In praise of small Tube Amps!

[hulakatt]

Careful about saying anything good about a Blues Jr. Haters love to hate.

It's true but I really do try to contain my comments to my own poor experiences with them.

[Lost In Autumn]

Careful about saying anything good about a Blues Jr. Haters love to hate.

It's true but I really do try to contain my comments to my own poor experiences with them.

I like my Blues Jr more than my Deluxe reverb, when it's running right. Stock, though, it was a pile; I nearly hated it as much as my former Blues Deluxe reissue

[hulakatt]

I liked the (well, original anyway. Haven't played the RI) Blues Deluxe better. Both had long running reliability issues and mine went wonky so often, I couldn't wait to get rid of it.

[Lost In Autumn]

I liked the (well, original anyway. Haven't played the RI) Blues Deluxe better. Both had long running reliability issues and mine went wonky so often, I couldn't wait to get rid of it.

I found them both way too dark for my liking, not to mention too heavy and too loud. Speaker changes helped in both cases, but the Jr really came alive with the Bill M/Frommel mods and the Deluxe Reverb tone stack. The only problem I'm having with it now, is an intermittent crackle and pop that may or may not be related to overheating. Rootbeer Audio, who did the mods in the first place, doesn't want to touch it- he's shifted to focus on teaching, his own line of amps and what I'd refer to as "vanity projects:" repairs of classic, hand-wired tube amps that look good on his instagram...

[hulakatt]

I liked the (well, original anyway. Haven't played the RI) Blues Deluxe better. Both had long running reliability issues and mine went wonky so often, I couldn't wait to get rid of it.

I found them both way too dark for my liking, not to mention too heavy and too loud. Speaker changes helped in both cases, but the Jr really came alive with the Bill M/Frommel mods and the Deluxe Reverb tone stack. The only problem I'm having with it now, is an intermittent crackle and pop that may or may not be related to overheating. Rootbeer Audio, who did the mods in the first place, doesn't want to touch it- he's shifted to focus on teaching, his own line of amps and what I'd refer to as "vanity projects:" repairs of classic, hand-wired tube amps that look good on his instagram...

To be fair, working on old, hand wired tube amps is also a lot easier too. After having so many issues with the BJ, I've gone over to only owning hand wired amps and not had any issues since. Some are old and the rest I wired up myself. It feels kinda snobby but I don't want shoddy construction to be the reason an amp isn't reliable, I just want simple and reliable.

[Lost In Autumn]

To be fair, working on old, hand wired tube amps is also a lot easier too. After having so many issues with the BJ, I've gone over to only owning hand wired amps and not had any issues since. Some are old and the rest I wired up myself. It feels kinda snobby but I don't want shoddy construction to be the reason an amp isn't reliable, I just want simple and reliable.

I don’t know that it’s snobbish, it seems practical. For what I have invested in the Jr, I could have another used Deluxe Reverb, which would be a bit more reliable. That said, my next major amp purchase will likely be a Luxe Plus from another local guy, Strange Audio Electronics. I‘d love to wire up a kit amp, but it seems be gone all in with finishing and building guitars, I barely have enough time to play, let alone make music with other people, which I also want to do.

[hulakatt]

To be fair, working on old, hand wired tube amps is also a lot easier too. After having so many issues with the BJ, I've gone over to only owning hand wired amps and not had any issues since. Some are old and the rest I wired up myself. It feels kinda snobby but I don't want shoddy construction to be the reason an amp isn't reliable, I just want simple and reliable.

I don’t know that it’s snobbish, it seems practical. For what I have invested in the Jr, I could have another used Deluxe Reverb, which would be a bit more reliable. That said, my next major amp purchase will likely be a Luxe Plus from another local guy, Strange Audio Electronics. I‘d love to wire up a kit amp, but it seems be gone all in with finishing and building guitars, I barely have enough time to play, let alone make music with other people, which I also want to do.

I haven't wired up an amp in a few years because A.) I can't decide which amp to build next and B.) time. That and I feel bad starting another project while I still have some unfinished on my bench. I have 2 partsocasters to finish (1 JM and 1 P Bass) and my never ending 6g15 Reverb unit sits still unfinished.

[Lost In Autumn]

I haven't wired up an amp in a few years because A.) I can't decide which amp to build next and B.) time. That and I feel bad starting another project while I still have some unfinished on my bench. I have 2 partsocasters to finish (1 JM and 1 P Bass) and my never ending 6g15 Reverb unit sits still unfinished.

I’m currently staring down the face of 4 customer projects, 5 spec builds, 2 guitars for Dipinto and am fielding more inquiries for paint work, plus working 9-10 hour days doing high end residential remodeling work, as well as trying to find time to ride my mountain bike, fix my motorcycle, occasionally work in the guitar shop and spend time with my partner. I recently complained that I didn’t have any time to run errands and indulge in self care, my gf chided me “well, you do have at least 3 jobs…”

[hulakatt]

I’m currently staring down the face of 4 customer projects, 5 spec builds, 2 guitars for Dipinto and am fielding more inquiries for paint work, plus working 9-10 hour days doing high end residential remodeling work, as well as trying to find time to ride my mountain bike, fix my motorcycle, occasionally work in the guitar shop and spend time with my partner. I recently complained that I didn’t have any time to run errands and indulge in self care, my gf chided me “well, you do have at least 3 jobs…”

Hah, she's got a valid point! I'm just working 10 hours days for the Post Office, working on my house, fixing up my car to sell it and raising a family.

[Larry Mal]

I just bought a new Princeton with the 12" speaker in there.

My current amp is a Princeton Recording, which frankly never had any magic for me. I'll keep it.

I used to own a '75 silver face Princeton, I should have kept it.

I'm hoping I like this one a lot.

[Larsongs]

Yeah, you should’ve kept the Silverface.

That said, a new standard 65 PRRI with 10” Spkr is perfect right out of the Box… And it’s a great sounding Amp…

I was at Wild West Guitars one day several years ago.. I had just picked up an early Fano Guitar to try out. You know a real one. It was shaped like a Firebird with a P90 & I think a Goldfoil & a Bigsby.. The Guitar really intrigued me.. The only Amp they had in the room was a 65 PRRI.. I was expecting it to sound pretty bad.. I was blown away. I thought it must’ve been the Guitar.. So I tried a Strat, Tele, Ric 360 & an ES335.. Because those are Guitars I own & play. They all sounded fantastic thru that little Amp..

A short time later I added one to my Toolbox of Amps.. It has become pretty much my go to Amp! One of the very very few I’ve played & owned over the years that is perfect out of the box… Needed nothing… Not even a Break in period..

[mediocreplayer]

I just bought a new Princeton with the 12" speaker in there.

My current amp is a Princeton Recording, which frankly never had any magic for me. I'll keep it.

I used to own a '75 silver face Princeton, I should have kept it.

I'm hoping I like this one a lot.

Congrats! What made you buy new, out of curiosity?

[Larry Mal]

Congrats! What made you buy new, out of curiosity?

Frankly, I am going to pay this off over four years at a cost of something like $27 a month, so it's easier to do it that way at an amount I won't notice than buy a used amp all at once. So I did Guitar Center credit.

It was a good price, a limited edition thing with solid pine cabinetry as an upgrade, and the 12" speaker that is arguably an upgrade over the 10". I got Guitar Center to knock a couple hundred off since Sweetwater was selling it and maybe still is for $1099.

I would have liked to bought one of those handwired ones, but don't want to spend that kind of money.

This will be my third Princeton: I had a real 70's silver face one that I traded for a 70's era Twin. The Princeton had been altered into having some kind of Mesa Boogie type distortion channel where the tremolo had been, that ended up pissing me off.

I also own a Princeton Recording amp, and frankly, I find it to be uninspiring and always have. So I might sell that on.

So I thought to just get a new, unaltered, bone stock new Princeton that should just work the way I expect it to when I turn it on, you know?

[luau]

Congrats, Larry! That's a nice looking amp.

[redchapterjubilee]

I suppose I got a "well-balanced" collection of amps. From 12w to 100w, depending on what I want to accomplish. Although these days the 100w rig does not get used much but I won't let it go, if for nothing more than sentimental reasons. These days I'm using more "reasonable" amps. My needs changed.

For band rehearsal/gigging it's a Bassman 20 head or a '70 Bandmaster head into a Weber 10a25A loaded 2x10; on tour this summer I'm taking a 5E3 clone on the road; for solo shows I either go direct with a Strymon Iridium taking place of an amp or I run a Vox MV50AC into the 2x10; and if I'm recording it's the Bandmaster or a Marshall Origin 20 head into the RLIR. I also have a '59 Bassman LTD in a headshell that I was using as my main recording amp until I got the Bandmaster and I like it better. For at home noodling I usually just plug headphones into the RLIR and whatever amp is plugged into it. If I'm noodling "outloud" I like the Origin 20 into a Texas Heat for that, usually on the lowest power setting.