gmacleod15
47 posts
Feb 22, 2010
7:24 AM
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I was thinking about doing some of the Billm Mods but they are mostly for guitar users I think.
Have you tried any of the mods that you would recommend for harp.
I know there are some who will say "sell it and buy a differnt amp" but I got the Blues Jr at a good price so a few mods wouldn't break the bank.
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MBH member since 2009-03-24
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Bluzdude46
500 posts
Feb 22, 2010
11:22 AM
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Actually I know a few people that get real nice sound from a Blues Jr. Don't do guitar mods if you want to use it for harp. Change out preamp tubes for less gain. You loose a little but it's the only way that built for guitar amp will work well with a mic.
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The Original Downtown Philadelphia Fatman... Accept No substitutes!
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gmacleod15
48 posts
Feb 22, 2010
11:37 AM
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Bluzdude
I have a 12AY7 tube on order and will try that. Do you know if your friends did anything else.
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MBH member since 2009-03-24
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Rick Davis
229 posts
Feb 22, 2010
12:11 PM
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EL84 Harp Amps
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-Rick Davis
Blues Harp Amps Blog
Roadhouse Joe Blues Band
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HarpNinja
210 posts
Feb 22, 2010
12:20 PM
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Rick don't you have a blog on a friend of yours using a BJ? Regardless of your preference I don't think that post above does much to help the OP out.
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Mike Fugazzi
http://www.myspace.com/niterailband
http://www.youtube.com/user/NiteRail
http://www.twitter.com/NiteRail
http://www.facebook.com/mike.fugazzi
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Rick Davis
230 posts
Feb 22, 2010
12:39 PM
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Mike, I don't know what you mean by "help the OP out."
Yep, I have friends who play highly modified Blues Jrs that sound good, and I've written about that on my blog. I just prefer the tone of amps with other power tubes. The 6V6 is the obvious comparison because it is close to the EL84 in power. I also like the 6L6 tube.
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-Rick Davis
Blues Harp Amps Blog
Roadhouse Joe Blues Band
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Luke Juke
147 posts
Feb 22, 2010
12:39 PM
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I googled 'fender blues jr mods for harp' and the music electronics forum had abit of info you might wanna check out. There's a bloke called arnemyn who posts on that forum and on the lonewolf blues forum and he is very knowledgable.
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toddlgreene
854 posts
Feb 22, 2010
12:42 PM
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OP=Original Post
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Todd L Greene. V.P.
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HarpNinja
212 posts
Feb 22, 2010
12:54 PM
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Yeah, original post.
If Fender had a PJ or BJ with 6v6 tubes in the same price range, I'd so want one!!!
However, there are some decent tones to be had. I've been considering a PJ for a back up amp and once I get the money will see what the total cost would be vs and Princeton Reverb RI.
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Mike Fugazzi
http://www.myspace.com/niterailband
http://www.youtube.com/user/NiteRail
http://www.twitter.com/NiteRail
http://www.facebook.com/mike.fugazzi
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Rick Davis
231 posts
Feb 22, 2010
1:02 PM
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PJ is an good backup amp. There is an article on my blog about a project PJ that turned out pretty good. New speaker and tubes, and disconnectd the negative feedback circuit.
Mike, you might consider the Fender Super Champ XD. It has two 6V6 tubes for 15 watts, and amp modelling. Sure, it is made in China but it actually sound pretty dang good, especially at its price point of $299.
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-Rick Davis
Blues Harp Amps Blog
Roadhouse Joe Blues Band
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Bluzdude46
503 posts
Feb 22, 2010
3:12 PM
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I'm not as familiar with the Fender Jr's, is it multiple EL84's? I actually like the EL84 in single 5w but yea 6v6 or 6L6 are better with 2 power tubes a
I've traded posts with arnemyn He has a lot of hands on info and Lone Wolf knows his stuff
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The Original Downtown Philadelphia Fatman... Accept No substitutes!
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Nastyolddog
254 posts
Feb 22, 2010
4:33 PM
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Brother G-mac i bought a fender Blues Junior of my Bro $500 intending to do mods after tormenting myself after Googleing every thing FB i got real deterd,,i checked out the Billms mod page read every thing not once Bro 5 6 maybe more times just to get it all clear i decided these mods would not be good for me,,So the Mods I have done are swaped out Both Transformers for Mercury Transformers 1x-Multi tap 4.8.16.Ohms fitted a Celestion Green Bask 10"x 35 watt,,Ruby tube reverb tank,,twisted the transormer wires together with a 90"overlay this reduces Hum,,then removerd all the wire male Spade fittings and solderd the wires directly to the cercuit board Female spade fittings,,my next mods will be swapping the EL84 sockets to wire in 6V6 and while it's in Peices i will build a custom solid wood cab,,How Does it sound now Fantastic that good infact My Harpin Bro is Gigging with it while i play with my New Harp Gear-2..
Last Edited by on Feb 23, 2010 12:16 AM
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gmacleod15
49 posts
Feb 22, 2010
6:28 PM
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Nasty O D
What mod made the biggest difference, the speaker or the transformer change? For speaker mounting did you just drill new holes or did you make an adapter plate?
Thanks all for the comments..it seems like the more I search for answers the more different opinions there are.
GM
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MBH member since 2009-03-24
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Nastyolddog
258 posts
Feb 22, 2010
7:07 PM
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Hi G-mac i did all the mods together it made a vast improvement in tone..i removed the speaker Board and made a new one from marine ply to fit the 10"speaker Back in place..I show cased this amp to my Harp club Buddys they just couldn't belive its tone saying all kind of swear words with Awesome at the end,,even though i have a new toy HPG-2 amp i won't be selling my Hot Rod fender it just on another levale from stock FBJ's..
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Scrapboss
58 posts
Feb 22, 2010
7:26 PM
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Cream board mods( bias mod inc )
Presence control
Switchcraft input jack
Aux speaker jack
Trace Elliot output transformer
Clean boost mod
Added filter capacitor
Twin stack mod
Phase inverter occillation fix
12ay7 in v1
12ax7 in v2
ecc832 in v3
matched biased jj el84's
celestion greenback speaker
Mic it to the pa with a shure 545 and let it rip.
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"I have a high tolerance for boredom as long as it has a groove" - Scrapboss
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Scrapboss
59 posts
Feb 22, 2010
7:41 PM
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Two Tone Brown/Tan, Oahu National Style, 12 Watt Gretsch/Supreme circuit, 10" Smooth Cone Vintage Weber Alnico Speaker, Partial Open Back Panel, 5Y3GT Rectifier, 6SQ7 preamp, 6SC7 Paraphase Inverter, 2x6V6GT-S JJ, Tone/Volume, Class A/B Push Pull, 3 input jacks. (For harp tone Bass control at full bass setting
My Blues Jr. will have to do untill David Barnes get done building this amp for me.
Check him out www.vintage47.com
I was keeping this under my hat untill I actually received the amp. pics will follow in a few weeks.
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"I have a high tolerance for boredom as long as it has a groove" - Scrapboss
Last Edited by on Feb 22, 2010 7:44 PM
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hvyj
154 posts
Feb 22, 2010
11:58 PM
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Check out the Eurotubes site which has an entry that disagrees w/ the desirability of the Billm mods. They also sell a set of preamp tubes to re-tube the BJ for harp (European equivilants of At7 Ax7 and Ad/w7, I think).
Ruby tubes reverb tank is a big improvement over the stock reverb.
I sold my BJ to get a Princeton Reverb Reissue when they came out. No regrets.
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Cisco
77 posts
Feb 23, 2010
7:55 PM
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Done all the Billm mods and even had Billm do some more custom mods. It's a great "guitar" amp. I prefer my HarpGear HP50 1210 and Super Sonny.
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