Fender Pro Junior III Guitar Combo Amplifier (15 Watts, 1x10")

This Hot Rod amp may be small, but it fills out a stage with its pure Fender tone and 15 watts of power. Add a stomp box to the mix for even more power.

Overall User Ratings (based on 7 ratings)
  • Overall:
    3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Sound:
    4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Features:
    3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Ease of Use:
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Quality:
    2.5 out of 5 stars
  • Value:
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Manufacturer Support:
    4 out of 5 stars
  • The Wow Factor:
    3.5 out of 5 stars
Overall: 3.5 out of 5 stars
(7) (see rating details)
Submitted March 26, 2014 by Andrew Coffey in Nashville, TN

"Fender Pro Jr III"

Overall: 3 out of 5 stars
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Ive always loved the sound of the Pro Jr (even more than the Blues Jr) and I have had one of the previous models from the late 90's awhile back and I wanted to try out the "new" version. It sounds about the same, I believe the speaker is a bit better though. The thing that I still don't understand. The excess hiss and hum! Now if you're playing through it, it's fine. But as soon as you stop playing you can hear it loud and clear even at lower settings. I still love the amp, but why has Fender not gotten this right after having the amp in production since 1992? I did all the hiss/hum reducing mods I could find online and they really didn't help very much. One thing that makes this amp even more amazing. Add a switch to turn the negative feedback on/off. It makes the distortion in the amp more like an old Fender Champ. Amazing sounds. I still recommend this amp! It's a great sounding amp! Killer loud little guy. I use it at church and it's perfect when kept clean and driven with pedals.

Musical Background:

Ive played guitar for about 4 years, harmonica for 2, drums for a little over 9 years now, and Ive been singing all my life.

Musical Style:

Blues-rock, alternative, christian, and all three mixed together…
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Submitted July 13, 2011 by a customer from yahoo.com

"if you get a good one you'll be happy."

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
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Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
again, i got a dud. after reading reviews and hearing of a lot of issues these have i will be sending it back and getting a(nother) blues jr. to be honest had i not gotten one with an issue i'd be keeping it. but since i have a reason to send it back i'm not taking a chance with any more issues and going for another bj.
Sound
simple volume and tone. the tone control is very useable and the amp breaks up at a reasonable level for the size of it. very responsive to volume and tone controls on the guitar. it is very loud for the rated wattage, in an apartment setting you won't be able to crank it and roll of the volume effectively without being loud (which was my goal). you get some very good natural tube od tones out of this amp when you push it but otherwise it's your average amp. it is a tube amp and you will get some noise when it's cranked or you add gain and this is no exception. there is a definite buzz when you crank it up. HOWEVER when i unpacked the amp and plugged it in there was a sound similar to a ground loop which was uneffected by the amp controls. with the vol at 5 it was as loud as the guitar. it was not the center screw as some have found to ground out with the tone pot and i'm not swapping tubes on an amp 20 minutes out of the box. so it's going back. without this issue, it's an awesome amp.
Features
there's no accessories needed, not really any features. it's a straight up tube amp with one purpose. it'd be nice to have a master or reverb but that takes away from the nature of the amp.
Ease of Use
again, vol/tone. figure it out.
Quality
giving it an 5 because it came to me brand new with the above mentioned issue. also the tolex was laid pretty bad. it was uneven and it just looked cheap. the joint was on the top of the amp by the panel and it stuck up a bit. not bad, just not very professional imo.
Value
aside from this particular amp, this thing is a steal. classic 12ax7 tube amp for a decent price.
Manufacturer Support
no contact with fender. been using fender gear since around 1996, until now never had an issue with anything.
The Wow Factor
idk if there's a whole lot of sex appeal, but for a striaght up, raw tube amp you won't find a better deal.

Musical Background:

active musician

Musical Style:

blues
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Submitted February 26, 2018 by Johannes Labusch in New York, NY

"Mixed bag"

Overall: 3 out of 5 stars
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Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
You have to know what you're getting yourself into. There is so much to love about the Pro Junior's simplicity and straightforward approach. You'll be surprised by how loud that little thing is. If you know how to shape your sound before it goes into the amp, with your hands and stomp boxes, you'll appreciate a solid and reliable "loud maker" or, as some call it, a pedal platform. Unfortunately, these amps are infamous for humming problems. I wish I had done a little more research. The internet is full of suggested fixes, some of them ridiculously expensive, some easy to do but, at least in my case, ineffective. For garage rockers, this shouldn't be a problem. But I'm more of a sound fetishist, and so the hum is not something I can easily live with. My PJ is currently at a tech (after new, expensive, matched tubes failed to solve the problem), and who knows if he can help me, and at what price. I'm also not thrilled that this thing is made of MDF. I ordered a bigger pine cabinet with room for a 12" speaker, and I hope I'll end up with the simple, quiet, reliable tone machine I was dreaming of. But even if that's the case: Not exactly a bargain after all the follow up investments ... A short time after I bought mine, Fender came out with the tweed covered version IV. That one at least LOOKS gorgeous!

Musical Background:

semi pro, been playing for decades

Musical Style:

singer-songwriter
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Submitted December 28, 2013 by tom c in bowling green, OH

"Well....it's ok"

Overall: 2.5 out of 5 stars
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This amp sounds great under the right circumstances, but it has some trouble getting there. I purchased this amp with the hope that it would be my go-to simplistic amp for small gigs. But I found that it hummed, hissed, & popped more than most other tube amps. I also found that acheiving the right tone can be quite difficult and can vary greatly upon the output of your pickups. Generally I found the gain too strong with a nasty upper midrange bite....that might work for something ac/dc-ish, but falls short on jazz, country and blues.

Musical Background:

16 years experience playing guitar

Musical Style:

chet-atkins style thumbpicking, blues, folk, country, indie rock
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Submitted April 14, 2013 by Rodolfo Nudelman

"QC Problems"

Overall: 2 out of 5 stars
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The sound is amazing. Now, right out of the box, there is a hum, like a ground issue, and it is very loud. VERY loud. And it is a brand new product. It is a shame, since I love the sound otherwise. Fender, you are not taking proper care of your QC department or your customers!

Musical Background:

3 years playing guitar

Musical Style:

Pop
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Submitted September 21, 2010 by a customer from verizon.net

"THE NEW MODS MAKE IT A WINNER"

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
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Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
I have been through more amps than I care to admit to. This is a keeper.
Sound
All I can say is this new Hot Rod III series is a winner. This has upgraded speaker and better tubes. You can run the volume up more than the past models and it stays clean longer. The breakup is not speaker mud its more like nice gain. I have had the older PJ and BJ. This amp for sure has the Fender tube tone going on. I like the fact that its portable, got great tone, and it can hang at a jam. I have the Boss 63 reverb pedal coming to use with it. Should give it some nice county twang. This is NOT a distortion amp. With my American Tele its great. Tried my archtop jazz box with it and it was nice for like low volume dinner tube sound. One of my acoustics even sounded real good through it.
Quality
Nice Fender Quality

Musical Background:

Active Musician

Musical Style:

Blues, Country, Jazz, Classics
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