Narrowed it down to 2

[ibanezjunkie]

right, after my couple of weeks going on every website i can find that sells amps, ive narrowed my amp search down to 2.

Blackheart Little Giant- from a UK based dealer, £109 plus £7.99 next day delivery

Epi Valve Jr - from a shop near me, £109 just go in and pick one up

so now im stuck, i know which one is easier, i dont know which one is better though

help?

[WackyT]

For those prices, I'd definitely go with the Blackheart!

[Blaze]

I like the Blackheart

SjpnNoLRl2s&feature

[tunghaichuan]

Here's my assessment:

I own four Epi Valve Juniors. One is my main amp and heavily modified as I've stated before.

I own two Blackheart Little Giant amps, a combo and a head.

The stock VJ gets dirtier quicker. It will only do clean at very low volumes. Cranked up it sounds great, but it is loud. It is a fairly gainy amp. It takes pedals well. You will probably have to swap out the preamp and power amp tubes for better ones. The construction is marginal to good. The chassis is kind of flimsy, the output transformer is kind of small, but it sounds good. There are lots of mods you can do to transform the VJ into something completely different.

The Blackheart Little Giant stays clean almost all the way up on the volume knob. The cranked OD sound is thin and kind of nasty, IMHO. Like the VJ, the LG amp takes pedals well. The stock tubes sound good in the circuit, so there is no need to change them until they wear out. The construction is much better than the VJ. The LG's chassis is very sturdy and the out put transformer is decently sized. The LG does have a three band TMB (treble/middle/bass) EQ, but the only band that does anything is the treble which makes the amp brighter or darker. The middle and bass controls don't really do much. The LG takes pedals very well, better than the VJ, IMHO. It rocks right out of the box. You can do mods to it, but you don't have to.

Since the VJ and LG are the same price, I would go with the Little Giant. It is built better and it sounds better. And it is slightly more versatile.

tung

[ibanezjunkie]

yeah i was thinking, to get the blackheart. i gotta go to the bank tomorrow, then ill probably order it.

i mean, a TMB EQ (even if its not very effective) has got to be better than no EQ. i do a fair amount of semi-cleans and alot of light crunch, so i dont want to have to try and play semi cleans into a VJ thats max volume and too dirty.

plus, it'll be being moved around alot, so the sturdier chassis onthe LG sounds like a good idea. Plus i dont want to have to replace the tubes straight away either, might aswell get my moneys worth out of the stock ones with the LG.

thanks for the input.

[Spudman]

I have both as well and pretty much never use the VJr since I got the Blackheart. The Little Giant would be my suggestion for R&R bliss.

[ibanezjunkie]

just ordered the little giant now.

£117.99 in total, with delivery and stuff.

from www.imuso.co.uk

i ordered a little late for next day delivery, but it should be here by friday, cant wait!!

=]