Attention Blues Junior Lovers!!
Close your eyes and don't read any further cuz this is gonna sting.

OK so I bought a new small wattage amp. Woo Hoo!!!
Gear Pig Alert!!!

A little background info. Bought me a Blues Junior 6 or 7 years ago so I'd have something small light and portable to take to jams at Mildred Lake Village towards the end of the UE1 Project. If you don't know what that means don't worry about it. Right off the hop I was a little disappointed with the amp but I attributed that to me being used to full sized amps of good quality. I found the BillM mods back when I was posting at Chris Greene's forum and went to work on it. Changed the output transformer to a monsterous Trace Elliot job, soldered in some of Bill's new-value caps in the tone stack, installed the bias pots, swapped in a Celestion V30 and a nice set of matched JJ EL84s. These mods made a noticable difference. The little amp had better grunt on the bottom and seemed to breath better as well. Articulation and tone was pretty much unchanged (pre-speaker-swap) aside from the improved breathiness. It wasn't enough though and my quest to find a better replacement began. 63Supro was going on and on about the Rebel 20 so when I spied one in a music store I paused to give her a go. I was impressed and the price was right so I now had a plan. Sell the BJ and buy the Rebel. Well that didn't work out very well. People hear that you've modified your previously "Genuine' Fender amp and they say, " Give ya 50 bucks for it?"

As if....


So here I am with a new Rebel without having sold the BJ.







So I get that puppy home and pug it in and start trying different settings and stuff. I like this amp WAY better than the BJ. Then it dawns on me ... duhhh ... do a comparison!! So I set up the Rebel so it's an even fight. Turned the dial so it's all on the EL84s and set them both up to play a nice clean sound that's just on the verge of break up and both amps set so the volume is about equal as I can get it.


So here's the setup:





And here are the settings for both amps, both set to clean on the verge of breakup at a reasonable practice volume.





In this situation the BJ is very “honky” by comparison to the Rebel and it seems to lack the width of frequency response. The Rebel is about the same as the BJ for spankiness and chime but the sound is just plain fuller.

15-love-Rebel

Throw in a little OCD and the results are about the same. Both amps take the pedal well but then what amp wouldn’t take the OCD well? The BJ is still honking and the Rebel is still singing

30-love-Rebel

Then I set up both amps for a nice thick crunch at roughly equal volume. I tried setting the BJ up two different ways, first with most of the crunch coming from the pre-amp and then with most coming from the power amp. The power amp crunch definitely sounded better to my ears and was less honky as well for some reason. I gave the BJ a little helping hand and did not give the Rebel the benefit of trying it both ways. Just used the pre-amp. I also fought the urge to dial in a little 6V6 action to sweeten up the Rebel even more or lower the wattage or switch the “tight” in. All of those (except the gain settings) would have been unfair advantages.

Here are all three settings







When it came time to rock out like the big boys do the BJ couldn’t hold a candle to the Rebel 20. The sound of the overdriven amps is not the same even though they share the same tube types. The Rebel is a little hairier around the edges with a nice compliment of overtones while still letting the sound of the guitar come through. The BJ had about the same level of grind and crunch but it was flatter sounding and still honked.

40-love-Rebel

Throw in the OCD and dig in with some bends and a little fancy fingerwork and the Rebel simply walks away with the prize. Held notes blossom. Pinched notes squeal better. Heavy half muted power chords chunk better. I like this amp. Just for kicks I hit the “both” button on the A/B/Y box. That was really cool. I had fun with that setting.
Interestingly enough when I figured out how much money I have into the BJ with the extra parts and international shipping BS associated with the BillM mods the Rebel 20 head and one 1x12 cabinet come in about 50 bucks under the modded BJ.

Game-set-match-Rebel
Sorry BJ lovers

(edited to include the words "Blues Junior" in the title)
(;^) hopin' ta catch more fish...)

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Nice looking amp. I bet it sounds great too. I don't think I've heard anything bad about Egnater. One thing I've got to say though, it doesn't look "small, light and portable." I'm getting myself to the point of doing a jam night at a local establishment and an amp that can be carried in with the guitar and fit under your legs while you wait your turn, seems to be an asset. I'm thinking Deluxe Reverb but it's still a bit bigger than I'd like.

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'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

Your talking a darn good argument, and I hope you have good fortune with your new amp purchase. Maybe I'm comparing Apples and Oranges, But for my money I'm happier with my choice. A Fender 65 reissue Deluxe Re-verb 1/12 22wt. AMERICAN MADE tube Amp, that I think will stand the test of time.
----Danny,

A well detailed and articulated comparison, BMW -- about as scientific as we're likely to get.

AFAIK the BJr is small enough to drop through the donation chute at St. Vincent dePaul's......

(then take the tax write-off on next-year's 1040)



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Arjay, your low down and crual.
----Danny,

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

----Danny,

Your Milkin that photo Arjay huh!!!


Thanks for your comprehensive Shootout BMWKTM!! You have me wanting a play with the Rebel!!

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BMW-KTM Congrats and welcome to the Brotherhood of the Egnater. While you're playing around with it, try the tube mix dial at 12:00. You'll get a volume/headroom boost from it as well as some seriously interesting sounds.On the 6V6 side you can get some pretty nice "Fendery" sounds. Good luck with the amp.

Oh as far as portability goes, if I only need one cab and I have a gig bag, I can carry the head, cab and guitar all in one shot and I'm a Geezer. I don't use a pedal board and very few effects.The head only weighs something like 16lbs. I will never sacrifice tone for portability.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

(......sez he, toting a Dual Showman up three flights of stairs)



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

I guess I can show up with the usual characters for my two bits. Blues Jr, about $500. Egnater Rebel, about $850. If I win the lottery, I'm gonna get a DRRI.

Had a GC coupon, a bit o' mad money (perhaps not much sense) a few months ago and went in thinkin' about a pedal. Well, I brought this babie home.

It is fun, though I'm not sure I am into it for the long haul.

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By the River

I did that with a Sunn Scepter cab.
GTG the moral to the story is don't buy an amp just because of price, and just because it has Fender on the name tag, doesn't automatically make it great. The HRD Series amps were developed at a price point to attract a certain market. Fender could sell a tin can and a string, market it as a new amp and it would sell. Their marketing team is brilliant.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

Actually that BJ is pretty heavy after the mods. The Trace O/T has to add at least five pounds compared to the puny original tranny. If you have a sharp eye and you've seen the inside of a BJ before you might notice that I also relocated the bigger O/T from the middle of the chassis over to one side. There was plenty of wire on the harness and I wanted to improve clearance for the much larger magnet of the V30 I was already planning to install as I was doing this job. That brings up the other issue which is the heavier magnet on the V30. I'm thinking the head and one cabinet added together can't be much more than about 3 pounds heavier than the modded BJ.


Yes even before I decide to compare them I had been messing with that blend knob. I find I like it at around 10:00 or 11:00 leaning a little harder on the 6V6s. Your post also speaks to the portability factor as well even if you tried to avoid saying so. The amp bag comes with a shoulder strap. I already tried it and I can very easily carry the amp over my shoulder, a guitar in one hand and the cab in the other. All I need to do now is to build a small pedal board that I can put into a backpack with some other items like a mic and some cables and I'll be good to carry all my gear in one trip.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

OMG......I've never seen a thousand-dollar BJr before!



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY