Fender Blues Jr IV | Fender Music Australia | RRP $1649
A lot has changed in the last thirty years of amplification. Boutique circuits have become increasingly prevalent, digital alternatives have grown ever more advanced and our options have become virtually endless. Some things, however, never change. For as long as there are guitarists, there will still be demand for a simple, no frills tube amp that sounds great and is reliable above all else. For thirty years, the Blues Junior has been just that, and now Fender is honouring its legacy with a special 30th Anniversary Edition.
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Since its introduction thirty years ago, the Blues Jr has confidently held its ground as the go-to workhorse for players looking for simple, honest tone in a compact 15w package. Familiar, reliable and versatile, it’s always a relief to find a Blues Jr waiting for you on stage or in the studio. Set clean, it’s the perfect Fender ‘blank canvas’ pedal platform and cranked, it’s a creamy blues machine with plenty of bite.
Blues Jr IV
Familiar though it may be, with this special edition, the Jr has never looked so good. Covered in a striking black western textured vinyl with a brown Bassman style grille, this edition looks really special. Complete with a vintage leather handle and black chicken-head style controls, it’s definitely an elevated aesthetic for the beloved workhorse. The Western pattern on the vinyl covering is extremely detailed and very beautiful, perfectly playing into Fender’s involvement in the rich history of American music.
Under the hood, the Jr remains much the same with a few key improvements. As one would expect, this limited edition amp is loaded with two El84 power tubes and three 12AX7 preamp tubes for that classic Fender tone. The solitary speaker, however, has been upgraded to a 12” Celestion Creamback, a speaker beloved for its low end grunt, vocal mid range, crunchy upper-mids and sweet refined highs. Additionally, the preamp circuit in this amp has been modified for increased fullness, giving it a more solid bottom end as compared to the base model.
The Control panel remains standard; classic, simple and effective. A single channel amp, the Blues Jr’s controls are as follows: Reverb, Master, Middle, Bass, Treble, Fat Switch and Volume. The presence of a master volume ensures that you can get some seriously dirty sounds out of this amp but it still has a healthy amount of headroom for 15 watts. The three frequency dials all have a smooth, linear sweep that covers a lot of ground, ensuring you can fine tune the Jr to find your own unique sound.
The Fat switch bumps up the gain a little as well as boosting the midrange, designed to pump a single coil up to a beefier, more humbucker-like tone. It also works great as a boost for solos or for when you need a bit of extra edge. For this limited edition model, Fender has given the Jr’s spring reverb tank a bit of extra love, tweaking it for an extra smooth response.
When set clean and with the fat switch disengaged, the Jr sounds bright and sparkly, with a shimmering, glassy top end, warm mids and rock solid lows. As you crank the preamp volume, that beautiful tube breakup kicks in, taking you into the smoky blues tones that earned this amp its name. With the preamp fully cranked, the Jr can get really filthy, with this edition in particular having a powerful growl in the bottom end. The Creamback really does its work with this amp, bringing a British flavour to the party with its incredibly rich midrange character. With the preamp cranked and the fat switch engaged, this amp is a weapon, with plenty of saturation on tap for all your rock and roll requirements.
The Jr has a very organic sounding response, responding very sensitively to playing dynamics. Reacting beautifully to subtle shifts in pick attack, the Jr is a very rewarding companion to a dynamic player. A classic move for a tube amp like this is setting it fairly dirty and then rolling back the volume on your guitar a bit to clean it up and the Jr nails that trick. You can roll back your volume, enjoy the glassy edge-of-breakup tones for rhythm duties and then roll up your volume again for a big overdriven solo. Who needs a boost pedal?!
While at 15w it wont shatter eardrums, the Jr gets surprisingly loud, certainly loud enough for a rehearsal and for a small show, especially if it’s mic’d. Clean headroom starts topping out at around 5 on the volume knob but there’s plenty of overdriven goodness to be found after that. The updated reverb definitely has a top notch, silky smooth response that rings out just the way you want it to. From a subtle bit of ambience to full blown spaghetti western surf tones, nobody does a spring reverb better than Fender.
As for convenience, the Jr is light enough to carry with one hand which is ideal for busy working players on the move. A compact, lightweight tube amp that is loud enough for use beyond the practice room is a wonderful thing, and the Blues Jr rules that kingdom. Now, with these additional improvements to sound, it’s undefeatable. Between the additional bottom end provided by the new preamp design, the rich, harmonic midrange provided by the Creamback speaker and the new and improved reverb tank, Fender have done a great job at making this edition well worth having.
Aside from the sound, the intricate western design on this amp as well as the premium retro grille really give it a special feel. There’s a reason the Blues Jr has been in production for thirty years and it has well and truly earned its makeover.
So if you’re a Fender fan looking to upgrade your current Blues Jr or to downsize from a larger amp, this one is a no brainer. Additionally, it would make an excellent amp for an intermediate player who is looking to start gigging and has outgrown their practice amp. At any rate, thirty years of this excellent piece of gear is well worth celebrating.
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