Can my Blues Jr. be transformed into a bass amp?

[alfaBAT9]

Firstly, happy new year TBers! Let's hope the Mayans sucked at math, right? Who's with me?

So anywho –

I have a modded Fender Blues Jr. that I looove (don't hate me , I started on guitar at 15), but I don't own a bass amp anymore for reasons too sad to mention. And to clarify, by modded I mean it has an aftermarket pine cab covered in tweed that's 2" deeper than the stock BJ, so the lows are reeeal nice. So I was wondering – could my BJ pull double duty if I changed the speaker and closed the cab? I know you can use a bass speaker for guitar (but not the other way around) so it would involve getting an 8ohm 12" bass speaker and building a new back panel that's 3.5" longer than stock, effectively closing the back.

Thoughts? This would be for home use. If it doesn't work, I could always just bypass the internal speaker and run a bass cab instead. But I like the idea of using what I currently have without having to go SS, or buy loads more gear.

[silky smoove]

Low volume, don't push it, listen for the speaker farting out, don't dial in or expect a ton of deep low end and you'll be fine.

Again, just be careful with volume and low end. The risk of speaker failure is always there, even when being careful.

[BillyIVbass]

I would suggest for the $ you'd put in to gamble on the project I'd buy a cheap combo if it's just for home use. Acoustic B20, Fender Rumble and there are newer small Ampegs all for around $100.

[will33]

Originally Posted by alfaBAT9

Firstly, happy new year TBers! Let's hope the Mayans sucked at math, right? Who's with me?

So anywho –

I have a modded Fender Blues Jr. that I looove (don't hate me , I started on guitar at 15), but I don't own a bass amp anymore for reasons too sad to mention. And to clarify, by modded I mean it has an aftermarket pine cab covered in tweed that's 2" deeper than the stock BJ, so the lows are reeeal nice. So I was wondering – could my BJ pull double duty if I changed the speaker and closed the cab? I know you can use a bass speaker for guitar (but not the other way around) so it would involve getting an 8ohm 12" bass speaker and building a new back panel that's 3.5" longer than stock, effectively closing the back.

Thoughts? This would be for home use. If it doesn't work, I could always just bypass the internal speaker and run a bass cab instead. But I like the idea of using what I currently have without having to go SS, or buy loads more gear.

Possibly, but I don't think you can seal the cab and still have airflow for the tubes to cool, and it's probably be leaky for bass. There's nothing at all wrong with running the amp out to a real bass cab though. Might sound quite good at low volume but don't expect to be able to gig with 15 watts. As JimmyM will tell you, you need at least 25.

[Baird6869]

I wouldn't. I have owned a couple of these..... Not like playing bass through a 100w Marshall.... This is a 15w, 1x10 amp meant for recording or mic-ed at gigs.

Great amp though.... Sell it for $300-350 and buy an amp made for bass would be my advise....

[dhsierra1]

if you're using it for home practice it'll be fine but please use a proper bass cabinet so you don't damage the speaker you've already got.

I'm sure you can find something used for dirt cheap, maybe a 2-10, 1-12, 1-15 etc. Just check to make sure you've got the right impedance matching the output of the amp.

Then when you've got the scratch you can pick up a used ss bass head later on.

[lpdeluxe]

Fifteen watts is barely loud enough to practice with CDs. Anything you do to make it a better bass amp is going to (most likely) make it a worse guitar amp, and you'll end up with something with little or no resale value that will probably be unsatisfactory to boot.

[scotch]

I've used my Blues Jr. for a handful of low-volume rehearsals and for an overdriven/farty bass track recording. It's serviceable, but not inspiring (even overdriven) and very limited. I've even modded the tone stack for more even gain taper and broader eq.

To use as a practical (not niche) bass amp for practice, not only does the cabinet/speaker need help - but a much larger output transformer is necessary as well!

You can mod these amps fairly easily (with decent tools and soldering/de-soldering skills), but it's just not an ideal platform for a bass guitar amp.

[will33]

Originally Posted by dhsierra1

if you're using it for home practice it'll be fine but please use a proper bass cabinet so you don't damage the speaker you've already got.

I'm sure you can find something used for dirt cheap, maybe a 2-10, 1-12, 1-15 etc. Just check to make sure you've got the right impedance matching the output of the amp.

Then when you've got the scratch you can pick up a used ss bass head later on.

This^


It depends on the volume you need. If you already have a bass cab that's impedance matches one of your transformer taps or the internal speaker, disconnet the internal speaker and play through tbe bass cab. If not, keep it at low bedroom volumes and don't turn up the bass. You know the Fender tonestack right?

Bass through the guitar amp if perfectly fine...and desirable sometimes......it's the amount of low frequency hitting the guitar speakers that can cause problems and damage stuff....especially in an openback box where tbe speaker is pretty much out there flappin' in the wind.

[scotch]

Originally Posted by will33

This^


It depends on the volume you need. If you already have a bass cab that's impedance matches one of your transformer taps or the internal speaker, disconnet the internal speaker and play through tbe bass cab. If not, keep it at low bedroom volumes and don't turn up the bass. You know the Fender tonestack right?

Bass through the guitar amp if perfectly fine...and desirable sometimes......it's the amount of low frequency hitting the guitar speakers that can cause problems and damage stuff....especially in an openback box where tbe speaker is pretty much out there flappin' in the wind.

I think (not 100% sure) the Blues Jr. tonestack is a little different than the trad' Fender stack- there's isolated mid boost available and there's a little less interactivity! (According to the manual anyways...)

[Down & Outman]

I've played thru my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, 30 watts of tubes, by cutting the bass off and using the treble and mids only. Sounds pretty cool. I bi-amped it with my bass rig for a show doing the same thing.

I'd get an extension bass cab for it. It'll do double duty. Or trade it in for a bass combo.

BTW, I used to use a Marshall Lead 100 for bass. Great sound.

[alfaBAT9]

Cool. Thanks for the input everybody.

Looks like I'm gonna go a different route. I really don't want to damage the amp and/or make it worse for it's intended purpose – guitar. It's pretty stellar as it is... especially with the Celestion Blue that's in it!

I BOW TO YOUR WISDOM, TB.