FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Fender Tweed Amp

Question:
I read somewhere on the net that someone tried out the Fender Jr pro new tweed amp. does anyone have specs on this amp ( wattage etc.) I saw one at Matt Umanov Guitars but didn't get a chance to really play it long. They were selling it for $236.00. Is this a good price? Its a really simple setup, one tone and one volume knob thats it! I must admit, I wasn't knocked out by the tone initially, but like I said, I didn't get to really play it that long or loud. I read somewhere on the net that someone tried out the Fender Jr pro new tweed amp. does anyone have specs on this amp ( wattage etc.) I saw one at Matt Umanov Guitars but didn't get a chance to really play it long. They were selling it for $236.00. Is this a good price? Its a really simple setup, one tone and one volume knob thats it! I must admit, I wasn't knocked out by the tone initially, but like I said, I didn't get to really play it that long or loud.

Answer:
I have the Fender catalog here at work; the Pro Junior is all-tube, 15 watts->8 ohms, has 1 10 that looked like an alnico to me (though the brochure doesn't say so) and no channel switching or reverb. The price you mentioned is considerably less than I've seen anywhere else. Are you sure they weren't quoting the price of the cheaper solid-state Bronco? I haven't seen the Pro Junior for less than $295 so far. I was very disappointed in this amp; I tried it with my strat, which has low-average output levels. The Pro was getting pretty dirty anywhere above 3 (volume goes to 12) and would be pretty useless for clean playing unless you mike it. The overdrive tone was gritty rather than smooth; preamp clip long before the power amp began to warm up. All in all it reminded me of my old tweed Champ, but the Champ overdrives better. I'm really surprised they didn't get more clean power out of a pair of EL84's; they seem to have targeted what they call a bluesy tone. As I ranted in my last post, it's unfortunate that so many people equate bluesy with dirty. I call it the Gary Moore school of blues. A pity. Anyway, you might want to consider the Pro's bigger brother, the Blues Deluxe. I played one last week, and while I didn't think much of the overdrive channel's tone (typical 12AX7 saturation) at least the clean channel was loud enough to gig with and overdrives somewhat like a vintage Fender. Unless you absolutely have to have footswitchable overdrive I'd spend the extra money and get a Deluxe Reverb reissue. I've had mine for a month now and it's definitely the best amp I've yet owned, at least with a strat.