Fender Blues Junior

15 watts, single channel, 12" 8 ohm Eminence speaker, one input, Volume (gain), Master volume, Highs, Mids, Lows, "Fat" switch, Reverb, 8 Ohm speaker out, optional footswitch input for "Fat" boost, On/Off switch. A very simple, but versatile amp.

The only thing I wish this amp had was a standby switch and another speaker out. You have to disconnect the internal speaker if you want to use an extension speaker or cab.

I use this primarily with a Fender American Strat HSH (DiMarzio HB at bridge, Seymour Duncan HB at the neck, stock Fender single coil in the middle), Fender American Tele with stock single coils, Gibson Faded SG with stock pickups. I also play a Epiphone Casino with P-90 pickus, and a Gibson LP Studio with stock pickups through it at times.

I play in a Classic Rock band and this is the tone I am after, that late 60's, early 70's overdrive. Think ol' Bad Company. After all these years that is still the overdrive I love, not really a fan of the modern super-distortions.

I might be a little different than most posters here who talk about the great clean tones you can get with this amp. That's absolutely true, you can get pristine, warm cleans, very beautiful with some soul, not dead like so many amps. But I prefer dirty tones, that overdrive of yester-year. I like to crank Volume (which is really your gain)to max (12), and then adjust volume with Master. I usually crank Bass and Mids to max, and set Highs about 6-7. Believe it or not I get a very old school Marshall tone like this. I turn up Master to get the volume I need for solos, then turn down using my guitar's volume to clean up a little for my rhythm sounds.

This amp makes a little noise when Volume and Master are maxed, but really not that much, no problem at all. At lower settings it is very quiet.

If you turn the knobs you can get a lot of different tones out of this amp. I find you have to keep Lows higher than most amps, otherwise this amp can sound smaller or "boxy" as some complain. But with Lows up high it sounds very full. I leave the Fat switch engaged at all times, I just like a fuller sound.

With Volume and Master maxed and my guitars volume maxed you get a very thick, but singing tone great for lead guitar. It has good sustain and sounds very "alive" which is important to me. I like lead guitar to sound on the verge of out of control. I get good harmonics and it's easy to get feedback too. I am kinda in that old Hendrix school, I like my guitar to make some noise when playing lead. For rhythm guitar this is a little too much and you can lose string definition, my Casino with P-90s especially. So I back off my guitar's volume just enough to get a good tight sounding crunch. Sometimes I back the volume off to get a clean setting, but not completely clean at these settings. But that's the way I like it, I like a bit of breakup even playing clean. After all, it's ROCK music!!

So, this amp can get some great Classic Rock overdrive. But you can't get Metal tones or Grunge or any of that stuff. You can do that with pedals though and it sounds great.

The reverb is very good in my opinion, I keep it around 2-3. But you can get some good Surf tones at higher settings. Some complain about the reverb, but I think it is just fine.

After all that, the best thing I can say about this amp is this; I own quite a few amps including a Hot Rod Deluxe, Epi Valve Jr through a 2 X 12 with Celestion Vintage 30s, a Marshall DSL401, and a very old '58 Premier 2 X 8 amp. These are all good sounding amps, but I always come back to the Blues Jr. It just sounds better. In fact when I bought this amp I tried many amps in this size and power range like the Vox, Peavey, Crate (tube) and others. But I kept coming back to the Blues Jr everytime. It is not the perfect amp, such a thing doens't exist, but it is very, very good. I like the old school single channel amp sound, and the Blues Jr does it very well.

My amp has a little problem, I have to make sure the power tubes are seated well before I play or they can make some noise. There might be a short or cold solder, I'm not sure. I have to make sure they are completely vertical. So, before I play I push up on them, and make sure they are vertical. I can play for many hours without a problem. I am not afraid to gig with this amp and have many times. I probably should have taken it back, but I just push on the tubes and play. Other than this minor problem the amp has been problem free. I have owned many Fender amps and they are reliable in my opinion.

I've never contacted Fender, so I can't give an opinion here. 5 year warranty.

I've been playing 36 years, played in bands as a teen, took 20 years off (marriage, family), but have played consistently in bands the last 10 years. I own seven electrics, two acoustics, five amps, and two full PAs, guitar pedals all over the place. If my BJ were lost or stolen, I am not sure if I would buy it again, not because it is not a great amp, but just because I am always trying something new. I have gone through many amps over the years. But, I might. I love that the BJ is a small portable amp (sick of hauling heavy gear) with very good tone at a very affordable price. I have owned many amps that cost more that didn't sound nearly as good.

In it's price range, the Blues Jr is one of the best sounding amps out there. Forget the gadgets, go for the tone!

Ok I'll add my 2 cents. Mine's one of the 2003 models, made in Mexico. Screamin little amp, very portable, plenty of power for practice, mic it for gigs. Not exactly feature-packed, footswitch for boost is about it.

Use with all kinds of guitars. Crank it up, that's where the tone is. Does what it's supposed to do.

Fat button on the panel never worked, footswitch still works tho. Doesn't make a lot of difference anyway. No standby switch so turn the master down until the tubes warm up and they'll last longer. Always take a backup to a gig, are u crazy?

Never dealt with Fender.

Everyone who plays out should have one of these things. Seriously, probably the best size/sound/price ratio of any amp out there. Easy to carry, plenty of tone, not too pricey. I'm a 20+ year player and have all kinds of equipment. I'd buy another one of these tomorrow,

Volume- essentially a gain knob to get some nice crunch paired with a master knob which actually controls the volume so you can get breakup at low volumes or cleans at higher volumes if you want. Also has treble, mid, bass knobs and a "fat" switch. Has a built in spring reverb tank. No standby switch on this 15W all tube amp. There is also a footswitch to control the fat setting (on/off).

I play more alternative rock than anything and it can get some really nice tone. Its good for any kind of rock/blues style. I would not recommend it for metal. It has a slight hum which is to be expected. My Boss DS-1 modded distortion sounds nice through it. I also have a bigger distortion pedal that sounds great through my epiphone valve junior but not through this blues junior. I havent messed with the settings on it yet though. The reverb sounds fantastic; one of the reasons I bought this amp. I usually use an effects chain but I actually prefer to plug straight into this amp because the tone is so nice.

When I got it the reverb tank was broken, which I hear is a very common problem. I ordered a new one for $29.05 so easy fix! Hopefully this new one will last longer (it is the same model; Accutronics 8EB2C1B) because I try to take good care of my stuff. I would imagine if I brought this around to gigs a lot, the reverb tank would likely break again. It takes a reverb pedal well enough though. Obviously, since it's a tube amp, it is more likely to break than a solid state. I definitely would not tour with this amp without a backup, and I would feel more comfortable if I had a backup on any gig.

As a straight up amp, this thing kicks butt. The only reason it is not my main amp is because my Valve Jr takes pedals better. Plugging straight in though, this beats the pants off the Valve Jr. Also; this thing KICKS! It is LOUD!

Single channel, single input with gain and master volume. Three band EQ and a good sounding reverb. The stock tubes and speaker are adequate. Nice compact, lightweight cabinet. There is a FAT switch that adds some fatness to the sound, which I keep on all the time. It has a red indicater lamp. Black tolex, chrome chassis. PCB circuit board populated with average, generic components. Output is a LOUD 15-18 watts. No doubt about it, this is a nicely sized club amp and recording amp with classy features for its price.

I'm using this with a 1986 BOSS ME 5 and a 90s Les Paul Standard, loaded with a 490R and a 498T Gibson pickups. I have played Fender Strats and Telecasters through this too but my Gibby is the main deal.
My present musical project involves a lot of clean rhythm playing in a 4 piece oldies (surf, rockabilly, 60s British and so on) band. We also do a lot of 60s and 70s classic rock (Eagles, Led Zep, Doobies, Santana and so on) so I do use some overdrive and distortion patches for that stuff. Our typical club dates involve medium sized rooms and crowds of 50-100 people. Coffee houses and sports bars/restaurants mainly. I have a 2006 sixty watt Fender Blues DeVille 4 by 10 amp for larger shows. It's a very nice amp too, but our bookings are about 90% smaller rooms so it doesn't get near the playtime that the Blues Junior does.
The Blues Junior is quiet. Even at higher gain levels it is quiet with the Les Paul. I don't use the amp's OD very much but it sounds good enough to use for heavier jams, all by itself. It records
For clean playing the amp has a sweet, fat sound using the ME 5 and the LP guitar. The clean patch on the ME 5 is nothing but pre EQ. No gain, no effects and no compression. Works very well for surf and early British stuff. Very sparkly. I also use a second patch that has a little overdrive but mostly clean tones, for a very slight overdrive. A third patch is decidedly overdriven and a fourth patch is a medium crunch rhythm or solo distortion tone depending on the pickup choice.
The amp stays clean till about 6 on the dial with the clean patches. With the overdrive and crunch patches the amp gives up nice harmonics. No problem with the stock speaker under heavy OD and Distortion.

No problems so far.

I fix my own stuff.

Thirty five year player. I have performed with all manner of gear over the years, in all kinds of bands. The Blues Junior fits into my present scheme of musical expression and I see a place for it after this band is over.
It sounds very, very good and it's light, loud enough and reliable. That's the bottom line, it has all the attributes necessary for the project I'm involved in. It's the right tool for the job I'm doing, you could say.
I would buy this amp again, to use in similar circumstances and I'll be keeping it long after this project is closed out. I'm totally satisfied with it.

I'm a harp player, and don't need many features. My Blues Junior (purchased new in about 2004) has all the features I need. Mainly:
separate volume, and gain controls; and reverb.

I don't see too many reviews here, for the Blues Junior used as a harp amp - but it works very nicely for that. I use a stock Shure 545SD microphone,run through a Lone Wolf harp delay pedal; and have changed some of the tubes (to make the amp a little more harp-friendly). My setup is nothing exotic - but it sounds really good! I've had a couple of much more expensive amps (including a vintage Fender Princeton Reverb), but keep coming back to my little Blues Junior.

I can get plenty of volume to practice with my band; and enough to play small venues, without micing up. For that much volume, the Blues Junior is compact, and not terribly heavy. It's simple; it's not fussy; and it's a bargain, for the money.

My first Blues Junior had a defective reverb unit, and it took forever to get that straightened out. After being in the shop (under warranty) for six weeks - still not repaired - I finally returned it to the dealer, and started all over. I think Fender could have managed the warranty process a lot better.

No problems at all ,since then.

All in all, the Blues Junior is an excellent amplifier, for any but a professional harp player. There are certainly better harp amps out there, but they'll cost you three times as much, and/or require you to fuss around with "vintage".
If my Blues Junior was stolen, I'd go get another, tomorrow.

Clean and overdrive channel. Fairly straight forward 40 watt tube amp. Hard to see the controls with the chrome panel, but I don't do very much changing when I'm playing so that's no problem for me.

I had the stock speaker changed out to a Weber California. For my taste the stock speaker was a too thin for me. I like a more of a bottom end.

I've had the amp for over a year. When I had the speaker changed the repair person let me know that one of the tubes wasn't fully functioning. Other then that no problems.

No contact with customer support.

I use a Gibson 335 Dot Reissue and Gibson Les Paul, so I'm looking for a very old style sound with a lot of bottom end. I use a Keely Mod Blues Driver pedal for overdrive. The overdrive channel requires a lot of volume to get a full overdrive sound. As I'm sure you've read, the amp is very loud. Much more then I expected, but I had played solid state amps before. The overall sound is great, just have to get the volume up a bit to get the amp "in the zone".

Straight forward. No frills. Just what I was looking for.

Using a Gibson 335 Dot Reissue and a Gibson Les Paul. Plenty loud for a jazz trio or quartet for a jazz club. Gets a great clean sound, great range from top to bottom. Reverb is very full. For overdrive I use Keely Mod Blues Driver, which the amp responds to very well. I thought I might have to switch out the stock speaker but it sounds very good.

I bought it used about 9 mos ago and haven't had any problems with it.

No contact with customer service.

I very happy with this amp. I play in situations that require both a clean and overdrive sound and this amp can handle both quite well. I bought this amp because my Blues Deluxe Reissue was too loud for smaller club situations. I would recommend this amp for anyone wanting a very nice tube amp sound.

Simple, Straightforward, and Kick-ass..Just a single channel, but I put a tube screamer in front of it for distortion. It is light and LOUD. Mine is 2006 I think..I bought it new for around $400.

I play a Les Paul BFG, and a Mexican Fender Toronado..The Junior seems to really like the P-90 on the Gibson..The fatness of the pickup and the clean channel seem to like each other. Don't even dream about getting a big overdrive out of this thing..It is a Fender after all..Just use your distortion pedal dujour and you are good to go..

Very Reliable..Over the last two years that is..

Have not had any contact with customer support at all..The 5 year warranty is nice though.

I've been playing for around 35 years..I have a Line 6 Flextone II, a '59 Gibson GA-8 amp, A SWR STRawberry Blonde Acoustic Amp, and a '67 Fender Blackface Bassman with a 2X12 Cab..If I were to add one thing to this nice little amp, (I am nitpicking here) I would want an overdrive channel..I miss my old Peavey Classic 50 sometimes. It weighed a ton though.

Don't know what he/she is smoking but it must be high powered stuff! I refer to the review (?) by Felix the Cat, below. Duuude, get a grip! LMAO!
Okay on the Blues Junior or "BJ" as they say. Features are pretty simple, decent in all respects without any of the BS, which isn't necessary anyway. The cabinet is cool, the speaker is average but nice and the controls are simple. Good sounding Reverb and I think EVERYONE who plays through this has the fat switch on all the time. I must be the last person on earth who finally bought one of these. Doesn't everyone have one? LOL...

Les Paul--->MXR Distortion 3--->Boss Metal Zone--->Blues Junior. I play blues, rock and a few lightweight Metal selections from Van Halen, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, etc. I use the metal zone for heavy crunch and keep the distortion on zero. The MXR is where I get my solo tone and I use it to boost the metal zone too. Using these pedals with the Blues Junior is a breeze and its very easy to get good tone from this amp whether you use pedals or just go straight in. With the metal zone pushed up the Blues Junior produces harmonics at a ridiculous level. On its own the amp wont take you to to metal but its called a BLUES Junior, aint it? I've never played it underwater or in a parallel universe like Felix the Cat but it sounds pretty damned good in this universe! LOL

Be nice to the amp and the amp will be nice to you.

I played on and off in the 70s and 80s. I started playing for a few bands up in the 90s and have been playing shows since then. This amp works really good miked up through the PA or even as a monitor for the stage. I own a few other amps too, that I use for bigger shows that require more power but I always bring this one and have it going nearby to where I stand on stage. This is the perfect little amp for jams, for small coffeehouses or church worship bands. Hey its my favorite amp in my collection and I would buy another one. Yo Felix, good luck with that underwater gig. LOL

Its a simple amp, just the way i like them. the master volume switch is amazing for practicing at home. volume up, master down, and this thing has decent tone at an acceptable volume. By my standards, it does everything i need it to, so it gets a 10

I hate the sound of this amp. All i can hear is mud, mud and more mud. When i buy an amp, i expect to have to tube and re-bias. when i cant hear individual notes in a chord after all that, im pissed. The cleans are very nice but that doesnt compensate for this much suckage. For the price i could have done alot better.

seems reliable enough, though the reverb sucks fat balls

hahaha. talk to fender. surely you jest.

this amp way overpriced. if i was going to have to get it super modded and get a new speaker just to make it passable, then this thing should have been selling for 15$ initially.

Made in Mexico, bought brand new. Single channel, no effect loop, no headphone jack. It has a speaker out on the back that you can use for the speaker inside or for an external cabinet if you feel so inclined. It is certainly powerful enough for anything but maybe an arena, because any place larger than a bar is going to mike your amp no matter what it is, and they only mic one speaker, so in my opinion, it's best to get a small combo like this one instead of a stack. Don't get a stack just because everyone else has one. It's just stack envy. It's also great for recording. I'm giving it a 7 in this category because it has individual preamp (marked "Volume") and power amp (marked "Master") volumes, so you can get tube breakup at lower volumes if you need to. Lord knows it's better than using a DeVille's or a Deluxe's drive channel (yuck!).

I've got a '72 Reissue Thinline Telecaster (it's got humbuckers) with 500k pots (it comes stock with 250k pots, I've no idea why) and a frankenStrat with a stacked neck pickup (sounds great). I replaced the speaker in my Blues Jr. with a Weber Ceramic Blue Dog (only $100!). It's a Greenback copy, but greenbacks nowadays are made in China, while Webers are made right here in the USA. Bottom line: it's a hair better than a greenback. The EQ knobs are a little less responsive than I'd prefer, but you can shape most any tone with this thing, despite that. With the stock speaker, this amp is sort of lackluster. I put the Weber in, though, and it has this fat clean sound, but this kind of cool compressed dirty sound when I turn the preamp up. It's very harmonically rich. I've A/B'd my amp with a stock Blues Jr. (boring), a Blues Jr. with an Eminence Texas Heat (mushy) and one with a Jensen C12Q (too mid-y). Mine is hands down the best. This is my opinion and the opinion of the guy who owned the three Blues Jrs. I A/B'd them with! The Weber speaker also makes it take pedals better.

I can and have used this amp for jazz, blues, country, rock, folk, indie, and yes, even a few types of metal. It delivers.

I think I might do a full retube from Eurotubes. You can order colder tubes, which I think would be better, because the Blues Jr. is fixed bias, and the tubes run kind of hot as it is.

So far so good. Again, it's made in Mexico, so quality control suffers a bit, but it seems to be a workhorse. I've never heard complaints from many other guys I know with Blues Jrs. I did opt to buy it new (even though I'm an avid Craigslister) so I could get the 5-year warranty.

Only time I dealt with Fender is when I asked them if replacing the speaker would void the warranty. Answer: it will not! They were helpful and speedy, so I'll give them a 10.

Pretty solid amp stock, great amp with the new speaker. I'd buy one again if it were stolen, after about a month of crying.

The price paid is the amount the amp, speaker and speaker installation cost me.

Full suite of controls for editing, selecting warp drive factors, bending light and dark matter plus a pre-wired frontal lobotomy dial to remove one's own frontal lobes. Just plug it in and enjoy the inter dimensional aspects of this all tube design. Spark it up, Sparky!

I'm using this with a plastic guitar that I originally bought for my 3-year old daughter Jenny. Once I realized that Hasbro had actually crafted an instrument in the same league as the big guitar manufacturers, I was determined to find an amp worth of the Hasbro "Guitar Hero" model guitar.
Enter the Fender Blues Junior. For starters, the Hasbro's clear nylon strings vibrate and oscillate in perfect harmony with the BJr. So much so that I dialed my pals, Malmstein, Clapton, Satriani and Vai, and said. "Boys! You have GOT to check out this amp!" They had never heard of Fender, but they all had recently replaced all of their guitars with a single Hasbro Guitar Hero! Amazing tone! Ingwie had a pink one with my little pony prints on it. Clapton's had the blue top with the bubbles, as did Stevie Vai. Satch's was custom made for him-all chrome. Fantastic!
Back to the amp: I plugged in the Hasbro and sparked up the BJr. Upon hitting the first note of Flight of the Bumblebee (1/2048th notes) my front door crashed down and hundreds of the world's most beautiful supermodels streamed through the doorway screaming in one chorus: "I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU! I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABIES!! MAKE LOVE TO ME NOW!!!" Wow, I was really surprised. That's how good this amp sounds.

Just to be sure, I had the US Army drive 100 Abrahms M2A Tanks over the amp. Then each tank took turns firing either HE or Sabot rounds at it from a distance of 1 nanometer. Not a scratch on the amp! Wow! This Fender company is good, very good! I never heard of them before but hey, they're rather obscure in the amp business, ya think? I would trust this amp even if the gig was underwater-in the Marianna trench. I will take it with me when I gig in other dimensions or different planets too.

I called Joe Fender and he answered personally. That's good service. I told him that I needed to pay off the national debt so he sent me the cash. Look for the story on CNN: "Fender guitar amp owner pays off 53 trillion in US Treasury debt! Wall street reacts by sending the DOW to 100,000!" No really, this WILL happen. Joe Fender is the greatest.

As an intergalactic phase reversal device it is absolutely un-paralled. Right?

I have had this amp for just over a year now and it is the best "gear" decision I have ever made. I think the features have been covered many times over on this page , so I'll skip them and get on with it. It's dead straight forward. For me this is perfect. An entirely simple set up.

I use an American Standard Stratocater (R/W) and a 60's Classic Tele as back up. They both sound brilliant through this box, although I have never tried anything else other than the Fenders. I use it completely stock, although I see a lot of people have modded theirs. I see no reason - personally - why I should do that, as this amp sounds incredible as it is to me.

For my preference, I keep the fat switch depressed all the time and have the bass set fairly high (10-12) the treble and middle at 12 o clock, and reverb at around 3 to 4. I set the master at full and use the volume to to suit whatever venue; usually no more than 5!! I also use a Fulltone Fat Boost for solos and a Fulltone Supa Trem for extra depth when required.

I use this amp for all my gigs, period - we play bars and fuctions. Anything we get offered. During the summer we played 2 outdoor gigs and this amp was more than capable of holding its own. We miked it to PA as it was a huge affair, but the sound on stage was perfectly adequate, in fact, more than. This amp can actually be too loud in some settings, in the wrong hands of course.

I work in a semi-pro 6 peice band, playing a range of hits from the 1950's & 1960's - Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Otis and Wilson Pickett, through to The Beatles and The Stones. It suits that fine.

What I had originally wanted was a combination of great tone and portability. Well, I got it and have never looked back. I have been told that I may never ever get rid of this amp, whatever comes out!!

Up until now there has been no problems at all. But it is my first tube amp in 25 years of playing, so we'll see. I see no reason for it to fail, however. I treat it with respect and it performs perfectly.

I have never had to deal with Fender. I would just go back to the store I bought it from if I need repairs or advice.

Playing, as I said, for 25 years. Mostly Rock n Roll, blues and 60's soul. I own a Tele and a Strat, and have a hankering for a Rickenbacker 620 when the funds allow!

I would certainly buy another if it were lost or stolen.

What do I love about it? Just it's size and tone, portability. Oh, and it looks nice on stage!

Very cool little amp. 15 watts of tube power, plenty loud, nice compact size, reverb, relatively cheap. Sweet, simple.

One of Fender's best efforts. Humbuckers sound fat and meaty, single coils edgy and twangy. IMHO distortion/overdrive pedals are unnecessary. This thing has a nice growl and scream of its own. Don't strangle it with effects, let it breathe.

The footswitch stopped working. Not a big deal. No other problems in 5 years. Always take a back up to a gig.

Never dealt with them.

Have owed tons of equipment over the past 30 years. This is one amp I would replace literally the next day if it were stolen. One of the best Fender has made in a long time.

Realistically this amp is a "6" or "7" when it comes to features, it is a single channel amp with limited gain. It does not have the "bells and whistles": effects loop, headphone jack, high gain, voicing switches etc. Truth be told it does not need the "bells and whistles" and is one of all time great amps, I highly reccomend it.

Simply this is a great amp, it can compete with amps two or three times its price. I play a strat and a late '70's Ibanez. I use a "tone-bone" for the gritty stuff. The sounds that come out of this amp are sweet. It is "voiced" just right and it is not hard to get a good sound. I had heard that the stock speaker is a bit on the bland side with this in mine I installed a Celestion Vintage 30. It makes a noticable improvement with both clean and dirty tones. The Celestion has a more clear sound in the upper register, clean blues with the neck pick-up on my strat sound clean and strong, 80's metal with my Ibanez sounds convincing. I am impressed with this amp - like I said you can pay twice as much and have nowhere near the clean sound this blues junior has.

Never any problems, mine is a 2003, I bought it used in '06 and have used it quite a bit. I do not gig but I do crank it in the basement. I have heard that they can not sustain exteneded high volume usage - I have had zero problems.

Never called them

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

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

Time will tell.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So far so good. No problems

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

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

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

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

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

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

so far so good

haven't used them

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

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

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

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

nice amp!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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