used to go master dimed and use input volume to add a little bite. but lately I've been upping the input volume about 6.5 and getting the master around 3 or 4 for a great mix of Fender cleans and crunch
I've been doing this for years on all my amps. On Fenders you can also try the "Magic Six" technique. Other things yo consider with this "bite point" method: back off the guitar controls when setting amp eq, you've then got somewhere to go in terms of using the guitar to control gain and tone. Also, amp eq will respond differently to strats/lps/teles. Don't look at the amp knobs as you adjust, let your ears be the judge, sometimes its visually surprising to find where the controls end up. Finally, try this option: set all EQ at minimum. Put guitar on neck pup, adjust bass eq as above, note setting and return to zero. Repeat for middle pup/mid eq and return it to zero. Lastly same for bridge/treble. Now put amp controls at noted settings. This (kind of) negates interactivity of controls which works well for some Fenders. On my Orange amp, which j think use a Baxendale tone stack, the exact opposite seems to work best, the interactive tone aspect works great. And if it sounds good it is good....
Some great points there, thanks for suggeting them. I have tried the Magic Six technique but it doesn't quite work for me. I guess deep down I am a Marshall man who can't resist Fender cleans. As you say, let your ears be the judge. I have this as a mantra that I tell my students. Don't look....listen. Thanks!
What worked for me was B.&T. set to zero and M. set all the way to 12. Sounds crazy, but that got rid of the boxy sound these amps struggle with. Doesn't cost anything to give it a try, really surprised how much I like this amp now.
Cheers, help full as still messing with mine. I just got hold of a new one about a month ago still in its box for £320 delivered :-). Hurt the credit card job but well worth it. After a week I shifted 2 of my other amps, huges kettner 18 and a roland cube 30 watt, helped pay for it but to be fair it knocks spots of of them. I have super Champ x2 head unit as it was the amp that caused me to look for a junior. Settings on it for the junior and tweed, not exactly the same but close. Underrated to be fair but my junior is the main stay as it just hits it right. Using and getting the sound I need seems to be a issue for me, well every one I guess. A mature player so I find it akward, don't know any one else who played either so only have online.
Hi Neil, I finally got myself a Blues Junior yesterday. Got the tweed version as I liked the tone much better than the black iv version. I’m almost strictly a blues player and I felt the tweed gave me more of the sound I was looking for. Been trying out your advice on setting the EQ and on setting the master to max and controlling volume from input volume from one of your previous videos. Has helped a lot a given me a great tone at home! Thanks. Look forward to more helpful videos as I’m a novice with this amp. Love it and sounds odd but it’s making me want to practice more often because of it’s great tone!
Hi there and thanks for watching the videos! So glad that they managed to help you out! I certainly have a few more in the pipeline. If you have any specific questions do let me know!! The main this is that it makes you want to play more, that is the sign of a good piece of gear! All the best, Neil
babycharliebrown I have a tweed as well and I just bought an american original 60s strat. Its a bit dark and muddy in the fourth pos - neck/middle. I tested it on the light green junior at the store which was crisper. Any advice?
jamziz22 I’m far from an expert on this and you might be better asking Neil, but I play almost entirely using the neck pup on my strat. I set my amp up as advised by Neil, including the EQ and master volume. I’ve found having the tone on my guitar at max gives a rich bluesy sound but isn’t muddy. Possibly increasing treble more and reducing bass EQ on your amp in combination with this might help reduce muddyness for you? Sorry can’t be more help but Neil might be the person to advise you.
jamziz22 I have the am orig 60’s Strat and Ltd Blues Jr also. Let me tell you. You have two problems now. Oh how I wish that the am orig Strat sound half as good as my old Squier classic vibe. It is a horrible line of guitars. I’ve changed 4 of them full of problems for an acceptable one. About the amp. I look at my blues Jr but I still only play the Boss Katana. You tube reviews are deceiving! I am a victim too
Question: with master at 12 and pre amp gain set low, are you then using the pre amp gain volume to control the overall loudness? Or do you use the guitar volume controls? Is there any risk to having master always set to 12?
Hi there, thanks for watching. Yes I use the preamp gain to set my overall level, but also I am using this live and my amp is mic'd up, so if I need more guitar, it is increased in my monitors. At home it is WAY loud even with the volume set to 2-3. I don't always run the master at 12. Some would say that you are going to wear your poweramp tubes a bit faster, I had the same ones for 7 years gigging a couple of times a week, and only replaced them last year as I had the amp serviced. I am not too precious about these things, all my gear is meant to be used, so I use it (I take care of it, but I use it). Hope that helps. All the best, Neil
I, too, tend to use it that way, although I usually don't set the master to 12 but rather to 9 or 10. With an always on pedal givng some cleanish, only slightly gritty boost I'm getting a good powerful tone which is much more punchy and solid than what's usually the result when you just crank the gain.
Hi there Rendy, thanks for watching. I haven't tried it out yet. I'm happy with my amps so only tend to try things out when I'm looking for a new one. All the best Neil
Just try this... 😉 (I play Blues and I use a Les Paul with 490 neck pickup only.. ... And It change all the game) Volume at 8 / Master 4 / Reverb 0 / Bass 0 / Mids 12 / Treble 7 / Fat "Off" "NO PEDALS PLEASE" This is how you run a Jensen c12n Enjoy 😉
Hi Neil, l love my Jr tweed and use it for anything from Shadows lead to blues and rock but tend to run it with fat in all the time, as it feels a little thin otherwise. Just me?
Hey Chris, thanks for watchingm good to meet a fellow amp owner. Good question, the mid boost from the fat switch does really thicken up the sound. I don't tend to use it all the time as I either have an EP booster on in front of the amp, or I use the Fat switch as a lead boost from an external footswitch. Be interesting to see what other do. All the best, Neil
Hi Paul, thanks for watching! Most of the time I have the volume wide open (I made this video here explaining th-cam.com/video/X9A63FVqrkY/w-d-xo.html) but at home I would probably reduce the master down a bit. Hope that helps, Neil
I think the sound has too much bright with master at 12 and volume quiet. ¿Have you tried to equilibrate them? I think is better because sounds fatter, at least in my ears. Thanks for the vid.
Most likely he did it that way with the MV because if you take the MV out of the circuit by turning it all the way up, you don't have it coloring your sound along with the preamp. Open the MV up and get your base tone from setting the volume and the volume on the guitar, then when you want more ooomph raise the volume on the guitar. Otherwise you have guitar volume, volume knob on amp, and then MV all trying to moderate signal at the same time.
Have you managed to find some settings you like? With humbuckers, I have the fat switch off, reverb just above 2, treble 3, bass 3, mids 5-6, volume 3, master 3. With my guitar that’s a nice base clean tone but I was also enjoying it with those settings but treble at 8-9 and mids at 3. See how that goes with the OCD.
@@caseveraert7710 Haha no worries, I get it now,...thank you so much for watching,, glad you enjoy the videos. If you have any questions, do let me know!
Give it a try. I guess it depends what music you are making. I don't think it is lacking in low end, espeically when playing in a band, when ideally you don't want too much low end in a mix, otherwise you will clash with the bass and kick drum, making the whole mix sound muddy.
I see. That makes sense. Tbh I'm just now learning about tone and tube amps. Trying to figure out what I like and where the sound comes from. Be cool to build a 5e3 they sound glorious
@@andrewclemons8619 haha yes I look at everything through the eyes of a mix engineer. Whilst we all the sound of our instrument in isolation, we often forget that our 'tone' might not work well with a band (if we want to be heard and not create a mushy, muddy mess!). Good luck on your quest!
used to go master dimed and use input volume to add a little bite. but lately I've been upping the input volume about 6.5 and getting the master around 3 or 4 for a great mix of Fender cleans and crunch
I've been doing this for years on all my amps. On Fenders you can also try the "Magic Six" technique. Other things yo consider with this "bite point" method: back off the guitar controls when setting amp eq, you've then got somewhere to go in terms of using the guitar to control gain and tone. Also, amp eq will respond differently to strats/lps/teles. Don't look at the amp knobs as you adjust, let your ears be the judge, sometimes its visually surprising to find where the controls end up. Finally, try this option: set all EQ at minimum. Put guitar on neck pup, adjust bass eq as above, note setting and return to zero. Repeat for middle pup/mid eq and return it to zero. Lastly same for bridge/treble. Now put amp controls at noted settings. This (kind of) negates interactivity of controls which works well for some Fenders. On my Orange amp, which j think use a Baxendale tone stack, the exact opposite seems to work best, the interactive tone aspect works great. And if it sounds good it is good....
Some great points there, thanks for suggeting them. I have tried the Magic Six technique but it doesn't quite work for me. I guess deep down I am a Marshall man who can't resist Fender cleans. As you say, let your ears be the judge. I have this as a mantra that I tell my students. Don't look....listen. Thanks!
What worked for me was B.&T. set to zero and M. set all the way to 12. Sounds crazy, but that got rid of the boxy sound these amps struggle with. Doesn't cost anything to give it a try, really surprised how much I like this amp now.
Nice one, glad it is working out for you!
Cheers, help full as still messing with mine. I just got hold of a new one about a month ago still in its box for £320 delivered :-). Hurt the credit card job but well worth it. After a week I shifted 2 of my other amps, huges kettner 18 and a roland cube 30 watt, helped pay for it but to be fair it knocks spots of of them. I have super Champ x2 head unit as it was the amp that caused me to look for a junior. Settings on it for the junior and tweed, not exactly the same but close. Underrated to be fair but my junior is the main stay as it just hits it right. Using and getting the sound I need seems to be a issue for me, well every one I guess. A mature player so I find it akward, don't know any one else who played either so only have online.
Congratulations on your amp! Glad you are enjoying it! all the best, Neil
Awesome settings. It's tough trying to find that sweet spot on a blues jr. But you helped immensely. Thanks so much!
Glad to help!
Volume and Master are the key ones for me .
Good to know!
Id love to hear what difference the volume knobs would make in different positions
Hi Neil, I finally got myself a Blues Junior yesterday. Got the tweed version as I liked the tone much better than the black iv version. I’m almost strictly a blues player and I felt the tweed gave me more of the sound I was looking for. Been trying out your advice on setting the EQ and on setting the master to max and controlling volume from input volume from one of your previous videos. Has helped a lot a given me a great tone at home! Thanks. Look forward to more helpful videos as I’m a novice with this amp. Love it and sounds odd but it’s making me want to practice more often because of it’s great tone!
Hi there and thanks for watching the videos! So glad that they managed to help you out! I certainly have a few more in the pipeline. If you have any specific questions do let me know!! The main this is that it makes you want to play more, that is the sign of a good piece of gear! All the best, Neil
Neil Spencer Bruce Cheers and thanks again. I’m sure I’ll need help with something else eventually! Joe
babycharliebrown I have a tweed as well and I just bought an american original 60s strat. Its a bit dark and muddy in the fourth pos - neck/middle. I tested it on the light green junior at the store which was crisper. Any advice?
jamziz22 I’m far from an expert on this and you might be better asking Neil, but I play almost entirely using the neck pup on my strat. I set my amp up as advised by Neil, including the EQ and master volume. I’ve found having the tone on my guitar at max gives a rich bluesy sound but isn’t muddy. Possibly increasing treble more and reducing bass EQ on your amp in combination with this might help reduce muddyness for you? Sorry can’t be more help but Neil might be the person to advise you.
jamziz22 I have the am orig 60’s Strat and Ltd Blues Jr also. Let me tell you. You have two problems now. Oh how I wish that the am orig Strat sound half as good as my old Squier classic vibe. It is a horrible line of guitars. I’ve changed 4 of them full of problems for an acceptable one. About the amp. I look at my blues Jr but I still only play the Boss Katana. You tube reviews are deceiving! I am a victim too
Nice approach.
Thanks!
Your method worked great, even on my shitty amp. Huge thanks for the tips!
Hi Tim, thanks for watching! Glad it worked on your amp, what amp is that? All the best, Neil
Hi Neil did you ever your MS-3 with this amp BJ ? Thanks advance
Yes I did on many occasions. Thanks for watching.
This was a big help... thanks!
Hey Pickles, thanks for watching, glad you found it useful. Stay safe!
Brilliant video!
Hi Paul, thanks for watching and your kind words! All the best and Merry Christmas, Neil
Question: with master at 12 and pre amp gain set low, are you then using the pre amp gain volume to control the overall loudness? Or do you use the guitar volume controls? Is there any risk to having master always set to 12?
Hi there, thanks for watching. Yes I use the preamp gain to set my overall level, but also I am using this live and my amp is mic'd up, so if I need more guitar, it is increased in my monitors. At home it is WAY loud even with the volume set to 2-3. I don't always run the master at 12. Some would say that you are going to wear your poweramp tubes a bit faster, I had the same ones for 7 years gigging a couple of times a week, and only replaced them last year as I had the amp serviced. I am not too precious about these things, all my gear is meant to be used, so I use it (I take care of it, but I use it). Hope that helps. All the best, Neil
I, too, tend to use it that way, although I usually don't set the master to 12 but rather to 9 or 10. With an always on pedal givng some cleanish, only slightly gritty boost I'm getting a good powerful tone which is much more punchy and solid than what's usually the result when you just crank the gain.
@@moreorlesslikeso Another great tip, thanks for sharing! All the best, Neil
Have you tried the blues junior iv? What are your thoughts on it?
Hi there Rendy, thanks for watching. I haven't tried it out yet. I'm happy with my amps so only tend to try things out when I'm looking for a new one. All the best Neil
Very cool, Neil
Thanks for watching and your kind words!
Thanks Neil, really helpfull.
Hi there Withney, thanks for watching, glad you found it useful! All the best, Neil
Just try this... 😉
(I play Blues and I use a Les Paul with 490 neck pickup only.. ... And It change all the game)
Volume at 8 / Master 4 / Reverb 0 / Bass 0 / Mids 12 / Treble 7 / Fat "Off"
"NO PEDALS PLEASE"
This is how you run a Jensen c12n
Enjoy 😉
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Neil, l love my Jr tweed and use it for anything from Shadows lead to blues and rock but tend to run it with fat in all the time, as it feels a little thin otherwise. Just me?
Hey Chris, thanks for watchingm good to meet a fellow amp owner. Good question, the mid boost from the fat switch does really thicken up the sound. I don't tend to use it all the time as I either have an EP booster on in front of the amp, or I use the Fat switch as a lead boost from an external footswitch. Be interesting to see what other do. All the best, Neil
Fat on and Treble just around 4
helpful, thanks
Thanks for watching! Glad you found it useful!
Thanks for this Neil tried the settings today and it sounds great , do you reduce the master a little when using pedals or keep it wide open?😎
Hi Paul, thanks for watching! Most of the time I have the volume wide open (I made this video here explaining th-cam.com/video/X9A63FVqrkY/w-d-xo.html) but at home I would probably reduce the master down a bit. Hope that helps, Neil
Yes Scofield style. But just because the potentiometer starts to do something from there it does not mean that there is the sweet spot.
Agreed but it is a good starting point as you can start to hear something happening in the amp.
I thought you were supposed to crank the volume and turn the master vol right down. Looks like you do the opposite. I’ll have to try that
What’s the name of the last song you played?
It's was an improvisation based on a song of mine called Infinite Melody
Any difference with the blues deluxe?
There are quite a few differences, speaker, output rating and tubes (6L6s) being the biggest differences.
I think the sound has too much bright with master at 12 and volume quiet. ¿Have you tried to equilibrate them? I think is better because sounds fatter, at least in my ears. Thanks for the vid.
Thanks for taking the time to watch!
Most likely he did it that way with the MV because if you take the MV out of the circuit by turning it all the way up, you don't have it coloring your sound along with the preamp. Open the MV up and get your base tone from setting the volume and the volume on the guitar, then when you want more ooomph raise the volume on the guitar. Otherwise you have guitar volume, volume knob on amp, and then MV all trying to moderate signal at the same time.
@@CedricSatterfield That;s it in a nutshell. Thanks for helping the poster. All the best, Neil
Any one have home settings they prefer to share with humbuckers for a clean slate and then a fulltone ocd pedal for example to generate main grit
Good question, hopefully there will be some sharing!
Have you managed to find some settings you like? With humbuckers, I have the fat switch off, reverb just above 2, treble 3, bass 3, mids 5-6, volume 3, master 3. With my guitar that’s a nice base clean tone but I was also enjoying it with those settings but treble at 8-9 and mids at 3.
See how that goes with the OCD.
how is your LED dimming?
Sorry I am not sure what you mean? Which LED?
@@NeilSpencerBruce your amp on red light
@@caseveraert7710 I wasn;t aware it was dimming. I will have a look into it if you think it should be brighter?
@@NeilSpencerBruce no! I was only explaining nester ness' comment, just explaining. Love your video's btw!
@@caseveraert7710 Haha no worries, I get it now,...thank you so much for watching,, glad you enjoy the videos. If you have any questions, do let me know!
I've heard ppl reccomend putting the bass at 12 since the amp lacks bottom end
Give it a try. I guess it depends what music you are making. I don't think it is lacking in low end, espeically when playing in a band, when ideally you don't want too much low end in a mix, otherwise you will clash with the bass and kick drum, making the whole mix sound muddy.
I see. That makes sense. Tbh I'm just now learning about tone and tube amps. Trying to figure out what I like and where the sound comes from. Be cool to build a 5e3 they sound glorious
@@andrewclemons8619 haha yes I look at everything through the eyes of a mix engineer. Whilst we all the sound of our instrument in isolation, we often forget that our 'tone' might not work well with a band (if we want to be heard and not create a mushy, muddy mess!). Good luck on your quest!
why not just make the 10 louder instead of going to 12?
:)
These go to 12 😂
Because it goes to twelve……
I put the master at about two or three and crank the volume up 9-10, that gives me the best break up
Glad that works! Whatever works for you is always best!
👍🔥🎸🦅