Fender Blues Junior Amplifier

[labcyclone]

Hey guys and gals,

Last month I asked a question about tube or digital amps for classic rock sound.

I would like to be more specific. I would like to try to creat the early Brit Blues Rock sound, like Cream(Eric Clapton), Jeff Becks first two albums (Truth and Beck-Ola), and Led Zepplins First Album (Jimmy Page). Iam a beginner and I purchased a Les Paul Custom and a Fender Blues Junior Amp. I have never even touched an amplifier or guitar before. I know everyone have a big laugh on me. Iam not wanting to play like the above guitar stars, just shoot for the sound. I will welcome any comments on information as how and what knobs to turn on the amp to make different sounds. This is a real request and not some kind of joke. None of my friends plays the guitar so I have no one close to advise me.

Thanks to everyone who responds I need help badly. Larry from Okla.City.

[michael saulnier]

Larry,

 

It sounds like you're started on the right track with your first purchases. For a novice player, a LP Custom and Blues Junior are better than average gear. I'm sure there's a few on this board who are a little jealous!

 

I'd suggest trying out some overdrive or distortion effects to get the "classic" sound that you want. Boss, Danelectro, Ibanez, and others make affordable toys you can try. There are lots of high end ones as well... try reading effects reviews on Harmony Central for more insight... but be careful, effects can be VERY addictive.

 

As a beginner, the best advice I can give is to find a teacher you like and start getting lessons. You're at a point where you don't even know what you don't know. And it's way beyond the scope of this forum for you to learn everything you need. The main thing a teacher can do is be interactive with you so you can make progress and are less likely to get frustrated and quit. Plus, they can show you their setup and sound and you can see how they use their guitars, amps, and effects.

 

Or, you could just turn everything to 11 and bang away!!!

 

Make the financial and time committment to a good teacher, and you'll get the most for your current investment in your new guitar and amp!

 

guitplayer

[TurboDog]

The Blues Jr. is a nice little tube amp, but....

 

It sounds like the tone your looking for is more Marshall oriented. Fenders and Marhalls have very different tones. So to get some decent distortion from your Fender (and by decent I mean amount, not quality) you'll probably need a good distortion pedal.

 

If you have a little cash (and it sounds like you do) look for a higher end pedal. Something $150 and up. You may consider something like a Mesa Boogie V preamp. A little costly, but gets great reviews. Pro Co's Rats are well liked dist pedals.

 

You may want to look into some modeling preamps as well. Or a mnice multi-effects pedal like a GT4.

 

What about the above artists tone do you particularly like? Which songs?

[daddyelmis]

Clapton, Page, Beck . . . All are Marshall users. You've got the right axe, not sure how to make a Fender Blues Jr. sound like a '59 marshall. Stompbox pedal will help . . . never played one but Marshall makes a couple distortion pedals that may get you there.

 

My take on those guys and there original sound is that they were more crunch than "violin like" sustain . . . i.e., less first stage gain and more overall power tube gain.

 

Good luck. And I agree with the other post, get a teacher you like and take some lessons. The first year of learning guitar is hard and a bit frustrating, then it's better than sex (well, almost )

[labcyclone]

Originally posted by guitplayer:

Larry,

 

It sounds like you're started on the right track with your first purchases. For a novice player, a LP Custom and Blues Junior are better than average gear. I'm sure there's a few on this board who are a little jealous!

 

I'd suggest trying out some overdrive or distortion effects to get the "classic" sound that you want. Boss, Danelectro, Ibanez, and others make affordable toys you can try. There are lots of high end ones as well... try reading effects reviews on Harmony Central for more insight... but be careful, effects can be VERY addictive.

 

As a beginner, the best advice I can give is to find a teacher you like and start getting lessons. You're at a point where you don't even know what you don't know. And it's way beyond the scope of this forum for you to learn everything you need. The main thing a teacher can do is be interactive with you so you can make progress and are less likely to get frustrated and quit. Plus, they can show you their setup and sound and you can see how they use their guitars, amps, and effects.

 

Or, you could just turn everything to 11 and bang away!!!

 

Make the financial and time committment to a good teacher, and you'll get the most for your current investment in your new guitar and amp!

 

guitplayer

Thanks acousticvoodoo, I have signed up for beginner lessons at Mars Music and at the end of those lessons I will try to locate a teacher in the Oklahoma City Area with experience in this type of music.

[labcyclone]

Originally posted by TurboDog:

The Blues Jr. is a nice little tube amp, but....

 

It sounds like the tone your looking for is more Marshall oriented. Fenders and Marhalls have very different tones. So to get some decent distortion from your Fender (and by decent I mean amount, not quality) you'll probably need a good distortion pedal.

 

If you have a little cash (and it sounds like you do) look for a higher end pedal. Something $150 and up. You may consider something like a Mesa Boogie V preamp. A little costly, but gets great reviews. Pro Co's Rats are well liked dist pedals.

 

You may want to look into some modeling preamps as well. Or a mnice multi-effects pedal like a GT4.

 

What about the above artists tone do you particularly like? Which songs?

Thanks TurboDog, I enjoy all of these artist works, but I really like Clapton's work on Born Under a Bad Sign, SWLABR, Sitting on Top of The World, Spoonful, and of course Crossroads of Wheels of Fire.The list goes on and on.

Jeff Beck's sounds on Truth were to me in 1968 were out of this world, I mean how did he get those tremendous wahs? And Beck-Ola well Spanish Boots, Plynth, and Rice Puddin, and those sounds you know he made with a guitar but can't quite put a simple name on. Wow

And Jimmy Page on Communication Breakdown, Goodtimes Badtimes, and those Blues tones were hypnotic.

I like all types of music and artist, but as you can see I was heavily enfluenced toward a strong lead and soloist type guitar sound. I love to hear those hot blues licks by everyone and I enjoy Joe Santriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Johnny Winter, Billy Gibbons, Stevie Ray Vaughn, early Leslie West, Kim Simmonds, Some Eddie Van Halen, I love Freddie King, etc. etc.

I want to thank everyone for all the suggestions and encouragement. I may have waited a long time to start but Iam committed to learn how to play the guitar. Later Larry B.

[labcyclone]

Thanks Daddyelmis for the info. I had to buy the Blues Junior because my wife does not share my love of Rock, Blues, Boogie, etc. Also I only have a 25 foot by 25 foot practice room. So I will

step up to a Marshall when I learn to play well and soundproof a room so my wife will not be annoyed by the type music I play.

Iam new to this forum and do not know how to make a response onto the original messages everyone is sending me, so I can use some help on how to properly use this forum.

Thanks again,

Larry B.

[daddyelmis]

Originally posted by labcyclone:

Thanks Daddyelmis for the info. I had to buy the Blues Junior because my wife does not share my love of Rock, Blues, Boogie, etc. Also I only have a 25 foot by 25 foot practice room.

Larry:

 

FWIW, I'm playing through a 20 watt Marshall DSL201 (1x12 combo). It's a bit more "modern" sound than, say, a JTM or bluesbreaker, but it crunches real nice at reasonable volume. I just did an outdoor gig this afternoon and had the power tube fully cranked, clean channel gain on 4-5, overdrive channel gain on 5-6 and, man, did that thing rock. Mic's the cab with an SM57 to the board and cooked.

 

Give serious thought to low wattage amps when you look for other amps. I saw one guy, one time crank a 100 watt Marshall to 10 to drive the power tubes and it about killed everyone in a 2 mile radius. My 20watt is plenty loud for most small to medium gigs, and I mic to the board anyway.

 

Good luck on the lessons . . . Mars Music is a great chain of stores.

 

Greg

[lrbreez]

The only way to get that sound is with an old Marshall or a new Marshall Plexi reissue. To play at low volume you will need to get a Marshall Powerbrake.

Buddy

[strat0124]

Originally posted by labcyclone:

Thanks Daddyelmis for the info. I had to buy the Blues Junior because my wife does not share my love of Rock, Blues, Boogie, etc. Also I only have a 25 foot by 25 foot practice room. So I will

step up to a Marshall when I learn to play well and soundproof a room so my wife will not be annoyed by the type music I play.

Iam new to this forum and do not know how to make a response onto the original messages everyone is sending me, so I can use some help on how to properly use this forum.

Thanks again,

Larry B.

Man, the Blues Jr. has the ability to make you deaf as a post. In my humble opinion, if the Blues Jr ain't loud enough you are already a bit deaf! Here's a link to a guy who gives you sample settings for your machine:

 

http://members.tripod.com/room4blues/jr.htm

 

Have fun,

Gene

[signal1000]

The Les Paul and Blues Jr. will be great for getting classic rock tones. If you get a good distortion pedal, you`ll be surprised how `Marshall-ey`a Fender amp can sound. I had a Fender Princeton Reverb for several years and I just used that with a Tube Screamer and a wah-wah. I got early Zep and Sabbath, and enough tone to be in the ballpark of Cream.

 

The beauty of the little Fenders for me is the sweet clean. I got a Marshall and while it was easier to get the Cream, later Zep tones and had a tone of classic rock tones at my fingertips, I hate Marshall clean. To me, the Fender with a distortion pedal is more flexible. Besides, Page used a Supro early on, and a ton of studio recordings were done with Fender Champs. Live a lot of guys used the Marshalls, but more recordings than one would think were done with little Fenders that were cranked.

[Chip McDonald]

A Blues Jr. is going to be cooler than a Marshall for early Beck sounds. Unless you can go around with a Marshall on 10 with a ton of treble, that is... which is highly unlikely.... and if you don't go for a 50 or 100 watt Super reissue, the Clapton thing isn't going to happen.

 

A JTM45 is more like the really early Cream sound, they're not as loud as a Super Lead, but still "too loud for most situations".

 

A Blues Jr. won't get a clean sound turned up, but it will definitely get loud enough to play with a drummer, which is "loud enough", and it's extreamly expressive dynamically (which is a prerequisite if you want to get into the subtlety of Jeff Beck's playing...)

[strat0124]

I'm with Chip on this one. However the only way a JTM45 will get crunchy without pedals is loud as hell. Its my fave Marshall tone. The Blues Jr. does alot more than people might first expect. You can get some tones that are somewhat Blackface sounding, Vox-ish tones, and a Marshall-like crunch. And yes Virginia, it does get loud, at least loud enough for clubs. Not much bottom, but that can be solved by running another cab with it, and putting quality tubes in it. With a tube screamer or its clone the SD-1, the amp will do whatever you want save metal.