Looking For a Home Use Amp, Blues Jr?

BJ is a fantastic little amp. But, no tube amp I've ever owned met my needs for home play. Tried 15W amps, tried to attenuate, tried 5W amps. Just couldn't make them work for me at lower volumes. Tone Master Deluxe solved it

 

$480 is way too high for a used Blues Jr.....that's like $630 Canadian and they're only $840 Canadian new here....

 

Blues JR is a great amp....but for home use I think it's too loud.

 

I have two that work perfect for me. A Roland Micro cube and a Bugera G5. I also have a G20 but its a bit much for what I need.
I use the Micro cube with headphones for the most part but use the G5 most of the time. Great sounding amps..

 

BJ is a very popular and versatile amp. It's not the best amp around, but it's good, and it covers a lot of bases. It's small, light, portable, good for home, loud enough to gig, easy to dial in a good sound, great with pedals. People sometimes knock it because it is neither here nor there. It's not a big powerful gigging amp for large venues, it's not quiet with modern conveniences for headphones, recording, etc, like some amps specifically designed for that. It's not an expensive pro-level amp with distinctive tonal character. But it's very versatile and can fit in well to a wide range of uses. That's one of the reasons it's so popular. If you are an amateur player and want to have only one amp, it would be a great choice.

As for price, the CRex speaker is a +/- $100 upgrade that many people choose for good reason, it is a perfect pairing with this amp and improves the tone significantly. The fact that the CRex is already broken in is a double bonus, since those take a long time to break in. Sounds like they are including the stock speaker as well, which you can sell or keep. If they're asking $480, they'll probably take $450. Offer them that and you are getting a very good and fair deal.

 

If you're looking for home use, I'd shoot for something in the 1-watt range. Maybe look for one of those new Bassman amps with adjustable wattage, or something like the Blackstar HT-1. Blues Jr. is a great amp, I play with a friend all the time who has one - but it's not gonna shine at bedroom volumes.

I just picked up a Supro 1606 Super, 5-watts. Way too loud to get any breakup at bedroom levels. I had to buy an attenuator for it.

 

I have a BJ IV and its a great little Amp that you can dial in some sweet tones at home levels. The master volume comes in handy there. I had an older Tweed BJ that I traded a while back that was a nice sounding amp but reverb is a little on the sensitive side with the older ones.
I think the price is a touch high, but I think you would find it pretty versatile as they handle pedals very well.
Have a safe and happy amp hunting season.

 

ill tell you a perfect home tube amp......the vox ac4tv with the 10" speaker.
you can put it on 4, 1, or 1/4 watts, and it sounds great with pedals.

 

I have a Blues Jr. tweed version with the 12" speaker. I only use this amp at home and find I can some really nice tone at low levels. It takes pedals well so can use them to get some overdrive if needed. There a lot of Youtube videos on this amp of how to dial it in at low levels with no pedals as well. I had the Bugara V5 5w and Fender Bassbreaker 007 7w, this amp IMO sounds better than either of them. Also has reverb which is great. If you get a good deal on this amp, which many sell on CL for cheap, you can always try it and sell if it doesn't appeal to you.

 

I highly recommend the Blues Jr. for home use. With it's master volume you can get great overdriven tones and very manageable volume levels. Can't go wrong.

 

I've got several heads, cabs and two combos. I can "go to" the Blues Jr anytime I want. I live in a condo and can keep the neighbors and HOA happy. Great little amp. I think 5 bills for a used one is a bit much though. And that seems about the going rate. Play it and try them on for size at $450 or less if you can get it.

 

Any 15 watt tube amp is going to piss off the neighbors if you try to push it into natural overdrive. Even 5 watts can get pretty loud. Without an attenuator you're going to have a very clean tone at reasonable home volumes. But it's still a very usable tone. Just keep it clean, throw a good pedal in front, and it's like having a 2-channel amp.

 

What ever choice you make, getting an attenuator for the amp might be your best bet for home use. Even 5 watts can be loud. Just be certain to match the impedance of the attenuator with the amp. THD hot plate attenuators can be had used for a little cash. If you could swing it, the THD Univalve is a great amp for home use. You can find them used on reverb or ebay.

 

I had one and can't recommend a Blues Junior for bedroom use. Wouldn't a nice Super Champ do the trick?

 

My Blues Jr. is sitting in the garage.

I bought the 1watt Marshall.

 

For home use, a Vox Pathfinder 15 is positively surprising. One would reach for the back to look for tubes, and find none.

But if tubes are mandatory, I would try to get a Marshall Class 5 - five watts of pure Marshall cream. More than enough for home.

 

Well, I'm afraid that if you push a 15w Blues Jr to distortion, sans pedals, you'll definitely rattle some windows. Yes, Master Volume, but... Don't get me wrong, I love mine and have defended them for years, but for lower volumes you'll want to attenuate it, adding to the cost. For straight home use, you're probably better off with a lower powered amp or one with power scaling. Some good ones have been suggested here.

My Jr's sort of gathering dust now as I recently picked up a Tone Master Deluxe Reverb that's perfect for my varying needs, home and out (if I ever get to do out again. ) It's probably pricier than you'd care to go, though, and it's not a tube amp.