Anthony, thanks for making this video - and making it so you can really hear the amp tone. I just had my Blues Jr. Modded by a local tech, and I did it in large part because of this video. WOW! My amp is fantastic now! Its like a totally new animal. The variety of tones and sound is great. Thanks again, and thanks to guys like BillM who share their knowledge and research to make it all happen.

Good timing for this video.. just bought a blues junior a week ago after watching a lot of your videos. My DeVille 4x10 was just too loud. I have various BillM mod parts coming my way whenever he can fill the order. I LOVED the video and it's comforting to hear that you are impressed with the mods, given how much you liked the amp to begin with. I simply love your videos - keep it up and God bless!

Yes, it's a great low volume practice amp as well.

man. I've noticed you had your eq's maxed out in previous videos, and I did the same thing on my tweed blues jr. But this mod! I can tell a huge difference! You have a real luscious range of tone now. more than what I have or you had before. Rockin man. way cool

Great Demo, I just did these myself a month ago and it was so worth it! The Cream board kit with the bias adjustment alone was worth it, my EL84's were running at 75ma's, one of the power tubes was glowing bright yellow! Retubed it with a set of JJ's to 25.5ma, sounds amazing. Bill knows his stuff. And the orange tone caps are darn near 3 times the size of the old ones that come out, beefy! If you like verb, I replaced the tank with a Ruby one from Mojotone, it is warmer and deeper!

Love your stuff man and your amp sounds great

Excellent ! Felt like I was right there with ya. Going to watch it again. :-) Thanks.

Sent mine off to Bill M last week and can't WAIT to get it back!

bro those tones are hecka legit. im gettin the hot rod series but this vid makes me more excited haha

I just did the Billm mods today on my Tweed BJ III, Sounds Excellent Did the same mods except for the Presence control and preamp revoicing

excellent demo. had an older USA made jr and never liked it too much so sold it. recently got a used MIM from 2006 and like it a lot better. only mod I did was replace the speaker with a cannibas rex. after seeing this demo might try to find another jr and try out these mods...thanks!

Perfect Fender tone.

Sounds good. Sounds reeeeaaal good.

Hey Anthony! I Love all your lessons (which I learn so much from) and demos, so much so I got one of these same Jensen Tweeds after seeing your demo, I love it, but now you've thrown me another curve ball! You described it before as your 80% amp, what rating would you give it now it's been modded? I live in U.K so BillM is a bit far away for me, I guess someone here should be able to fit the parts.... Keep up the great work! Thanks again.

Thank you for this review. How is the headroom in the amp before and after the mods when the master is full on?

My husband did those mods for me, along with a cannabis rex speaker, and it VASTLY improved the amp. He's ordered some more Bill M. parts and will be doubling the wattage and giving me a standby switch, among other things. Amazing all the sound coming from a little amp that I can actually carry!

So crazy how much difference in sound there is between the bjr ll lll and tweed nos. I have black bjr MIM and its got mega bass and mids. The only mod I made was a speaker swap. Huge difference.

I stumbled on to a used Tweed Blues junior in a guitar center one day. It happened to be the relic model. It caught my eye in the used amp section. After playing through it for just a few minutes, I had to have this amp. I could not believe the tone I was getting and how sweet the pre amp sounded over driven. I've replaced the input jack with a Switchcraft brand. I've replaced the reverb tank with a Mojo Tone tank. I replaced the stock Jensen (which is a great sounding speaker in this amp) with a vintage JBL D-120 speaker I've owned since 82. It's heavier with that speaker but still an easy amp to gig with. I would like to have a mod like this done.

I have the Tweed Blues Jr III Limeted Edition and the controls are oriented so when amp is facing you thecontrols are correct, left to right.

A presence control doesn't actually effect the EQ at all. What a presence control actually does is a treble frequency negative feedback control. Negative feedback does two things. It flattens frequency response, and gives you less distortion. Many amps have negative feedback to varying degrees, and some have none at all. The classic Vox AC30 had no negative feedback. Fender blackface amps had a lot of negative feedback, Marshalls had very little. Most amps these days have a moderate amount. An amp doesn't have to have a presence control to have negative feedback.

just got my BJ Modded in UK by Andy at Rat Mods, new JJ tubes installed, Had A Tri Rectifier Installed, so u can have solid state, tube or tube half power, also switch 2 drop from 15w to 7.5w, all new tone caps & capacitors, had the tone circuit modded 2 go from 0 to max, all wires were twisted, had a negative feedback switch installed, a 2 button footswitch 4 reverb & boost, & boost has a dile to adjust gain, it also cuts tone stack out of circuit when fully engaged ,sound's like a marshal now

If I were to go and have this done/do it myself, is it the kind of thing where I could get the original sound with just some adjustments of the EQ? I'm big into the idea of expanding my sound range, as long as I'm not voiding what I already like too.

I love your style of playing. Very soulful.

Oh man I've got to get this.

Wow that sounds great, really love that sound. What guitar are you using?

I don't use an OD pedal with my blues junior anymore, that's how good the mods are on my amp, I would have liked the Presence control, but the amp is bright enough now, I have been offered 2 offers on the amp already, but i am not selling such a good amp, I think modding the blues junior was the best thing I ever did, it is my goto blues amp now

The sounds from the mods are awesome. Clean butt dirty and thick at the same time. Oh! the face plate was designed that why for the sound engineer to run on stage behind the amp set your EQ while your playing on stage, all you had to do was smile or give the thumbs down. Great blokes those sound engineers but these days our trusty roadie does it and a whole lot more.

I was hoping you did the mods to the amp! I know have one modded and it sounds great too ;) By the way, the last riffs sound b-e-a-utiful !

Great video!It helped my decision to mod my Blues Jr NOS.I changed the power transformer (TP24), the output transformer (Mercury Magnetics),did the basic mod, sparkle and presence control, high voltage preamp, twin stack and put a Cannabis Rex speaker in it and absolutely love the tone (I loved it before too). Well, I will report after I gig with it and break the new speaker in, but so far the improvement is great. More of everything - more range, more headroom, more volume, more weight (alas)

Anthony, I just got my Second Blues Jr. NOS, the First one was DOA :-( I usually put my Volume on 11 and the Master Volume on 3-4. When the Master goes above 5-6 it sounds like I have a little tube rattle. Is this normal for a small combo that's new? Also the Master Volume seems like it really doesn't kick in until the dial hits Two. I think Fender solved this problem in the Blues Jr. III. I love this little amp.

@mynameisjacob Absolutely. That's a great way of putting it.

Hi, great demo ! ;-) Please can you tell me what is the speaker in this blues junior demo? Thank you so much. Mat

What would be nice is to put the chassis in a head cabinet and then have a matching 2x12 cab along with it.

what was the songs being played around the 7:00 mark?

I just had these mod's done on my amp.... I'm not sure if I like it.... The amp seems overly bright when I'm using a strat (Classic Player with Custom Shop 69's). Amp seemed to have better tone stock (2010 Tweed NOS model) then it does now. Unless I messed something up... Any thoughts? Also the bass and mids barely do anything....

@joelbyrne I'm considering Celestion Vintage 30 as well or a Cannabis Rex hemp speaker. Smokey and nice mids.

Did i miss the list of Mods u had done??? Looking for them..Sounds great

Great demo and tone. What speaker are you using?

Can the sound stays clean with playing with drums?

this is very good tone, much better than a stock jr, but also note the playing is a big part, as well as the ability to dial the amp in

@gr8bluesgtr where did you have this done?

sounds harsh!? I LOVE IT!!!

I have a Blues Junior. Only mod I did was I put in a Cannabis Rex speaker. It sounds great with my Fender Reverb Unit. Without it so-so. I like surf so I use a Jazzmaster with flatwounds. Would you mind doing a demo with surf songs even if you don't have a Jazzmaster or Jaguar. If you have a Strat that's a good surf guitar. I prefer surf over blues or blues rock, so if you do a surf vid I'll have a good feel for what your mods can do. Thanks mate.

The lows and mids are really nice but very harsh on the high end. This amp already is a little too harsh in its stock form for me. Planning on switching out the speaker to an ET-65. Thanks for sharing this.

would u prefer a blues junior or a fender hot rod deluxe?

Is there any other effects hooked up or is this raw guitar to amp?

Does BillM have a mod that reduces or eliminates the EL84 tube rattle that's so annoyingly prevalent in the BJs? Tube dampers?

RIP Billm

@TwangKing24 I think the tweed BJ is bright because of the Jensen speaker. The black ones have a darker sound which is more my style. I deliberately didn't buy the tweed because of this.

Do you have contact info for Bill M? Or, did I miss it somewhere?

no, an eq would not be able to achieve anywhere close to what these mods do. A lot of people say that these mods "take the blanket off" the amp, and from my experience they absolutely do. I also own an eq pedal, and never could achieve what I have now from the mods.

Anyone know what mods he had done?

@Strat0Blues The new Blues Junior 3 has the control labels right side up!

the standard black junior III's have controls oriented towards you

is that with the stock speaker?

@Strat0Blues I noticed this on a Blues Junior and Deluxe at Guitar Center the other day. I have a standard Hot Rod Deluxe and it doesn't have upside down controls... I don't understand why the hell Fender is doing this....

Good video! But I wish you would have answered the questions viewers asked. That would have provided some good additional info!

Mine can. I have a Bill M mod w/ EV speaker. It's my favorite amp now.

@getawhatwhat1 The mods did not make the amp sound harsh. The tone controls are set wrong. I agree the sound is brittle, but that is not because of the mods. Changing the tone caps to the values for the Billm mod would not not make it sound that way. All Blues Jr's need at least a couple of mods, even the new ones. The output tubes run way too hot, and the bass is anemic. Changing just one capacitor and one resistor will correct these problems. However, doing a full mod is much better.

hey man can bill mod my amp too? how do i make it happen?

can you buy these anywhere?

hi, it sounds great, do u have Bill's contact info? thanks

Was the stock speaker or an upgraded speaker used for this video?

how much do these mods cost rufly?

Can't seem to find Bill M online to see about the mods, any chance you have a link?

I love this amp. I do use a MXR EQ pedal with it with just a one notch mid boost and it makes this thing jump off the floor. I set the bass, mid, treble about where I like it. The volume only 3 or less so its pretty clean. Then add in the MXR. I have had the type 3 Hot Rod BJ and did not care for it. This is a different animal. See his review on the stock amp. Thanks Anthony for your great lessons.

Sweet

No. the bottom end still gets cut by the ripple in the rectifier filter.

To me, the mod gives the amp a much more chimey, british style sound, imho... Beautiful Sound! :)

How much for the mods?

Its interesting...I have had Peavey Delta Blues 115 with a $500 Fargen upgrade...marginal difference to stock and you know what...I would add a pedal (let' s say for distortion or a Keeley Java Roast"...or change pickups on my Les Paul and the sound would change completely...with the stock sometimes sounding better then the upgrade.. Your amps sounds good but there are too many variables to tone.. So if you play with stock pieces yeah it will make a difference,,but changes to pickups etc..no.

does anyone know how long it take Bill to return an amp. I sent him my amp over 2 months ago. He is not answering emails. Should I be worried?

@Strat0Blues They fixed it on the III.

FWIW; Most of the Bill M mods are un-necessary if you have the Blues Junior III. Personally; after the speaker gets broken in, I like the sound of the Blues Junior II just the way it is.

sounds great..not my thing prob though i like something warmer like my marshall tube amp..

Its a shame you can't get the Bill M mods anymore.

@thisiswhereiwatch i also would love to know.

you tell us what the mods were!

Gosh that amp sounds like a amp 4x the price! That's great because I tend to like lots of bass and mid for my style

@jammers5 Yep, i got me a III last week:)

why doesn't Fender build them this way from the start ?

Hey Anthony, which output transformer did you get and why. There are a few different ones on Bill's sight.

Did anybody ask, “how much for the mods?”

erm sorry for dumb question but what does modding mean ?

Master cranked and volume low is the best tone

kinda has that vox ac15 chim

What I had done was under $200.

i really respect you man and all of your lessones but you need to shot the lesson again and turn the camera to the other side of the amp still 5 stares because its you have a good one

@pleximanic1 just boost that treble man haha

If you want that SRV Texas tone, it works. But not my style...too jangly and on the top end..brittle. Maybe it's the recording itself...

Blues Junior is nicer in my opinion. Hot Rod Deluxe is a bit too powerful, I used to play one. I always had hard time to get it overdriven enough..

That's for sure. They're upside down and should be in front of the knob, not in back. Geez.

The top end on this guy, like the stock, is why I would never own one. Tried it. Ice pick tone. It's just wrong for me and I don't can't what it costs, I couldn't own one.Have one on eval right now. Was hoping the mods would help the fizzy top end. Seems to make it worse. Oh, well. Back to my 67 Deluxe Reverb. A tweed would have been fun....

Sorry,but this amp sounded way better stock. Sounds all messed up now. Way Tinny, and scooped out . I think if you want to mod it that much you bought the wrong amp in the first place. Not being negitive, only Willybooger's opinion. I whale on this amp Stock! Thanks for the demo on the mod. Brother!

The mods are waste of time...The amp sounds boxy because guess what...It is in a small box....The amp is fine on it's own.....You do not need mods on this amp...If you want to upgrade the amp buy a bigger cabinet that fits the blues jr and add a better speaker.....Everybody wants to mod everything....Why? The amp is what it is....People spend all of this money on mods when you could have just spent that money on a higher grade amp....

all fenders give you that ice pick tone....thats just fender...

Get a Blues Jr 3 is not upside down anymore

*Modifying.

or simply flip the video

Sounds a lot better with presence down, treble up rather than vice versa IMO. Nice demo.