Fender Blues Junior.
The fender blues junior is probably one of the most loved small amps of the modern era.
Released in the late 90’s it has had a few variations over the years in regard to stock options e.g., colour options and speaker selection.
This 15watt tube amp is a great amp to enter into the world of tube amps.
Don’t let size and price fool you over the power of this small amp, my Fender Blues Junior is the tweed model with a 12” Jensen speaker and it gets loud!
So, if you play at home and only have a small studio or room to play in then this amp is all you need volume wise in regard to tube amps as anything larger will be unplayable without upsetting others in the house or your neighbours if they are attached or you use some sort of attenuation.
Looks
The classic tweed covering, rusty brown grille cloth, leather handle and silver panel make this amp look as good as any other classic amp, it oozes vintage charm and class.
Even if you never plugged it in or quite honestly didn’t even play guitar then this makes a great piece of furniture!!
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Sounds & Tones
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Without too much dial fiddling you can get great clean sparkly fender tones, after all this is what you want and come to expect from a fender amp of this nature.
The moment you start playing some simple blues lines you feel what a tube amp is compared to most digital amps, it has a response which isn’t easy to describe it just feels so natural and sounds so lush.
The control panel is as straight forward as can be, you have three EQ’s Bass, Middle & Treble, Reverb, Master Volume and Volume plus a FAT Switch.
The FAT Switch adds a boost for more drive to your amp settings, this can be operated via a foot switch which is sold separately so you can engage it without the need to stop playing.
The reverb is real analogue spring reverb, the spring is housed in a little tank at the back of the amp.
There is reverb a plenty here, and to be honest anything over 3 can be a little too much although that's down to individual taste.
The only real learning curve to the controls and the amp in general is getting used to the master volume and volume controls if you are new to amps with both.
Basically, if you think of the master volume as the limit of your volume and keep the Volume knob lower than this or close to the same value as the master volume then you will get a clean sparkling fender tone, if you turn the Volume knob to a higher value than the master Volume then you will get more driven tones and cause natural breakup in the speaker.
In my video I show 3 variations of EQ’s as per fenders webpage guides.
The great thing about this amp sound wise is that it’s so simple to get great clean tones which is probably one of the tones we all crave and which is hardest to achieve for some amps as it’s so pure and can’t hide behind effects.
I have run a few pedals through it and they all seem fine, they have to go through the line in as there is no effects loop so bare that in mind if you think this will affect your set up.
Who Is This Amp For?
This amp is really suited to players looking for a small amp at home or practicing at a small venue.
Those who want a vintage looking amp and are fans of clean sparkly tones!
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Verdict
Put it this way, every time I go to my favourite guitar shop and try a guitar whether its budget or high end, they will always plug it into a Blues Junior! So, they can’t be bad in the room can they.
