Pulled the trigger on a Pro Jr

[birv2]

After a lot of asking questions and thinking, I pulled the trigger on a Fender Pro Jr on ebay. Got it for $200 plus shipping. And really looking forward to getting it. I guess that means I've got a Vampire for sale...

Thanks to all who gave their input.

Bob

 

[pes_laul]

Congrats Birv we gotta get some clips manoke:

 

[Robert]

Congrats! That is a great sounding amp. I personally dig it more than the Blues JR (sorry all you Blues JR owners...).

 

[oldguy]

Congrats on that amp, birv2!:beer:
Sounds like you got a good buy on it. I'll bet it'll sound good cranked up and wailin' the blues.

 

[Tone2TheBone]

Rock that baby loud is my suggestion to you. Congrats!

 

[Adrian30]

Congrats Birv. I'm sure you'll love it!

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Congrats Birv2! Beat the Blues junior guys with the clips too! ;-)

 

[M29]

That sounds like a sweet deal on a sweet amp:AOK:

M29

 

[F_BSurfer]

congrats man,good deal too!! you will love it Mine is my most played amp

 

[warren0728]

welcome to tube land....you're gonna love it!! :greenguitar:

ww

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Congrats, enjoy!

Remember, tube amps sound best cranked.

 

[duhvoodooman]

These little Fender tube amps are great! I'm sure you're going to love your little tone machine! :AOK:

 

[birv2]

Thanks to all for the good wishes. I can't wait to plug it in and let it rip.

From all I've read, it sounds like it's got what I'm looking for: simplicity (too many knobs confuses me), clean fender sound at lower volumes, bluesy overdrive at higher volumes, enough punch to work in small jams, and portability. A lot of the people at HC say that you have to replace the stock speaker and tubes, but we'll see.

We're going away for the holidays so I won't get to play with it till after Christmas.

Best of the season to all the fretters. Hope you're all on Santa's "nice" list!
:AOK:

Bob

 

[Guitar Gal]

Congrats on the new amp birv2 :AOK: I'm sure you will enjoy it!

GG

 

[birv2]

It came today!

I don't start work again till tomorrow. I knew it was coming by UPS today so I waited (im)patiently for Brown.

Finally came this afternoon and I just spent a blissful couple of hours in the basement playing away. Messed with all the settings (both knobs), turned it all the way up (almost broke the basement windows), then played with various OD pedals to see what sounded good.

First impressions:

1. It's loud for a little sucker.
2. Good chimey clean Fender tone.
3. Good natural overdrive.
4. Hums a lot. Read about this on several forums. There are some fixes that can be done. We'll wait on that for a bit.
5. Sounded better and better as the tubes warmed up.
6. It's light (29 pounds). Definitely good for taking to jams.
7. Sounded great with my Danelectro OD2 pedal and my Behringer OD100. Not so great with the Arion Tubulator (a TS clone).

Thanks for all the good wishes. Just wanted to report in. I've never made a sound clip, so we'll have to wait on that.

:rockon:

Bob

 

[birv2]

After the jam

My Pro Jr came yesterday, and I took the little guy to the jam tonight. I am totally happy with it. First, I had the master volume at about 2:00 and my strat volume around 3 or 4. For solos I went to 6 or 7. No pedals. Everybody said I was cutting through great, and the tone was awesome. This is a smallish room with another guitarist, bass and drums.

And after reading up on fixing the hum, I removed one of the screws on the back and voila, no more hum. Seems it hits some metal on the inside on the newer Pro Jr's.

Just wanted to report back, since I got a lot of encouragement here to take the plunge. For $200, I've got a mean little blues machine. Alright!

Bob
:dude:

 

[Robert]

I know that amp. Killer tone awright! I want one too. Dang, how can I fool the wife this time?

 

[birv2]

Jam #2 report --

Took the little guy out again last night to the blues jam. Got good comments all around on the tone (a couple of "awesome"s). Again, no probs cutting through the mix. It's great to have the confidence that you'll be heard and that you'll sound good. :bravo:

Another note -- I put it on a chair after reading someone somewhere who said, "You don't have ears in your ankles". Seems like good advice. I think the sound is better and it's definitely easier to tweak those two knobs at that height. Not that I needed to -- I kept the volume around 9 and the tone on 5, and changed my sound with different pickup choices on my strat. I'm becoming a big believer in "simpler is better". I find even the blues jr has too many options for me!

Bob

 

[Tone2TheBone]

That's awesome Birv. I love the little Fender amps and that 15 watts kills. Congrats again...it sounds like you're having a blast with that baby.