Fender Review: Blues Junior

History:

Purchase: This was mail ordered from Musicians Friend, on sale for $329.99. I had been looking for a small all-tube combo amp, and did not want to pay boutique prices. I had recently been using an original 1964 Fender Vibrolux Reverb combo, but it was too heavy and too valuable to lug around town, and to get it to the point of mild distortion by itself required far too much volume. I play swing, jazz, blues and R&B, and play straight into the amp. The junior weighs in at 31lbs., has a master volume so I can drive the preamp tubes hard enough to distort sweetly, and still have overall tone.

What I Like About This Fender Blues Junior: THis is the Musicians Friend custom Blonde Tolex version, 15 watts of good old fashioned Fender tube tone, a 12" Eminence speaker (easily replaced or bypassed!) leather carry handle... the look of the old tweed style amps, "chicken-head" knobs, master volume, spring reverb... simplicity itself! They market this as a "practice" amp, but I have gigged with it, and it has plenty of power for a small to medium sized club. I have yet to turn it above 5 (on a scale of 12) in a club! To find this many positive features under $400 was a real surprise.

What I Do NOT Like About The Fender Blues Junior: Please keep in mind that these are minor issues: 1) Why does Fender think they have to satisfy the Spinal Tap mentality and mark the settings to 12? 1 to 10 would be fine! 2) The controls face the back of the amp...who adjusts their amp from behind? 3) The control nomenclature is printed in white on a shiny metal background. It is virtually impossible to read on stage (plus reading them upside down!) 4) The Eminence speaker is "stiff", but bypass it into another cabinet with a pair of 10"s (like the Vibrolux has)or a single 12" and you can hear the difference. 5) There is no stand-by switch, so either the amp stays on during breaks, or you wait for the brief warm up, which, by the way, is surprisingly quiet compared to the older Fender reverb amps which tend to roar when they wake up.

Fender Blues Junior Quality Rating: For a low-end unit, the cabinet seems reasonably sturdy. You can sit on it and not feel like it's going to collapse. The Tolex is correctly applied, the visible hardware all matches. They put a spring loaded support under 2 of the tubes, but not the other 3. Why? Obviously at this price it is not a hand wired "Class A" chassis, but so far it seems to hold up well.

Review Summary: For the price... amazing! I recommend this amp to anyone who wants warmth, tone and volume in a small package. note that my rating of 4 should be taken as a 4.5!

Rating of this Fender product: 4

This Fender Blues Junior Guitar Amplifiers Review Submitted By: K.C. McCarthy

Review Date: 2001-11-29