Grateful Dead Music Forum

Pete B. wrote:My experience with stock Blues jr amps is that the tone knobs don't do much when you turn them

I have to respectively disagree, I've had a Blues Jr for about 8 years now and while I've had fantastic results with the tone controls. I'm a big fan of Trey and I've used my Blues Jr as a stand in Trey rig with 2 TS-9's and an Ibanez Es335. Dime the mid cut the bass and about a 6 on the treble and your there. Actually I dialed in the EQ after reading the posts about Jerry, Kimock and the Mid being the Bass (cant't remember at the moment which thread that's in). Of topic I know but I just wanted to speak to the eq depth that this little amp has.

As far as doing Jerry with it, I'd have to deffer to Brad's opinion if he says it will work, it WILL work. These days I use mine with a hollow body Gretsch for blues/slide stuff and it still kicks it.

Given the discussion of the extent to which the knobs affect the sound on a Blues Junior, would the "Bill M" mods be advised? See one person's review of the mods here:

http://www.oldtonezone.com/2010/03/bill ... ds-review/

Granted, he's looking for a blues tone, and likes the fact that there's more bass to it as a result of the mods. With Jerry's "there is no bass, the mid is the bass" comment, would these mods make it easier or more difficult to cop a Jerry tone?

It sounds as if they open up the tonal possibilities of the amp, and would be an overall improvement. I'm curious because I, too, own a Blues Junior and wouldn't mind expanding its sonic capabilities.

Jim

Absolutely do the "standard" BillM mods and get one of the better output transformers if you've got the bucks (especially if you plan to put a JBL in it). As everyone says, it makes a world of difference. I couldn't be more happy with mine.

The BillM mods are interesting, but they will make the Blues Jr. TOO bassy for a good Jerry tone.


Brad

Thank you WilliamC and Brad. That is pretty much what I had expected, that the mods may open up the tonal possibilities, but they also introduce too much bass to cop a good Jerry tone. I can't say that I'm necessarily shooting for the Jerry tone right now, but just wanted to be aware of how the mods would affect my ability to achieve that tone down the line.

Thanks guys!

Jim

jlg327 wrote:Thank you WilliamC and Brad. That is pretty much what I had expected, that the mods may open up the tonal possibilities, but they also introduce too much bass to cop a good Jerry tone. I can't say that I'm necessarily shooting for the Jerry tone right now, but just wanted to be aware of how the mods would affect my ability to achieve that tone down the line.

Thanks guys!

Jim

You don't have to crank the bass, it just gets better, less muddy and fuller then what is there now. Is like having a better bass tone in the box rather than the stock version. I will use bass under certain circumstances, not very high, but its in the mix. a better less muddy tone makes a huge difference if you mod out the tone stack with good components. B4 the mods The stock Twin bass I would turn to zero, after the mods I like it, and it was usable for me. The knobs determine how much of what you want in the signal, unless the mod changes the tone post preamp section and you can't control it with a knob, that may be something I wouldn't like.

Definitely get the Super Champ XD over the Blues Jr if you're going for Jerry tones. I own both and the smooth, fat, warm clean sound of the Super Champ and it's softer clipping matches Jerry's sound a lot closer imo. The Blues Jr sounds great too but it is much louder and a bit more dirty in a vintagey way. you'll have to change out the stock speaker in the Super Champ though. It's not too bad but it does lack bass and farts out on the low notes. You can crank the SC right to the point of breakup and it'll still be tolerable indoors. One thing I've always really loved about the super champ is it seems to always have a really balanced sound. I've never once thought i needed to change the eq knobs and pretty much any eq setting sounds good.

"With Jerry's "there is no bass, the mid is the bass" comment, would these mods make it easier or more difficult to cop a Jerry tone?"

Where's that quote from? Can't find it.

When you are using the tone stack of a Fender twin, the treble, mids and Bass all effect one another depending on how you use them. Jerry would prefer to use almost ZERO bass, mids 5-7 treble 9-10 on his twin reverb. I think the idea you don't need bass is what they were talking about while trying to get a Jerry tone, since he kept his on zero. I am sure though, even with the bass on 0 and the way the stack is wired it has some effect on tone just being on zero since it is all wired together, as small as it may be. In that same respect, I have see others do things to their rigs or guitars to get smaller changes in tone towards the Jerry thing.

original poster should change subject to say Super Champ "XD", which is completely different from a real Super Champ

TI4-1009 wrote:"With Jerry's "there is no bass, the mid is the bass" comment, would these mods make it easier or more difficult to cop a Jerry tone?"

Where's that quote from? Can't find it.

Not much help, but I recall reading that in a Steve Kimock interview. You could email Steve K.

On Fenders there is no zero, unless it's the Nigel Tufnel model.

TI4-1009 wrote:"With Jerry's "there is no bass, the mid is the bass" comment, would these mods make it easier or more difficult to cop a Jerry tone?"

Where's that quote from? Can't find it.

I found it, Bud!
Read the whole post (2nd post in the thread) from Steve, but the last paragraph is where the quote is likely from.
http://www.online-discussion.com/SteveK ... =2702#2702

"kimock" wrote:
" ...For what it's worth, Garcia used NO bass, bass zero on his Fender amps. Pointing to the mid-range control, he told me "That's your bass control". He was right... "