Gitfiddler Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Over the weekend I did a little Fender amp shoot out, comparing a modded-up, first edition Blues Jr. to an '82 Princeton II. Both amps are similarly powered, with the Princeton having about 5 more watts, and have 12" speakers. The BJ has a Tone Tubby Anico and the Princeton has a Weber Alnico. Granted, the Princeton is hand wired, point to point and is basically a souped up model designed by Paul Rivera's team when he was at Fender. It runs 6L6's while the Junior runs EL84's. Bottom line...The Princeton II has TONs more low end grunt-n-thump, a way over the top Midrange, thanks to its multi-staged mid-boost, and screaming highs if desired. The modded BJ held its own in the tone arena, but got a bit flubby when pushed. Also, it ran out of gas on the Cleans way before the more powerful Princeton II. The P2 had what I'd call a 'faux Boogie' tone when overdriven. Its got basically 3 overdrive stages (Vol/Master Vol/Drive), but like the Junior, has only a single channel. I give the nod to the Princeton II for being more useable at home, studio and gigs, but have to give the Blues Jr. props for giving up its tones at a lower volume. Once modded, the BJ can do small gigs, but the P2 can do much more without much modification. All I added was a more powerful speaker and it rocks hard and does clean extremely well. In my view the Princeton is 'Gitfiddler Approved'!! Here's more info on the Fender Princeton II: http://ampwares.com/amplifiers/fender-princeton-reverb-ii/ http://www.stratopastor.org.uk/strato/amps/prii/PRII_hub.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DetroitBlues Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 There is a mod to give you the same tubes and double the wattage which equals louder clean tones for a Blues Jr. I rather compare my Blues Jr modified to my Marshall 18w.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schundog Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 With all due respect, Tim, they are two completely different beasts, despite the similar wattage, speaker, and maker. I would expect ANY 6L6 amp to stay cleaner louder, with more bottom end than ANY EL84 amp. I COULDN'T get my old Hot Rod Deville to break up on the clean channel, at least not without going deaf. EL84s are made to break up early, again, in my own opinion. I certainly wouldn't pick a Blues Junior to do a Jazz or Funk gig, but it is more suited for, well, Blues, Southern Rock, and Rock. A BillM trick to keep Blues Juniors cleaner longer is to substitute a 12AT7 for the 12AX7 in the first position preamp tube. Rock On! P.S. I'd LOVE to have a Rivera Era Fender! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitfiddler Posted October 23, 2012 Author Share Posted October 23, 2012 It's amazing how amps that are so similar can be so different. I fooled aroung with tube swapping to get more cleans from Blues Jr., but in the end dug the sound of it straining at its break-up point. The best tones ever came when disconnecting the speaker and plugging it into an extension cab loaded with a Celestion V30. Oh man, that's a wonderfully angry sounding BJ!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsp17 Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 good review. thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 P.S. I'd LOVE to have a Rivera Era Fender! Im actually thinking of grabbing another Concert. If I had two that would be twice as good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidsmoke Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 An angry BJ? Dont like the sound of that at ALL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 An angry BJ? Dont like the sound of that at ALL! I paused for thought when I read that sentence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitfiddler Posted October 23, 2012 Author Share Posted October 23, 2012 An angry BJ? Dont like the sound of that at ALL! Hey, this BJ is so pretty, even when angry it sounds great! And the Princeton II is easy on the eyes also! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Im actually thinking of grabbing another Concert. If I had two that would be twice as good. I've got my eyes on a 1983 Concert. I played through it with a PRS Studio a couple of weeks ago and it made all the right noises except for the reverb which sounded rubbish. Do you use the reverb on yours or do you run a reverb pedal through the effects loop or something else entirely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DetroitBlues Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 With all due respect, Tim, they are two completely different beasts, despite the similar wattage, speaker, and maker. I would expect ANY 6L6 amp to stay cleaner louder, with more bottom end than ANY EL84 amp. I COULDN'T get my old Hot Rod Deville to break up on the clean channel, at least not without going deaf. EL84s are made to break up early, again, in my own opinion. I certainly wouldn't pick a Blues Junior to do a Jazz or Funk gig, but it is more suited for, well, Blues, Southern Rock, and Rock. A BillM trick to keep Blues Juniors cleaner longer is to substitute a 12AT7 for the 12AX7 in the first position preamp tube. Rock On! P.S. I'd LOVE to have a Rivera Era Fender! Look for the original Fender Superchamp from the 80's... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitfiddler Posted October 23, 2012 Author Share Posted October 23, 2012 Look for the original Fender Superchamp from the 80's... SuperChamps are cool but way overpriced in my opinion. They're getting upwards of $800+ on flea bay. If you want a quality Fender point-to-point Champ, check out Rivera-era Champ II's. Put a reverb pedal in front of them and you'd swear it's a SuperChamp!! They go for about $300-$400 tops and sound killer. Can you tell I'm a big fan of these Fender-Rivera amps?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DetroitBlues Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Isn't the Superchamp from the same era? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Champ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitfiddler Posted October 24, 2012 Author Share Posted October 24, 2012 Isn't the Superchamp from the same era? http://en.wikipedia....ki/Fender_Champ Yep. I wasn't disagreeing with you...just offering a less expensive Rivera-era Champ alternative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DetroitBlues Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Ah, ok.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitfiddler Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 Oops! I just noticed that my original post stated that the Princeton II ran dual 6L6's. That is a typo. They run dual 6V6's!! If you can find one of these at a decent price, check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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