Fender Blues Junior good replacement for Tech 21 TM60?

jedhemsley

hey guys! 

So basically at present my amp is a Tech 21 TM60, which is a really decent solid state amp if you're at all familiar with them (they make the SansAmp modelling pedals too). I've been using it for a good 4 years and have always been satisfied with it, but i'm feeling it might be time for a change. The problem is that it's a two channel amp; channel 1 based on fender amp tones and channel two more designed to emulate marshall/mesa tones. The thing is, for about 3 years i've only been using channel one, and then using my trusty Ibanez Tube King to provide valve overdrive. The amp also has some really dodgy EQ layout, with 'drive' 'punch' and a 'bite' button, so i've started to feel like i might want to just go over to a more conventional setup. 

The blues junior seems like a good shout, because it's a 1 channel amp, which is basically what i need as i already have a good overdrive pedal. It's also got a more standard 3 band EQ which i like the idea of. 

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the blues junior, in terms of what sort of tones you can get out of it and what guitars it's suited to (at the moment i've got a strat and a les paul). One thing which i kinda want would be the ability of the amp to generate a really good crunch tone, because that's not really something my pedal can acheive very well.

Any opinions on the blues junior would be good, or comparisons to similar amps, or even suggestions of any other amps which might be worth a look! I'm just really trying to decide what direction i want to go in at the moment

In terms of value i'm really looking for a like for like swap. I think used i could get around £250-300 for the TM60, and that's similar to what the valve juniors seem to be after a cheeky look on ebay and gumtree - so anything around that spectrum used.

Cheers!

Lixarto

I like the Blues Jr, but it doesn't really do "crunch" at anything other than full volume.

mike_l

Different drive pedals sound different with different amps.

EG the Bad monkey sounds great into a valve amp (Marshall DSL), as a boost, but into a SSamp (Marshall valvestate) it sounds dull and lifeless (IMO), conversely some pedals sound great into a SS amp, but lacklustre into valve amps.

 

As for what guitars suit what amps?

Any guitar (Strat/LP/Tele etc) can be played through any guitar amp. They will sound different, some will sound better than others. I'd advise trying a few, with your guitars (or a similar as you can get). 

ThePrettyDamned

I don't really like the blues junior because it's expensive and doesn't sound as good as the hot rod deluxe, in any iteration.

But maybe that's just me because everyone else loves them!

p90fool

ThePrettyDamned said:

I don't really like the blues junior because it's expensive and doesn't sound as good as the hot rod deluxe, in any iteration.

But maybe that's just me because everyone else loves them!

Not me, I loath them, nasty, boxy-sounding things. The clean channel on the HRD is a proper deep Fender valve tone.

The Blues Junior is a long way from what we think of as a classic Fender clean sound, which is not to say it doesn't have its uses, if you like the sound of a broken, underpowered Vox.

TTony

jedhemsley said:

I've been using it for a good 4 years and have always been satisfied with it, but i'm feeling it might be time for a change.

So, after 4 years of being satisfied with it, you're feeling that it might be time for a change ...

Sounds like a recipe for doing something that you might just regret ... 

I say that as a very happy TM60 owner.  It's an incredibly versatile amp, everything from cleany-clean to dirty-dirt.  I put an M9 pedal in front of mine for all the (not many) fx that I use.  I've also found that different guitars/p'ups change the sound quite a lot, or even the setting of the vol pot on a guitar.

You should try to get hold of a Blues Jr for an extended test before you commit.

Dan

Ive had a standard Mk2 blues junior and a modded mk2 (both with and without speaker upgrades) and they are pretty good until you play something else. They are quite boxy sounding. For me they sound better with a V30 but still not amazing.

Ive got a Traynor YCV20, which I brought off the old MR forum and was cheaper than a blues jr,  and it leaves the blues jr for dead in terms of features and sounds. 2 channel, great fendery / jangly clean sound, nice overdriven and with boost goes fuzzy in a nice way.

I would try and hunt one of these down, should be cheaper too.

bertie

*bites lip*

(tho I do agree with Dans first paragraph above..........)

jedhemsley

Okay well today i went to Andertons and traded it in against a Blues Jr. I tried it for about 40 minutes and decided it was really to my liking, no matter how 'boxy' i guess some of you think it sounds... haha.

The only problem is now i've brought it home, using the overdrive pedal through it doesn't really sound that great. It sounds harsh and kind of hissy. I spent a while trying to dial it in but i'm guessing maybe it just isn't that suited to the amp, which is funny because i did try it with it while i was in the shop.

I guess i have some thinking to do ;(

mike_l

What drive pedal is it?

And have you tried a noise gate between the drive pedal and the amp?

monquixote

Some people love the BJr some loathe it. 

People assume it's going to be a mini HRD and it's nothing like it it which is where I think some of the dislike comes from. 

It isn't really a typical Fender amp as it's an EL84 based design, but I think it should take pedals fairly well.

I don't mind the BJr, but I'm also a huge fan of the TM60 (most people on here seem to hate them) so I would probably have kept it though I am entirely with you on the frankly baffling EQ and channel 1 being much better than channel 2. 

jedhemsley

mike_l said:

What drive pedal is it?

And have you tried a noise gate between the drive pedal and the amp?

its in ibanez tube king, which is like a valve overdrive/distortion pedal. To be honest i have never been aware of noise gates...

monquixote

What you need is a Visual Sound Route 66. 

Now if only there was one in the classifieds at a very reasonable price

fretmeister

Suhr Riot is a great pedal to use with a BJ.

mike_l

jedhemsley said:

mike_l said:

What drive pedal is it?

And have you tried a noise gate between the drive pedal and the amp?

its in ibanez tube king, which is like a valve overdrive/distortion pedal. To be honest i have never been aware of noise gates...

It's very possible there's too much gain (I haven't tried this pedal) and the pedal is quite noisy anyway.

A noise gate reduces any "background noise", EG any electrical hum from the pedals. The downside is it can, and does reduce sustain. However in a high-gain situation they're pretty much compulsory. Personally I use an MXR smartgate, set fairly low, enough to reduce the back-ground noise, but not so high as to kill any sustain.

It might be worth trying (esp if you can try before you buy) a few different drive pedals.

I'd recommend trying the Boss SD-1, Boss SD-2, Digitech Bad Monkey, as these are all around at cheap prices, and all have good sounds.

 

jedhemsley

Cheers for the advice guys.

After playing it for a few hours i think i have decided, regrettably, that it has to go back.

I don't really want to/cannot afford to be aquiring a whole new setup, and to be honest i was fine with the amp i had before.

Does it seem reasonable to take the BJnr back tomorrow and request my old amp i part exchanged back?

ThePrettyDamned

Erm, they might do! Worth asking, I've heard Andertons are nice.

I found the blues junior didn't like anything with high gain, and that ibby pedal is definitely at the higher gain side of things. It just sounds.. Wrong and broken.

The hot rod deluxe has much better bass and treble, much sweeter. Takes pedals brilliantly - possibly one of the best pedal platform amps there is, and I've heard of them being used for metal through to jazz to funk to pop.

Another one (already mentioned) is traynor amps. Riviera had some cracking amps too, but may be out of budget.

I really like the peavey classic 50 but it might be too big for you. Worth looking into if you did find one, though.

monquixote

The TM60 has a built in speaker simulator which is on all the time. As a result it will take pretty much any pedal really well because it's generally the thing that makes pedals sound bad is the harsh high frequencies which a speaker sim will cut and a Fender will reveal in all their fizzy glory. 

If you don't want to take it back then I expect the Joyo clones of either the Crunchbox, Riot, or Plimsoul will sort you out for not much wedge. 

jedhemsley

As a conclusion to this thread:

TM60 has returned.

I feel bad for ever doubting it

p90fool

Glad it turned out well, now I can say; "Told ya so!!"

tbm

Ah the poor ol BJ. I had one for ages, and it can sound boxy. I upgraded the speaker and it had some BillM mods done when I got it. If i didn't have to sell it to finance my new amp I'd still have it though. Boxy and all it was loud for it's size and has better clean headroom then an AC15.