Fender '65 Princeton Reverb vs Fender Blues Jr III Amplifier
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- čas přidán 22. 12. 2016
- Which amplifier sounds best? The Fender Princeton Reverb or the Fender Blues Jr III? Please let me know in the comments
Recording set up:
I am plugged into my Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue amplifier on the clean channel into a Two-Notes Torpedo Live.
Recording set up:
I am plugged into my Fender Super Reverb 65 Reissue amplifier on the clean channel into a Two-Notes Torpedo Live.
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Thanks Shane! I'm totally sold on the Blues Jr now after this demo. These are the exact two amps I have been considering, and it's so helpful to hear them side by side.
(nice playing too!) Cheers.
How have u found the blues jnr I’m looking at that or the hot rod deluxe or DeVille
@@dazzmetcoll3843 It is perfect for my needs, playing a Tele in a 5 pc Latin band, with congas. Cuts through just fine. Have used in clubs and outdoor gigs. Plenty of headroom. Love the warm tube overdrive!
Yomondo thanks for the reply
Everytime I need to research an amp a guitar a pickup a pedal and I do a search it just makes my day (and thats almost everyday) when I see that you have covered whatever it is I need info on. Your great blues licks knowledge and easy going demeaner is always a pleasure Thanks for another great comparison of the two very amps I have gravitated to here as of late. This should definetly help me make a decision on another fine fender product. LD Music city USA
After playing on mesa boogie amps for many yrs l have come back to appreciate these amps l purchase B jr. 3 the then got 68 princeton and now the princeton bordeux 15 w 12in. Jensen speaker l love them all l will be keeping all 3. I wouldn't be concerned with the preprinted boards, stymon pedals have it, IPhones, the Helix and many more gear we all love.
To me it’s definitely the Junior!! Just breaks up sweeter to my ears. Notes are cleaner and clearer. Though the prince does have a nice clean sound. I just don’t think the prince would be as versatile as the Junior.
Great vid mate. 👍
This stopped me from selling my blues jr. in favour of a princeton.
Absolutely love the Princeton. I’ve owned a blues Junior, and liked it a lot but I love the base response in the Princeton.
I got a Blues Jr. It sounds amazing for cleans.
I think it depends on ones style of music. I like the warmth on the Princeton , but I like the projection of the Blues Junior III. Either way, you can't go wrong. They're both awesome small amps.
Clearly a 6V6 amp and a EL84 amp are very different animals. Overall, I choose the Princeton w/6V6s. Thank you for doing this great review.
@L Smith huge difference
i have both amps and i love them! my blues jr 3 is the humboldt v2 so it came with hemp speakers and i did the bill m basic mod and presence mod, and now that amp sounds even more amazing.on my 65 prri, i changed the baffle with a 12" mojotone baffle and i upgraded the speaker to a swamp thang and i changed the power tubes to jj's 6v6s which can handle hotter biasing. now my Princeton has even more headroom and more volume, tons of bass. these amps sounds killer with an OCD.
2 great amps there Shane love my Blues jr really is a good size both sound and dimension wise for small gigs it always is a grab'n go
Thanks for a great demo I greatly appreciate the fact that you spent most of the time playing and letting us actually hear lots of good examples instead of like too many people do they sit there and talk us to death with facts and figures we really don't care about we mostly just want to hear what they sound like thank you so much excellent video excellent comparison
diggin' the jr... more clarity and personality... nice!!!
I actually use both these amps in my stage set up. I send a signal to both via a a/b splitter. I actually send my dry signal to the Princeton and my wet to the Jr. and I can blend them. I just use a Boss OD pedal + a Boss chorus and verb pedals and that’s it.
And I love my tone and the versatility of this inexpensive, very portable, live rig. The two amps have different strengths. Use both!
I have a Princeton hand wired & I sold my tweed blues jnr! It had the Billm mod! I still find the blues jnr a little boxy sounding & the Princeton benefits by a twelve for head room in the same cab ✊🤛 great review Thankyou !
I just bought the limited edition Princeton with a 12 inch jensen alnico speaker, and it is awesome. I thought about the blues Jr. but the princeton has way better cleans and the reverb sound way better.
I think they both sound great but the Princeton just has that sparkle. I went with the Princeton. No regrets.
I own both and they sound great together as a 2 amp solution. I must not play as loud cause I haven't heard the grit from the princeton. Also, blackface fenders sound great (Princeton and Deluxe) for the clean sound and its nice to have the Blues Jr for a dial up grit amp at lower volumes. Great review Shane!
Both sound great. The Blue Jr it seems people either love it or hate it.
I think its a great practice amp at a price that cant be beat.
Both of these amps get people who constantly try to upgrade them.
Use them for what they are designed for....home/practice they work great.
I love the princeton as it has vibrato.
Ya the blues jr is horrible
I'm surprised that I prefer the Blues Jr. Cool shootout. Thanks.
Like the blues jr. Cleaner sound.
After watching this...I like them both. I don't think you could go wrong with either one. Princeton has the tremolo and BJIII has the gain.
I like the Princeton more, but Blues Jr. compares surprisingly close in tone quality. Blues Jr. is a good budget amp. Thanks for the video!
Have used the BJii for many gigs over many years. Does well with original Eminence speaker and takes pedals well. Had the flimsy jack modified against breakage. Princeton sounds more classic Fender but not sure is as practical a tool for gigging. There are many suggested speaker upgrades for BJs but depends what sound you're going for. Original does a fine job if using pedals but others may be better for plug-in-and-play straight blues.
I think I'm in the camp most of you guys are in: Princeton. I have one for about 6 yrs now it gigs great, sound awesome. My only complaint and I think its isolated to my amp is the tremolo is sort of light weight. I have a deluxe reverb and the Trem is way cooler. I've had 2 Blues Jr's and they were nice but didn't rank. FYI - i now have a Bassbreaker 15 and it is way cool. Not as classic as the Princeton but lots of features and a 12".
I have a BJ 3 and now believe I need a Princeton. Sounds like the ultimate Fender clean machine.
Had both in tweed and to me the Jr. sounds like heaven despite being far cheaper. Sold the princeton
Great video! I'm a lefty too. I wish Fender would add "Vibrato" to more of their Amps. Would have kept my Blues Jr. if it had Vibrato.
I have a Boss Vibrato pedal on my pedal board. Now any amp I play has Vibrato, which does include my Blues Jr. I play a lot of Surf and oldies, so vibrato is almost a requirement
Merry Christmas Shane! Anther great comparison. I like the clean bassy tone from the princeton and the blues jr for the dirty stuff. They both sound great and you cant go wrong with either choice.
Thanks mate. Merry Christmas to you too :) cheers.
Have been watching quite a few blues junior and Princeton vids I reckon a good comparison video would be the tweed blues junior with the Jensen speaker and Princeton.
Yup, for pure cleans, a Princeton turn Ed down low with a mic, the blues junior better all around.
But for lower volume clean, Princeton
I'm going for the Princeton cause of the warmth, and a great round low end tone. You can get a Sweetwater exclusive Princeton Tweed covered amp with a 12' speaker now. That would be on my wish list!
played it it was very nice
Keeping the bass down on the Princeton is key and for more clear headroom plug-in into the second input.
Played them both today. The 6V6 tubes make a difference and give the Princeton a more true Fender tone where both the high and low ends are accentuated. The Blues Jr reminds me more of a Vox AC 15 with mids going on. Both sound great, but I purchased the Princeton. Glad to hear the tones, Shane, with the overdrive as I didn't get a chance to demo that in the shop. Thanks for taking the time to set this up and put it all together.
Actually, I got both of them in tweed. Whereas i used to prefer the BJ in the beginning, I now tend to play a strat thru the Princeton exclusively. They match very well, they both incarnate a challenge. ;-) Shining hours, if you succeed! -- The BJ turned out to be a really nice Jazz-Box for my Heritage Golden Eagle, though.
I have both amps & like both amps! I put a 12” speaker in my Princeton so that fixed that! Blues jr is great to take on small gigs don’t need to lug pedals & all
that crap !😎
Both sound great Shane. I dig both amps really. A hard choice if I had to make it... I'd love to hear a little more bridge pickup stuff though. Lots of amps sound fat and warm on the neck setting, but I'd be interested to hear you play them with the bridge setting. Great semo as always. Cheers
In this video the BJR sounds awesome and better to me and I sold my BJR to get a 65 PRI and very happy. Bottom line both great amps and cudos to the BJR for best bang for the buck. In a perfect world the 6V6's would kill the EL84's for fender tone but not hearing here. The other factor is the tube reverb and tremolo the PRI brings to the dance if your looking to capture that old school sound that's gonna put the princeton over the top.
Videos like this are very helpful but you need to hear an amp in person and to hear that amp in a band situation as well. Again both are great sounding amps.
Tony, Lad, I couldn't agree more. Good logic.
I prefered the Princeton... better cleans and better tube breakup to my ears anyway.
I do like the Blues Junior a lot but I don't think it's in the same league as the Princeton Reverb.
Also costs about twice as much, but it's not that far off ...
strongly disagree but hey my ears are my ears and yours are yours ! still respect your opinion! question?...... what are your thoughts on a 65 deluxe reevrb???
@@haus05 clean they are comparable. I still like the princeton more. But when cranked and overdriven that PR will sound glorious ans the blues jr will.not. and a deluxe cranked. Oh baby.
I have a Blues Jr. and love it, though if I could trade it in for a Princeton I would - if only for the gorgeous crunch. The cleans on the Jr. are beautiful, though.
Both great amps but for me it was the Blues Jr. I have one in tweed and I love it.
Great video. Please do a Blues Jr, vs a 68. Also if you ever have time I'd like to see your thoughts on the Peavey classic mini.
The bass on the Princeton is incredible considering it’s a smaller speaker. The tone is so much more full. I had a blues DeVille 2x12 and a Hot Rod Deluxe 1x12 and on the HRD I found it to lack that type of roundness. I will be looking into a Princeton as my next amp hands down. I don’t gig, playing in a small space I’d love that early break up it has!!! Man that thing cooks, with my Knofler Sig Strat it’ll be 🔥🔥🔥
There is a jack in the Blues Junior that provides a connection for the optional external footswitch (Fender Part# 041228). When plugged in, the external footswitch disables the FAT switch (Item H) on the top panel. Fender Footswitch is $13.99 at Amazon.
Something about the Jr I like more hard to describe but it’s just smoother on my ears I guess.
I had an American made BJ and I replaced the original speaker which helped. I did no other mods. I sold it after I got a silver face vintage Deluxe Reverb. Later I acquired a silver face Princeton Reverb. I still have the PR. Great sound and fairly compact pacakage that I can gig with. I prefer 6v6 tubes of PR over el84s of the BJ. Reverb on PR is much better and it also has tremolo or vibrato,so that is a plus. Also turretboard construction on the vintage PR. To get a BJ to sound it’s best many feel you have to do a lot of mods which add to the cost. So I would recommend a vintage PR if you can afford it. You will have a keeper after making any maintenance repairs that are needed such as caps,etc. try to get a ply or pine cab version if possible.
Cool review, thank you. Next time please give us a sampling of the bridge pick up instead of just the neck as amps handle the two extremes very differently.
That blues JR ... man oh man!!!!
Nice demo as usual Shane, Blues Junior all day long for me!👍👍👍
Oh.! La la, The Princeton sounds great good clean and well in Crunch awesome. The Blues JR very boxy no matter what they say. Congratulations Shane
i like the way of blues you play Shane.. that amps sounds awsome.. but i have been trying to find a great video of fender vibrolux reverb amp and i haven't find it, i would like you do a demo of it
Both sound amazing! complete different tones.
Nice sound. Well done! I like Strats without a maple neck. Ebony and rosewood sounds warmer IMO.
I have a fender blues deville with 212, Jensen 180 w. I recently took out the Jensen's and replaced them with celestian g12,50s.and What a difference! Like night and day!
I love my PRRI 65’ BUT I can’t play it loud enough in my practice area to get that natural breakup. I’ve only got a BD2 od pedal thus far and It’s not got quite given me what I want for drive......I’ll keep working with it and eventually get another amp or more pedal/‘s.
I have a greenboard Blues Jr that is BillM modded, with a Celestion Greenback speaker. I gave up a Pro Jr. "Woody" to keep this one, and I am glad i kept it.
Love my bj111....also de ville with jenson ceramic speaker, which I'm thinking of transferring to the bj111
Both nice. I love small tube amps. I did all my recording with a Princeton but I wouldnt have minded the jr. I like a Deluxe best
Both are better than I ever knew, have never owned either yet. I use a bronco with a 10 inch speaker.
These are really two different amps. I'm surprised at how well the Jr. holds up
against the PRRI. The trick with black face Fenders is not to run the bass too high
because it fuzzes out the low end, and that's what I hear in this demo. The Jr. also
has a mid control and the PRRI does not. It's my only gripe with Princetons and
Deluxe Reverbs, but that's easy enough to get around. I have a '65 DRRI and it is just a
great amp. If any of you out there are looking for the best used Junior you can find,
look for an American made one. I have one and it is excellent, really has some balls
and the mid helps cut through a band in a small place.
@TurnedLeftAtTheRockyMountains The Blues Jr just has a tone control. No matter what you do with it, the midrange is always there.. It is the signature of the Blues Jr.. The Prince is clean with nice edge of breakup.
It's really apples to oranges mate. Great comparison vid. I play the Princeton 1-12 version.
in the intro, what were the settings on the princeton? Mentioned the settings on the blues jr but not Princeton in the very beginning. Would have been helpful. Thanks all the same. Like both of them for shades of distinction..
I don’t know if anyone will see it now, but in case they are trying to choose I had a Blues Jr III, and now I have received the Princeton RI. I mainly play at home and the Princeton is proving better sounding in that environment than the other. You can use the Jr’s master volume to get drive easier at home, but with the reverb, vibrato, 10” speaker and a pedal (or 6 is cool too!) you can get better sounding drive with the Princeton also at nice volumes. The bigger speaker I think can work against the guys that play/write at home most of the time. Just an opinion for anyone currently shopping here at the end of 2018.
try the Deluxe Reverb VS Princetone Reverb and crank em both
Super clean: I like the PRRi.
Overdriven: I like the Blues Jr.
I have a DRRi, and in my experience most overdrives into a Blackface Fender have this fizzy top end that I don't like.
Technically, the Blues jr is no "Blackface amp". It has one more gain stage than most old Fenders, the tonestack is closer to some Marshalls, it has EL84 power tubes... (and some parts values are quite odd, maybe to make it sound "smaller" than the more expensive amps.
A lot of that fizzy top end in the DRRI is caused by the speaker and not the amp circuit itself. I have heard the DRRI through other speakers and it certainly is not as fizzy! I think a lot of people think that the amp circuit is making most of the difference, while in reality the speaker is also very important, especially in terms of frequency response. The Jensen C12K in the deluxe is a double edged sword, because the cleans sound glassy and great, while the driven tones are quite fizzy. A speaker like the Celestion creamback sounds much better when overdriven.
"BLUES Jr is a 1 size fits all amp" I have both, I play/record in my spare bedroom. I've owned at one point every fender tube amp $5,000 amps, $20 amps. If had to pick ONE for EVERYTHING FOREVER? Blues Jr most versatile amp ever!!! Yes, some have better cleans, some better breakup/headroom. But, no one amp can do all the things Blues Junior can do. And at half the price!!!?? Untouchable. For beginners or Joe Walsh. 40 yrs of playing. I own the late 90's model blues Junior. 100% stock (except for burned out valves replaced, worn out speakers etc. ZERO MODS WHATSOEVER. Gigged for 25 years with it. It's rusted, beat to hell, very little cloth still on it. Looks horrid. But, Country, Blues, Rock, Metal...cleans, overdrive, distorted. Bedroom, small band, smaller gigs. 1 amp ALL YOUR NEEDS. (Takes pedals great, have 4-5 different pedals, your good!!!). Buy used $300. Come on! You'll never buy/need another. I challenge anyone to convince me of a different "one size fits all amp"
Mary Seling I agree completely… After buying and selling about 10 amps, I’m back to my blues Junior, and I am blown away
@Mary Seling. If yours is from late ‘90s it’s Made In USA. I bought mine in ‘97 and it is the best sounding Blues Junior
I have heard. People always ask what kind of amp I’m using and they’re wicked surprised. The comment is usually
something like, “Blues Junior? I thought that was a cheap amp.” And it is. Back then you could by one new for $350,
maybe a bit less even. I wouldn’t trade mine or sell it. It’s too good. The USA made Juniors are the best - one of the
greatest Fender amps ever built.
I have a 2000 blues jr made in USA (greenboard) and I like it but I’ve never been able to eq it well. Any advice on eq’ing that amp?
Joshua Paul ~ Dime the mids. That’s what cuts through and brings those amps to life. About eleven o’clock on the bass (give or take some) and one or two
o’clock for treble (same thing), then open the Master up and work the Master and Volume (actually pre amp gain) together to get what you like. The trick with
almost every Fender amp is not to use more than halfway up on the bass. The amps just get flabby after that; poor definition on your lows The “Volume,” or
pre amp gain stage can get kinda fake sounding until the Master is up. The you’re cookin’, brother!
I’ve been thinking about getting a PR with the 12” speaker they’re making. I’ve always thought of the Princeton’s biggest drawback was the 10”, I’ve just never been a big 10” speaker guy. The B-Jr has just a touch of British tone with the el84s which isn’t bad but for cleaner, blues tones I like the 6V6 tone. I have a 15w el84 Laney and I think it or the B-Jr either would work great together with a Princeton. The el84 mids should compliment the scooped PR.
If you want pure clean F sound, then you must go to the Princeton. Beautiful clean. The blues junior is more Marshally because it has the same power tubes that are normally used in Marshally sounding amps. You can hear the diff. The old blues Jr has celestion on board and that kills the Fendersound completely!
Blues Jr. Is surprisingly good next to the princeton. Its like it can sound like the princeton and beyond. El84 is where its at.
if you hear them in person you would hear how the bj 3 sounds like garbage compared to the princeton. the cleans on the princeton are great. the cleans on the bj3 are not.
Shane is there any way you can do a review on a 59 twin hi power I oun one and just wondering how they stack up against the others. And you do the most honest reviews on the tube.
The Princeton worked well with the pedal, imho. And maybe it’s cleans sounded glassier
Depends what you want? Headroom / Fender clean = BJnr. An overdriven sound at lower volumes = Princeton. Personally the BJr for me...
Nice tone with Blues Jr! What's the impulse (the speaker model) used on Torpedo Live?
Princeton's are seriously under appreciated... such a killer clean and low grit sound and great base for pedal work.
these days everything is 'under appreciated'. Just means someone recently figured out something is cool and immediately assumes no one else knows. That or the term has lost its original meaning, like the word 'literally'.
Iglomaniac - Yes, the "under-appreciation" is widely overrated!
Got both,love both
I have both amps in tweed, both have canibis rex 12 inch speakers, and very good demo.
The princetons’s party trick is the way it’s not lost in a mix. The extra presence and top end clarity keeps what your playing defined and audible.
hmmmm. Clarity was lost on me. But all ears are different.
@@jjstrumr692 yeah I hear what your saying. Just to clarify, I have both and they are great. If I’m going to cut stick at a angry blues jam the mid push of the junior cuts through just fine. The Princeton sound is way more 3d and is the faster more dynamic amp . It’s all in the players hands with that one. From open chord strumming, to pink Floyd trip outs or full compression 6v6 over drive:)
Shanes plays great his string attack on the video probably fell into the way you play a junior.
Putting a Princeton on 10 and using your pick attack / fingers it goes from what Shane only demo’d to a pristine clean at the same volume. As it only has a single master volume. Maxing the power tubes means you have the full bloomed sound spectrum at your disposal, and how you play comes out the other side. There’s no need to add extra bass so you adjust the bass back to suit the power tubes bloom , ( Unless your driving a 2 x12 ext cab). Something Shane missed back then but amended on later videos .
The blues junior has no bass in comparison. And when you remove the mids the amp gets real spiky and losses it’s strength.
And gain controls removes any chance of playing dynamics in comparison .
Its just a different amp and great for its price. Which is about half of a Princeton. And that’s probably where it’s strength is too, cause the Princeton isn’t twice as good it’s just a different amp and both are arguably best in class for good reason.
@@jasinow I'm sure you are 100% correct. I do not have a Princeton so the details you point out are something I have not experienced. Bottom line is I have a Blues Jr. IV Humboldt Hot Rod with the Hempster speaker and just love it. It fits my playing style (blues/rock) which I will admit is pretty specific. And add in that I am usually playing a Tele through it...works great for the sound I am after.
@@jjstrumr692 lol I use a Tele with the junior too and that’s the comb I use to rock my blues. 👍
@@jasinow They pair up nicely!
Would love to hear you compare the Princeton 1X12 with the Junior.
One more time a great video ! Thank you !
Any chance to get a comparison between the 65 Princeton Reverb vs the 65 Deluxe Reverb ?
Cheers !!!!
I wonder how much difference in sound is from the different size speakers, 10" vs. 12".
I own a BJr III and it's almost there in sound but not quite. I'm gonna experiment with some diff. speakers I have on hand and see. I've already done tube swaps and it did make it sound better, just not quite there yet.
+ 1 for the Princeton. I had a blues jr and imho the princeton is a better amp for clean tones. The blues jr with some gain has some nice gritty texas blues tones
Great comparison video and 9ers shirt. 😎
The Prince for me! I like ten inch speaker and it’s breakup better!
You got them to sound very similar. Princeton has a bit more sparkle but the Jr does way more for less $
Not much difference when compared without the hype...I have a Jr with a Celestion A Type and all the Fender tone I need. My other amps are Marshall DSL and Blackstar HT 20MKII so I am covered.
I have a BJ and love the overdrive sounds it can make but miss the round bass and transparent highs of an amp like the Princeton. I'm thinking I'd now rather use a pedal to get the breakup sound on a Princeton.
Trying to understand why the Princeton commands double the price? I’m thinking of upgrading from my orange crush 20, the blues jr. seems like the best option. All of the other “legendary amps” are too big or too expensive.
I'd have to say the only main differences is the Princeton is American construction and priha's better components in comparison to the blues junior but the blues junior seems to be able to achieve a is achieve a different variety of tones with the preamp volume
much prefer the blues junior the cleans sound alot better and the best is I have one fantastic little amp
Wish this was the tweed blues jr. vs princeton
BJ always sounds just a touch boxy, the PR definitely more open. However for the price you can usually find an ex to mint used BJ - $350-$400 range & you can’t go wrong. You’ll get a nice home & very gig-able amp.
Nice video. Does anyone know if the laney cub 12r has a good Clean? I watched many videos but none of them have good quality audio.
I'm sure they are both great, but the Princeton sounded fizzy on the gain side, not sure if it was the amp or the way it was mic'd or recorded. Not so with the Junior, sounded really decent on both.
Crank the master! Use the volume control alone for level!
@Keith Clark I use an attenuator and bring the volume up to get power tube breakup. With humbuckers it's easy to do. I'm not a fan of pre-amp distortion on the blues junior.
I had a 65 Princeton Reverb Blackface when I was a kid playing colleges in the 60s. I used a 67 Tele and my rig had lots more bite than this one in this demo.
I would like to know How the "new" Princeton would sound with a 12 in Celestion Gold Back.
In ‘this’ setting, I prefer the Blues Junior. The Princeton sounds very muddy with no definition in the bottom end...... i n the phones I’m listening to them.
This is a tough comparison, both are great, but also the Blues Junior is cheaper for a sound almost just as good. Maybe changing the speaker of the Princeton could also make it sound really great.
Hmmm I'm currently deciding between these 2 amps and really considering keeping both I have the blues Jr 4 and not sure how my Princeton's compares to yours. But of the 2i have I think the Princeton has more headroom. I like both however if I keep 1 it be the Princeton for versatility.
If you want the headroom I think you have to go with the Blues Jr. I modded mine with an ET65 and it made a big difference.
ARE YOU SAY SAYING YOU CANGED THE POWER TUBES ?????? TO ET65'S ?????????
No it's a Warehouse speaker
Blues jnr nicer to my ears.
Both are great, but Princeton won for me. I have a '96 Blues Jr myself. What are all your controls at on the Blues Jr for this demo? It sounds very good. Thanks!
I thought the Princeton sounded a bit too muddy at higher volume and with the overdrive pedal. The Blues Junior seems more versatile, especially for the money.
That's the way I heard it too, from the video!