From: James Rossen Date: Thu, 21 May 1998 09:08:50 -0500 Subject: : Amps...Champs, Pro & Blues Jrs., etc
I've compared a Champ and Pro Jr. (with alnico speaker) side-by-side. Both sounded good and different from each other, with the Champ having a more distorted, compressed and trebly character.
I have problems with amps that have a single 8 in speaker when playing with a band- the sound gets lost in the mix and I can't seem to mic them without feedback. I have not tried a Pro Jr. with a band, but the Pro Jr. is superficially similar to my silver face Princeton (similar power, 10 in speaker). The Princeton can be better heard with the band during our practices, compared to a Champ or Premier Twin 8, but it is not loud enough for gigging. I think a silver face Princeton (without pull boost) is a great value for an all-round small harp amp. The Princeton Reverb amps have more gain and are preferred by guitar players, but my non-reverb Princeton sounds great and is quite feed-back resistant. The SF non-reverb Princetons can probably be had for $200-300. A disadvantage of the Princeton is the need for a pair of NOS 6V6 power tubes, which run $30-40. My comments apply to the tube Princetons, not the later solid state Princeton Chorus amps.
Pro Jr.'s come with different speakers- a blue frame alnico (same as in the Bassman RI) or a ceramic. The former is probably much preferred.
I like the Pro Jr. better than the Blues Jr. The Pro Jr. had better tone. There was more feedback with the BJ, perhaps b/o of the 12 in speaker.
