[stubbie7]

Just looking for some input here. I have been lusting after a Fender Blues Jr. for some time and was about to buy it. I was talking to someone who said that, although a really good amp, it might be too loud for home use (in other words to get some of the distortion out of it and get a really good sound I might have to turn it up to far). I do live pretty deep in the woods in West Marin, CA, and the neighbors are pretty far and few between.

Anyway, it was recommended that for me I might prefer a Fender Dyna-touch Series III 300 (Champion, I think). It has a pretty nice sound and lots of on-board effects. I should say that at one time I was eyeing Gibson's Les Paul Jr. amp but it is almost twice as expensive and has no reverb (I do like my reverb).

Suppose I should add that as of now most of my playing is practice alone but hope to do some jamming if I can improve enough. I would love a little input from anyone who knows either amp. Most of the playing will be done on a Tele but sometimes my Ovation acoustic/electric.

Thanks in advance.

[allthumbs]

I have a 95 tweed BJ. They are loud. I am getting an attenuater for mine so I can get the distortion at lower volumes. BJ don't have a line out which is a drawback. It is easier to hook up your amp directly for recording to your pc than to mike it.
Just took a peak at the fender. The headphone jack can work as a line out so thats good. Lots of effects,but who knows how good they sound. The biggest difference is the BJ is tube and the fender is digital so you need to know what sound you want for your amp. Tubes have a much warmer organic sound to them till you get up to line 6 digitalamps which seem to capture that tube sound ok.
I just went and checked some reviews for the dyna.
http://www.harmony-central.com/Guita..._Combo-01.html

[stubbie7]

allthumbs:

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I really want that warm, tube sound. What is the attenuater you talk about? That is a new one to me. And how does it work? That might be just the thing to solve my dilemma.

[allthumbs]

This amp might be the better choice in your situation. A couple of friends have them and are happy with them. An attenuater cuts the volume after the sound has hit the speaker so there is some wiring involved with the blues junior since it has no line out. I do a lot of recording so the line out on the attenuater makes it worthwhile for me at 90 bucks U.S. Here is a link of reviews for the amp. The reviews are much better than the other one.
http://www.samedaymusic.com/productr...-FEN2350000000

https://weberspeakerscom.secure.poww...eber/atten.htm
Weber Attenuators Order Page
There are a lot of mods you can do to bj if you decided to go that way. here is a link
http://home.comcast.net./~machrone/bluesjunior.htm
Bill's Blues Junior Modification Pages--Home

[bluesguy]

I have had a Fender Pro Junior for years. I am very satisfied with the tone I get out of it. But there are no effects - just volume & tone & on/off switch .

[guitarstrummin63]

Originally Posted by stubbie7

Just looking for some input here. I have been lusting after a Fender Blues Jr. for some time and was about to buy it. I was talking to someone who said that, although a really good amp, it might be too loud for home use (in other words to get some of the distortion out of it and get a really good sound I might have to turn it up to far). I do live pretty deep in the woods in West Marin, CA, and the neighbors are pretty far and few between.

Anyway, it was recommended that for me I might prefer a Fender Dyna-touch Series III 300 (Champion, I think). It has a pretty nice sound and lots of on-board effects. I should say that at one time I was eyeing Gibson's Les Paul Jr. amp but it is almost twice as expensive and has no reverb (I do like my reverb).

Suppose I should add that as of now most of my playing is practice alone but hope to do some jamming if I can improve enough. I would love a little input from anyone who knows either amp. Most of the playing will be done on a Tele but sometimes my Ovation acoustic/electric.

Thanks in advance.

i'd go with the blues junior

buy a volume pedal with it and it'll give you an extra way to bring down the volume a little

the blues junior is a tube amp, which gives it a better tone

the other fender amp is loaded with effects, which means it may be lacking in other area like tone because they added more bells and whistles to it


also the blues junior will be loud enough to gig with, so you won't have to buy another amp that's loud enough when you need something to play with live


i suggest just going with the blues junior, and if you want an attenuator then buy one later after a month or so of messing around with the new amp

[Spyder F16]

Too loud?

Tis' there such a thing? .

[guitarstrummin63]

Originally Posted by Spyder F16

Too loud?

Tis' there such a thing? .

sadley there is something called too loud...

but until the cops come knocking on your door, there won't be a "too loud"

[allthumbs]

too loud = married.

[Jim Heidinger]

Originally Posted by stubbie7

allthumbs:

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I really want that warm, tube sound. What is the attenuater you talk about? That is a new one to me. And how does it work? That might be just the thing to solve my dilemma.

Hey Subbie7,

A fellow West Marinite! I used to live in Marin and know the area well. Just to clarify an attenuator is a device that accepts the power out signal of the amplifier and adds the capability to act as a volume control BEFORE the signal is sent to the speaker. Think of it as a way to run your amp at its highest power rating and then control the volume level to the speaker. Two very seperate things.

What it does is allows you to saturate the power tubes! This is where all amps breath life into the signal. You get harmonics, compression, and tone that is unavailable without saturating the power tubes.

That said, a volume pedel from the guitar into the preamp also provides a vital function. First, you can run your guitar signal hot and only use the tone controls to shape the sound which optimizes the signal to the preamp and allows no variation in tone when using the volume pedal.

Second, and this is the holy grail, you can control how much saturation you are pushing into the power tube section of the amp. This will let you control compression, harmonics and sustain to a larger degree at the top level.

Once you are in the saturation mode of the power tubes you don't really get more volume because the tubes are already saturated. What you do get is that three diminsional sound provided by harmonic content, sustain and compression. Contolling these elements with the volume pedal allows you to control your expression with these variables.

My rig is a Fender Deville 4*10, volume pedal, weber mass attenuator, and a les paul custom and a tube screamer to drive the preamp section into massive overdrive. Tone for days with that setup. But I find I need to keep the attenuator at about 8+ and the preamp at about 10.

Good luck, and expect to experiment with your tone. Took me about 2 years to fumble my way into this setup.

Jim

[allthumbs]

Thanks for that Jim. I took notes. I will run a volume pedal,bad monkey, mini mass attenuator to my 95 tweed blues junior as soon as I get the mini mass wired in and see what happens. I think I will still have to mod my bj to get the best out of it though.

[stubbie7]

Thanks to everyone for their input. Wish I had found this forum earlier. I will take all advice under advisement.

As far as volume; I am lucky in that I live deep in the woods (how could you ever leave West Marin Jim?) so I can be pretty loud. But I do have to consider others in the house (my wife always says don't worry about her, turn it up if I want to) including pets, a few neighbors and my abilities. Don't want to be at full blast when I bang a horrible string combination; it's enough of a drag when only I can hear it.

[sale]

You could buy FENDER G-DEC it very good amp and you can play it all day long.If you want more info from this amp or some other chech www.ultimate-guitar.com you will see there reviews

[Jim Heidinger]

Originally Posted by stubbie7

As far as volume; I am lucky in that I live deep in the woods (how could you ever leave West Marin Jim?)

It was a hard choice. But my family is there and I still get to visit!