Blues Jr has arrived. Not fond of it so far.

[desertbluesman]

Can't say as I like it much so far. I was never a fan of Celestian speakers so tomorrow I will try it through one of my EVM 12L's. I was hoping for something less tinny sounding and hoped that the IV version was less tinny than the one I had years ago. I think it is the EL84 tubes as well. I have never been a fan of EL tubes either. It may have to go back to Sweetwater at my expense. If it sounds OK with the EVM 12L, I may try a Cannabis Rex speaker which I liked a bunch with my Hot Rod Deluxe. I am pretty sure the Celestian has to go. It does sound OK (mind you just OK) with the treble on the amp turned all the way off and the bass up half way and the mids turned all the way up and the guitar pot turned down a bit.

 

I will fiddle with it a bit in the day time tomorrow, I kinda think it will be shipped back on the next truck outta town. But we shall see what it sounds like through the EVM 12 L.

[KuruPrionz]

Not to make things worse but I am no fan of Celestion speakers either. Jim Marshall didn't use them because they were the best, he used them because he got a deal on buying a pile of them. Same as Leo Fender and his crappy Jensens.

I like the EVMs but I don't like moving them around. A Peavey Scorpion Plus is a bit lighter and sounds great in it's own way. JBL G-125-8 is also a fine speaker for guitar but I don't like the tone of other JBLs for guitar either. Some of the newer Eminence speakers sound great once they are broken in.

 

Your Celestion will sound less worse after break-in as well. EL-84s sound OK but I like 6V6 better. EL34s sound great but they get really loud.

I had a Fender Blues Jr. for a while. I don't have it anymore. I don't remember the reason but I do remember thinking it was pretty OK.

[Larryz]

DBM, I'm not a fan of the Blues Jr. amps but they make great little light weight practice amp and do get a clean Fender tube sound. My buddy has one and I tried playing through it a couple of times, but I was not impressed. They sound OK to me and I'm guessing that they would probably sound better mic'ed to a PA. Sorry it's not your cuppa tea so far...

[desertbluesman]

I am sending it back. I have to pay the shipping both ways so I will never buy another amp without trying it out in person Guitar Center on my list when I get my refund.

[Larryz]

DBM, I bought my last new amp at a GC nearby. I went to the local stores website to see if they had the amp I was interested in and as luck would have it, they did. I talked to the store manager and told her I was interested in buying one and she emailed me a 20% discount. Might be worth a try if you're going to make the trip to call ahead. I don't like shipping amps back and forth if the amp develops a problem, so having a GC nearby (like 45 minute drive) is a good way to go. MF has a better return policy than SW. When I have had to ship a guitar back and did not want a replacement, I found the US Post Office the best for the price and insurance purposes. SW will credit shipping if you get a replacement but +1 on going to a local GC. Good luck and good hunting!

[KuruPrionz]

GC does have great customer service.

If I recall correctly, the last time I bought a new amp was when I drove down to the Boogie Store in Los Angeles and picked up a brand new Mesa Boogie MK III Simul-Class with reverb and EQ.

 

Everything after that has been used, there have been quite a few of them. I do agree with trying before buying if possible and I HATE shipping amps!!!!

 

Post Office dropped and broke the cabinet on a Mesa Blue Angel I sold on eBay. Their insurance was completely worthless. I ended up repairing the damage and selling it locally.

[desertbluesman]

I already sent The Blues Jr IV back, and good riddance to bad tone. It cost me $91.24 to ship it back UPS insured for $660. So that is definitely the last time I ever buy something heavy and large online. From now on it is try and buy in person at a local music shop. I have learned my lesson

[Dannyalcatraz]

 

Post Office dropped and broke the cabinet on a Mesa Blue Angel I sold on eBay. Their insurance was completely worthless. I ended up repairing the damage and selling it locally.

 

OK...I want to hear more about this. Educate us a bit on what happened and why the insurance didn"t cover it.

[KuruPrionz]

 

Post Office dropped and broke the cabinet on a Mesa Blue Angel I sold on eBay. Their insurance was completely worthless. I ended up repairing the damage and selling it locally.

 

OK...I want to hear more about this. Educate us a bit on what happened and why the insurance didn"t cover it.

 

First, I've been selling on eBay since 2000, never a problem and 931 feedback at 100% positive. I pack carefully, especially large heavy items. I carefully filled in the back cavity with bubble wrap to protect the tubes from the power cord. Then I wrapped the amp with plastic wrap so I could tape without worrying about taping the amp. I built a box made of double-extra-thick refrigerator box cardboard that fit the amp tightly, including spacers for the handle and the feet and taped the hell out of it. Then several layers of bubble wrap and another stout box, also taped. To damage the cabinet the way they did you would have to drop the box a considerable distance onto a corner. It had Fragile stickers on it, how does that happen?

 

And it was a Mesa, they are very well made cabinets. One of the bottom corners was broken open, the vinyl covering broke too. That takes an unreasonable amount of impact. But, because I didn't pay the Post Office to pack it, they would not cover it.

They claimed the packing did not meet their standards? Which is what, a steel case?

 

That's my story. For what it's worth, I don't think anybody else's insurance is worth one crap either. I got a call from a local music shop one time. They'd were trying to return a brand new Paul Reed Smith guitar in a hardshell case and repacked in the original packing. UPS destroyed the guitar. It looked like maybe somebody set it at an angle leaning against a wall and drove the UPS van into it until it was smashed. The owner of the shop asked me if I could fix the guitar. I pushed the fragments of the top of the case aside, looked at the shattered pile of wood that was once a beautiful guitar and asked him "How much do you want for the tuners?" That didn't go over well.

UPS refused to do anything - this was a regular commercial account and the shipment was insured. That was many years ago, I don't know if they've changed.

 

I just ship smaller stuff now and I always pack for war.

[RABid]

I had a Blues Jr at one time. To me it was a clean, very revealing amp. At my talent, revealing is the wrong trait. A really good player can do well with it, but not me.

[wraub]

I'll buy small stuff from Sweetwater, but the possible return is always in mind and the cost always excludes the big stuff for me.The biggest get from them was a Gator guitar case, easily enough returned if unliked but I knew it'd work.

 

I got my recent amp acquisition at GC- Played it for a while, picked out my favorite looking cardboard box, and took it home. 45 days to return, no hassles if I do.

 

I don't love GC, but at times they do serve a useful purpose.

[desertbluesman]

I had a Blues Jr at one time. To me it was a clean, very revealing amp. At my talent, revealing is the wrong trait. A really good player can do well with it, but not me.

 

I think it was the Celestian speaker truthfully. I did have a Blues Jr a long time ago with a Jensen speaker and it was decent sounding but nowhere near as lousy sounding as the one that I just sent back.

[desertbluesman]

I am thinking that once I get my refund from Sweetwater, I will go down to Guitar Center and try out whatever they have in small amps. I am thinking I might just get a Fender Super Champ X2 and put in an Eminence Lil Buddy Hemp cone 10" speaker to equal the one I once had back in the day it is a hybrid tube/modeling amp with on board effects. That will be a good grab and go amp, guitar in one hand and amp in the other one trip in & one trip out. Small and easy to pack on the road. I might just get something I am not aware of in my trip to Guitar Center after the refund goes into my credit card account. It is all freeway down to GC about 32 minutes and 22.6 miles miles from here according to Google Maps directions.