2016 Fender Blues Jr.

The ubiquitous Hot Rod/Blues series is one of the most popular type of tube amp currently manufactured. They sound decent but come with a very common set of issues after about 15 years. Failing filter caps, burned power resistors and diodes, heat damage to the PCB caused by machine mounted parts placed flush to the board, open phase inverter plate resistors/screen grid resistors, and broken 1/4” jacks. These are all due to Fender cutting corners for price reduction. This amp had a number of these issues as well as needing a new set of tubes.

The amp was given a partial restoration. All the axial lead electrolytic capacitors in the power/filter supply were replaced with upgraded temperature rated MOD brand electrolytic’s. The power dropping resistors were upgraded to 2 Watt Metal Oxide type and the Screen Grid resistors were upgraded to 1 Watt Carbon Film type units respectively. This was done for better noise floor and reliability. A new 3 Prong AC Cord was installed to replace the broken original.

The amp was completely re-tubed with the following compliment. V1/V2 = JJ 12AX7S, V3 = EHX 12AX7, V4/V5 = JJ EL84 Matched Pair. I picked out this lineup specifically for this amp to give the best balance of tone, reliability, and low noise. All pots were cleaned and hardware tightened.