Epiphone Valve Junior Combo

One Channel, one volume control, 8" speaker. The amp is rated at 5 watts, has one preamp tube and one power tube.

Tone is irritating and muddy at high levels. The Valve jr lacks complexity, texture, is one dimentional, and I find it boring to play. Most usable sound is between nine and one o'clock. Seems to like single coils better then high output humbuckers. I play a Fender MIM deluxe player's strat, a Dean Cadillac equiped with Seamore Duncans JB's (neck) and Jazz (bridge) and it actualy sounds decent at low volumes with my Gibson acoustic/electric Songwritter deluxe, but not above nine. Look, I have to be honest with this amp. I have owned it for over 2 years and in my opinion, there is no way this amp can be rated 10. I don't know how this amp reached the rating as high as it is. Most of the reviews I have read on the valve jr. usually start by saying I added this speaker or changed this tube or whatever. Im sure you guy's put alot of hard work into modifing this amp, and the overall sound has been improved but let's be truthful to the people who want to buy a good sounding inexpensive practice amp and are reading our reviews for some advice. If an amp needs a new speaker, new tubes, new whatever, it is not a very good amp to start out with, and being that this is a practice amp with no features other then a volume nob, an 8" speaker and a couple of tubes, I would ask you to think twice before you spend that kind of money upgrading this amplifire to sound decent. So why not save your cash and just buy a good sounding practice amp with a few good effects already built in to the amp? I would recomend VOX's Pathfinder 15r, It has a very natural, tubelike sound. with usable tremolo, a volume nob, both bass and treble control, a real spring reverb tank, a line out, a headphone jack and even has an 8 ohm external speaker jack so you can send the output to any cab you wish. You don't need to modify this amp, in fact, I wouldn't recomend it becouse it already sounds good. I owened the Valve jr for 2 years. When I recently went to sell it the buyer gave me 80 bucks, my wife almost blew the deal by exlaiming "for that?!?" That about say's it all. When I asked the buyer why he was interested in the valve jr. he said he wished to modify it. I just rolled my eyes.

I owned it for 2 years, it never broke down.

Did not contact epiphone.

Its ok, ive played better at this price.

I bought it a year ago.
Version 3.
cons: class A 5w and a volume pot, multiple outputs, portable, look, $$$
pros: no stand by switch, small speaker.

I own a laney lc30II, I bought the VJ V3 for practice.
I read all the good reviews here, and many of the web sites dedicated to mod it, so I decided to try one. I took me a couple of chords and riffs to say to the salesman "ok, I buy it", even though the lady luck sspeaker was a little harsh sounding... but hey, it is 8"!!!
Despite this fact, it is a nice amp for the money I paid.

The first thing I did was to check bias current, mine is at 48 mA @ 12.2 Watts IIRC, just in the limit. So I??m not planning to add a trimmer to adjust bias. It is a tube eater but it is only one tube.

I read that this amp begins to sound good after many hours of playing.
I??ve been using this for a year and it sounds way better now.

Sound quality when using the onboard speaker is what you can expect from a small 8". It lucks bass, so it is like a high pass filter. But this can be tamed with an EQ or TS.
But with an extension cabinet it is another thing.
With those 22uf caps across the cathode resistors it gets farty when cranked, not as a Fuzz Face but near.
It gives me "you shook me all night long", "money for nothing" or "at the woodchoppers ball (live)" sounds just with a tweak of the volume pot and the guitar controls.
I use it mostly with my DIYs Rangemaster, Red Fuzz and P90. (check aron nelson??s forum)
A variety of execellent tones, nice touch and feel. And it is very loud!

If you do not plan to take it to small parties with your friends like I do, you should consider buying the head and the cabinet duo.

I took it from Palma de Mallorca to Buenos Aires, had some hits. Looks tough.

I cross my fingers...

I owned some boutique amps in the past. But after years and years of playing I prefer lower wattage amps. To me a low watt true class A is just perfect.
Epiphone did an excelent product, and most of all, they improved the amp based on users reviews. I hope they include a stand by switch in the future, a bias trim, and consider a 10" speaker.
I??m very happy with it. If lost I would buy another.
I also consider the posibility of doing my own clone with better capacitors, and with a hammond 125ese.

Epiphone Valve Jr 5 watt Head has one volume knob and on/off switch. Mine is the new 3rd version with the 4, 8 and 16 ohm options for speaker out.

Sounds very dark with my Gibson Les Paul Standard, has no compression.
Is VERY loud, too loud for an apartment, breaks up nicely around noon on the volume but is too loud, so I play it with the volume around 9:00 and I use a pedal. Ive tried many pedals, the Fulltone Soulbender fuzz pedal sounds good with this amp. This amp will sound better with a Fender guitar, its a dark sounding amp and needs a bright guitar. Amp is quiet, has no hum. I run it into a 12 inch Jensen speaker housed in a Songworks closed back cab.

I already dropped it about from 3 feet in the air to the ground and nothing happened, still works, no hum.

Decent amp, very loud, needs a Fender guitar, is dark sounding, has no compression, a Maxon OD-808 overdrive tubescreamer would be perfect.

I know, it's only got one knob for volume and that's it. However, I love the absolute simplicity of it, and that one knob gives you one hell of a range of tones! I play harmonica, and playing with different settings for the amp volume and harp volume can give you everything from pristine clean to dirty, gritty, over-driven blues-harp-from-hell tone.

I love playing blues harp through this thing, because it accentuates the natural tone of the instrument rather than burying it. As one reviewer noted, this amp will work with what you give it. If your tone isn't good to begin with, don't expect it to sound good out of the amp. But if your tone is solid, it's great. The full spectrum of the tone comes through, low to high. When you open the volume to just under 3/4 (the sweet spot for me), the tone doesn't degrade into a growly mess. Instead, the tone remains strong, the overtones remain strong, all of the subtleties of your playing remain intact, and the amp simply adds beautiful, warm-sounding distortion on top of and around what you're playing. The definition of the notes aren't lost in the slightest, either, which is great for harp as you can still get all of those great percussive effects, hand effects, etc.
I'm sure there are boutique amps out there that sound better, but for $149 this has got to be one of the best values out there - I would still be impressed had I spent double or triple that amount!

So far so good.... only had it about a month. Seems to be very solidly built, though.

Have not had to deal with costumer support. However, I am impressed with how Epiphone improved this thing through the different versions (I have version 3). It seems as though they have really listened to what musicians were saying about the amp, and improved on most of the issues that were in the first and second versions. For that, I'll give an 8.

I've been playing blues hamonica for about 10 years (keyboards for 20), and this is by far the best amp I have played through. I used to own a Fender Blues Jr, and in my opinion this thing is miles ahead in tone quality! It's simple, well-constructed, and perfect for blues harp! Given the price tag of $149, this has to be one of the best deals on the planet!

I did a review on the Valve Junior Combo ( Version #3 ) in 2008 on Harmony Central and this amp is still just what I need,"Simplicity at it's Best". What I have done since my last review is I have changed out the speaker and it has made a HUGE difference.In place of the stock 8" speaker I put in a Ted Weber AlNiCo Signature 8 eight inch speaker .
http://www.tedweber.com/

I rated this section a 9 because it is what it is , back to the basics.

The stock speaker was loud as heck but it was VERY HARSH for playing harmonica through but the Ted Weber Alnico "Signature" 8" speaker brought "TONE" to the equation that is warm/responsive and when pushed it has a very smooth and chewy attack.I have been through a LOT of different brands of 8" speakers and the Webers are the BEST!

I have been abusing Weber Speakers for years now and nary a problem,they just sound better the more you play them.

Ted Weber is possibly the nicest person I have ever dealt with ! He listens to your needs and can special build to your situation and usually for cheaper than what you would pay for a stock speaker.

I have been playing harmonica for about 40 years now and amplified for 29 years and I think his speakers and the Valve Junior are about as good as it gets for my style of playing. You can check me out at
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=SteveHarvell&view=videos

I just bought this amp today, I usually wait a few months before I review to see if it lasts. But I wanted to write one now. Features are basically non existent on this amp. But they aren't needed. Input Jack, Volume knob, Off/On Switch, and you can hook different cabs up to it too. 5W, all tube. I use this amp in my bedroom or anywhere that doesn't involve a drummer. I'll give it a 5, but the amp isn't about features. Play one, and you will see.

I use an epiphone dot, and a fender telecaster deluxe. The humbuckers in the dot create a breakup at lower volumes, while the wide range in the fender stay clean for a bit longer. They both sound great through this amp though. This is natural tube over drive and it makes me drool. It's so warm and full and beautiful... I just can't say enough about it. If your looking for a real clean amp, this isn't the way to go though. Get a fender tube w/ reverb in that case. If the overdrive is this nice through an 8" speaker , I can't wait to see how full it is through a 12". Compared to $2000 tube heads, I'm sure this isn't equal. So for the price, I'll give it a 9.

Again, I just bout it today, so I'm not sure yet. Sorry. But my dot has held up. I know for a fact that Epiphone is a quality company who produces things for real musicians. They care about there products unlike other big companies like fender. You won't have any quality issues buying from Epiphone.

I've dealt with Gibson before a few times, and they were great. No problems.

I have played guitar for about 8 years now. I'm a simple man, with simple things. I know good sound when I hear it, and this amp sounds great. It really inspires me to write. It blows my fender hot rod's overdrive out of the water(fender clean is where its at though). My advice is that you play it, and see if its right for you. Reviews are nice, but they don't mean that much in the grand scheme of things. Sit down, play it, get inspired. If you don't like the sound, move on to the next amp. I love this amp.

I picked up a V3 VJ. While it only has one control (volume) it's responsive enough that you can get a variety of tones out of it by changing the settings on your guitar, or simply modifying your attack.

In a practice room with a drummer with full kit, it had just enough head room. Add a tube screamer, you should be able to keep up.

I play garage/punk/blues/dub, and between my Jaguar and my Stratotone I find this little tube amp has the appropriate tone for most of the songs we play.

However, in my experience anyway, this amp needs a little work before it starts to meet its potential. The stock tubes (a Sovtek el84 and an EH 12ax7) provided a reasonable tone until about 11 o'clock on the dial. Past that, and you got fuzz and buzz, not a warm breakup. I switched the Sovtek for a JJ and the EH for a Tung-Sol, and I was surprised by how different the sound became. Now, the more you turn it up, the better it sounds.

Switch the tubes, seriously.

I haven't had it very long, but I've probably run it full out for 8 hours or so. So far, no problems. But it's a tube amp, so don't bang it on anything or leave it out in the cold.

Haven't dealt with them yet.

I needed a little amp that was easy to move around, but still had enough power to practice with a drummer. After the tube switch, I have no regrets picking this up. You can really get it howling with the volume wide open, and when it's turned down, you get nice string definition and some warm chime.

I chose this amp over the Fender Champion and the Vox Pathfinder 15r. I would certainly buy this amp again, although I would have to factor in the cost of picking up new tubes as well (about $30).

versio 2 combo unmodded

Heh heh, yeah well I own a friggin '69 marshall superbass and comparing the two is completely retarded. I mean, dude? What the f?%k! I can't play the marshall in my house without the neighbours going nuts (I've got an se100 and it just ain't the same), and I for sure as hell ain't gonna mod it even though it's been through hell! dumbass. The little VJ is about hot-rodding, you idiot. You know, those early chevys and fords weren't so hot either, but... I still have faith in my version 2 combo and there's something in there... makes you wanna get in under the hood. Something running flat out. But all that being said- I do agree that $300 to spend on a $100 amp- well you can find old fenders and gibsons not too far from that and well... man the choice is yours.

good so far

no need

playing since '89 on mostly strats amstd 86, fullerton 84 '57, fuzzes rat 2, muff, way huge, marshalls jcm 800, '69 superbass. The EVJ sucks out of the box, but...

through ads....

Hah-Ha-Hah.., With all advancement of music gears with reviews, people are still on their way to rock bottom believing that this is a fine amp. Bottom line is you'll be spending more time and money on improving the sound of this amp that I believe the only thing you can salvage is the case. Lets face it, most of the reviewers here never even had the chance to own a real amp like an early marshall.

Product is good for low-end user...

Single channel, single ended 5 Watt all tube amp. Just volume control. Mine is a rev #3, with multiple impedance outputs and Eminence speaker.

It all comes down to what it's been thought for, I think. This puppy was thought to be an easy, plug-and-play, no frills combo, and that's what you get.

After reading lots of boards I have opened mine just to find that many of the mods suggested on the web have already been implemented in the latest revision. Things like using Alpha volume pot, DC heater, proper output transformer primary impedance, better tube quality, correct values of resistors on input voltage divider and things like that have already been addressed.

Mine came with an EH 12AX7 and a Sovtek EL84.

Despite the lot of people complaining about this combo being shrill, I must disagree: mine sounded very dark and muffled.
I have made some mods to it, like installing Mallory caps and a Tweed-like tone control, and now it sounds very good to me.
It gives a very spanky sound that's prone to distort quite easily. Too bad the 5 Watts combined with the small 8" speaker are just too loud to crank it home.
It's kind of a vintage-sounding amp. Dirty and punchy. I just love it.
It takes stompboxes very well, so I can get good saturated tones at bedroom volumes with my TS9 (with 808 mod).
It used to be dead quiet when it was stock, after the mods it's a bit noisy but much better sounding to me.

I bought it because I wanted an amp that was different from my main amp (a Mesa/Boogie Mark IV combo), and that could give me some fun modding it. No complains, it just does the job.

I play it with a Tom Anderson Drop Top and a custom made guitar.

Rating is for the stock sound. After the mods, it deserves at least a 7.

Just had it for a month. Anyway, I've taken a look inside and it looks like it may last forever. Despite it's made in China, it's very well done. Component quality looks quite good. It's a very easy amp, there's not much that can fail inside that black little box, I'd expect it to last long enough to get fed up with it :)

No idea.

For the price I paid for it, it's a bang for the buck. For less than 100 Eur you get a good cabinet, a good chassis, a big power transformer, a suitable output transformer, two good tubes, a well done pcb and a bunch of passive components. Even if it does not sound as you wish, every monkey that knows how to use a welding iron can modify it. There's plenty of boards, schematics and suggestions, it can provide hours of fun just by experimentimg new changes to the circuit.