A great amp only comes around every so often, and the Blues Junior in my e-pinion should be in the running to be one of the greatest amps around.

My Tone Quest
I spent a good portion of my mid to late twenty’s trying to find the right sound for me. At the time I was in an all-original band that did play covers to pay the bills. So needing something versatile but yet still sounded good & unique was keeping me quite frustrated in the search for that holy grail of Amplifier/Guitar tones. I had switched earlier on in my career (21-22) from solid-state amps to the tried and true tube amps.

I bought a 65 Fender Twin reissue. This is the holy grail of “Clean sounding” tube amps. (see my review on it) I love this amp but there are problems. It’s just a clean amp; if you want distortion you need either foot pedals or some sort of distortion possessor. I had a multi foot pedal possessor that handles the distortion & other effects. This was ok, but still just didn’t get it. After many years of lugging the Twin with other big amps & cabinets around, also with a row of pedals, my back & patience couldn’t handle it any more. Also at this time my wife & I was putting together something new as a side project. This was to be our blues band.

So I determined I need something smaller, something that didn’t weigh a ton, that has a killer tonal range, that can distort & crunch up but yet can be as clean as a twin if needed. Also that could sound big & full with out a lot of pedals lined up across the room. Being that, with this new band situation (blues band) we would be playing in smaller clubs & restaurants that wouldn’t allow much room for all that other mumbo-jumbo.

The Search
I went to my local Fender dealer and started trying what they had. I tried the Fender Deville……………ohhh ahhh great sound but too loud & too heavy. I tried the Fender 59 Bassman ……………ohhh ahhh great sound but too loud & too heavy. I tried a Marshall JCM tube combo/twin ???? Something or other? Once again too loud, great tube distortion but the clean channel just wasn’t clean enough for my liking. Plus it was too heavy!

So I continue on. I tried the Fender Blues Deluxe. Ummmm this is better, great tone, not too big, can get dirty and clean quite nicely. I almost stopped right there with that. But them I noticed next to it this little amp that looked like the Fender Deluxe but was conciderably smaller and quite cheaper in price. IT WAS THE BLUES JUNIOR. I was like ok, I’ll try this little thing and see what it can do, thinking it would sound kind of small.

Finally My Dream Amp?
I fired it up, turned both the pre & master volumes to about 5 and hit a D9th blues/jazz chord. Whumph………………the lights dimmed, A bright light beamed through the room, the room had a mystic glow around me & this amp, like God with all his angles had just descended in all his glory and power! I picked my jaw off the floor and started playing some of the best blues I had ever played before. I think I won 5 Grammy’s & 3 Handy (blues version of the Grammy’s) Awards that day. Ha, no I’m just kidding but this amp sounded like heaven in a box! Needless to say I bought it on the spot & this has been my main amp for about 5 years now.

The Spec’s

My Blues Junior is the tweed version. Which is now discontinued. You can still get this amp but it comes in black tolex covering. Like the picture above. This amp also came come with either a 10-inch or 12 inch speaker. Mine is the 12-inch. Fender specs this amp at a mere 15 watt’s but this is the loudest 15-watt amp I’ve ever heard. It has to be more like 20 㪱 watts. The layout on the panel is simple and vintage. Just a Pre-volume, treble, Mid, Bass, Master volume & reverb master. The reverb is a spring verb type, of vintage caliber. The verb does sound good but it’s not as lush as my Twin-Verb. But don’t get me wrong it is adequate to get the job done.

Versatility

This amp is probably one of the best sounding most versatile little amps you can find. I have covered many styles of music & performed many types & sizes of gigs with this little God-send. You will have no trouble covering styles ranging from Blues, Country, Gospel, R&B, Funk, Jazz, Hard Rock, Southern Rock, POP & Classic Rock. The only thing you probably would need is maybe some sort of pre-amp boost/gain pedal for your solo’s. Not that the amp can’t produce great solo tones, infact it can. If you need something to drive it harder or take it over the top, a pedal would be a good choice. For example in a normal blues/rock situation I set the Pre- amp gain about half way up & the master on 4. I think it actually go’s to 12! One past 11! Ha.

So at that setting I can play softer and get great clean/rhythm sounds and then dig in a little to get a light crunch going, then stop on my classic Tube Screamer “green” pedal for the lead solo’s. This amp can also be set for; those of you who like to use your master volume on you guitar to boost for leads, instead of pedals. I suppose you who like to shred metal & hard-core stuff, this amp might not work. But then again with the amp all the way up can really scream, and with one of your favorite metal/crunch box in front of it could yield truly righteous metal tones.

This amp also has a boost setting call a fat switch. It’s not channel switching or the like but it does ad fatness & a little more pre-amp gain. This does add to the versatility of the tonal range.

Let me also point out this amp makes a perfect studio amp. At 15 watts you can get great Stevie Ray Vaughan to AC/DC type of tones with out waking up the entire neighborhood! The downfall is it doesn’t have a direct out or studio/line out. But to me this is no problem because I don’t record guitar that way anyhow, nothing sounds better than a good amp cranked up with a good mic in front of it.

Service / Maintenance

Like I said I’ve had mine for 5 years and in that time I’ve only changed the out-put tubes once! That was about 4 months ago. Other than that all has been well. I’ve probably done 200 gigs with it.

Price

At under $400.00 this amp is a steal. I got mine for $280.00! Lets just say I knew the sales guy & ummm got me a good price!
Final Comments
So for those of you who like your vintage/classic guitar severed straight up with no frills & thrills, and with out the ear deafening volume of a 4x12 stack, this amp can fulfill all your needs. You really owe it to yourself to at least go and try it out at your local Fender Dealer.

Thanks
Mark R. Darnell

Update July 21st 2003.
I have gotten a few other amps Marshall/Boogie and Victoria and I keep coming back to this amp! It is my "tried and true" work horse in every situation and keeps on rocking. Since I wrote this review I've changed the Pre-amp and out-put tubes again. This is normal. I've probably put on another 350 hours gigging on it!

Update 5/12/2005. This amp is STILL rocking out hard. It's Faithfully been my main “work horse” amp and just cant be beat! Mark Darnell


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