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"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
contactemea@fender.com
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
These popular (with the masses) amps could be better but are Fender 'bean counters' really bothered.
Questionably weak PCBs with solder tracks that lift under the heat of operation, tube sockets not mounted on a solid chassis, the issues are often well reported. To put them right? How much? Does Fender want its amps to be long lived and reliable in every day gigging use?
It's true that the earliest ones did have some known faults, but the Hotrods are now well-engineered, reliable amps which although they do still have a couple of minor issues, the rest have largely been ironed out - probably the most common fault I see now is filter cap failure, which is more a component quality issue than a design and build quality problem. (Admittedly they could use better caps... but today I just saw the same type in a £2K+ boutique amp!)
This is why I think the Hotrods are great, well-priced amps - but the Blues Junior is a quite average, overpriced amp... it simply isn't built anywhere near as well. (Even ignoring the tone difference.) The construction differences are hard to see from outside but include the power valve sockets being directly PCB-mounted on the BJ rather than chassis-mounted with standoffs as they are on the HRD, and the pots having no support frames.
How they can justify over £600 for the 15W, single-channel, questionably-built BJ when the 2-channel+boost, 40W, better reverb, FX loop and much better built HRD is only just over £800 I don't know.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Hopefully they've also cured the self oscillation in the Blues Junior. Only requires a component value change.
I'm sure we'll find out soon!
That's absolutely fine, we all have space in our lives for something similar, but it's SIX HUNDRED AND NINE QUID! That's only a few packs of strings away in price from this;
https://www.andertons.co.uk/guitar-dept/electric-guitar-amps/prs-sonzera-20w-1x12-combo-sonzera20c
...which is in a totally different league in terms of sound, features, quality and even brand name.
Compare that to the Laney Cub 12R which is only £319 and has reverb, a low power input and a full tone stack.
Give me the Fender any day.
Full tone stack can be overrated. Look at something like a Lazy J 20. Just a tone but sounds stunning.
I'd rather use a pedal for reverb than the cheap digital reverb you will get in the Laney.
You don't see Jeff Beck using Laney Cub 12Rs but you do see him using Pro Juniors.
The only way you are going to get a valve amp at £199 is made in the far east with very cheap components and corners cut.
If you look at something like Jet City, even their little Custom 5 head is £185. If you made that into a combo, with the extra cost of a speaker and complexity of build I'm sure that would be around £250 minimum - more if you use a decent speaker. That's for a 5W amp with a single power valve.
For a US made amp, £529 isn't ridiculous. Even if they are a bit expensive new, they will hold their value well.
I'd probably get another for that, and having done it before I know a pair of them are excellent in stereo, but not at nearly 1,100 quid!
I'm not saying it's a bad amp, it's just overpriced compared to other amps. You can't compare it to a Lazy J which is fully handmade by one person.
I've played a Pro Junior and they are really good amps, but they aren't good enough to justify being almost double the price of the Laney which is also a good amp.
More knobs = better value for money.
I think Fender is probably a better brand for amps than PRS.........