Witch is the better amp? The pro junior juste have 2 buttons controls...:/ The Blues junior is a feedback monster... :/ What is your opinoin on those amps ?
I've never used a pro jr. heard some good things about them however. I do use a Blues Jr regularly. With a good mick I have no feedback issues, but I mick it into the p.a. ( so it does not really need to be cranked to a "too high" level.) ---------- Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. - Charlie Parker
Hi Bro i have a Blues Junior because i got it cheap Australian $500 & it has reverb no need to buy a Pedal,,My other reason was i knew it wasn't a Harp amp and was going to do mods to it anyway i found it to be good Harp as a Standard amp,,from looking @ Ricks page and Others i found the right setting to use the biggest simplest Mod was to Build a 6 inch stand to get the amp of the ground or carpeted floor,,But Bro if you Haven't bought an Amp yet seriousely Check out www.harpgear.com if Price is an issue check out there Rock Bottom series amp..I bought there Harp Gear-2 amp on the Advise of Rick Davis Thanks Rick,,and Im More than Pleased with this Little amp MBH member ZHIN has got the Rock Bottom amp Youtube any of Harp Gears Amp models to see there models in action Played by Joe Blows and Pro's..
Last Edited by on Feb 23, 2010 1:58 AM
The Pro Jr is a far better amp than the Blues Jr in my opinion. I have played through both, but I bought the Pro Jr as it was better by miles. It was my main gigging amp for quite a few years.
I also used to have a Laney LC15 which was a pretty good little amp, but not in the same league as the Pro Jr. On HarmonicaSpace I have a number of tracks on my profile and all the amped ones were played through a Laney LC15 using a stock JT30 with MC151 crystal element. Here's a link to it: Kingley Profile on HarmonicaSpace
Last Edited by on Feb 23, 2010 2:48 AM
I prefer a Pro Junior as well. It's got that dirty Chicago tone. I have a 12AU7 in the first stage and a 12AT7 for the PI as well as a bigger cab with a Weber 12F150 Speaker and it's really nice. The stock Blue Alnico speaker isn't that bad as well. The Blues Juniors I have tried so far were a bit boring ... not bad but nothing special either.
---------- If it ain't broke you just haven't fixed it enough ...
.....................................Hi Bro Yo Kingo you preffer the Pro Junior so i guess you are recomending it to our Bro to buy as a First amp i and many others will urge you to buy the amps above it's a sound investment and an investment in Tone,,iv'e done many mods to my amp unless you can do mods to your Fenders it becomes very costly and to buy and effects pedal adds a few more bucks to the deal,,Bazzzzou you will want to start swaping tubes to get some tone thats more money a $700 amp may end up costing you 900 to 1000 bucks maybe more depending on who does the work for you,,so i would suggest if you can't do your own mods Don't get a guitar amp Get a Harp Gear,,apart from the rock bottom model all the amp cabs are made from solid pine wood there fitted with Mecury Transformers and sprauge components all top qulity Parts..Kingo what do you Preffer other than a Fender Guitar amp what other amps would you recomend,,Ps Kingo ive never seen you in Person Befor so i guess this isn't you Promoting the Harp Gear amps on there Home Page..
Last Edited by on Feb 23, 2010 2:42 AM
Nastyolddog - Yes that is me on HarpGears website and I wholeheartedly endorse HarpGear amps. They are simply fantastic and Brain Purdy is such a great person to deal with! If anyone was looking for a custom amp then HarpGear is where I would send them.
The question that was asked though was about the differences between the Pro Jr and the Blues Jr. If the question had been "what amp should I get for a first amp?" then my answer would have been a HarpGear amp.
As to other amps I would recommend, well there are many great amps out there, from vintage to new.
My personal favourites are Fenders.
Old Gibsons, Kalamazoo, Harmony and Kay are also great. Newer amps like the Epiphone Valve Jr are good too. In general I would avoid any amp that has a master and gain volume (there are some exceptions but not many). I would always go for tube/valve over Solid State as I find the tone much warmer. Although having said that the Pignose 7-100 is Solid State and is a killer little practice amp.
PS: That amp in that picture is the HarpGear 5F1 (sadly they no longer make that model). It's a really an amazing little amp!
Hi Bro yes that was his first question he then explains under my first post that he is looking for the best amp for him to buy,,Kingo Bro i just want our Bro to make the right decision on his first Harp amp no need to spend big bucks..I was heavly infuenced By Many MBH members to buy a Harp gear-2 in fact a member put me onto my amp via his friend Down under,,it's Fantastic as soon as i Blew the first note through that amp i knew this is the amp for me,,my next amp will be a Harp Gear Double trouble im that impressed..
I personally like the Pro Junior more than the Blues Junior, if you get the Blues Junior, the first things to remember is to turn the master volume all the way up so that it completely negates the circuit, turn the treble way down, never letting it any higher than 3, max (I usually would turn it off completely), be careful where the mid and bass settings are, and most of all, turn the FAT switch OFF because that's designed for a guitar to boost the signal to make it distort faster, but you need to remember that a signal from any harp mic is 2-5 times more powerful than a guitar signal is, and a harp mic signal on 3 is more like a guitar signal on 7 or 8, and if you leave the FAT switch on, you're immediately asking for the feedback nightmare from hell.
The Pro Junior, which has just a single tone control, I turn it all the way down as low as it can go.
The circuitry of the Pro Junior is somewhat closer to a Bassman in some ways, but the Blues Junior is more like a black faced Fender amp circuitry.
The reverb in the Blues Junior is pretty cheesy sounding to my ears. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
I have both. I prefer the Pro jr. by far for harp. I have a 12AU7 in the first stage and a 12AT7 in the second stage. It sounds great! I have been trying different 10" speakers, and it has a celestion in it now, but i do plan to swap it out with a weber soon. The Blues Junior has been donated to my daughter and sounds great with her strat through it, but I just couldnt get good harp tone out of it.
The one I have has the same Eminence Legend speakers that were used in the original Bassman RI's and early Blues DeVilles, and I bought in new in 1995 for $180, and it was one of the last ones to have those in them.
I replaced the tubes with NOS versions of the exact same numbers that were specified in the amp rather than the "harp mod" swap, whioh I found detracted from it more than anything else. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
If you're going new, than get a HarpGear Rock Bottom. If you are getting one used, the PJ is still a sweet amp. However, I'd have to buy new tubes and a new speaker, so in the long run, the HG might have the same cost. ---------- Mike Fugazzi http://www.myspace.com/niterailband http://www.youtube.com/user/NiteRail http://www.twitter.com/NiteRail http://www.facebook.com/mike.fugazzi
I agree that the Pro Jr. works much better for harp.
Try this tube complement and see what you think: V1 = 12DW7 , V2 = 12AY7 ( or 5814A --- a 12AU7 milspec, or 6829 --- a 12AT7 milspec variant but with 47 mu vs. 60 mu for a regular AT ).
LittleJoe, I did a similar mod to a Pro Jr, but the 12DW7 tube went into the Phase Inverter (V2) and a 5751 tube into the preamp socket (V1). I also disconnected the negative feedback circuit and installed a Weber Sig ceramic speaker. The amps tone for harp was much improved, but still inferior to the Harpgear amp.
Why would you put an unbalanced 12DW7 in the preamp socket? How did that sound?
"Why would you put an unbalanced 12DW7 in the preamp socket? How did that sound? "
Yeah, Rick... I first tried the 12DW7 ( actually a Mullard 7247 ) in V2 & an AY in V1 , and I could not tell much difference with using an AY or AT as PI ( AU too quiet ). I can't recall where I read about this peculiar set-up, but I ran it by several techs first. Opinion was that it would be OK, but most were skeptical as to the sound produced. To my surprise, it produced a closer, warm, American distortion. At least to my ears.
I tried a 12DW7 in V2. It didn't sound much different to me. I eventually pulled it out and put a 12AX7 in V2. I settled on an Electro Harmonix 12AY7 in V1 and a 12AX7 in V2. The change to the 12AY7 cleaned things up a little and smoothed out the distortion.
However, I could have run that amp with the 12AX7 in V1 and have been happy to.
