Epiphone Valve Junior Combo

Mine is a newer version - likely 2007 with the newer hum reduction design. Have to give it a 2 because it is what it is - very basic class A 5 Watt tube amp. Don't interpret that as bad.

This amp is simply outstanding. At lower volumes, it is quite clear and clean, crank it up and it gets very dynamically responsive to your attack and breaks up beautifully. After one day, it is my favorite amp ever - even with the cheap stock tubes.
This is an amp that you have to understand though. I think those reviewers who call it "dark" sounding have to consider what the amp is and is not. There not much in the circuitry coloring your sound. I spent about 3 hours with it yesterday - no effects with an american tele. On the bridge pickup, the sound is quite bright and cuts through nicely. With both pickups on, the I got a quite nice rhythm sound and with a little turn of the volume knob got some nice growl. On the neck pickup, it is admittedly "darker" sounding, but might be a good sound for some jazz and other uses. I would anticipate the same "darkness" with a neck humbucker, but with an earlier breakup because of generally higher output. The point is, this bad boy amplifies what it gets. Start putting the tone control circuits in and all the other bells and whistles and you start gaining more control at the expense of the short path between you and the tubes and the speaker. I think the criticizm for being "dark" sounding is a reflection of the lack of ability to color the sound by boosting the treble or cutting the bass. I submit that all that can be fixed with an equalizer pedal like a Boss GE 7 or the like if you want more control. But, appreciate this amp for what it is - a great sounding, very responsive amp.
Lots of mods are possible and well documented on the Internet. I contemplated quite a few before getting mine, and am now contemplating far fewer if any. This little guy just screams with creamy smooth distortion and the most responsive dynamics I have experienced. Still has just a little of the hum when cranked, but quite tolerable. May try to tweak that a bit, but this amp is quite good out of the box when you understand that it is simpy going to amplify what you put in. Want color, treble, bass? Get an equalizer and one of these and I don't think you'll regret it. The sound just doesn't get much better than this.

Survived shipping, but can't comment otherwise.

no experience

I have about 18 guitars and 7 amps. Have been playing for 40+ years. I would replace it in a heartbeat, and would buy another if I spot a deal just for fun. As an electrical engineer, I might investigate some of the mods suggested on the Internet. Perhaps add a little more power supply filtering, and mod of the input circuit and the voltage divider between the preamp and power amp stages just for fun. But I'll be thinking long and hard about it or buying another for mods.
Haven't done the calculations, but it appears that the bias may be a little high on the output tube (decreases tube life) so I might tweak that, but trust me, this guy is AOK right out of the box. I might get another just to experiment with, but really it is an excellent amp as is. Some allege that the parts are cheap, but that is an issue that only time will tell, and it is so simple and cheap, it can easily be fixed or replaced. BUY ONE.... or three.

There is everything i expect from the amplifier - power switch for starting it up and volume button for adjusting volume. There is no need for any more stuff, it would just ruin this lovely layout.

when you turn it on, it sounds... well, something you expect to come from a tube amp. not bad at all, but nothing special either.

but hey...

let it warm up... for about 20-30 minutes. then turn it up to near breaking up level and play... play with your heart and soul, with all the mojo you have got!

It would be 10 if it would reach that tone faster than 20-30 minutes.

PS! it loves Tube screamer as well:)

built solid... sometimes i have heard some kind of fizz or smth... but that can be from the poor electricity i have in my home. Its a V2, so there are no other noise problems:)

dont know.

I love this sucker for its small size and great tone - not your usual package... If it were stolen i would buy another one.

As a long admirer of Fender Champs and simple Class A amps, I had to see what these were about after all the reviews. The simplicity is a major plus, and swapping the tubes is a piece of cake- no need to bias. My only wish is that there was a stand-by switch.

Ok- I first bought a VJ head and paired it with a nice 2x12 cab- plenty of power/volume. The nice part is that this can be pared with pedals to get the best of huge/classic amp tone with the ability to play & record at room volume- not like your playing a stadium gig.

So I was impressed enough that I wanted to see if the VJ combo was just as good....WOW. -Let's just say it's the only amp I play. In both the VJ head and the combo I've basically just swapped the 12Ax7 tubes to Groove Tube Gold series. Nice warm tone. I use this amp with a Digitech RP 250 in a classic "Bassman" type setting and the result is perfect. I play various electrics from my '77 SG, a Squier '51, but by recent fav is an '57 Epi LP Jr which I swapped in a true 'P90' to replace the excessively hot P100 it came with.

What a tone!

No issues yet.

From my experience and my playing style, this thing does it all and does it well. I gave it the true love/hate test the other night by playing out live with my lil' jr. I play a lot of slide and I basically played with a piano and a bass player and didn't need to mic the amp. Mic'ing the amp though would have definitely brought a more fuller sound to the room, but I basically played with the amp at 10 o'clock and had all the volume & projection I needed. If I bring in some drums, I will definitely go the mic'ing route. The piano player was floored on how great this amp sounded. I'm even leaving the "drink rings" on the amp for character..

For features, there are tubes, transformers, and a speaker. It even has extra features like a volume knob and a cabinet to hold all of it with a great eye appeal. I like the amp.

I've been playing for about 40 years, so I've heard and played a lot of amps. This little amp sounds pretty darn cool. If you are at all familiar with Hank Williams Sr. and have hear his old music, the old raspy, hot, clean and dirty at the same time is what this amp delivers. I took it into the tiny club I play at last night. I put it next to my other amp and I just kept going back to the VJ. It did not have the clarity of my other cool amp, but it had a tone that was very pleasant. I bought it because my other amp is 40 watts and I never get to turn it up. I bought the VJ after reading about it so much. It filled the club with truly acceptable tube-tone. I have JJ Tubes coming for it already from Eurotubes, because I believe in them and recommend them. I will probably switch out the speaker at some time in the future. I only ran the amp at about 10:00 or so. I use pedals for other tones. People loved it. In a live situation it was great. I run an Analog Man Sunface NKT, Mini Chorus, Juicer, and a AR20DL Delay into whatever I play through. Without these, the amp didn't have a lot of life. Plug in good stuff and it is fantastic. I didn't even get any hum. It's a decent amp. It is what it is: a 5 watt tube amp. Pedals bring it to life. If you hate effects that is a personal choice thing. I try to give my little audience the best listening experience I can with my limited abilities. But, sorry, nothing gets a 10 in my book except the genuine 59 Strat I had a long time ago.

Fortunately I know one of the best amp tech in the US is there in Arkansas, so if I ever had a problem, I would pay him to do what he does for a living: fix stuff.

I wouldn't bother sending in the warrantee on an amp I paid $120 for. Deal with a reputable company to begin with and deal locally.

This amp sounds old fashioned. Old school. Minimal in every way. I used it live and I loved it. I would use my big amp in a big venue, but for a small club where you want tube tone at a resonable volume, this amp does it for me. Use your effects to bring it to life or not.

Newer model EVJ. Meh, it has one input, one knob, and one switch. That's plenty for me.

After reading the many reviews on this little beast, I had to try it myself. It's honestly just the thing I'm after. I do more home recording than anything else and if I need a big rig to play on, I know plenty of gear-heads to sort me out. The sound is just what I was after! When people say to at least A-B a couple of them in store, listen to them. The first EVJ I tried was good but on a hunch I asked if they had another I could try. Sure enough, the second was amazing compared to the first, to the point that the clerk serving me remarked on the difference. There is a point where the tubes fizz and isn't that pleasant but that's when pushing it almost full-circle. I put a Crowther Hotcake in front of this thing and the good times kept rollin'. Got slightly Smashing Pumpkins tone outta the thing which was rather splendid. Also, no hum issues with this one as it is a newer model.

Hasn't broken, looks simple to fix, and if not, I'll buy another!

Probably wouldn't bother them

The tone you get for the price is wonderful! It's worth it, but do try and compare multiple versions as the quality control isn't that groovy.

This is just an addition to my previous review where I've rated the sound quality less because it was sounding fuzzy but now after couple of rehersals I feel I need to correct it to 10.
In the last two rehearsal I've played against 100W Music man. The little EVJ amazingly did cut through. All the boxy, fizzy sound seems to come together to a very cool grunty tone in a live band.
Couple of things I've learned about EVJ to make it sound better:
Let it warm up for 1/2 hour.
You need to use quality guitar.
Don't go past 3/4 volume
That's it, great little amp for line band jaming!

Doesn't really have any features other but On and volume knobs ans speaker out jack (if you remove internal speaker jack).

I have several 5 Watts amps, some I've build. This EVJ has a well decent ballanced sound. That is the bass, mids and treble are at about the same level so it's not lacking in this respect. It is quiet loud for 5 Watts but not as loud as it could be due to the output transformer. I've connected one of my build amps to the EVJ speaker and it was about 30% louder that's not to say the the stock EVJ isbn't loud enough for rehearsals. It just dirty all the way because it has to be at least at 3/4 volume and helps to have pedal to boost when doing leads.
Now for the tone of EVJ. It sound somewhat brittle even at low levels. (For recording you'd want to cut it of at about 6k that helps). But it's not a bad sound and is really a personal prefference.
Goes ok till 3/3 volume but once you got to 3/4 or max the sound becomes very treble fizzy. I don't like that. I'ts the speaker not handling higher levels. When I connected my other amp to the EVJ speaker it was even fizzier as it was louder. No amount of mods will get rid of that unless you change the speaker. maybe Epiphone dind't count on people pushing the amp to the max.

Well build and still works but it's only couple months old so can rate this yet.

It's a very cheap amp and even the speaker gets fizzy at high volumes it is still great value and still better than other 5 Watts commercial amps I've tried. I find this amp little addictive and play it very often even thogh Ihave much better amps I can use. I guess it's has a little magic to it for being not only cheap but having it's own original tone.

Got input socket and level knob that's all.

The closest description of sound would be something like the sound of an amp from old Elvis recordings when at about 1/2 volume. It's got that kind of breakup tone. When you max the volume it goes in to heavy distortion but still retains it's tone. It is a good tone with own unique character. It sounds the way it looks OLD. Excellent from grunge rock. It about as loud as 5 watts can get. Pluging it to 12" speaker or other cabs makes it sound little fuller but not that much louder to make it worth draging extra box with you. The speaker in this amp is pretty good as it is and provides lot of tight bass for 8" size.

I was hesitant to buy it being made in china but went to the shop and after close inspection I bough it. Very solid cabinet, metal corners, good solid chassis metal and is painted even where you can't see it. Has tube retainers and even preamp tube cover. Transformers look good and are of a good size, oparticularly the poower transformer looks quiet large and is probably slightly oversized which is a good thing. Speaker sais "E" that's all but apparently designed by Webber. Giood clean solid build. Far better quality build than my Fender Junior but only at 1/3 of the cost.

I didn't like the way it sounded in the shop because it was brittle sounding and treble were this. I bought it with some heavy modifications in mind, basically just to have fun moding it. Took it home and out some older worn in tubes and it sounded better without being so brittle aon the treble. So I put the original tubes back and took it to a jam where I trashed it for 4 hours and max volume.
Next day I played the amp again at home and it sounded much better. The tone was more defined and not so brittle and even got little fatter. That's because the tubes and the little speaker got worked in.
Now I don't see any point in doing any mods at all. It sounds as good as any well build 5 watt amp if not better.
So when you buy a new one don't jump to change things right away. Give it a good trash for few hours to break it in and you'll probably like it enough to leave it original. I'm not changing anything on this amp. The only thing I'd preffer is that the amp would be lighter, made of wood or plywood. On the orher hand maybe it would rattle like Fender Juniors do so if that's the case the little extra weight is worth it.

One knob - volume. As versatile as I like my amps!

It sounds terrible. For those who don't have tube amp experiences, low power tube amp even 1 Watt should sound clear and punchy like for example Fender Twin but off course with lot less volume.
This Epiphone sounds flat, brittle, blured, muffled and above all has a volume level of about 1 Waa not 5 Watts which in good amp would be loud enough for rehearsals. Problem is eather very bad speaker or oputput transformer. The circuit design is basic but good enough.

While the amp is useless sound wise, it is extremely well build in solid box, good chassis which is painted properly even in places you can't see, transofrmers are nice and shiny, tubes have spring retainers and over all design looks quiet unique. This amp should last for years.

It's a shame the way it sounds because is build so well but it's about the tone after all.

You buy a piano... where are the EQ controls, where is the volume control... and as for digital fx...? blimey they've missed 'em off, guv!!! So why did you buy it... hopefully 'cos you love the tone and everytime you sit down to play it, it sounds inspiring and harmonically rich and you just want to go on playing. Where's the tone or digital fx on a sax, a clarinet or a trumpet or a classical guitar? Same with a really good valve amp and guitar... this one is featureless control wise [volume pot obviously!] and less is more! [my wages being the exception] So with 2 classic rock valves, the EL84 and the 12ax7 you should get some great valve amp sounds.

Most valve amps tend to be characterless tonally at lower volumes and it's not until you get at least beyond half way that that valve magic starts to work. Same with this amp... 2 to 3 o'clock seems to be the sweet spot with a Strat... but it's way too loud for sitting next to and happily strumming away... it'll split your ear drums in two! Hire your local town or village hall for an afternoon and take the VJ down. Place the amp in the middle of the hall and place yourself at the end of at least 9 foot of good guitar cable. Prior to this you'll have switched on the amp, set the volume at 70 to 75% [2 to 3 0'clock] and left it heating up its valves for about say 20 minutes.

For the benefit of other HC users you may well consider recording your efforts. With the amp in the middle of the hall you can now play and listen with the amp able to move some air and your ears under less pressure! The amp will produce some wonderful overdriven sounds but also try your overdrive pedal as a boost... you'll have some sonic fun and really get to know what this amp can perform like.

I suspect that the stock speaker at 8" is not as good as it could be. I'm not sure but when I tried my VJ with a 10" Peavey speaker the improvement in tone at all volume levels was immense.

I have no idea as to its reliability gig-wise. My VJ has been with me for a year now and I have a love hate relationship with it. The valves are now the always recommended JJs and yes they sound way better than the stock valves. There are no moving parts... unless you turn the volume up and play!

Epiphone UK were not exactly honest about problems with the VJ mark 1. The Mk 2 which I have is hum free and has no noise problems at all. They would not acknowledge that the noise problems were way beyond what was acceptable on any amplifier... especially for home use. I know because I exchanged many emails with them as they ducked, dived and dodged!

My VJ has been with me for a year now and I have a love hate relationship with it. The amp however is simply great fun and a great idea. The shame is that it is so loud at its sweet spot for overdriven sounds. 5 watts of valve amp is tinnitus inducing. Therefore I hardly ever play it!!! It sits on top my Peavey Solid State Backstage 50 and it's the Peavey with a Bad Monkey that gets all the use. The Peavey sounds way better at normal home playing volumes and is more inspiring to play. My Peavey is from 1988 so has not been infected with anything digital! My Strat [USA 1972] plus the Bad Monkey and a Boss DD3 in to the Peavey blows the VJ away at normal home playing levels. The VJ sounds boxy, harsh and thin in comparison...

So get in that blues band [with a musical drummer of course?] or take the VJ out to a large hall somewhere where you can really put it through its paces because at home with the family and neighbourhood your hopes to rock immortality may well be challenged!