*****Fender Blues Junior III Review*******

Discussion in 'Guitar Gear Talk Forum' started by aryasridhar, Feb 12, 2012.

  1. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    OK so, while I was trying the Ehsaan Noorani Signature Strat, I had an option to hook it up to a Fender Blues Junior III. My review of the EN strat was based on what I heard off the Fender Blues Junior III.

    So I thought why not post a review on it as well, so here it goes.

    15Watts, All tube, One Channel, 3x12ax7, 2x EL84's, Fender - Eminence Lightning Bolt 12" speaker, rated @50w, 8 Ohms, Solid State Rectifier.

    Controls - Volume - Fat Switch - Treble - Middle - Bass - Master Volume - Reverb (Spring) - On/Off Switch - In that order. Optional foot switch for "FAT Switch"

    Made in China, Not too heavy,

    As I said, I tried this with EN Strat and with a Mexican Classic Players Strat - IIRC and also with a Highway One Tele.
    There was this great twang to the tone, especially with the Tele, in bridge position, the neck pickup on the Tele sounded the best to me...for blues rhythm.

    With the Volume at 6, the amp started to break up, and that sweet tone was awesome, with some spring reverb it was just fantastic.

    It doesn't have a very early breakup as I had expected, meaning one can get really good clean headroom with this amp, this is with all the mentioned guitars I had tried on it.

    The EN Strat’ Bridge pickup and the MIM Strat Bridge got a little more breakup than the tele with the volume at 6, Great for Link Wray type sounds, think Rumble…

    So now I had set all the EQ knobs at noon, cranked the master volume to about 4, and the Volume at 9, with the reverb at 6, and the fat switch engaged, this got me AC/DC, CCR, SRV type tones really well. Great sounding drive, but not a lot of drive by itself, with a pedal I am sure this can you one to a good Early 80’s rock tones, and it of course does blues really well.

    Overall impression was great; the disappointing point the was the price, INR 39400, as there are better amps that can do what the BJr does and a lot more and will hold a lot more value too, like the Laney LC-30 112, or the Laney Lionheart L20H, or even the Lionheart L5T-112, all made in the UK and for around the same price, LC-30 is infact a little cheaper @ 34k, 2 channels, Reverb, EL84 based, can do heavy rock on its own and can probably be pushed to the Metal Territory as well if needed with the help of pedals.
    Lionheart amps are made in UK, hand wired, gold plated PCB’s, Celestion Heritage Speaker, 2 channels, inbuilt Spring Reverb. More value for money than the Fender BJr. And it can nail more tones better than the BJr.

    So, decide for yourself, want to pay for a Brand Name and of course a great amp, or just great amp at great price :), and No, I am not partial towards Laney or anything, I am just fond of anything that sounds great for less moolah :)

    Just my opinion, hope it helps
     
  2. rickkkyrich

    rickkkyrich Guest

    Where did you try all this stuff?
     
  3. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    @ Onstage, its right next to Reynolds near Brigade Road.
     
  4. rickkkyrich

    rickkkyrich Guest

    cool... so when are you planning to go next... lemme know... i'll accompany you if you don't mind
     
  5. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    Sure man, will let you know, lets go this coming weekend, saturday.....its fun to try that amp.........
     

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