FM9 Into a Modded Blues Jr

gitapik

gitapik

Member
Well…this one surprised me.

Since getting it, I’ve been plugging my FM9 into a Quilter Micro Pro Mark 2, a Headrush 8 inch, and for a brief moment, a Mackie HR824 Mark1 monitor. Same with my HX Stomp.

All sound good. The Mackie was best but stopped powering on.

I have a Blues Jr. that was fully modded by billM, years ago. A Cannabis Rex speaker made a difference, too.

Yesterday I set up an A/B box to compare the FM9 into the Quilter vs the BJr

I was very surprised at how good that BJr sounded. The 30w mod combined with the 6L6 power tubes makes it easy to set it clean. The 12” Cannabis Rex makes for a bigger sound which sounds “right” with the EQ knobs at 6 or totally scooped.

I tried it with cabs and preamps disabled on my presets and decided I like it better set with them on.

So I’ll be plugging into the BJr a lot more, now. Good tones.
 
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So funny you should write this! I am the very fortunate owner of the first Blues Jr. III Bill M. ever modded, and I was just thinking about trying my FM9 through it. I purchased the amp from Bill M. (RIP) at his home in 2011. After Bill purchased the amp the day it was released, and opened it up to see what was new compared to the BJ II, he installed some of his most popular mods to make sure they performed as expected. As a matter of fact, the photos of the BJ III on his website are of my amp. So, like I said, I was very fortunate that Bill decided to sell this amp to me and gave me a very good deal to boot. Bill was a VERY nice man I was so sad to hear of his passing. People ask me what's was so special about Bill M. Blues Jr. mods. Well, I had gone to a Blues Jam with it several years ago and the guy running the jam also had a Blues Jr. His stock BJ sounded boxy – with a lot of midrange and very little girth compared to mine. I describe the sound of mine as a single-speaker mini Twin Reverb. Of course, it has the twin stack mod (and upgraded transformer) installed (among others), so it makes sense, but honestly it's like having a Twin without all the weight. Once I purchased it, I installed the tilt-back legs and a standby switch. I love the amp and was just thinking I should try running the FM9 through it. I'll come back and post when I do.
 
That’s a great tale!

I’d had my Craigslist $300 BJr for a few months when I heard about Bill’s mods. Checked his website and must’ve looked at your amp, lol.

He lived about 45 minutes from me and agreed to have me bring mine over to compare with a couple of his fully modded ones. 15w and 30w.

Man, what a difference! I left it with him for the full setup w 30w transformer and yes: a lighter weight Twin. AND you can dial in the OD. I love this amp.

I’ll be curious what you think. After working more with mine I’m back w the Quilter and playing a standard small board with the Blues Jr. Honeymoon is over. I was surprised at how good the BJr sounded, but like the Quilter PA speaker with the preamp bypassed better as an over all sound. Might start looking for a 10-12 inch speaker FRFR now for a bigger sound.

And yes: RIP Bill Machrone. Nicest guy you’d ever want to meet and he did know sound.
 
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I'm also the owner of a Bill M modified Blues jr. I did the work myself and only bought his kit, but I also did the output transformer and added a cathode follower to the other half of the 12ax7 that is grounded out at the factory. I also installed a pot to reduce the Negative feedback loop so more highs/harmonics come through. I have played the FM9 through it for gigs. I also have a cannabis rex that was installed in it at one time but at some point I switched back to the original. I need to look for that cannabis rex now .... mine is the original jr. Solid amp and has survived over 10 years of gigging regularly.
 
Wish I had that electronic skill set.

I still have the Fender C-12N speaker on a shelf. I thought it sounded great with my LP but, for the most part, I’m more into single coils. The speaker was too bright for what I like to play.

Bill had a Texas Heat in the 15w demo amp and a Cannabis Rex in the 30w. Both sounded great. I chose the Rex because it worked so well in that amp and that’s what I was getting.

I do like the FM9 through this amp. A lot. Seems to be a day to day thing. I have the two amps sitting next to each other, fortunately. ExPz switcheroo.
 
gitapik said:
Wish I had that electronic skill set.

I still have the Fender C-12N speaker on a shelf. I thought it sounded great with my LP but, for the most part, I’m more into single coils. The speaker was too bright for what I like to play.

Bill had a Texas Heat in the 15w demo amp and a Cannabis Rex in the 30w. Both sounded great. I chose the Rex because it worked so well in that amp and that’s what I was getting.

I do like the FM9 through this amp. A lot. Seems to be a day to day thing. I have the two amps sitting next to each other, fortunately. ExPz switcheroo.
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I started modding because I realized what I could do with radioshack (remember that place!?) and $5. 9v boss pedals were where I started. I knew I wouldn't hurt myself too bad working on those.

I went down the blues JR mod rabbit hole. That amp was all I needed for a long time. Other people were doing mods too so I combined the information, into one amp. I would experiment with different values so I could hear what it was doing.
 
I don’t USA a BJ but a ToneKing and it’s my favorite way to monitor any modeler. Logic says you want something neutral but a great amp modeler through a great amp equals like 110% awesome tone
 
ToneKing is an excellent amp. It was my first choice when I was looking for a lighter alternative to my Boogie combo but I couldn’t afford it at the time. Used BJr with the mods was my budget friendly alternative and it’s worked out well.

What color ToneKing do you have?
 
For the Blues Jr., I have a stock one from 2022. One question: I can't recall, is the stock speaker soldered or "plugged in"? Having owned a Twin Reverb from the 1970's, I would love to get closer to that sound with my current Blues Jr.
 
SpudMan said:
For the Blues Jr., I have a stock one from 2022. One question: I can't recall, is the stock speaker soldered or "plugged in"? Having owned a Twin Reverb from the 1970's, I would love to get closer to that sound with my current Blues Jr.
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Don’t know about stock but my modded one is a plugged:
IMG_4109.jpeg
It’s a 50w 8ohm Cannabis Rex. Though speakers do make a difference, I don’t know that you’ll be able to approximate your Twin from the ‘70s with that alone.

Key to that “perk” are the Twin Stack mod (he described it as a “simple 3/8” piece of wire, lol), the conversion to 30w, and the 6L6 tubes.

One of the changes is that I can now completely dial out the mids. Of all the settings I’ve worked, to date, the dialing out of the Middle and jacking up the Bass and Treble make for an amazing comparison to a Twin at that setting. A huge sound coming out of a little amp.

Here’s a list of what I had done:

Basic mods, cream board
Presence control
Clean Boost
Audio-taper reverb control
Audio-taper master volume
Switchcraft input jack
Standby/Power switch
Line out jack
Cathode follower mod
Jewel pilot lens/LED conversion
Heyboer TO26 (includes aux)
TP24 power transformer
Octal conversion
JJ 6L6GC, burned in, matched
Bias Board
Footswitch pedal with LEDs
 
gitapik said:
Don’t know about stock but my modded one is a plugged:
View attachment 140092
It’s a 50w 8ohm Cannabis Rex. Though speakers do make a difference, I don’t know that you’ll be able to approximate your Twin from the ‘70s with that alone.

Key to that “perk” are the Twin Stack mod (he described it as a “simple 3/8” piece of wire, lol), the conversion to 30w, and the 6L6 tubes.

One of the changes is that I can now completely dial out the mids. Of all the settings I’ve worked, to date, the dialing out of the Middle and jacking up the Bass and Treble make for an amazing comparison to a Twin at that setting. A huge sound coming out of a little amp.

Here’s a list of what I had done:

Basic mods, cream board
Presence control
Clean Boost
Audio-taper reverb control
Audio-taper master volume
Switchcraft input jack
Standby/Power switch
Line out jack
Cathode follower mod
Jewel pilot lens/LED conversion
Heyboer TO26 (includes aux)
TP24 power transformer
Octal conversion
JJ 6L6GC, burned in, matched
Bias Board
Footswitch pedal with LEDs
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That must have been a lot of work! But it is always a good thing to be able to tweak what we already have. I will research your mods a bit and see if I can gradually get some or all of them done.
 
I wish I knew more about how these mods work and are made. All I knew was the difference in sound when I compared. He gave me a fair price for the package and it worked out very nicely. Definite keeper amp.
Btw: I really liked the amp in its stock form. A lot. Not like I was hurting.
 
gitapik said:
I wish I knew more about how these mods work and are made. All I knew was the difference in sound when I compared. He gave me a fair price for the package and it worked out very nicely. Definite keeper amp.
Btw: I really liked the amp in its stock form. A lot. Not like I was hurting.
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Hmm, I forgot that you had it modded by someone else. And I guess that isn't possible anymore as he has passed. Maybe I will play around a bit with a new speaker anyway to see if it will help.
 
Like I said: the stock amp is sweet. The mods make it better. A lower cost boutique. If you can do the work yourself: that much more affordable.
 
gitapik said:
Like I said: the stock amp is sweet. The mods make it better. A lower cost boutique. If you can do the work yourself: that much more affordable.
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If it involves a lot of soldering, which I imagine it does, it is likely above my comfort level. I am thinking maybe to try putting a Cannabis Rex or maybe a GA-SC64 speaker in might be an interesting thing to do. The Scumback speakers look really nice also, but for now the Emminence speakers are at least more readily available on sites like Sweetwater.
 
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