Fender Pro Junior

laughing: Quite the joke, there ... features? As in power switch, volume knob, tone knob, and input jack? However, I will say that a reasonable amount of variation can be gotten from these two knobs, and I think that too many amps today come with 67 1/2 switches which aren't even used to their full potential.

Perhaps more people will get back to the basics, and I am proud that Fender is showing simplicity for great tone, not complicated, tone-robbing circuitry.

Play copies, a Samick Les Paul, and an Essex Tele. Both nice guitars, played them through a handful of amps, own a Peavey KB100 (SS), Rickebacker TR7 (SS), and a Crate VC5310 50 watter all-tube with 3 10" speakers. Wanted a little tube amp I could carry easily and be heard with over drums. Hard to get that rich, power tube-saturation sound with pre-amp distortion. It's also a plus that I can almost put this thing in my pocket!

Humbuckers sound fantastic through this, Tele, too, but a bit more twangy, there. Can't quite get enough bass out of it, stock. Perhaps I'll fool with some tube swaps and maybe get a Celestion Vintage Club 30 or something down the line for it. I'd also like to hook this up to my 3 10" speakers in the Crate, but then that'd defeat the portability.

While this basically has one tone, it's a fantastic overdrive, from about 5 and higher. Rhythym position on Les Paul, tone knob down, volume on about 6 makes me think of "Sunshine of Your Love". That's right, power-tube saturating fans, you CAN get fantastic overdrive in tiny packages for reasonable deals.

If you critique this and say it lacks virsatility, then why did you buy a 15-watt tube amp to begin with?

Seems very reliable to me, no hint of breaking down. I got it used from a guy at a guitar expo, tried out this vintage Lafayette amp first ... heh, thing kept zapping me when I brought it home, and then it started making all these noises ... anyway, took it back, and I was told that I could walk away with the Pro Junior for the $220 I had already spent on it, so I took the deal. Hopefully didn't pay TOO much, I, personally, probably would not have bought it for a straight $220, but I'd already paid him, and I just wanted a great deal, yadda yadda.

Makes this hum, all the time, even with volume turned all the way down ... and when the volume's all the way down, it still makes sound, and it's distorted ... very odd.

Never talked to Fender, though I might, because I want some tube shields on this if I ever play near a TV or something.

I highly recommend this amp, for someone who wants a great tube overdrive in a managable package. If you think it lacks volume, here's the secret to being heard: you don't have ears on your ankles, so put it at ear level and you'll be amazed at how much louder that little lunchbox screams. Email if you'd like anything answered, or if you'd like to talk about how awesome this little gem is.

Gets a 10, because I set out for an amp with a great OVERDRIVE, not an overdrive PLUS clean, and since it does what I want perfectly, this milk-jug-sized wonder gets a 10.

-Brendan :)

I think that this is 2003 made. It's bought in Sweden, quite low on features, but hey - it's only plain rock'n'roll! (I do not need any more than this, I consider my JTM-45 REI head being state-of-the-art-adjustable! AKA it has A LOT of knobs!)

I'm playing a Telecaster American Traditionel (is that correct?) and a LP Classic. It's perfect for just about anything that I am able to play: rockabilly, blues, rock'n'roll and about all music based on guitar... (maybe NOT classical stuff=) I'm a Kossoff-Hendrix-Clapton-Page-Beck-Townshend-Young-type of player wich makes it gooooooooood! I just it in combination with a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face REI, and a CryBaby Wah REI. Everything sounds so good...

My bluesband associates might just be VERY glad to see me carrying this little cutie instead of my JTM-45 head and 4*12" cabinet... Looks very durable and might just fall off a chair still sounding good!

No experience - and that is good...

I've been playing for 15 years, always stayed true to Marshall tube amps... Needed a small sized thingy for recordings and variation. It's very versatile and suits me hand in glove, I love the little 10"-speaker, it's totally different from the Vintage Marshall 1960 cab. I do not lack a thing about this little fella... It's perfect!

8
This amp is small and light weight perfect for the type of place I play in (Church Sanctuary and gym). I give the amp a nine because there is nothing absolutely perfect and I would really like to have reverb which it doesnt have. 2 knobs very simple to figure out a good tone just dial in what you like and have at it. I play mostly contemporary Christian and praise and worship music, which will automatically put me in a box to some readers, but I also play blues and classic rock which this amp works nicely for.

My main guitar is a custom Telecaster that was built for me by a longtime picker in my town, and a Fender American Standard Strat.
Both have singlecoil pickups and top of the line tuning pegs which i will leave you to guess. The amp sounds really good with Fender and fender style guitars, but as i said before nothing is perfect so i have a few complaints. Even with the fix mentioned in other reviews it still has a fairly nasty hum with the singlecoils. I think this is something that i'll have to deal with unless i want to invest in Humbuckers. for the christian music which encompasses everything from rock to country tones this amp is very versatile. it has amazing volume for such a small amp (was louder than a peavey classic 30 that i tried out at the same volume level) The amp goes with a crystal clean sound from 1-3 1/2. After that you start to get a warm overdriven crunch sound 4-8. From 8 on you have a fairly raunchy tube distortion, can't quite place a possible artist description but it can sound nice if used in the right environment. Small Marshall is the best description i have.

So far i have giged with out a backup for about 2 weeks and will continue to do so. i just bought the amp brand new so no problems so far will let know in approximately a year.

i've played for 3 years, but i get all my advice from musicians who have been playing for 20 plus years and are locally known as being top notch. i will probably buy another if i get the chance and if something happens to this one i will definitely replace it because for me it is the best sized amp for the tone and volume. Will say that if you are a metal head do not get this amp it is not for you. not a high gain amp. please don't let me read about people bashing this piece of equipment because they can't get a metalicca or Steve Vai sound out of it. the amp was not built for that.
thanks.

This is an amendment to an earlier review I left here on Nov 9th, 2003. After finding out about how easy it was to get rid of the buzz, I bought another Pro Junior to try out the fix. It worked like a charm, buzz gone instantly. I am selling my Blues Junior and keeping the Pro Junior. It just has so much more character than the Blues Junior. The Blues Junior is more versatile but the smaller lightweight Pro junior nails the sound I want (old 50's style sound in clean, nice punchy distortion when pushed)

I am using this with my Fender AMerican Tele (using Kinman pickups - which are amazing)

I play mainly country, with bits of classic rock, Beatles, Rockabilly, jazz and classical.

I took out the old tubes and put in a set of JJ Tesla EL84's. I tried the Electro Harmonix but they were kinda clinical and harsh-brite, the JJ's were nice and warm. I tried to use the JJ version of the 12ax7 but it just hummed like a bat outta hell, so I tried the Electro Harmonix 12ax7's and those worked fine. The original tubes worked fine for me but the JJ's have a nicer roundness that I liked. I bought my tuibes from the tube store dot calm

Unscrewed the middle back screw on top and as soon as it was a little ways out, the ground loop buzz stopped. My friend has an all original USA made Pro Junior and it does not have this problem. Mine is a made in Mexico version and I guess the screw is just a little too long and touched the tone pot causing a ground loop which causes buzzing.

Why hasn't Fender fixed this problem??? Its absolutely inexcuseable

What a great first tube amp that will keep you satisfied for many years. For me its my gigging amp. Durable, light, great sound, if I need louder, I just mic into the PA, but trust me it gets plenty loud

Tweed covering, Volume and Tone control. Vey Zen-like indeed. However if you don't want to wake the neighbours, you might find yourself wishing for a master volume.

Quite good. It has the classic Fender tone that turns very crunchy (in a vintage way) when you crank it. My own personal sweet spot was with the volume and tone knobs about half way up. I should note the outstanding dynamics of this amp: with my p-90 loaded Hamer special I could really go from clean to crunch just by controlling my picking hand. Nice.

I didn't notice a signifigant amount of hum, but the amp/cabinet was pretty noisy. I'm not sure what was clanging around in there. I did apply some insulating plastic over the springs on the tube holder: this dampened the noise a bit. The other thing is that compared to other amps, the Pro Jr. sounds a bit small (I never really noticed when I was playing by myself). This is probably due to the 1 - 10' speaker configuration. But it's a nice sound, overall.

BTW, I tried feeding my POD into the Pro Jr., but it didn't sound particularly good.

My biggest complaint, however, was the volume. As someone who plays in the house rather than on the stage, I found that the amp was too loud to be really useful. I frequently ran it with just one output tube, which helped quite a bit. Even with one output tube pulled out however, the Pro Jr. was louder than my friend's vintage Vibrolux. So depending on your playing situation, this might be a 10, or it might be a 6.

The chassis wasn't finished properly and started to rust near the tubes. But that's not the worst of it... This amp was probably a couple of years old when I bought it. I owned it for about 3 years and then sold to a friend of a friend. A few weeks later, I heard through the grapevine that the transformer (or something) had blown and that the poor guy had to spend about $100 to bring it back to life! Poor guy.

Despite its faults, I liked this amp. It wasn't the amp for me, but it's a good choice for those who need a portable package with which to jam. It would also be useful in a multiple amp setup. If it was stolen, I'd probably get a Blues Junior instead, but then again the world of modelling amps is becoming much more competitive.

This is a typical "back_to_the_roots_Amp" !
1. a power-On switch
2. a tone-control (high-cut-filter)
3. a volume-control (loud enough for club-gigs)
...that's all and it works ! :-)
(The internal speaker has a real high efficiency !
The mids and the treble tones are as loud as a Celestion Vintage 30.)
And a real annoying feature is the BIG HUM and MICROPHONIC and HUMMING V1 TUBE (12AX7-WA --> Fender-GrooveTubes ...lol...pull out the V1 Tube on the left side, send it back to Fender, maybe that they can make a crispy soup out of it, but don't use it as a V1 in ProJunior Amps)

Before I started to play with this "little wild thang" I have fixed the screw problem (middle screw of the back-cover next to the poties).I also have changed the tubes (my dealer gave some new, working ones for free) .
As phase-converter you can leave the 12AX7-WA, it does not influence the sound that much.
As V1 I have tried JJ-Tesla ECC83-S (NO HUM :-) , and big punch in the mids and bass).
I also have have tried a Sovtek 12AX7-LPS as V1 (NO HUMMING too , tight basses and crisp highs...good if you play it with a 2x12 or 4x12 box)
The sound of this little amp is good for Blues and Rock-Music.
Set the volume to 5-6 and tone-control to 9 and it kicks ass.
The variety of this amp mostly depends of the guitar you use with it.

I mostly use it with my self-made Custom-Strat (HSS) .In the bridge-position is a Gibson Humbucker and in the middle-, neck-position are some of the first Seymor-Duncan single-coils one could buy here (~25 years ago).That's the easiest way to have the biggest variety with this amp (one guitar , one kabel , one amp )

Sometimes I use it with some effects too (Bluesdriver BD-2, DigitalDelay DD-5 and Cry-Baby WahWah).

I have bought it new a half year ago ...
...never have had any problems with it , with the new tubes inside !

I have looked for Fender-Support in the internet, when I had this hum-problem , but did not find a phone number or email-adr. ...
...maybe that they have hidden , due to the BIG HUM problem of the ProJunior !!??

The hints to solve this problem I found here in Harmony-Central and other Internet-Places...

Meanwhile I play Guitar for 30++ years...
I also have a VHT 50-ST, and Marshall Studio 15, Reussenzehn LEO...but this Fender ProJunior is another great amp for beginners, tube_amp_lovers and Fender_Enthusiasts !

This little "LIGHT-WEIGHT" thang rocks ...
...if it will be stolen or broken I would buy a new one again (including a set of tubes for free of course... :-) )

This is a typical "back_to_the_roots_Amp" !
1. a power-On switch
2. a tone-control (high-cut-filter)
3. a volume-control (loud enough for club-gigs)
...that's all and it works ! :-)
(The internal speaker has a real high efficiency !
The mids and the treble tones are as loud as a Celestion Vintage 30.)
And a real annoying feature is the BIG HUM and MICROPHONIC and HUMMING V1 TUBE (12AX7-WA --> Fender-GrooveTubes ...lol...pull out the V1 Tube on the left side, send it back to Fender, maybe that they can make a crispy soup out of it, but don't use it as a V1 in ProJunior Amps)

Before I started to play with this "little wild thang" I have fixed the screw problem (middle screw of the back-cover next to the poties).I also have changed the tubes (my dealer gave some new, working ones for free) .
As phase-converter you can leave the 12AX7-WA, it does not influence the sound that much.
As V1 I have tried JJ-Tesla ECC83-S (NO HUM :-) , and big punch in the mids and bass).
I also have have tried a Sovtek 12AX7-LPS as V1 (NO HUMMING too , tight basses and crisp highs...good if you play it with a 2x12 or 4x12 box)
The sound of this little amp is good for Blues and Rock-Music.
Set the volume to 5-6 and tone-control to 9 and it kicks ass.
The variety of this amp mostly depends of the guitar you use with it.

I mostly use it with my self-made Custom-Strat (HSS) .In the bridge-position is a Gibson Humbucker and in the middle-, neck-position are some of the first Seymor-Duncan single-coils one could buy here (~25 years ago).That's the easiest way to have the biggest variety with this amp (one guitar , one kabel , one amp )

Sometimes I use it with some effects too (Bluesdriver BD-2, DigitalDelay DD-5 and Cry-Baby WahWah).

I have bought it new a half year ago ...
...never have had any problems with it , with the new tubes inside !

I have looked for Fender-Support in the internet, when I had this hum-problem , but did not find a phone number or email-adr. ...
...maybe that they have hidden , due to the BIG HUM problem of the ProJunior !!??

The hints to solve this problem I found here in Harmony-Central and other Internet-Places...

Meanwhile I play Guitar for 30++ years...
I also have a VHT 50-ST, and Marshall Studio 15, Reussenzehn LEO...but this Fender ProJunior is another great amp for beginners, tube_amp_lovers and Fender_Enthusiasts !

This little "LIGHT-WEIGHT" thang rocks ...
...if it will be stolen or broken I would buy a new one again (including a set of tubes for free of course... :-) )

GET RID OF THE HUM AND BUZZ!!!!

It's stupid easy. My dad did some research on the net and found this.

"The cause of the hum is a screw that is too long, and it touches the volume pot, causing a ground loop = HUM. to get rid of it, simply unscrew the top middle screw of the back cover plate, and it should go away."

I tried it with mine, and IT WORKS. So easy, and very helpful. Now I can record with it.

Take off the back cover plate and make sure that the rectangular metal shield plate isnt touching the volume/tone pots either. That will cause hum. Just bend it back a little if it is touching.

THANK YOU to THE FENDER FORUM PRO-JUNIOR CLUB ? you guys solved the "hum" mystery of this little amp.

GET RID OF THE HUM AND BUZZ!!!!

Before the "procedure". VERY noisy. After the "procedure", not noisy at all. This amp really does let the sound of the guitar come thru uncolored, which is great.

GET RID OF THE HUM AND BUZZ!!!!

I can't believe that fender hasn't caught this incredibly stupid defect yet. Its ridiclulously easy to fix. Unscrewing a single screw. I almost returned the amp because of this.

NA

Overall, after the "fix". this is seriously the best little tube amp you can get for your money. Make sure you haggle. If you paid ful price, youre just plain dumb. Besides, haggling is fun. Walk into guitar center waving cash, and they'll definately come down in price.

Before the buzz fix, this amp was ALMOST unuseable.

Thanks Fender Forum.

I had a good deal for a canvas first model, a volume and a tone controle knobs.

I love 60's 70's tones, at low volume with a Strat, it gives a clean black-face tone, pass 4-5 it crunch, after that, it drives a lot of powerfull overdrive and without any feedback, add some reverb and few pedals, you have a killer tone.

it sounded nice for a short period, but had tube problems.

The dealer offered me to fix it or give back my money, I took the money and run... They offered me the amp for half the price when repaired, only old tube problem they said.

This amp sounds and feel great, I heard a lot of studio guys use two with effects and make great stereo tones, I would like to have another one, but the guy who lives upstair wouldn'd enjoy..

2001 Fender Pro Jr.
1 channel Volume/tone straight foward Amp.
Can produce many musical styles depending on guitar setting.
I used many other amplifiers and I have found out that this small amp really enables me to customize my sound by utilizing more of the guitars volume and tone capabilities then the amplifiers.

I play a Les Paul with mini Humbuckers. With the amps volume turned to about 4-5 you can just roll your volume up or down according to how much overdrive you want. You will need some type of reverb for this amp to achieve any real presence. I chain through a overdrive a VOX wah and a Yamaha DG stomp( set on a very clean amp simulation). My amp came stock with Groove tubes and I feel that they are just fine, don't waste money changing tubes. If you really want to hear something impressive do what I did and unplugged the stock speaker and run the output to a Mesa Boogie 1-12 cab. You really need to hear this little guy through a Boogie Speaker. Go to your local guitar center and ask them to run it through a Boogie 1-12. Everybody in the store will want to know what you are playing. It will have a very smooth tone with strong bass response and perfect overdrive. I also split my signal so half goes to this combo and the other to a clean PA channel.

So far this amp has been very reliable but the same is for all Fender tube amps. I do gig with this amp in a jam band situation with a older crate for a backup, that so far I never had to use.

I have been playin it for 2 years so far so good, many people who hear it can not believe the sound that I achieve through my rig with this amp. I would buy another for the money and the quality.

It is a USA made, used tweed Jr. with the blue frame 10 inch alnico speaker (I assume, although it's just some blue speaker). It has an input jack, volume knob, and tone knob, on & off switch and small red pilot light.

Someone said the features, being "minimal," are Zen like. I'd agree. A 15 watt tube amp, tweed and retro like this one, should have but a couple of features, max. Like a vintage Harvard or Princeton. Of course, the reverb thing seems a hitch, but whatever. I don't miss it that much. But that is why I'll go 9.

I'm playing my Franken-Stat through it, my most versatile # 1 guitar. It has Seymour Duncans: single coil in the neck and middle, and Lil 59 humbucker (double single coil) at the bridge. Lately I put BOSS DS-1 - LINE 6 DELAY to amp, sometimes DOD PHASER in front of everything, and often just play direct.

So, I played a Pro Jr. at Black Market Music in Los Angeles months ago, and the volume to drive thing really bit. It is clean, and you can play open or barre chords and it has a nice sustain and some chimey harmonics, then if you play harder, and/or turn it up, you get some full overdrivey sound that immediately reminds you of old great guitar players who got to play direct into great tube amps and come up with great guitar parts. This is why I bought it, after trying several around town, and then buying one on E-bay for $290... $30 more than I could get a new one at the Guitar Center. (I'd read about the tweed, USA, blue speaker preference, and decided to go for it, even though the new ones don't sound much different.)

Oh yeah, sounds... so it came, and it buzzed. But it had GREAT tone. Read below and at Fenderforum.com about the buzz/noise. Same thing. Got new tubes from dougstubes.com: matched JJs for power, and JJ ECC 83s for phase inverter and Groove Tube ECC83 for first preamp. It sounded weird, then settled in and got rid of the buzzing and rattling. I also took off the tube holder springs (mine seem to be staying in.) But is still has a minor white noise hiss. Took it around, and it's less than 4 others, one blonde used (which was pretty quiet), two black new at GC, another new black one. Then I tried the original Fender made in China 12ax7 from the phase inverter position in preamp one. Like I thought: it is very quiet now. When I practice, I leave in that lower gain tube in one, and don't hear the very quiet hiss at all at low volumes. For jamming loud, I put the Groove Tube (higher gain, and louder) preamp tube back in.

Well, the buzzing issue is a deal with this amp. But that's my story. I love the amp now, and play for hours, and am inspired. In my buddy's garage, like 12 by 12 feet square, I can hang and/or overpower his aggressive drumming. Can't say the clean sounds at lower volumes overpower him, but he shouldn't be killing it when I'm playing clean anyway. Haven't played her live yet.

The amp distorts very nicely over 4 or 5 (of 12), and makes me play direct quite a bit, even though I like some pedals, just like everybody.

The distortion is not brutal, but very musical and pretty raunchy. Pedals get you enough distortion through it, even though it doesn't quite get metal-like saturation. 10, even though I haven't played many blackfaces and older little combos, and want to dream some too.

I've only had it for a few months, and with new tubes, don't expect much problem. In the past, fuses and tubes are the problems I've had with amps playing live. My Fender Bassman 100 I gigged without a backup. But these questions, and the thought of playing Jr. stereo with another or something else, is making me consider bringing a big amp or getting another little 'un as a backup. But Fender is built like tanks, I think.

Haven't tried to deal with Fender; and it's old(ish) and out of warranty. Everyone works on Fenders though. Funny Fender story: inside my amp the sticker is "Fender Blues De Ville." Nice!

I've been playing bass about 20 years, guitar about 15, off and on. If it were stolen, I probably would get another. It is so simple and has immediate tone and resposne. I think most people love 'em because we get that amazing round tone and bite from the tubes, at levels we can enjoy. Sure a Twin sounds great, but who gets to practice with those things naturally overdriving??

It must be said that I A/B'd this amp next to a Blues Junior (less harmonics, less pure tone) and a blackface Champ (small and wasp-like and kind of annoying tone). Jr. was the clear choice to me. I also tried an Ampeg Jet I liked. I think the Pro Jr.'s average SOUND rating ought to be in the 9s, like some other great amps, Deluxe Reverb, which averages like 9.5 on this site.

As everyone else said, the features don't get any simpler. Tone and volume. 15W is perfect for just about anything, and the external speaker out makes up for any lack of volume you could think of. I've been converted to little amps by this bugger alone!

Played w/ a Lone Star Strat as well as a Steinberger doubleneck guitar/bass, both sound great (of course, the Fender gets the more traditional sound.) Even the bass side of the Steinberger sounds cool through it.

Let me be clear that I swapped out the stock tubes for matched JJ Teslas, and put in a Reverend 10" speaker. The microphonic buzz that people complain about (and it was present when I received the amp) disappeared, and there was a bit more low end. Breaks up quite nicely after about 4-5 on the volume. Sounds INCREDIBLE when pushed w/ my Klon Centaur through a 4/12 cab.

The only drawbacks are a bit of noise/hum underneath, and the low end is a little lacking (although that's greatly lessened when playing through a bigger cab.) Minor drawbacks, though, and well worth tolerating for the price tag.

Stock, I have to give it a 7, since the tubes left a lot to be desired, and the microphonic buzz was a bit distressing.

After switching the tubes and speaker, it would get a 9. But since we're talking stock...

All in all, a great amp that's louder and sweeter than you would expect. I plan on getting a second amp and running them in stereo. If you're looking to use it outside of the bedroom, I'd suggest maybe getting something to push it like the aforementioned Centaur or maybe a ZVex Super Hard-On, as well as having a cab available if the performance situation isn't suited to mic the amp. Still, even after the mods that I did, it ran about $300, and I couldn't ask for anything better in that price range. I like it better than the Blues Junior and the little Peavey that everyone compares it to. I haven't tried the new Hiwatt that just came out, however, but I imagine that w/ the EL84's, it's comparable to this beauty (although it runs close to $500.)

Here is the ubiquitous update to an earlier review. This may be common sense to most people but I figured why fix anything until you have to: changing the tubes greatly reduced the otherwise considerable background hiss. Mine came with Sovteks. I changed them out for new GTs. Now the amp is louder with less hiss. Simple, right? I'm lazy and cheap, that's why I didn't bother. Until now.

2003 Fender Pro Junior. 1x10 15 watts. single channel. One volume knob, one tone knob. Black tolex bought brand new in 2003. I play Hank to Hendrix with it. Amp's volume can hold up un-miked on a medium to small stage as long as your drummer isn't loud. For large stages or/and a loud drummer, throw a mike on it. Your singers and mix guy will love you for this amp. One tone knob gets you all that you really want out of an amp for tones. Just like the old tweeds. If you like to toy with amplifier knobs; pick something else. If you like to toy with guitar knobs; pick this one. One may argue that a two knobbed amp cannot be versatile, but I own and play many amps with all kinds of knobs that isn't as versatile sounding as this one one.

I can make all my guitars sound good with this amp. This amp had a great way of bringing out all my guitar personalifties. Strats, Teles, Old SG, Les Paul Jr all sound great. My playing style is a mix of rock, blues and country. This amp is very pedal friendly, especially for us guys from the 70's school who still use old MXR and Boss stompboxes daisychained. Especially noteworthy is the puke green Ibanez TS9 and red MXR Dynacomp. This amp is as noisy and quiet as any other one around. Be conservative with your pedal settings. It doesn't take much to goose up this 15 watter. If you hear white noise when not playing, chances are your amp and pedal settings may be too aggresive. One of my favorite sounds that I find with other amps hard to get at a low volume is my Allman Bros slide sound. THIS AMP DOES THAT WITH MINIMAL WORK without the singers looking at me holding their hands over their ears! TS9 12:00 on all three knobs. It's that easy.

I usually don't gig without a backup as habit. But I would gig without a backup without too much fear. Amp is still relatively new, so I don't expect too many problem for the next 30 years or so. There were no out of the box bugs or immediate problems and that is a good sign for me with new amps.

I've never dealt with Fender. Just their dealers. My normal amp guy who isn't part of the whole warranty (claims denial) process saves me from all those headaches.

HOWEVER, I'VE DONE SOME MODS TO MAKE IT SOUND GOOD: I took it's junk ceramic "boxey - waxy" speaker out and replaced it with one of my Fender Blue alnico's from my Bassman. I also replaced both pre-amp tubes with some very old 5751's I had lying around. And I also clipped the negative ground loop from the output transformer as suggested in this column. All of these mod's (especially the speaker) transformed this plain jane sounding supermarket special into a jacked up tweed on steroids. This amp breathes tone at any volume and have had other guitar players comment to me about it. I own Fenders, Marshalls, and many 50 and 60 combos and this little Fender does the trick for me any where, any gig, any place. For the future, I' going to buy another one, split it with a stereo chorus on bigger gigs. I'd also like to try a Weber A100 speaker with it to see how it'd sound. BY THE WAY, THE BEST WAY TO GET THE SOUND OF THIS AMP is to keep it on the floor 4-6 feet behind you, tilt it slightly back with one of those black plastic ashtrays and keep all surrounding clutter away from it's sides and back. Let this amp breath. Much of the clarity of it's sound comes from it's cabinet, so don't stifle it.

I'm not sure what year this amp was made.
I play straightahead jazz. Hence, I don't quite need lotsa different types of tones. I just need one killer type of tone --- and this baby delivers it in spades.
I've had this amp for almost a month now and have used it at a number of club gigs and for one recording session. I'm very, very, very happy with the sound I've been getting.
One minor niggle, though --- I wish this amp had reverb!
I've been using it in conjunction with a Boss digital reverb pedal and though the Boss' reverb is fine, real spring reverb would be even better.
Power and volume haven't been an issue with me. These days I play with just a singer in a duo format (a la Joe Pass and Ella Fitzgerald or Tuck and Patti) so I don't really need to pump out major decibel levels. But I think this little tone monster would have more than enough cojones to hang out with a full band. I feel I get more than enough stage volume with this amp to play most anywhere, with most everyone.

I'm using this amp with a custom-made Johnny Smith-style hollowbody archtop with a single floating mini-humbucker in the neck position.
This amp suits me and my style (straightahead post-bop jazz for the 21st century) perfectly.
After more than a decade of searching, I've finally found my holy grail of tone. This sound is ME. =)

It's been holding up to the past month's gigs so far. And I've playing out (on gigs, not just at home) almost everyday for the past month.
But then, I've also been very careful with this baby. Careful carrying her, careful transporting her, just plain careful. =)
(Tubes are expensive in this part of the world)

Magnificent. Simply magnificent. =)

Voume knob, Tone knob, On/Off switch.
2x12ax7's
2xEL84's (class A - no biasing required)

I tried it in a music store never having heard about them and thought this would be a great amp for recording, I was right.
A 57 mic pointed at the cone a little off axis perfect!
Turn the tone to about 6, volume distorts after about 4. I use a varidrive (tube) pedal and you would think it was a Marshall in the control room. Great classic rock sound.
I replaced the tubes with JJ's for preamps. The speaker is now an alnico magnet Weber VST P10R, very warm and thick classic rock tones, think Led Zep and STP.
This amp doesn't sound like a typical Fender, closer to a baby VOX AC 30.
It does hum a bit (not too loud), tubes come lose if you move it around alot.
I've also been carrying it around in my truck for gigs where I need to be quieter on stage. It's been scuffed and banged around, it been very reliable!

It's never failed me. Preamp tubes fall out sometimes (they're hanging upside down with nothing holding them in) just put them back in, it works.

n/a

This amp has the sound I'm looking for. I really like it along with other amps I really like. Marshall 1971 Superlead head, Rivera TBR-1SL head. Low powered great tone.

Blonde Pro Junior 2003 Musicians Friend.com, One Vol, One Tone, Vol goes from Clean to Dirty. 1x10 15watts @ EL84's and 2 12ax7's

I was interested in the difference between the Pro Junior and The Blues Junior so I bought both from Musicians Friens . com and compared the two for a couple of weeks. I sent back the pro junior for a refund and kept the Blues Junior. The pro junior had a lot of character for a little amp and if I was just needing a little amp for my own pleasure and in my own home with tube tone, this little pro junior would be IT! But I really needed an amp that would go with me from practice to gig to recording studio as a cool little amp with character for the cool tone, vibe and smaller size. I really would've kept the Pro Junior but its one flaw was not that it wasnt loud enough or cool enough or not enough good tone, but rather it was so noisy! As soon as you turn it on and the tubes warm up it starts humming in a loud annoying buzzing way and thats with nothing plugged into it. Like I said, in my own home that is acceptable, at band practice it was acceptable but for a gig *anywhere* or recording, I was gonna need to have it silenced what ever was making the humming noise. So anyways I sent it back for a refund and kept the Blues Junior, it was roughly 100 bucks more but it was buzz free, had 3 band EQ, a reverb that was OK (not great) two volume controls, the distortion was very cool on both the Blues Jr. and Pro Jr. - very similar sounds with the Pro Jr sounding a little "tighter" in the distortion area and sometimes bordering on "box-y" but always full of character this little pro jr. So the Blues Jr had the same cool quality, great fender tone, more features, more money and bigger and heavier but the Pro junior had great chracter and great price but I couldn't get past the annoying buzz the amp was making. Reading the other entries here it seems like that may be a common complaint? Anyways feel free to email me for clarification of anything here! I am a guitar teacher in the SF Bay Area California USA and always willing to help out as much as I can. BTW the Pro Junior was 249.00 and the Blues JR was 369.00 both in Blonde Tolex 2003 from musiciansfriend.com

Takes a lickin and keeps on buzzing

fender products have always been good to me

I am 35 at this writing and I have been playing seriously since I was 16 and had a guitar since I was 2. I own multiple amps, guitars, basses, recording gear etc etc etc. If you need a cheaper Fender Amp with tube tone get the Pro Jr but be prepared to deal with the buzzing! If you have an extra 120.00 buck save yourself the extar expense down the road and get a Blues Junior now as it will grow with you as your needs (gigs etc) grow.

Amp is brand new

I play 84 american strat and epiphone les paul standard.I run my strat into a boss md-2 distortion,dd3 delay,and set my amp on 4.Can get thick,heavy rythem.Sound is amazing.What you want to do is turn guitar volume on 9 if using strat set amp volume just before it breaks up.Now your ready for distortion.Its important that you send distortion signal through clean amp.If amp is overdriven a distortion pedal will muddy your tone.You will have to adjust your pedal to taste ,but remember dont set output level on pedal past halfway.I have not found a better distortion sound than md-2 through pro jr..I only use delay for afew parts on a few songs.

This is third amp first 2 amps were bad.Ive put 15 hours on amp since I got it 2 weeks ago. No problems amp is perfect and sounds great absolutley no rattles ticks pops or hums.

been playing 5 years. Compared to blues jr. blows blues jr away in tone department.I chose this amp because Mesa Boogie is to loud and expensive.Would buy another in a heart beat if I had to.

Fender Pro Junior, bought it new, not sure if they make these in Mexico or USA. All tube, except the rectifier, 15 watts, Volume and Tone, 10" speaker, black with silver cloth grille.

This amp is a great amp for me, I'm not a serious player, I just play in my bedroom, so I just wanted a simple little practice amp, but all tube. I bought the amp for it's simplicity, but it's almost too simple. I think a gain channel would've been nice so I could have distortion at lower levels, turning the volume on the guitar down isn't the same, and I also think they should put jewels on the amp, not just the cheap little piece of colored plastic, so I'm retro fitting a blue jewel.

Nice amp, looks pretty cool to, kinda oldschool, but it's a little too simple and has no jewel, so it gets an 8.

I have a MIM standard Tele and Strat and a Highway 1 Strat, the highway 1 is the best sounding, obviouly. It siuts my style fine, puting it up to three is enough, has a nice crunch. Basically I think it sounds fine, except for one of the springs on the holding clamp of the pre-amp tubes vibrates with a low "E", but I'm not sure how to fix that, I can't just put tape on it to dampen the spring because of the tubes getting so hot.

Awesome sounding amp, but because of the spring issue it gets a 9.

I don't gig or play live, so I'm not sure if it would just be to small to use for that. I think it's very reliable though.

I'm not gonna rate it here because I'm not really using it in situations where that would be tested.

Didn't deal with them.

Started playing 7 years ago, started building guitars 6 1/2 years ago, and have focused more on building them. I would like to get back into playing and I think this is the perfect amp to do it with.

I would DEFINATELY replaced it if it got stolen or lost.

I love the fact that it's a tube amp first of all, and also it's simpleness and it looks really cool too.

Overall I'd give it a 9. It's almost too simple and has no jewel, but that doesn't bother me, I bought it because it was simple, I think it's a great buy for the money.

Dont know date amp was made its supposed to be brand new.

Amp sounds excellent.

This is the problem.I purchased amp new had it home only 2 hours.Something cooked inside tubes lit real bright and smoke came out. I took amp back to store after waiting ten days ,by the way sales man was really nice'so hegave me another amp.Four days after I brought home amp cooked noticed this time screw came loose I noticed the screw above the tube socket.Im going to try one more time.I took amp back today salesman agreed amp was bad.So here Iam waiting for another.I take very good care of all my equipment.

Never dealt with fender.Salesman at store is very helpful.That is why Iam giving third chance to get right.

I dont know if anybody else has had this problem.Would probably look for something else,that is if it sounded as good as the pro jr.Just warning those people out there about this amp.

Zen-like in its minimal control layout (that sounded good, didn't it?). Two knobs - if there were more, guitarists wouldn't be able to figure it out. But this is all you NEED with this amp (although reverb would be nice). Replaced a Peavey Classic 20 (yuck) and the difference was night and day.

This would be my backup to my desert island amp (`53 tweed Deluxe). It is the ultimate cheap pocket-rocket. I play a variety of Strats and the odd Les Paul through it, mostly with vintage aftermarket pickups. It's fun by itself but really shines through a 2x12 or 4x12. Crank it up and go - use guitar volume to control distortion. When the EL84's get cooking, this little amp is a monster. I've gigged with it quite a bit (solo and small band). Sometimes a little distortion from a Rat is nice to push the amp a bit.

People don't realize what this amp can do. We'll keep it our little secret, ok?

This is where it falls down. The factory tubes rattled and the speaker blew out after a while. It was worth it to get some nice NOS tubes and a Mojo speaker - it's even more of a monster now.

I did my own work.

I've been mangling the fretboard for over 27 years. I own a Marshall 1/2 stack and various vintage Fender amps and have some clue about tone. There's something about EL84 distortion....

I would not hesitate to replace this amp if I had to - in fact, I'm thinking about another one just for fun - Pro Jr Stereo!!!

How could this amp be better? Better tubes+speaker, maybe a half-power switch for fun. Fender did a great job here - sometimes I wonder if they know what they have on their hands.

Very basic but necessary-volume & tone. Basic tube configuration, easy to find replacement tubes. functional simplicity.

Very good tone. In essence, it is a 1/4 size Bassman in features, looks, and weight. What Fender has done is given you a tweed amp at a bargain price. Typically I have found amps with el84's to be more Vox sounding, but Fender has given it their signature tweed tone. This is an old school blues or jazz amp suitable for small low volume gigs. The amp I bought used came with NOS Sylvania tubes and some NOS preamp tubes, plus a Kendrick Blackframe 10", and the tone is vastly improved from a stock unit.

Seems to be as heavy duty as any Fender ever made. It will be around in 20-30 years. Very roadworthy. Nice & light for rehearsals & jams.

Fender is O.K. to deal with for a mass market co.

I have been playing for over 35 yrs and have owned just about every type and brand of amp. One of my favorite all-time Fender amps is the Super Champ, and I kick myself for selling the one I bought new. If this were lost or stolen, I would get the Blues Junior. Reverb is essential imho in a combo amp. This amp works well with a reverb pedal, but I dislike messing with extra chords and power supplies. The PJ is a wee noisy with a noticeable hum, but I have heard worse, and it is not a big deal. Most tube amps have quirks. If it had reverb it would be awesome. A Super Pro Junior - come on Fender, are you listening? This is the Volkswagen of guitar amps - functional simplicity on a budget...

I rate it a two since that's exactly how many features it has: tone and volume. It's a one-trick pony, but that pony just might win the Triple Crown.

Let me begin by saying I'm using it as is, totally stock. And it is a bit noisy the louder you get. But this is only an issue if you're recording. Playing with others, the noise isn't noticeable.
It's pretty loud, too loud for bedroom or apartment use if you want to crank it up and get the sweet overdrive. Currently I'm playing with a LOUD drummer and a bass player. The pro junior holds its own, but barely. There are times when I wish it had a bit more power. If you can mic it, or you have a considerate sound guy, it should work out fine.
Believe me, it's such a great sound when it's cranked. When it's quiet, it's a pretty sweet clean sound also, but it will stay clean. Lately, I've been using it with a Les Paul, keeping the junior on 12 and adjusting the volume with the guitar -- incidentally, this is the best way to keep sound guys happy; channel switching changes the volume and the EQ too much unless you're really paying attention. Anyway, with the guitar around 2 it's a slightly dirty tone. At 4, it's a good lead tone for blues and rock. Anything higher and it mostly just gets dirtier (a nice dirtier, mind you) without a whole lot of volume increase.
Overall, it's great going straight in with the volume cranked and making adjustments on your guitar as needed. Great for recording, jamming, and gigging, but for the latter two, you might be in need of a bit more juice or else a competent guy running the board.

As I said before, I'm using the stock tubes and speaker. Had it for four years now, working it hard for the last 6 months with no trouble. These are just jamming situations, though. On a paying gig, I would certainly bring extra tubes, just in case, although I would have to be sure of the venue and the sound before I even brought the junior. So, I'll give it a nine: no problems, but I would consider a backup just to be sure.

Any decent guitar store could fix whatever is wrong. It's a pretty simple and straightforward amp. Not much on it that could go wrong. But I've never dealt with Fender, nor would I have any need to.

Ask any pro what is the best rock/blues lead tone out there and they will likely tell you it's the pro junior. And for the price, it's a great addition to your arsenal. It's small, lightweight, and pretty loud. But keep in mind that in ordinary bedroom use you won't be able to get the sweet overdrive. And in jams and gigs, it might not have enough muscle. So think of what's most important. If you want to be sure you can be heard above everybody, just in case, you should look elsewhere. That said, for what it is, it's pretty tough. For what it is and what it can do, it's a ten.
Plus remember, tubes are cooler.

This is a black tolex Pro. Jr., made about 1999. 15 watts, all tube, volume and tone knobs. Thats it. I play guitar and harmonica through this amp.

I play a Gibson SG through this amp, as well as a G&L ASAT Deluxe semi hollow with coil tap. I play with the volume and tone all the way up. Pretty loud - good tone. I get a good AC/DC sound, ZZ Top, Joe Walsh... good tone. Nice sounds - I am really pleased with the amp. No clean tone at any real volume, but I like the overdriven sound just fine.

It's a Fender, mass produced. Tubes rattle some. I would not gig without a backup. My MESA?Boogie Heartbreaker is built better, but crap - that's a 1700 dollar amp!

No idea. Service centers abound.

I play rock and blues, and this amp does a good job for what it is. I would like to get another, and run them both together. If it were lost, I'd get another.

Newer model Pro Junior. Black tolex cover, "Fender Special Design" ceramic-magnet 10" speaker. 15 watts with 2 12AX7s and 2 EL84's. I use this amp a lot for jam sessions and band rehearsals because of it's light weight and portability. Very minimal features: Volume, tone, on/off switch, 8 ohm speaker out. I actually prefer a minimum of features, and for what this amp does I don't feel there's anything lacking. I use it with various pedals for different sounds.

I really like the warm clean tones of this amp. To me it sounds like a smaller version of the Bassman reissue. When cranked into power amp distortion it sounds okay, but I like to use a pedal on top of the power amp overdrive, either a Fulltone 69 fuzz pedal or a Mesa V-Twin on the blues setting for distortion, and both of these pedals color the tone of the amp very strongly when they're being used. The combination of the EL84 tube overdrive with the pedals gets a very cool, warm sustaining overdrive sound. The only problem is the amp is very noisy when played loud. It's like standing next to a waterfall. I've used the clean sound on recordings for 50's rock and jazz sounds and it sounded good, but it's too noisy for recording when turned up at half-volume or louder I find.
I use it with a Strat with Texas Specials and a Gibson Les Paul standard. It's sound works nicely with both guitars but seems to be better suited to the the Strat.

The amp hasn't failed me yet but it gets very hot when in use, I figure eventually the circuitry will basically melt. Another reason why I chose this amp is because it has a simple circuit and one day after I get a degree in electronics I'd like to rebuild this amp with quality parts.

I have not dealt with the company but eventually I would like to repair and design my own amps so I plan on dealing with any problems myself or with the help of a local amp tech guy.

I like the overall concept of this amp. Good fender tone, lightweight and low power for overdrive at more reasonable volume levels. With quality parts I'm sure this would sound even better and certainly last a lot longer than I expect it to. I got it because it was cheap and I didn't have a tube amp at the time. The noise level and build quality are the main points against it. I did eventually upgrade to a Mesa Boogie Blue Angel. Nicer tone, more control yet maintaining a simple design, no noise whatsover and the amp should last forever. I still use the Pro Junior a lot though.