Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Jim, out of all those, I like the Fender Blues Jr. You can NEVER go wrong with the clean, glassy tone of a Fender tube amp.

JakeK wrote:Jim, out of all those, I like the Fender Blues Jr. You can NEVER go wrong with the clean, glassy tone of a Fender tube amp.

I was under that same impression when I bought the last 3 Fender amps I owned. Only 1 remains, and the other 2 weren't very good sounding, Both were vintage "all tube" models, and the keeper looks cool and sounds ok, not stellar. Not a knock on Fender by a long shot, but I've had a love/hate relationship with their amps for decades.

I used to sell Blues JRs by the dozens, and find them to somewhat mediocre sounding amps with little tone variation beyond what a tone pot on a guitar would do. They are well constructed, priced moderately, and fairly reliable, but in the many different guitars I have tried through them, nothing knocked my socks off. This is just my highly subjective opinion of an amp I was able to try in different volume and instrument configurations, and one I would not add to my arsenal. Now, for those of you that own these little guys and like them, my hat is off to you, and my purpose of this post was not to offend you.

If I had my choice of the ones mentioned, it would be the AC-15 hands down, due to the veratility of sound and added features. The fact that it looks sharp, especially with a Rick, is just icing on the cake. Let us know what you decide Jim

I once played a Gretsch 6120 through a Vox AC30, and thought I'd died and gone to heaven, or else Chet's spirit had momentarily inhabited my body. After I got through studying the controls on that amp, I decided it had more bells and whistles (and a much bigger price tag) than I wanted or needed. And the AC15 looked like a more manageable prospect. So that's why the AC15 is at the top of the list. There's a Vox dealer in town. And he may have an AC15 in stock.

The same shop that has the Gibson Defender also has Fender Blues Jrs. in stock regularly. I plugged my Rick in to one the other day, and being a little short of time, didn't really put the amp through its paces.

And the Traynor? Well, ...to try one of those out would mean a road trip, and it just isn't that important.

Just hunting around eBay for a lark, I saw a Fender '65 Princeton Reverb Reissue with a BIN in my price range. I wonder if one of those used can be picked up for reasonable?

JimK

The verdict is in and the Gibson is out. I finally plugged into a Vox AC15. And it won, hands down.
Saving up my pennies as of now.

JimK

Great choice Jim, going for the one with the Celestion Blue in it?

Gotta have blue.

kiramdear wrote:Gotta have blue.

Gotta have the bread to have the blue, and 15 watt speakers scare the heck out of me

People keep telling me not to worry about that, but I've blown up cabinets before and $250+ a speaker to replace it isn't very appealing. Someday, I will have the courage 'cos them puppies do sound sweet!

Don't let my paranoia color your decision, I'm sure you are a lot nicer to your amps than I am

You know, I forgot to ask about which speaker was in the back of the thing. Oh for dumb!

As far as blowin' up the thing, nah...ain't gonna happen here. The way it looks for the forseeable future, I'll just be playing smallish gigs here and there locally. But it will be nice to have an amp that I can crank up and play some noisy or larger places.

JimK

Vox Ac15
$600, regular
$900+celestion Blue

Handwired humpty dumpties signifigantly more.

whojamfan wrote:Vox Ac15
$600, regular
$900+celestion Blue

Handwired humpty dumpties signifigantly more.

OK then, it was certainly a Warfdale.[sp?]
JimK