Fender Blues Junior

Standard EQ, Bass/Mids/Treble
2 Volumes, "Volume" and "Master", which comes in handy for natural distortion.
A "fat" switch, which beefs up the sound, and makes the natural drive more attainable.
1 input jack

I'm a bit of an audiophile, but the tone I want usually has a fair range: so simple amp controls are all I really need. The great thing about the Blues Jr EQ, is that it really compliments your guitar sound, instead of warping it, I love my jaguar tone, and the EQ on the Blues Jr is damn subtle, underlying the original tone of the guitar. I can perfectly tweak it to get what I want. Fuck big, complex EQ'ing, man. This works great.

No other channels for your distortion or anything, but I use pedals for my distortion anyway. Plus, this baby does it's own.

Only 15 watt, but damn it's loud. And hella versatile, and it loves pedals. Suits me fine. Unless you're a metaller or something I guess.

There's a buzz, but that might be my Jaguar (i'm semi-convinced there's a grounding problem in there). The amp breaks up well, so crystal clean tones will only last into a degree of volume. On a bedroom recording level, it does fine. And every now and then I crank it for a bit, just to hear it loud: and christ, this baby is loud, especially for 15 watts. If you want natural distortion, you can turn the "volume" control down, and the "master" control straight up (or you can just turn the whole thing up, but as I said I'm working at home just now), for surprisingly formidable distortion. Beats the hell out of my Boss Drive, I can tell you that.
The sound is warm, very natural and defined. There's a bit of "boxy"ness in there, I think that'll be down to the speaker. I'll think about changing that. I like that Fender tone, so I'll stick with the groove tubes.
It does everything I need to, and sounds mint while it's at it.

I've heard bad things about bias control leading to overheating tubes. Which scared me at first, but at present I rarely gig, so there's not a huge risk just now, and 4 months on there's no trouble. In future though, I'll definitely need to work on the bias, I've heard there's mods you can do. I'll need to sharpen up my practical skills before I try getting into something as complex (to me at least) as an amp.
Otherwise, this feels like it should last well. I'd probably gig with it without a backup.

Never dealt with them.

Been playing for about 3 years. This was my second amp, after my old practice amp (so essentially my first "real" amp). I spent almost a year running around looking for a good amp, went through first Marshall, then Mesa, then Orange, then Vox, back to Marshall, before finally settling on this. Sensibly speaking, I really should have saved cash and gone for a solid state combo like everyone else did, but hell, I wouldnt take it back. I'm not sure if I'm ready to deal with stuff like the bias, I'm pretty terrible with amp mechanics. As it stands though, I'm here with a cute, compact, and gorgeous sounding tube amp.

My setup is usually something like:
Fender Jaguar >> Crybaby Wah >> Boss TU-2 >> ProCo Rat 2 >> Boss SD-1 >> Electro Harmonix Small Stone >> Boss DD-6 Delay >> Fender Blues Junior.

Never sounded sweeter. I'm no veteran authority on amp sound and guitar tone, but on a basic level, the sound of this amp is perfect. I do everything from clean, ambient soundscaping to violent noise rock, and with an amp like the Blues Jr i can take it all in my stride. This is no substitute for a flashy, big, loud, ??10,000 amp, of course not, but it's a better competitor than those crappy solid state Marshall combos I could have gone for, god forbid. It'll do me for now, and then some. :)

All the essential features and nothing extra - high, mid, low, reverb, volume, master volume, fat switch, one input, no headphone jack, speaker out (disables amp's speaker), 15 watts, eminance 12-inch speaker, no standby. With the fat switch, you might say it has two channels.

A disclaimer or explanation might be in order before I critique the sound so that you understand my vantage point. I've only been playing for two years and have never played through a really good tube amp like a twin reverb or an AC30. My experience is limited to an old Squire Reverb 25 sidekick and a Vox AD30VT modeling amp. I have a good Fender Strat, though, and two pretty decent Ibanez humbucker guitars.

Now, on to the sound. You can dial in some nice sounding clean tones. Nothing great, but pretty dman good. The overall sound seems to be a bit diffuse in the sense that pick attack doesn't effect the tone as much as I would like. I got an AB switcher to compare it to the VOX and, interestingly, I found myself trying to dial in the Fender to make it sound like my VOX settings for the Fender blackface model. The Fender's reverg is nice, but not appreciably better than the VOX. In general, I thought the VOX had a punchier, more defined sound that articulated the pick attack better, but then there were times on certain settings when I thought the Fender sounded better. That punchy versus diffuse impression might be related to the fact that the VOX has closed cabinet and the Fender is open, which leads me to think I might like a closed cabinet sound better. In any event, it was close. The amps were clearly different and I had a hard deciding which I liked better for clean tones. Keep in mind that I wasn't comparing all the VOX emulations to the Blues Junior, only the blackface and tweed models in an effort to make an apples-to-apples comparision.

So, the cleans are pretty good with some very nice sweet spots here and there, but the amp totally falls apart when you go into overdrive. I'm not talking about really driving it into distortion, which in fact was horrible. It didn't even sound good with just a little overdrive, even when the overdrive was coming mainly from the power stage (master up, volume down). The pre-amp overdrive sounded even worse (volume up, master down). The amp quickly became muddy, harsh, and completly unlistenable. I just couldn't dial in an accptable overdriven tone no matter what I did. I tried using pedals (Bad Monkey, Boss DS-1) which was a big improvement, but not good enough. The VOX is definitly better in the overdrive department, and even took to pedals better, which was surprising.

Bottom line - the Blues Junior is a good amp for clean tones only.

Seems solid.

Don't know, didn't need them.

I finally returned the amp after almost a month (30-day return policy from Guitar Center). I really tried to like it, and maybe it had some nicer clean tones here and there than the VOX, but overall, thats not enough to recommend it with the overdrive being as bad as it is. For $150 less, The VOX is a better value, and if you are a newbie like me, you'll appreciate its versatiliy more.

Basic features: Volume, Master, Treble, Middle, Bass and Reverb with a "Fat" button to boost the preamp gain and fill out the tone. I think it has all the features you need and nothing you don't for a small, basic tube amp like this. A Standby switch would be nice, but not a big deal. Surprisingly powerful for a 15 W, 1X12 of its size. Should have plenty of volume for rehearsals and small club gigs when you crank it, yet quiet enough when turned down for home use too. Separate volume and master is a nice feature, since you can set them to the same for your clean sound or crank the volume and leave the master down to adjust the ammount of breakup/overdrive you want.

For a small package and an affordable price it really gets that great fat Fender tube tone. The Fat switch really helps too, giving a volume boost and boosting the low and high frequencies for an even fuller tone. I'm a little disappointed with the bass response, which sounds a little hollow/flabby, and not very well defined. But it's really not bad considering the price and the size. Sound should be versatile enough for most styles of music (it really nails blues/country stuff, and would make a good small jazz amp too) if you spend enough time dialing in the right settings and experimenting. You can also get a nice dirty/breakup sound by setting the volume and master knobs apart, although most of the time I run it clean and use a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 for my overdrive.

One thing I noticed is it doesn't seem to handle pedals as well as my Fender Deville 410, which is of course a bigger and more powerful amp. The Fulldrive for instance sounded a little fizzy and squashed compared to the much more natural, responsive sound I get through the other amp. Likewise when I played my Boss GT-6 (multi-effects) through it. But for the size and price, I can't complain. The surprisingly good Fender tube tone and power make it alright.

I have a made in USA model. Haven't had it for long, but it seems solidly built.

Haven't had to deal with this, so no opinion.

I bought this amp because I wanted a quality tube amp that was smaller, lighter and more portable than my big Deville 410 that I could easily haul to rehearsals and jam sessions, yet would still be loud enough and have good tone. This is a good amp for that. I am still planning on using the bigger DeVille for most live gigs, but the Blues Junior is great for rehearsals/jam sessions because it is half the size, weighs half as much, is easy to tote around, but still sounds good. I think of it as a mini version of my Deville. Obviously it's not as powerful or tonally versatile as the DeVille (or some other bigger and more expensive Fender amps), but it's still a pretty decent compromise nonetheless for its size/price. (After all, what can you expect for $300?)

I think it's a great value and as I said before, a very economical amp. It's affordable and portable, but doesn't sacrifice tone, power or quality. Ideal for a smaller practice amp, for small gigs, or a good amp to start off with if you're looking for a basic, portable amp that's well-made and sounds good. I have a feeling it would be a good choice for home recording as well. It's nothing fancy, but leaves nothing out and doesn't have any bells and whistles you don't need. It's got that Fender tube tone we all know and love, just in a smaller, more affordable package. For it's sound, price and size, it's a good choice.

This is a modern entry-level working-man's professional tube amplifier designed for the masses, intending to look and feel like a vintage Fender amplifier. The one i purchased is a used brown-tolex MIM likely originally purchased from MF. Condidering its size and price, i think it has enough features to satisfy. A small amp with decent reverb and a wide tonal range plus enough power for most gigs is good. These days, with good, cheap pedals out there, this is all the amp a person would need. The amp is lightweight and easy to carry. It nails the Fender tone completely, although the speaker is not the greatest, nor is the small reverb tank. But for the price, it is not an issue.

As i said, it nails the Fender tone of yesteryear. It is very much like a mini-Twin Reverb due to the excellent clean tones (solid state rectifier, same as Twin Reverb). I was surprised by this due to the EL-84 power tubes. I was expecting more of a british note, but Fender did a great job of dialing in their signature sound. The distortion and "FAT" switch are o.k. and remind me of what modded Fender amps from the 60's and 70's have going for them. It stays clean for quite a ways when cranking the vol up. If tou turn the reverb down all the way, you can get some good old-style tweed sounds. This is the closest thing out there to one of my all-time favorite amps -the SuperChamp.

Well, it was in the store and needed repair before i bought it - the input jack had issues and the reverb wasn't working. Apparently it was minor, they fixed it & it works fine. Any tube amp will have issues from time to time. I've banged it around enough already to determine it is basically well-made and well-designed. I don't care what amp you have - always bring a backup to a gig if you can. That being said, this is as good as any other amp out there in this price range.

This is a very popular amp, like the Volkswagen Bug of amplifiers. There should be no problem finding repair services. Fender is a pretty good outfit, I've actually gotten through to talk to a real person before! I think the warranty is 5 years. This amp is likely beyond warranty.

Currently I own a 1960 Ampeg Reverberocket, a 1966 Vox Cambridge Reverb tube amp (Sepulveda), A 1960's Silvertone (Danelectro)1482, & A 90's Sovtek Mig50H. I have owned at one time or another just about every version of the Fender "Reverb" amps (my all-time favorite being the Princeton Reverb, 2nd favorite is the Superchamp -i wish they would re-issue that one!)I have replaced the speaker -big improvement, and will put a bigger r-tank in. I love the look, tone, size, and price of the amp. This is like a mini Twin Reverb as far as tone. The circuitry is fine as-is, don't mod this amp - just put in a better speaker. If you don't like Fender tone, get a different amp!

Very basic features. One channel, no Effects loops, no Headphone jack (wich i wish it had), it has Volume, Treble, Mid, Bass, Master, Reverb, and fat switch button that increases the pre amp gain. It's all i will ever need for my style. I keep the fat switch all the time. the tone knobs seem well balanced. So far i use this at home but hope to use it in a band and in live settings. it has plenty power for home use but if i where going to use it with drums, bass and other insturments i would run it through an external speaker cabnet (perhaps a 4X12 fender cabnet).

This amp pretty much has only two settings on it's own, clean and dirty. I dont belive it was made for that nu-metal or heavy metal crap. It's pretty much made for one style and one style only, and that's my style. I love this amp's clean sounds. It tends to be more crisp and bright on most settings. I play an Ibanez AF-105 hollowbody. It really brings out the guitar's natural dry sound alot. I belive it will make any guitar sound the way it was ment to sound on the clean setting. The clean seems to stay clean at louder volumes, with mabey a small hit of natural breakup at max volumes.

When you turn up the Volume to max and turn down the master you a get your dirty sound. I dont care for the dirty sound as much because it sound kinda boxy and muddy through my hollwbody. I prefer to use a good distortion pedal on the amp's clean settings. Right now in useing a Boss DS-1 for that cruchy White Stripes type of sound, but im looking to upgrade to somthing better soon.

My style involves a bluesy sounding guitar crunch sound but NOT blues music. think rockabilly (Stray Cats, Reverend Horton Heat, Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly) and some indie rock (The Strokes, Sonic Youth, or the White Stripes). This amp sounds perfect for these styles!! With rockabilly i play clean and just turn up the reverb and you get that wet sticky reverb slap'n sound while palm muting, and it sounds just like Luther Perkins playin style that made Johnny Cash so famous or turn up the Volume for a little overdrive and it sounds like The stray cats kinda style. This is the style I love and this amp hits the nail right on the head.

This amp is rock solid! because it is an all tube amp it's a little more prone to damage if it was droped or mistreated, and tubes dont keep there quality forever.

Never dealt with fender but heard others say they are great. One year warranty!

Iv been playing now for about 8 years. Iv gone trough a few guitars and amps such a a Fender Automatic SE, and a Marshall MG50DFX that cost about the same price but a hundered times worse wich the blues Jr blows away as far as quilaty and sound. I wish it had a 2nd channel (with footswitch) and better sounding overdrive. What i really want is a Fender Blues Delux, but at $400 bucks the Blues Jr is perfect.

I bought the laquered tweed NOS model new at my local GC for about $500. For details check the website. Basically you have a single Jensen and 2 12AX7s and 3 EL84s rated at 15 watts

The only feature I would add is a standby switch. But you can turn down the volume so I suppose that's being picky. Maybe an effects loop might me nice but it's not essential.

This amp is designed for anything from a bedroom to a 100 seat venue. I've never played it with a drummer but it is strong enough to punch through a mix of bass and rythym guitar. I'm not rating it a 10 because there aren't a lot of features. But read on because that's not really the issue here.

Okay here is where the rubber meets the road. Let me qualify that I am rating this in comparison to other amps in this category. It's not going run with a 100W high gain amp or even a 50 watt Deluxe or Twin.

But in a small to medium venue the sound is better than anything I have ever heard. And believe me I have tried virtually every product made in this category of sub 25 watt amps.

Here is the testimonial I loaned my amp to a guy, whose name I won't mention out of respect for his privacy and I don't know if he would appreciate the gratuitous product endorsement but suffice to say he is generally considered one of the 10 best guitarist in the world.

He cranked that baby up to 12 on the master to get a really clean tone. The only stompboxes were a tremelo and delay. The sounds that came out of that amp had a 100 people in the audience dropping their jaws in amazement. It sounded like a wall of amps in stereo. The complete range from country to funk to Hendrix was covered and absolutely nailed.

The amp as a very clear strong tone. Since it is not overpowered you can get the gain up there where the tubes really open up and sing without shattering eardrums. When I see guys rolling in a small club with a Marshall stack I wonder what their thinking. This amp with the master at 12 and the volume at 5 is going to sound far better than a Marshall TSL with the master and volume at 2 or 3.

I shipped my amp via ground freight across the country. The case was beat to hell so I knew it took some abuse. I remove the tubes for any long distance trip. I pop the tubes back in and this bad boy cranks right up. No problems whatsover.

But it is a tube amp so I would keep a stock of spare tubes. And be advised EL84s or not uncommon but generally not in stock at your local superstore.

have not need any support.

I've been playing for 40+ years and own enough gear to start my own superstore. Maybe not that much but I do own about 20 fine guitars and 10 amps. And I have a PA system and recording equip in my house.

I won't go into details but know my collection includes Tele's, Strat's, LP's, Rickenbacker 12's, Marshall, Fender, Peavey and don't even get me started on acoustics.

I don't post here very often but I did think it was only fair to talk about his amp. When you get to a certain stage in life this is the amp for you.

Everybody is looking for that beefy big bottom sound. Unfortunately there is a tendency to think the way to get there is with abigger amp and then crank it down as needed for the venue. Also most guys go for distortion and crunch because it is forgiving to a novice player.

But if you think clean is better then this is it. And you want an amp that is mated to the guitar and appropriate for the venue. You want to be able to turn the amp up enough to where you are getting the performance that is designed for that amp.

Most musicians don't have the luck to play huge concert halls or stadiums. Usually they venue is 100-200 at best and often much less. This is the best amp I have found out there for that purpose.

MIM 2007
Single channel.
Separate Volume and Master controls. Treble Bass and Middle tone controls. Fat switch. Reverb.
12 inch speaker.
$791 Australian dollars new.
Solid but elegant retro looks.

I bought this to replace my Pro Junior. That one was great but only suited my Fenders. The mid-heavy Ephiphone Casino and Gretsch Jet baritone were unplayable through it as the PJ couldn't shape their bassy tones. The Blues Junior takes on everything I've got, the Casino, the Gretsch, the Dano 12, my Strat and most of all my Tele. A little tone adjustment and each one speaks in its own voice.

I only ever play cleanly and I like an amp where I have to back the treble off rather than wish I had more. To give you an idea, I never roll the treble above about 4 with my Telecaster. The bass control is a little weaker than the treble or the mid. Is that the speaker's limitations?

This amp provides and rich clean tone without any exhausting harshness , from Gretsch to chiming Fender.

There is a very slight buzz but it is swamped by the buzz of a single coil guitar in idle. So not very instrusive. I had been borrowing a friend's Deluxe Reverb which had a hiss that was louder.

I routinely changed all the valves for EH and JJs. The stock ones sounded ok, but I had the others already and knew I could rely on them.

While this amp doesn't give the sparkling airy highs that a Deluxe Reverb does, it's a fraction of the cost and treats what gets plugged into it with respect and enthusiasm. I would play this amp all day but I have a job and neighbours.

The sole drama I've had with this amp makes for a couple of seconds of light comedy. I turned it on one night and plugged the Tele in and oops no sound. Light was on, all vols up. Nothing. I checked the back. the V1 valve was dark. Oh dear. I got a replacement and put it in (unplugging, putting the amp gently on its front to do so). Hey presto, the sound of Fender! But, yikes, the amp started thunderclapping, huge rumbles and crashes of arcing electricity coming from within. Dang! I mentally intoned, busted already. I switched it off and lifted it to take it sadly upstairs to languish until I could organise a repair. As soon as I hit the first step I heard a sharp rattle. Uh oh!

I rushed into my room and had the back o' that baby off in seconds. There, rolling a little from side to side, trying to look innocent, was a screw from the circuit board. No bloody wonder! I even saw the hole it was meant to live in. I replaced it firmly and turned the amp back on. Lovely quiet Fender amp. I plugged the Strat in and a jig of suh joy and delight that the neighbours bought a jug of their finest mulberry wine and ... no that bit happened while I was sleeping, later in the evening.

So, why was the screw out of place? Shoddy QC? Had it been a return that the shop had repaired ... but for that detail? I frowned until I remembered how much I dig this amp. Not a moment of drama since. And precious little comedy.

Didn't need it.

I wanted a valve amp for a range of guitars with very different voices. I found one. It looks good, it sounds good, it records well, I can lift it and perform basic dance moves. I lvoe this amp.

This is a follow up review. Features are the same now as they were before

Here's the different part. After having replaced the stock speaker with a c12n AND performed the BillM mods on this amp, i say with confidence that this amp is a total sleeper and is very under-appreciated. You can get an extra little bit of coolness by connecting it to an external 2x12 cab with some decent drivers in them, but the c12n is a really awsome match. I find myself spending about equal times between my 59 bassman reissue and this amp now. It's insane. It sounds much better than the tweed model does stock, and between $5 in electronics and $96 WITH TAX for the speaker (i haggle a lot) i would reccomend buying this amp and performing the modifications over buying the tweed model, unless the tweed is worth the additional $100 above the total cost of a new tolex model after the mods.

First Blues Jr. was a 2004, second which was supose to replace the firt one was a 2003. Is a great practice amp but do not recommend it for gigging. single channel, joke of a fat switch, only good feature is the speaker which functions well through another amp when slaved.

when compaired to other amps the Jr. is lacking, no distortion to mention and as clean as it is they have a loud hum present when the volume is increased. I play a Jerry Donahue 1952 Telecaster CIJ and it does ok, but still a buzz that isn`t present with other amps. I`m primarly a blues musician but do dabble in some rock and country.

Like I mentioned earlier this is the second Jr that fender sent me after the reverb continued to fail on the first one. The reverbs on these are junk, now the second one has failed after only a few hours of use. The first one failed after the first week. I don`t even consider using it at any type of show.

Fender lies!! repeated trips to the repair shop with the first one, after 3 years and 26 weeks of shop time they finally replaced it. the problem is they replaced it with one that is older that the first one and yes, it`s no good either. The dealer where I bought it has went to bat for me over and over but fender still insists it`s an isolated incident, go figure that one, review after review mentions the reverb failing. fender lies!!

I`ve been playing guitar for over 40 years. I have a 1980 Fender 75 which has endured time well, last of the point to point amps. when the Jr failed over and over I purchased a Peavey Valve King 112, great amp, no issues what so ever, and it wa considerably less that the Jr. The main reason I purchased the Jr. was to use for pratice, didn`t even hold up to that. If it were stolen and would feel sorry for the thief, would not consider replacing it with another fender product. had enough run around from fender.

Unsure of year made
Veratile enough for Blues, Country, Oldies some Classic Rock
One channel. Volume,Treble ,Bass, Middle Master, Reverb, and a handy " Fat Switch " No Loops No tricks Just a good small Fender Tube Amp built for tone and ease of working
Only feature I wish it had was a single button switch for the reverb off and on
I use all the features on this amp
Tubes ! If it dont glow - it dont go with me ( up on any stage anywhere)

This amp can do Fender relative clean with the volume set down and the master cranked up The single channel will break up nice and full at master volume past 7, but with no unexpected bloomings or loss of anything
The distortion is great for blues and classic rock, with something like a Boss DS1 you could probably even cover a bit of heavy metal but this is a blues amp, and should be used for styles generating and associated closely with that
I use Two Les Pauls, an early 60's Re issue reviewed here, My Orville Les Paul with new classic 57 Gibson Humbucker in the neck and Burstbucker 3 in the bridge/ rear
PRS CE 24 with Vintage Bass /HFS
Squire Strat ( Japan 62 type re issue )
It only got noisey when using unpotted Humbuckers thru it at max over drive with either a TS 9, or Boss DS1
Suits my style pefectly, anbd handy easy to tote around
I took this where I sometimes sit in with a local country/variety band and one of the guitarists thought it wouldnt catch their volume levels, The Blues Jr, and my Les Paul delievered in spades with room to spare
Betting this could make a killer Harmonica players amp too
I own 2 other Fender Amps, a Crate VC20R I like alot with a AB /Y splitter box I have I the Tube Screamer TS 9 ,an MXR EQ Pedal I can have a varity of amp sounds from clean ,crunch, to raw ZZ Top like distortion and drive and enough power to deliver at local venues without miking

have gigged it without back up, and would and most likely do ut again
The Amp did make some funny noises, but a change to JJ Power tubes and a check by my amp repair guy revealed no appearant problems I highly recommend this amp

Had it looked over when it made funny noises, replaced power tubes out of pocket , since I bought it used Never deal with Fender Warranty, no opinion here on that

I have been playing over 35 years, the bulk of that has been thru mostly Fender tube amps I play mostly Les Pauls, My PRS, and Squire Strat ( Japan) thru this with comfort and ease, knowing if I do my part, the amp will deliver well, It's a little economical tone machine ,like any gear, if I own with intent to keep, if stolen, I'd try to replace it,and Heaven have mercy on the theif
I really dont hate anything about it, wished I could have had a tweed model for the asthetics but this one works fine for me
I own six amps 3 of them Fender's only one of them is on the way out, My Fender Hot Rod,
Fender Pro Reverb Sorta re issue I intend to keep Most of the places I play in my area either wouldnt have space or wouldnt allow my 50 watt Marshall JCM 900 Half Stack , nor do they much like my Seymour Duncan Convertible 100 near dimed out ,

2006 Blonde muscians friend special.
1 channel wonder.
This little amp have 5 tubes (3 pre-amp) 2 Power.

It rocks. Super clean to overdrive. A Tube Screamer just lights this baby up.
It has good reverb for a small amp.
Master Volume and a fat switch.
Crack up the volume roll back on the master then use your touch to go from clean to crunch. Very classic sound with a fender strat or tele.
it sounds VERY big though a mic, I am considering making this my main amp.

I am very disapointed with Fender Quality lately. The Mexico assembly is not working for them. I bought two new Fender amps in a month. The Blues Jr. reverb tank was blown right out of the box and another amp the foot switch worked 3 stomps before it went out.
Fender needs to cut costs some other way. This kind of rap can kill a company.

Fender took care of the problem through local service center.
Hey they know me by name I have been there so much (not a good thing).

Playing 20+ years. I have owned all the popular amps.
THsi is cool because it is problay the best sounding amp for the weight and price.

I was looking for small (portable), tube, and clean when I bought this amp, so I compared this to all similar sized/watted amps with 12" speakers and this one won. The only real competition is the Peavey Classic 30, but the BJ has much better reverb, and a better clean channel. I also looked at the Pro Jr, but that one didn't have the reverb. This also has the "gain" knob separate from the master, and with the eq, and the guitar's settings, you can get a lot out of this amp, just take your time, and try. Like a Tele, I think this amp is much more versatile than it appears to be.
The vintage appearance (chickenknobs) is very cool too.

At first I had Master at max, treble at max, bass at max, and mids at minimum settings. I had the volume and tone on my 52 Tele maxed out, and then I would use the Volume on the amp to get loudness. This pretty much gave me the clean sounds I wanted (along with Dan-O tape echo and Tuna Melt tremolo) for country and rockabilly, and for a while I was satisfied, but then it started sounding a bit ice picky on the skinny strings.
Solution: I keep the guitar's volume at zero, max out the volume on the amp, max out master, treble, and bass and use the guitar's volume to control loudness. This cuts off the harsh highs while maintaining the twang I want. I use this on the neck pick-up, and when I switch to the bridge pick-up I just roll back the guitar's tone knob know a bit.
Having the treble maxed gives me the twang, and cranking the bass really fills it out. Reverb, if any, doesn't need to go past 2 or 3, except if you're riding that pipeline.
I've also used this to get crunchy overdrive, similar to AC/DC.
Like others, I recommend getting a really nice clean tube tone out of this, then using pedals to achieve your specific sound.
I also recommend keeping the master maxed, as it seems to make the reverb and eq's sound better and more responsive/dynamic.
I am going to try a 12AT7 in V3 and a 12AY in V1 to see if I can get more clean headroom, but I have found very usable out-of-box tones.

After owning for about one year, and only taking it to about two gigs, I started getting a buzz. When I took it to the shop they replaced the reverb unit, and it was fine for several months/gigs after that. But now it is "ringing" when I hit an A note. Probably just a loose/faulty tube.
Paint on faceplate will wear off really quick, otherwise, take care of it and it will probably be fine. I wind my cord through the carrying handle to minimize any potential stress on the input jack, which others have said failed on them.

The store I bought it from said they would throw in a Fender pedal if I bought it, and it took them months (literally) to get one, so I finally gave up and accepted the other-brand pedal they offered initially. Then when I had the reverb unit changed, it took then a long time too. They blamed it on shipping delays of the replacement part. It was under warranty, so the repair was free, but I didn't have my only amp for over a month.

What this amp offers is portability, tube sound, and value. It is basically one of the least expensive tube combos out there, and like I said earlier, the only amp that gave it competition was the Peavey Classic 30, which I still have my eyes on. You can probably get fuller better tone out a bigger Fender amp, but then you lose the lightweight portability. I play small clubs and bars in NYC and this is perfect for that.

My amp is a cream board, 2001 blues junior, made in mexico. I can see how someone might knock this amp for not having many features, but that's the point. The more channels there are on an amp, usually, the more channels suck. After some minor modification, (see below)this amp has all the features you need- an EQ and seperate pre/post amp controls. Stock i give this amp a 7 for features (becase the EQ is not as usable) but after i give it a 9. It kinda only has one tone shape to it, but between the volume controls, the volume of the guitar, and the fat switch, you can take that one tone's intensity anywhere from a mild break-up to a very british sound

This one is long, but kind of important if you want to get the best out of this amp. Stock, i give this amp a 6. There is a fellow out there named Bill Machrone who does wonderful work with these amps, and publishes a lot of it. The mods are called the Billm mods. I performed the tonestack mods, the twinstack mods, and a version of his bias mod. The factory bias is SUPER hot and will eat your tubes alive. I put a bias switch on mine so i can have a hot bias (factory setting) at low volumes for an awsome "your amp cooking" tone (and to warm it up really fast) and a much cooler bias for a less muddy tone with more headroom when cranked. After these mods, i give it a 7.

If you do this and install a better speaker like a c12n or a cannabis rex, i give it an 8. However, if you do the mods (minus the speaker) and hook it up to a really good sounding cabinet (in my case, a 2x12 open back with 2 celestion g12t75 speakers) i give it a 9 without regret. With an amp this size, the enclosure just isn't big enough to wring out it's full potential

Also, replace the tubes with some groove tube golds, and make sure the power tubes have a high rating (like 8-10) and you will be blown away what this little thing can do. I use mine as an amp head, and it blows my heritave vtx AND my musicman 100rd out of the water, and i will venture to say it sounds ALMOST as cool as a tweed bassman. it's the loudest 18 watts you will ever experiance.

With the stock bias, i would not consider it reliable. Your tubes get so hot that i have actually vaporized parts of the mercury shields at the tops of the tubes. Burnt tubes will fail. Once you fix the bias problem, i would give it a 10, especially if you use an external cabinet. There is less vibration that way, and some say vibrations can cause early failure in power tubes.

Never had to deal with them. I hear it's piss poor though.

I am a tone freak and an audiophile. Though i have only played 7 years and have no professional experience, i consider myself a bit of a condesseur (spelling?)as i am VERY critical of musical equipment. If it's not perfect or very close do it, it will drive me crazy. I have also played through nearly every common, commercially available, from 5150s to vintage fenders to reissue marshalls, randalls, crates, hiwatts, voxes, etc. I play through a modified schecter c1 plus (custom 5 in the bridge, original bridge pickup in the neck.) with NO pedals, partly becase it does not really like pedals, but partly because it doesn't need them. ON the bridge setting, it gets a very vox-like grind when pushed, and when dialed back sounds very much like john mellencamp, on the neck it sounds creamy and smooth. This amp is not for you if you dont want to tweak it some, but for 2 hours worth of work and $5 worth of parts, it sounds PHENOMINAL. I am very happy with this amp

Bought it late 2002 for about $300. Basic features have been covered. I started having problems with my input jack and sent it off to Bill Machrone for repair and mods.

Added a presence control, a clean boost w/sw, tone stack mods, a better output transformer, an aux speaker jack, power stiffening, preamp boost, just about every mod he had! It cost more than my initial investment, but after 5 years of use that was OK. Bill's work is absolutely perfect, and I couldn't be happier with the enhanced sound. I loved my Blues Jr from the start almost 5 years ago, and it just got a lot better.

8 for the BJR stock
10 for BillM's mods

Again I loved the sound of the BJR from day one. With the mods it is better. I especially asked for more clean headroom, and BillM deliverd. Clean sweet sounds with plenty of headroom. I'm running a 12ay7 for a preamp tube currently. Someday I'll change it back to a 12ax7 to check it out but for now I'm lovin it where it's at. It will still distort, not quite like it used to, but when I want more distortion I hook up my TS9. Before the mods I had the normal BJR hum, nothing too bad, but now it is damn near silent.

I mostly play a 96 Anniv. American Standard Strat with a Warmoth neck, and Fralin pickups. When I want get a little dirty I play a Schecter C1 Exotic.

I also have a THD BiValve 30, and while the BJR is not in its class, it is a great sounding amp for the money, and down right incredible sounding after the mods.

I don't gig, just informal jams. I always take my BJR. Too much hassle to take the THD and cabinets. I've had the BJR about 5 years. Once under warranty they replaced a micorphonic tube. Other than that I have never even changed the tubes until it was modded. The plastic input jack was stripped and getting loose. It has actually been that way for about a year before I decided to get it repaired. Other than that I've had no issues.

Had 1 warranty repair a couple months after I bought it, turned out to be a microphonic tube. They covered it with no problem!

I've had several amps, tube and otherwise. Also go back to tubes though. Except for my Fender AmpCan I take to the lake, its awesome! Cureently I have the BJR, the THD, a small Crate acoustic amp, and the AMPCan. A Strat, s Schecter, an EPI acoustic, A Go Guitar, and a Speedster. Also an old Yamaha 12 string!

The only thing I really hated was the plastic input jack. Foolish of Fender for trying to meet a price point for price of a $1 quality input jack!

If the BJR was stolen I'd would definitely replace it. And I'd definitely have it modded again. Nothing I've played really comes close to offering the sound, quality, and value in a small practice amp.

This amp is very plain jane, but if you have good effects pedals it does not matter that much. No OD channel, just a beautiful reverb.
Tube Amp... beautiful tone. But this part is for features.
15W of power, but it sounds very loud for 15W...

No visible headphone jack (you have to reach into the amp and rewire the thing), one footswitch jack (for FAT).

Only 15W, but it's loud enough to cut through and be heard in a 300 seat church sanctuary.

This amp sounds beautiful. It's among the nicest reverbs I've ever heard. I play a mix of soft rock, blues and hard (almost punk) alternative Christian.

No distortion channel, but it sounds awesome at low volumes with my BadMonkey OD. Crank it up and the OD tubes in the amp itself work miracles!

I run a Zoom 2.1u->BadMonkey (and sometimes a SuperComp). My axe is a Cort Z-22

This thing is built like a tank... for a week or so the reverb went out and I was horrified... I opened her up and found out that it was just a fuse that popped out of it's bracket. Once I pushed it back in, it was good to go again!

No backup needed for this thing.

N/A

I've been playing for over 15 years. This is my first amp over $100... and it was worth every penny (of course, I did get it for a gift).

It would be nice if it had a bit more power, but it's loud enough for what I use it for.

Lack of features (no trem, practical headphone jack, etc) is what keeps this amp from getting a perfect score. It sounds amazing though!

The church members who bought this for me researched very well.

This is a follow-up to my Dec. 2005 review.

The Blues Junior is a great little amp, but I think Fender gave it a box that is too small. I ordered a combo amp cabinet from Mojotone that was originally designed for the Fender Pro (tweed version, not the reverb version) that Mojotone calls "Tweed Pro". This cabinet is significantly larger than the stock BJ cabinet, and houses a 15 inch speaker instead of a 12 inch speaker. I also upgraded the Accutronics reverb tank from the stock BJ reverb unit to a top of the line six-spring reverb tank.

I installed a Jensen C15K 15 inch speaker in this Tweed Pro cabinet, along with the new reverb tank.

Let me tell you guys, the sound now has a much fuller and richer dimension than the stock unit had, and the weight was only increased by about eight or nine pounds, it's still less than 40 pounds.

The Jensen C15K is rated at 100 watts and no matter how hard you hit it from the amp, there is no "cone cry" that you hear from speakers that are being overdriven. That's a big plus for me.

My 10 rating is for the modded amp, the original rates an 8.

What is the cost for this?

Mojotone cabinet $278 plus a $25 charge for the different chassis cut-out
Jensen speaker $86 (get it from South Valley Vintage)
Blues Junior $399

Total $788

The Blues Junior becomes the Blues Senior. The Mighty Mite.

So far so good.

Haven't contacted Fender.

For the "Blues Senior" a 10.

USA-made in 1997. Features described below.

This is a very nice sounding amp. Mine is stock except for output tubes that were replaced last year. You can play any style(yes, even metal) with a little tweaking and FX pedal(s).

Ok, I bought this new in 98 and have easily logged over a thousand hours on it. I've forgottenly left it on for days at a time, it's taken a tumble or two in the trunk of my car, and it's bumped it's fair share of walls. Having said this, the tolex is in great shape, and it's not missing knobs, doesn't have ripped grill cloth, and the reverb works fine.

Up until recently, I have used it regularly at practice and at live performances with no problems.

The biggest reliability issue I've experienced is that i've had numerous tube socket solder breaks with this amp(one of which was onstage). The good thing is that you can resolder those pins without removing the chassis, but it's still sucks and leaves me wondering when it's going to happen again. So I've started bringing a backup to practice and shows and using an A/B AB splitter to run them together in case the BJ takes another dump on me.

Bottom line, tube socket solder job is subpar and this is the USA model. It'll be interesting to see if more users report the same problem with the Mexican model as they age a little.

Warranty expired and I never had to have any repairs or service perfromed on this amp within the warranty period.

I've been playing on and off for about 17 years. Seriously playing and gigging the last 5 or so I guess. I own several guitars, a handfull of older amps < 30 watts. My gigging amps are a Gibson GA-15rvt and the Blues Junior. I like the FAT boost and use it for lead work. I don't use much reverb(usually set it to 2 or 3 at most), but it's fine as small as the amp is.

It's a really nice little amp and has served me well for such a small investment, BUT, it does have it's issues. I don't like the power light location... makes it easy to walk away from the amp and foget that it's still on-especially after a few beers.

If it was stolen, I'd probably buy an Ampeg Jet or a solid state Epiphone Triggerman 60. I wouldn't buy a new Blues Junior.

2007 Blonde Model. Single channel, Mid, Treble, Bass, Reverb, Master, Volume and Fat switch. All tube Circuitry. 3 Groove tube 12AX7's and 2 Sovtek EL84's.

Pretty straight forward amp. Perfect for you blues guys.

Let me first say that if you are expecting a lot of Overdrive, this amp is not for you. Period. I was actually kind of expecting a good amount of OD because of the classic rock and instrumental music I play. But it really suits me when I play stuff by Cream. I like gain for the stuff I play though. I've got a T.C. Jauernig DGTM pedal coming in a couple days so hopefully it helps me on the exact tone I am looking for. I play a MIJ Fender strat w/ Lace Sensor gold Single coils at the neck and middle and a Dimarzio Super Distortion humbucker at the bridge. I like to coil split the humbucker while playing on the OD channel. Sounds great. I like to have my reble at about 7 or 8 and bass and middle at about 5.

I really like the clean channel. Sounds fantastic. Definitely a nice blues sound when I am in the mood for playing a little bit of blues. The cleans with the Lace sensor in the neck sounds awesome.

Apparently changing the speaker makes this amp sound better, but I don't think I am going to do anything to this amp. Maybe, just maybe later on, but I think this amp is good as is stock. Plus there are a few mods out there.

Some of the knobs are very loose. I know it isn't just the knob, the whole pot just wiggles around. The treble, master and middle knobs wiggle, while the others dont wiggle at all.

This amp is only 2 weeks only, so I can't really comment on reliability. I can just hope I don't run into any issues.

Haven't dealt with Fender Customer service ever.

This is actually the only amp I own. I am one of those guys who kind of sells and buys. It's mainly due to the fact that I am a broke student. But of course I am planning on buying a new amp soon and I will keep this Blues Junior, if I manage to get more money. ;)

I wish it had more gain, but hey, I don't blame the amp. It's intended for blues and classic rock. It's my fault for not doing some shopping. But I was on a limited budget and for it's price I don't think it can be beat. Hell finding used tube amps within my budget was very difficult.

One 12 inch speaker, 15 watts of tube power, treble, mid, bass eq, a volume and a master and spring reverb, a fat switch that adds treble and bass. Oh yes, and classic fender tone. Simple is best. I use it for home practice and when playing with friends. Its loud enough to play over any drummer but not too loud that it doesnt sound good at that volume. Its a shocker how loud this thing is.

The amp is simply fender clean tone in a small box. 15 watts of the best fender tone at room volume. You can get some distortion, or should I say very little distortion if you turn the volume up and turn the fat switch on but its not any good. The clean is great. Its the sound of a cranked clean fender tube amp at a level where you can still hear the drums. Glassy warm and clear. Love it. The eq works but it very subtle compared to some other amps. Its there but you cant really get anything too harsh, meaning almost every setting sounds great.

Its a tube amp so its bound to have problems someday. Right now its rock solid and I can depend on it to turn on with no problem.

No idea.

This is the absolutely best practice size amp you can buy. It sounds great quiet but when you turn it up its even better. I compared it with the Epiphone Valve standard, the Crate classic 30, the Roland cubes, everything half decent at this volume and the Fender blues Junior was the only one that had me playing in the store for a good hour. If I lost it I would go out there and get it again. Im thinking of getting another one for no reason. Im a pedal guy so anything its missing can be added, but for the blues plug it in and play. Sound great either way.

Check Fender web site for details.

This is an update to my previous review now that I've played this amp for awhile and have since gotten another amp for some comparision. What I've discovered is that my Strat with single coils is a better suited axe for this amp than my LP. I've decided that this amplifier without pedals doesn't cut it for me. Without pedals this amp sounds single dimensional, boxy, flat, and blah even though I was originally pleased with the tone improvement after doing Bill M's mod to the tone stack. I just can no longer play through this amp without my pedals unlike my new amp which doesn't need any pedal per se. Benefits still remain with this amp, though. The pluses of this amp are its price and availability used, compact size, lightweight, and portability, and lower tube replacement expense. Therefore it's still a keeper amp for these reasons and playable with pedals.

Totally reliable. Not much to break.

Non-existent.

I would still recommend this amplifier for someone who is on a very limited budget or who isn't picky about trying to dial in a very particular tone, and/or who wants convenience and portability. The one worthy feature that is missing on this amp is a standby switch, but that seems to be the case with most lower powered, inexpensive amps these days. I wish it had one. All tube amps shouldn't be without a standby switch.

This is a 1996 black tolex model. Stock it was ok for blues-rock-country styles, but just didn't have a real good tone. It was ok, and had a "tubey" sound, but something was kind of too fat and flabby. Y'all know what this thing's got- 1 channel, reverb, fat button, which exaggerated an already fat condition. Not fancy- just 15 watts of real tube power- loud enough for most small clubs and practice. I recently saw Lee Roy Parnell in concert and this was all he was playing through! What did he know?

Again- fairly good basic sound, but I found a cheap 15-20 minute fix. As you have read, a lot of folks find this amp interesting enought to fiddle with, to try and make it better. Me too. But I just wanted a tighter sound, that projected a bit better, and had a bit more edge to it. I mainly play blues- but also dabble in classic rock and some country, using a 59 RI Les Paul. All I did was to take out the heavy magnet Fender stock speaker, went to Guitar Center and bought a $29.95 Celestion 50 watt speaker. Take the back off, drop 4 screws that hold the chasis- pull 4 screws off the speaker- pop in the new boy, pop all the screws in, and WOW!!!!!!! It transforms into not quite a Marshall sound, but close. Like a fender cloned to a Marshall. Very nice now- I'll use it for rehersal and live shows.Put an Ibanez tubescreamer on it, and you got a real tone maker!

It's worked fine for 5 years. I bought it used, never had 1 problem, and yes I use it with no back up. It's just an old simple Fender circuit- if you don't drop it down a flight of stairs, I'll probably last as long as those 50's tweed Fenders. But it costs $399 new-cool!

Never dealt with Fender. never had to. My local retailer stands behind his stuff real well.

I've been picking over 30 years, in all kinds of bands- opening concerts for name acts- clubs- etc. Always looking for good sounding amp, and I thought this one was cool because it was small, portable, looked good, but it just didn't quite have THE sound till I replaced the speaker. Now it may be my #1 amp for awhile. I have a Marshall, Crate, Peavey, and a Music Man amp. But I love the tone of the Blues Jr better than the rest. It doesn't need any extra frills. It's just a good basic club/recording/practice amp- 1 channel + reverb. It's all you need.

For the money, this is one of the best sounding amps out there. I'm not a fan of the british tone and too many amps sound buzzy and indistinct when they try to go hi gain. This amp is a very smooth sounding amp in overdrive. In stock form, I give this amp a solid 8. Cleans are nice and the reverb is typical nice Fender.

There are mods out there but here's what I highly recommend that is easier to do and has the MOST impact in tone. First of all, you may want to consider changing the speaker. Stock speakers are not always the best. I use an Eminence Texas Lite which is a lite weight neo magnet speaker and sounds really good. Get a good speaker cable. I use a Lava Canare speaker cable which is very smooth sounding.

Here's the pinacle change that I would recommend above anything else...

GET A MERCURY MAGNETICS BLUES JR OUTPUT TRANSFORMER ($90 http://www.mercurymagnetics.com/pages/mainframe.htm )!!!! The sound impact is remarkable, the whole amp is pushed into boutique territory. Look at all the high end boutique amps (Fuchs and Carr use MercMags)...they use quality output and power trannys for good reason. The MercMag is color coded just like the stock transformer so installation is very easy. Just hook up the wires exactly in the same spots as the old transformer. Mounting is easy also. I used one existing screw hole and then drilled another for the second mounting. The MercMag is about twice the size so you have to drill another hole. Very easy, took me about 1/2hr to do.

I haven't done any tone stack mods to this amp as I really don't think the amp needs it now. The MercMag adds so much punch, harmonics, touch sensitivity, smoothness, etc that NO tone / capacitor change can even come close to reaching this level. This amp absolutely ROCKS now. Stock the amp sounds anemic in comparison. You should here the amp with the output cooking. Very smooth, chimey, tight, with a touch of compression that would make you swear there was a tube rectifier in there somewhere (but no mush). I would easily compare this amp to an amp in the $1000 dollar range with the upgrades I've made. Overdrive is rich and ballsy with harmonics leaping out and a nice fat smooth midrange.

The only other change I plan to do is to add another 47uf of power capacitance to take out some more of the output hum that is common with this amp.

Forget all the mods out there. I've been modding amps for a long time and I can tell you from experiance, cap / resistor changes are nice, but for the amount of time, difficulty, and money, changing the output tranny is the most impactful change you can do. High end tube audio and high end tube guitar amps use high quality output transformers. You should also. I'm floored by the impact its made to this little amp. Feel free to email me with questions. The change is very, very easy to do.

This is a black tolex blues junior with the 60th anniversary sign on the back so I guess it's made in 2006.

The feature I don't use that much is the reverb which isn't that good. Maybe they could offer a version without it and sell it cheaper.

Haven't used the amp with the band yet. It's got a great size: it's got 15 tube watts and a 12 inch speaker, yet it's small and light enough for public transport.

I really love the sound of this amp. I had the hot rod deluxe which i liked, but I prefer the blues junior. All I have to do is to turn the mids down a bit and turn the bass up a bit and I'm in tone heaven.
Maybe it's not as good as my 90s model Vox Ac-15 but it's got a warmth that the vox doesn't have. I also tried a pro junior and I have to say I hated it, to me it sounded boxy, muddy, terrible. I prefered a frontman solidstate practice amp to the pro junior. I was afraid that the blues junior would sound similar to the pro junior but it's more like the hot rod deluxe, only better!

To me the sound is warm, clear, sweet and sparkling at the same time. A nice defined sound, not muddy at all. Putting in JJ preamp tubes made the highs rounder and less harsh (not that they are that harsh in the beginning). I prefered the stock sovtek power-amp tubes to the JJs I also tried, though.

I realize that there are many people who prefer this amp with a modded tone stack. I tried these mods (search for billm mods on the internet), but I gotta say I prefer the amp without them. So I reconverted the amp to the original tone stack. The mods will make the amp sound more like a hot rod deluxe, make it sound bigger, but to me the 'sweetness' of the tone gets lost. So I ruined the warranty only to realize I prefer the amp stock. Seem like these mods are a matter of taste, but I knew the risk before and If I hadn't tried the mods I would always think to myself "maybe it would sound even better modded". But

The only thing so far which I don't care for too much on this amp is it's reverb. It's just not as deep and warm as a quality spring reverb like on my pre custom classic ac-15. The amp's tone suffers in my opinion if you engage the reverb. But it is a real analog spring reverb and maybe better than nothing.

But otherwise this amp can sound like a marshall like recent red hot chili peppers or classic fender like on abbey road. I use the amp without the boost switch engaged but I think it's a good feature which boosts and fattens your signal for solos.

Just a sweet sounding amp! But you have to turn down the mids to about 5 and turn up the bass to araound 9. With all tone controls in the middle it sound a little boxy.

Oh and one more comparision: I also tried the ldt version in tweed and with the jensen speaker but I did't like it, sounded harsher, muddier that the standard black model with the eminence in it (which I got, and which sounds fantastic, if I didn't already mention it!)

fantastic amp! Maybe you could give the amp a 10 "for the money", but I rate it a 9 in absolute terms. I even like the way it smells...

Mine is 2004, great for blues and rock'n'roll. I use it home, for small gigs, bigger gigs I mic it up.

I was not satisfied with the sound, it was to boxy. I got me a T-Rex M??ller, overdrive/boost pedal, a Ibanez compressor and KAWOOM! there it was! I also own a Hot Rod deluxe, but prefer my Junior from now on.

Love the lightness and simplicity-one channel, no frills, just plain what you see is what you get

For anyone interested, you can go to Eurotubes.com on the web and the guy there has created custom tube-sets for Blues Jr.'s that help the amp perform according to your desires or needs. For less than $60 you can re-tube with matched sets that either increase cleanliness, or that increase drive at lower volumes, and all points in-between.