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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 4:43 am
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stratbastard wrote:
Marshalls IMHO are any thing but reliable.


Thats why they've been the worlds best selling and most commonly gigged amp since 1967 then?

Dont confuse marshall with that AVT/MG stuff. When you've run a JCM for 4 hours a night for 20 nights every month with the master set to 8, thats when you get to know marshalls reliability.

[EDITED AS STATED BELOW]

regardless of covering and speaker type (ive a 14ohm fane that leaves any weber). I even tried the tonestack mod to get a half usable sound out of it, it didnt allieviate the problem. The reverb is far too weak and noisy. The circuit itself is pretty deplorable. I have to question the sanity of any modern designer who comes up with a push/pull amp with fixed bias set way too hot. To compound the problem the valves that get incredibly hot are mounted directly to a pcb. Now even my 6 year old daughter can tell you what happens when solder gets hot and an amp is moved. To further compound the problem the pcb's are a bugger to get out of the chassis and work on. Even should you take it to a repair person they are going to charge you more than they would for a vox for instance. Simply because it will take them longer to get the board out. Blues jr, no thanks, Fender offer far better for far less.

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Last edited by nikininja on Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 4:57 am
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I just receaved a used one on a trade. I love the sound of mine. I really think fender should up grade the pots and jacks and use better tube sockets. maybe mount them off the pcb all together . But I like the tone Im getting from nine. I was dialing in some sounds with it and my tele. and a digi tek in front of it . No compants with the sound of it.


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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 5:36 am
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nikininja wrote:
stratbastard wrote:
Marshalls IMHO are any thing but reliable.


Thats why they've been the worlds best selling and most commonly gigged amp since 1967 then?

Dont confuse marshall with that AVT/MG stuff. When you've run a JCM for 4 hours a night for 20 nights every month with the master set to 8, thats when you get to know marshalls reliability.

My opinion, the blues jr is utter garbage. I've got one that i cant wait to be rid of. Horrible sterile cleans and a gain sound that is atrocious, regardless of covering and speaker type (ive a 14ohm fane that leaves any weber). I even tried the tonestack mod to get a half usable sound out of it, it didnt allieviate the problem. The reverb is far too weak and noisy. The circuit itself is pretty deplorable. I have to question the sanity of any modern designer who comes up with a push/pull amp with fixed bias set way too hot. To compound the problem the valves that get incredibly hot are mounted directly to a pcb. Now even my 6 year old daughter can tell you what happens when solder gets hot and an amp is moved. To further compound the problem the pcb's are a bugger to get out of the chassis and work on. Even should you take it to a repair person they are going to charge you more than they would for a vox for instance. Simply because it will take them longer to get the board out. Blues jr, no thanks, Fender offer far better for far less.


+1 on both points.

Marshalls get a bad rap by people who have never even owned one. More Internet echo chamber stuff... Marshall became the world's most recognizable backline by being pretty much bulletproof. You can't judge Fenders by the Hot Rod Deluxe.

And on the Blues Jr.: that's exactly my experience. That amp sells big because it LOOKS like it should be a cool amp, but it sounds like crap. I was stupid and bought one based on Internet buzz... changed everything (speakers, tubes) just as they Online Gang said I should, tried a bunch of pedals (no dice), and was this close to tinkering with the famous "BillM Mods" before I came to my senses and realized the amp was just a bad sounding circuit. I sold it for what I had in it and waited til something I really wanted cam along. That was the Rebel 20, which is freakin' awesome.


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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:10 am
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Well Senior Chop.

As you know though peoples tastes genuinely vary and sometimes they are dictated by others (no one would have ever had a mullet otherwise).

I bought the Bjr for exactly the same reasons you did, internet hype. I also had a recommendation from a local store owner and valve guru of considerable note. I spent a good while trying to convince myself that I was the problem. Surely this amp that everyone raves about cant be bad? It took a band member (drummer even) to say 'Nick if you cant get your desired sound out of that amp, it isnt in there'. That made me realize its not the amp for me. Granted i'm a little harsh calling it garbage and i'd like to withdraw that statement. I dont like it, if someone else does thats there right. They dont need to read my slating of the amp. Thats all throwing around words like 'garbage' and 'useless' is. For that, i'm sorry. I'll be editing that post

pinion of its construction and design issues. Being able to cool down or heat up bias is a great way to tweak stuff to your reuirements. I certainly dont want to muck about soldering resistors when a trim pot is all thats needed.

If you like it and can get a sound you can work with out of it, all the best. I couldnt.

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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 8:19 am
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When i first bought my Blues Junior, i doubted that it could rock, but after buying a few good distortion pedal, it sure can! I bought a Electro-Harmonix Little Big Muff and it sounds nasty! :D


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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 8:53 am
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jaqueline560 wrote:
When i first bought my Blues Junior, i doubted that it could rock, but after buying a few good distortion pedal, it sure can! I bought a Electro-Harmonix Little Big Muff and it sounds nasty! :D


raspy raspy raspy. The way a good fuzz should be. I think EH deserve a medal for some of their pedals.

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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 12:53 pm
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I still use my jr for rehearsals and small gigs mostly.It has served well in that regard.I use it with the master on 12.Anything other than that and it gets pretty muddy.I also use an english muffn pedal and a delay pedal .I found that this is one amp that the ts-9 sounds terrible with.It does sound boxy for sure.No getting around it with a small cabinet with el-84s.When I play out , i use my 59 bassman where i can.I use the jr where i have to.One of these days i will break down and get a 57 deluxe for smaller venues.For the money its an ok amp.Certainly not the cats meow.BTW, the Rebel 20 amp has the tubes mounted to the pcb board too.I like them mounted seperately , the way my BMRI is .


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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 1:05 pm
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budglo wrote:
IBTW, the Rebel 20 amp has the tubes mounted to the pcb board too.I like them mounted seperately , the way my BMRI is .


Look inside a Rebel.... you'll see THREE extra-thick laminated PCBs. The one that hold the tube sockets is rigid, flex free and holds almost nothing but the tube sockets. Here's a pic of the guts of a Rebel 20:

http://s126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/ ... 011024.jpg

Note the handy test points and bias pots. See if this compares in any way with the Blues Junior's approach to PCB building.

PCB's aren't an inherent problem.


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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 1:33 pm
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SlapChop wrote:
budglo wrote:
IBTW, the Rebel 20 amp has the tubes mounted to the pcb board too.I like them mounted seperately , the way my BMRI is .


Look inside a Rebel.... you'll see THREE extra-thick laminated PCBs. The one that hold the tube sockets is rigid, flex free and holds almost nothing but the tube sockets. Here's a pic of the guts of a Rebel 20:

http://s126.photobucket.com/albums/p81/ ... 011024.jpg

Note the handy test points and bias pots. See if this compares in any way with the Blues Junior's approach to PCB building.

PCB's aren't an inherent problem.
I agree wholeheartedly that pcbs arent the problem, but too many people are quick to point out that they are .Thats why i brought it up.Flimsy boards and bad solder joints.I work in a repair job, so i know that the design flaws arent , tubes mounted to the board or pots mounted to the board.A good pcb should be able to take quite a bit of heat.I have some of my circuit boards in my field of expertise that have small transformers mounted to them.They should be able to take some heat.Could the Bjr be made better?Sure could, but we would be looking at a different price tag though.


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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 2:08 pm
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SlapChop wrote:
357mag wrote:
On another forum a guy was telling someone who just bought an Egnater not to get too comfortable with it because the reliablility of those amps is not very good. He was going on about knowing someone that had two of them and they both went down.


Read it on the internet, it must be true.

I've had my Rebel since December, and haven't had a second's trouble with it. That's the first report I've heard anywhere about problems with the Rebel, and I've been watching carefully. You can always tell the difference between an actual complaint and pure made-up stone throwing.

For example, the real story will be something like "I (that is, me personally) had a problem with the tubes/traces lifting/transformer (a specific problem) in my Hot Rod Deluxe."

The made-up story goes "I know a guy (not me, so don't ask questions) who had two of those Rebels and they both went down (completely non-specific but catastrophic failure)."

Now you've made it one better. Your story goes: "On another forum (don't go looking for it) I read a post from a guy I don't even know who says he knows a guy etc."


The Egnater amps are rock solid. I really think the story is total BS. Bruce Egnater has been a custom amp builder for over 30 years and is legendary. You'll be hard pressed to find anything negative about them and if you do it's usually like SlapChop said, just stone throwing. I've looked inside my Rebel and it uses thick double sided PCB's and is built using outstanding quality and workmanship. I've only had mine about 2 months and play it for hours every day and have gigged it half a dozen times and it's been flawless. My HRDlx didn't last 2 gigs. I like to read the post myself. IMHO the Egnater blows away anything Fender has to offer under $1200 and is more versatile than most of their lineup and mine came with JJ's. My understanding is they did away with GT's after Fender bought the company.


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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 2:53 pm
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Fender isnt selling versatile amps.I dont believe they ever claimed that.What they sell is a specific tone for a specific group of people.My Bassman isnt versatile, but there isnt too many amps that can do what it does as well.Ditto with the blackface.To those amps they do a specific job and do it well.


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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 3:41 pm
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Heah .... since you guys are talking high dollar amps here ....
Have any of you seen or heard one of these?

Gibson GA40RVT 30W 1x12 Tube Guitar Combo Amp

they list the Features as:

30W Class A
5 - 12AX7 preamp tubes, 2 - 6L6 power tubes
Hand built
Point-to-point wiring
2 channels plus mix input
Tube reverb
Tube tremolo
Pentode/triode switch
12" Eminence Legend Speaker, asymmetrically placed
Metal film resistors
DC powered filaments
Hand-wired turret board
Two-tone vintage brown and tan Tolex


The GA40RVT is a truly luxurious tone machine for the pro who insusts on the genuine article. (their words not mine)

note the price

And here's a 2x12 version - but no picture;

Gibson GA42RVT 30W 2x12 Tube Guitar Combo Amp

They have a picture on the Gibson site - but it looked like the first one to me.
.


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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:37 pm
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budglo wrote:
Fender isnt selling versatile amps.I dont believe they ever claimed that.What they sell is a specific tone for a specific group of people.My Bassman isnt versatile, but there isnt too many amps that can do what it does as well.Ditto with the blackface.To those amps they do a specific job and do it well.


They're trying to. Look at the vintage molested series Bandmaster and Deluxe. Too much digital crap and not enough tube tone. Same with the Cyber Twin. Versatile if you like that kind of thing I guess but far from the real Fender sound.


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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:49 pm
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I hear ya Supro.The reason i dig Fender amps isnt because they are versatile, but because they do what they do so well.You know what I mean, take your twin, best clean amp there ever was IMO.Same with the tweed sound.Cant beat it.I am not really impressed with the digital processed stuff.There is a reason why the VG is being discontinued, its not because its a bad guitar, but people dont really want a strat to sound like a sitar,same goes for amps.I have a pocket pod for silent practicing when i need to, but the sounds are so over processed its really hard to listen to.


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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 9:58 pm
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nikininja wrote:
stratbastard wrote:
Marshalls IMHO are any thing but reliable.


Thats why they've been the worlds best selling and most commonly gigged amp since 1967 then?

Dont confuse marshall with that AVT/MG stuff. When you've run a JCM for 4 hours a night for 20 nights every month with the master set to 8, thats when you get to know marshalls reliability.

I've owned 5 of those over rated, sorry excuse for an amplifier. I blew them up thats why I got to try out so many. They were all tube combos and heads produced from '84 till '94 the avt and mg's were not even on the horizon at marshall. I've played them Ive owned 'um and I know with out any lack of conviction that they are super junk garbage.
As far as AVT's and MG's, They are probably a better amp "for the money" than the JVM or JCM's . Iknow guys that play'um and like'um and thats what I look at. I played marshall for a long time because I believed that they were the standard. but in reality I think I just did'nt have enough courage to make my own decitions. It's all hype, Marshall hasn't made a good product since the late seventies. And what is most upsetting to me is no one ever says anything about this wholesale B.S.job.


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