Epiphone Valve Jr.

[Bloozcat]

Thanks for posting that! It seems like everyone should have one of these amps. I'll see if I can snag one too...

For such an inexpensive amp, it's well designed. It's simple, uncomplicated, and performs well beyond expectations - and it's price tag. What's even better is that should you decide to change tubes, there are only two to change. Even the more expensive NOS tubes won't set you back to much when you only need two.

Although in it's un-aided state it's a one trick pony, the addition of pedals can extend it's range quite a bit. Especially pedals with active EQ's. The amp takes pedals very well without an effects loop. Not all amps like pedals straight in.

I'm anxiously awaiting the release of the Epiphone Blues Custom 30. It's been advertised by several on-line vendors, but none have had it in stock. Hopefully the delay is for a useful purpose, such as redesigning the circuit with DC filiments in place of AC filiments as was done in the Valve Jr. which made it the quiet amp it is. How does a fully tube driven amp with a tube rectifier utilizing 5881 power tubes as found in the old tweed and brown face circuits sound? And for $500.00 new price? Sounds good to me...can't wait.

[Iago]

yeah...a neighbor just knocked on my door complaining about the noise... I knew that would happen!

[oldguy]

Got one ordered, due 5-25

[Robert****]

Iago, you bought one, right? Happy with it?

[Iago]

yes I am Rob!

My only complaint is that I can`t cranck it up to get distortion because of the neighbors!... I just wish it had a tone control too, but I can live without it by now. I find the Valve jr to have a really nice sustain and harmonics, and the buzz is really less than what I expected. This little amp has a lot of bass... so I was thinking in getting a treble booster or something like that..or just a overdrive pedal with some tweaking on the tone control would do it. I can get a really nice "woman tone" with the amp crancked and the tone control on the guitar rolled down...

one of my favourite settings right now is both pu`s on "in phase" with the volume all the way up and the tone all the way down. I can get really cool smooth distortion..(it distorts more easily with the Mustang when I`m using both pickups) and the amp still gets every nuance of my playing attack. So, cranck it and use your volume and tone controls to make the rest... I still wish some more treble range...

I think that the Valve Jr would sound really nice with high gain pu`s too... maybe even better than single coils. the Mustang sounds extremely clean when using only-neck or only bridge pu configuration. The neck one sounds like a strat but "not-springy" I guess that maybe it doesnt have the same "depht" of tone as some others strats I played before... maybe because of the strings being "top loaders"... well I guess I`m gonna keep that for a Mustang review

See you guys!

[Robert****]

Good to hear you like it. I am very interested in one. The head seems better since the hum issues seem to be resolved, but then of course I'd need a decent cab, which I don't have. Ahh, decisions.

[Iago]

I think that getting the head and then a cab would be really good for you Rob, since you have some combos already... The Valve Jr really gets the details of your playing. It also doesn`t have all that "saggness" from a totally valve amp (i mean valve rectifier) but it really does an excellent job. Definitely unbeatable for the price.

[Tone2TheBone]

The combo sounds killer with a Gibby Les Paul loaded with PAFs. It's my favorite sound. Amp dimed it kicks...great invention wish I would have thought of it. I bet a brand spankin' new Suhr Stratymeister would sound pretty good through this Roberto.

[Iago]

Roberto compre o valve jr!

[Robert****]

But what cab to get...hmm... suggestions?

[Katastrophe]

How 'bout this? http://www.axetopia.com/items/Vox/VOXAD212.htm It'd be a good compliment to the Vox amph for bigger gigs and screaming solos!

[Robert****]

Oooh, I'd love to try that one! Looks great, wonder if it sounds any good?

[duhvoodooman***]

DVM NEWS FLASH!! I just nailed a lightly used Epi Valve Jr. combo off eBay last night for $92 + shipping. Won't get it until next week, 'cuz the seller only ships on Fridays, but can't hardly wait to hear what it sounds like. Not sure if it's new enough to have the "hum fix" in it (BTW, can anybody positively confirm that the new VJr combos truly have gone over to the DC supply to the tube filaments??), but I'll deal with that as necessary. This will be my son's amp for his B&C Squier Tele, but you can be sure his old man will be logging plenty of playing time on it!

I've been amazed by the amount of info available on the web for modding these little terrors, with many of those links posted in this thread. A lot of it is focused on taming the hum, but there's a bunch of other stuff like adding a "brightness" switch, or a gain switch, or a small light bulb to act an attenuator. These things seem to have achieved official "cult status" out there with tubeheads!

An interesting comment I've read a couple of times from apparently knowledgeable sources has been that they consider the hum and its causes to be so obvious that the Gibson/Epiphone engineers couldn't possibly have overlooked it in the amp's design and prototyping. Their conclusion is that they must have intentionally left it in, and may even have designed it in! Speculation on possible reasons for doing this include (1) giving the VJr more of that "vintage" vibe to go along with it's retro look and operational simplicity, and (2) keeping this little wonder from being so good that it would siphon off sales of the more expensive models. But, then again, they fixed the hum issue in the newer head model, so this may all be idle chatter....

[Nelskie]

An interesting comment I've read a couple of times from apparently knowledgeable sources has been that they consider the hum and its causes to be so obvious that the Gibson/Epiphone engineers couldn't possibly have overlooked it in the amp's design and prototyping. Their conclusion is that they must have intentionally left it in, and may even have designed it in! Speculation on possible reasons for doing this include (1) giving the VJr more of that "vintage" vibe to go along with it's retro look and operational simplicity, and (2) keeping this little wonder from being so good that it would siphon off sales of the more expensive models. But, then again, they fixed the hum issue in the newer head model, so this may all be idle chatter....

DVM - Now that I think about your statement, the hum issue would indeed seem so blatantly obvious that it requires one to think outside of the box. I would wholeheartedly concur with the hum adding some distinctly vintage mystique to the Valve Jr.'s tone - even to the point where one would consider it an essential part of the amp's overall vibe. Myself, I consider the hum issue to be relatively insignificant in comparison to the Jr.'s long list of positives. One might also make the point that the Valve Jr. has eclipsed both the Valve Std. and Special models as far as popularity is concerned, and I really don't see where that will change anytime soon. With its obvious comparisons to the venerable Fender Champ line, and ever-so-basic Class "A" design, the Valve Jr. is well on its way to becoming a cult icon for the guitar-playing masses, and deservedly so. Perhaps that's why its causing such a stir amongst tube afficianados, in that they're now face-to-face with having spent upwards, and in some cases over $1,000 for fancy boutique numbers, and realize that they could have hot-rodded one of these little rigs for around $250 (and that's including the price of the amp!), and had nearly the same thing. Ah yes, such is the price for keeping up with the Jones'.

[duhvoodooman***]

Valve Jr. First Impressions

Yesterday, I received the used VJr combo I bought on eBay. Haven't spent that much time with it yet, but here are some first impressions.

• It really does have an appealing look--clean, simple, retro. Quite a nice design job by Gibson/Epiphone. Sturdily built, too.
• 5W (especially tube watts) is still LOUD. Granted, I play in a very small room, but anything over about 2 PM on the mojo dial was getting uncomfortable to my ears. Gotta bring it down into the basement playroom, where I can open it up a bit more!
• What hum?? At least with the volume at about halfway, I really don't hear any significant ambient hum. There's a low buzz that I can hear build in as the volume is turned up to full, but it's far from obtrusive. I'll have to open up the chassis and see if mine has the DC filament fix, but I kind of doubt it. Will be very interested to hear it down in the basement, with fluorescent lights overhead!
• The tone is definitely on the dark side, to my ears. I had to turn up the treble on all three of my guitars to get more brightness in the tone--including my son's Tele played from the bridge p'up! I can definitely see why one of the popular VJr mods is a "brightness" switch.
• Putting my Digitech Tone Driver in front of the amp really brought it to life. I was running the morph knob midway, with the gain about 1 - 2 PM, and using the Tone knob to boost the high end. As Nelskie would say, it was floodin' down in Texas, for sure! And I was grinnin' in Schenectady....

I've already ordered some JJ tubes from Eurotubes.com to replace the stock Sovteks (one 12AX7 preamp, one EL84 power), which is said to brighten up the tone some. I've got two EL84's coming, one graded for max. headroom and the other for early breakup. I've also got a range of 12A_7 preamp tubes, to fool around with various degrees of preamp gain. Should be fun playing around! Film at 11....

[Spudman***]

Voodoo
Does the combo have a speaker out jack? It would be great to have the best of both worlds with the combo. Just curious.

[duhvoodooman***]

The VJr combo has a 4-ohm speaker jack that the stock speaker plugs into (see pic below), so you can definitely plug in a different 4-ohm speaker set-up. But I've also read on a couple of the VJr mod websites that you can easily add an 8-ohm output jack or install a switch to toggle the existing output between 4 and 8-ohm impedance using wiring already present on the output transformer. More reasons why this little puppy has gained the reputation as a "modder's dream"....

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[Nelskie]

DVM - You won't soon run out of ways to have fun with the Valve Jr. - modding, playing, tweaking with effects, etc. However, it'll be that true-blue Class A tone that'll keep coming back to the lunch-counter for seconds.

I was also wondering if you'd heard any "tube rattle" with your amp running at higher volumes? As I'd outlined to you in my e-mail, I solved my "rattle" issue by using silicone tube dampers. But I'm wondering if my speaker / tube change-out was the source of that, or if it's something that is inherent to the amp itself?

Anyways, I enjoyed reading your review (post #205). Keep us posted on your mods & progress.

[duhvoodooman***]

I opened up the VJr last night, and it's definitely the original design--no evidence of DC voltage supply to the tube heater filaments. From what I read, this is why you get the buzzy hum rolling on when increasing the volume, which is exactly what I hear. This would undoubtedly be annoying to the serious musician, esp. if they wished to record with this amp. Let's just say that description is not remotely applicable to my son, who will be using the amp, or to me, who will be stealing time on it, too! So I have no plans to have the DC fix done, which involves cutting traces on the PCB and installing a small bridge rectifier & capacitor. Not worth the trouble....

The two tubes are very easy to get at, once you pull the back off. I'll probably remove the metal grille that's mounted across the upper hole of the back panel; this will allow access to the tubes even with the back left on. And tube swappin' is SUCH FUN!

Speaking of which, I pulled a couple of tubes out of my Delta Blues last night (a NOS BEL/Mullard 12AX7 and a JJ EL84) and put them in the VJr to see what tonal harvest could be reaped. It seemed to brighten up a bit and be somewhat smoother overall, but the difference wasn't dramatic. I really need to record some A/B sound clips to judge how big the difference is. Your mind can play tricks on you with this stuff, if you don't hear the two versions played head-to-head. I still want more brightness than a tube change will give me, though, so will likely pursue a mod or two that I've seen for this purpose.

Nelskie: Regarding the tube rattle, both of these tubes have spring-loaded retainer mechanisms on them (see JPG below; power tube on left, preamp tube on right). Didn't yours come with this, also? Or do they just not work well? In any case, I really haven't played enough through the amp at higher volumes to tell if this is a problem with mine. So far, I haven't noticed it, though.

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