I like the blues Jr better than the HR deluxe and deville. Loud 15 watts. Good verb but not a tank.
Change the speaker and its tone city.
Good for small gigs and maybe for big ones too depending on your drummer and what tone you want.

Give me reverb or give me death!
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I've been using a Jr. for about 3 yrs at most of my gigs...i had a beefy output transformer and a Tone Tubby speaker put in...still, at larger event type gigs i used to use my Fender Twin (red knob solid state) for loud clean tone but now i've just bought a '65 reissue Twin which i'll be using tomorrow night for the first time at my surf gig...i'm stoked and can't wait!! Turns out the Fender rep for Hawaii lives just down the street from me and he does the work on my amps AND sold me the reissue for $500 cause he couldn't fix a problem i have with the solid state!!
The Blues Jr. is a great little amp but you have to beef it up. Go for it.

The TakeOffs
"Kauai's Only All-Instrumental Surf Band"
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bluez
Does any one have any experience with this amp. Is it good enough to use as a main rig, or is it just an exercise / backstage amp? Also does the reverb unit live up til it's older cosins?

I played one for years in a small club band.. Reverb is ok? Not a killer surf rig. Use the amp with a outboard reverb unit in a small club and i think your gonna dig it!

FredBaltazar

scotstandard
I like the blues Jr better than the HR deluxe and deville. Loud 15 watts. Good verb but not a tank.
Change the speaker and its tone city.
Good for small gigs and maybe for big ones too depending on your drummer and what tone you want.

Hummmm, out of curiosity, what's the problem with its original speaker? What are the suggestions for the replacement speaker?
Was considering to get one Blues Jr or a Pro Junior instead of trying to bring my HR Deluxe from Portugal to England - that might be a big kerfuffle...

Weber.. Thats what I used and it sounded greathttp://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar+Amp/product/Weber+Speakers/12A125/10/1

I use the Blues Jr. at gigs where I KNOW I can mic it. I brought it to Otto's for my last gig with Hang Daddy and was completely overpowered by my bandmates. I had brought a knife to a gun fight.

It works well at rehearsal. Nice and easy to lug around.

I have the "relic" special edition with the worn lacquered tweed and the Jensen. When my friend bought it at Guitar Center, he tried the floor model, then told the salesman he wanted a brand new one. "No problem" he said, then proceeded to get a new one from the back. As he pulled it out of the box my friend had to laugh. The drink ring, grill cloth tear, and simulated (I hope) cat pee stain were identical to those on the floor model!

Eric

I have a Fender Pro Jr which has been fine for practice. Although it's not the blues model we are talking here, it's much the same generation circuitry. LOUD 15watts.
I recently upgraded some of the components with a mod kit you can find on ebay (Fromal Electrics), most of which just smooths out the signal.
However, there is also an option for more distortion or more headroom by way of a single resistor change, it nearly doubles the headroom from the original 4 on the volume knob to 6~7.
The instructions also talk of removing the anti-feedback circuitry for a more Vox like sound, although i didn't alter this on my amp, overall i'm pleased with the modifications, less boxy and even louder!

I heard a HR deluxe with a tone tubby (red one) and It sounded great! I would vote for that or A Webber

Stock speaker is just cheap and sounds poopy.

Plug something else into that speaker and hear how it really sounds...ick!

Give me reverb or give me death!
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Yeah let's just change the subject to Foxy boxing thier's way more internment value there! LOL!!!

I have one of the NOS Blues Jrs with the Jensen speaker and like it a lot. It's not anywhere close to replacing my Pro Reverb for gigs, but I use it for pretty much every rehearsal.

As some of the guys mentioned, it'll work for gigs if you can mic it. Without that, to my mind there are two Golden Rules to surf gigging with a BJr...

1) You have to be a 3-piece, you have to have a drummer who knows how to keep it in check and you can't care about having a dead-clean guitar tone. You're choice of pickups will have a lot to do with this, as well.
2) You need to upgrade the reverb pan.

On the second one, I recommend this to every BJr owner, but especially any of us with an ear for surf. I put a Ruby Reverb tank in a different BJr I owned, and the difference was astounding. Not only did the bottom drop out - 6 on the Ruby tank was deeper than the stock tank at 12! - but to my ear it also warmed it up and gave it more dimension.

I've also heard great things about the MOD tanks, too, and I'll be ordering one of those for my current BJr this week.

Oh, and I don't think a Pro Jr would work without a mic at all - and maybe not with one, either. They sound fantastic, but they break up really, really early. Plus, by the time you buy a reverb pedal to go with it, you might as well get the Blues Junior and have it all in one box with a 12" speaker.

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Used Deluxe Reverb reissues are going for around $600 - 650 on Craigslist. Pretty close to what you would have in a new Blues Jr by the time you have upgraded it. You get 22 watts, tube reverb, you don't have to spend time modding it, and it would probably be worth the same $600 - 650 when you sell it if taken care of. Haven't played through a Blues Jr but I would think the Deluxe would have more headroom and be a more gigworthy amp on its own.