NAD - Fender Blues Jr. III - FSR Two Tone Silver Noir

[Monkus]

Amph to be delivered today.

Blurb from Fender:

A 262-unit North American limited run of this diminutively and darkly alluring amp was introduced in summer 2012.
The 15-watt Blues Junior has long been a favorite grab-and-go tube amp perfect for the studio and small gigs that need a little extra growl and punch. This limited-edition model is cloaked in elegantly noir-ish two-tone black and silver vinyl, with black grille cloth and a top-mount black control panel with front-reading text. Other premium features include warm overdrive, real spring reverb, simple controls and a single 12" Eminence® Wizard™ speaker that delivers gorgeous clean tone and warm, full British overdrive.

Specs Here.

Lone Star Strat sounds "in yer face" with the Mesa on the Vox and Tweed settings, (thats all I had time to try yesterday), hopefully this amph will pair well with her.

Matchmaking is fun.... :happy

 

[Monkus]

Quick shots at the office.

 

[Tig]

Very cool. I like some of the new upgraded Blues Jr's with higher end speakers and other nice stuff.

 

[Robert]

Does it sound different than a regular Blues Jr? As in "better"?

 

[Monkus]

I really have no idea. Supposedly in the Limited Series, the only changes are cosmetics and the speaker. BillM has a page on his site that lists the changes in the Blues Jr III vs the II.

http://billmaudio.com/wp/?page_id=709

He has another page here on the right speaker for your BJ III:

http://billmaudio.com/wp/?page_id=295

If you go to: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008K4W3YO/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Scroll down to the reviews, theres a comprehensive write up on the Blues Jr III and Limited editions.

I really got this to replace a 1972 Silverface Deluxe Reverb that was living in church. Smoke came out, I gotta put the smoke back in. There are two 70 y.o. Fender aficionados that love playing with the church band, this amph is for them. It will live in church.

In playing it for all of 15 minutes yesterday, my first impressions was that its trebly, but what Fender amph isnt? It has an Eminence Wizard. http://www.eminence.com/pdf/wizard.pdf

Its size and weight is perfect for gigging. Its hella loud. I mean, LOUD. I didn't know 15 watts could move so much air. Sounds good so far but I'll let you know when there's about 30-40 hours playing time through it. Speaker should have broken in by then. Reducing the tone on the guitar, 2nd position, lowering the mids and treble to about 3, cranking up the volume and setting the master to taste gives me a smooth creamy od that I like. Claptonesque, but then I haven't spent that much time with it yet. The reverb sounds good and there's a lot, easy to wash out. I barely passed 1.

Being borderline OCD, before receiving the amph I was researching mods. Seems like a change of OT, installing a presence control and Caps are in order. It will void my warranty so I'll keep researching till I decide which ones to do. I want to spend some quality time with the amph first. I don't know yet, if there are any engineering differences between the stock BJ III and the Limited Edition series'.

There's a list of mods on Billm's site: http://billmaudio.com/wp/?page_id=65
Note: he has a 4-6 week lead time, seems he's backed up.

Fromel Electronics also has kits for the BJ III. http://fromelelectronics.com/modifications/Amps-Fender-Blues-Jr

I'm leaning toward Fromel. Hope that helps.

 

[Duffy]

Sounds like a great little amp with a good speaker.

I don't know how much I'd mess with it, personally; I'd probably leave it stock. I definitely wouldn't do the tone cap mod that cuts down on the brightness. I think an amp like that sounds good bright and clean - then you can mellow it out with the controls, but you can never get dull sounding amp brighter, it seems.

That BillM guy knows a lot about those amps.

 

[duhvoodooman]

I'll be interested to hear wht you think of the Eminence Wizard in that amp after you've had some time with it. I have a Wizard that I've used with a couple of different amps, and it's a good, articulate speaker, but it tends to be quite bright sounding, in my experience. I'm wondering if it might be a bit much when combined with the Series III "sparkle" mod that Bill M refers to. I have a "v.2" BJr. with the cream board and I found it to be plenty bright. Ended up installing an Eminence Patriot Series Cannabis Rex specifically to tame some of the harsh highs, and have been very pleased with that speaker.

 

[Monkus]

First impressions are that its Bright, Trebly, and somewhat annoying at some settings. I've had to turn the treble down to around 2 and adjust tone controls on the strat. I haven't heard it in a band setting yet, that will have to wait till Sunday evening service. I can now identify with the term "icepicky". The speaker still has to be broken in.

Disclaimer: I love the Fender strat and tele sounds, just not some of the ones I'm getting so far. John Mayer is badass.

installing an Eminence Patriot Series Cannabis Rex specifically to tame some of the harsh highs

Coincidentally, I've been thinking along the same lines. I'll wait a while before I change the speaker though, let the guys in church break it in. The speaker, that is.

This vid sold me.

I don't know how much I'd mess with it, personally; I'd probably leave it stock. I definitely wouldn't do the tone cap mod that cuts down on the brightness. I think an amp like that sounds good bright and clean - then you can mellow it out with the controls, but you can never get dull sounding amp brighter, it seems.

+1 ...I didn't think of that, thanks Duffy...

I've ordered the Cannabis Rex anyway, I've wanted that speaker for a while, this is as good a reason as any. I've only heard great things about it. All things being equal, if swapping the speaker gets me closer to "the sound" without going into the cream board, I'm in.

 

[duhvoodooman]

This is a good comparison video--a stock Blues Jr. and one with a Cannabis Rex and a couple of tone stack mods. Even with the mods, you can still hear the effect of the Cannabis Rex in the smoother top end:

 

[Monkus]

That is an awesome shootout, thanks Vood!
I need to spend some more time with the amp, this weekend for sure.

 

[mrmudcat]

Personally I like the hemp cone myself and voodoo's opinion is highly valued by me and I would swap it .Maybe you can put the other in a cab and plug it in the ext for different tone options. You really do need to allow some break in time for a better judgement on the overall sound of the original .It might mellow some over time !! Just my opinion!