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

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lt. Bob
  • Start date Start date
Jr Great LIttle Amp!

I also have just purchased a Valve Jr., what a great little tube amp! This is by far the best deal out there for a small tube amp. I have been using tube amps for over 20 years, mostly Fenders and still own a Fender Vibro-King, 1966 Vibrolux Reverb and a 1972 Princeton Reverb all are great sounding amps but this little Epi just blows me away every time I play it, what a great sounding amp, right out of the box! I run the Epi into an old 50’s tweed fender deluxe cabinet (the electronics went years ago) loaded with a 12” jensen speaker. This lillte sucker just sounds great no matter what I plug into it, my strats or my PRS just sound great. I was using my Princeton for recording but now the Epi is my number one, it just sounds huge when recorded. I still can’t get over it. I have to thank Lt Bob for bringing this forward, I never would even heard of it if I didn't read this thread.
 
yeah, ive got a valve jr. combo, it's awesome, but the tubes suck, im going to replace them as soon as i have some spare cash.
 
zacanger said:
yeah, ive got a valve jr. combo, it's awesome, but the tubes suck, im going to replace them as soon as i have some spare cash.
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I actually think the tubes are quite nice. Don't toss the old ones just in case you aren't satisfied. I was considering a tube change until I actually used the amp on a recent recording. I know I've posted this several times but OMG this amp is amazing for 100 bucks. It takes a huge crap on any solid state amp in the same price range. Yeah the distortion isn't tear your face off but crank up the overdrive and throw a pedal in front and you're good to go. I mean the damn thing even sounded good with a metalzone in front. I just hope my Vox sounds as good as this amp.
 
tubes...

jonnyc said:
I actually think the tubes are quite nice. Don't toss the old ones just in case you aren't satisfied. I was considering a tube change until I actually used the amp on a recent recording. I know I've posted this several times but OMG this amp is amazing for 100 bucks. It takes a huge crap on any solid state amp in the same price range. Yeah the distortion isn't tear your face off but crank up the overdrive and throw a pedal in front and you're good to go. I mean the damn thing even sounded good with a metalzone in front. I just hope my Vox sounds as good as this amp.
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MMmm... I dunno. It sounds fine on low volumes, and with various overdrives in front, but I don't like the breakup of the tubes, it's too gritty. I want something smoother. So I'm thinking, replace the tubes & speaker, and maybe wire an extra 8 ohm output with the spare lead inside, and I'll be satisfied.
 
zacanger said:
MMmm... I dunno. It sounds fine on low volumes, and with various overdrives in front, but I don't like the breakup of the tubes, it's too gritty. I want something smoother. So I'm thinking, replace the tubes & speaker, and maybe wire an extra 8 ohm output with the spare lead inside, and I'll be satisfied.
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Ahhh, you're using the combo, I think I've heard people say the head is a very slightly different beast. I run mine thru a 4x12 Marshall and the break up is very different then on my 1x12 cab. If you have the means to record you should lay down a short track with the tubes cranked and then do another track with the new tubes. I'd be interested in hearing any differences.
 
samples

jonnyc said:
Ahhh, you're using the combo, I think I've heard people say the head is a very slightly different beast. I run mine thru a 4x12 Marshall and the break up is very different then on my 1x12 cab. If you have the means to record you should lay down a short track with the tubes cranked and then do another track with the new tubes. I'd be interested in hearing any differences.
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Ohh, right, okay. I have the means to record, but I don't have any spare cash for new tubes yet. I can tell you that cranked with the current tubes it's gritty, great for playing punk and raw blues and some Zep type stuff, but not great for smoother jazzy stuff, which is what I got it for.
 
zacanger said:
Ohh, right, okay. I have the means to record, but I don't have any spare cash for new tubes yet. I can tell you that cranked with the current tubes it's gritty, great for playing punk and raw blues and some Zep type stuff, but not great for smoother jazzy stuff, which is what I got it for.
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Well, when you do go for tubes consider Eurotubes.com. Those guys really know their shit and may have just the right tube combo to give you that jazzy sound. And I agree, when cranked it definately doesn't bring jazz to mind.
 
Just out of curiosity, I stuck my radio shack spl meter in front of the cabinet to see how loud my valve junior head was pushing a 1x12" crate speaker. At a distance of about 18" from the speaker, the meter registered up to 108 dB with the amp cranked (single coil tele pickups in the guitar). Not "earth-shakingly" loud, but still "damage your ears" loud if you played that way all the time (& had your head 18" from the speaker). I'd be interested to know what kinds of output others are getting with different cabinet setups.
 
scrubs said:
Just out of curiosity, I stuck my radio shack spl meter in front of the cabinet to see how loud my valve junior head was pushing a 1x12" crate speaker. At a distance of about 18" from the speaker, the meter registered up to 108 dB with the amp cranked (single coil tele pickups in the guitar). Not "earth-shakingly" loud, but still "damage your ears" loud if you played that way all the time (& had your head 18" from the speaker). I'd be interested to know what kinds of output others are getting with different cabinet setups.
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How much are those meters? If cheap enough I"ll give it a whirl thru my 4x12.
 
Here's a band I recorded. My Mesa DC3 blew up right as we were about to track guitars and we had to resort to the VJ and a metalzone. He also used a delay and flanger or phaser pedal. It's not properly mixed yet, haven't even done vocals but I think the guitars turned out really good.

 
jonnyc said:
Here's a band I recorded. My Mesa DC3 blew up right as we were about to track guitars and we had to resort to the VJ and a metalzone. He also used a delay and flanger or phaser pedal. It's not properly mixed yet, haven't even done vocals but I think the guitars turned out really good.

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I wouldn't have imagined it could get that metal. Nice work. :cool:
 
scrubs said:
I wouldn't have imagined it could get that metal. Nice work. :cool:
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I'm not at all happy with the mix itself but I hear the potential of the amp, I'll be sure to post the final results.
 
jonnyc said:
Here's a band I recorded. My Mesa DC3 blew up right as we were about to track guitars and we had to resort to the VJ and a metalzone. He also used a delay and flanger or phaser pedal. It's not properly mixed yet, haven't even done vocals but I think the guitars turned out really good.

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Before it kicks off, the song sounds very similar to the opening track of the new Bark Psychosis album - which is a complement, but I suggest you get hold of a copy as at the moment it may be a little too similar.

The sound is pretty full for a little amp! I may well pick up one of these heads myself for recording purposes. I'm not keen on the fuzz pedal though. It's very generic sounding - making the guitarist sound like everybody else who's making this sort of music. Maybe that's what they're after though?

I can imagine that amp sounding better with a Muff Pi, Rat or TS (or all three :D ) in front of it.

Also - the phaser - urghhhhhhhh. Not to my taste.

IMO the guitar is gonna need a 3db cut @ around 300-400Hz and some serious 'air' at 2k (but try not to make it sound like a wasp-in-a-bottle).
We all have different approaches though - and the cans I'm listening on are shite ;)
 
Codmate said:
Before it kicks off, the song sounds very similar to the opening track of the new Bark Psychosis album - which is a complement, but I suggest you get hold of a copy as at the moment it may be a little too similar.

The sound is pretty full for a little amp! I may well pick up one of these heads myself for recording purposes. I'm not keen on the fuzz pedal though. It's very generic sounding - making the guitarist sound like everybody else who's making this sort of music. Maybe that's what they're after though?

I can imagine that amp sounding better with a Muff Pi, Rat or TS (or all three :D ) in front of it.

Also - the phaser - urghhhhhhhh. Not to my taste.

IMO the guitar is gonna need a 3db cut @ around 300-400Hz and some serious 'air' at 2k (but try not to make it sound like a wasp-in-a-bottle).
We all have different approaches though - and the cans I'm listening on are shite ;)
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If the mesa hadn't blown a distortion pedal absolutely would not have been used. But after it blew the guitarist gave me the "this pedal's my sound" crap so I told him to hook it up and I tried to keep "his tone" but make it a little more recording friendly. These kids are just 17 and 18 so they are just getting to the point where they are writing decent stuff, plus, if they pay I don't really care how well they write, this is all about the amp not so much about the kid's song writing abilities.
 
Hey,
Can anyone tell me a vendor that they know is stocking and selling the newer, non-humming version of the combo? I called my vendor of choice (samedaymusic.com) and the customer service rep had no idea.
Thanks in Advance for any help
 
The head reportedly doesn't have the hum issue. Supposedly at some point Epiphone responded to the complaints about excessive hum in the combo and modified the circuit in newer models.
Does anyone know where you can get the newer combo?
 
Just go to gc and ask to plug one up. I think epi fixed the problems with hum on all their newer amps. May still be a few of the older ones stocked up but I'm thinking they've fixed the problem.
 
Just found this info on how to tell what version combo you have.
http://www.mercurymagnetics.com/pages/specials/ValveJrPjt/EVJ-02.htm

Mercury Magnetics web page said:
Which version of the Valve Jr. Combo do you own?

There are two versions of the Valve Jr. Combo in circulation. We call the first "Version 1" and the latest "Version 2." There are several minor external case differences but the Version 1 circuit board is a lot different than Version 2 units. The Mercury Mod kit includes schematics, plans and all components necessary to modify either Version 1 or 2 Valve Juniors. The easy way to identify if you have a Version 2 unit is by first 4 digits of the Junior's serial number are the date code (MMYY). Version 2 Junior's have a date code of "0106" (January 2006) or later. Version 2 models also have a slightly larger Epiphone logo with added black trim. The Valve Jr. Head's circuit board is the same as the Combo's Version 2.

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