Fender Blues jnr Too much treble

[blindboybenton]

Hi All

My guitarist in my band has asked me if there is anything i can do with his Blues jnr. Which i think is a MK3. He wants to reduce the treble

He uses a Fender Strat usa and has too turn the treble down to 3 and Middle up to 6 and Bass up to 10 to get the tone he likes
He don't want to change the speaker to a Jenson at this point

Do any of you guys have any ideas on what can be done ?

Many thanks

BBBBluesJuniorIII_schematic_Rev-D.pdf

[Jazz P Bass]

He uses a Fender Strat usa and has too turn the treble down to 3 and Middle up to 6 and Bass up to 10 to get the tone he likes
He don't want to change the speaker to a Jenson at this point

The guitarist is 'getting the tone he likes'.
Why mess with it?
Just a thought.

[loudthud]

The main HF peaking points in the amp are C3, a bright cap on the Volume control and C13/R25 which give a fixed Presence boost in the power amp. Also, there is C8 which is optional in some versions of the amp. Installing C8 if the amp doesn't have a cap there will roll off some treble. Beyond that, try disconnecting one end of C3 or C13 to see if he likes that. You can also try increasing R25 (or install a pot) to give a little control over the high end.

[daz]

Hmmm...i've played thru a number of them and have access to several any time i want and i gotta tell you, they don't seem all that bright to me at all. i wonder if his guitar is very bright and he doesn't realize it? Anyways, tubes would be one way. The russian mullard 12AX7 reissues have a really thick tone with a bit of a softer high end and lots of mids. If he's using the stock tubes chances are tube subs will make a considerable difference. the JJ 803s is another full sounding tube. While he's at it, if the EL84's are sovtek too, JJ's will help a lot in other ways and also have a nicer top.

[blindboybenton]

The main HF peaking points in the amp are C3, a bright cap on the Volume control and C13/R25 which give a fixed Presence boost in the power amp. Also, there is C8 which is optional in some versions of the amp. Installing C8 if the amp doesn't have a cap there will roll off some treble. Beyond that, try disconnecting one end of C3 or C13 to see if he likes that. You can also try increasing R25 (or install a pot) to give a little control over the high end.

Many thanks Loudthud
Ill ask him to come over with his strat and we can try the few mods

BBB

[blindboybenton]

Hmmm...i've played thru a number of them and have access to several any time i want and i gotta tell you, they don't seem all that bright to me at all. i wonder if his guitar is very bright and he doesn't realize it? Anyways, tubes would be one way. The russian mullard 12AX7 reissues have a really thick tone with a bit of a softer high end and lots of mids. If he's using the stock tubes chances are tube subs will make a considerable difference. the JJ 803s is another full sounding tube. While he's at it, if the EL84's are sovtek too, JJ's will help a lot in other ways and also have a nicer top.

Hi Daz

I know its bright. But its his tone i didnt question it. Im only a bassist !! I will ask what tubes are in there. I have a few EL84 in stock will try one or two

BBB

[Paleo Pete]

Hmmm...i've played thru a number of them and have access to several any time i want and i gotta tell you, they don't seem all that bright to me at all. i wonder if his guitar is very bright and he doesn't realize it?

I'm wondering about the guitar too. I'm no amp tech, so I won't even pretend to have any suggestions in that department...but I do know tubes can make a difference...the only one of these amps I've been around wasn't what I would call too bright, but it didn't have much bass either, that may have been the way the guy had it set. I didn't play with it. But I have had to reset the pickups on just about every guitar I've ever bought, they're usually different heights and different volume levels, and almost always too high on the treble end of the pickups, making them too bright.

I'd say before making any changes to the amp, try the guitar in a different amp and see if it's still bright. Lowering the treble end of the pickup(s) may make a big difference. Strats tend to be bright anyway...mine was horrible when I got it, so bright it was tinny, (Squier strat) a little pickup adjustment and it's great now, I love it. With Strats I find I usually have to lower the treble end and raise the bass end of all 3 pickups. Be sure and check the volume levels if you change anything, it can change easily and make one pickup louder than the others.

[wizard333]

The older versions of this amp had a 1.5nf cap to ground pre-master. This shunted treble, but caps to ground off the audio path like that really kill the feel of an amp (Mesa). Use a plate resistor bypass cap (Cp) on the 3rd stage of the pre-amp to do the same thing with a much better feel at the strings (don't ask me for the technical reason why this feels better than coming off the audio path to ground, I've never known anyone to give a good verifiable explanation, but trust me, it does). You can clip different values in and out with the guitarist playing through the amp after each change, then once you find what he likes best, solder it in. Start with a 1.5nf cap, then go up or down depending on his reaction to that as too dark or still too bright.