Epiphone Valve Jr.

[Nelskie]

Man, this is all so . . . technical. Here I thought swappin' tubes was like putting in a new air filter. Shows you what I know. That being said, I will heed your advice, and solicit the services of an experienced amp technician. I appreciate your informative posts, and excellent links.

By golly, I learned somethin' new today!!

[warren0728]

WW - I was gonna' ask you about that electro-reso you have on your avatar. Man, I bet that sounds nice through the VJ. Not sure what stuff interests you as far as that guitar tone is concerned, but I may have a listening tip for you. There's a dude named Eric Sardinas that plays some mean, cutthroat slide on an electro-reso like yours. I saw him this past summer when he opened up for Steve Vai. He was incredible - killer tone, awesome performer, great tunes. Very much in the style of Johnny Winter, but with a decidedly rock edge to it. Anyways, thought you might want to check him out. I have his "Devil's Train" CD, and it's smokin'!

I dig Eric Sardinas too! In fact my favorite slide of the moment is a dunlop eric sardinas model that is heavy brass and tapered.

As for my elctro-reso it is a chepo brownsville model from (gulp) sam ash. It was an impulse buy....was their last one and they were discontinued....got it for 199 with a new set of strings and a gig bag. I LOVE IT.

Heres all the info i could find on it (very little on the web and there is no book for it):

Tone switch is also a push pull that kicks in the rear p/up under the dobro biscuit, and believe me it has the full sound that accompanies the twang of a full scale dobro OR SLIDE.

Further, in that position the guitar can also be fretted to incorporate a GREAT country lead effect I've never before found in any guitar.

Tuners are Julia enclosed tuners and holds tuning superbly.
Year Range: 2005
Neck Wood: Mahogany
Fretboard Material: Rosewood
Number of frets: 22
Pickups: Neck - Humbucker
Piezo under the cone
Body Type: semi hollow body
Country of origin: china or korea
Finish: Lacquer
Color: White
Hardware: Nickel
Neck Attachment: Set neck
Body material: Alder

a very fun guitar that not many people sem to have!

ww

[Nelskie]

WW - Having an electro-reso would be waaaaayyy cool. I wish my local shop would get one in, so I could try one. Sounds like you got a sweet buy on yours. I have a buddy who also plays a Brownsville guitar, too - styled in the vein of a Les Paul. It sounds very nice through his Fender Blues Jr. Anyways - thanks for sharing some info on your guitar.

[Nelskie]

Well, now that 69SL has enlightened me on the amp-biasing issue, I've been wondering if a few of the points made during my initial review on this amp were partially, if not wholly, subject to my own ignorance on this particular point. I assure all of you that it was completely unintentional. If anything, let it serve as a good point, in that no matter how long you've been playing, you can ALWAYS learn something new.

Even though I can dial in cool distorted tones using pedals, and while pushing higher volume levels, the biasing issue seems to be a very relevant one, and certainly one that I plan on correcting. In the mean time, I'm going to re-install my original Sovtek tubes today, and see if that makes any difference in how the new speaker responds to the higher volume settings.

Tone - I know you'd mentioned that you'd swapped out tubes in your VJr., so perhaps this would apply to your situation as well.

Hope to have a follow-up review on the VJr. in the works sometime here in the next few weeks.

[Nelskie]

This is just an FYI for those of you who might be "on the fence" about getting one of these 5W wunderkind Valve Jr. amps. Musician's Friend has raised their price on this amp $20, from $119 to $139 US. I would assume that the other internet music sites will eventually follow suit. Not that this amp isn't still an incredible bargain at $139, but at $119 its a downright ridiculous bargain. Perhaps Epiphone has also realized that they should be making more money on these amps, too.

Anyways, I think I may just snap another one up now, so I can run that delicious Epi Class "A" tone in stereo!!

[Justaguyin_nc]

What ever did happen to those sound clips Nelskie?

[Nelskie]

Ummm . . . my dog ate them? Yeah, I should really try and get a few up. Thanks for the reminder.

[Nelskie]

Was just browsing the Epiphone website, and saw that they are coming out with a "head only" version of the Valve Jr. for 2006. Same 5W, same tube section as the amp version, with outputs for 4, 8, and 16 ohm speakers. Akin to its combo amp brother, the cosmetics of the Valve Jr. head are keeping with the vintage-retro flavour, sporting black and reddish-brown tolex, gold badging, and white pipe trim all around the facing. Too cool!

Music123 has these listed on their web site (but not yet in stock) at $99!! Yeah, crazy ain't it?!! 99 clams for a genuine tube amp head!! My Peavey Classic 112E ext. cab seems to be begging for some new action, esp. with that cagy, new Eminence Swamp Thang speaker in it. Now wouldn't that be a lot of fun - running the already tasty Valve Jr. tone wide open through a closed-back ext. cab with capable 12" speaker?!! Damn! Count me in boys!

Here's some links:

http://www.epiphone.com/default.asp?...ollectionID=13
http://www.music123.com/Epiphone-Val...-i408743.music

[warren0728]

that is very cool....wonder if they will come out with a matching cab....

ww

[Nelskie]

Gee, hadn't thought even thought about that. A matching cab would be way cool. Man, you gotta' love what Epiphone is doing with their line of amps - both the tube and ss stuff. I saw your & Matt's posts on the Triggerman combo, and totally agree that it's one sweet looking rig. You might also want to check out their new Blues Custom combo amp, too - due out mid-summer 2006:

http://www.epiphone.com/default.asp?...ollectionID=13

I'm fairly certain that one of these will find its way into my studio.

[warren0728]

that does look nice! epi seems to be stepping it up a notch!

ww

[Tone2TheBone]

I switched the preamp tubes back to the sovteks also because the GT tube was acting microphonic but I think it's because of the design of the small amp at loud volumes rattling the insides. I put the GT tube in my Marshall and it's fine. Of course there's way more room on the M anyway.

[Nelskie]

I put my Sovteks back in a few weeks back, and it seems to have cured the "buzzy-ness" I was getting at the higher volume levels with the new speaker. I'm going to try some other tubes here in the next month or so (Electro Harmonix, Groove Tubes), and see what that does. I do have some low $$ mods planned for it down the road, and perhaps when that time comes, I'll have it re-biased as well. Who knows, re-biasing it for those J & J's might just might be the Wonka Golden Ticket for that amp . . . ?

[Nelskie]

While "browsing" Ebay for a second Epi Valve Jr., I came across this auction. The guy selling this amp really has some great mod ideas for the VJr. This auction is only going to be up for (6) more days (until 2/27/06), so to the Fret Netters who have these amps, I'd check this out now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7392547837

[r_a_smith3530]

I can see it now, a bidding war to the death between two or more Fret Netters!

[Tim]

Ok I am stupid. Please tell me what is so great about a 5 watt amp. Can you compare it to the VOX AD30VT if possible.

[Nelskie]

Tim - First off, you are definitely not stupid, and neither is your question. The very question you have posed was one of my very first major discoveries as a guitar player. Let me shine some light on it for you.

For starters, the Valve Jr. is not "just" a 5W amp - it's a 5W Class "A" all-tube combo. Some of the greatest music ever created first eminated from combo amps very similar in design to the Valve Jr. One that readily comes to mind is Led Zeppelin I, with Pagey playing a vintage-era Telecaster through a little Supro amp. As tonally earth-shattering as that album was, it is a mere speck of sand on the beach of contributions that small tube amps have made to music as a whole. Players in all generes of music have employed their much sought-after tones - blues, jazz, rock, country, alt. rock, pop, etc. The list goes on forever. Since these amps have been around since the beginnings of electrified amplification, they are truly a step back into the past as far as sound and tone are concerned. Yessir, the vintage "vibe" of these amps is totally unmistakable. I am not an electronics whiz, so having me explain the nuances of Class "A" tube amplification vs. the Vox ADVT series amps would probably not do justice to either. They are two totally different animals - one employs technology well over a half-century old, and the other is on the cutting edge of modern hybrid / digitally-amplified circuitry.

So how does this cool tone happen? Well, it goes something like this: a tube amp with a lower wattage allows you to "drive" the tubes to their natural saturation point, and therefore, obtain that sweet, organic tube distortion so many guitarists dig - at a volume level that won't peel the paint off the walls. In a higher-wattage amp, let's say a 100W Marshall, you have to crank the volume to get those same tube distortion characteristics, which for some, isn't a bad thing. A small-watt tube just lets the same thing happen at sub-Hendrix-at-Woodstock volume levels. Granted, this is a layman's explanation of the effect. There are many more knoweledgable, gear-oriented Fret.Netters than myself, and hopefully, there is more follow-up to your post than just myself.

I still remember the day I posed your same question to one of the guys down at my local shop - probably 1985 or thereabouts. Being more or less enamored with metal music at the time, I scoffed at the idea of a small combo having anything to offer the modern hard rock player. He told me to stop down after school the next day. So my friend and I did. He brought his 50's era Tweed Fender Champ (a small-watt tube combo amp), plugged it, let it warm up a few minutes, cranked the volume, and said, "boys, listen to this." To demonstrate the awesome effect of this amp, he pulled a nice dual HB B.C. Rich Mockingbird (a beautiful deep wine-red metallic guitar w/ abalone inlays - a guitar which my friend eventually bought) off the wall, and proceeded to blow our minds with some of the most savagely distored heavy metal licks our young, solid-state brains could comprehend. It was pretty damn loud, too! My friend and I, of course, were floored, and from that point on, we've both had a whole new appreciation for vintage-era tube gear. By the way, that guy still owns that amp, and it sounds even better today. I demo'ed a G & L Tele exactly like the one I have now through that same rig, and I must say, it had THE coolest Stones-y tone I've ever heard. He also enjoys relaying that story to friends and customers at every possibly opportunity, after of which he will demand that we buy him a beer for, as he would say, "showing us the light"! Indeed.

There numerous sites on the 'web that compare tube tone to solid-state, modeled, and hybrid amp tones. The first thing I would suggest is that you do a little research, and familiarize yourself with the inner workings of each type of amp. And since tone is a relatively subjective issue, I would encourage you to head down to your local guitar shop, and play a few low-watt tube combos yourself. Your take on it will likely be far different from mine.

I always find it more rewarding to learn things like this for yourself, rather than have someone else tell you about it. The tube "thing" is truly one of the most "ear-opening" experiences I've had in my (23) years of guitar playing. It is also my hope that this "discovery" opens some new doors for you, and your own playing. It certainly did for me.

[warren0728]

hey tim...you can give my epi valve jr. a good test when we get together! we can compare it to my vox ad30vt (although its like comparing apples and oranges)

ww

[Tim]

Wow! I did not know all this stuff about tube amps. I thought tube amps were made for volume only. And of course distortion.