Ok, so tell me exactly what I get when I buy a Fargen Hot Modded Fender Blues Jr.?

We take a brand new, out-of-the-box Fender Blues Jr. and remove all the low end components that are holding the true tone of the amp back. We replace all the critical signal path capacitors and resistors with high-end Fargen custom shop units as well as replace the output transformer with a custom unit from Mercury Magnetics. We also add a power supply choke to increase the dynamic response from the all frequencies and improve the efficiency of the power supply without adding more unneeded capacitance. Other proprietary circuit upgrades and voicing are done as well while the components are being replaced.

Go through all the mods for me. Not just specs but what they mean tonally for the player?

The whole Fargen Hot Mod package is symbiotic in the sense that no one part of the hot mod is the key factor in the superior tone it creates. The recipe of components and circuit improvements I have developed for the hot mods program are based on 12 years of designing, building and modifying new and vintage amps. I call this system the “SSM” and it stands for “super sustain mod”. This special recipe of components and design create more of what every guitarist wants: more sustain, more note definition / balance, and smooth harmonic overdrive from his / her tube guitar amplifier. All of the changes that are made in each hot mod package improve each of these by two-fold over what the stock amp has to offer.

Who is going to want this specific mod? What sort of player?

Any player who has a tube amp that is not performing up to the pro level they expected to find when they purchased the am[p, regardless of make, model or cost.

I want to know a little about the materials you use in your mods, specifically the Mercury Magnetics Transformers. What does Mercury Magnetics offer you cannot get with other transformers?

I have spent the last 5 years listening to and comparing every resistor, capacitor, and transformer that are suitable for tube guitar amps. Side-by-side testing soon proved that Mercury Magnetics transformers were far superior than anything else I had previously been using, and in some cases better than the best “vintage" transformers I had heard. I was also lucky enough to find a company called SoZo that makes many amazing current production capacitors that we use in many of the mods. The main stumbling block became resistors; many of the resistors I felt were tonally superior were either beyond affordable or out of production at this time. This led me on a quest to find someone who could produce a custom resistor for us that matched or exceeded the performance I was looking for, and we were lucky enough to find two companies we currently use that build the finest audio resistor I have ever heard. The pure tone, balance, and sustain is quite amazing.

Tell me where the "hot mods" idea came from? You already fix amps and build your own Fargen amps. . . why do this as well?

I have decided to apply my expertise and knowledge in tube amps to help guitar players achieve amazing tones from affordable gear. Gear that would normally be considered entry-level or semi-pro can now sound as good or superior to many amplifiers costing four times the price. The Fargen Hot Mods program now gives high-end boutique tone and performance to many players who don’t have $2000 to spend on a guitar amp. It also gives players a chance to experience what Fargen Amplification is all about without actually owning a Fargen Amplifier.

What other Hot Mods do you offer?

We are currently building a new Fargen Hot Mods page on our web site. It will have a large list of current production and vintage tube amps that apply to the program. All the Fargen Hot Mods start with the “SSM” upgrade, and other options will branch off from there, based upon the design of the amp. We are also offering many other accessory upgrades from our suggested replacement loudspeakers through modern and N.O.S. tube upgrades.

To get a sense of what the Fargen Hot Modded Blues Jr. sounds like, check out this video (note: the uploader of this video has further modded his Blues Jr. with a presence control, adjustable bias control and switchable clean boost after getting it back from Fargen, but you still get a pretty good idea of what Fargen's upgrades do for the basic Blues Jr.'s tone):