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Post subject: Harsh treble in my Blues Jr.
Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 11:09 am
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I play my Telecaster through a Blues Junior. With or without the Digitech pedal, I get a harsh treble than I can't reduce no matter how many knobs I twist or which pickups I use. Do I need to suspect my tubes? Is it the guitar? I get a good sound on the larger strings.


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Post subject: Re: Harsh treble in my Blues Jr.
Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 12:26 pm
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For any problem in tubes amp you must check the all tubes first .

Output tubes ; good tubes ,close matched , good bias , all socket ' contacts tightened ans clean ?

Phase inverter circuit ; check all resistors

What is the story of the amp ; buy new , second hand , long time ago with same tube , new ouput tubes no bias check ?


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Post subject: Re: Harsh treble in my Blues Jr.
Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 2:35 pm
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You might kick yourself if this helps, but have you tried turning down the Volume knob on the guitar to say 6 or 7 and then increasing the amp volume to compensate and dial in your sound with the guitar turned down. Often that simple adjustment on the guitar's Volume knob will take that hard to dial out edge off the sound, also your amp will usually sound and respond better because you are able to turn it up a bit higher to compensate the volume loss.

Aside from that basic starting suggestion there is not much detail to go on, age of the amp? hours on tubes? has it always been like that? speaker type? (Blues Jr has come with a plethora of speaker types, some of which sounded downright horrible in that amp, change out a horrible speaker match to something like an Eminence CRex and it can transform the BJr)


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Post subject: Re: Harsh treble in my Blues Jr.
Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 11:07 pm
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No457 Snowy wrote:
You might kick yourself if this helps, but have you tried turning down the Volume knob on the guitar to say 6 or 7 and then increasing the amp volume to compensate and dial in your sound with the guitar turned down. Often that simple adjustment on the guitar's Volume knob will take that hard to dial out edge off the sound, also your amp will usually sound and respond better because you are able to turn it up a bit higher to compensate the volume loss.

Aside from that basic starting suggestion there is not much detail to go on, age of the amp? hours on tubes? has it always been like that? speaker type? (Blues Jr has come with a plethora of speaker types, some of which sounded downright horrible in that amp, change out a horrible speaker match to something like an Eminence CRex and it can transform the BJr)


Ok. I thought there may be a known syndrome that creates my problem. I bought the amp used, not sure of the hours on it at the time. I estimate I put no more than 200 hours on it. I always enjoyed it. Didn't play for a long time. A friend recently told me the treble was out of whack, I agreed. Nothing has been done to the amp. I do believe the sound is different, but that is subjective.

I will definitely try some more combinations. So I can understand: I have a Master Volume and a Volume. The Volume will produce distortion, so is that my Gain? And the Master Volume is a simple volume?

I'm going to check out the forum about tube matters, but are my tubes due for a checkout?

Serial Number B-127684
Type PR-295
Speaker Mfd. by Eminence


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Post subject: Re: Harsh treble in my Blues Jr.
Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 1:35 am
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Yes ,check tubes .


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Post subject: Re: Harsh treble in my Blues Jr.
Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 1:59 am
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Agreed, about the tubes the stock Bjr runs the output tubes very very hard due to the way Fender biases this amp, they are probably on their last legs.

As far as dialing the knobs here's some stuff to try.

You have the right idea about the function of the Volume and Master Volume knobs. The Blues Junior is definitely an amp that can be dialled to sound like crap, but with anything tone related it is really down to personal taste so it is hard to make suggestions, and from here Its hard to say if the amp is functioning correctly. In saying all that, try these settings suggestions as a starting point to give you a clean platform for your pedal and just to see if it improves things for you, I suggest leaving the Master Volume set very high as this lets the amp breathe more, opens the tone up and helps give the tone some body, every BJr I've played sounds best with the Master Volume cranked up, leave it there and then just use the Volume knob to get the loudness you want, just like a traditional old Fender amp, (that is assuming you use pedals for overdrive) I like the BJr best set as a clean platform so here's what I'd start with, if it's too loud turn down the Volume knob (leave the Master Volume set high). I have the Mids turned down very low as the stock BJr has plenty of Mids and I always notice some harshness in the upper Mids on these amps, that could be part of the problem you are hearIng. I then just use the Treble knob to dial the brightness of the overall tone where I like it, treating it somewhat like a single 'Tone' knob, it usually ends up around 4 for me.

So I usually end up with something like the following as a starting point.

Master Volume: 9/12
Volume: 4/12 (lower if too loud)
Middle: 2/12
Bass: 8/12
Treble: 4/12 (adjust for desired brightness)

This will all come down to taste but leaving the Master Vol set high, dialing those Mids right down and then using the Treble as a "Tone" knob to get the brightness I want are my key first steps with a stock BJr. Give that a try and see if it suits you or gives you a different perspective to start from. Also don't forget the Volume knob on the guitar, if you do all this with it set to 7 or 8 that should also help take that harsh edge off.

Hope that helps.


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Post subject: Re: Harsh treble in my Blues Jr.
Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 8:27 am
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Great suggestions so far. If you can't get what you want with the settings suggested, a good place to start would be to check the type/brand of tubes you have now, and which speaker. You might be able to simply change a preamp tube or two (V1, V2) and get a much better sound, maybe even a PI tube (V3). Trying different preamp tubes is about the cheapest and easiest thing that you can do to change the tone. Just based on your description of your tone, you might try a Tung Sol RI or Mullard RI in V1 to smooth out the tone a bit.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.


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Post subject: Re: Harsh treble in my Blues Jr.
Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 10:07 am
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This will keep me busy for a while. I used to do the Albert Collins thing, everything on ten.

I'm not opposed to buying some 12AX7 tubes. My old Digitech RP-7 uses a 12AX7 also. The tubes in the amp are all Groove Tubes, Fender logo, probably original. Three 12AX and two EL-84.

I didn't mention that the amp is totally quiet both at rest and under a load. No stray noises. No dirty pots.

Again, the speaker is mfd. by Celestion. 10"

There is a lot of chatter about reliability and quality and durability concerning tubes. So many choices. Can you other guys state your preferences for brands and suppliers?

I had a Bassman amp re-furbished. One of the brand new 6L6 tubes failed immediately. I learned that getting a bad tube is not totally rare.

I appreciate the responses.


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Post subject: Re: Harsh treble in my Blues Jr.
Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 12:46 pm
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GT uses many brands, you might be able to identify which brand by looking closely. The preamp tubes are likely Sovtek or Chinese, the former might still have the Sovtek label intact, the latter will have small metal tabs on the side of the Plates. They could even be JJ made, and in any event, trying something different might be the ticket for you.

The stock BJr has a 12 inch speaker.

BTW, does your amp have a black faceplate, indicating a version III? The BJr III did have a "sparkle mod" which some found a little too bright/harsh sounding.

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Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.


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Post subject: Re: Harsh treble in my Blues Jr.
Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 11:22 am
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Sparkle mod does make the amp way bright and ice picky. I installed a cap and reversed mine. One of my favorite amps to gig with here in NYC.


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