JMP
Senior Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2019
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Let me start by saying that I’m not an expert when it comes to the finer details of tone and amplifiers. Here’s my story.
I play guitar mostly at home because it’s good fun. I sometimes go to a local rehearsal space where I can crank an amp until my ears bleed. Sometime I get together with friends to jam on some basic blues progressions. I live in a small house, so turning up an amp beyond the volume of a normal television rarely happens at home.
I started playing in the late 1980s and I’ve always had solid state amps. Not sure why. They’ve always been plentiful, reliable, and met my needs. The last few years, older Peavey amps have been my main squawk boxes - a 1979 Backstage 30 and a 1987 Bandit 65. No complaints, great affordable amps that sound good to my ears. Then, I started to ponder the much hyped world of the vacuum tube amplifier. Yikes! So much to consider. Without getting into the weeds, I decided to purchase a used Fender Pro Junior. The reviews were favorable, it was the right size for my needs, and it was affordable. The used amp showed up in November 2019.
The Pro Jr was good and seemed to get along with my 2016 Les Paul Traditional and my pedals. But, to my ears, it wasn’t the magic tone that was supposed to blow my mind. It was just.....okay. Meh. Then, the amp started to develop a loud hum and rattle that was obnoxious and ultimately made me stop using it. A shame for sure. I started calling local shops to inquire about repairs. It quickly became apparent that it was going to cost me a few hundred dollars to fix my $325 amp. I started researching alternatives and stumbled on Carl’s Custom Amps in New Mexico (I’m in MA, so definitely not local). Carl’s website had some good information about his options for a Pro Jr rebuild/ overhaul. I sent Carl an email with some general questions and to my surprise, he responded the same day with great information. After a few more emails, I decided to bite the bullet and send my chassis to Carl for a complete rebuild into a British voiced 10 watt Fender Champ. Sounded good to me and the price was fair.
After a 3 week wait, the chassis came back to me by FedEx. I’m no electronics wiz, but everything was completely replaced with hand wired/soldered high quality components. Visually it was very obvious that the amp was assembled with care and skill. Its beautiful to look at. I quickly installed the chassis into my old Pro Jr cabinet with an 10” Eminence 1058 Speaker. The first thing I noticed was that the amp is dead quite, even at idle with the volume at 50%. The second thing I noticed WAS THE AMAZING TUBE TONE I’ve heard about! Goddamnit it’s true! This simple little amp sounds incredible- it’s super touch sensitive, it breaks up and compresses in all the right ways and it’s gritty and awesome in all the right ways. It’s has “that tone” that makes you instantly think of classic Rolling Stones. The volume and tone knobs are very interactive and sculpt the tone more than you’d expect. And it sounds amazing with pedals. Plugging a Les Paul straight in is pure rock and roll heaven. I’m pumped.
I can’t say enough good things about my experience with Carl. And no, I’m not paid by him nor do I have any vested interest beyond sharing my experience.
I’ll try my best to answer any questions.
I play guitar mostly at home because it’s good fun. I sometimes go to a local rehearsal space where I can crank an amp until my ears bleed. Sometime I get together with friends to jam on some basic blues progressions. I live in a small house, so turning up an amp beyond the volume of a normal television rarely happens at home.
I started playing in the late 1980s and I’ve always had solid state amps. Not sure why. They’ve always been plentiful, reliable, and met my needs. The last few years, older Peavey amps have been my main squawk boxes - a 1979 Backstage 30 and a 1987 Bandit 65. No complaints, great affordable amps that sound good to my ears. Then, I started to ponder the much hyped world of the vacuum tube amplifier. Yikes! So much to consider. Without getting into the weeds, I decided to purchase a used Fender Pro Junior. The reviews were favorable, it was the right size for my needs, and it was affordable. The used amp showed up in November 2019.
The Pro Jr was good and seemed to get along with my 2016 Les Paul Traditional and my pedals. But, to my ears, it wasn’t the magic tone that was supposed to blow my mind. It was just.....okay. Meh. Then, the amp started to develop a loud hum and rattle that was obnoxious and ultimately made me stop using it. A shame for sure. I started calling local shops to inquire about repairs. It quickly became apparent that it was going to cost me a few hundred dollars to fix my $325 amp. I started researching alternatives and stumbled on Carl’s Custom Amps in New Mexico (I’m in MA, so definitely not local). Carl’s website had some good information about his options for a Pro Jr rebuild/ overhaul. I sent Carl an email with some general questions and to my surprise, he responded the same day with great information. After a few more emails, I decided to bite the bullet and send my chassis to Carl for a complete rebuild into a British voiced 10 watt Fender Champ. Sounded good to me and the price was fair.
After a 3 week wait, the chassis came back to me by FedEx. I’m no electronics wiz, but everything was completely replaced with hand wired/soldered high quality components. Visually it was very obvious that the amp was assembled with care and skill. Its beautiful to look at. I quickly installed the chassis into my old Pro Jr cabinet with an 10” Eminence 1058 Speaker. The first thing I noticed was that the amp is dead quite, even at idle with the volume at 50%. The second thing I noticed WAS THE AMAZING TUBE TONE I’ve heard about! Goddamnit it’s true! This simple little amp sounds incredible- it’s super touch sensitive, it breaks up and compresses in all the right ways and it’s gritty and awesome in all the right ways. It’s has “that tone” that makes you instantly think of classic Rolling Stones. The volume and tone knobs are very interactive and sculpt the tone more than you’d expect. And it sounds amazing with pedals. Plugging a Les Paul straight in is pure rock and roll heaven. I’m pumped.
I can’t say enough good things about my experience with Carl. And no, I’m not paid by him nor do I have any vested interest beyond sharing my experience.
I’ll try my best to answer any questions.
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