All this talk of BJ's...

[ted s]

Fender Blues Junior's that is...

Any thoughts as to how the Fender Blues Junior and the Traynor YCV20 would compare ?

thanks

Ted S

[TS808]

I've owned a Blues Jr, and here are my thoughts:

Pros: a great sounding little amp that can get plenty loud. Excellent reverb, compact, and the boost feature is really cool.
Cons: Has the famous "Fender volume" that jumps up from 1-4 then gradually decreases. I also found it to be a little "boxy"...I would have loved it with a slightly larger cab.

The Traynor gets some good reviews...probably a bit more versatile.

[duhvoodooman]

Cons: Has the famous "Fender volume" that jumps up from 1-4 then gradually decreases. I also found it to be a little "boxy"...I would have loved it with a slightly larger cab.
The good news is that the "cons" of the BJr are pretty easily & cheaply fixed. You can swap an audio taper pot into the master volume control to fix the 1-to-4 jump, and the boxiness can be largely eliminated by changing two capacitors in the tone stack. You can also convert the tone stack to operate just like a Fender Twin's by soldering a small jumper between two lugs on the Mid tone pot.

From what I've read, the Traynor is a very nice little amp, as well. Just a little harder to find, especially a used one.

[Adrian30]

Ted,
I don’t know how it compares to Traynor YCV20, I have never had a chance to try one out. However, I like my Blues Junior for more or less, all the reasons that TS808 lists. I got it less than a month ago and haven’t had a chance to spend enough time with it. It’s “boxy” sound doesn’t bother me too much, and I would add the reverb, in my opinion sounds good if dialed not over 4-5. But this may just be me.:AOK:



Fender Blues Junior's that is...

Any thoughts as to how the Fender Blues Junior and the Traynor YCV20 would compare ?

thanks

Ted S

[Tone2TheBone]

I don't have any experience with Traynor but my BJ doesn't sound boxy to me. They're not a 4x12 half stack and they're not a modeling amp. It does what it was designed to do. It's a unique tone with plenty of authentic Fender vibe. People eq their amps differently and play with different attacks so you can always set up your sound for you and decrease any inherent boxiness or whatever may be present in any amp design.

Tube changes and speaker replacements are the best mods to start out with but you may find that you like the unit in stock condition. I also don't have a volume jump as badly as some of the HR Devilles have. The preamp volume on mine will suddenly increase in gain when you turn the knob from 3 to 4 if that's what you mean but you can compensate by reducing your master volume in relation to your output volume and overdrive needs and even then the amp doesn't produce high gain sounds. I find that increase in gain past 4 to be helpful actually cause it brings the amp to it's sweet spot in terms of harmonic content and output tone. I will also say that once you get past a certain volume on the amp it seems to stay there and increase only in gain output with the power amp section. It probably does increase in perceived volume but you can't tell with your ears cause it's plenty loud by then. You'd have to measure it with a meter if you wanted exact information. Used Blues Juniors are usually around $300 that's what I paid for mine, and in addition to that, speaker upgrades etc. are not too expensive either.

[ted s]

I checked out both the Traynor YCV20 and Fender BJ today back to back. Based on what I have read, I was really leaning towards the Traynor until I compared the cleans. My opinion only.. The Traynor is a great amp, a little more flexible than the BJ due to it being 2 channel + boost, but the clean can't touch the BJ. Also, the Traynor made some ugly popping sounds when switching boost on/off. Those 2 things pushed me back to the Fender.
The 2 were the same price as well.
I traded in my Vox AD30 and had some Christmas/bufdee gift certs so it wasn't too bad a hit to my wallet.

ts

[Robert]

Popping is probably nothing to worry about. From a tech source of mine:

"When a direct current voltage (DC voltage) is switched an electrical 'spike' is generated by the motion of the switch contacts closing. That is picked up by the amp circuit as a pop. The fix for that is to put a resistor across the switch contacts. However, that resistor is in the circuit all the time and therefore modifies the circuit response. "

[ted s]

I hear you Robert, probably nothing, but I couldn't accept it for a brand new anything at the price.

[Robert]

The less "stuff" that is in the amp's circuit, the the less it will interfere or degrade the tone. I am not an electronics engineer, but that is how I understand it. Getting off-topic here... sorry.

[Algonquin]

Congrats on the new amp!

Glad to hear you made it safely through the mass hoards of Boxing Week shoppers to spend your Xmas-Birfday funds :AOK:

The Traynors do look nice, but I'm glad you let your ears do the shopping. As versatile as they are, I've read if you want glassy fender cleans... buy a fender.

Looking forward to a review/feedback post after you've broken it in.

Ain't spending money FUN! :D

David

[ted s]

Getting off-topic here... sorry.

To quote another fretter (can't remember who)

This is the fret.net, we get off topic all the time !

[duhvoodooman]

I checked out both the Traynor YCV20 and Fender BJ today back to back....
That's the way to do it, Ted. Listen to both--back-to-back, if possible--and go with the one that scratches your particular itch best.

I've noticed that same thing with my BJr--no "pop" when turned off. My Peavey had a wicked pop.

Too bad you couldn't have sold the AD30VT yourself; trade-ins generally suck vs. actual value. Ah, well, the convenience factor is worth something, too....

Now if you still have a couple of bucks left over:


Wicked-cool vintage Fender tone (http://www.tubedepot.com/sp-jen-c12n.html)

[ted s]

hmm.. I do have a couple Celestion vintage 30's in my homebrew cab, what about that ?

Now I would like to turn my Epi head into a combo like M29 did earlier this year..
Hey M29, you out there ?

[Adrian30]

Congratulations and welcome to the club ted_s! I'll repeat DVM at this, but really back to back - same guitar is the only fair way to compare two amps.

Here's a sample I found on the net of Bl.Jr. tweed. I believe this is a Jensen speaker vesion.

http://www.netmusicians.org/?section=amp&value=Fender%20Tweed%20Blues%20Junior

[duhvoodooman]

Here's a sample I found on the net of Bl.Jr. tweed. I believe this is a Jensen speaker version.
Yes, it is the model with the Jensen, but the notes on that page say it was run through an Avatar 2x12 cab, probably to "open it up" some for the recording.

Yesterday, I was playing my new Epi '56 Goldtop through the Blues Jr. hooked up to that Drive 2x12 cab I recently bought, with a pair of Eminence Legends in it. Definitely gives a bigger, airier tone, if not quite so "Fendery" sounding as through the Jensen C12N. Different sounds, but I like 'em both! :dude: :rockon:

[Adrian30]

Yeah DVM, you're right. Thanks for pointing out. A killer tone though...

[warren0728]

To quote another fretter (can't remember who)

This is the fret.net, we get off topic all the time !
that was our own super swede....i used that as my sig for quite awhile! :AOK:

ww

[oldguy]

Congrats on your new amph, Ted!:AOK: The only way to pick one is with your ears, 'cause what sounds good to one person won't be what another likes. You can't go wrong w/ a nice Fender clean sound. Traynor tries........ but no cigar.
I like the Traynor distortion better, but that's my ears.
I do think you're gonna like the tube mojo more and more as time goes by.:D

[warren0728]

I do think you're gonna like the tube mojo more and more as time goes by
absolutely!! :drool: :AOK:

ww