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Thread: Blues Junior

  1. #1
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    Blues Junior

    Has anyone played a Les Paul through a Blues Junior? Thinking about getting one for a low wattage amp.

  2. #2

    Blues junior

    I play a Les Paul Classic into a Blues Jr. (also my strats). The Les Paul with my stock pups seems to overpower the amp just a bit. I have tweaked the guitar by lowering the stock high output ceramics and the results have been that I now get much better tone without the "mud". If you tweak the amp controls you'll get good results. I set the Bass on 8 1/2, Mids at 2 1/2, and treble at 11. My volume is at about 2 and the master is at 9 1/2 to 10 1/2. By keeping the Classic's volumes controls around 8 and the tone to taste, I can get a decent clean tone for a practice situation. Keep in mind that you should stand back from the amp 12 feet or more to get the full effect of the speaker. Also I have the amp up off the floor on a small table (about 24" or more off the floor). The table is close to a wooden panneled wall.

    I'm trying for a "woody tone" and usually dial it in with both the Classic and my strats. The amp is all stock with Tesla tubes in the preamp section, Groove Tube EL-84s in the power section. I find that starting with the settings above I can tweak from that point and get the tones I'm after. It took me awhile to get to this point, so don't be dissapointed if you have to spend some time to find "your tone".

    Classicplayer

  3. #3
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    Blues Junior ?

    I've always wanted a Blues Junior , I was thinking what it would be like if you put that new tube thingy in it to make it 5 watts , would it be any better for bedroom jams or not ? Just wondering , Thanks in advance !...................Jim !!
    " Never make your move too soon ! "

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    I was thinking along the same line- for a jr a while back......

    But Spose is right.... once you get it you have to do some mods and tweaking to get what you want - $150 bucks later you've spent 5 bills on the damn thing....

    I waited and found a nice Fender Super Champ on Fleabay....
    18 watts and twice the amp IMHO.... I paid $500 for it and couldn't be happier....

    Just an option for you....

  5. #5
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    Tascosa, find you a Fender Champ instead. 6 watts, great tone. Perfect home amp. There is always some on Ebay.

    Buttafucco

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    classicplayer: I have 57 classics in my LP how do you think they would work out? I have played a Strat through one but not a Les Paul.

  7. #7
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    The Blues Junior is a nice sounding amp. With a few tweaks you can make it more Les Paul friendly.

    At the cathode of V1B is a 47 mfd. bypass capacitor. Change that to a .68 or 1 mfd electrolytic @25+ volts (C3 on the circuit board).

    Change C4 at the cathode of V1A from 22 mfd. to a 1 mfd. electrolytic @25+ volts.

    Change C25 in the tone circuit from 250 pf. to 390 or 500 pf @500+ volts. This is the treble cap in the tone circuit.

    Change the slope resistor from 100k to a 47k 1/2 watt (R6).

    Change C16 from .0022 to a .01 mfd. @ 500= volts.

    Remove C35 from the circuit altogether.

    Change the feedback resistor (R27) from 75k to 150k 1/2 watt.

    Remove C9 from the circuit and replace it with a straight wire.

    Tim C. :)

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    Tim C. Thanks but I have no idea what any of that means.

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    I think I'll just get one and find out. Wish me luck.

  10. #10
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    Originally posted by jba900
    Tim C. Thanks but I have no idea what any of that means.
    Just sharing mods that I have done to customers Blues Junior amps to make them sound a bit better. :) Sorry for all the tech talk but I just wanted you to know that there are some things you can do if you get the amp and want to tweak it a bit.

    If you can wield a soldering iron you can do these mods for under $20.00 in parts.

    I hope you enjoy your purchase!

    Tim C. :)

  11. #11

    Blues Junior

    JBA900...... Not sure about the 57 Classics (a few months ago was thinking of trying them myself). If I can get good results with the 496R/500T combination, you should also get good results with the 57s. My advice is to try and rent a floor model Blues Junior, or borrow one from a friend, or bandmember, etc. I have rented amps in the past (for a day or two, and at a reasonable rate) to try at home. Of course we all know amps sound so good in a store enviornment and then at home for some reason, they are not what we heard at the store.

    Classicplayer

  12. #12
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    Tim C.

    I have a stock Blues Jr, what type of changes in the sound would I expect from those mods? Any idea what it would cost to have it done by a shop? Is it the kind of thing that I could do myself? I don't have a lot of experience with this type of thing. Thanks.

    Jim

  13. #13
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    Sounds to me like Tim's mods are designed to make it voiced more like a Plexi Marshall.

    Reducing the values of the cathode bypass caps will roll off the low end. Making the treble cap bigger will thicken the mids and reduce the depth of the mid notch.

    If you want Marshall tone, buy a Marshall. Don't start carving up a Fender.

    IMO, I'd much rather have a silverface Princeton Reverb than a Blues Jr.

  14. #14
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    I play my R9 with 57' Classics through a stock (I think?? I bought it used) Blues Jr. and get some good tones. It did have to experiment with tone knobs to get a good tone. I set it different than ClassicPlayer though. Mid at about 9, Bass at about 11, Treble at about 8. I paid about $200 for it so I might have to try the tube and speaker changes. Like Trem said, I'd like to get BF or early SF Princeton Reverb.

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