Epiphone Valve Junior Combo

Volume and on/off. Seems simple enough... I give it a 7 because there's no tone tweaking. This isn't a knock, it just happens to be true. The single tone that the amp does generate is surprisingly good, and loud enough to practice with (without putting your hearing at risk), yet quiet enough to let you hear the other guys in the band.

I'm using this amp with a '57 Les Paul Jr. and a '74 Les Paul Custom. Turned most of the way up, the amp gives a nice, girthy overdrive that nicely compliments a Les Paul's thick, chunky sound. For leads a pedal is recommended. Again, the lack of tone adjustment means that tone tweaking will have to come by way of tube rolling or circuit tweaks. (Of course, for $120 that ain't bad ... and doing the mods can be kinda fun.) I'd say, however, that the basic sound is very high quality, and that's important. All the tweaks in the world won't save a bad amp.

One thing I'd like to mention here is that I've got what I think is an early version of this amp with the two cutouts in the back panel. I think the version with only a single cutout (by the tubes) sounds "boxier"; this version of the VJ will likely sound better if you take the back panel off.

The amp is too new to make a comment.

No dealings with Epiphone.

I base my rating on "bang for the buck". For $120 this amp is AMAZING. In the past I've owned a tweed Fender Champ and a cream Gibson GA-5T. I've also heard the Victoria "Champ" clone and the new Gibson GA-5 "Goldtone". All in all, the Valve Junior leaves me with no reason to think that much -- if anything -- would be gained by purchasing these far more expensive amps. Sure, the Valve Junior has no tone adjustment, and it does hum. Same thing applies to all the other single-ended amps I just mentioned. I'd suggest that if you want true value for the money you spend, geteting the Valve Junior is a no-brainer. Even with the cost of some different tubes, a replaced capacitor here and there, or even a replacement for the stock Weber Signature 8 speaker, you'll still be way ahead on price.

Just the volume knob and you do NOT need anything else if you are a good player, I used to own, for example Roland VG-88v2 where you can adjust everything and anything and run it through the PA system ... or I owned the Variax and multichannel amps - yet this is BETTER as you plug in a great guitar and you have THE SOUND & THE TONE, but warm it up for an hour and then it's optimal !

I give it 9 as I would have liked the more connecting options.

That's 10 and no doubt it is 10 even with a stock tubes and speaker (as long as you CHOOSE a good unit - wise advice as these are made in Asia).

It sound much better than any digital or virtual amp or box as it has the dynamics and tone and just the right range for my Strat and Les Paul. All you do is open volume to about 2 pm and you PLAY for days as you can adjust everything else on your guitar.

I ovcasionally add Morley disto, volume, wah or another OD808 like Maxon or Baby Blues and this amp sings. Perfect for all styles.

As suggested I did test it with THD Univalve up front but it needs no Univalve frankly as it sounds great as it is and just the extra boost is all you need. No reverb - do not need one as it sounds great.

I did play LIVE with a band and had no problem to be heard even with 2 conga players and the drummer as this 8'' cuts through nicely !

Sure if you want it very clean you may mic it through the PA yet in practice it is loud enough for all the usual small gigs and 8kgs only.

I give it 10 as it is class A and it feels and sounds like class A which means you get all the finest expressive boutique tones for $120!

No rpoblem in 6 months. And NO hum on my model !

No idea.

If you play guitar, you just have to buy one. It is the best gift you will give yourself if you have a good guitar and play well.

I think that any decent guitarist with this amp and Eric Johnson Strat can get a sonic Nirvana: guitar for $2000 and the combo for $120 !!!

I do have another Jensen speaker and more fine tubes but at present I use everything stock. Whoever did not give 10 for the tone is either deaf or unlucky with a faulty unit or simply cannot play.

My summary: just buy one (but test the actual unit before taking iz home as these are all Asian made). I will buy the socond one and sell my boutique amps. 'nough said. Thanks Epiphone (Gibson).

Purchased new in January 2006.

Amp Features: One Knob: Volume. One channel. Class A Tube (1x12AX7, 1 EL84). 1x8" speaker. Only one thing I'd like is a master vol control.

Styles of music: Blues - Electric/Slide/Acoustic

I got this amp for a regular weekly gig at a small club. Allows for the nice warm, bluesy OD at a respectable level.

I might look at swapping tubes to see about different types of tone that are possible, but right now, it's fine.

So far, so good. Gives me that old 1950's/1960's blues sound (can you say Elmore James) that small, over driven amps of that period have.

No tone controls to mess up your sound. I get the actual sound of my guitars where all the tone controls I need are. Using with the following guitars: 1951 Epiphone Century Archtop/flat back, 2006 Washburn HB15 archtop, 2005 Strat type I built ("Texas" GFS Premium Alnico pickups).

I do run a Digitech RP50 for reverb, delay and level balancing and, if need be, can tweak bass/mid/treb tones there. Occassionally use a DOD 250 OD for some added crunch.

Bottom line: Sounds great with or without pedals.

Seems solid. Time will tell as I play every week.

Not used.

It is what it is: Simple, warm and surprisingly LOUD. Worth it for playing the music I do (blues/rock). Some might find it limiting without tone controls. I find it freeing. Gives me the true color of my instruments.

I'd buy another if stolen (after hunting down the perpetrator) or if lost. Remember, I'm using this for a specific purpose/music. It might not suit everyone.

My first comment is "THIS IS NOT A FENDER CHAMP, DOES NOT SOUND LIKE ONE IF YOU EXPECT IT TO BE YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED LIKE ME." I've been playing since I was five. I've owned every great amp there is, here are some examples so you know what my reference point is: Tweed Harvard, 64 princeton reverb, 68 champ, (2) 68 broncos, (3) silverface vibrochamps, silverface deluxe, (2) Vox JMI ac-10, Vox ac-4 (worst sounding amp ever made) Supro thunderbolt, Magnatone 213 (I think that's the number it's like a tweed deluxe except with vibrato) A late 80 marshall tube combo, a regal tube combo. Those are all the tube amps I think I have owned I maybe leaving some out? Of all these the epiphone valve junior sounds the most like the late 80s marshall tube combo which is not that outstanding. Out of the box I was VERY impressed with this thing. The cabinet, knobs, cosmetics, speaker, tube layout, transformers, feel of the amp was of something way more expensive and reminded me of a champ. This amp is WAY bigger than you will expect. I like the fact it uses a computer electric cable as I have a brown paper bag full of extra ones. I plugged it in expecting to hear a fender champ sound. Let me tell you what I did hear: HUM. Loudest hum I ever heard. My amp is brand new, I'm sure was treated okay in shipping. This amp hums more so than amps that are damaged. Had I not been aware of this amps reputation for the hum and just plugged this in I would take it right to the repair shop. It's really bad, annoying and its so loud I can hear it over the distortion pedal. I tried different sockets in my house, turning off lights, different locals. Everything. These amps hum. Some people here have suggested masking this with the distortion pedal or something. That's like turning up the radio when the car is not working right. The hum is so bad I am not sure if I can practice with this amp and I don't know if I would record with it. The hum really bothered me. I do not feel it has anything to do with the amp being dropped, the speaker or the tubes. People talk about replacing the tubes in these. I've had mullards, RCA and brimars. They do not make that much difference over sovteks. I feel there is some kind of design flaw in all of these. I don't want to have to deal with "mods" or anything or tinker with the amp. Why buy an amp you have to "fix" before you can use it. The most affordable bench fee of any tech I know is about $60 to service an amp like that. Add that to the $119 I paid for it that's around $180. That's putting you in fender champ territory which we all know we want to buy but either can't pay or won't pay the money for.

Okay. I tested this amp with two guitars: A peavey predator USA made strat copy with cheap pickups and bad shielding. And, a 58' Gibson es-125 tdc (george thorogood, izzy guitar) with p-90s. I also used a tech 21 GT2 distortion pedal. I tried it with and without. By itself this guitar does not sound too good. The hum gets worse-especially bad after about 2/4 cranked. I compared the amp with nothing plugged in and that dam noise is still there which is a shame cause it's such an impressive looking little amp. The clean sound did not seem "warm" to me it's definitely a tube amp though as it takes time to come on. It didn't sound any better after leaving it run 20 minutes than when it was first turned on. The strat style guitar made it hum more but again it has bad shielding. This amp does not like semi hollow guitars and it sounded farty and crappy. Sort of like the non-tremolo channel on a old vox jmi. This amp does not sound like the beatles and if you plugged Paul McCartney into it would not sound like the beatles so forget all that "class A" stuff which just means it is single ended and is not vox like. This amp does not sound like zep or acdc in anyway shape or form and I do not think Jimmy page is running out to get one. (incidentally page used a supro trojan which is a knock off of a vibrochamp not a thunderbolt. Albert Lee who grew up with page talked about this in an interview in vintage guitar.) What does this amp sound like? In the late 80s Marshall came out with this little expensive tube studio combo with a 6v6 and 12ax7 tube compliment. It had a vintage 12 celestion speaker. I bought one of these dreadful little amps, I think I paid $250 for it back then which is a lot for a small amp like that and this sounds real close to it. Maybe a little bit better. This amp has no real sound of it's own. The best mod you can make to this amp is not changing out the speaker or tubes but getting yourself a Tech 21 GT2 pedal and plugging it into it. Instantly for some reason this pedal takes care of the hum problem and reduces it. Why? Hell if I know. Makes a substantial difference. With the pedal in this you get a great marshall and boogie sound. The clean sound on this amp sucks. Even with sansamp. No way to get good clean "fender" sound on this amp. The clean sounds brittle and shrill. It does not sound pignosey. That would be to generous. Amp sounds beneath solid state clean. I would prefer going clean into a peavey rage 128 than this. This amp really hated my gibson guitar it sounded really bad. I am not sure what it would do with a guitar with humbuckers. Maybe something great. You could practice with a drum kit with this tiny amp with a distortion pedal to boost the signal you could not play out with it. This amp has no real sound of it's own, not "transparent" but like no sound of it's own. It sounds good with the Tech 21 gt2 because it is a great sounding pedal and the best piece of recording/performing equipment I ever bought.

This amp looks solid. The place I bought it from gives a 1 year replace no questions asked warranty in addition to 5 year from epiphone. If I keep this amp I am going to play the living shit out of it! I am not worried about this amp conking out. The chineese are building some good stuff. Very nice work on this one except for the hum

I would not buy again. That's honest. I gave all new tube amp combos a shot and let me tell you what I think. Fender blackface/silverface champ is it and covers all the bases. If you have to pay $300 for a decent one so be it. It's the best sounding amp there is. I bought my first one for $35 in 87. Those days are long gone. Hehe Play the Epiphone Junior first somewhere before you buy. Forget what you read here. If you've never had many tube amps maybe you won't know. I feel a lot better about this amp than any other tube amp they've made. I don't know if I am going to keep mine or not. I am still testing it out. It sounds pretty good with the Tech 21 pedal but that's the pedal. The worst problem with this amp? Really just one big one: HUM. I don't want an amp I have to fix or mod, or do anything to mask a hum. This is not in the realm of normal hum this is like the worst hum I've heard. It's like bad guitar cable 60 cycle hum times ten. I don't want to put money into this thing. I bought the amp because I wanted to save money and not buy a champ. There is no other tube amp in this price range so right there you have a bargain. I would defintely take this over a harmony, tempo or kay amp with radio tubes. Those are shock boxes stay away. I would take this over a kalamazoo too. Play this amp before you buy it that is all I have to say. I can tell you exactly what the amp sounds like. A 1975-2005 marshall circuit board tube amp. I think it will only sound as good as the pedals and guitars you plug into it but your not really hearing the amp but the pedal and the guitar. This amp has no sound. I am giving it an 8 because of the high quality construction and the price. I would not make this the only amp you own in that case by yourself a nice used solid state usa made peavy. You can get clean and dirty sounds with it.

Front: input jack, volume, illuminated power switch
Back: removeable power cord, 4-ohm speaker jack

The cabinet looks very nice with black tolex, a woven/tweed grill cloth, and white piping. The 8", 4-ohm speaker sounds surprisingly big & full, with a warm vintage sound.

I really like the fundamental sound of this amp. However, it has an unusually loud hum, even for a single-ended design. So I bought it with the intentions of fixing it, (I'm an Electrical Engineer with lots of tube experience). I have discovered that there are actually three problems:

1) The 60hz hum is caused by the AC Filament supply traces. They run right along the hi-z audio signal path. This is a MAJOR no-no! Whoever did the circuit board layout just doesn't have a clue. (HEY AMERICA, CAN WE PLEASE STOP OUT-SOURCING PRODUCT DESIGNS & MANUFACTURING?!) The solution is to cut the filament traces, and run a twisted pair of wires to carry the filament supply up & out of the way of the signal path. This mod requires careful skill by a good tech or it can get very ugly & unreliable.

2) After you fix the hum problem, you will notice a higher pitch (120hz) buzz. This is typical rectified supply noise, and it can be remedied with a larger high voltage filter cap.

3) At this point my amp was very quiet, but still seemed to have excessive noise as you move the volume control near its maximum. It wasn't bad, but I knew it could be better. After some troubleshooting, I found that the input jack wasn't making a good ground connection to the front panel, because Epiphone neglected to mask the inside of its mounting hole. I removed the jack, grounded off the interior paint around the hole, re-installed the jack, and now she's as quiet as can be.

PLEASE DON'T ATTEMPT TO DO ANY MODS UNLESS YOU ARE A QUALIFIED TECH. THERE ARE LETHAL CONTACT POINTS IN THIS AMP!!! If you need some help getting this work done you can contact me below.

As stock I give this amp a 5, because you really can't record or perform with such a noisy amp. After the noise is taken care of I give it a solid 9.

Aside from the electrical flaws, this amp seems to be very well built.

This is a good project amp for the electrically inclined. Unfortunately I cannot recomend it for the average guitarist because the stock hum/buzz/noise renders the amp useless.

Well, it's a 10 if you like basic b/c 1 simple volume control is as basis as basic gets. If you want more, i.e., eq, reverb, preamp volume, you'll want to look for a more sophisticated amp. I love the basic "it goes from 0 to 10 and that's all it does" simplicity. I'm going to give it a 7 here b/c it has a surprisinglly wide tonal range just w/ the volume control. It goes from a nice clean sound to big gritty growl. And it gets LOUD. I played w/ a 4-piece over the weekend--2 guitars, a bass, and a big loud drummer, and with the volume at 1 o'clock, I had no problem being heard.

I use an American Fender Tele that I think sounds great thru this amp. I play power pop, and am loving the grit I get when I crank it up. The clean sound is very nice too, but if I wanted to play clean w/ the band, it wouldn't be loud enough. With the band, it's grit all the way. I think the overdrive has a great classic tube saturation sound. It's "warm" as they like to call it.

Just bought it a couple of weeks ago. Haven't had any problems yet.

I can't comment on this. I'm not sure how long the warrenty lasts.

As I said, I've been playing it for 2 weeks. I also own a Vox AC-15, which is my pride and joy, but to be honest, I think the Epiphone holds its own. It doesn't have the depth or chimy high end of the AC-15, but for the price, it is a fantastic sounding amp. I do a lot of home recording, and I'm really looking forward to panning the Vox to side and the Epiphone to the other. I think they'll sound great together with the Vox sounding cleaner and more defined and the Epiphone sounding chunky and gritty.

If I lost this one or had it stolen, I'd definately buy another.

1 input
volume
illuminated power switch
4-ohm speaker jack
4-ohm 8" speaker
cool looking cabinet

Simple but very effective!

Sounds great, but hums like a motherf@#ker.

The amp can be modified to eliminate the hum & buzz. I've modified several for friends & customers. My work is neat, prompt, very reasonably priced, and guarenteed to do the trick. If interested, use my contact info below.

Sound ratings:
It's a solid 9 after the hum & buzz is eliminated - a definite keeper!
Stock the amp is a 5.

Big transformers, solid steel chasis, wide circuit traces - so it should hold up quite well. I don't like the fact that the entire back panel needs to be removed to change the tubes. It might be a good idea to remove the metal grill from the back panel when you do the first tube change, so for future changes you can access the tubes without removing the panel. I'm sure the metal grill is for CE Safety Compliance. So if you have a young one or a small pet with access to the amp then by all means leave the grill alone!

The amp has a lot of potential. Unfortunately whoever laid out the circuit board knows nothing about hi-Z circuits.

5 watt, all tube, 1 volume control
Distortion and break-up increase as you increase the volume, simple design.

Played it with my MIM Tele (with SD little '59 bridge pup and SD Vintage Hot neck pup) and my 2004 American Strat (SSS).
Nice clean tone through both, good slight overdriven sound as you increase the volume, but...
LOTS OF HUM, I mean as soon as I plugged it in with the volume turned all the way down it was noticeable, and exponentially worse as the volume was increased. So much hum they should call it the Epiphone Hummingbird Valve Junior, or whatever.
I hadn't noticed so much hum while playing the floor model at Guitar Center, so I brought it back and switched it out for the floor model. Still a lot of hum, but not quite as bad. After a couple of minutes though I noticed an echoey, rattling sound on lower notes. It appeared to be the tube rattling, I adjusted it but it didn't go away.
I returned the second one to GC and got my $90 back.

The amp worked, but the combination of hum and rattling problems I experienced didn't provide me with too much confidence.

n/a

I liked the tone, and I liked the idea of a nice 5 watt tube amp for $90. I pretty much knew I wasn't going to get a ton of quality for that amount of scratch, the the amount of hum and rattle I got from two examples was unnaceptable even for $90. I didn't hate it, but for the money I recommend a Roland Microcube which can be had for around $100, or 100 tacos for $100.

wonderfully, blissfully void of features. amen.

great - for the money. nasty power tube overdrive for pennies. it takes a certain type of player to know how to control and coax a low watt tube amp - this isn't for everybody.

too early to tell - but who cares? if it runs for a month, i got my money's worth.

i dig it - been waiting for a dirt cheap low watter to come out, for recording. suprisingly sturdy construction as well. i have been freaking out over the sheer amount of products americans buy that are made in china, but it's hard to complain about this one.

i'd like to see someone come out with a 1 watter - this thing is still prety loud at the breakup threshhold. recommended.

On/off, input jack, volume. What more do you need?

The class A provides some hum but that is to be expected and doesn't impair the attraction of this amp at all. Clean below 9 o'clock and growls as you go round the dial. I can play it all the way up and it cuts through. I don't know how, but it does. It's basically loud as hell and sounds great too. I replaced the tubes with Teslas and the speaker with a Jensen champ replica. I recorded both before switching them out and the stock speaker sounded just as good. The Jensen is top-notch but somehow the stock does the trick just as well. I'd put decent tubes in there though (I wonder how many stock sovteks are out there collecting dust?).

6 months in and it hasn't skipped a beat.

5 years. Okay, great!

Been playing about 20 years. Would have to go pick up another one for chump change if this one disappeared. I love the vintage 8" speaker tube tones. I play a '96 MIM Strat with EMG-SA's and one of the recent MIJ Blue Flower Teles with Bill Lawrence p'ups. If you know about and can appreciate class A hum then this amp is the bomb.