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Guitar Amp Review: Fender Pro Jr.

By  Bob Glastetter | Published  07/18/2006 | Guitar Amps
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Fender Guitar Amp Review: Fender Pro jr. review

? Let's review this popular little amp. Fender introduced this amp?as a throwback to the old "Tweed" style amps that made Fender a legend. Specs: 15 watts -10 inch speaker and only two control knobs- Volume and Tone. To all?the purists out?there this is great news. These are small amps about the size of the tweed champ amps so they are very light and portable. Well the amp sports two EL 84 output tubes which is a new tube type for Fender and two 12AX7a's for the pre amp tubes. Groove tubes equipped right out the box.?

? How's she sound? Immediately I was taken by surprise that the Pro Jr. really does have the "Tweed" tone. Crunchier, rawer, smoother?with?more mid range thickness than the "Blackface" sounding? Fender's of the past. Crunch is achieved by simply turning the amp up. The clean is very good, just thicker than the traditional Fender clean tone which is kind of a?mid scooped clean tone that many players prefer. The crunch at high volume settings is fantastic for classic rock tones and blues tones with gain being affected by the kind of pickups your are using. Both Single coils and Humbuckers sound at home thru this amp

?I was surprised by the volume as these 15 watts are loud. Plenty of volume for a gigging amp or practice amp. Just mike it up through the P.A. for live stuff and it sounds really fat. Probally not the best "bedroom" amp for low volume levels if you like that turned up crunch sound. Add a overdrive pedal to it for the bedroom tones, ?turn it down a bit and play all night long.

?Overall I was impressed with the quality of the tone. Very "pure" and "sparkly" with that great warm tube sound. Plenty of power, I like to run the amp clean and overdrive it with a good overdrive for great tones and flexibility.? The amp was quiet with no issues at all. The tone control had a lot of flexibility so that was no problem.? These amps can be picked up for around $250- $300 and that's a steal compared to the old tweeds.

? This is a amp all serious players should pick up for recording or performing.... I believe they are that good. Not for the death rockers but perfect for the Blues or Classic rock guys.

? Mod tips: Change out the Groove tubes El84's for JJ brand El84's they are much better sounding, and for the true "Tweed" tone change out the speaker to a re-issue Jensen alnico for a sweeter tone with a smoother thicker low end.

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Comments
  • Comment #1 (Posted by Brandon Drury)
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    Agreed. I've heard this thing and was very impressed. I WANT ONE! As Bob (Guitar Guru) pointed out this thing has a thickness to it....not so much in the bass, but in the mids. It has what I would call a little of "harmonic content". When you hit a chord, you can hear "stuff" happening within the overdrive sound. Very cool!

    Brandon
     
  • Comment #2 (Posted by david)
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    Not a bad review. Have you ever heard of proof reading? I felt like I was taking crazy pills trying to make it through all the question marks. Pretty lazy.
     
  • Comment #3 (Posted by awol)
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    Guru? You must work for fender. I love fender amps but you said this one was quiet. Well it's not quiet it hums like crazy and the louder you turn it the noisier it gets. I guess that's why all the question marks. An epiphone valve jr. head for 129.00 now that's an amp....
     
  • Comment #4 (Posted by Phil)
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    I agree, I own a tweed one and it is a great sounding amp, plenty of power. I use it turned up all the way then for clean sound just back off the guitar volume. You can do this with loosing much volume but it cleans up the sound. Then for overdrive just crank up the guitar volume and you are there. Great blues sustain with no overdrive unit, just a guitar and the amp, pure vintage sound!
     
  • Comment #5 (Posted by JETIII)
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    I purchased one of these small Fenders used for around $250. I took it home and studied the available upgrade options on the Internet, which included a complete cabinet change, a hand wired circuit board, or changing certain caps and resistors, etc. then I took it straight to my Authorized Fender tech, who put in a Celestion Heritage G10 Greenback and one Mullard 12AX7 in #2 the other 12AX7 is a JJ and the Power tubes are now JJ's as well. He added several slight modifications all under warranty to get rid of any extra noise. This is now a little dream amp! It is light, portable and cranks for a little package. Many might say that I could have bought something better for all that money and upgrades, but I did not want something any larger or heavier and this really does sound great, only two knobs and it fits the bill nicely.
     
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