freestompboxes.org

do you have a part number for the carling standby switch that is a direct replacement?

Hi Coldcraft.

I don't know the part number, but I bought my first Carling Off-Standby-On switch from Bill Macrone (http://billmaudio.com) in the States. That took a while to be delivered to the UK.

I subsequently managed to find another one (for my 1982 Super Champ) on eBay, from a seller called 'alnicomagnet'. He may have more.

Good luck.

I've checked on eBay, and the guy has about 10 of these switches left.

Below is a picture of the switch. I'm not sure if that's a part number (0836 R) just before the 'Mexico'.

Thanks for the photos of your magnetic shield & the gut shot.

Is that a modded Blues Junior, with blue knobs and turret board added? Sure looks a hell of a lot nicer than the inside of my Blues Junior!

Hi Blackbunny,

You must have missed the paragraphs just above the photos in that earlier posting, but to save you hunting for the info, I'll repeat it here (with extra info, seeing as you are interested):

"I've also attached a picture of the insides of my Blues Junior, showing that it is now a hand-wired beast. Vyse Amps (the UK branch of Torres Amps) ripped out the circuit board, mounted the tube sockets on the chassis, then rebuilt the amp using whatever parts were salvageable (mainly the transformers). They fitted full-size pots, and put in a toggle switch for the 'FAT' option. They call the model a BBQ Blue, and it's a far bluesier amp than the original Blues Junior.

I retro-fitted a Carling Off-Standby-On switch, changed the footswitch socket to an Fx send/return, and used the other half of the FAT switch to alter the feedback. In 'THIN' mode, I've got maximum negative feedback (NFB), giving a compressed, clean sound, great for Jazz. In 'FAT' mode it has less NFB, more gain, and more bass - and it is SUPERB !"

What I forgot to mention in the above is that the reverb is now entirely tube/valve driven (using V2). There no solid-state devices at all in this amp. V1 provides the pre-amp, with one stage before, and one after the tone stack. The Master Volume control is a dual pot that comes after the phase splitter and before the power tubes. The blue knobs were my idea, and just seemed to suit the new amp better than the original black ones. Vyse fitted a proper (blue - what else) indicator lamp instead of the original LED, the valve/tube heaters are fed from a DC supply (the one that originally fed the solid-state devices), and there's now a bias setting pot. I replaced the stock speaker with a Celestion Vintage 30. This is now a truly boutique amp, and sounds even better than it looks.

If you fancy doing a re-build on your own BJ, I can scan and post the circuit diagram for you later. It's very different to the original BJ (as you can probably gather from the above description).

The only thing I wish my amp had is a black fascia plate, similar to the Mk III Blues Juniors.

Whoever decided to print white text on a 'silver' background wants shooting ! Probably Leo F himself (RIP) - so I guess I'm a bit late with the rifle

Lucifer wrote:You must have missed the paragraphs just above the photos in that earlier posting, but to save you hunting for the info, I'll repeat it here (with extra info, seeing as you are interested):

Big thanks Lucifer! Umm, I guess I was having a senior moment, or just plain being slack, to not notice your previous reference.

I would love to see a circuit diagram of your modded amp. From your description and the photo of the board it could well be a tweed deluxe type preamp or similar. The valve-driven reverb circuit is very interesting too. How has that changed the sound compared to the old IC driven reverb circuit?

I did Bill M's tonestack mod on my 90's USA series 1 Junior, then fitted an adjustable bias supply and converted the reverb ciruit to Mk 3 configuration, which involves moving the Rev send and return to pre-master volume, so the Reverb stays in proportion as the master volume is turned up or down.
Sounds pretty good at the moment, but I've thought about adding an FX loop and some further tweaks.

I too wish for a black fascia plate. I just read about a place here in Australia that will engrave faceplates for a reasonable fee if you send them accurate artwork, so I'll make some enquiries. I really like the fascia plates on Harry Joyce amps and some older Matchless and Hiwatt stuff.

Doesn't the new version of the Blues jr have a face plate with black text? Maybe it's available separately?

roseblood11 wrote:Doesn't the new version of the Blues jr have a face plate with black text? Maybe it's available separately?

I doubt it would be available in Australia...Fender Australia never seems to stock amp parts. They want you to go to your favourite store and buy a new amp....

Maybe an online store in USA or Europe will sell them though.

blackbunny wrote: I would love to see a circuit diagram of your modded amp.

Your wish is my command. Please note that there are a couple of errors on the diagram:

- The mains transformer show a short across a winding - I've checked it out, and it's a link between two 120v windings to give 240v working.
- The heater circuit is shown as AC powered, but it was wired with a rectifier bridge and smoothing cap - and no balance control.
- The feedback resistor is shown as 820 Ohms, but is actually 27k.

I've also fitted the Carling Off-Standby-On switch, and run a passive FX loop just after the reverb return.

Enjoy.

This is interesting, but it's definitely not a Blues Jr anymore...

Sure enough - it's something far more special than the original Blues Junior that it started out as.

Externally, it looks like a Blues Junior, with the same cabinet and controls, and the huge metal label on the back that still says it's a Blues Junior. However, the blue knobs, blue jewel lamp and proper 'Fat' toggle switch give a slight hint that it might be different inside. There's another label inside the cabinet that says when and by whom it was re-built.

The circuit, as far as I know, is an original Torres design, though I'd guess that there's nothing in it that hasn't been seen in some combination before.

The bottom line is that it is an exquisite, hand-wired, boutique amp - and very quiet now that I've conquered the hum. It may not be the 'prettiest' amp I've ever owned, but it's probably the best sounding one I've ever played through. And, best of all, I didn't have to pay 'boutique money' for it.

If I were a bunny, I'd be a very happy one !

It's interesting that the position of the tonestack is changed to immediately follow the input gain stage. Conceptually it's now close to an AA763 Deluxe (not DR) with reverb circuit added and a PPIMV. Torres has slightly changed the DC gain and bias conditions around the first and second gain stages and bingo! Blues heaven.

I'm now wondering what adding a PPIMV will do for my own BJ, even without the Torres-type changes. Hmm

Lucifer wrote:If I were a bunny, I'd be a very happy one !

Crikey mate, we bunnies are generally a pretty happy lot. Being Lagomorphs, we love to gnaw at things, like our rodent cousins....or is it Lagermorphs, which explains our bellies, swollen from drinking too much beer?

Hi happy Blackbunny,

Why don't you go the whole warren, by ripping out all the guts and rebuilding your Blues Junior as per the Torres circuit ?

Now, that's a project worth gnawing at.

Then you'd have a really great amp, just like mine - and for far less than buying a new 'boutique' amp.

Like you said - blues heaven.

I can post gutshots of mine if you decide to have a go.