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Post subject: Blue Jr Reverb Problems
Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 6:07 am
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Kind of wish I'd checked here before buying my Blues Jr NOS. Maybe I would have thought twice. It's an absolutely beautiful thing, all wrapped in tweed. And it sounds WONDERFUL until I put the slightest reverb on it, and then it starts ringing and gets all distorted sounding. My repair guy said I should swap the connectors to the tank, which seemed to help, but the problem is still there. I'm taking it in today. I'll report back.


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Post subject: Re: Blue Jr Reverb Problems
Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 2:02 pm
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One option is using fender's great warranty (5 years). I had a great experience with getting my amp replaced. They are realy great to deal with.


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Post subject: Re: Blue Jr Reverb Problems
Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 3:12 pm
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My Blues Jr. is in the repair shop for static problems. Want my honest opinion...their not made in America and the quality control stinks. I have a Fender Princeton my father bought me in 1963. I never had a day of trouble but now it needs work, but thats after 48 years. Today a 2 year old amp starts needing work.

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Post subject: Re: Blue Jr Reverb Problems
Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 6:13 pm
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Have your 6G2 repaired and hook-shot that other tone turd into a convenient dumpster.

Overhauled competently, that Princeton will out-live you.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Blue Jr Reverb Problems
Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 7:39 pm
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dtt06040 wrote:
...My repair guy said I should swap the connectors to the tank, which seemed to help, but the problem is still there....


Looking at the back of the amp, the red connector for the reverb tank has to go on the left. The red (input) cable shield is ungrounded, and that side of the tank is ungrounded. The black (output) cable shield is grounded, and on that side of the tank, the connector negative is connected to the case. You should not swap the cables, but make sure that they are in the correct place.

Could be the tank itself, as there have been many reports of tank problems lately. Unplug both cables to the tank, making sure that the cables don't contact the tank, and see if anything changes. :idea:

But, yes definitely check on a warranty repair.

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Post subject: Re: Blue Jr Reverb Problems
Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 8:01 am
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Don't bother to check anything else.

The stock BJ reverb tank seems to have been designed as a failure waiting to happen. Replace it or go to the aggro of taking the amp back (where they'll fit another one that will also quickly fail) - it's up to you. Swapped mine for a Ruby tank - sorted..

Should you have to do this? No - of course you shouldn't. Black mark for Fender. But they're building that amp to a price in a hugely competitive market. Corners get cut and will continue to be cut as long as the Company keeps selling them.

To be fair though, I don't know about the new BJ mk3 - still the same old reverb tank?

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Post subject: Re: Blue Jr Reverb Problems
Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 9:49 am
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Good advice adey,

The NOS didn't get the III treatment, although the newest ones may have the newer reverb tanks that have been faulty lately. The older US made reverb tanks weren't a problem, I believe the newer ones that are made in...?, are the problem tanks. :idea:

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Post subject: Re: Blue Jr Reverb Problems
Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 3:17 pm
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fender reverb tanks for a jr. run about $25.00 and are easy to replace, 5 year warranty priceless. good-luck hope its that easy.

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Post subject: Re: Blue Jr Reverb Problems
Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 3:19 pm
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fender reverb tanks for a jr. run about $25.00 and are easy to replace, 5 year warranty priceless. good-luck hope its that easy.

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Post subject: Re: Blue Jr Reverb Problems
Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:54 pm
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It was, in fact, the reverb tank. My guy replaced it under warranty and the Blues Jr. NOS sounds like GOLD!


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Post subject: Re: Blue Jr Reverb Problems
Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 2:34 pm
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TTSC wrote:
One option is using fender's great warranty (5 years). I had a great experience with getting my amp replaced. They are realy great to deal with.


Funny thing is, Fender only used to have a one year warranty way back and I never used it even once on any Fender amp I've ever owned! LOL Now they way they build them it's practically a necessity. A long warranty is not really a good thing if you need to use it constantly. :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Blue Jr Reverb Problems
Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 2:34 pm
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Awesome! Now, you must tell us what you like about it, what kind of tubes you're using, what guitar with the amp, etc (maybe even a pic). 8)

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Post subject: Re: Blue Jr Reverb Problems
Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 4:16 pm
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havent had a moments trouble out of my tweed Blues jr.
(knocking on every piece of wood in the house)
if i do the tone i get from it, my tele, and my OCD would be worth fixing it.
when i get my boogie, i still wont retire it. i like it that much.
i would like to get a better fender amp at some point this yr, i just dont know which one to get though.

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Post subject: Re: Blue Jr Reverb Problems
Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 8:39 pm
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Well, I felt that this is the perfect amp for me after seeing one demoed up on Proguitarshop.com, and then I tried it out at GC. I play small venues with a girl singer, and mostly was looking for a smaller, professional looking amp, with a good clean sound, and then reverb was a must. I loved the retro look of the tweed, and the 12 inch Jenson, well I just have a knee jerk reaction that says a Fender sounds better with a Jenson speaker. Another reason I like it is that it is relatively light, compared to, say, the Hot Rod DeVilles, which I can easily pull a muscle lifting. (age is a funny thing)

I'd been using an upgraded 1997 Fender Frontman 15w, which again, people marvel at. It has the best clean sound of any amp I own. The only problem with it is that it *looks* like a practice amp.

My main guitar today is a Taylor T3/B, which is a big semi-hollow body with Bigsby. The only mods are that I jumpered the fuse and put rubber grips on the knobs. Someday I'll swap them out with Tele knobs. I like the single coil neck sound even though it doesn't have that Fender twang. I can get a nice round jazz sound, the tone control has a push-pull that does something I don't quite understand, but it sounds great in the up position. And then you have the humbuckers when you need them.

My pedal chain is basically all MXR. I add a little slapback with an MXR Carbon Copy. If I want a touch of dirt, an MXR GT-OD turned way down low with barely any gain. And then if I need to punch up for lead work I have an MXR MicroAmp. And a couple others.

My Twangy guitar is a mid-90's Squier Bullet that I added a DiMarzio SD to in the bridge, and then rewired the tone controls so the DiMarzio has a tone control and the middle S is wide open. Oh, and I recently added a paisley pickguard to it, so it looks quite nice.

All of this sounds real nice with the Blues Jr NOS.


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Post subject: Re: Blue Jr Reverb Problems
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 5:35 am
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dtt06040 wrote:
...The only mods are that I jumpered the fuse and put rubber grips on the knobs. ...


WTF, are you trying to start a fire!?!? The fuses are there for protection, to prevent the amp from going up in smoke and flame and possibly burning the house down. There is no sane reason to jumper the fuse, what kind of moron advised you to do that? :!:

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