David Gilmour pickups installed so I can shape my sound by tweaking the tone knobs around.

I haven't experienced the vibration that other posts have complained about and I was working this amp like hell tonight. My ears are still buzzing.

I do agree with other reviewers that the Reverb when the amp is cranked up is rather muddy but that's okay with me since I use my trusty Boss Reverb for ambiance.

I only use Fender amps and have never had much problems besides a reverb drive blowing out here and there so I expect this one to last a long time.

Haven't had a reason to contact Fender yet.

I've been playing for about 16 years and own a variety of Fender gear. I play a 52' Tele, and my standard strat (see above) - I also own a Blues Deville 4x10 and use an assortment of pedals and rack gear - depending on the band I am playing with. If this amp was stolen I would definitely pick up another one -- I love the punch you get out of such a small package - I do wish the reverb was switchable via footpedal and a better quality sounding reverb at that but what do you expect for the size and the price.

If you play blues or rock you would do good getting one of these amps. It's perfect for the Apartment rocker and to my surprise right up my alley for full volume rocking at the rehearsal studio.

With my 4x10 I was never able to go past 4 on the volume - now I can really push tubes to the max and get a real nice sound!

The feature on this amp are pretty limited but I bought it for the tone and I wasn't expecting a 10 band eq on the thing.

I have a friend I play with that bought a Hot Rod Deluxe and I fell in love with it. When it was time for me to get a new amp I Immediatley thought Fender. The Hot Rod Deluxe was a little uot of my price range and the 40 watts was a little overkill for my apartment so I stumbled on this gem called the Blues Jr. I mainly play blues and straight up classic rock stuff and the Blues Jr. fits that style perfectly. I run my Tubescreamer in front for a nice overdriven sound and I love it.

No problems yet

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I enjoy this little guy alot.

2003 model. All the features have been covered in other reviews. It suits my needs for my modest playing ability. I also have a Peavey Classic 30 and in my humble opinion this little amp outshines it.

I'm playing a American Standard Strat with Texas Specials and an Epiphone Sheraton II with two humbuckers through it. The Strat tends to sound a little tinty at low volume unless you set the bass tone controll on 12 and cut the treble to 2 or 3. At higher volume it sounds good with the treble and mid controls turned up. The Sheraton sounds really good through this amp. It is a very full rounded sound at low volume and really screams at a higher volume. It has a very vintage sound when playing either guitar through it.

Don't know. I've only had it a week. I've been playing for nearly 40 years so if this amp is constructed as well as my earlier Fender tube amps it should stand up to some abuse.

This little amp is a very portable tone machine. The reverb is fantastic. This baby should bring many more years of playing enjoyment. It's a lot of bang for the buck compared to similar tube amps and as usual the Fender reputation doesn't hurt.

Made in May of 2002, we all know the features, and there aren't many. That is kind of the charm of the Blues Jr. though isn't it?

I was searching for a silverface Princeton Reverb actually. The Blues Jr. has been used as a way to tide me over until I can find one at a decent price. My only complaints sound wise about the Jr. is that it sounds a little weak. It seems to get close, but not all the way there for the sounds I want. It is twangy with a Tele, but not quite Twin twangy. It can get that sweet spot on the strat (usually 9th to 14th frets) but it just doesn't quite do it the way I want to hear it. It sounds muddy as can be with a Les Paul Custom on the neck pickup, have to curtail the bass and turn the mid/treble way up to be useful with that guitar. On the whole the Jr. just feels a bit thin to me.
On the other hand, unlike many it seems, I kind of like the reverb that the Jr. has. Very Fendery, and very wide.

I bought the amp used from a dealer and have owned it for a little over a year now. The only problem I ever had was tube based and not really the amp's fault. There was a brief period where it was kind of flaky when using active electronics on it. It didn't seem to like them, but with new tubes and a different cable as seems well now.

I've spoken with Fender customer support once with this amp and a couple of times with another amp. They are some of the best people I've ever dealt with as far as CS is concerned. One guy even encouraged me to have a falsified recipt made for warranty purposes. These are people I would invite to a BBQ if I lived near California, there is no better endorsement I can give.

Its a nice little 15watt tube amp. I like it for what it is, but I still want to get my Princeton Reverb. The Jr. feels a bit thin in the tone dept for me. For a hundered or so more you can get a Mesa Boogie Rocket .44 and be much more satisfied.

I've purchased 2 of the Blues Juniors, both used, in 2001, one cream tolex and one tweed. Noticed the verb in the tweed was barely useable, the cream verb sounded ok. Traded the cream to a guitarist in my band who begged for it, still have the tweed and gig with it. We recorded in early 2002 and I brought both BJs, one for lap steel and one for harp. Our guitarist, who tried unsuccessfully to get an accceptable recording tone with his mega-rackmount monster, tried out the cream at my suggestion, cried uncontrollably at what he was hearing and what he had spent on the megamonster, and wouldn't part with the cream. Was quiet and versatile enough for the recording, producer was pleased. I use the tweed on the road for lap steel, drop a 57 in front of it for the house. I actually like the fat switch, use it with a footswitch for gigs to "turn over" the input tubes a bit. I find the midrange knob useful as well, helps to dial in various pickup combinations or when swithing between instruments. I don't miss a verb footswitch, as I prefer to use an outboard reverb anyway - the BJ verb definitely substandard.

I have used the amp primarily for lap steel - it replaced my '57 tweed Deluxe, which I won't take on tour these days. The BJ obviously isn't a '57 Deluxe, but it'll growl just fine for my lap steel (newer Paul Chandler). It seems just a little boxier than I'd like. I would like to experiment with a different cone though. Right now without modifications I prefer to run the input at about 6 or so, master about 7 or 8, and use the fat switch to step out a bit. Tone control settings I use probably reflect the limitations of the stock speaker - bass up near 10-11, mid and treble between 5 and 7. My lap steel goes into a MXR Dynacomp, Boss Blues Driver, Boss CE-3 Chorus, Goodrich Volume pedal and Boss Digital Verb/Delay before the amp. For practicing, I've played both a '59 Telecaster and a Les Paul "The Paul" straight through the amp with no stomp boxes just to air it out a bit, and I've achieved reasonably exciting sounds with the amp. Here again, I've been used to the '57 Deluxe, and I think that a speaker change and maybe tube replacement will help it a bit, as I've read in other posts. But as is, it sounds much better than other amps in its size and price ranges. It is all tube, class A after all.

It's toured extensively, no failures, but always in a road case when traveling. I had a backup (the second cream BJ) till I traded it, now I tour without a backup. However, lap steel is a secondary instrument for me, as I'm primarily a keyboard player in my current band, and I could cover a gig w/o lap steel if the amp did fail. I carry a set of backup tubes and a tool kit, but I haven't had to use them yet.

Bought Blues Junior used, haven't had any contact with the company.

I've been playing keyboards, guitar and lap steel professionally since the 70's. I was lucky enough to end up with my mother's '57 tweed Deluxe and her '59 Tele, and that's what I learned on when I was a kid - always loved how I could get the amp to drive when I goosed the volume knob of the tele. Since then I've been through many amps, and I also experimented with various stomp boxes. I remember having a solid state "Acoustic" (470?) with a 6x12 Sunn cabinet, Ampeg VT-22 (or is it 32?), basically a V4 built into a 2x12 combo a la Fender Twin - way too heavy - a Peavey Vintage tweed that sounded like crap, some rack mount things, like a Mesa pre-amp with a 50/50 amp - just too much messing around for me. Right now my favorite amp for the Tele, besides the Deluxe, is a Blackface Vibroverb with a single 15" Jensen - gives some low beef to the single coil pickups while preserving the mids and highs, and the amp section can still turn over just fine when you run the volume knob - but the lap steel needs a smaller speaker, and it actually sounds better with the Blues Junior. I like the BJ, and can't wait to experiment with some mods. It's inexpensive for a class A tube amp, it roads well, it's easily replaced as opposed to a rare amp, the tweed version definitely looks cool on stage, our sound man always gives it a thumbs-up too - it's easy for him to get the sound through the mains and he likes what he hears. I wish it had a better reverb and maybe a jack for an extension cabinet, and I wish it came stock with a better speaker, but it works fine as is for what I need.

This review is for a 2002 model. Its got the same features as all the others. I play in a rock cover band, everthing from Hendrix to Green Day. I got this amp for playing at home only but, in my band it sounds far better than my prized Marshall. I play lead and this is where the amp shines. In fact it is so good I have put off buying the super reverb I had my eye on. Most people say its loud enough for gigs but, its really not. I have to mic it every time. I give the amp a 10 because it is simple, I get every sound I am looking for just by cranking it and changing the volume on my guitar, and there are no useless features to screw you up when playing. I love this amp its a real classic.

I play this amp only with a very well broken in Les Paul. It sounds increadible when playing lead blues lics. I have no problems with noise... ever. I only wish it was a little louder. The other guitarist in my band plays thru a 60W Hot Rod and he can make me disappear on about 4.

no problems! about 3 jam sessions and one show per week for a year. I have changed the tubes but not more than any other amp I own.

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If you like blues / rock n roll this is the amp to buy. Its easy on the pocket book and sounds great. I whis it was around 25 watts just for the extra volume. Although it will blast you right out of the bedroom.

I just can't help it. I posted about the Blues Junior earlier, but I feel the need to update. I have the tweed model. I had a custom built cabinet made for it. Dropped in a Jensen C12N 100 watt speaker into the cabinet, I replaced the stock speaker with a Jensen C12R 35 watt speaker, and the tubes with 3 RCA 12AX7s in the preamp and 2 Ruby Tubes EL84s in the output. This thing blows away the Fender Twin Reverb, in terms of tone. The Twin may sound a bit fuller, but you can't adjust the preamp gain and unless your standing right in front of it, you can't hear it. I just cannot believe that this thing which total I have put $500 into, blows away the legendary $1100 Twin Reverb! I have gigged with it several times, and I am not lying when I say, I always have several people telling me how much they loved the tone I got from that amp and cab. I seriously want to put this thing side by side with a bunch of expensive, high end, boutique amps. I know this thing could go toe to toe all 12 rounds with any of them. It has taken me 2 years straight to find my tone. And now I finally know what sweet tonal bliss is. By the way I am not some amateur who wouldn't know good tone if it slapped him in the face. I am mesmerized by the potential of this amp!

This is a used tweed model from about 1996, I think. Same features as the others reviewd here in terms of specs and controls. The original speaker was replaced with a Jensen. The tweed covering was lacquered by the previous owner, giving it a cool vintage look and protecting the fabric.

For a compact, easy to carry amp, this little combo really delivers. I play a Gibson ES-335 and a '52 Reissue Tele and I play classic rock and blues with a little rockabilly thrown into the mix. The BJ has a good clean tone at moderate volume and a nice overdrive at volumes that are sufficient for playing most clubs. There's not a lot of variety in the sounds it produces, but then, it's meant to be a blues amp. And for its intended purpose, it's great.

I've owned it for three years. The previous owner bought it new. I don't know how much he used it, but it gets plenty of use now. All I've done is to replace the power tubes once each year. And that may be excessive. Anyway, it works like a coalmine mule.

Doesn't apply. I bought it used and way past warranty.

This isn't going to be on the same level as a Boogie or a Marshall stack. It's nothing next to a Super Reverb. But it really cranks for a 15 watt compact amp with minimal bells and whistles. In the right application, it truly IS a fantastic value. If you're playing small/medium clubs, it's all you need for retro rock, blues or even jazz.

everything already said a million times. all tube etc...

for a small 15W prictice amp it is really loud! when you turn the master volume and the volume all the way up the tubes rattle a little bit, but it is so loud! easily could gig in small bars. could cut through a bass and a light drummer. when you turn the volume down and the master volume up, very clean sound. when you trun the volume up, it pushes into beautiful tube overdrive. great blues/ blues rock amp. if you are a shredder or into metal keep looking. sitting at home i play this more than my marshall half stack. i play a left handed American strat to a crybaby and a tubescreamer. what else can i say, i love it.

i havnt had it that long, maybe a little over a week. you might want to replace the tubes for better sound.

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overall i think its a great amp. obviously not loud enough for outdoor gigs without being miked, but its a practice amp. great fender sound for a great price. the only thing it lacks is the good old fender reverb, its reverb is below fenders normal standards, but other than that, amazing amp for the price.

Already been listed 100+ times

Using strat and Les Paul. Stock it sounded about how it should for a amp in this price range. Replaced the speaker with a Weber speaker Wow what a change. Best Mod you can do. I'm in the process of upgrading the tubes with some NOS RCA tubes. I here people say you can't gig with this combo. All I can say is BS. Do it every Thursday. You can't expect any 15 Watt amp to fill up a large room but a in small or medium sized Bar where 80%+ of the people play this thing kicks. I have set 50ft away at bar when someone else was using it and believe me its plenty loud for anything but heavy metal. People playing metal guitars shouldn't be looking at this amp.

So far so good.

i would rate it a 9 after the modifications. It was probably a 7 before that.

My BJ is a tweed model that I bought used.Not sure what year it is but I'm guessing mid 80's,late 80's.I think everyone's well aware of the features of this amp by now.

I use this amp for blues harmonica.I bought to use as a practice amp.It's alot louder than I thought it would be.My wife won't let me practice with my 59 bassman,so I had to go smaller.She still bitches that it's too loud.As just about everyone else said,the stock speaker sounded OK,but definately lacked good crunchy tone that all of us harp players crave.I tried a vintage Jensen P12S standard series speaker in it.Tone improved,but it lacked bottom end and lost some volume.I switched the crappy sov-tek tubes for a pair of NOS GE EL84's.Big improvement,but I needed to tube down a little on the preamp.Switched to 12AY7's.Helped alot.I can turn the master way up,and get the preamp up to about 5 or6 to really push it.I use a very hot 1949 Shure CR bullet mic.I wasn't happy with the volume I was getting from it so I decided to try a vintage Jensen P12Q on a recommendation.Got a little more volume,but not enough for me.Tone was about the same as the P12S.By the luck of GOD himself,I scored a new looking,absolutely mint 1956 Jensen P12R Professional Series speaker on Ebay for $16.The guy had it listed as some kind of woofer.I put it in and I could not believe the sound I was hearing.Absolutely heavenly!The tone was way better than I ever thought it could be,and the volume almost doubled,and it's an 8 ohm speaker.I figured it had to be a 4 ohm to be that loud,but it's an 8.The tone is a harp players dream.I don't know what it would sound like with a guitar,but for harp,this is THE speaker to have.It has a special dust cap,some kind of see through material,and the cone is ribbed and has a seam.Ted Weber told me it was probably made for an organ,and that they use similar caps on some of their speakers for harp.This speaker has very gritty tone,at all volumes,and when I push the amp,it's just down right dirty,and honks like a goose in heat.I experimented with a few different power tubes.Tried the JJ's,they sounded about the same as the GE's.I settled on a pair of Tungsram tubes,made in Hungary.They're a little more aggressiveand punchy.Sound rating with stock speaker-6.Rating with 1956 Jensen-10.Great tone.Anyone need a stock Fender speaker?

I've only had it for a little over a year.I did have to replace the input jack because the original one with the plastic collar stripped with the metal nut.Stupid design.Replaced it with a steel switchcraft jack.No other problems.

Never really asked for any support so I can't rate them.

I've been playing for about 20 years,on and off.I also own a 59 bassman RI.If someone stole it,they'd better move to Mexico or somewhere far away from me.I'm an exelent hunter.I love the tone with the 1956 alnico Jensen.I don't hate anything about it except the fact that they won't let me bring it to work.The only other amp I wish I had is a Fender Bluesbreaker,or a Victoria bassman copy.

If you're reading this then you know all the features. One that many though is that a foot switch CAN be plugged in to switch between normal and FAT. The jack is on the underside of the amp head. The feature set is perfect for the folks interested in this amp. No more no less.

I have a Fender Pro Tone Strat and an Epi Joe Pass jazz box that I play through this amp. I mainly gravitate towards the Joe Pass because the sound through the Blues Jr. is spectacular IF you use it right. I think "Davor" below mentions how to get the most out of this amp, by setting Master to 12 and volume to 2-3...and let the amp warm up for a while. I also set the bass fairly low, the mid to about 6 and the treble to about 3. The jazz tone is warm and luscious and absolutely rings like bell. It is like Kenny Burrell, Herb Ellis and Wes rolled into one. This amps tonal variety is phenomenal BUT you have to work with it and really experiment in order to appreciate the sounds that it can attain.

I can get excellent grit with the Epi's humbuckers or with the Strat, but the settings are radically different if I want a rocking or blues tone versus the jazz tones. All are possible you just have to know how this amp needs to be configured for what you're trying to do. I think anyone who slams the tone of this amp just doesn't really how to use what they have.

I am not a shredder so I cound't care less about metal tones, but I would think that there may be better suited amps for that. It's basically a vintage bassman head in a sweet little box.

One thing I will say, and join the others in saying it, is that my unit basically does the two things others gripe about. It will receive FM interference (radio) at high volumes and the reverb is freakin' noisey. It is almost unuseable above 3 or 4 but I'm still investigating solutions. I am planning a nogahyde reverb bag and have checked the leads, but as new it buzzes like a mutha.

But that's a minor gripe for a small box that can make the sounds that the BJ does. I love this amp.

So far no problems, but it is one of "Made in USA" models and not the more available Mexi model. Chord length is nice and long (classic Fender) the tubes were all well seated, the grill cloth is perfect, black tolex was perfectly seamed and folded at the corners. Build quality is excellent.

Time will tell.

Haven't used them probably never will.

One of the things I love about this amp is the tweak-ability that the BJ offers. Out of the box I love it and over time I will probably do many of the mods that alot of people here mention: tubes, speaker, possible external speaker, maybe larger amp case with solid wood, external vintage reverb tank, etc. It's like a classic hot rod that is great the day you buy it but can be customized and truly made "better" or at least more personalized with a bunch of options.

Can't imagine a better guitar amp for the money or twice the money.

i think its a 2000, i paid 380 w/ tax brand new.i play classic rock and lead guitar, third day style. i thought fender would live to its name and the title "blues junior" thrilled me.it features 15 watt tube power, a fat switch, reverb, bass,treble,middle, master and volume.I wish it came with footswitch,i dont's use reverb. the fat switch i hardly use cuz the volume jump and tone difference.i have used this amp in a large youth room that could fit 200.I first bought it when i was practically tone deaf and wanted power to be heard.

i use es-135 LE with classic 57's, the combination is a night mare because both amp and guitar have really warm tones and together its just too much.the thing is a wuss at high volumes,it definitely does not keep it's tonal integrity at high volumes like at mast.6. vol.5!
the reverb turned up even slightly has a real noticeable absoluetly annoying buzz!!! i have treble at 8ish, you can't turn bass up at all or it's too bassy, the middle sounds bad, i don't turn it up at all either. If you put distorion on at high volumes the feedback is overwhelming, forget about holding a certain octave other than high if sustaining a note,if its low,it'll be high, watch and see.

very good, if tubes get old ,mine will start to pop slowly than fast, replace immediately!.i take carefull care of it, when riding i'll set it on pillow so it does not vibrate circuits or tubes, just let it cool before setting it on flammables like pillows,foam,etc.

very goo, i waited on phone long time no help. but the warranty stayed true, didn't pay a penny for repairs, got it back in 2 weeks? through a music store.warranty 5 years

i've played 3 1/2 years. i use jim dunlop wah, visual sound liquid h2o,route 66,marshall JH-1,danelectro tuna melt on my blues junior.
if it were stolen i would definitely not buy it again. Fender is an awesome company with great guitars and very good amps, this just ain't one of them. thank you.

Less is more. Chrome panel. Toggle switch for power. Red power indicator lamp. Master Vol, Vol, Treb, Mid, Mid, Bass and Rev chicken head knobs. FAT button. Only the controls needed for dailing in a personal tube amp sound...nothing else.
12" speaker. Blonde tolex, browm leather handle, oxblood grille cloth.

I'm playing an 85' Guild Flyer with an EMG HSH pick-up array and coil tap. Tones are accurate and bell-like. The EMG's growl pretty good in humbucker mode. I don't have a favorite setting yet....they all sound pretty good. I've ordered a Tele Hwy 1 and expect to get completely different sounds from it. Full range from too much treble to too much bass and everything in between. Speaker has a "raw" sound and moves air well. I'd say that it has a bluesy tonal quality. I like this sound...very much like the amps I had when I was a kid. Sound quality is very appropriate for what I need. Reverb is pretty good around 3 or 4. Loud enough to play out a small intimate venues. A little loud for the den.

Had it only a few days.

5 year warranty. Got it from MF. Got here when they said it would.
One of the leads going to the reverb tank was loose (shipping/manufacturing...can't tell) and it sounded buzzy... right out of the box. Crimping the RCA jack a little and putting it back on did the trick.

Playing 35 years. Amp was a gift. Liked it better than all the other low watt tube combos. Really liked the looks

It's a 15-watt, 1 channel, combo tube amp. I'm guessing the year is around 1995 because I have the tweed model and Fender stopped making tweed around 95. As far as features go, there aren't alot. But when an amp at this price has alot of features with it. The manufacturers had to cut back somewhere, and thats usually in the quality dept. Not a wide range of tones, but the one it does have sounds pretty damn good. Keeping in mind it was definately in need of a tube and speaker change, and the reverb isn't what I except from Fender. By itself it's great for home practice and recording, but not for gigging. I'll get to that issue in a second.

I play a Yamaha AEX502 hollowbody w/P-90 pickups through an Ibanez Tubescreamer, into a BOSS CS-3 Compressor/Sustainer, into a C-Tech SonnyBoy, into the Fender Blues Junior. Which is run into a custom made 12" speaker extension cabinet. The sound of it, without the mods I did, was definate, distinct Fender clean. But with the speaker and the tubes, it was definately thin, lacked punch and definition. First thing I did was replace the factory tubes with 3 RCA 12AX7 preamp tubes, and 2 Mesa Boogie EL84s. I also replaced the stock speaker with a Jensen C12. These things helped tremendously. Fattened up the tone and gave it a little more grit and grime. The first gig I played with it I came away thinking it sounded too boxy and had trouble cutting through the drums. I had a guy custom make me a single 12" extension cabinet. He really made it look cool becaue he gave it that same slight slant that the Blues Junior has. I then dropped another Jensen C12 speaker in it, bought a yard of tweed tolex, and an oxblood grill cloth. Now this thing sounds and looks totally amazing. The next gig I played, it was pure heaven. No problems being heard this time. And the the tone... What makes it even cooler is it's a one of a kind.
My band's sound is very early Who, Yardbirds, Them, The Faces, so this amp can totally do the job. In my opinion there is nothing better sounding than I Fender tube amp with a overdrive pedal. It definately has a very similar tone to the Fender HotRod Deville.

I've gigged with it a few times now and have never had a problem with it. Very solidly built. The reverb doesn't sound very good to me. I'm not sure if that's the way it is, or what, but I really use it sparingly anyway.

Never had the pleasure!

Overall I would say this is an amp with alot of potential. It's a diamond in the ruff. It needs alittle work to realize it's potential. Before the tube and speaker change, and the extension cabinet. I would say this was a good little practice amp. Since the mods I have no reservations about taking this thing into battle everytime. I was going to sell it for a Fender HotRod Deville. Then I got the extension cabinet. With the tweed amp and the tweed cabinet it is just too damn cool to ever part with!

2000 Fender Blues Jr.
The features have been well covered by others so no need to repeat. At first I thought an effects loop would be nice, but I have grown an appreciation for the fact that it doesn't have one. First off, it keeps it simple and less expensive. Secondly, this amp doesn't beg to be played with a huge chain of effects. A chorus is nice and maybe a wah at times - but this thing gives a very nice tone all by itself.

First thing - this thing can get loud! More than what you need for home. It'll work fine for small gigs with a band and for larger venues, just mic it.

So far, I play solely for pleasure. My styles are mainly rock and blues. The BJ suits them extremely well. Jazz would work on this thing too. I don't really do the scooped mids thing, but with the right pedal, who knows - it may work for that too.
The clean sound is especially nice.

OVERDRIVE:
The dirty sound isn't bad either. I have read a lot of complaints about the muddy overdrive with this amp and particularly with the FAT switch......Sure it can get muddy, but then back the volume knob off of 12. At the extremes, it can sound very muddy - especially with a set of really hot pickups, but that's what control knobs (on the amp and the guitar)are for. My LP with the 496/500 Hot Ceramic humbuckers can really bring the mud out, but dialing back a tad on the gain fixes that. My Strat can actually be played with the gain knob dimed and the FAT switch on, but that isn't really the purpose of that guitar either. What I am really saying here is that the distortion can be overpowering, but that's a good thing - because it covers the range of very clean to brutal.

REVERB
When I first got it, I thought the reverb was awful - weak and noisy. At first there was a problem, but a wiggle of the connectors at the verb tank and it got better - not great but better. Then again, I was playing it with the Master Vol. on 12 and using the Vol. to adjust my volume. This was recommended by another reviewer and is a great way of getting a nice clean tone, but I think backing off of the Master at least half way gives you a more rich and less noisy reverb. The verb could still be better - especially for those who like a lot of it (i.e. unlike the overdrive - it doesn't really cover the whole range of tastes), but I have noticed that a tad of chorus helps fill it in.

LOW END
The lows can be a bit flabby. Not terrible, but I do understand why a lot of people change the speaker.

It seems dependable. I bought it used and when I got it a couple of the tubes were loose and the reverb wires needed a wiggle, but I'll chock that one up to UPS.
I don't really do paying gigs so I don't think I'd need a backup. For those that do, you'd probably at least want spare tubes. But for the price, a Fender PJ (Pro Junior) might work as a great backup.

No direct experience.
The amp has a 5 year transferable warranty. It has 2 years left and there doesn't seem to be any problem. It's just nice to know that it's there if I need it.
I haven't heard great things about Fender's customer support, but I suppose that they rely on their retail network for that. They do have some good info on their website.

I got mine from an extremely cool guy on Ebay. It came with the footswitch and cover. All in all it is just what I need in an amp. It's useable at home, but loud enough and portable enough to play out. Great amp for the price. It sounds very nice with hot humbuckers, moderate humbuckers and single coils, but very few things are plug & play so be prepared to tweek the knobs a little to find your sound. I'm not sure how I'd go about losing an amp, but I probably would buy another.
As one who likes to tinker, I may try swapping the speaker for another to try to improve the bottom end. I've heard Celestions, Webers, Jensens,...... Now I'm thinking Reverend - cheaper than all of the above and I think it's the sound I'm looking for. Tubes will probably be JJ's from Bob at eurotubes.com. I had an exchange with him over e-mail and his dedication to customer service alone deserves your consideration (plus everyone seems to really like the JJ tubes).

My Blues Junior amp was made in 2002 and it has a single channel of clean Fender tone. About the only thing I wish it had was a foot-switchable reverb control instead of the remote fat circuit switching. But for the price, I'll get over it. I use this amp at home mostly, but there is plenty of power for most small gig venues. As with all tube amps, this 15 watter is surprisingly loud.

I play either an American Tele or American Strat --> Tonebone Classic tube distortion pedal --> Visual Sound H2O Liquid Chorus/Echo --> Blues Junior. This combination suits my different styles thoroughly. I played straight into the Blues Junior for about 3 months to get a feel for the range of the amp and I loved it just as it was. I got the Tonebone pedal because, while the Blues Junior does Fender clean tone impecably well, distorted sounds can be lacking if you want something really hot. This isn't really a knock on the Blues Junior, but it is more a matter of personal preference.

I have had this amp for about 5 months and so far no problems at all. I like to wait before I share an opinion of gear for at least a few months because, lets face it, when something is new it almost always sounds great. Also, if something is going to break it usually goes early in the game I've found.

Never dealt with Fender on a service issue yet. I did send them a tech question once and they answered the next day. Pretty decent turnaround for an outfit Fender's size I thought. The amp comes with a 5 year warranty so I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt at least.

I have been playing over 32 years now and I love the sound and the feel of a tube amp. Nothing else compares really. Don't get me wrong, the current crop of digital modeling amps are fine if you like them. I wouldn't dog anybody for using one because what you like is what you like. There is no "right" or "wrong" when it comes to opinions. You can get an amazing array of sounds out of one of those monster Line6's or CyberTwins. But I am a simple guy, and I like simple, good sounding equipment that just does it's job and does it well. is this the best sounding amp ever? Probably not when you think about the great amps there have been over the years. But for a small easy to deal with amp that gives you classic Fender tone, this is definitely a winner.

New 2003
All tube
FAT switch
Reverb
15 big watts

Nice overdrive, good for classic rock and blues, it does good clean sounds. Not much variety but this is a budget amp

Lots of people love these amps(most after they modify them) and I love the sound but In my opinion Fender quality control has gone the way of the dodo bird. I got one through AMS on line factory sealed, the reverb didn't work at all. Sent it back got another, tried the reverb so far so good, turned up the volume it stayed at "bedroom" levels no matter how high the volume was set, retubed it sos. Sent it back will not try for a third time lucky, they were both factory sealed and didn't work. Lemon+Lemon= no sale.

Don't know, won't have to deal with them now.
American Musical Supply is great though

Been playing 25+ years, own a Marshall AVT50 and a Behringer Vintager AC 112, Gibson Wahburn and Fender guitars.
I'm a Working guy with a family I wanted an all tube amp that wouldn't break my bank account, that amp will be the Pignose GV40 not a fender for sure. Caveat Emptor

Bought this in 2002 so I didn't have to keep lugging my 80-pound Trace to every rehearsal. Also bought it because the Trace, even when cut down to 50w, can be a bit overpowering in certain scenarios. You guys know all the features, so I won't go into it. However, a lot of the reviewers are misguided as to what the FAT switch does--it's a preamp boost. I'm giving it an "8" in this category because the overdrive doesn't sound as good as it should, but this is a one channel amp made by: FENDER. The clean amp people--c'mon guys, it isn't a Vox.

This is a good clean amplifier--nothing more, nothing less. I know I just said it, but people aren't paying attention. CLEAN. Not a Stevie Ray Vaughan sound, though you can get it there with a TubeScreamer.

I play several guitars through this: 1955 Gibson ES-225, PRS McCarty Soapbar w/rosewood neck, Les Paul Standard, Les Paul Studio, Les Paul Deluxe, American Strat w/Tom Anderson pickups, and a couple other cheapies I keep around for fun. My paying gig is with a 25-piece church orchestra, but I do more of a jazz fusion kind of thing. It works well in the church setting because it sounds good at mid-level volumes. However, I've cranked it up and played with a seven-piece band with a horn section, and this puppy kept up. No kidding, it actually can hold its ground if you know how to twist the knobs.

Herein lies the issue with most of the colorful reviews you'll read. The knobs twist in different ways than every other amp. Your standard settings won't work on this guy, because it's a totally different animal. I set the bass around 10 to 12, the mids around 6 to 8, and the treble around 8 or 9. When you crank all three tone controls up pretty far, the sound gets mighty warm.

I tend to run a TubeScreamer in front of the amp. The overdrive (which is acheived by turning the volume up and the master down) doesn't sound so great. Keep the master up and the volume around 4 and the sound will be good. Depending on where you set the tone and drive controls on the TS, you can get a wide variety of sounds. I don't like to generalize a whole lot, but you can run the gamut from SRV to Santana if you know how to twist the knobs.

Now I'll weigh in on everybody else's reviews: DON'T BUY THE THING UNTIL YOU'VE PLAYED ONE!! Not every amp is for everybody, and guys expecting this to be either a Twin or a little Mesa are missing the point! If you bought one of these things without playing one and without any sort of trial period, you screwed yourself. Don't whine about it.

I'm going to try a different speaker and I'll eventually put some nice tubes in the thing. I'm also tempted to have the unit re-cabineted with birch instead of particle board. However, I can make the thing sound good by itself--totally stock, no mods.

BTW I work in retail and have sold a bunch of these to my friends. No complaints yet.

I never have a backup. I always forget to bring spare tubes. I go to every gig totally unprepared. This amp has never quit working. The reverb went out, but that was an easy fix for my tech. I cannot figure out for the life in me what people are doing to break these things. The eight or nine people I know well who have bought one of these things don't have problems with theirs either. These things are built well, but quit spilling your beers on them. Really, I promise, it'll help.

Fender customer service is great. My tech is awesome. If you have trouble finding a good Fender-authorized tech, give Fender a call. They will help you out. They're good guys.

I've been playing guitar for eight years. I play professionally. I have a good set of ears. I like this amp, but I'm not tone deaf/an idiot/smoking crack. I keep five Trace Elliots and two Ampegs on hand to keep this amp company. This is the one that makes it out of the house the most often. I occasionally A/B it with one of the Traces. If this amp were stolen, I would replace it within 24 hours. I'll probably buy the Two Tone (one of Fender's Custom Shop amps with Blues Jr. circuitry in a pine cabinet) to keep at home and leave this at the church. If I were rich I'd buy three or four of the things and leave them at people's houses so I didn't have to bring an amp at all.

I compared this to every other small amp I could find. I love it. I don't care what a few of these people say. This amp has a wonderful tone. I am happy to own it.

If Fender will build me a custom shop version with a TubeScreamer built in, I would promise to buy Girl Scout cookies for all of their amp guys. That's a lot of cookies man!

If you have trouble getting a good sound out of this thing, email me! I'll help you out. I'll sit there and troubleshoot the thing 'til you figure out how to work it to get the sound you want. Again, it isn't a Twin and it isn't a Mesa. It has EL-34's, so the bass response isn't going to be huge.

Do your homework. Don't buy this (or any) amp on a whim and then be upset when it doesn't do everything you dreamed it would do.

1996 Tweed BJ bought used, I was looking for a solid practice amp that would be easy to lug around, sound good and get that sweet tube tone at reasonable volume levels. Won't list features well described below.

Was looking for something vintage (Deluxe, princeton) and saw this beatup tweed BJ. Plugged it in and liked what I heard, not blown away but it basically fit the bill. I play blues and classic rock in a five piece band and play in small clubs occasionally. Works well in practice, am playing next weekend out and will take it along to see how it fairs (I have a HR Deluxe that is my main amp). I'll give it a 7 for features as no standy by, effects loop etc.

I play both Telecaster and Strat, the strat has Texas Special pickups, also use an ES335 for humbucking sound, although I prefer the single coil sound in this amp. Musical influences are Buddy, Albert (King and Collins), Clapton, Jimi and yes SRV.

OK, so here is the guts of my review. As I stated above, I was not particulary blown away with the sound of this amp stock. The stock sound is sort of boxey, one-dimensional, the typical Fender sparkle and chime were there, but minimized. But, I loved the size, look and early tube saturation that it is capable of. So off to Harmony Central I went to look at upgrade options (this site is an awesome forum of information!). After reading the reviews, I concluded that the speaker, and tubes had to go:

Speaker: After much research, I opted for the Celestion Vintage 30. I checked out the Greenback, but it was not for me, a little too dark.

Preamp Tubes: I replaced with 2-Electro Harmonix 12AX7s and 1-GT 12AX7R.

Power Tubes: so far left stock, I have ordered both JJ's and EiGolds to experiment.

These modifications took 20 minutes and $145, and the amp is amazing now. Sparkling/chiming cleans, crisp warm overdrive, even my wife, who had no idea what I had done, commented on how the sound now fills the room and sounds so much better.

Rating on an amp like this is hard, after all stock its only $200-300 (used), plus with mods still well under $500. This review is judging in the clean/slightly overdriven catagory, Marshall/Mesa is a different animal all together. Fender clean can't be beat, period. So for rating I will rate based on smaller 1X12s, Fender DRRI, Princeton, Peavey Classic 30, Crate, even some boutique amps in this size. Stock would rate it a 7, below the Princeton and DRRI, but on par with the Peavey and Crate. With new speaker/tubes, I prefer it to the princeton and the DRRI. So I'll give it a 9. Tone, tone and more tone now with the mods, I now love this little beast and can't put my guitar down.

Have owned fender products for some time now and never had an issue.

I called them when I was in search of advice on smaller tube amp and they were extremely helpful and friendly, very knowledgable about not only there products but the competitions as well. Felt like I was talking to another very experience guitarist giving me unbiased useful info.

Been playing over 20 years, the last 5 of which most seriously, not a professional, but a respectable weekend warrior.

If stolen or lost, I'd go from tears to pissed to not too pissed knowing I could replace this little beauty without too much damage on the wallet.

Absolutely love the size, look, and tone of this thing. Love the idea that I can carry my guitar in one hand and amp in the other. Think Fender could make an upgraded version for a few bucks more, with their expertise, they could probably increase the price by $100 and make this thing even more incredible right out of the factory. For what I wanted it is perfect, Twins, Supers and Bassmans are just too damn big and loud to cart around and don't get the tubes cooking in a small room, this amp is perfect for jam with friends or small club scenario.

This amp doesn't have alot of features, but to be honest, all I really look for is a good clean, with an overdrive that just breaks it up a little, so for me, this amp is perfect. It has one channel with a master and gain, eq, and reverb. It also has a FAT switch, that boosts the gain a bit. It's 15 watts, which would seem quiet, but I've gigged with it in small places without a mic, and larger places with a mic. This amp is plenty versatile for me

I use a starndard strat, with single coils, and play anything from rock to jam type stuff, and this amp is fine for me. What I do is crank the gain about half way, and then use a couple of tubescreamers to boost that. I really like to use my bridge pickup, and use the FAT switch, producing a really nice throaty sound. This amp is really what it says, a blues amp. If you don't know much about amps, but like metal, you'd probably be happier with a Marshall.

It looks solid, and I trust Fender. As far as gigging without a backup, I absolutely would, cause I don't have another one.

Don't know, I wouldn't go through Fender anyway, I'd just have one of my friends fix any problems.

If this amp were stolen, I would rush out and get another one right away. I love the fact that I can carry this amp without breaking my back. I used to like as many watts as possible, but after having this, I really like the lower wattage amps cranked up. I compared it to some Marshall AVT's and Fender solids. This was definately the one that most fit my taste. I plan on getting another one to run in stereo.

Please read the other reviews for the basic info.

All tube, class A, 1x12 combo. Mine is the blonde tolex, made in the USA model. Really basic controls (I think they should have left the master volume off), but that's the way we like it, right?

I like the switchable Fat selection. Perfect for solos. I wish Fender had included a switch, though.

This is a typical old-school Fender combo. I suspected it's guts were based on the original Bassman circuit but I couldn't prove it directly as I don't have any 4x12 cabinets lying around. I did run it direct through a H & K Red Box in a recording session and both the engineer and I noticed the Bassman sound immediately.

About the speaker on this thing. I think it's a good speaker. I won't be changing mine out. Here's why:

I also ran this amp through a Marshall 4x12 with Celestion G12T-75 and a Tonemaster 2x12 with Celestion Classic 90s and and a Twin cab with a pair of old Jensens. I didn't notice a significant tonal difference with any of the combinations (aside from the obvious open-back/closed-back differences), either in a live situation, or mic'ed in a studio. In fact, the Jensen setup sounded almost identical to the stock Emminence. My guess is that Fender is contracting with Emminence to make a Jensen C12N at half the price. I'm leaving my stock speaker in, thank you.

I did change out the stock tubes with some JJs from <http> www.eurotubes.com </http>. Smoothed out the sound some.

This amp does like single-coils more than HBs.

I also keep the master volume higher than the gain knob. I'll usually max it in a club situation. I find that you usually have to kill most of the bass in this situation. Very common for most Fender amps BTW, which again leads me to believe that this is a Bassman in a smaller package.

Solid, dependable. No need to worry.

It hasn't broken down and I haven't called Fender yet so I can't really honestly rate the amp in this category.

This is my main small club amp (less than 30 people). It's me->strat->Fender Blues Jr.. I use a cheap BOSS swich for the FAT sound during solos between beers and life is good.

I think my hermit neighbor knows what this amp is about.

Okay, folks. Here's review #4 for me on this amp. I've had it for about 2 years, so I've gone from ecstatic to love to pissed to cool to everything inbetween. I've put new tubes in (E.H. 12ax7 and GT EL84s, which are the Telsa's), a different speaker (no-name 12" alnico from the 60's, and a rheostat (lets me crank the amp at room levels). Stock, in my early years of playing, was good. You just simply can't beat a tube amp (except for the valvetronix, maybe...). Then I got good (not great), fine tuned my ears, and the sound got pretty bad. In my humble opinion, the stock speaker sounds really bad. It's tinny, thin, no low end, I mean it's just plain aweful. Makes the tubes sound like a transistor. I tried a Weber, that sucked because they (Ted) gave me the reverse of what I asked for. Sent that back. I might try one of their Blue Dogs, but I didn't like dealing with that company. In went an old alnico I found in my dad's basement (try your local ancient stereo shop), which, to be honest, is lacking in the high end department, but I can't afford a Blue Dog. The Rheostat, which dampens the volume between the amp and the speaker without effecting the ohm rating, works wonders, and allows me to get screaming power amp distortion at speaking levels, and trust me, it sounds great with this amp. I've had many different opinions on using a volume reducer with this, ranging from "it's cool" to "Oh my God, are you crazy?!" I've had the rheostat in my amp for a year now, and everything works 100%, including my ears. The new tubes made a big difference, too. The Electro-Harmonix tubes made a huge difference in both tone and overdrive. I just put the GT JJ tubes in, and I couldn't be happier (except with a blue dog speaker). Anyway, my point through all this is, this amp is PERFECT for a first, second or third tube amp. Is it the end all of tone? Hell no, but it's damn good. It's also perfect for experimentation, since it seems to take it all in stride. So, it went from a 4 stock, to about an 8.5 after I did some simple mods that were cheap. I can't stress the speaker thing enough. It really is that bad, and if you have this amp and you think the speaker is good, just switch it out with your old stereo speaker at home, it will sound better. Again, a solid 8.5 at least for the price!

I've done some pretty horrific things with this amp, and it still loves me and makes beautiful tones. Can't judge its road worthiness, but if you're carefull, it should last. As said before, it takes all my crazy mods and experimentations with ease.

I am my customer support.

You simply can't go wrong. It's definately not perfect out of the box, although it ain't bad, but there is HUGE POTENTIAL with this amp to sound amazing. New tubes ($50), new speaker (free - 250), and a rheostat volume dampener ($20 - 30), and you've got one killer sounding amp with lots of feel and tone. If you don't know what to do first, this is my opinion: Speaker, Rheostat, Preamp tubes, Power tubes. I think every tube amp should have a Rheostat. I don't know if it'll work with them all, but in theory it should. Don't take my word on it, though. Ask several tech's. It's amazing, but there are a lot of reputable tech's who simply don't have a clue on some things. Anyway, good luck, and happy tone hunting!

Features are well laid out here. This is about the proper way to use this amp.

About 1/8 the way down this thread Davor has described the optimum way to use this amp. If you follow the simple rule of using the master volume a full this little guy suddenly will make a Les Paul (with 57 Classic's) sound like as sweet a tube amp that money can buy. No it is not a grunge amp (at least without pedals) but if you want that sweet, middle position high end sound an LP can produce, with the Master at max and the volume at 2 or above it doesn't get much better for a miked studio amp or a miked stage amp. Setting the Master at max also cures the reverb shortcomings. The reverb actually sounds very nice suddenly. My thanks to Davor for the tip. I am embarrased I didn't think of it myself but am used to turning up the gain then the volume. This is labeled differently Fender really should put this recommendation with the amp literature. If you haven;t tried this do it now. You will be amazed.

Fender

N/A

40 years

This is a 2002 model Blues Junior made in Mexico. The features are very simplistic and for me that was my preference. Volume (controls the gain), bass, middle, treble, reverb, and master volume (overall volume) and a FAT switch, which adds a little bit of bluesy overdrive when kicked in. This is an all-tube, 15-watt amp with 3 12AX7s in the preamp stage and 2 EL84s in the power amp stage. This amp is made in Mexico and features a single 12-inch Eminence speaker, and you can buy an optional footswitch to control the FAT switch. This amp reminds me of the pre-Hot Rod Deluxe/Deville amps when they were called the Blues Deluxe/Deville. I bought this amp solely for playing in my apartment. Previously, I had a small Tech 21 Trademark 10 combo, but as far as pure sound, this amp beats it.

I'm using a '95 American Standard Strat, a Japanese '72 Reissue Strat, and a Classic Series 60's Strat. This amp is perfect for clean rhythms, blues, and rock and sounds awesome with a Tubescreamer in front of it for added punch. This amp is pure Fender; excellent clean sounds (very bright, but this is expected too with EL84s), very good reverb, and the FAT switch gives an excellent bluesy tone. Don't buy this amp if you like heavier styles of rock. In other words, all the knuckle draggers who buy this expecting to play their Ibanez or Jackson and creating some metal sounds are in for a big disappointment. In other words, most of the time when people knock Fender products on this web site, it's not so much the product, but rather it just doesn't fit your style of music!

Again, this amp is for home use; I'm a pure amateur who's been playing for 33 years now and needed a smaller amp for home (I own a Fender Hot Rod Deville 2-12, but that's way too loud for apartment living). This is a well built amp, and I've never had any problems with Fender products, and I've owned quite a few.

I've never had to deal with them in 33 years of playing.

Overall, I'd say this is one solid amp. I can compare it alot to a Peavey Classic 30 that I used to own; the Classic 30 had more features, but this has much better sound; much more clear, better headroom, and a great blues tone. I'm not knocking Peavey either, the Classic 30 is a solid amp. I own all Fender gear, except for my effects, which are a Tubescreamer, Zoom GFX-8, and a cheap Nady FP-3. The only thing I can say about this amp is the mids aren't as deep as the bigger Devilles, but then again, you always get brighter mids with EL84s. This amp is definitely worth checking out and the price is decent and the quality is excellent.

My Fender Blues junior is a tweed so probably four years old. The amp does everything I ask of it. I was looking for CLEAN TUBE and portability. I do not know another amp that compares. I sold a Fender Concert 80's Reviera and bought this. It has Reverb, Master, Middle, Treble, Bass, Volume and FAT switch. The fat switch can be used with a foot switch. I have never used effects loops on any amp I have ever had and so I do not miss it. The only takeback is that the reverb is not as good as some that I have heard but very useable esp since I believe in only a splash of reverb and really any effect for that mattter.

I use this amp with Ventura 335 with Les Paul Pickups(tolex 180's). A 80's Squier Strat with Duncan pickups, and a 80's squier Tele with ducnan pickups and the greatest neck I have ever played. I play any style I can learn but love blues, rockabilly and classic rock. This amp has tone. TUBE tone. It also has it at a volume that will save your marriage. IT can kill your ears if that pleases you. I have not giged with it yet but I will review again at that point. I know it can everdrive well if you play with it but the Clean is what I love. I use a ts9 with the good chip and a SONNY BOY to get dirty. These pedals provide better overdrive without tons of volume.

It works each time i use it.

I think Fender still rocks after all these years. If you still need proof of this, Brain Setzer uses two blues Juniors when he does radio spots. If it is good enough for him, it is good enough.

I have been playing since sixth grade when I stood before class with knees trembling and my Harmony guitar. I played along to my brother's original 45 of twist and shout. A song written the same year I was born. I still play Twist and shout and this amp is perfect for it. If you need to play arena's or have to have a TWIN, you probably won't read this anyway. But if you are like me and have tried everything that promises KILLER TUBE TONE and delivers thin nasely crap, do yourself a favor and get this amp. I would buy it again if it fails or gets stolen. I will grin each time I use it and I believe for a nearly 40, plays out every once and while but plays every day and still loves it, GET THIS AMP. Also thanks to all that contribute to this sight as it has helped me get my sound which is.
Boss Tuner(GREAT)-TS9(with chip)-SONNY BOY(great pedal esp combine with ts9)-Ibanez DL10(greatest rockabilly delay ever) Dan Echo(best delay I have found) Zoom choir(best chorus I have found) into FENDER BLUES Junior

Built in Mexico, late 2002.
1 channel, vol treble bass mid master reverb.
Nice simple and lite.

I rate this a 7 cause I like prime numbers.

Used with Strat & PRS McCarthy.
I play blues.

Amp sounded thin, but clean when purchased.
Sovtek 12AX7WA's have low gain, and IMHO are OK as utility tubes only.
Replaced 12AX7WA's with Electro-Harmonix 12AX7EH's
(also by Sovtek). Tube change increased the gain
and thickened up the sound - a bit. 12AX7EH's have nicer
harmonic's than 12AX7WA's, while retaining a sparkly top end.

Replaced stock speaker (thin and characterless) with
a Celestion Greenback. The Greenback sounded like Bees on Ritalin.
Then replaced the Greenback with a Celestion Vintage 30.
Jeez- did this make a difference! Clean highs,
ample lows, and a nice throaty midrange (with the strat).
And a appreciable increase in volume too.
(But you gotta stand at least 3~4 feet in front of the amp
to appreciate it.)
The amp's distortion is just OK. I use a Boss Blues Driver
to get the rest.

I also have a 1996 Blues Jr. It is much darker sounding than the 2002
version. I got around the 'darkness' by putting in a very trebly
Reverend Alltone 112 speaker.

The new one had some cabinet rattle issues. Fender is shipping
these amps upside down in their crates - to keep the tubes from falling out. Problem is this method of shipment places the
top panel controls in harms way, by placing them on the bottom of the box. In my store to store search, I found several BJr's that came out of the box with broken (loose) knobs, and defective reverb units.

I went through 5 Blues Jr's before I found one that was acceptable for purchase. Even being careful, one of the pre-amp tubes failed after about an hour. (I planned to re-tube even before I purchased.)

I've had a couple of small maintenance problems with the older one.
It's tube sockets (especially the EL-84's) were mounted flush
against the PC board. No room for heat to escape without burning
the PC board above the socket vent hole. Eventually, I had to
replace the EL-84 sockets because they began to crumble.
The new version BJr uses sockets that stand away from the PC board.
The other problem that popped up is one of the reverb pan's
RCA plugs (red/black) went bad, causing a crackling sound.
$15.00 for the tube sockets, $1.00 for the RCA plug.
I do my own work, so it just cost for parts.
Not too shabby...

Fender? Customer Support? Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Even Leo Fender knew that they are useless...

Good basic amp. Sounds great in stereo (even with a mono source).
Playing ~ 36 years. Reminds me of my first amp - an Ampeg Jet.
Even with the cost of my upgrades, this little amp blows the doors
off of $1000.00 amps. It's easy to upgrade and fix, can last a long time, wont break your back. It's tone puts it's big brothers
"HotRod Deluxe & Devilles" to shame. The only problem being
the high rate of 'infant mortality' that this product exhibits,
due to Fenders' very poor quality control.

My Blues Jr was made in 2002, Mexico. There is a schematic drawing included with a 4/02 date. If someone can tell me what the 4/02 change was, please send me an email at sloanml@msn.com

Can't get a good "features rating" when it has no features. A simple clean tube amp - not a versatile product in any respect. But that is understood going in.

I have a 2001 ASAT Special and a 1997 Strat Plus. This amp makes both sing like bluezzy birds.

I bought the amp, then read a bunch of these reviews, then agonized over whether to send it back. But after several hours alone with it cranked pretty well playing along with some Clapton CDs, it was easy to decide. I KEPT IT!

I follow the advice of one guy's earlier review. Master wide open, and volume up to about 3. Then I adjust with my guitar's volume knobs from there. I get an excellent sound this way - I love it and don't understand all the complaints. I'm not sure of the jargon to describe this sound, it's throaty when I lean into it, but clean if I relax. It's really nice. I also bought a Tube Screamer, but I like this amp both with and without it. The better I play, the better it sounds. Exactly what I was after when I bought it.

Don't know, but Fender is pretty legendary in this regard. Ask me in 6 years :-)

I can't give a rating on rep alone... I'll pass. I'm not a pro - don't gig.

5 year warranty. No service issues.

I'm a middle-age crazy person who finally has enough money to start collecting guitars. So I started buying and playing again. I ain't good enough to play in a "gigging" scenario, but I have a hell of a good time screwing around along to records. If you play for fun, you should have fun with this amp! I could play better when I was a broke kid with a Hondo strat copy, zeuss fuzzbox and my dad's expensive stereo - HA. I also have an HD28V and 00016SGT (Martin acoustics), along with the aforementioned ASAT Special and Strat Plus.

If I were a serious working musician, I would probably hope to have something bigger than the Blues Jr, but I don't think in my life I will ever get the volume over "4" on this amp so I have different standards of excellence than some reviewers here.

If I lost it, I'd probably buy another if I could get the same discount.

The only thing I wish it had is it's own room in the house where I could crank it all hours. If it had built-in chorus, it wouldn't be a $400 tube amp now would it?

By the way, I went deep pockets into the whole tube-rolling thing when I had some tube hi-fi gear. I think it's a bunch of crap in retrospect, and I wish I could have all that money back I wasted on BugleBoys and Valvos back in the day :-) If I ever use up the stock tubes, I'll replace them with Sovteks or the cheapest available alternative. Exotic tubes and wires are BS.

I play blues at home and in small clubs. My main guitar is a Japanese strat from 88 with Fender Fat Fifty pickups. I submitted a review back in November when I first got this amp but wanted to give an update. I am using it with no Pedals, The Reverb usually about 6, Bass & Mid at about 4 or 5 and the Treble at about 9 or 10. The other big thing is to crank the Gain volume control to about 9 or so also and the Fat Switch IN. I am finding that I can usually face the amp towards the wall when playing at a club and it is still loud enough with the Master Volume at 6 or below. I have made no changes to the tubes or speaker and find the tone to be excellent especially for the money.

so far so good

This amp is much more that what I expected and strongly recommend it. I bought is as a back-up to my Twin Reverb and now use it as my main amp. If you buy one at a competative price and don't like it, You can Sell it on Ebay and not loose too much money since it is a Fender. In this price range there is no competition if you want an all tube amp for Blues. If you want something for Grunge or Serious Rock, I would get the Heavy Metal JR instead (when marshall starts making one)

This amp has many useful features, but I plan on adding a standby switch and an effects loop (all tube driven) as soon as I get my IRS money for this year.

I use a Fender Strat, Japan made 1960s reissue. In a word, pure tone.

I believe the Blues Junior sounds better than any blackface Fender amp that I have ever heard and it sure blows the "boutique style" amps away. The tone on a tube amp comes from a tube rectifier, and this amp has one.

I believe this amp has what is known as a "point to point" wiring on the circuit board, a feature found only on amps costing many thousands of dollars. This amp will not break down, it is the most solid Fender amp since the legendary "blackface models" came out.

I have full confidence in Fender support, they are the most technically advanced guitar company.

I play mostly Eddie Van Halen and Yngwie licks, so I really nail the blues tone that these players are famous for. I have a Zoom 505 pedal which is the best sounding effects pedal I have ever seen.

My blonde BJ was made in 1999, I bought it from Musician's Friend in Feb. 2000. The reverb did not work as soon as I pulled it out of the box. Low and behold, it only took me 1-1/2 yrs. to get it fixed under warranty. Not sure why I waited so long...I guess I enjoyed the tone, not thoroughly; but nevertheless, the stock sound was good. Not many features, which is why I got it. Tired of all the channell switching/effects crap to tell you the truth. It has all I wanted for the purchase, short of the faulty reverb tank. I am rating at a 8 because I was not looking for more than it offered.

I have a Fender Lone Star Strat, an american Standard Strat & Tele, an original 57' Goldtop Les Paul in great shape, a Reverend Rocco (love this guitar), a very modified Mex Strat that is awesome, and a late 70's SG. Personally, the single coils sound better through this amp than the humbuckers, in my humble opinion. Humbuckers can really get VERY fat, with little clarity in the higher ranges.

I play mostly blues of many styles...Page, Clapton, Guy, Waters, SRV, Trower, early Beck (that's the Jeff man), Gibbons, etc. My father introduced me to Delta and Chcago blues at an early age and to me nothing hits my heart strings harder than that gut grabbing 12 bar stuff.

Clean sounds are good, but not Blackface good. I have an original 65 Super Reverb that to this day sounds better than almost every amp that I have played. Got it in 1977.

The BJ will break-up somewhat, really nice for the blues, but I must admit I have replaced the tubes after some experimentation, with EH, as well as the speaker with a Celestion 12' Blue Alnico, and it improved the overall sound drastically. With my modifications it is a strong 9, maybe a 10. Before the modifications I'd rate it at about 7. I do not care for the stock Groove Tubes that Fender uses!

Well, other than the reverb not working from day 1, I have not had any other problems. Got the reverb tank swapped out and enjoy it a lot, although again, it's not of Blackface sound quality.

Hey, no problems here. Once I got off my lazy butt and dropped it off at a local shop, Fender covered everything. The turn around was a bit long though (4 weeks).

I have been playing guitar for 33 years now and have played and/or owned almost every good guitar, and too many bad ones, as well as MANY tube amps. Don't try to sell me any digital amp...you're wasting your time and mine!

If it were stolen, I might get another one. I think I would cough up another $300 and get a Reverend Hellhound Combo instead (awesome, awesome, awesome sounds from that amp..try one if you get a chance).

Seems like others have had reverb problems from this amp, so Fender needs to rework this feature on this amp, and any other of their amps that they use the same tank in. I think I would be quick to buy another one if they put a Celestion or Jensen Blue Alnico in there. Of course, that would drive up the price by almost $200; but it might be a good option that would attract us old-timers. I just love Jenson 10" and Celestion 12' Blue Alnicos.

Oh, by the way, when I hook my modified BJ up to a good ext. cab it is unreal! Man, that sound damn near gets me sexually excited. I have a custom made cab with 2 Celestion 12's down low and 2 Jensen 10" up high, all Blue Alnicos of course, and this sound is pure blues guitar heaven.
Overall rating of 7 is on the stock set-up...not mine!

I wouldn't describe this amp as versitile by any stretch of the imagination. I've basically discovered two usable sounds...warm and clean, and slightly distorted. This isn't really a bad thing though, different amps deliver different sounds. Amps that try offer a lot of features and a variety of different sounds usually can't do any of those sounds very well.

At low volume settings this amp produces a very musical clean tone. I've run both humbuckers and single coils through it(strats, les pauls, sg's) and the amp responds well to all. The reverb is not great, but okay a low settings. Note definition is compromised somewhat, but for a bluesy warm sound, this amp does well. Distortion is another matter...the bass turns to total mush. Even with the bass low and the mids and highs cranked the low end lacks clarity, and the high end is way to harsh anyway. I have found that if you turn all tone controls full up, you can get a decent sound however, so long as the pre amp volume is no more than half way. The best way to go is to get the master over 4 and adjust the preamp from there. I'm a big fan of power tube distortion but the power tubes start getting mushy after 5 with no real change in the out put volume after that. This is a good sound for gritty blues, not for most rock but could have some aplication in the studio. This amp is loud but there is not enough headroom for clean tones in most live settings. One trick for a cool lead tone though, is to turn every thing all the way up (except reverb) go to the bridge pick up on a les paul and drop the guitar's tone knob just short of off. A very unique tone that I've used in a couple sessions.

I've had problems with short tube life on this amp. I don't use this amp for gigs, I have much better amps for that. Great for practice and studio, wouldn't trust it on a gig.

The day I bought this amp a tube blew. took fender several months to turn it around. Under warranty but good thing I didn't need this amp for a show or anything.

I'm a full time professional guitarist and teacher. I have owned/played through some of the best amps in the world. This amp's application is limited, but it does do one sound very well and another sound pretty good. for a practice amp, it is great. It also has some value for getting some unique studio sounds. Unless your doing strict chicago blues, I wouldn't recommed it for live use. For the money it is a good deal!!

This is an update to a previous review.

First off STOP slaming this amp for not being a Twin Reverb. IT'S NOT! That's like buying a Ford Mustang and complaning that it's not a Ferrari.

However, I have now owned this amp for over a year, and can't say enough good things about it. I play a Epi Casino, a Gibson LP and a Fender Tele through it and all sound great. I have tinkered with different tube combinations just for shits and giggles and found that as soon as you ditch the Junkie GT/Sovtek tubes and el chepo speaker this little guy really comes alive (keep in mind that Fender priced this amp at under $400. That means they built a good circuit but did'nt exactly splurge on the tubes or speaker). I currently have mine outfited with telefunken 12AX7s all the way around and Mullard EL84 power tubes with an vintage 1965 Jensen C12Q. All I can say about this little guy is WOW!! Everyone I have played this amp for can't belive their ears! I practice with it, I gig with it and I always get complements on how fantastic the tone is. Don't get me wrong, It's not the Holy Grail of tone but it can more than hold it's own. Outa the box it's thin sounding and lacking in the "life" catagory. But all it takes is just a little experimentation and this amp WILL sound AWESOME!

Has'nt quit yet.

Don't know, never had to call em'.

Overall I think this amp is a fantastic bang-for-buck tone machine. If it were stolen I would cry and buy another ASAP.

Brand new, made in 2002, black tolex version. One channel(with "fat switch"), pretty good reverb. A wonderful "no frills" tube amplifier(3 12ax7s, two EL84s...but you know that by now). Wouldn't want anything more from it. Simplicity is a beautiful thing.
I bought this at a MARS Music "going out of business" auction. Little sucker hadn't even been PLUGGED IN at the store(right from the box)!
Good blues/rock amp. I've used it at rehearsals with a hard hitting drummer, up against a 350 watt Ampeg bass stack, and a 90watt Stereo Mesa/Boogie with 4x12. It does fine.

My current rig is all Reverend(guitars: a two humbucker-equipped "Rocco", a three P-90 equipped "Slingshot Custom", and an "Avenger TL" with two Strat single coils & a Tele-style bridge pickup. My main amp is a Reverend Hellhound 40/60 combo)
I have a rock band that leans towards modern hard rock, but I'm a bigger fan of cleaner, "classic rock" tones. The Blues Junior is perfect for "edgey" clean tones and old school tube powered crunch. I use overdrive pedals for heavier rhythms and soloing, but the pure tone of the amp is fine as well. It has an old school "midrangy" tone that is "boxey" in a GOOD way, like the classic amps of the 60's. That's what you get from a low powered 1x12 combo, my friend.
I bought the Blues Junior as a back-up/home practice amp, but I have a lot of fun rehearsing with it. I'm gonna try running the BJ & the HH in stereo sometime soon. I bet that will sound REALLY good.
No noise(I have the newer "reverb fix" version. There's 60 cycle hum with single coil pickups, that is obviously not the amp's fault), and the clean is not "sparkling clean" at band volumes. Clean enough for me, though. Just switch to a single coil pickup(my favorite kind of pickup...the humbuckers on my Reverend Rocco have coil taps. My other guitars are loaded with single coils ), roll off the volume on the guitar a bit and you're fine.
The amp has more of an old "tweed" Fender than "Blackface" Fender tone. Real warm, and the "fat" switch warms it up even more(watch your bass settings when using the "fat" switch, or you'll find yourself sounding a little muddy)and increase the gain, allowing for even EASIER overdrive.
I love these amps.

Well, I got this at an auction. I'm sure there's no warranty. I'm not worried, however. The Fender knowledgable techs in the area are fair & experienced, Fender Customer Service has always been good to me, and the Blues Junior is pretty solid. My first Junior(This is the second one I've owned. I sold the first...a blonde... to buy more gear)lost it's reverb due to a ad solder joint somewhere. Something minor. Fender covered the repair, and the turnaround from the tech was super-fast. The amp performed FLAWLESSLY for a year after that. hen I sold it, and I really missed owning one. It's been "on my list" ever since. If I HAD to, I'd gig using this amp without a backup. Just bring extra tubes. Always good to have a backup, though.

Fender Customer Service has always been great to me. Very helpful. Lots of Fender authorized techs around. I'm not worried. I'll rate based on my experience with the Strats, Teles and amps I've owned over the years...

I've been playing for 17 years(still a hack!), and I've owned a LOT of gear. The Blues Junior always stood out in my mind for it's simplicity, affordability and the character of it's tone.
When the MARS auction was announced, the angel I married said...and I quote..."You ought to go. Maybe you can score a Blues Junior for $200". And I did!! Score of the Century, if you ask me!!
Best built? Heck no! Most versatile? Uhhh...nope again! Great TONE is the Junior's best trick, with enough power to gig with... and work the power tubes the way they SHOULD be worked!
I'm not gonna be dumb enough to sell this one(I prefer the look of the black tolex version anyway, as it turns out), and it'll be in regular rotation with my Hellhound(the greatest amp ever!), as it has to much soul to stay a lowly back-up amp.
I'd get another one in a heartbeat.

Features have been covered - what you see is what you get. About the same as my old 69 Twin Reverb.

Great sound! I have played for 16 years and owned a variety of amps including Marshalls, Fenders (including vintage tube), Vox etc. I have used it live and for recording and gotten very positive comments about the sound. I don't play blues, but like a vintage tone. I use the Blues Junior in conjuntion with either a Les Paul studio, Les Paul classic or Ibanez Artstar AS-120 (a 335 copy that is far better than the original). I have never had an issue with the reverb, it always sounded fine as compared to my 69 Twin Reverb.

Never a problem.

Never a problem.

Totally happy with this amp. I plan on buying another to run stereo. One of you guys that hate this amp should sell me yours cheap!!

The features are well documented, I never use the FAT switch, I find it unnessesary as the proper mix between master volume and volume produdes the best tone. They could have left the switch off all together.

Here's where I split from the rest of the pack. I don't play a Strat or a Tele through mine, I play a Flying V, a Les Paul Custom, an S.G, and an Explorer. The "correct" hummbucking pickups sound outstanding through this amp. By correct, I mean PAF's. A mild PAF style pickup in the bridge position sounds best. Hot humbuckers like the 500T are too harsh and nasty to produce that nice creamy sound. I have 2 of these little 15 watt beasties and run them in stereo. The best way to describe the tone I get is warm, very, very warm but with a nice edge. With my Les Paul Custom strait in, tweaked properly, I get a tone very much like Bad Finger's Baby Blue which is a really cool sound for all you old goats out there (like myself) old enough to remember that far back. When I want more versitiliy, I run a line 6 pod into them which also sounds great. These amps are also great for that old AC/DC sound like Live Wire from High Voltage. I give the sound a 9 only because of the reverb otherwise I'd definatly say 10. I can't understand why anyone wouldn't love the tones these little powerhouses produce, unless they're amp was defective or something.

I have 2 Blues Juniors, 1 tweed from around 1997, and one I bought today, 11/23/2002. The 5 year old tweed has been played through almost daily since new and I've yet to replace the tubes in it.

never needed any service, but if I did, the shop I bought them from (Paradise Guitars, Beloit Wis.) stands behind what they sell. The 10 is for Paradise and not necessarily Fender.

In the hands of a really great player this amp is capible of tone that far exceeds it's price tag, or it's wattage (possibly under rated?)I've played through my tweed FBJ and people can't belive just how WARM this thing sounds, I tell them it's only 15 watts and they look at me like I'm out of my mind. I wanted an amp that would break-up at low volumes and sound great with no effects and that's exatly what I got! I really enjoy the reaction (dis beleif) I get from friends when they first hear it.

New, Demo Model. As far as features, It is all tube, both in pre-amp & power sections & has a real spring reverb & a quality speaker. The next feature I would list is that it does have gain & master volume controls. It also has jack if you want to run an external speaker instead of the one in the amp. If you want transitorized sounds & alot of controls, go with a solid state in the same price range

My main guitar is a 88 model Jap Strat with fat fifties in all pickups. I can plug straight into this amp and not have to use an overdrive pedal like on my Twin Reverb. It has some real good tone if you take the time to find the right settings. I am assuming that a person who would buy this amp would at least consider the name of the amp as an indicator of what it is supposed to do. If you are having trouble getting blues tone from this amp, the problem might be in your hands, particularly the one you use on the frets

I have been playing blues for a long time & bought this as a backup amp incase my other amp goes out or I need to put it in the shop. It is a real amp with real tone particularly if you compare it to other amps in the same price range. I just bought it less than a week ago but I am having a great time experimenting with it and using it for practice at home.

Also, don't be fooled into believing this is not a loud enough amp. Its plenty loud for live blues especially if you are working with good players who understand the dynamics of blues

I bought this amp in November of 2002. It has very basic features: Treble, Bass, Mid, Volume, Master Volume, Reverb and a Fat switch that acts as an overdrive. No effects loop or headphone jack. I agree with the earlier reviewer that wanted the control knobs on the front of the amp for easier access, but this is the price we pay for fashion. Also, I'd like it if it had chrome corner protectors. This is mostly for studio use. I'd definately gig with it and if it wasn't loud enough, I'd mike it or run it into a power amp...

This amp has had three modifications: I replaced the Fender speaker with a Celestion G12 Vintage 30 - 8 ohm. The GT-12AX7 was replaced with a GT-ECC83 pre amp tube. The Fender 12AX7 was replaced by a GT-12AX7R-MPI (matched phase inverter) tube. Prior to modification this amp was compared, side by side, to a five year old, stone stock, '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue and the DRRI sounded much richer. The Blues Jr. was thin and tinny sounding by comparison. After the modifications, the Blues Jr. was remarkably transformed into an amp that sounds admittedly different than a vintage Fender Blackface, but for five hundred bucks, this is an amazing alternative and it blew the DRRI away. I like the warm Fender clean sound running a Rick 370/12 through it. I'd swear Stevie Ray Vaughn's soul enters the amp when I play a Strat with the Fat switch on. I don't like the reverb tank on this amp as much as I like the DRRI's Reverb unit, but it isn't bad enough to worry about it. Also, if you like Keith Richard's 5 string open G tuning on a Tele, (Honkey Tonk Women, Brown Sugar, etc.) this amp does that sound in spades. After my amp tech tweeked it he was playing it out in the shop and guys were falling over each other because they couldn't believe it sounded so good.

It's a Fender...'Nuff said.

I think all of the employees at Fender have been replaced by printed circuits.

I've been playing for over 25 years. I have a dozen guitars mostly Fender, mixed vintage to relatively new models, a PRS, a Rick 370/12 and a couple of Taylors. This is a wonderful little amp. I'll use it for recording and lugging it out to the deck in the summer to play outside. If lost or stolen I'd replace it in a heartbeat.

Not many features. One channel with a boost. Reverb. Small, light weight. No foot switch. Does one thing.

It sounded honky in the store but I thought it would mix well with the band. Nope. To me this is a thin sounding amp. It does sound better when you crank it way up but most of the time I can't do that. This is a loud 15w amp. Low end is mush. I use a Gibson Les Paul Studio. I had high hopes for this thing but I'll stick with my Line 6 Flextone for now.

I brought it home new from the store and the reverb didn't work. I had a technician look at it and the reverb unit had a broken wire in it.

No experience here.

I'm 49 and have been playing guitar for six years, bass on and off for along time. If it were lost or stolen I would not buy another. I love that it's light, hate that it sounds thin and it only does one thing. I bought this on a friends recomendation. I'll stick to my two Line 6 Flextones with Floorboards for now. With my Les Paul I can get some really good tones. I also know they cost more than the Blues Jr. but they really kick ass.

I have already commented on my modified BJ (NOS tubes and a Weber Alnico Bluedog) in previous posts. Just a remark on some of the negative comments I don't quite get. Some complain about the "boxy, mid range" emphasis of the BJ due to the small cabinet. It is about the same size as perhaps the greatest blues amp ever made, the narrow panelTweed Deluxe, which is also boxy and emphasizes the mids, this is one of the all time great blues sounds. The BJ is not quite as good as that famous trademark but it goes in that direction at a reasonable price; so if you don't like that sound that's fine there are other great sounds to go after, but don't criticize the Blues Junior for trying to be too bluesy.
Personally, I am getting better sounds ( blusey sounds that is) from this little amp than I did from my Silver Face twin and my1974 50w Marshall. Silver face with the JBLs great clean country amp, 50w Marshall nailed Led Zepplin, great sounds but not vintage blues sounds.

2002 Blues Junior, we all know the features of this little amp! You plug in your guitar, and get some great tones! Ton of features? No, and thats the point!

There sure are a LOT of opinions about this little unassuming amp. Either people love it, or they hate it. Has beautiful clean sounds, throaty tweed distortion goodness. With the right guitar you can coax some great sounds out of this amp! I use a Fender Deluxe Powerhouse Strat with the 12db mid-boost, and I get great overdrive tones out of the Blues Jr. The Reverb does what it's supposed to, but the tank is a little small, still I like it. (I have owned Blakcface Fender's, so I know what to compare it to) Just keep in mind that you are getting a tube amp, at the same price as some solid state amps.

No worries, Fender's can take a beating!

Would go to my Fender dealer if I had a problem. I have never gone directly to Fender, and I doubt I ever will.

If you want a simple, portable, great sounding amp, this is the way to go. I have owned Blackface Fender's, Line6 Flextone and Vetta, and even a Cybertwin, they pale in comparison to the honest tone you get out of this amp. No modelling amp can get close to this amp.

Mine is a 1996 tweed model that I've owned since it was new. There's nothing I can add to what's already been siad about the features. For a low-cost tube amp, this offers a LOT. Compared to an expensive boutique job, it looka pretty bare. I do love the look of the tweed covreing. I shellacked mine for a vintage look. It also helps to protect the tweed.

I changed the speaker in mine to a Jensen C12Q several years ago and I've never looked back. I use this amp almost daily with my Strat and Tele and I really like the "edge of break-up" that I can dial in with the volume and master controls. The reverb isn't very strong, but there's enough to add some depth, which all I really want.

I've used the HELL out of this amp for more than 6 years and never had a problem. I change the power tubes once a year and I've replaced two of the preamp tubes.

I think it's been out of warranty for awhile now.

The Blues Junior is about as much 'bang for the buck' as you're likely to find on the market today. There are better sonding amps, of course. And there are louder amps. But NOT in this price range.

Add my name to the list of people who bought the BJ because they were looking for a good practice amp. I read these reviews, bought the amp sight-unseen (I know, I know- a stupid thing to do) and was disappointed with it. I poured more money into it- the Weber Bulldog speaker, JJ Tesla tubes, etc.- but I eventually had to admit that I was pouring Chanel # 5 on a pig. I cut my losses and bought a real amp- a Vox AC15. I'm happier now. Let the buyer beware.

Master Volume, Channel volume with Mid., Bass, and trebble. Reverb. Fat swith. One input and no output. 2 6l6' and 4 12ax7's. This is a small home/practice amp and can be used in the small club setting.
15W. The name implies simplicity and plug & play use.

I have owned this amp for about 3 years. I play a Rock/Blues (Hendrix,SRV,Gibbons) style and this amp is made for it. I give it a 10 for the price, but if you want super fat blues tones, you'll have to shell out the $$ for a vintage or boutique. I use single coil and humbucker though it. I have an all fulltone equipted pedal board into it and mike it for recording. There is some hum with the effects but I am still very happy with the over all sound. With the channel volume low and the master up there is a lot more clean space. I can get adequate overdrive by reversing this. The reverb is OK at low settings but does add some noise. My favorite setting for strict blues is Bass up on 11, Trebble around 9, Mid around 4 and on the bridge pickup with my '94 fender strat plus and my fulldrive II on. This sounds great to me. I can also get classic rock and some jazz tones with this amp. Like I said 10 for the price. Also with this little amp cranked all the way, your neighbors or police will be visiting you within an hour. I will shake your windows. I owned alot of crappy solid state amps in the 80's (peavey, gibson and crate). Compared to anything solid state, this amp sounds like pure heaven.

3 years and running with no problems.

Haven't needed it.

I give it an 8 only because there are alot of obviosly superior boutique amps out there (Dr. Z, Voctoria, Top Hat, etc..). They do cost at least 3 times as much though. I will never get rid of this amp ( although I will own the others too :)). If you are looking for a solid tube tone at a reasonable price, you can't go wrong here.

See the 1*10^34 reviews below

Sounds have been pretty well covered too, but a couple of things I wanted to add:
The mysterious reverb problem (general crappiness above 3 or so, and the hum) was mysteriously fixed by the guy I bought this from (worked at a local guitar shop.) He took it to his amp guy, wiggled something or replaced something and now the reverb is as good as any Fender. Vague? Yes. But I am not wise in the way of 'lectronics, and really my point is that this is fixable. Do not let this be a deal breaker on what has been an otherwise beautiful and reliable amp.

Also, caveat emptor: Not Loud Enough To Play With Drummer Without Benefit of PA. Those who have said that this amp produces a loud clean sound made this assessment while amp was mounted on shoulder, pointing at ear. It is playing-by-yourself-in-your-bedroom-loud. But once again, this is nothing that would prevent me from buying it again, just something for you, the educated buyer, to keep in mind.

Nine on a technicality. It has never crapped out on me, unless you count the reverb problem. Being pre-broken is different I suppose.

I have never spoken with the people at Fender. But I ain't mad at em.

This amp is not overrated. All the superlatives mentioned in the other reviews apply, but be sure that you need something to fill the small/basic/tube amp niche before you take one home.

no idea what year . as for versatility its a blues amp and it does it perfect.it has one channel a footswitch option for the fat switch and you can disconnect the eminence speakerand run it thru appropriate ext. it would be nice with an ext sp socket i use at home mostly but also take to jam sessions in local pub once a week

i have a hohner professionel se335 which apart from the wood is totally upgraded,my main guitar is a home assembled no name strat fitted with kent armstrong tweed tone single coils and a dennis cornell mid boost system. i,ve connected my closed back cab loaded with celestion g12h speakers to the output and bought a footswitch for the fat switch,with this rig i set the amp at rev 5, master 12, mid 4, bass5.5, treble 9, vol 2.and using the footswitch and midboost i can go from the cleanest fender twang to a les paul type distorted tone all from the same setting which is the bees knees for a blues player.ive thought about swapping the eminence and one of the celestions,to get the best of both sounds does anyone have any views on this.

had no problems so far

i bought mine from music ground in leeds england for #359 and tell me where im going to get authentic 50,s tone for less than that its not so far away so if i ever get any trouble i,ll take it there

ive been playing ten years ,yes id buy another i love it its a tone machine with my rig and plenty loud to play pub and small clubs its much easier to get a good tone running this hard than cutting back on a 50 60 watter

This is a Blonde "Musician's Friend Exclusive" Model, made in September 2001 (I know because it was backordered for 6 weeks, and I even bugged the Fender factory in Scottsdale to try to expedite these!) Features? hahahahaha...the point is that the amp is almost featureless. My philosophy is the less there is inside, the less to have fail during a gig. Two main things I liked about the amp: it is all tube and has pre-amp gain control(the volume knob)). Secondary considerations were the weight (at 31 lbs, it is a snap to set up, I can place it on the amp stand with one hand). I use this for rehearsal and gigs, even outdoors (miked of course; it's loud for 15 watts, but not that loud).

I'm playing mainly a 1974 Strat and an Epiphone AlleyKat(Gibson humbuckers) and occasionally a 71 SG or a 63 Melody Maker (2 single coils)or a mid 50's Magnatone lapsteel. I find that the FAT (does anyone know what that stands for? Frequency ATtenuator maybe?) switch helps alot when I use the single coil pick ups (Strat, Magnatone or Melody Maker). The reverb is useless above 2...why it goes to 12 I don't know...
I play mainly Blues, old R&B, some jazz, some swing, a little zydeco.. and the BJ handles my playing across the board with little adjustment of the amp.

Solid as a rock so far, lots of gigs and rehearsals.

haven't used it yet, hope I never will

I have played through several other BJs; our harmonic player uses a standard black one as well. I have noticed extreme variations in tone, volume, warmth, clean-ness, control and reverb across different units, which seems to say that Fender churns these out at an alarmingly fast pace {at least the black ones ;>) } and don't do too much quality assurance at the final stages. Mine did have to 'settle in' for a few days before it's true nature was revealed. I understand why there are so many varying opinions. I have played some BJs that really sucked; fortunately, mine does not. It has replaced my Marshall V65 hybrid (bought for it's channel switching and portability) and allowed me to rest my '64 Fender Vibrolux Reverb(and save it for studio work only). Does it sound better than the Marshall? Yes, to me, it sounds warmer... but it doesn't sound anything like a Marshall. Does it sound better than the Vibrolux? Of course not! But it weighs half as much, has a master volume so I don't have to get the natural distortion at such high volumes, looks good on stage and does what I want it to do... and cost under $350...
What do I wish it had? A second set of in and out jacks, and a stand-by switch like a real Fender tube amp should! And a better reverb tank...I'll probably swap the one out of the Marshall one of these days. I might pull the Celestion Goldback out of there too...but the Eminence speaker really has a sort of 'old fashioned', dare I say 'vintage' tonality, like some of the old Gibson and Fender tweed combo amps I've played through, which is the sound I want.

Do you know what year the amp was made in? the Amp was made in 2002

Is the amp versatile enough for you and the styles of music you play?
Yes, the amp is very versatile. What are those styles? I play rock, jazz, blues, country.
How many channels? This is a one channel amp.
Does it have channel switching? N/A
Effects loops? No
Headphone jack? No
What features do you wish it had? I wish it had "tube reverb" and tube rectifier.
Why? The solid state reverd is not very warm, also the "Tank" is a bit small.
Are there features you never use? I don't use the "fat" footswitch, I just leave it on all of the time.
Where do you use this amp? I use it live and for recording.
Does it have enough power for you? This amp is louder when it's all the way up (the only way to play a tube amp)than I play my Marshall, I use a power brake with my Marshall.

What guitar and pickup styles are you using it with? I play a Stratocaster, Les Paul Custom and a carvin DC135.

How does it suit your music style (and what is that style)?Is it noisy? On what settings, and in what environments?What kind of sounds can the amp make? How much variety?Is the clean channel distorted at high volumes? In what settings?How brutal is the distortion?

I took this thing out of the box, turned it on and let it idle for about three hours. I plugged my guitar in, turned the amp on 10 and started wailing! This amp is a beast, I absolutely could not believe how much sound came out of this little bastard. It has classis fender tone, it has a sweet clean sound and a nasty, but not too heavy overdrive. It won't replace my Marshall by any means, but it will certainly be a wonderful addition. It will certainly sound better after it's broken in good too. My Marshall has a tube rectifier which adds "sag", it softens the tone a bit. The Blues Junior is a little bit punchier. I was amazed at the bass response this amp has, I assumed that it would be a little thinner sounding but it is quite thunderous, again, turn it all the way up and use back off the guitar volume to clean it up a little. I think I'm going to have to use my power brake on this one too, it's that loud!!! It has plenty of head room if you want to play clean too, I love it!!!

Can you depend on it? Would you use it on a gig without a backup?Has the amp ever broken down? Because of neglect of
regular servicing (as in tubes), or just plain neglect? I just got it, with Fenders reputation, I don't think I'll have to worry about a backup.

If you've dealt with the company, how helpful/friendly were they?Ever try and get it repaired? Was the repair done under warranty?Were you able to find
an authorized service center easily?How long is the warranty? Five year warranty.

How long have you been playing? I've been playing proffesionally for twenty-three years.

What other gear do you own? My main amp is a Marshall JCM 800 modified with a tube rectifier.

If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?what do you love about it? What do you hate?Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?Anything you wish it had?Anything else you'd like to share?

If this amp was stolen, I would find the person who took it, or buy another one.

I chose this amp because I've always liked Fender, it was reasonably priced and it is just what I need in addition to my Marshall.

let me say that it has all i need but ...would have liked a direct out
to hook to P.A. systems .........(maby even effects loop would be nice)...to me the main feature....i love the sound of the el84 tubes
oh yaaaaaaaaaa ilike em mutch more than 6l6 s

ive been lookin fer this sound for years. seems i keept gettin 6l6
or solid state......but now el84 mmmmmmmm mmmmmmm. absolutly great
for blues....rock acid originals n anything i put to it. excellent
fender clean swirl full warm.......overdrive sweet sweet n sweaty
it wsa so nice i took the rental and a cyber deluxe back tradded
UP for TWO blues juniors into a,b box one dry one with dan
electro delay. feed from american double fat strat.

so far so good but only giged once so far so very good

hope i don t need to find out about c s got them from Gerard at L n M
Surrey they are the best i have no worries

been playin 35 years yep back when zepplin was up n comin...have had all kinds of gear ..so far these b j ..rate up at the top of the pile
got two,... might get a third ,... ya id get em agin with a grin

It has everything needed for a budget small tube combo. Not loaded with things, but for the price, it's tough to argue against what the BJ offers. I wish it had a speaker extension jack to make plugging into a cabinet easier than disconnecting the internal speaker, but what the heck!

I've replaced the stock speaker in mine with a Jensen. The results are a little added headroom and much more clarity. I play a Fender American Std Strat and Tele, both with Van Zandt pickups straight in, no effects. My style is blues and bluesy rock (ala Z Z Top). The BJ works very well for these genres and is capable of holding its own in a small club against a reasonable drummer and bassist. The Volume and Master controls interact very well to give the 'just right' OD tone that I like. The reverb is a little weak, but it does what it's supposed to.

In two years of steady use, all I've done is to change the power tubes annually. No breakdowns, no worries.

The warranty is good for 5 years. I've owned this amp for two years and haven't needed to find out if repairs are quick and easy.

In comparison to other budget tube combos, the BJ is as good as any, and better than most. I compared it to the Peavey Classic 30 and H&K Edition. Both were good amps, but I just preferred the BJ and have no regrets over my decision. This little combo offers a surprising amount of volume and very useable tone in an affordable, easy to carry package. I can walk into and out of my gigs in one trip; guitar in one hand, BJ in the other.

Simple and basic. Only thing I was suprised about was this little amp can get loud for 15 watts. Must be a conservative rating. As you'll read from here on out, the speaker is a must to change. I have found the tubes to be alright after a break in period. The reverb is not the best either, but will do better than none at all. I like the fat switch. It adds a little more balls to the amp.

I play a Strat, Tele, and Les Paul. They all sound good through this amp. Again, you'll here over and over that this is a good amp for the money and once you change out the speaker. I agree. This amp has a decent sound and is satisfying to play through. I have used it in the bedroom and on stage. It can carry it's own. The tone knobs are a little on the un-responsive side. I find that I like to leave all the treble rolled off of this amp or at least not more than on 2-3. The bass around 4 and the mids about 6. I'm another fan of driving the master hard and rolling the pre-amp side back and using a overdrive pedal for grit. Also, this amp sounds better when you have it off of the floor. For a small combo, it has a pretty big sound. Pretty good little amp.

I have had it about a year now. No complaints.

N/A

I have been playing for thirty-plus years. Mainly in a rock band. I have always played through Fender amps (Twin, Deluxe, and an old Quad). This amp is not in the same ball park as these amps, but it is a good amp none the less. I bought it to have a small amp to take around for small jams. It has got the job done well. If something happend to it, I would get another one. Again, the 15 watt rating must be conservative. It seems to get much louder than 15 watts if you push it hard. It handles pedals well. It is light to move and fits in a car or truck cab easily. I like this amp, and would suggest it as a good practice amp, or for someone like me, an amp that is easier to tote around and wont embaress you at a friendly jam. Like I said before, I have used it a gig and at band practice. It is amp enough to use for small clubs. Since I have bigger amps, I haven't used it in a large venue, but I don't see why you couldn't if you miked it. I wouldn't really change anything about it. I bought it for it's simplicity. A good little amp.

This is a no-frills little amp with very little in the way of features. Thankfully, it does have a seperate master volume knob, which is a godsend in a small apartment. Treble,mid, and bass knobs and a "fat" switch make up the rest. I HATE the "vintage" knob position--putting knobs on the front instead of on the top was a step in the right direction, folks. Comes with a 12" speaker and Sovtek/Groove Tubes...I'm not a tube expert, so I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.

The amp has one channel, and no headphone jack or effects loop. I don't miss the phone jack--hell, if I'm going to wear headphones I'll plug into my Line6 POD!

The amp is rated at 15 Watts, and it gets nice and loud when it wants to. This is more than enough power for practice or bedroom use.

Don't you hate it when people rate an amp "10"? I've got a 1300 buck Mesa/Boogie, and I didn't give that a 10, so how can you justify giving this little booger such a glorious rating? Nothing's perfect, and this amp is certainly no exception.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I am reviewing this amp at bedroom levels only, becaue I just bought it and haven't had a chance to play it at rehearsal volumes yet. Obviously, the speaker and tubes are still stock and haven't been broken in yet. This is an "out of the box" review, so keep that in mind.

I bought this amp as a replacement for my 10 Watt Park solid-state piece of crap. I wanted something portable that still had tubes in it, and I didn't particularly care if it was the tonal equivalent of a swiss-army knife. I was basically looking for a nice, raw bluesy tone. Does this amp deliver the goods?

For the most part, it does. Of course, my expectations were realistic. This is NOT a miracle box that looks like a Park, sounds like a vintage Vibro-King with an itty-bitty price tag. It is a modestly priced little amp whose main distinction is that it is all-tube rather than solid state.

First of all, it does not have a "sparkling" clean sound like my Mesa or all those famous vintage Fenders. Instead, it has a slight nasal quality to it. This is more pronounced when played with my Les Paul than with my 52 RI Tele, but its always there. IMHO, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps "bratty" is a better way to describe this sound. With the Tele, the treble can be really biting, so I have to roll off the tone knob a bit more than I would with another amp. For soloing, it sounds fine to me. With chords, though, it can be very indistict unless you're playing something basic. Complex chords simply don't ring true through this amp, while power chords and bluesy chords sound nice and raw.

With the volume knob cranked and the master at 2, you can get a distorted tone at bedroom volume. The results here, again, are okay but not spectacular. The brattiness of the amp is still in the forefront, but it does have a pretty nice growl with the LesPaul. The Tele doesn't overdrive particularly well on my Mesa, so it really doesn't sound great through the BJ. I'm sure the overdriven sound will open up after I've broken the amp in. For now, it's decent but not great.

The tone knobs are kind of a joke. Particularly the "bass" pot...turn it to 12 and its flabby. Turning it to 0 is a big improvement. Let's face it, an amp with this tiny little cabinet isn't going to have a huge bass response. That's what my Mesa is for. This amp is dominated by the mid range no matter what, so the mid pot doesn't do much. I usually leave it at the 6 position. The treble pot does make a pretty big difference, and it was the only one that I spent a lot of time tweaking. I wasn't expecting much out of these knobs, to be honest with you. In my experience, the cheaper the amp the more useless the eq.

The "fat" option is a non-issue for me at the volumes I've been playing this thing at. It flabs up the tone a little, so I prefer to play with this button in the off position. Perhaps at higher volumes it sounds good, but not right now.


The reverb is shit. This was my only big disappointment, although considering the size of the components, I shouldn't have been expecting miracles. Once you get above "4" it starts to sound hissy...and I normally put more reverb on than good taste would allow. This is my biggest gripe with this amp.

To sum it all up, this amp sounds decent out of the box. For the price, I got what I expected and nothing more. I've read a ton of reviews talking about switiching speakers, and I may just have to look into that. Normally I'm too lazy to mod my amps, but this might be worth it. I think a better speaker would take some of the nasal quality out of the sound and open things up. For now, this

I've never had a problem with Fender amps. They seem to be bult nice and tough. The tubes are sort of exposed, though, which worries me a little.

Never spoken with them.

This is a decent little tube amp that, with a few mods, sounds like it can be a lot better. From my initial playing, I'd have to agree with the gripes I've read about the stock speaker--it's definitely not the best I've heard. Is it a 10? Hell no! Is it a 2? Jesus, even my Peavey Special 130 isn't a 2!

I think what you have to keep in mind with this amp is that you're going to get what you pay for. I was looking for a trashy, yet tubey sound and this is pretty much what I got. I'd like to look into improving the speaker, but I'm satisfied with it right now. Out of the box, this amp isn't very flexible. Fortunately, I bought it for the sound it manages to get right. If you can only buy one amp, I'd avoid this one. If you want this sort of tone, than the price tag and the small size make this worth the trip.

For a sub-$400 tube combo, the features are good. The performance is surprising. Mine is a mid 90's model with the tweed covering, which looks great with a coat of lacquer. I don't use effects, so the lack of an effects loop isn't a concern for me. The 15 watts of output power may look anemic on paper, but this little combo has plenty of guts. The volume is impressive and very useable for small gigs. The interactive Volume and Master controls allow you to dial in some interesting tones. Mine has three mods: Jensen C12Q speaker, NOS preamp and power tubes (RCA), and a sturdy metal input jack. This is the weak point of this amp - the standard jack is a very fragile plastic thing that will cause you grief.

I rate it a 10 with the upgraded speaker and tubes. Stock it would rate about a 7.5 since the stock speaker is a little muddy. It doesn't sound bad, but the Jensen is MUCH more articulate. My guitars are a pair of American Fenders: Strat and Tele. My experience is that Fender amps respond best to single coils (not surprisingly) and the BJ is no exception. The reverb is a little weak, but it sounds good and does the job. Apparently, some BJs have noisy reverb, but this isn't one of those. For gigs, the BJ will give you a very nice OD tone that's perfect for blues and rock. It doesn't have enough clean headroom to handle jazz or country. Since my main interest is blues, this amp does what I want. Add the fact that it's compact and lightweight, and it's a winner.

I've used this amp a lot over the past three years and it's never skipped a beat. No problems whatsoever. Who could ask for more? I'd rate it a 10, except that the cheapo input jack would be a source of problems if you don't replace it.

5 year warranty, which has expired on mine. No sweat - I never needed it, anyway.

The Blues Junior is one of the best buys on the market, no doubt. It packs a lot of volume and great tone in an affordable, compact unit that's reliable and good looking. I've owned quite a few amps over the years, and this is one of the best low-price combos available.

15 watts, 1 12" Speaker, master volume, volume, etc. 2 EL84s 3 12AX7s. A standby switch would be great. Volume appears to control the amount of gain being delivered to preamp.

I bought this amp for my office, on call alot and wanted something more than a Squire solidstate amp. I play mostly 490 and 498 humbuckers, got them in my Les Paul and put a pair in my Strat. Quiet amp with a wide range of tone avaiable, good for blues, jazz, shredding, grunge. I like this amp because I cam keep the master volume at a low level and still experience the sweet breakup of the EL84's without disturbing anyone. I work in a hospital.

Seems well put togeather.

Bought it Fuller's in New Bern NC, Wade Fuller backs all of his stuff.

I have two other tube amps besides this one, a Peavey 110 and a Sunn Model T (both run on 6L6's) Guitar's one jazz box, typical assortment of Strat's , Tele's and Les Paul's. I like this amp, for what is and is designed to be it has delivered on all fronts.

Opinions.....
Genarally simple but effective within normal expectations
The FAT sw is good at mid levels...a bit mushy at some levels.

In summary.....
Does not have the crispness of vintage Fenders or many other amps.
Doe not have the bass depth and articulation of larger amps.
Has a bit of a midrange pushed tone that midrangey speakers will emphasize. This can be good for bluesy OD.
Decent dynamic response if you crank it up.
Enough clean bite in the sound to project but does not give the big hi-fi sound.
FAT footswitch give a nice level boost for higher notes, possibly too much in the bass.
Even fuzzy OD pedals tends to smooth out a bit.
Chorusing response falls short of the lush category.
Not any louder than other small tube amps with efficient speakers.

I had this out as a rental and it was tight and touble-free. The external build quality is OK. The schematic shows very straight-forward design but is not classic blackface since the tone stack is after the second stage (good for OD this way).

It has potential if your playing level hits the sweet spot(s).
Unfortunately, the band I'm currently trying to work with plays at a lower level and I can get better clean sounds with my bigger amps and more loudness control using OD pedals. I would love to use a tube amp in the sweet zone but one amp just cannot be perfect at all levels in all venues. I have been in bands on and off for a long time.
If you can nail your signature tone with this and then get your band to match to you, this amp can be very good, especially for the bucks. I suspect there is room to tweak the tone circuitry too if you sacrifice a little gain.

Stated previously

Guitar is a DEAN fat strat copy. I play classic rock, blues, and some vintage hard rock. This amp is totally awsome. It can cover most styles and responds well to effects pedals. The amps overdrive is on the mild side, but a good overdrive is a real kick in the pants. The clean sound is where it really shines. It is not twin reverb clean but has a wonderful blusey sound. It does not have the greatest amount of clean headroom but rolls nicely into a real subtle growl. It does have tremendous volume for 15 watts. Also this is a nice small package, easy on the back. If you need more down the road then get another and run them in stero, which sounds incredible.

It has been flawless

Never needed it...

Excellent amp. A real winner for Fender. Some have said it is horrible and can not get a good sound out of it. If that is true, then you can't play the guitar either, and no amp can help that. Overall this amp is a best buy.

Already covered. My one real gripe is the lack of a vinyl bag for the reverb tank, as the odd vibration can creep in at higher volumes... only audible when you're standing next to the amp, but could be a slight nuisance if you're recording with a large condenser that picks up every detail. I'm trying to track one down, otherwise I'll try to cobble one together myself. I tried wrapping it in a pair of woollen socks, which just completely muffled the amp's tone. If anyone knows where I can get a nine inch reverb bag please let me know.

I'm going to agree with Fender Fan here - this is a great little amp for the money.
It does seem that a lot of the bad reviews here are along the lines of 'rock sound sucks, too harsh, I have use XYZ drive pedals etc etc'. There's also a bit of 'it doesn't sound like a deluxe reverb' talk going on... 9 inch reverb tank, small cabinet, EL84s - how the hell is it ever going to sound like a Blackface?

What this amp DOES do very well is a very creditable tweed-type tone. The drive is a growly, gravelly, 50's type sound, which is NOT TO EVERYBODY'S TASTE.
Most of the other amps in this price range have an essentially marshally character to the drive - most of the negative reviews here seem to bewail the fact that this one doesn't. If you want modern rock overdrive buy something else. Duh.

Personally, I love this one to bits. It does need to be turned up to drive it properly - low volume preamp drive is not the way to go with this amp. You shouldn't really need to turn the gain much above halfway if the volume is nice and high, as the power amp drive will kick in very nicely. IN A TWEEDY WAY.
(I'm NOT trying to say that this sounds exactly like a vintage tweed amp, so don't jump down my throat.)
I use this amp to play stuff which sounds a little like Buddy Holly/Steve Cropper/Them-era Van Morrison. You get the picture. Both live and on tape this amp does a very creditable job on these styles.

I've had it nearly a year now without a single problem. The construction of this amp is sturdy and dependable, as is borne out by the vast majority of reviews here. That makes this amp a good meat'n'taters basic circuit for upgrades to speakers, valves etc, if the mood so takes you. take a look at the number of reliability issues for most of the competition.

The stock speaker isn't too bad at all for the money once it's broken in properly, which does take a little while - the bottom end does open up eventually, and the high end smoothens out. I dare say an expensive speaker will make this amp sound more... well... expensive. That's why this amp isn't expensive. The speaker can bottom out a little at really high volumes so if you run it flat out the whole time an upgrade might be an option.

I talked to fender UK about the reverb bag issue, but they couldn't help me out.

This is a GREAT AMP. All the trash talking has got to go. Great price for a great sounding small amp. Simply put, this amp was not made to do everything. It's priced so low that all the wet behind the ears bedroom wankers (who should have followed their silly little hearts and got the Crate or Peavey) can get their hands on it, and of course being a "real" amp they have no idea how to use it to it's potential. They all want "Chugga Chugga Whee Whee" and that's not what it does. It's priced like an entry level product, but every pro I know in town owns one (actually most have two)......hmmmmmm?

Classic Fender. Can ride the volume knob on my guitar (strat style with Fralins) at a blues gig and get from clean to growl. I play several styles of mature music and this amp shines in all of them. It has plenty of headroom so I can get it clean and loud before it breaks up (an when it does break up.....ooo-la-la) I use it in the studio, and live. In fact, I own three.

I never take a backup and never sweat it. I do carry an extra set of tubes, but that's just being prepared. The amp has never given me any trouble, and the ones I own have all seen reasonable abuse due to nonstop gigging.

Fender...... They've been around longer than anyone, and there's a reason for it. Great Company to deal with!!!

For an amp at this price, and with the sound quality it has you can't beat it. It's a classic built in the Fender tradition of their best amps (think "Blackface" Deluxe, or Super Reverb)..... It's not a "new", "does everything", "gadget loaded" (for all you young clueless "suckers"), "sounds like an electric razor", "toneless heap of junk". Mature players with years of experience under their belt will appreciate this amp (it's price, tone, and especially it's extreme portability), and really....who cares about the rest of ya' anyway. Cheers to the folks at Fender. You all rock!!!!!

Other reviewers have covered this area quite well so I will skip it.

I use a variety of strats and teles, sometimes with humbuckers, sometimes with single coils. I play rock music, mostly 60's and 70's influenced.

I gotta tell you, this amp sounds downright awful! This amp (or at least mine) sounds muddy, flat, boxy, fizzy when the reverb is turned up, and highly unresponsive. I'm sorry, it's true. This amp sounds like no fender I have ever played through, including Twin Reverbs (black and silverface), Vibroverb w/15" Jensen, and Bassmans (tweed combos and blackface heads). IF YOU ARE A KID, THIS AMP IS FINE, BUT IF YOU ARE A GIGGING OR RECORDING MUSICIAN AT THE SEMI TO PRO LEVEL, STAY THE F#@$ AWAY! Buy yourself a Top Hat or something.

Maybe someone might be able to suggest a mod to make this amp sing, but unmodified, this amp is a disaster!

The first one I got had no functioning reverb, so I sent it back. The second one had "reverb" which made me wish I kept the broken one. Yes, the reverb is that bad.

Basic small tube amp with a master volume and a volume (gain) and a 'fat' switch (gain boost) which together give quite abit of control over your sound. No standby but apparently it isn't necessary with EL84s (Cornford's Harlequin boutique amp hasn't got one either). No bells and whistles but it was designed to be basic. A headphone jack or line out would've been nice, though.
It's compact and light and is not only good to look at......it actually smells good.
I took a tone knob off and the shaft of the pots are plastic, which I'm not too pleased with.

This is easily the best sounding amp I've ever had. I use telecasters and I have a HotRod Deluxe that I've used for the past few years in the wedding/pub band I was in and it served me well, but I'm now in a band that is keyboard and backing track based and the HRDx is too loud. Playing a gig thru a tube amp turned down very low is hard to do since it won't respond well if the tubes aren't working abit. The HRDx is heavy too. I'm 40 now and I'm getting tired of lugging a heavy amp around and having ringing ears at the end of a gig so the idea of playing quieter gigs with a smaller amp is appealing. So I decided to find a lighter/quieter amp to compliment the HRDx.
I tried a number of options before getting a Blues Junior (I'm in the west of Ireland and I had to use what I could find or work mail order). First I tried a Laney LC15R. It was OK but too sharp and boxy sounding. I considered using it with a 12" extension speaker but I wanted to keep things simple, not get more bits and pieces. I got a set of THD yellowjackets for the HRDx but the result was similar to the Laney. Maybe I don't like class A tone? It didn't help the weight issue either. Then I tried a couple of SS amps. A Sessionette 75 was pretty good but onstage it was tranny sounding. Not bad....but not what I wanted. A Hughes and Kettner Triplex was the same. Great sound at home but it just didn't have that richness onstage that a tube amp has. I tried using my Behringer V-amp direct thru the PA and in some places it kinda worked (I used a dry Vox AC30 setting and used my effects pedals in front of it as though it were a real amp) but there was still a sort of digital hollowness. I tried a Tech21 Sansamp TriAC direct into the PA but I didn't like it at all. It had a weird tone regardless of what setting I used. I sent it back and replaced it with a Tech 21 Trademark 10 amp which worked OK thru the PA on one or 2 settings but I didn't like what came out of its own speaker. It sounded like it modelled a variety of tranny amps, to me. Not inspiring.
So last week I decided to have a little holiday and I went over to England to actually try things out in the shops. As soon as I heard the Blues Junior I knew it was the one. I tried out all sorts of guitars thru it (boy, did I have fun) and I think it works the best with single coils. Humbuckers sound kinda woolly thru it with its midrangey voice (I think that the opposite was the case with the Laney LC15, looking back). With a strat or a tele the tone is very much like Buddy Holly got with a strat and a Bassman. In fact, the tone of the guitar in the theme music to the English TV show 'Heartbeat' is exactly the sound I get with this and my tele. It's a kind of throaty clean sound that is just this side of distortion. I can play any sort of music and it just works. I haven't gigged with it yet (it'll be miked thru the PA) but I can tell that it's the sort of sound where I could play all night without any effects if necessary. Chords or leads can be played comfortably and it can be controlled by the volume and tone controls on the guitar or just by varying my pick attack. Like you would with a good acoustic guitar. This is why I like telecasters, they have a similar responsiveness as an acoustic, and this amp seems to compliment that. Someone who wants a high gain effected sound wouldn't like this amp but for old school simple set-up players like me this is great for the price.
The fat switch is good as a means of setting up a sound but I suspect that it might make too much of a volume jump for me to use it as a boost onstage. I use a Boss EQ pedal for a slight midrange solo boost anyway. I have alot of experimenting to do yet. So far I find that having the mid and bass up full and the treble nearly so gives me the best tones.
I actually like the reverb on this. I never use much anyway and on the HRDx it was overwhelming so it's nice to be able to add a subtle touch of it.
I read about changin

I've had no problems with Fender gear in the past so although it's new I have no concerns about reliability. It seems well built except for the plastic shafts on the volume/tone pots. I'm getting a good cover for the amp anyway but I'd prefer something more robust. Pots can be replaced if they get broken but I'd prefer not to need to. Point off for that.

??????? No idea. I would just deal with the shop I got it from anyway.

I've played since 1969 and I went thru the '70s with the humbuckers and amps bigger than yourself thing, and then 10 years or so of acoustic playing before getting back into gigging. I've now become abit of a gearhead and I've decided that I personally like the whole simple vintage style guitar+tubeamp tone thing. Telecasters and a Fender amp is my ideal setup....and that's what I have. I respect people who use gear differently and use the amps and effects as an instrument in themselves (like Steve Vai) but my forte is the old 1950s kind of setup.
My only decision now is whether or not to sell the HRDx and get a second Blues Junior (as a backup or to link together with my stereo Boss CH-1 Chorus pedal in big places). If this BJ was lost, damaged or stolen I'd get another immediately.

As described by other BUT - I use it differently !

Wrm it up for at least 2 hors and use master at maximum, ALWAYS !

Try this: Switch it on 2-3 hours BEFORE the concert.

Master always at absolute maximum: that's THE 'secret'.

Volume roughly at 2-3
Middle, bass on maximum and Treble around 2 o'clock

Fat switch ON

Now plug the Gibson Les Paul with neck humbucker on max
and hit the guitar hard (or do this with a Strat Plus): the
tone is already very nice (as you make output tubes work hard).

Now add a decent overdrive like Maxon OD808 or Klon Centaur
or Fulltone Fulldrive or Visual Sound Route 66 and push
the overdrive almost to maximum. The sound will SING
as your output tubes are really working hard and the whole
amp now sings and produces tones like a Marshall stack
at 11 :-)

If you want cleaner sounds, just reduce the volume and switch
OFF the Fat (and switch off the overdrive) ...

For $300 combo this is THE TRICK that professionals
use to get THAT DIVINE TONE that no digital amp
can immitate (nor most tube amps).

Remember MASTER AT MAXIMUM and hit it hard !

That will give you (if you can play and have a decent guitar)
boutique $3000 TONE from a $300 combo ...

No problem

It's a Fender !

Love to Leo's soul in Heaven ...

The best small tube amplifiers on this Planet are the
$650 THD -Univale 15 class A, Cornford $850 Hurricane or
$450 Harlequin and $650 Ashdown Peacemaker 40 ...

I know cause I play since 1960 and I own the very best gear that
the money can buy anywhere ... so what I say can save you money. Blus Junior is not in the above TOP-league but
for the money, if you pay $350 or less, it can produce
fabulous sounds for pop, blues, jazz, rock or funk ...

It is NOT for metal or all this nu, shred, zoumba or cocky styles ...

If you are poor or need a second back up that is light and portable then this is fine, and if you use my recommendation
with Master always at maximum - you will get some great sounds.

If you need more versatility i.e. the effects loop, then buy
the small Laney all tube LC15R, great value for $230 !

I often use the Visual Sound's H2O chorus/delay
pedal and run the output in stereo through the BJ and LC15R
and the sound is 2 X 15W all tube and very nice in small clubs:
total price for both combo amps (that won't break your back)
is only $530 !!!

P.S. ... do not waste money on those digital boxes :-)

I have them all (VG-88 etc) but still play clubs with tubes only !

Bla, bla, bla...after 272 reviews, you don't know? Could have used an extension cab outlet.

I've read reviews until I am blue (no pun intended) in the face. Pretty lousy sound out of the box, but I knew it would be considering 250 of the 270 review said it would be. I bought it knowing I would change the speaker and possibly the tubes. I chose a Celestion Blue Alnico. Yes, it costs darn near as much as the amp, but then, it's not even the same amp anymore. Oh my....what a difference. Very smooth and consistant. This amp seems to love single coils, but then, so do I. I really like using my strat, but take a Gibson with a P-90 for a ride too.

Like most older rockers, I bought it because I wanted something I could play at the rockers retirement center. It's plenty loud, in fact I'm experimenting with a powerbrake and a Boss EQ to get the overdriven tube sound at an even lower volume. So far, it has prospects. Keep in mind, as many others have already said, tone comes from the fingers, and a great amp will only make a great player sound better but it won't help you if you can't play. Just like Tiger Woods could take my crappy Wal-Mart golf clubs and shoot par. I will still keep my DSL-100 but I really, really like this amp with the Celestion Blue. It's a match made in Blues heaven...

This is actually a brief follow-up to my review of the BJ on 31/5 - just to say that I think the amp would be much better served by the 'FAT' switch if it actually acted as a master volume bypass when enabled, so that's one less 12AX7 getting in the way of the power amp. It would probably work out cheaper too!

This would actually bring the amp a bit closer to the old deluxes - I really don't think this amp likes too much preamp gain.

I would be very interested to hear people's opinions - and also any tips for doing the modification!

Cheers,

The control setup is clear and easy to understand, I have one gripe as far as features: The FAT switch seems to me to be a marketing sham; it should be called the CRAP switch, if you want an already mediocre-sounding amp to sound worse, hit this switch. Also, the tone controls don't really do a whole lot.

I used this amp for local OPEN JAM "Chicago/Chess Records" style blues for about 3 years. At this cost I didnt care if it got a beer spilled on it, etc.!!! In the end I decided: This amp STINKS!!! The sound is so muddy; it was designed to be a cheap amp for people who think any deep throaty distorted tone is great blues sound. I (and others) played strats/Teles and Gibson/P90s guitars through it. It is loud, and will sound better than that 1970s Peavey solid state amp, but that is ALL. After prolonged use, this amp will get on your nerves! The reverb is cheesy, and the FAT switch sounds terrible when cranked, they should call it the FART switch. I play daily through a '58 Fender Vibrolux among other classics like a '55 Tweed Pro, so I think I know good tone: THIS AINT IT !!! The sooner you get rid of this boat anchor, the sooner you will start moving forward as a musician. People who give this amp a 9 or a 10 for sound quality are either deaf, dumb, or have been out smoking crack again. I think my "4" is GENEROUS. This is barely above the "bottom of the barrel" for tube tone.

I never had any problems with the amp and I used it LONG and HARD. This category (along with COST) is where this amp shines.

Never had any trouble but I think the Fender people are A++ in terms of customer support.

I've been playing for about 20 years. I would never buy another one of these amps, in fact I got rid of the one I had. For the price it is a reasonable value, and if you buy it used, you can probably sell it for what you paid when you get sick of it (which shouldn't take long). If you are looking for a TONEFUL practice amp in this price range, pass over this amp, and look for a small 1950s amp (Gibson, Valco, etc). If you want something that will make a loud noise when you plug into it, and you will be letting a bunch of drunken fools use it, and don't want your private gear abused, BUY THIS AMP.

Bought new. You know the score by now. built like the proverbial brick outdoor convenience. Portable with it

It must be said, it's a great looking amp.

I don't miss an effects loop - when I use FX, I use an EHX deluxe memory man and a Dano trem straight into the front end.

I use a Schecter traditional Strat with it (see review) - I guess I fall directly into the bracket fender were aiming for - single coils, playing on the verge of clean and breakup.
I play my own stuff which is heavily influenced by The Boss/Tom Petty. I have absolutely no probs getting the sound I want.
I don't think neck-position humbuckers would fare too well with this amp.
I do wonder why they put the 'fat' switch in there - this amp doesn't like to be maxed out for drive. I reckon fenders perform best up to crunchy. I tend to keep the "volume" (actually the gain!) at 4 or below and the master between halfway and max - that way I know that I'm actually making the power section work. This amps needs to be pushed - the tone will suffer if all you're making the 12ax7's do all the work. I agree that the tone controls are just for tweaking the basic sound - though the mid does have a big influence on how the amp breaks up. The basic tone comes from your fingers and the power tubes.

As this amp uses EL84's the sound (especially the drive) is more akin to a vox than a blackface fender. There's a kind of upper-mid bark to it, and the overdrive characteristic is quite gravelly so if you want smooth saturated lead look elsewhere. If you try to get a modern marshall-type lead tone from this amp you'll just get mud.

Reverb is a bit hissy at high levels, with less depth than other similarly sized amps. When I contacted them, Fender said this is par for the course with a 9" reverb tank but I've played smaller valve amps with lusher reverb. Go figure. Point off for this.

I've noticed that the sound is quite directional, especially the treble... you'll need to put this amp on a stool or tilt it back otherwise you'll lose half the tone into the floor.

No issues yet. Am not expecting any. Solidly built.

Fender's UK distributor has been pretty good at answering my enquiries.

I used to own a hot rod deluxe - loved the clean channel, but I couldn't turn it up enough to wake up the 6L6's (I live in a city) so the drive channel was a non-starter for me.

I initially expected the blues Jr to have a more obviously "Fenderish" (i.e. blackface) clean tone - however it's just not built that way. This clean tone sounds more like the old Buddy Holly records, which is no bad thing. As well as classic americana, you can also get quite a good Beatles/Kinks vox-type tone out of it when driven. You can also get a reasonably sparkly clean tone if you put the master volume all the way up and the volume/drive and mid right down... though be aware this is not a blackface.

JUST MAKE SURE YOU GET THE POWER SECTION WORKING!!!

If lost/stolen... might try to upgrade to a Deluxe 65 Reissue with an attenuator... or possibly a vox AC15 reissue.. but I'm quite happy with this amp for the moment thank you very much.

2001 model. Not many features: reverb, fat switch, 3 band eq, simple just the way I like it. I would like an effects loop, but thats just being picky: and a foot pedel for the fat switch would be nice, had to buy it separate. I play blues, and hippie jam stuff, I like a nice clean sound and every now and then a little drive. 15 watt tube has enough for small gigs and garage partys. I have recorded with it, close mic and it sounds great at lower volume. I play with the tones and have yet to be disappointed. If you like a lot of distortion or play hard head bangin kill the cat stuff I dont think you want a amp that has blues in the name.

I use a Fender Strat. 68 reissue with Demarzio(spell check) ventage blues pick ups and a 1998 Gibson les paul classic. The strat sounds beautiful, and the paul sounds good, its just a little dark on low E and A for my taste. It has a slight muddy sound if you drive the amp hard. I have a little vibration when I crank it up, but its a tube amp. I had a Peavey delta blues that rattled all the time(15" speaker). I think the tube sockets just work a little loose. The amp can cover Blues, Classic Rock, Jazz, and my favorite Grateful Dead (early 70s and late 60s) Jerry started using too many effects in the 80s. The amp has some nice sounds, but not a lot of variety, the distortion is mild as is the reverb. The clean distorts at high volumes like in "Lenny" and with the drive full theres a nice "Texas Flood" type sound.

The amp has been dependable so far (8 months), like I said a little tube rattle. I would never gig without a back up, I have a solid state piece of crap 30 watt crate that I carry with me just in case disaster strikes. I like the light weight, this makes the amp easy to move and transport. I think the easier it is to move the less chance of dropping it or banging it on something, plus I am lazy. I take care of it and so far it has returned the favor.

I will not rate this. I have a 5 year warranty, hope I never have to use it. Any time I have had to deal with big business customer service its a pain. The store I purchase my equipment from has always gone out of the way to help, so maybe I'll never need Fender.

I've been abusing ears for about 5 years now. I have two other solid state amp, a little 10 watt practice amp in the den with head phones attached. If it were stolen I would move up to a 40 watt tube amp, I love the amp, but there are some really good 40 watt combos out there and I am to the point of needing more stage volume. I have tried and like the Traynor customvalve 40 by Yorkville. They say it is built like a tank. I love the tone and the weight of this amp, not much to hate I knew it was 15 watts when I bought it, and so far thats been ok, it is loud for 15 watts. I compaired it with a Marshall 20 watt tube, and Peavey 30 watt classic. The Marshall is about the same price and weight as the 40 watt version and I think that is a great amp just a bit more $699 than I wanted to spend at the time, and I had a Peavey delta blues and the classic 30 is built the same with a 12" speaker it just seems to be too fragile. For the price and the tone the Blues Jr. is a great little amp. Until the volume starts to hurt me it will be my number 1 amp. If you need a lot of extras this isnt your amp, but if you like simple, good tone, low price, easy to haul amp give this one a try.

Guild 66J Guy, please email me! I also have one!
I have the a tweed Blues Junior version made late 90's. Features are good for a small Tube amp - OK reverb, Fat switch, 3 tone controls volume and master volume. None of these alone will knock your socks off but together they have helped me through some great sounding jam sessions and even light casual gigs. Again, for price and Tube tone, features are good - just good

Play mostly Teles. My '52 reissue just loves this amp. I play mostly rock, Stones stuff etc. This amp has the right power to get raunchy in a garage when cranked. I would prefer more head room (small twin) but again, for the right size room it can be perfect. Someone mentioned a more headroon mod, please email me with details if you can. I use a Fulltone Fulldrive that really pushes this amp over into 'great sounding'. Then again it does that to all amps.

This thing is, of course short of twin headroom which is my ideal. I have a silverface twin as well as some silverface bassmans that I use and love. The BJ is not as clean but does its thing just fine.

Oh, I also own the Tweed Pro Punior (even better deal, rawer sounding) and a Tweed Blues Deluxe (Good headroom but a little sterile sounding). The 90's Retro Fender tweed series, as goofy as it was, produced some decent sounding good value amps. Especially when they stopped selling and prices fell.

Over all can't beat the price performance ratio can ya.

Has been reliable. I should probable change tubes about now huh?
The Pro Junior has gone micophonic. The input jacks are less that sturdy on all of these 90's series amp.

Never dealt with them

Over all I would say this has been a very good purchase. Considering that I have other small to medium size amps and this is the one that goes with me most of the time to garage jams I would say it is up there in value to me. I should give my Mesa Boogie Studio 22 a chance though.

Love the weight, sound, features,
Don't like the input jacks, tweed has beer rings on top

2002 model. I bought this for playing mostly blues and jazz which it does really well.I can get good rock tones as well.You should know all of the features by now. Not to many features but thats not what its about. It would be nice if it had a 4 olm extension speaker jack so you could hook up another cab while using its own speaker in the amp.The reverb is good enough for me and if I want more gain I use my tube screamer(ts9dx).I use this amp mainly for practice but used it at a jam session for blues,Hendrix,Cream,and some ZZ-top.We video taped our jam and I was impressed at how good my tone sounded and how it cut through the mix.This is the loudest 15 watt amp I have heard.Its louder than my superchamp and that sucker is pretty loud. Could also use a standbuy switch.

I mainly use a strat ultra w/ lace sensors.Also sounds great with my Ibanez as120(poor mans 335)and Les Paul custom.My amp is not noisy.For clean I turn the master all the way up and set the volume between 2 and 4.If it starts to break up I turn the volume on my axe down and it cleans up.To get some smooth distortion I crank the volume all the way up,push the fat,and use the master.I also use a tube screamer for that extra push.You deffenitly need a pedal for hard rock or metal.THIS IS NOT A HIGH GAIN AMP!!TRY B/4 YOU BUY.WHY WOULD YOU BUY AN AMP WITHOUT SPENDING SOME TIME PLAYING IT!!??QUIT WHINING!!Also,the speaker needs to be broken in so crank it for a week and leave it on for several hours so it can "burn in".If its going to break its more likley to break during this time.

I don't abuse my gear so It should last.You have to handle tube amps with care and replace the tubes when needed.I would gig with this amp but would also bring a backup.I always bring an extra guitar with me as well.

never had to deal with fender.I did have to have the input jack replaced on my solid state princeton 112 plus under warranty at guitar center.Warranty on Jr. is 5 years.

I have been playing for 24 years. Also have mesa mk4 widebody combo with extension cab,superchamp,and princeton 112plus. I have known about this amp for a long time and always wanted one. I am glad I finally got one. Very light,loud,and has good tone. The guy below me should stick to his galaxy.I know they use to make good CB radios. If stolen,I would buy another.

YOU ALL KNOW EM , MASTER , REVERB, VOLUME , BASS, TREBLE, MIDS, BLAH BLAH , FAT SWITCH .

I'M USING A 50'S REISSUE STRAT WITH A JR JB IN THE BRIDGE AND A 70'S REISSUE STRAT STOCK . MY STYLES RANGE FROM JIMI TO NIRVANA . IT'S NOISEY . REVERB SOUNDS LIKE IT'S ALWAYS ON NOT MUCH CHANGE FROM 1 TO 12 OR NOT ON FOR THAT MATTER. CLEAN CHANNEL MASTER UP NORMAL OVERDRIVE AT 10 AND VOLUME AT 2 FOR BASEMENT PRACTICE SESSIONS .
IT SOUNDS BETTER THAN MY OTHER AMPS BUT YET IT SHOULD SOUND BETTER NOT JUST BETTER A LOT BETTER BUT FALLS SHORT WAY SHORT. MY OTHER AMPS ARE A VIBRO WITH A CRAP NO NAME SPEAKER AND GALAXIE 10 (CHAMPISH 2 TUBER).I DEFINITELY BE PISSED IF MY GALAXIE WAS TAKEN AND THE JR WASN'T.

I'VE HAD 4 OF THESE BABIES ON MY 4TH ONE. THESE THINGS ARE PEICE OF SHI!. I WISH I BOUGHT A HELLHOUND OR SOMETHING ELSE . THE FIRST ONE BLEY THE HELL UP ON 2 . THE SECOND ONE THE REVERB DIDN'T WORK OR SOUNDED FAINT AND LIKE IT WAS ALWAYS ON OR SOMETHING LIKE MY PRESENT ONE AND YES OFCOURSE IT HAD THE HISS. 3RD ONE POPPED THE F'NG CAP THE SECOND TIME I TURNED IT ON . I WENT TO BED THAT NIGHT SO HAPPY AFTER I PLAYED WITH IT THINKING IT WAS SO NICE THE REVERB WORKED SOUNDED GOOD FOR STOCK NEXT DAY PLUG IT IN FLIP THE SWITCH AND POP . I THOUGHT IT CAN'T BE IT'S MY THIRD ONE COMMON NOT POSSIBLE RIGHT . NOPE I TRIED TO PLAY IT SOUNDED WORST THAN ME WHEN I EAT BIG 3 POUND BURRITO . A BIG FART . TOOK IT BACK GUITAR CENTER ORDERED ANOTHER REMIND YOU THE 4TH ONE FELT BAD BUT SHIT THESE AMPS SUCK , THANK GOD I DIDN'T PAY FULL PRICE. THE LAST BUT NOT LEAST SOUNDS LIKE NUMBER 2 AMP REVERB WEEK AND HISSY AND SOUNDS LIKE THE SAME 0 THRU 12 .

GUITAR CENTER ONLY TOOK IT BACK 3 TIMES . I CALLED THE FENDER REPAIR AND THEY SAID THEY TAKE CARE OF IT BUT I HAD THEM ORDER ANOTHER INSTEAD SHIT ATLEAST I GOT 3 SETS OF HANGTAGS HUH . SMALL COMPENSATION BELEIVE HELL I KEPT EM ALL THERE JUST SENDING THE OTHER ONES BACK ANYWAY

1 YEAR, COUPLE STRATS AND A STANDARD LIKE EVERYONE ELSE , I WOULD NEVER BUY THIS AMP AGAIN . LOVE THE WAY IT SOUNDS WHEN IT SOUNDS RIGHT BUT THAT HASN'T HAPPENED VERY OFTEN. I CHOOSE IT CAUSE IT WAS FENDER - MY BAD. I WISH THE DAMN THING WORKED LIKE IT SUPPOSE TOO.
DON'T BUY ONE OF THESE ATLEAST NOT FROM 2002 YEAR THESE ARE AWFULL I TALKED THE GUY AT GUITAR CENTER AND HE TOLD ME PEOPLE WERE TAKEN THESE BACK ALL OVER HE SAID GUITAR CENTER IN DETROIT HAD 5 RETURNED . I CHECKED OUT MY SOCKETS THERE ALL PUSHING WELL 120 WITH A VOLT TESTER . THESE THINGS SUCK , GET YOUR MONEY FOR IT WHILE YOU CAN THEY WON'T LAST AND YOU'LL BE REPAIRING THEM QUITE A LOT . SHIT GIVE A VOX CAMBRIDGE YEAH THEY SUCK BUT NEVERMIND THOSE SUCK TOO I TAKE MY VIBRO AND GALAXY OVER THESE ANYDAY .

Has simple features, with a warm overdrive that provides the player with the option of using another preamp without all the noise, and still use the overdrive to "thicken" up the sound

Sorry for all you negative people. This thing sounds amazing. I have an Epiphone les paul with Seymour Duncan vintage PAF pickups. Ooooh man does thing sound great. Much better than the peavey classic 30 or any thing in its quality / price range and certainly better than any solid state!

How could anyone be disappointed with this sound.

Have not had it long enough to tell. ut I will say, the tubes do not look as if they are in there real tight.

Have not tred customer support yet.

By far, the sound of this thing makes up for any weakness!

The features on this amp qre quite impressive given the size and price. Plenty of power for what I use it for, which is playing in my aprtment.

I think this amp sounds fairly good. However, I was stunned when my friend brought over his recently purchased Peavey classic 30. I compared the two and was astonished at how much better the Peavey sounded. The Blues Jr sounded flat compared to the classic 30, much more headroom in the Peavey. Also, the reverb in the Blues Jr is not very good for the music I play. If you play country or blues where you snap the strings and immediately mute the note, the decay on the reverb sound too 'boingy'. I know, that is not the best word to describe it, but that is what it sounds like! :) Anyways, not all Fender reverbs are the same. If you generally play chords, or don't snap the strings perhaps it is ok for you. It does not satisfy me so I play without the reverb on this thing.

No problems after one year of use.

I agree with some of the other contributers to H.C. Fender has become this giant uber-company! I think they charge a little too much for their massed produced products, especially in light of their recent 'cost cutting' measures i.e. farming out much of the work to cheap Mexican labor and using cheap Chinese parts. Those measures don't necessarily mean the end product is bad. I'm sure skilled Mexican labor can produce better quality instruments than those 'skilled' Americans who produced those crappy mid-seventies to mid-eighties Fender electrics.

It is a pretty good practice amp. It might be ok for light gigging. I wish I had tried out the Peavey Classic 30 first however. I must admit, I did not even think of trying the Peavey because of the name! That might sound silly, but I think many of us are driven by brand name loyalty. Next time, if there is a next time, I will try to be a little more objective and give some other brands a try.

Standard Blues Junior.
I play mostly jazz and blues.
Wish it had a standby switch, a second channel with sufficient distortion, and an effects loop.
Great power and sound for 15 watts.

The amp is used with an American Strat, Hamer Studio Custom, and a Heritage 575 Custom.
Clean channel is great, almost vintage in sound. The FAT option adds very little gain until the volume levels reach an uncomfortable level. I found that an Ibanez Tubescreamer really helps if you're looking for distortion from this amp.

I've had the amp 2 months, and it's been great. Very well made, no vibrations or unwanted sounds.

Have not had the opportunity to deal with Fender, however, I bought the amp at Guitar Center, and those folks have actually been great to deal with.

Great amp for the money and the wattage. I definately recommend that you give it a listen if you are interested in a tube amp in that price range.

You know the features by now. My brief comments. The tone controls basically toggle between 3 states: off, medium, full. If you want more control, it's pedal time. Reverb: on low, it is fine in taking the dry out of the sound; on medium to high, it a noisy tinny sounding reverb. If you need deep reverb, again, it's pedal time, but used sparingly, it does ok.

The master & volume switches are remarkably responsive -- making it very easy to get just the right amount of distortion. Makes this blue junky very happy. For that very reason, I'm not a fan of the fat switch, but there are some that love it. Fine with me.

Wish list: One more input & a Headphone jack. That's it for this amp which really is supposed to be your basic tube amp.

I'll state the obvious: this is a basic, low cost tube amp. Vintage tube amp (I do have a Guild 66J) this ain't. But after the break in period for the speaker & tubes, it is a warmer tube sound than you'll ever get with a solid state amp. As with any amp, you need a few days for the speaker & tubes to break in before the real sound comes out. I judge the clean sound to be a little on the thin side, but the disortion, well I like a silky smooth distortion sound -- a low key growl -- and this amp does that just fine. Apt dwellers will appreciate that you can smooth distortion at low volume.
I plugged the blues jr into my Guild's speaker for shits & grins. I don't get the amazing transformation some claim in this section. A difference, yes, but I really recommend that you wait for the stock speaker to break in, then if you still want more, bring the amp into a good store and try out the new speakers there before buying. I did replace the preamp tubes with broken-in electro-harmonix tubes - and that made a nice sublte difference to the smoothness, but on that I say that the amp is obviously made to get good sound out of the stock groove tubes.

Get back to you in a few years about this.

Dunno. I am happy that the tubes are easy to get at. And with such a popular model, well, what store can't service this amp?

5 year warranty.

Good value for the money. Look, just play the thing in the store, and you'll know in a five minutes what you're getting. Some praise it at 10, I think that's generous to a fault. But I'm not going to lug my Guild outside the house ever. This amp I'll proudly take anywhere -- it sounds very nice and is easy on my wallet. A no brainer purchase to me.

I believe this is a 2001 model. I bought it used and the owner said it was less than a year old. I play light jazz and blues, and this little amp fits my styles perfectly. It's your basic volume, bass, treble, mid, volume, gain, but it has no Standby switch, which I wish it had. It has a Fat button, and I leave it on. Right now I use it at home. For a 15 watt amp, it gets pretty loud.

I use an Ibanez AS80, Washburn Nuno and Fender strat - all with Bill Lawrence pickups. The Blues Jr. gives me a nice clean sound when I play jazz, and it gives me a good crunch when I turn it up a bit.
Before I bought the Jr., I read the reviews on HC. Alot of them said to change the tubes and speaker. The stock speaker wasn't bad. But I went ahead and put in a Celestion Vintage 30 and some JJ/Tesla tubes. And they were right. The sound is fatter and louder. It's not a huge difference, but there is an improvement. With the stock speaker and tubes I would rate this an 8. With the new speaker and tubes this is definitely a 10.

I haven't had it very long.

I've dealt with Fender before, and they were very helpful.

I've been playing for about 35 years. I also own a Peavey Delta Blues 210. I've been using the Jr. quite a bit. I would definitely get this amp again if it were lost or stolen. The sound is great. I really can't fault this amp because I was looking for a small tube amp, and this one gives me the sound I was looking for - especially with the V30 speaker and JJ tubes. I didn't compare it with other small amps, but I like Fender.

I changed the speaker to a Celestion Vintage 30 based on the recommendations of HC reviewers on this amp. The amp is slightly louder with a little more sonic detail. I wouldn't say the sonic improvement is as drastic as other reviewers claim. I would say the improvement is subtle at best. My point is that the stock speaker still sounds good. In fact, I may put the stock speaker back in because last Saturday night I was told to turn down by the soundman when playing at my usual settings of master-7 and pre-4. It's hard to believe that a 15 watt tube amp is still too loud even for a moderate sized club with 1,400 people in it. I guess I need a 10 watt tube amp to get the right tone without being too loud for the mix.

Very reliable so far. I've had been using this amp live for about 1.5 years. I usually play with the master around 6 to 7. It hasn't blown up yet.

It's the "most bang for the buck" in the low powered tube amp market right now. It has great tone and reliability. The stock speaker is good contrary to what other reviewers claim. I switched to a Celestion Vintage 30 and achieved minimal sonic improvements.
Also, ignore the HC reviewer that tells you to take one of the power tubes out to get the "cranked tone". This only works with class A/B amps not class A amps. It can cause some damage in a class A amp.

Best features are:-

weight (light)
size (small)
tone (all valve vintage creamy fender)
poke ( very loud 15 watts)
looks ( retro - looks like it should have been coupled up to a 16mm projector 50 yrs ago)
This is a very basic amp bought for size and tone alone.
Bought it new - Standard retail UK price is #399 pounds,

Tone quest - vintage 50s/60s big round creamy fender, on the clean side and ever so slightly overdriven.
Play R&B. On this amp I get close to it all with single coil tele. I set the jnr with master on 12 and volume(gain) to control loudness and to get cleanest headroom I can. eg.- vol (gain) 3.5, fat on, treb 8.5, bass 5.5 , midd 2.5 , master 12 , 1.5 reverb nice mix and nice level for practice.
Not as noisy as some other amps - no noise on the reverb ( hardly use anyway) and good job too! because it is the weakest link in this otherwise very sophisticated amp.
in terms of variety of sounds - It is a one trick pony - pure fender vintage creamy tone - for anything else, I would look else where.

It is too good for its own good!
Straight out of the box it oozes great tone - easy to forget it is a practice amp.
I wish a bassman could sound like this but with all the extra power. But the valves can easily be improved on - Its good with stock tubes but with NOS GEs its extremely exciting well worth it makes it into a little super star amp - all who have heard it have been stopped in their tracks.

For everything you ever wanted to know about valves but were too afraid to ask look at:-
www.watfordvalves.com and navigate to the 'reviews' - you will be educated.

It is too powerful for its own good and because it is a little amp it will tend to get over cranked.
Don't agree with anyone who says the speaker is crap it is wonderful at moderate volume levels (what it is designed to do) it delivers a massive warm creamy tone and crisp at the same time. The pay back on good low vol is, disaster when at the other end.
The speaker can't handle this amp with the volume (gain) and master both cranked. In fact not many speakers can - not even an 80 w cellestian century - tried it. The bass signal is so massive I get bass flap at a very early stage of break-up . Its probably key to magic formula of this amp - all part of the massive, clean, creamy tone up to half power.

The leaps from clean to slightly overdriven to meltdown are not too far apart - it is possible to gain some head room by backing off the tone knobs - but not much - Fat goes nasty when cranked at all.
BUT at half gain / full master, it is surprisingly loud - loud enough to drown a drummer - Loud enough to gig with your practice amp - The loudest that I have got an acceptable tone from this amp is: - vol (gain) 6.5, fat off, treb 5, bass 3 , midd 2 , master 12 . It is loud for a little amp.
This might improve with a speaker that can handle bass flap better(but at what cost at low vol ?).

Upgrading valves to NOS GE's was really worth it -The transformation is remarkable - even more massive creamy tone but now with splashy colour throughout and so exciting to play through -it has made a very good amp into a very, very, very special amp. - all the crispness and brightness hangs on a massive, deep, velvet, warm, wall of tone.

Because there is some untappable power there it is tempting to try to get at it. -Through an external cab.
experiments to date are thus-

Tried cellestian centuries, but still had a flappy bottom end and so bright it curdles the cream.
I told Dr decibel at cellestian about it and got a reply that the Classic Lead 80 is their best for handling fender bottom end signal.
It is better on a pair of ancient Goodmans but I want to try the Jensen C12K which is supposed to handle bottom end flap - It might reach parts of this amp that no others can and then with a cab go even louder for gigs.
I notice the Gallagher bros have been using one each mounted on 4x12 cabs - if they can gig with them anyone can and why gig with a practice amp? - because this one sounds fantastic.

Its new so I don't know
I will still use a bassman when the jnr is not quite loud enough.

1 yr warranty in the uk though.
And a Fender customer services in the UK seems not to exist and so for this section I get the hammer out.

It compliments a 50 w 1970 Bassman head on a 2 x 12 Goodmans cab.
The jnr has inspired me to make a better cab but still not though quite sure which speakers
probably Jensen C12K because I want to know what the jnr sounds like when the bass end is handled properly at volume.
For my tone quest one of the best sounds around.
I have to keep reminding myself it is a little practice amp.

Mine was made in 1999 and I bought it used on ebay. It's your basic amp w/ preamp & power volume (separately), bass, mid, and treble, reverb, and this stupid thing they call a FAT switch. Whatever you do don't touch that button! It will destroy any semblance of tone thus far created. It stands for Fender All Tube. They should have called it the mud switch.

For a simple amp, this has all the stuff you need. If you want channel switching or a full spring reverb, buy something else. (Really, I don't understand people who wish their equipment had other features (except budgetary constraints). If you want a Boogie 3 channel, buy a Boogie 3 channel - buy it used if new is too much. Sheesh! Lesson: do your research ahead of time, and buy what you want.)

I play it at home, so it's a good size. 15W of tube (12ax7, EL84's) which is really loud (so don't compare it to solid state of the same wattage.)

I think the tubes and the speaker are average. These components don't cost very much, so I am surprised that Fender uses them.

One feature I don't understand is the placement of the controls. They're on the top in back. I know this is a "classic" look. But it was stupid then, and it's stupid now. Who stands behind their amp? You have to read everything upside down. We should be able to evolve the design, don't you think?

I play a Gibson ES335 primarily, and also a Les Paul. My style is mainly blues (SRV, three Kings, etc.) and jazz, but I also like to get my agressions out and play some Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. So my style is pretty wide ranging.

The problem I have with this amp is that I just bought a '64 Blackface Champ, and by comparison it's hard to be fair anymore.

But just on its own, for the price it sounds fine. It's got tubes! Better than that solid state mush or that mealy mouthed modelling stuff. 3 x 12AX7, 2 x EL84 tubes give a pretty good response. I can't blast off into real distortion heaven - my wife would kill me - so I can't speak to the high volumes. But I suspect that it would sound better as it heats up.

My complaints really arose when I got my Champ. The Blues Junior really sounds too shrill and the preamp gain is kinda harsh by comparison. I like the EL84 sound. I think the real culprit is the speaker. I have heard in other reviews that you should replace the speaker. But I don't advise that (See "wishing for features" above).

So it sounds good for the price. But it is a really good price! So it sounds good!

One exception - The reverb sucks! First is the noise. It's awful. Second, there is really no difference between 2 and 12 (their knobs go to 12). It all sounds like you're playing out of a tin can. For Fender, known for their reverb, this is a big disappointment. So I play w/o it.

It seems reliable to me. Then again, I don't beat the crap out of my gear.

Note: the reverb sucks reliably.

Don't know. Haven't dealt with them.

First and foremost, it is important to realize that this is a cheap amp. This is not a Matchless, or a Dr. Z, or a vintage tweed Princeton. For what it is, it's pretty good. Yes - the reverb isn't great. Yes - the speaker is a little disappointing. But now you're getting into different amp territory.

I think this is the perfect low end tube amp (if you're a gain freak - get a stomp box). I challenge anyone to find an amp this good for the price. For an entry level - you could do a lot worse.

I purchased this new about nine months ago and immediately put NOS Mullard CV4004 in position 1 and NOS JAN Philips for the rest of the pre-amp section, NOS Philips EL-84s and a Weber P12B Bluedog I didn't want alot of feature so I won't give a rating.

I use the amp with a MIM Strat with SD Nashville single coils and a SD Little 59 in the bridge. I play strictly blues. To my ear other than volume considerations the amp sounds great. One thing I should mention was that I wanted a small amp that I could occasionally play a small room with. I haven't played out in 25 years and haven't had an amp since then. I needed small and something I could tell the wife was cheap, then quitely loaded it with the NOS tubes and Weber Bluedog to go the Vox/Marshall Bluesbreaker direction and maximize the sound quality. I used to own a 57 Les Paul w/ 3 PAFs and a 69 Twin and then a 50W Marshall 1/2 stack so I have had some good equipment. To my ear this amp sounds great, sweeter than the Marshall and breaks up better than the Twin which had JBLs that never seemed to want to breakup.I get a very sweet yet gutsy blues tone that I like alot, this amp works very well with the single coils and the Little 59. The 59 gets a credible Duane Allman tone and the Nashvilles get great blues and almost Tele country sounds.I do use a Tubescreamer and do not play it clean. I don't think the amp is very versatile but it say Blues Jr, so I expected a small potable bulues amp. Overall I did replace the input jack which was cheap and had some foam done around the cabinet which rattled and did put expensive tubes and an expensive speaker, but it fools the wife and sounds very nice total about $800.00. Yes I could have bought a used boutique amps but it would not have gotten past the warden so this is a special aplication amp for me. Funny thing my MIM Strat with good PUPs and this amp are as satisfying to me as my 57 LP w/ PAFs and the Marshall, OK I do miss the Les Paul but I find thr Strat much easier to play and get some great tones out of it. I give a 10 because it solved my problem completely but that said perhaps a Top Hat or a Tone King is better but for me in my situation I reaaly don't care since this thing gets some great tones.

Construction could be better but it continues to work

No contact w/ Fender

I give it a 10 because it solved my problem: a small amp I could get past the wife that I can use in a small club although I wish it had just a touch more volume, reverb in only fair but I don't surf and use it just to get a little dryness out. Very nice tones, easy to carry. To do better I would have to look at a Top Hat or Victoria IMHO

I have a '98 or so Blues Junior (I got it in very early '99 I think). 1x12" speaker (Eminence designed to Fender specs)combo, black tolex covering, 1 channel with reverb (small tank accutronics), 3-band eq, volume, master volume and a "fat" switch. It uses 3 12AX7s and 2 EL84s (russian made sovtek/groove tubes stock). Solid state rectifier and reverb circuit. It pumps 15 pretty loud watts.

A lot of the detials of the specs I'll get to in sound. For here I'll just say that for under $400 getting a tube amp with master volume. For the price the features are good. However depending on how discriminating you are there can be a lot lacking. As such I'll give it a 5. I don't think there are essential features missing that prevent this from being useful, but we all want more goodies don't we?

This is where it gets nasty. A LOT of people weigh in here on this amp. Some swear it's like the second coming and others find it to be the "Ishtar" of amps. For those not in the know "Ishtar" was a huge box-office flop in the 80's.

There are a LOT of considerations when rating the tone for this amp and the sounds. And of course it's only an opinion in any case.

When reviewing the sounds there are a couple of contexts that this amp can be considered under. First is reviewing the amp as it comes from the factory or with modifications. Second is reviewing the amp in regards to its price range or against vitage Fender models, current re-issues, and of course boutique amps.

Personally I ALWAYS keep in mind that this is under $500 while most things people seem to want to compare it to run much closer to $1000 and up. There is also the issue of tonal upgrades on amps, especially the Blue Junior. A LOT of amps ship with components that could be better. So do guitars. Until you pay over a grand for something expect that there are component upgrades you can make (or that you're giving up features).

I've heard of people modding Bassman and Deluxe Reverb ri's, including subbing speakers and tubes. So I think it stands to reason that if one can sub for supposedly spot on reissues (which of course they aren't and Fender admits this but not always loudly), then one can asssume that to get the most out of a cheaper amp some upgrading might be necessary.

So I'll talk about the gear the components and then get to the sounds. Firstly like many people who have reviewed this amp the speaker and cab combination isn't very good. This means you should run a 2x12" cab or whatever you prefer insetad of the internal speaker. You can also replace the speaker for when you don't have access to another cab. But let me set the record straight on Eminence. Yeah they make the speaker in the amp, but they make it to Fender's specs. A LOT of amp makers, even some boutique manbufacturers, use Eminence produced speakers. Eminence makes tons of speakers under their name and others. They are not to blame. Fender is. They cut a corner on the speaker. But for $50-$100 you can put in something much better. I chose a Mojo-Tone Black Beauty and am happy with it. I know a lot of people are happy with Webers but I went my way. And the speaker is made by Eminence btw, but it sounds and just LOOKS better than the stock one. A MUCH bigger magnet too.

The next issue is the tubes. I HATE Groove Tubes. They have a big name but all they do it re-label other manufacturer's stock anyway. I haven't changed the power tubes yet, but I'm going to put JJ/Tesla's in based on other reviews. And for the pre-amp tubes I am experimenting but a straight bunch of Electro Harmonix or JJ/Tesla 12AX7s helps a lot over the GT's. From there you can experiment with using NOS or different types of tubes (U's, T's, Y's) for what you're looking for. Getting new tubes for this puppy and getting it biased might run $50. A worthy investment if you ask me.

Another thing people speak about is the reverb. Is the circuit noisy? On mine yes it is, although I can live with it and I don't think it interferes with what one hears when I play. Is the sound big and lush? No. And quite honestly I find it hard to believe it is on any, although there have been several productiion differences. You're only going to get so much reverb from a short accutronics tank. And so you know the cab is about 1.5-2" too small for a full size reverb. If you want the big 'verb, Fender wants the big $. That's how I read that one. That said for me the reverb is useful to take the "dry" off the signal, but whether it's at 2 or at 10 it doesn't do much more than that really, and the noise is pretty much ever present too. It's workable for the price though. And let's be honest some of Fender's best known amps are known for their reverb. If they ga

It works fine. It's taken a few knocks. When I hit the switch it works. And there's a warranty. I'm not worried. And let's be honest this isn't a huge investment comparatively. Not that I have the scratch for boutique amps. But this isn't going to be a disaster if it fails to work one day.

Never tried.

Okay I'll give the amp an 8 overall. Why? Because FOR THE PRICE it does a lot. And let's be honest, very few people feel that ONLY 1 guitar or ONLY 1 amp fits their bill tone-wise. I feel the value of this amp is that you get a reasonable palette of sounds (clean, breaking up, overdrive) in the "American" vein for a VERY good price. Additionally depending on your needs and desires this amp can be made to sound quite a bit better for a moderate (33% cost of the amp) investment. In a boutique amp to have to upgrade would be ridiculously. For the cost though, changing the tubes and speaker don't really move the amp up to the next price point. I think it can be a VERY serviceable amp for home practice, recording (assuming you know HOW to use studio equipment) and some gigging needs (unless you've got a full pedal board I wouldn't suggest this if you need tons of sounds, but it can work well at gig where only 1 type of sound is needed, and if you float between blues and rock consider tube swapping based on the gig). Where I think you might want to hesitate on getting the amp and upgrading is if you're thinking of putting a $200 celestion and NOS tubes such as Mullards or Telfunkens into this amp. Then you're essentially doubling the cost of the equipment (with Telefunkens running $100), and to me when you start hitting $800 or so you're putting yourself into a different price bracket and might want to shop around some more.

The other thing I have to say is that everyone's ears are different. An experience guitarist can hear things others will not, both in terms of more novice guitarists and in terms of audiences for gigging. Let's face it, when you first heard you're favorite record were you thinking "if only the highs weren't quite so harsh"? Probably not. If you are a tone freak (you know if you are or not) this may well not be the amp for you. Must people gushing about it find it to be unbelievable that a solid tube amp, which can do so much, is so cheap. And space, volume, financial and other considerations might choose some people to choose this over a classic blackface or tweed reissue.

However if you want a flexible, cheap (considering how things are these days), and manageable (volume and portability) amp the Blues Junior could be your thing.

If mine were lost or stolen and my $ situation was no different I'd get another one. If my $ situation were better I'd probably take a step up and find something else. Either way I'd be sad though. But without Telefunken's or Mullards I don't think it's worth it to steal one of these anyway. Tweed Champs are worth more and smaller, and hopefully thieves know that (apart from when it comes to my Champ that is).

Marty Wallace gave a nice review below mine. I just bought my Blues Junior new. The features are as everyone says. For my needs it's versatile enough. I would say that the only thing this amp lacks is a speaker out jack for hooking up to an external speaker, but then again, you can still do this by simply unplugging the existing speaker and plugging the external into it's jack. I appreciate this little amp for what it is: little.

I play mostly Strats, Les Pauls, a hollowbody Jazz box, and soon I'll add a Telecaster. I like the way this amp sounds with either humbuckers or single coils. I play a wide range of rock styles with my band through Mesa Rectoverbs, but have an alter-ego for Soft Jazz, Swing Jazz, and Blues. I wanted a small portable amp that I could use to do basement jams in a 4-piece Swing Jazz group on Sunday afternoons, including my wife who plays piano. This amp is sweet for that. It's loud enough for us to do small gigs, and when I tried plugging it into one of my Mesa 1x12 cabinets, it was simply wonderful. I've tried the Frontman solid state amps, but I hated them. I don't like solid state amps at all. My Blues Jr. had no hiss, but did produce alot of hum when I turned up the reverb. I checked the input jacks to the reverb tank, and they were plugged in backwards, according to both the PC board description, and the Fender schematic (availible at the Fender website). Once I switched the wires (RED goes to IN, BLACK goes to OUT), the reverb was as quiet as a mouse, and where I used to set it on "5", I now barely need to hit "3". Other than this, the amp produces a normal amount of noise only when set to the highest gain settings, especially with single-coil pickups, of course. I like the way the reverb sounds. The tone controls are not as effective as alot of amps these days, but they are effective enough. I haven't cranked it to 10, so I have no issues with the speaker quality. Minus one point because Fender screwed up the reverb wires.

I've only had it about a week, but won't give a crap about reviewing it a year from now anyway. Compared to other amps in the "price versus quality" area, I give this amp a "7". Fender needs to put a thin strip of foam behind the back panel to prevent resonance vibrations at reasonable volumes, and pay more attention to the reverb problems that alot of customers are having for quite some time now.

Can't say about that, but they give you a 5 year warranty on this little beast, where Mesa only gives a 1 year warranty on my Rectoverbs, at around $1,300. apiece. I'll rate the Blues Junior on the warranty, because assuming they'll honor it, that's enough for me not to have to worry.

I've owned the Peavey Classic 30 before, and have to say that in comparison, the Blues Junior is a tad pricey by comparison. I feel the quality is slightly lower than the Peavey, but the B.J. sounds much better. Then again, the Peavey costs almost a hundred bucks more, so you can analyze that yourself. I haven't compared warranty's though, which makes a big difference too. Bottom line is, I find the Blues Junior to be a smokin' amp for low volume jams, small gigs, or just simple livingroom practicing. I like it more than the Peavey Classic 30, but the 30 is also a great amp. The B.J has more "shimmer", and a better reverb. If it was lost, stolen, or smashed to betsy, etc., I'd definately buy another in a heartbeat. It's a great amp for sittin' in a chair, drinkin' beers, and playin' some sweet shit 'til 4:00am. I love it, it's a ton of fun for me.

I own one of the blonde tolex models with the leather handle that I bought from MF last year. Probably the best amp in its price range on the market today. Not loaded with features, but it has everything you'll need to get a good tone. Cool retro look, too. The controls work well, particularly the volume and master, which let you dial in the level of overdrive. All tube pre- and power amp sections. On mine, the reverb is quiet and effective - some reviewers have mentioned problems with the 'verb. It's not lush, but it works well enough for my taste. I just leave the Fat switch in the ON position. No mods. I have changed all the tubes to NOS RCA's, which made a noticeable difference in the tone.

I'm giving it a 10 compared to other amps in its class. It won't compete with the expensive gear, but it's great for a compact, low cost amp. Mostly I play classic rock and blues influenced rock. Stones, Pink floyd, VH, Santana, CCR - that kinda stuff. I use a Fender American Std Strat and a PRS CE22. To be honest, the BJ works better with single coils, but the PRS works well enough. The tone is what you'd expect from a Fender tube amp. Good warm clean sound and a smooth overdrive with no harshness at all. And like many other reviewers have mentioned, this little amp has a LOT of volume. I use it on small gigs and it's perfect for that chore. It also records well. But mainly, I use it as a daily practice amp. No effects. I just plug straight in and it works well that way. It gets more use on a consistent basis than any other amp I've owned.

Perfect. I use it a LOT and never had a hint of a problem. I wish everything I owned was this reliable.

I haven't needed any.

I've been playing since 1978, so that means I'm getting close to 40. It also means I've heard a lot of amps over the years and I know what good tone is. My main gig amp is a '59 RI Bassman. I've owned Marshalls, Ampegs, Boogies, and other Fenders. Nowadays, I'm back to the Fender sound, just because it works so well. I have to say that of everything I've owned, the BJ is the best amp for the money. It won't do everything, but no one could expect it to. But if you need a great sounding, easy to carry amp that has capabilities way beyond its specs, this should be on your must play list.

One channel w/ master, volume control. Treble, Middle, and Bass tone controls. Spring reverb.

This is an update to a previous post.
I've a the Blues Jr for about two years now. I've always liked it. Although the amp does not have a what you might call a "pro quality" sound, I still feel it is THE BEST all tube practice amp you can find for the money... and a very affordable, if slightly inferior, alternative to a Princeton Reverb.
That said, about a week ago, I finally got around to trying some different 12ax7 preamp tubes in it, and I have to say the difference is amazing! I tried a few combinations, but finally decided to stick with a Sovtek 5751 in the V1 position, and a Sovtek 12ax7LPS in V2, and an unknown 12ax7wa in V3, and it's like a totally different amp. It totally came alive. Now, it's much more full and shimmery/sparkly sounding.
In an unexpected turn of events, the reverb hiss that's been so annoying since day one is now gone. The reverb is a little more subtle... less surfy... but very nice indeed.
For anyone who has a Blues Jr, and is happy, but not overjoyed with the overall sound, try some different (good quality) pre-amp tubes. I don't think you'll be dissappointed. It still doesn't sound as good as my Silverface Vibrolux Reverb, but it does sound pretty darn nice!

The Blues Jr has been a pretty reliable friend for some time now. I mostly use it as a practice amp. And like I said, I've always been happy with it. I've only used it onstage maybe two or three times. If you are able to mic the amp, it works great, but if the amp is not mic'ed it starts to break up pretty early, and it doesn't seem to sound that hot when you're really pushing it.

n/a

If I lost it, or it got stolen, and I couldn't afford a Princeton Reverb, I'd definitley buy the Blues Jr again. It would tick me off that the price has gone up about $50 since I bought mine, but I'd still pay.
Make no mistake, the Blues Jr is by no means the best amp on the planet, but for the price, you just can't beat it. As far as all-tube amps go, for under $400, there's really not much to compare it to, except maybe the peavey classic 20 (and they don't even make them any more). And even though the classic 20 is supposed to be pretty good, I've got a pretty deeply ingrained fear of peavey products due mainly to the monstrosities they produced in the 1980's.

This is part of the Fat Series, so named because of the Fat switch which gives a louder,"fatter" sound. I find myself always using this switch. The amp is all tube. This amp is loud enough for personal practice or garage band practice, but probably not loud enough for a large club.

This amp can get a decent blues sound but is best suited for the "70's rock guitar" sound made by bands such as Blue Oyster Cult and Heart. I play my Gibson "The Hawk" with two humbuckers through it. For those who want a little heavier distortion(for hard rock/heavy metal), just plug a Boss DS-1 into it and you get all the distortion you want.

So far, this amp has been reliable. I've only owned it for a few weeks though.

There are a lot of Fender service centers around. It has a 5 year warranty.

I've been playing for 13 years and this is the first tube amp I have ever purchased. I have owned amps by Crate,Ampeg, and Fender. I very much like the tube sound over the solid state amps that dominated much of the eighties and nineties metal scene. It is a good practice tube amp for under $500.

I got this one used - I think it's a 1996 model. It's one of the tweeds, which is why I bought it. Same controls and set-up as the others that have been reviewed here. Narrow panel cabinet with a 12 inch speaker (changed to a Jensen C12Q in this one). Chicken head knobs for volume, treble, bass, middle, master, and reverb. Fat switch for slight increase in gain. It runs on three 12ax7a preamp tubes and a pair of EL84 power tubes. One note here: the single input jack is a cheap, cheesy plastic(!) thing that's bound to break with even moderate useage. Do yourself and your amp a favor and get it changed to a REAL input with metal parts. I did and it cost about $30. Well worth it.

Like so many other reviewers have already pointed out, this little amp performs beyond what the specifications would lead you to expect. The BJ definitely has that Fender tube amp tone. With the volume and master controls, you can dial in a pretty broad range of overdrive sounds. I really like the tone of a tube amp when it's just starting to break up a little bit, and the BJ does this well. With the Jensesn speaker installed, this one isn't dark or muddy like some other reviewers have remarked about the stock Emminence speaker. This particular BJ kind of reminds me of a Fender Silverface Deluxe Reverb I used to have. The reverb isn't as deep, but the basic tone is pretty similar. But the most impressive feature of this amp's sound is the volume. I know it's rated at only 15 watts. But it sounds like much more. I don't gig as much as I once did. Mostly these days I fill in about once a month with my old band - which is classic rock, 60's to 80's style. I haven't ever been in a situation where the Blues Jr couldn't handle the task. The other guitarist uses an old Ampeg Reverborocket and the bassist plays through an Ampeg, also. The drummer is moderately loud. The BJ is the lowest powered amp on the stage but it always cuts through loud and clear. I use a Fender American Series Strat and a '52 RI Tele. They both sound perfect through the BJ. In short, a Fender guitar plugged into a Fender tube amp will give you the sound of rock n' roll, guys. There's no magic formula. It's pretty simple. Of course, other guitar/amp combinations will obviously work, too. But, to my ears, they're all more limited.

I've been using it almost daily for the past year and a half. Mostly at home, but occasionally for gigs. I've never had a problem.

I got this used, and I've never needed any service.

I've been playing for nearly 30 years now. And I've owned quite bit of gear in that time. But these days, I'm pretty much back to the basics: a single coils guitar, a cable, and a small tube amp. I went through the typical stage of a Les Paul w/ 5 pedals into a Marshall half stack back in the late 70's/80's. I'm glad those days are behind me. Now, I just haul the guitar in one hand, the BJ in the other, and I'm all set. And the thing is, I KNOW my tone is better now than it was back then. In my opinion, the BJ is the best value on the market. For a very reasonable price, this amp really delivers. Like I said earlier, the plastic input is a possible source of trouble, but if you take care of that, this amp is a compact, lightweight powerhouse.

I just bought mine days ago. It was made in late 2001. You know what this has feature wise, so I'll decline to type all that jazz. I got this so I could avoid schleping around my Bassman and (BIG) 2x12 cab.
So the #1 feature I was after is portability. It gets a 9 (it'd get a 10 if I could stick it in my pocket).

My main instrument is drums. For the past year and a half I have listened to someone else play through a BJr. in a band that plays satirical music ranging from punk to bossa nova, to polka. I have been completely impressed by the range of sounds he has gotten with this amp. Truth be told, he is an amazing guitarist that could make a Teisco sound like an angels harp. I, on the other hand, can make a PRS sound like a p.o.s.
But, back to the matter at hand, the amp never needed to be cranked to 12 at any point (rehersal or gig)to be heard in a 5pc combo. That sold me.
For those interested, I use either a Melody Maker or SG (both w/humbuckers) through this amp. I like the sound just fine. And although my guitar playing is limited both in skill and time having done it, I consider myself to be an expert on what amps should sound like. I've been drumming for over 20 years, and have heard a lot of amps.

I would never gig without a back-up for anything. I've already bought replacement tubes just in case.

A very good friend of mine is an authorized Fender serviceman, so I'd say they're GREAT!

I haven't been playing guitar long at all, but I know a good amp when I hear one. This is a good amp. Are there better ones on the market? Sure, something's always better. If this were lost or stolen I'd either get this or one as easy to use and move. To those who call this a "beginner amp", I really question your limited thinking. A truly good player will sound great through one of these. If you want be a metal-god, get a big obnoxious amp, scoop the mids, and don't ask me to drum for you.

this isnt a feature amp...

Changed the speaker to a Celestion Vintage 30, retubed it with JJ:s from eurotubes.com, This amp now rocks!!!. Defenitly worth every $, The stock speaker is really flabby and lifeless, the tubes suck, So this mod i can really recommend to all blues jr owners, I can now go from really sweet jazz sounds to raw rockn' roll with the master cranked up, incredible headroom for clean sounds.....it suits every need.

never broken down on me

haven't dealt with 'em

Features is nt what I was looking for. Looking for tone. But, as for fearutes, it has very few.

If you are looking for a small amp with great tone, this puppy is for you. Please note that I am a beginning harp player. The clean is vintage creamy Fender and hitting the FAT switch sends you into Chicago-style blues. And, this baby screems!!! It can get a little on the bright side but just keeping thje treb on about 3-5 and all is well. I tried a couple other amps with "Tube Simulation / Emulation" (Crate GFX 30 and the 30 watt Behringer w/effects). The sim/emm have absolutely no comparison to the real thing. Turn in the lows and this baby will growl. You only have one channel so all 15 watts are being used and not split.

I will agree with a couple of the other reviewers though that the speaker leaves a lot to be desired. I think I'll change out the stock speaker for a vintage 12" Jensen which ought to take me down to the Mississippi Delta where they really know how to play the Blues! This amp sounds great though right out of the box.

Have only owned it for a few months. No trouble so far.

NA

As of now, I am in love with this amp. If something happened to it I would buy another in a heartbeat!

Standard and utilitarian, about what you expect in a compact amp in this price range. As other people have said, it would be nice to have an extra speaker line out.

I use two guitars with this amp: a Tele and Strat, both American. Both sound great, but this amp seems to really bring out great sound on the Tele, in particular at the higher volumes. Played through a Boss Blues driver, this sounds like a Pro rig. I play it mostly at home, but have taken it out on occasion to play with friends. It is definitely loud enough to keep up with the drummer.
The real reason for submitting this review is to offer yet another testimonial on how great this amp sounds after replacing the stock speaker with a Celestion G12H. I do think it sounded pretty decent with the stock speaker, but in my opinion the new speaker really moves my sound rating up from about an 8 to a 10. Replacing the speaker was easy, and even kind of fun. If you just bought this amp, I?d recommend playing it for a while with the stock speaker first before rushing out to buy a new expensive speaker; you may actually be very satisfied with the way it sounds stock.

I've owned this amp for about 9 months now, play it every day, and there hasn't been any problems at all...yet.

NA

I've been playing now for about 16 years. I've owned several amps and I think this one may be my favorite because you can play it at lower volumes, too, and it still sounds very good. Who needs a 100 Watt Marshal in your living room at 2:00 AM. I also have a Twin Reverb (a most excellent amp!!!) but it has been gathering some dust lately because its just too loud for home use. I still always use it though when playing with the lads.

My amp was made in 2000 and I bought it used. As for the features, please review the previous submissions. This amp does not have a Headphone Jack or a line out, however, it would be easy to install one. I wired an auxillary output plug for use with another cabinet and it really makes this thing grow up. Just be the impedence matches! I use the amp for performance and for practice at home. I use it for country, fifties rock and blues.

I use a 1952 Fender Telecaster original pickups and a Gibson ES175D. This amp fits my style perfectly and gives a slight amount of breakup at higher volumes. I run the master wide open(12) and then use the gain to vary my volume. I like a clean sound with a slight amount of breakup. For those of you that want this amp to be a Marshall half stack, as is indicated by many of the comments, this is the wrong amp for you. As the name says it is a great blues amp and does not have balls to the walls distortion and overdrive. Keep in mind this is only a 15 watt amp but Fender has managed to make every bit of those 15 watts count. Take this amp and compare it to any other 15 watt amplifier and you will see this is a performing machine. For those of you that do not know how to tell the wattage of an amp and want to compare it with larger wattage amps please consult with a knowledgeable amp man that can explain RMS ratings and then do the side by side comparison. This amp kicks butt over any other 15 watt amp I have ever heard and I have been playing for 38 years and have played through just about every major brand that has come down the road along with some that are no longer around. I had this exposure from working for many years in a music store doing repairs to both amps and intruments. Sounds are subject to each of our likes and dislikes but logic says do not expect this to compare to a Marshall stack, a Rivera 55, or a high wattage Mesa Boogie.

I have not had the amp that long but it seems to be very well made. The input receptacles are cheap though and are attached directly to the board. Compare these receptacles to the ones on a Twin. If the sleeve inside black ring breaks on the recptacle then it can be very expensive to replace the receptacle because it involves board work. I have seen these on other amps put out by Fender and have seen them broken. Trust me--it is expensive to get them repaired.

I have never had to deal with the company as far as being an owner but from a repairman stand point that have been fabulous. They have one of the best warranties in the business and that means they stand behind their product. If you have trouble with one of the service reps then just ask for the supervisor. Make sure you have the proper information when you call such as any modifications you have made to the amp, what the specific problem is and most important be truthful with the service rep. Many times I have seen where somebody brings in an amp for repair and they don't mention that they hooked up multiple cabinets and pushed a 2 ohm load on an amp designed for 8 ohms and then they act as though it was a bad amp. Some people are really born under the sign of idiot. I read of some of the modifications people have made to this amp and I just have to wonder about them. Their amps are going to have a short lifetime and of course they will blame Fender.

This is a great amp that was designed to perform to maximum for a 15 watt amplifier. If it was lost or stolen I would replace it. I chose this amp because it is small and has great sound for the type of music that I play. The only shortcoming besides the input reptacles is the reverb and it is better than some I have heard. I would like to see it have a full pan reverb but that would require a larger cabinet. The amp sounds great with my tele for the country gigs and has enough volume to keep up with much larger amps. My other gear has not importance to my opinion about this amp so I will not list my other gear here. Overall this is a ballsy little amp that if you closed your eyes and just listened to it compared to other 15 watts amps then you would see this is a killer amp for it's size.

This is yet another update. I've been playing around with this amp for some time. I've written on my mods, but to recap, I've put an old no-name alnico speaker in (which made this amp sound 10 times better than with the stock speaker), installed an attentuater and put electro-harmonix pre-amp tubes in.

Here's where I'm adding something new. As with most people, I find out about tube amp sound techniques throught the grapevine. I'm not a techy guru. I found out a trick that completely changed the face of this amp again, and made it into a fire-breathing gain monster. So now I hope to pass it on.

Next time you play, unplug the last El84. This makes your power amp get all the drive, instead of splitting it with the other 84. Turn the volume all the way up, then adjust the master to your liking. With the master on full, it can get a little harsh, but back it off and you're sounding like a marshall (asuming you've changed the speaker). Hope this has helped some people. I know versatility is good, but you normally don't get that with bargain tube amps. That's when you fool around with the mechanics of the amp (to the extent of not damaging it) to get different sounds. Good luck!

Mine is a 2000 model and I have had it since early 2000. This is a tough thing to rate, as some people prefer something simple. Having said that I will agree with some of the other reviewers here and state that a line out or a headphone jack would be nice to have. I don't need or want two channels.

As a strictly very amateur player though, it has most of the features I want or need. It's just a nice, basic amp with a cool vintage vibe at a decent price. I was leaning towards a Deluxe Reverb Reissue, but that was about twice the price of this amp and this does exactly what I need it to do. You may need or want more, my playing is strictly a hobby. I play mostly blues/rock roots standards with some old friends from school once a week, so all I need is a good tone and to be heard.

Anything the amp itself doesn't do, my effects pedal does for me, and I don't use that all that much. I do think I like having the controls on the front of the amp though, but it's nothing I can't live with. If you are playing basic roots rock, it's got enough features. You plug it in, you turn it on and you play. I think too many people expect to get $2000 worth of sound out of a $350 piece of equipment. I'll give it a seven for features because it is basic, isn't real fancy and has no bells and whistles. The coolest thing about it is that the controls all go up to 12, so right there you are one louder then Spinal Tap.

I have a 62 Vintage Strat (I really wanted a Rory Gallagher Custom Shop Tribute Strat but don't have 5K to spend on a guitar), a Jimmie Vaughn Strat, a 50's Classic Tele and a Rickenbacker 320. For me, the sound is perfect. I play mostly rhythm, but do a few leads, and coupled with my Fenders, it sounds good to me.

We play classic roots rock stuff and some country too, with the odd novelty song thrown in just for fun. I put my pedal on full distortion and did my best Husker Du version of Eight Miles High last week, and it handled that okay. It's clean enough for most of my rhythm parts and crunchy and sustained enough for my lead parts.

Mostly I use a Tube Screamer and a Small Clone chorus with it, but not on every song, and occasionally I like to go nuts, and then I use my Zoom GFX-707 to get a few more sounds. That pedal has a lot of sounds I would never even use, but the few I do use are okay. The first time I played with these guys, they all remarked how much they liked the sound of this amp. As far as the speaker replacement thing, maybe I just got lucky and got a good one. It's got enough power to make me heard and it gives me just the amount of overdrive and sustain I need.

I could gig in a small club with it, and let's face it, most people, unless they are musicians themselves, don't know a Fender from a flounder, so no one really gives two craps about what gear you are playing. Most times, we worry more about impressing other players with our gear.

As I said before, I was out to get a Deluxe Reverb, but was having a hard time parting with the scratch for it. A guy started to play some rockabilly on an ES335 through this amp and it just sounded good to me. I tried it out myself and then had one of the salesman play a Strat through it so I could hear it from the other side of the room. I think it's good to do that when buying an amp. Most of the time in a music store you are sitting right on top of the frigging thing and can't hear how it sounds from more than two feet away. I would have loved to have had the Deluxe, but for half the money I got an amp that does what I need it to do. I'll give it an eight since I really like the whole simple, vintage vibe.

This is tough to answer. I only really "play" once a week for about six hours, not counting practice at home, and I am using my headphone amp more and more for that. I have had it for two years now and it's been fine, no problems at all. I can't in all honesty comment on how it might be after gigging a few nights a week with it.

I'm also very anal about all my stuff from cars to guitars and take extra good care of it. You wouldn't believe the shit I get from people on how clean my Jeep Cherokee is. You spend good money for something, and unless your a total nitwit, you take care of it, end of story.

I'll give it an eight since it's been good to me, but depending on your own individual requirements you will proably want to consult with those that play more often, move it around a lot, or get beer spilled all over it when they gig. For me, it's been a good solid peice of equipment.

I have never really dealt with Fender in this area, so I am going to abstain from this one.

I have been playing for a while, but only on a more serious basis the last four years or so. I used to play drums, but drums are a dumb thing to play if you are not in a band, so I decided to become the next great white blues guitarist. Of course, I also wanted to be a cowboy too at another time in my life, so thake that for what it's worth.

My other gear? I have a sunburst 62 American Vintage Strat (gorgeous guitar), an Olympic white Jimmie Vaughn Strat (GREAT guitar for the money), a black Mexican Classic series 50's Telecaster (another GREAT guitar for the money), a black Rickenbacker 320, some cheap japanese acoustic, an Epiphone EB-O bass and an Ampeg BA-110 bass amp. You know how it is, you want at least one of everything.

If it were lost or stolen, I would probably try and go up to the Deluxe or something else like that if I could afford it. If I only had the price of this amp, I would surely buy another one.

What I love about it is that I got a nice vintage looking amp with a nice sound, that matches up nicely with my Fender guitars at a good price. A lot of this stuff is all relative too. I don't play gigs and I don't beat the hell out of it. And I have always preferred basic no frills stuff over fancy schmancy stuff. Simplicity is the key to happiness in this life, grasshopper. If you are a professional musician, maybe this amp isn't for you. Then again, if you are professional and can't afford more than $350 for an amp, maybe you should consider another line of work.

I didn't do a lot of comparison shopping. I knew i wanted a Fender, and again, that's all down to personal preference as much as anything. i have known so many guys that have played Fender amps (mostly Deluxe and Supers) and I just like the sound of a Fender guitar and a Fender amp. That doesn't mean everything else is inferior, it's just what I like, sue me.

I can't say there is anything else I wish it had because I did buy it, so that would make me an asshole (don't say it) for buying something that didn't have everything I wanted when I could have gotten more. I had the money to buy the Deluxe, but I opted to spend less money given the amount and type of playing I do. So it's kind of dumb for me to say I wish it had more when I could have gotten more if I wanted to part with more cash. I got myself an amp that suits my needs perfectly, and I still had another $350 to spend elsewhere. As a Jeep nut, I always have ways to spend money there on suspension lifts, locking diffs, big ass tires, skid plates and all that nonsense. It was a case of spending another $350 not getting me $350 more sound.

What I would like to end with is that I feel these user reviews are great. With the exception of my Rick and acoustic, all the gear I listed has been bought with the help of these reviews. I read a lot of guitar magazine reviews too, but I am much more interested in how someone that actually had to pay their own hard earned cash for something feels about it. Most of us probably have to save for a while to get something, so I value your opinion as much as some guy working for a guitar magazine. It's apples and oranges anyway. I think some of the reviews are totally unrealistic, and again, you can't expect to get more than what you pay for. I read people bitching about cheap guitars, yet cheap guitars are way better today than they were when I was a kid. I would say you have to weigh a lot of factors before you buy anything, so the more info you have, the better off you are.

I think this is a great little amp for the money, but I urge you to seek out unfavorable reviews too and compare them to your own particular needs and wants in a piece of equipment. Good luck in finding your own great amp. 10-4

Mine is a 2001 with blonde tolex/oxblood grille and the leather handle, which gives it a nice vintage look. I've never liked Fender's recent style of black tolex/silver grille on a narrow panel cabinet. Straightforward controls with chicken head knobs, in keeping with the vintage vibe. Three 12ax7a preamp tubes and a pair of el84 power tubes provide 15 watts to a 12 inch speaker. It also has a short reverb tank. A line out jack would be handy, as would an extension speaker jack.

I'd actually rate this a little higher, like an 8 and 1/2, but the ratings don't allow it. Not quite a 9, though. But for the price, it has great tone and volume sufficient for my needs. I play in a 4 piece band (me, bass, keys, drums) and it cuts through nicely. But we play small clubs and we're not a high volume group (which gets us a lot of compliments, BTW).My style is classic rock and blues. I mainly play a Fender '52 RI Tele, but I also use a Gibson LP Studio. Not surprisingly, this amp prefers single coils. Which is OK, since that's my preference, too. The tone reminds of a '59 RI Bassman that I had, only less volume and headroom. Definitely a 'Fender' sound, but maybe a touch darker than what you'd expect. The reverb is sufficient - barely, but it adds some depth to the sound, which is what I want. Not versatile - it really only has two sounds - clean and overdrive. But both are very nice. And let's face it, if you can coax a good tone out of an amp, how much more do you really need?

I've used it a LOT in the past year and it's always been ready to rumble. Never a problem.

I've been playing since 1984, but only got serious about it a couple of years back. But that's long enough to recognize quality gear and to know what good tone is all about. And I've owned a number of amps over the years: Fenders, Marshalls, Ampegs, even a Crate. This is a nice all-around compact combo. Light enough to carry around without strainig yourself. My other amp at present is an Ampeg Jet II reissue. It's similar to the BJ in some respects, but they have quite different sounds. The Ampeg has more headroom and better reverb. The BJ has a much smoother overdriven tone. If I lost it, I'd definitely get another.