Blues music and whiskey go together like guitars and amps. Some of the best tunes to come out of post-war Chicago have the golden nectar flowing through their veins. If your stage presence needs some smoky authenticity to go with your smokin' licks, Fender has announced a limited release of its Blues Junior combo amp that's encased in reclaimed bourbon barrels.
First revealed last year, the Fender Custom Shop is launching the 80 Proof Blues Junior at Summer NAMM this week. Limited to 100 units worldwide, the solid oak cabinet is handcrafted from reclaimed Kentucky bourbon barrels, sporting stamps and markings from the various distilleries they were made for.
Fender says that no two will be alike, and when it's powered on and warmed up, you can even smell the whiskey. And Custom Shop engineers have also hand-aged knobs, control plate and other components to match the aging of the barrels.
Inside the 15-watt limited edition Blues Junior amp is a single 12-inch Jensen speaker, three 12AX7 preamp tubes and two EL84 power tubes and cooked-in spring reverb and FAT boost. An optional one-button footswitch can be used to kick in the boost.
Fender has told us that the 80 Proof whiskey barrel blues amp is priced at US$1,999, which is quite a bit more than standard Blues Junior amps. If you do manage to nab yourself one and you're looking for the perfect custom guitar to go with it, you could boogie on over to Mike Mankel's website and get him to make you a Bourbon Barrel Guitar.
Source: Fender
