Just got an Epiphone Valve Junior head .....

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lt. Bob
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notCardio said:
??????????

Are you saying that sounds like a good idea?

Sorry, I never know when someone's being serious anymore.

I figure you guys are going to think I'm nuts for wanting to put a power soak on an already low-wattage amp. But one guy's idea of quiet and someone else's idea of quiet can be way different things. I want to make it so that it's not just low enough not to be annoying, but it's low enough not to be heard a couple of rooms away. And yeah, I can just use a modeler, but, oh well, I can't explain it...

Anyway, has anyone ever used a Weber Mini Mass?
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:D yea, i think it's a really good idea. basically the mass is a speaker that puts out no sound. it receives some of the power from the amp allowing you to crank up your amp and send some of the power to your speakers.

go to some of the amp boards and ask around about the mass. ax84, plexipalace, 18watt, weber amp forum.......there are lots of amp boards around now.

personally, i'd take a cranked up little tube amp (assuming it sounds good) over a modeler.
 
I haven't used the mini mass no. I'm sure a power soak'll work just fine on this but man .... I use it and my wife is in the bedroom upstairs directly above my music room and she said she hasn't noticed anything. It's really not very loud ..... I have no doubt that you could stick it in a closet full of clothes and that would do it.
No way you'd hear it a couple of rooms away.
 
Those mod clips sound pretty darn cool. I had a service tech do all of the hum-eliminating mods on my VJ, and it sounds a lot better, but not as cool as those mod clips. I was gonna give the VJ to my brother after his kid blew up my old Champ Amp. But after gettin git back and testing it, I think I'm gonna keep it and give my brother my little solid state Traynor practice amp. That VJ sounds great plugged into a Greenback.....
 
soundchaser59 said:
Those mod clips sound pretty darn cool. I had a service tech do all of the hum-eliminating mods on my VJ, and it sounds a lot better, but not as cool as those mod clips. I was gonna give the VJ to my brother after his kid blew up my old Champ Amp. But after gettin git back and testing it, I think I'm gonna keep it and give my brother my little solid state Traynor practice amp. That VJ sounds great plugged into a Greenback.....
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i like the modded sound in those clips too. the question i'm asking myself is how much are the upgraded trannies actually adding to the modded sound. i see some capicitors and resistors are changed as well and there may be some rewiring going on (most likely). i think it's possible to get the valve junior sounding like that without upgrading the transformers. i could be wrong.........

i'm about to get a weber amp kit and i've been investigating some possible part changes in the kit. some people say that the the mercury magnetic trannies make a huge difference and others say it's very subtle. i know mm transformers ain't cheap!
 
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TravisinFlorida said:
i like the modded sound in those clips too. the question i'm asking myself is how much are the upgraded trannies actually adding to the modded sound. i see some capicitors and resistors are changed as well and there may be some rewiring going on (most likely). i think it's possible to get the valve junior sounding like that without upgrading the transformers. i could be wrong.........

i'm about to get a weber amp kit and i've been investigating some possible part changes in the kit. some people say that the the mercury magnetic trannies make a huge difference and others say it's very subtle. i know mm transformers ain't cheap!
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I thought the same thing! So I did all the mods but the trannies, Trust me the amp sounds great but no where near the amp in those clips. I just have a hard time dumping $250 into a $100 amp. I might go ahead and do the tranny upgrade and see how it sounds.
 
Micter said:
I thought the same thing! So I did all the mods but the trannies, Trust me the amp sounds great but no where near the amp in those clips. I just have a hard time dumping $250 into a $100 amp. I might go ahead and do the tranny upgrade and see how it sounds.
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which mods did you do? i noticed on the mercury magnetics website that part of the mod kit involves changing the original circuit. i can't see dropping a bunch of money into a $100 amp either.
 
notCardio said:
but does anyone know of a power-soak/brake/whateveryoucallit that would work well with this unit? I want to be able to use it and get the full-blown overdrive, but at a whisper. Is this possible? I don't mean to record it at a whisper, I just want to be able to play it that way. Also,do they make anything that can take a line level off of a speaker out?

Thanks
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If you're buying/own the head version, you might want to consider just a smaller speaker as an alternative to the power soak. I just wired a jack onto a 3" speaker that I took out of an old tv and hooked it up to the valve jr. Did it sound great? No, kind of like a cheap radio...but I could crank it up all the way and it wasn't very loud at all. :cool:
 
scrubs said:
If you're buying/own the head version, you might want to consider just a smaller speaker as an alternative to the power soak. I just wired a jack onto a 3" speaker that I took out of an old tv and hooked it up to the valve jr. Did it sound great? No, kind of like a cheap radio...but I could crank it up all the way and it wasn't very loud at all. :cool:
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inefficient speakers will give the same effect but will actually sound good too.
 
TravisinFlorida said:
inefficient speakers will give the same effect but will actually sound good too.
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So what would be some good yet extremely inefficient speakers?

I want it to sound good, just really, really quiet. If it's gonna sound like a little radio, there's not much point in it for me.
 
Hello ........ is this thing on? Testing testing ..... the amp is already very quiet. You don't need a power soak or special speakers ..... put a pillow on it and no one will hear it 30 feet away!!
:D:D
Tryin' to tell you man ..... it's already quiet. You can't get it any quieter and have a decent sound. It's super, very, very, extraordinarily quiet.
:)
I'm playing a bit here but if you don't want it so quiet it sounds crappy as you said above, then it's already about as quiet as you can get for a decent sound micing it. Just run it into a nice little Celestion 10" or if you want to kick out the bucks, a Weber or any of those boutigue 10's and it's gonna be super quiet and sound great.

TravisinFlorida .... man ......... those mods sound good don't they?
I don't know if I can see putting $300 into a $100 amp but if it sounded like that clip it might be worth it.
 
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I've got the VJ head and combo.The latter was an early model that needed the mods to get rid of hum....but the head is super quiet.If you ride the volume on your guitar you can get all sorts of dynamics on either model.I can't wait to record with them.
 
Lt. Bob said:
Hello ........ is this thing on? Testing testing ..... the amp is already very quiet. You don't need a power soak or special speakers ..... put a pillow on it and no one will hear it 30 feet away!!
:D:D
Tryin' to tell you man ..... it's already quiet. You can't get it any quieter and have a decent sound. It's super, very, very, extraordinarily quiet.
:)
I'm playing a bit here but if you don't want it so quiet it sounds crappy as you said above, then it's already about as quiet as you can get for a decent sound micing it. Just run it into a nice little Celestion 10" or if you want to kick out the bucks, a Weber or any of those boutigue 10's and it's gonna be super quiet and sound great.

TravisinFlorida .... man ......... those mods sound good don't they?
I don't know if I can see putting $300 into a $100 amp but if it sounded like that clip it might be worth it.
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OK, man, I'll believe you. Maybe I'll get to hear for myself sometime next week. :D
 
Now alll I can hear

Is Roberta Flack and Donnie Hathaway.

Oh, well. there are worse things.
 
Lt. Bob said:
Hello ........ is this thing on? Testing testing ..... the amp is already very quiet. You don't need a power soak or special speakers ..... put a pillow on it and no one will hear it 30 feet away!!
:D:D
Tryin' to tell you man ..... it's already quiet. You can't get it any quieter and have a decent sound. It's super, very, very, extraordinarily quiet.
:)
I'm playing a bit here but if you don't want it so quiet it sounds crappy as you said above, then it's already about as quiet as you can get for a decent sound micing it. Just run it into a nice little Celestion 10" or if you want to kick out the bucks, a Weber or any of those boutigue 10's and it's gonna be super quiet and sound great.

TravisinFlorida .... man ......... those mods sound good don't they?
I don't know if I can see putting $300 into a $100 amp but if it sounded like that clip it might be worth it.
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quiet? my band practices extremely loud and it was only just barely too quiet for me to use with my band. I was running it through a 4-12 marshall cab though.
 
Lt. Bob said:
TravisinFlorida .... man ......... those mods sound good don't they? I don't know if I can see putting $300 into a $100 amp but if it sounded like that clip it might be worth it.
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The thing is, I HIGHLY doubt that the upgraded transformers (99.9% of the mod cost) are even needed to get that type of tone out of the valve junior. The circuit is reworked in the mod in addition to the new transformers. I'll bet that if you dig around google and talk to some people over at ax84, you could get that sound for the cost of a couple of caps and resistors. I could be wrong but I honestly can't see the transformers making such drastic changes in the overall sound of an amp. The circuit in this amp is rediculously simple and anyone with some amp building under there belt could probably point you in the right direction. I'll soon be building my first tube amp project, a jtm45 type kit from weber.
 
donkeystyle said:
quiet? my band practices extremely loud and it was only just barely too quiet for me to use with my band. I was running it through a 4-12 marshall cab though.
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Right ..... but if you run it thru just a little 10 ... it's not very loud. Mine isn't loud enough for anything other than recording actually ..... and, like I said, my wife sleeps upstairs directly above my music room in an old non insulated house and she's yet to hear it so.
I think cardio should hear it for himself of course .... but I feel confident that at worst you could put a pillow and blanket over it and it wouldn't be an issue.
 
notCardio said:
So what would be some good yet extremely inefficient speakers?

I want it to sound good, just really, really quiet. If it's gonna sound like a little radio, there's not much point in it for me.
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Lt. Bob is telling you straight man. A speaker moving in the air is part of the sound of an amp. If the speaker ain't really moving, you're losing some of the sound.

I would look into the light bulb attenuator if you're set on less volume. It's dirt cheap, reversable, and you'll find out what Lt. Bob is saying to you without spending a bunch of money.

As far as the speaker, you should call Ted Weber from Weber speakers and ask him ANYTHING you want to know regarding speakers. Our own Harvey Gerst would be another guy to ask about this.
 
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