Tag: blues

Fender Blues Junior Amp Review

I’ve had the pleasure of playing many Fender Blues Juniors over the years, and I must say, its a nice little amp. At 15 watts, this amp is loud! If you are playing blues, you can definitely get some nice tones from the Blues Junior. And with the onboard reverb, and fat switch, finding a likable tone is easy. Lets take a closer lookat the Fender Blues Junior, and how you can make this amp sing!

A good thing about this amp is the Master Volume. Being a vintage guy, I really like to crank an amp to get great tone. But since this amp is small enough, the MV makes it very usable in a bedroom setting. If you want some good overdriven tones at lower volume so you don’t piss off the neighbors, this function is extremely useful. As well, sometimes you want great tone, without blowing your own ears off. Very tweakable in this sense.

Now I’ve played a few different kinds of blues juniors. Some versions that had tweed and red tolex. The difference on the inside was the speaker used, and the kinds of tubes. This makes the stock blues junior a great DIY style amp, as you can choose your own speaker/tube preferences to customize the tone to you. Some of the speakers used on these versions are Eminence, Jensen, and Celestion.

Great EQ on this amp with a middle, bass, treble and fat switch. I like using the fat switch with my strat, as it really gets a great blues tone.

I found with the Blues Junior that I was able to get sounds for most genres of music, aside from say metal.

All I can say is that if you are playing small bars, or just playing in your apartment, this is a great amp. View the Blues Junior on Amazon.

Fender Standard Jazz Bass Review

I recently purchased a Fender Jazz Bass while at a store comparing bass tones. It was evident right away that its tones was the most transparent, that is to say, you could clearly hear each note. Its dynamics were almost reminiscent of a strat. I knew this was the Bass for me when playing some blues lines.

I turned the amp up pretty loud to push the tubes a bit. It really made this guitar sound alive. If you want amazing bass tone, I highly recommend a tube amp, especially for this guitar. It really gives a 3-dimensional sound.

Not only does the Jazz Bass cater to alot to famous blues and jazz players, you’ll also see this guitar in a heavier setting. Jimi Hendrix, said to be one of the loudest guitar players ever, was accompanied by Billy Cox in 1969/70 to join his band and tour. You can hear some live stuff on youtube, particularly at the isle of wight in 1970. Cox used the Jazz Bass predominantly with hendrix, and his funky, soulful playing really vibrated well with the Jazz Bass.

My current set up with my Jazz Bass is running through a 70s’ Traynor BassMate equipped with EL-84 power tubes. Again, if you want to make the most of this guitar, or any guitar, get a nice tube amp. When those tubes get hot, the tone is unbelievable. .

All I can say is, if you are into blues, jazz, rock, or whatever really, try out the Fender Jazz Bass. It’ll bring life to your sound. View the Fender American Jazz Bass on Amazon.

How to get Stevie Ray Vaughan Tone

In the electric world of the blues, there has been many guitarists who have set the standard in regards to playing, feeling, and tone. Among these guitarists are BB King, Albert King, Freddie King, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, etc. These guitarists started out quite early, playing a lot of gigs in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. They showed the world how the blues should sound on electric guitar. Pretty much, these guys were untouchable. However, in the 80s’, a man by the name of Stevie Ray Vaughan came on the scene, and blew everyone out of the water with his amazing energy and godly technique. His bluesy style sounded like a mix of Jimi Hendrix and Albert King. And his tone was hot. So hot that it was on fire! Very biting and in your face, SRV’s sound was enough to knock you off your feet! Lets take a look at ways to cop his tone, so us mere mortals can get a taste of the Texas blues.

First off, we’ll talk about SRV’s amps. Its common knowledge that he was a fan of Fender tube amps. He really liked Vibroverbs and Super Reverbs, usually running them in stereo to fatten up his sound. SRV’s clean tone was quite amazing, which is what Fender amps are popular for. Of course he ran his amps cranked in order to get that tube saturation.

Though just having the amp cranked definitely wasn’t enough overdrive for those rippin’ solos. Stevie used an Ibanez TS-808 tubescreamer to get his tone on the edge. In fact, sometimes he even used two of these pedals at once.

When it comes to the guitar, SRV was huge into Stratocasters. His main guitar looked quite beat up/relic’d which added to his look. The pickups in his strats are generally hotter than most other pickups. Using Fender Texas Specials will get you there. If you really want the sound, there is a SRV American Strat on the market, that looks just like his number 1. Also, don’t forget about the strings, as they play a big role in his tone. SRV often used quite heavy strings, 12s or 13s.

Other pedals Stevie would use are a Vox Wah, and a Univibe. For the wah, a Teese Picture Wah will do the job. And for the Univibe, either a Megavibe or Aquavibe will get you to the authentic vibes.

Once you get the rig set up, the last thing to do is analyze his playing, as his pick attack can get an array of different sounds. Check out the songs Texas Flood and Lenny, and take everything in. Those songs will help you get a feel for the tone. Have fun!