[GTmaker]

Just saw a Blues Junior IV at my local L&M and its looks as cool as the old III.
Seems like there are some changes and upgrades BUT I dint get a chance to try it out

Anyways....what do you think?
G.
Fender Musical Instruments - Blues Junior IV 15W 1x12 Tube Combo Amp - Black

 

[vadsy]

It sounded good in the demos, I’d like to play it. They mentioned the preamp got tweaked for the better and that’s probably most interesting to me.

 

[High/Deaf]

Controls are still in the wrong place. Hard pass for me.

I had fun with someone else's stereo Pro Jr setup one night. Still no interest in buying one though.

 

[jdto]

Controls are still in the wrong place. Hard pass for me.

I had fun with someone else's stereo Pro Jr setup one night. Still no interest in buying one though.

Pro Junior? I thought the thread title said “Blues Junior”? I guess I need to have another coffee

 

[High/Deaf]

Pro Junior? I thought the thread title said “Blues Junior”? I guess I need to have another coffee

I think they're in the same family? I just assume all of 'em will be going to Ver IV.

 

[jdto]

I think they're in the same family? I just assume all of 'em will be going to Ver IV.

Most likely. I just remember being told in another thread that they were quite different.

I’ve still got a bit of low-level GAS for a Pro Junior.

 

[knight_yyz]

 

[Dorian2]

Controls are still in the wrong place. Hard pass for me.

I had fun with someone else's stereo Pro Jr setup one night. Still no interest in buying one though.

What do you mean that the controls are in the wrong place? Are you talking the Middle knob before the Bass? Or on the top of the amp instead of in front? Just curious. The controls were a bit of an odd one for me to get used to on the BJ 3, but I got used to them pretty quick. I find it gives it a quirky kinda of Mojo for some reason.

Re: the BJ 4, I've been checking out a number of the videos lately on them as well. Quite a different sound to them than the BJ3....hard it described as more of a Marshally or darker tone than a typical Fender amp. I only have limited experience with the Fender line, but I'm an old "Marshall rules/Fender Drools" type who's bought in 100% to the sweet power tube sound of an opened up Fender amplifier now. The Blues Junior tweed I have haws become my favorite amp for certain songs, tones, and moods for me. Go to amp for anything Blues related.

Of course the over rated (for the amp, not the speaker) Celestion G12T - 75 I stuck in doesn't hurt the situation any.

EDIT: Thanks for the video @knight_yyz . Good timing. I think that 's one of the reviews I watched as well. One thing I didn't like about the video is they pretty much stuck the friggin Pre amp section on high gain (9 - 12) and didn't crank the Power tubes with the Master and lower the Pre amp section. That's where the good sound lies IMO.

 

[cboutilier]

Most likely. I just remember being told in another thread that they were quite different.

I’ve still got a bit of low-level GAS for a Pro Junior.

You and I both!

 

[Dorian2]

I wonder what the BJ4 sounds like with the BJ3 ABY'd?? I need to find out soon now.

 

[Hamstrung]

I love my Blues Jr. III. I tried the IV but didn't like what they did to the reverb. They seemed to have dampened it quite a bit. Aside from that I didn't notice a great deal of difference in the couple minutes I spent with it.

 

[Budda]

Havent tried the new one. Used one of the older ones on the last record with great results.

 

[BSTheTech]

The specs on the lV sound a lot like the billm mods for the prior series’.

 

[Dorian2]

The specs on the lV sound a lot like the billm mods for the prior series’.

Not surprised. Peavey did the same with the ValveKing series. BillM had/has quite a niche market for that.

 

[CDWaterloo]

I am not so interested in the new blues JR. Previous versions were a long time industry standard, and many people were happy with them, including me. I think Fender did a good job by offering an improved version of the Hot Rod Deluxe 40W tough.

 

[vadsy]

I like and used the Jr for a mod platform, the ver.3 with BillM (RIP), would buy another stock ver.3 just to compare the two since so many things have been changed. I liked the demo above and could easily takeaway things from both amps that I would favour. Surprised at just how much darker and dampened the reverb sounds on the ver.4 Jr.

I briefly tried the ver.4 Pro at the store and was somewhat disappointed, very nasally. I didn't dig the new 10" speaker, wish they offered it as a 12" combo or a head. The HR Dlx would be exiting to try and see if they've fixed the drive channel at all, although I never used it and have always thought the clean was good enough as is. I did lift it and it felt much lighter with the new cabinet.

 

[High/Deaf]

What do you mean that the controls are in the wrong place? Are you talking the Middle knob before the Bass? Or on the top of the amp instead of in front? Just curious. The controls were a bit of an odd one for me to get used to on the BJ 3, but I got used to them pretty quick. I find it gives it a quirky kinda of Mojo for some reason.

The location of the controls. I'm pretty flexible on the layout (TMB, TBM, etc). I don't like any amps with controls in that location - that is a perfect catch basin for all sorts of liquids that find their way onto and into the top of your amp. Not to mention, hard to see or dial in on most of the places I play. Front controls are much more user friendly, IMO. Too bad, because I love tweeds, AC's and Bluesbreakers but would never own one in it's original format.

To me, this was how they did it in the 50s. Then, in the 60s, they figured out a better way. Why go back to the old, 'bad' designs?

But (half tongue in cheek) this is just one of my gear pet peeves. Illogical, but there you go. Here's my other one;

 

[keefsdad]

What I'm curious about is the Monoprice 15watt amp, sells for $200 US, and I've heard it smokes the Blues Junior. It's about $340 with the exchange and shipping, still damn cheap if it's any good. Does anybody have one?

 

[GTmaker]

What I'm curious about is the Monoprice 15watt amp, sells for $200 US, and I've heard it smokes the Blues Junior. It's about $340 with the exchange and shipping, still damn cheap if it's any good. Does anybody have one?

Just saw a few YouTube videos of the Monoprice amp...
If you think it smokes a Blues junior then I think you have been listening to a lot of fake news.
G.

 

[Ricktoberfest]

There is a YouTube video by ”intheblues” where he compares the blues junior 3 and 4 and an SE (which I’d never even heard of). Of course it’s youtube compression but it might be informative in the differences of sound

Edited: Just double checked and I was wrong about who it was. It was shane from “intheblues”