Re: [Harp-L] Fender Blues Jr.

[Mojo Red <harplicks@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- Jon Harl <jonharl@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I have a new Fender Blues Jr. Is there any tube 
> swapping that will make this amp more harp 
> friendly?
> 
> Thanks,
> Jon Harl

Hi Jon,

There's a lot that's been written about this in the
Harp-L archives, so you might want to do some
research for other opinions.

I've made some tube substitutions and a swapped out
the speaker swap on my Blues Junior and now it's a
damned fine harp amp.

Tubes:
I think the stock Groove tubes in the BJ are pretty
harsh, and the three 12AX7 gain-stage tubes are too
much for a harp-amp settup.

I went to the guy at Eurotubes and bought his JJ
Electronics tubes. (http://www.eurotubes.com)

1 matched pair of 6BQ5 (EL84) power tubes
1 ECC83 S (12AX7) high gain
1 ECC82 (12AU7) lower gain
1 ECC832 (12DW7) this is a whacky split-gain or
"unbalanced" tube.

I placed the 12DW7 (unbalanced tube) in the slot
nearest the power tubes, the high-gain 12AX7 in the
middle slot and the lower gain 12AU7 in the slot
farthest from the power tubes.

This settup will provides tons of punch yet rounds
off the edginess and provides a little more
headroom with less feedback.

Speaker:
I swapped out the not-so-great-for-harp stock
Eminence speaker with a beautiful Weber 12A100
(P12R) 12" speaker. Handles 15 watts, straight
cone, AlNiCo magnet. Ted put in an "H" dust cap as
well, which seems to help even more in mitigating
feedback.

The speaker swap really, REALLY improved the sound
of that amp; providing a much smoother darker,
sound and allowing spectacular breakup at lower
volumes.

Here's a link to Weber VST:
http://www.tone-tools.com/wbrspkrs.html
Ted has worked with a lot of harp players and knows
his stuff.

Harpin' in Colorado,
--Ken M.


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