Hi Jamie. Do you think the Fender tweed blues junior will be okay to get decent jazz tones? I use telecaster guitars. One has a humbucker in the neck position. Thanks
Depends what kind of sound of you want and if you like tube amps! I would say they’re good value and you should definitely try one out as tube amps are so fun and responsive. They just don’t have much mids.
Most guitarists don't know how tone controls work. They are subtractive, you are never turning the treble 'up', you are turning it down less. It's an important distinction. The controls on your guitar work the same way, and you really want to be able to dial in the EQ you want from the guitar rather than messing with the amp, especially when playing live. I run my amp with the bass and treble controls all the way up, which gives me full control from the guitar. If you run the treble really low, you are effectively killing the treble control from the guitar - it won't do anything. I find it best to set the tone controls to full on the guitar, and on the amp, then dial the treble on the amp down until you reach the point where you are getting all the treble you will ever want. That way your guitar tone knob gives you all the control you need without ever getting too trebly. Same goes for bass: open up the bass on the amp, fully open your tone control on the guitar and then dial the bass on the amp to the maximum bass you will ever want. Now you're fully in control of EQ from the guitar, within the limits you've set.
You started with "most guitarists don't know how tone controls work," and then you proved it. That's not how bass and treble controls on a Fender amp work. You start with bass at 0 -- and add some bass if you actually need it!
I see what he was trying to do here. Fender amps are usually passive eq. However some amps like my peavey have an active eq. However, in the fender circuit I’m not sure where the controls are at for Unity. A good way to find Unity on passive eq amps is if they have an fx loop you can run pink noise in and play around with controls until your preamp matches the curve of your power amp. From there, even on passive preamp eq, you can indeed cut and boost. Just not usually as significantly as active. I’m no pro on circuit work so I may be off a little in the differences. But the OP, I feel meant well. However if you put a blues jr eq knobs all the way up, you’ll quickly realize that your ears feel like bleeding. I just got in the blues jr iv with western tolex. So the speaker is an eminence c-rex. Being that I’ve not had experience with the amp or speaker, I’m still pleasantly surprised at the tone with all at noon and volume master set low and clean.
Hey just the stock one from what I remember which is maybe a Jenson? The amp has gone now but I used to have with a celestion speaker and I never found the speakers made a huge difference in this amp
paid £200 SH for mine more than 10 yrs ago - mine's got the silver panel that's stupid and confusing but you get used to it - very versatile, good sounding amp that gets played daily with a tele for twangtastic country tones and the neck p/up of my LP with tone down for jazzy sounds - they're now a bit pricey (better options for 700 quid ) but a nice piece of kit
I prefer the simpler Fender Pro Junior for a pure tube sound. If you prefer a different tone, there are lots of good 10” speakers available. A 12” speaker in the small Blues Junior cabinet has always sounded a bit boxy to me.
Thanks for this Jamie. I bought the FBJ for jazz and it's the only amp I've ever owned where I consider turning the bass up full! The 'Middle' control is also a bit misleading on this amp. It's a very 'trebly' 'middle'. I find turning it down really low (0,1 or 2) works best. This amp really is bright, probably too bright. You're completely right about the Reverb too! In short, I find you have to use the controls on the FBJ in a way that is unique to this amp and completely different to other amps. That said, it packs a lot of clean volume and decent bass into its relatively small (albeit quite heavy) form. By the way Jamie, some of those runs and chord sequences are fabulous. I was wondering if you might share a TAB of the one you play right at the beginning of your demo with the Yamaha Archtop..?
Look at high end hi fi. When you want holographic detail and midrange warmth -- tubes are the best. Solid state will give you more headroom for the same money, they are lighter amps -- but the rich warmth of tubes goes away.RIGHT before distortion with a light touch is the way to make a tube amp sing for jazz or country/clean stuff.GIBSON tweed amps can be real bargains for jazz-- GA 75, BR9, very sweet sounding clean amps - still a reasonable price for hand made quality.
I had trouble with my mine breaking up at quite low volumes which made it tricky to use once there was drummer around and the stage volume jumped up a bit.
I didn’t watch this vid. There’s no need to. The answer is YES.
Th blues deluxe is definitely great for jazz!
Great amp but a bit big!
Hi Jamie.
Do you think the Fender tweed blues junior will be okay to get decent jazz tones? I use telecaster guitars. One has a humbucker in the neck position. Thanks
Depends what kind of sound of you want and if you like tube amps! I would say they’re good value and you should definitely try one out as tube amps are so fun and responsive. They just don’t have much mids.
@@jamieholroydguitar Great! Thanks for taking the time to reply. 👍🙂
Most guitarists don't know how tone controls work. They are subtractive, you are never turning the treble 'up', you are turning it down less. It's an important distinction. The controls on your guitar work the same way, and you really want to be able to dial in the EQ you want from the guitar rather than messing with the amp, especially when playing live. I run my amp with the bass and treble controls all the way up, which gives me full control from the guitar. If you run the treble really low, you are effectively killing the treble control from the guitar - it won't do anything. I find it best to set the tone controls to full on the guitar, and on the amp, then dial the treble on the amp down until you reach the point where you are getting all the treble you will ever want. That way your guitar tone knob gives you all the control you need without ever getting too trebly. Same goes for bass: open up the bass on the amp, fully open your tone control on the guitar and then dial the bass on the amp to the maximum bass you will ever want. Now you're fully in control of EQ from the guitar, within the limits you've set.
You started with "most guitarists don't know how tone controls work," and then you proved it. That's not how bass and treble controls on a Fender amp work. You start with bass at 0 -- and add some bass if you actually need it!
You actually have this totally wrong sir
I see what he was trying to do here. Fender amps are usually passive eq. However some amps like my peavey have an active eq.
However, in the fender circuit I’m not sure where the controls are at for Unity.
A good way to find Unity on passive eq amps is if they have an fx loop you can run pink noise in and play around with controls until your preamp matches the curve of your power amp. From there, even on passive preamp eq, you can indeed cut and boost. Just not usually as significantly as active. I’m no pro on circuit work so I may be off a little in the differences. But the OP, I feel meant well. However if you put a blues jr eq knobs all the way up, you’ll quickly realize that your ears feel like bleeding.
I just got in the blues jr iv with western tolex. So the speaker is an eminence c-rex. Being that I’ve not had experience with the amp or speaker, I’m still pleasantly surprised at the tone with all at noon and volume master set low and clean.
@@RPSartre01same as jtm45
Blues Junior doesn't have enough bass for jazz music. I sold mine for this reason. Don't make this mistake. Regards
Hi Jamie, witch speaker is in your blues junior?
Hey just the stock one from what I remember which is maybe a Jenson? The amp has gone now but I used to have with a celestion speaker and I never found the speakers made a huge difference in this amp
Thanks
It was true, you can play Jazz with a Blues Jr.
paid £200 SH for mine more than 10 yrs ago - mine's got the silver panel that's stupid and confusing but you get used to it - very versatile, good sounding amp that gets played daily with a tele for twangtastic country tones and the neck p/up of my LP with tone down for jazzy sounds - they're now a bit pricey (better options for 700 quid ) but a nice piece of kit
I prefer the simpler Fender Pro Junior for a pure tube sound. If you prefer a different tone, there are lots of good 10” speakers available. A 12” speaker in the small Blues Junior cabinet has always sounded a bit boxy to me.
A Vintage 30 fixes that
Thanks for this Jamie. I bought the FBJ for jazz and it's the only amp I've ever owned where I consider turning the bass up full! The 'Middle' control is also a bit misleading on this amp. It's a very 'trebly' 'middle'. I find turning it down really low (0,1 or 2) works best. This amp really is bright, probably too bright. You're completely right about the Reverb too! In short, I find you have to use the controls on the FBJ in a way that is unique to this amp and completely different to other amps. That said, it packs a lot of clean volume and decent bass into its relatively small (albeit quite heavy) form.
By the way Jamie, some of those runs and chord sequences are fabulous. I was wondering if you might share a TAB of the one you play right at the beginning of your demo with the Yamaha Archtop..?
Thanks I think they’re just some lines that come to mind. My 50 Essential Jazz Guitar Licks course might be helpful
@@jamieholroydguitar thanks Jamie, I'll check the course out
Laney valve LC and VC amps have GREAT clean tone and you can pick up a UK made Laney for a good price.
Look at high end hi fi. When you want holographic detail and midrange warmth -- tubes are the best. Solid state will give you more headroom for the same money, they are lighter amps -- but the rich warmth of tubes goes away.RIGHT before distortion with a light touch is the way to make a tube amp sing for jazz or country/clean stuff.GIBSON tweed amps can be real bargains for jazz-- GA 75, BR9, very sweet sounding clean amps - still a reasonable price for hand made quality.
Love the Someday my Prince chord solo arrangement you snuck in - did you ever teach/tab/do this on patreon ?
Thank you. I did a lesson on this on my Patreon but I’ve probably changed the arrangement since then!!
Had one and hated it .could not get the harsh treble out it no matter what i did…
Thanks for the review! What jazz son are you playing? I’d like to learn it on my telecaster!
No problem it’s called someday my prince will come
Really interesting video ! Thank you for sharing !
Thank you!
In around 1997 I walked away from a Blues Junior that I could have picked up for $120.00. Lost my mind for a moment . Still kicking myself over it.
That’s a great deal but you can still find them relatively cheap now used
The first generation bj's had better reverb but were often very noisy in operation compared to a bj3 or bj4
Blues juniors are wimpy amps. I had one mounted in a Fender Pro cabinet with 12” speaker and it was much better than the small cab
I had trouble with my mine breaking up at quite low volumes which made it tricky to use once there was drummer around and the stage volume jumped up a bit.
I've had the SD a pro 2 in my tele since the 90s
The best !
Real nice Tele, Jamie!
Thanks John. Pro juniors are great! Tele gone now but nice to own for a bit
It's not that complicated.
I think every single amplifier is a good jazz amplifier. Jazz, surely, is about the notes you play rather than the tone you choose?
Yeah if you’re not putting dirt on the tone tubes don’t really matter.
@@misterknightowlandco - who says you can't use dirt for jazz?