Epiphone Valve Junior Combo

As basic as it could possibly get. Not much else to say.

Clean & clear at low volume.
Thumpy at mid.
Crunchy at high.
Benefits from reverb pedal infront of it, IMHO.
Does not benefit from distortion pedal in front of it, IMHO.
If you want dynamics without having to use overdrive/distortion then it's best to up the volume and vary the output by attack, IMHO.

Not much hardware in there.
Not much to go wrong I would imagine.

N/A
Not had any problems.

I think it's great.
The muso's will slaughter me for this - I owned this amp for 1 year, then I bought a Mesa Boogie F30. Both were purchased with gig's and recording in mind. After hearing such rave reviews of Mesa's I thought my Junior Combo would end up in the cupboard. Wrong. After much comparing I decided to ditch the Mesa.
The Junior Combo has character, it's responsive to touch/weight of hand, and it's flattering. Whereas the Mesa, IMHO was cold and processed, with horrid scratchy reverb and character'less overdrive. Not wishing to badmouth Mesa's; just trying to make a point about price tag and personal choice. I think Epiphone have produced a little gem of an amp at a great price. It will be interesting to see what the view on these amps is in 20 years.

Amp was made in 06. I play all styles of music. Basic amp with just a volume control. I bought this amp because it was so simple so I don't wish it had anything. No bells and whistles, simple, easy to mod and maintain. I would consider this amp extremely versatile since it does so little but amplifier what you put to it.

I have read all the reviews etc an didn't find this amp noisy. I have had the amp for 1 week and I gigged with this past weekend (1-13-07). Being that my sound comes from the PA, I like smaller amps so I can turn them up to the point where the just begin to break up. This is about 11 O clock on my amp (I haven't started switching the tubes yet).

It is not made for distortion.

The guitars that I used with it this week were Brian Setzer Gretsch G6120ssu, a Fat Strat and my trusty 1965 strat. Pickups are Tv jones, stock, Bill Lawrence.

Here is my setup..... I run the output to a Behringer Guitar DI then to the speaker. The DI simulates a 4x12 cab and that goes to the board.

Here's the signal chain: guitar to Boss Tuner -> Dyna Comp ->Morley Bad Horsie Wah (first generation), Xotic Pedals AC Booster, Xotic Pedals RC Booster, TC Chorus, Boss DD-6 Delay.

I use the RC Boster to generate my tone, the AC for the overdrive, the dd6 adds almost a reverb like sound they way I have it adjusted. I use the chorus for one or two songs and the way is used when I don't fell like hasling with setting up my talk box for 2 songs (Show Me The Way and Livin On A Prayer).

If you crank on the amp too much it gets farty in it's stock condition. I think it is great and I have 2 more on order from the music store where I purchased this.

I tilt the amp toward me and us it as my monitor if I am not using my in ears or hot spot.

Style I am playing is classic rock and female vocalist chick pop tunes.

I don't know how reliable it will be. From what I have read it should be. Since I get paid for my playing, I always have a back up or two. I think I can depende on it knowing that if something goes wrong I'll just grab my old bandmaster or pro jr.......2 minute swap.

No experience with Epiphone. The dealer will back it up.

Playing for over 40 years. Other gear I own...all old Fender tube amps, some Crate VC tube amps, Boogie, Z. Solid state Roland Cube Series amps. Lots of Strats, Parker, Gretsch, BC Rich. The amp is fine! It's light. It works. Everyone complimented me on my sound this weekend. They always do..how can they not if you normally use a Fender tube amp anyway? This weekend was a switch ofr me to use the Valve Jr. It passed the test.

I compared it to the new Peavey 5 watt tube amp..Don't recall the model. No comparison at all. The Peavey sound is sterile....no jingly tingly sound.....flat.

Use it for what it is intended for. Don't expect to play drop D tuned heavy metal stuff with it etc.

Class A circuit design, 5 watts, all tube (12AX7 & EL84 stock Sovteks), 8" speaker, and... (drum roll please) ONE volume knob --that's it on the panel (except for the jack and the switch)! Also, this amp costs $139, okay?? Feel free to compare it to absolutely anything else you can get for that kind of money. The Valve Junior is building its own little legend already with the mods that are available out there (search it on e-bay and you'll get more hits for mod kits than the actual amp). All of that correctly implies that the stock platform of the amp is quite good, which it seems to be. I like the detachable AC cord design, and I'm not above confessing that I LOVE the "chicken-head" volume knob.

Probably depends a lot on the player & their ability to use their fingers and their ears. I was thinking that some people out there probably drop a LOT of money on high-end tube amps thinking that they'll be guaranteed phenomenal tone; that's not really how it works. This amp is a great, low-budget introduction to getting a variety of very satisfying tones based on the interaction between amp volume knob, guitar settings, and player attack. Descriptions of the sound as "dark" are accurate, but I'm using a Telecaster most of the time & have been trying to wrestle down the "bright" of my old Fender tube amps for years, so I'm cool with the darker tone. It's got a bit of a "box-y" tone, but when I added a Boss DD-3 in front for a little spaciousness, the sound turned perfect!! Good clean sounds, and "yes" it will grind just fine at volumes which apartment-dwellers have found a bit loud, but I'm loving it in my garage. Unlike my 1969 Fender "Vibro Champ", the speaker itself on the Epiphone doesn't distort when the amp is dimed (speaker distortion is NOT my preferred fuzz sound).

This appears to be a solidly built amp. Properly shipped (upside down to keep the tubes from dropping out/loosening). Surprisingly heavy. A lot of people seem to be modding/servicing it themselves & word is that it's easy to work on. Buy new, not used (version one had problems).

No idea. I have a phenomenal local amp tech who always treats me great (Skip Simmons in Dixon, CA, whose small combo amp "The Retropolitan" is the single best-sounding amp I've ever played/heard; buy one of those if you can afford it). I wouldn't call Epiphone for service (this thing was assembled somewhere in China anyhow).

This seems to be a great little tube amp, and it's met all of my expectations. It's fun to mess with & it makes superb sounds. It appealed to me on a kind of primal level (5 watts, 2 absolutely classic tubes, 1 knob) & it's verrrrry satisfying as such. If the concept of this amp doesn't grab you by the gut, then I suggest you pass on it. It is what it is. If you want/expect immediate magical perfect guitar tone from your equipment, then you really want an amp with NO knobs on it, right? Want a cheap, simple, smartly designed, well made, low-watt, tube combo to drive around with a good sounding guitar and your reasonable (or better) chops... then "Oh MY!!"

This amp does exactly what is says on the tin - one volume knob, and that's it. I am so pleased they kept the cost down by limiting the features. Well done Epiphone. This amp was cheaper infact than some pedals I have bought recently !

I totally LOVE this amp!. It sounds awesome - I have the latest design which has virtually no hum and I just cannot get over what a sweet sound it makes for a meagre 86 UK pounds! I think it helps if you are lucky to play nice guitars through it - I am using a custom shop strat, a PRS and a Gibson jazzer - all of them sound amazing. And it's LOUD! Especially with a humbucker equipped guitar it really puts out the volume. Past half way it starts to break up nicely - at full volume the sound goes off a bit but as I have only turned it up that far once it doesn't matter. In fact for home use the volume knob rarely goes past the 12 o'clock position. Great!

The amp is bigger and heavier than I was expecting (I always think there's quality in weight) and seems to be of a surprisingly robust construction. I do not anticipate any problems save for the occasional valve change maybe but, hey, when there's only 2 valves it's not a big deal.

Never dealt with them so no comment here.

I am totally blown away by this amp. My previous amp was a 2003 Fender Super Reverb but do you know what? I prefer this little Epiphone.... The Fender cost me nearly twelve hundred pounds. This little beauty was eighty six. For the price it can't be beaten. I highly recommend it. Thanks Epiphone !!!

Bought used so year unknown. There's no noticeable hum unless it's dimed with single coils, so I assume it's second generation. Feature's...ummm...it's got an on off switch and a volume knob; what else does it need? Five screaming class-A watts out of one EL-84. Very nice retro radio kinda look.

Ohmigod is this thing fun!!!! Who woulda thought. My wife (who is the most wonderful creature on the face of this earth) picked this up as a Christmas present for me. I had wanted one for awhile (due largely to the HC reviews) and I must say this thing surpasses my expectations. I had no idea five watts could be that loud. I've already used it with every guitar in my modest collection (a tele, a strat, an SG and a Peavey HP Signature Series) and it rocks hard with all of them. I kinda prefer the detail that single coils bring to it--it's a surprisingly nuanced amp--and the Fender guitars sound good up to about 3/4 on the dial. After that they get a little too ratty for my taste but by then you are well past conversational volume. The amp is rather on the dark side, as folks seem to agree, but that just means the bridge pickup on my strat is finally usable as something besides an interrogation technique. The humbucker equipped guitars are nice for getting some hard rock chunk and grind going; clean, they can give you a nice jazzy tone. If you need more gain, just slap a pedal in front. I mainly use a Boss Turbo Overdrive and you can get real sludgey with just that. I imagine a Metal Zone would turn your tone to tar. Don't expect a lot of bass with that eight inch speaker but it will deliver more than you expect. I've already plugged this into a twelve-inch Scorpion in an old Peavey Special 130 and got a whole lotta ooomph out of it. I played it at band practice yesterday (three days after I got it) and, while clean tones were out of the question with our drummer, the grind and sustain were just great. My main amp is a Peavey Classic 50 (which is no boutique amp but quite serviceable)and this thing delivers a more detailed and, dare I say it, fatter tone. Before I got it, I was figuring I would be slapping in the Bitmo bright mod (I ain't scared of no soldering) but I think I will just play with this as is for awhile. I realize that this rating seems out of proportion to what this amp is but a mere two years ago you couldn't have gotten this kind of tone for three times the price.

What's to break? If a resistor or capacitor goes south, I'll just slap in a new one. If it's something bigger, I'll spend $99 on a Valve Junior head and throw it in this cabinet. I would never plan on using this at a gig (though it might be useful to run in stereo with my main amp and aim it straight at my drummer's head). As to backup, I think I will use this as my backup amp if my big dog goes down. I can just stick this in front of my pedalboard and slap a mic in front of it and be back in the saddle in no time. That, and it won't take up any room in the van. All told, it's so simple that I don't think much could go wrong.

Never dealt with Epiphone. This is used, so I am probably my own customer service.

You don't want to hear about me, so let's skip all that. Let me just say that there is nothing else like this puppy out there on the market. It's more cheap fun than a Detroit hooker and will set you back less than a pair of good sneakers. Collect 'em, trade 'em, mod 'em, play 'em, you won't stop smiling. Epiphone ought to release this in different colors; I would buy one of each. Excuse me, I wanna go play my guitar now instead of talking to you.

Front: Input Jack, Volume Control, Illuminated Power Switch
Back: AC Power Cord Inlet, 4 ohm Speaker Jack
Speaker: Excellent Weber Ceramic Signature 8

Fat, circa 1950's, mid-range laden guitar sounds at low to mid volumes. Vintage overdrive sounds in the 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock range on the volume control. Beyond 3 o'clock on the volume yields a loose, on the verge of destruction sound. This range is only useable IMHO with single coils, or classic (low gain) humbuckers.

***NOTE: Original Valve Juniors suffer from over-bias, hum, buzz, and hiss noise. See my Reliability & Overall Rating below.

These amps tend to be severely over-biased. Typical EL84 voltage measurements are: 335V Anode, and 11.5v Cathode with a 220 ohm Cathode resistor. This yields over 15 watts of plate dissipation!!!!! Changing the cathode bias resistor to 270-300 ohms will lower it to a much safer 12-13 watt dissipation range, and dramatically increase tube life.

Not needed - I am an Electrical Engineer

** I'VE MODIFIED MANY ORIGINAL VALVE JUNIORS, THERE ARE 4 PROBLEMS: **
1) 60-cycle hum from filament supply.
2) 120-cycle hum from inadequate filtering of B+ supply.
3) Input not grounded properly.
4) High EL84 dissipation (eats tubes) from improper bias.

I can fix all of these problems, and convert your VJ into a studio quality tone machine. My work is neat and professional. I only need the chasis portion of the amp with circuitry & transformers in tact. There's no need to send the cabinet, tubes, tube retainers, or power cord, (I test the amp with my own). To remove the chasis:
1) Unplug the power cord.
2) Remove the back panel from the cabinet (8 screws).
3) Unplug the speaker cable from the 4 ohm jack.
4) Pry off four, black, plastic caps on the top of the cabinet.
5) Unscrew four, large screws under the caps.

The price is $89 + return shipping. The job includes 3 hours of labor, an add-on supply PCB, and several premium parts. You can pre-pay, or I can send you a Paypal invoice when the amp is done. My turn around time is usually 3 business days. Email me for shipping information, references, etc...

verkada(at)gmail(dot)com

This is an update to an earlier review. I've had this amp for almost a year now, and I have the original, totally stock version with the 3 pinstripies through the middle of the faceplate. I gave it good reviews shortly after getting it and trying it out, and I have to stand by them. There have been a couple of times when I have plugged it in and gotten some buzz, but then realized that I was getting some hum from improperly distributing my power supplies for pedals and the amp. But other than that, mine has remained quite properly quiet.

I can't even turn this thing up past a quarter of the way up without freaking out my neighbors. Small apt, thin walls. But still, it can churn it out. I always turn it on and leave it warming up for a few minutes before I play, and it always sounds great. I use it alone sometimes and sometimes with a large chain of pedals. It takes very well to pedals, I have really loved the sound of my Boss OD-3 through this amp, there is something really classic about the sound. This amp can suit any style of player, as long as it is working properly. Its like a mirror. If you play electric regularly, you need it or something like it. You'll understand why once you have it!

So far, no problems. Everything has worked fine since I got it.

No idea still.

Yeah, there's a real love/hate thing with this amp. Seems like its mostly love, though. One of the most useful pieces of musical equipment I've ever bought. Ok I'll stop before I start weeping.

None other than a volume knob...which is exactly what is advertised and expected in this amp.

I was so so so very dissappointed in the sound of this amp. I was looking forward to it after reading all the great reviews. I couldn't wait to turn it up and hear the "god" sound I've been looking for. If this is "god" sound then I must be a different religion. I love my Peavey Prowler, but can't turn it up in my liitle room...so I wanted something lower powered that could be turned up. True it's fairly loud...but not a good sound at all. Much better with my Boss me-30 in front of it, but still not good. I was unhappy with both the clean and turned up sound.

Looks well made. Heavier than expected.

Never have.

I've been playing almost 40 years. I know my equipment. Played Marshall Major stack thru the 70's. Now just me and my Prowler. I don't gig anymore. Currently have a Hamer Special Custom which is just great and so well made. Also have a Hohner G3T which is surprisingly nice. Have a new Steinberger Newburgh model and my trusty old Yamaha Pac112. Bought a Bad Monkey at the same time as the Valve Jr. This one is a keeper! The reviews were right on for that one. Just did not like the amp and was expecting so much. Maybe mine was a dud, because most people said theirs is dark...mine was super bright when going straight in...so who knows. I am returning it Monday.

I bought the updated version of this amp. It has the two stripes and name on the top of the face plate. I believe that the major change was DC filiments which clean up the hum at idle. Otherwise, it's as simple as it gets - one volume control, 5 watts, 8 inch speaker. At this price, you can't really expect many more features.

Clean, crunch, dirty. This amp does it all. It's very responsive to volume and tone changes on your guitar. I've got some really old (70's) MXR compressor and distortion boxes and this amp really shines with those effects. Once again for the price it's hard to beat. I changed the tubes (see below) and I think that made a difference.

The unit itself is built well and seems rugged. My only complaint is that I bought a floor model (for $88!) and the power tube had some mechanical noise. I got a replacement Fender/Sovtek EL84 ($8) and that noise went away. while I was at it I also changed out the 12AX7 pre-amp tube for a TungSol ($15). The new tubes sound great, but it seems from some of the other reviews that the stock tube quality is somewhat spotty. If you get one and it sounds good, them you got lucky with the tubes. Otherwise, start by getting a high quality 12AX7 pre-amp tube, and a power tube if necessary.

Don't know and I hope that I won't have to.

I'm primarily an acoustic player (30+ years), and I bought this amp and a Schecter guitar at Guitar Center's Labor Day event. The Schecter has Duncan Designed humbuckers, but there's also a pull feature on the tone knobs that swiches them to single coil. You can get a lot of different sounds from this amp. It even sounds OK with my Ovation Legend with the volume at 12 o'clock. If you want to know what tube tone is all about, this amp is great. I'm having loads of fun with it. Even at 5 watts (some think that this is conservatively low) this thing is loud, especially with the MXR boxes. I recommend changing the pre-amp tube for something of higher quality. There's not anything else on the market at this price which can do what this amp can do. Overall, this is a very nice little combo which responds well to basic effects and sounds very good even on its own. Some here have mentioned that every guitarist should own one of these. I kind of agree with that. It's a useful device.

2006 model, with the upgrades by Epiphone to reduce hum ( the new version has the " valve junior " with 2 pin stripes at the top of the face plate, as opposed to the model and 3 pin stripes running through the center of it. I found that out before I went and purchased this amp by reading someone else's review on this site and made sure thats the one I got ( harmony central is such a cool and helpful resource, I really appreciate this site and that, as well as many other tips and opinions of you fellow reviewers ). I like to play alot of blues and classic rock, and this amp does that very good, with a great vibe. This amp plays clean wonderfully with such a great feel at lower volumes too, perfect for late night or early morning playing before you go to work. The clean sounds from this amp are my ideal clean, but if the hour is reasonable I can't keep from cranking this thing up to 2 through 4 o'clock, or wide open on the volume knob. Wide open is only a notch past 4 o'clock on the volume knob ( probaly about 5 o'clock or so ), but that little notch more compresses so much to cause the amp to lose it's sensitivity to your picking, upstrokes/downstrokes, close to the bridge or up in the neck pick-up area, but thats not necessarily a bad thing at all. It maintains just fine wide open as far as the amp's concerned, but I prefer not going past 4 o'clock for the most part. As for the power of this amp, it's loud ! Probaly too loud for my wife, but she's a trooper, you know. I think it's too loud to play at high volumes in an apartment probably, not to you and me, but you know how volume sensitive neighbors can be. I'd like it to have a reverb, if I had to wish it had another feature ( I plugged into the input of my classic 30 and out of the effects loop into the jr. to use the 30's reverb, sweet ), but it's fine as is. At less than the price of a good overdrive pedal, and equal to or better than most, you can't beat this feel good, mid-thick amp for home jamming and recording.

This amp is not muddy sounding at all, but it is thick like molasses by the natural nature of it's tone. It's a very responsive amp that does require alot of player input until pushed wide open, which is a good thing to me. The clean is very warm and thick, good feeling and easy playing, inspiring tone. The overdriven tones to me are very inspiring between 2 and 4 o'clock ( or wide open too ), the sound quality is'nt technically great, but with the vibe factor taken into consideration it's a definate 8 on sound quality. The drive covers you through all classic rock and the clean is good up til about 11 or even 12 o'clock depending on your taste. I'm playing a mexican made standard "strat", with a 50's ( mexican made )"strat" neck I put on it, which for whatever reason really brightened that guitar's tone up ( but not to the point of being as bright as the 50's models pick ups on that stock "strat", which I did'nt like ). Also an 80's model Westone spectrum mx ( which somebody removed the middle and neck single coil pick up and replaced the bridge humbucker with a classic gibson pick up, very good sounding guitar ). This amp suits me fine, almost to a "T" actually. It does have some hum at varying stages on the volume knob, but it's minimal when present and as a prefered single coil player it is'nt anymore than I'm accustomed to, no need for concern. Really good fat, mid-heavy, compressed sounding amp if that's your thing, which it is mine.

It's a recent purchase so I can't speak for it's dependability, but it seems to be of fine craftmanship. It's a really good looking, solid built amp to the eye and my many hours of playing it almost wide open since I got it.

I've never dealt with company and at a price of 139.99, i'd replace this amp if needed, as a matter of fact I'm planning to buy a second one just to put back for future personal use. But I almost feel like this little amp could be a Silvertone of the 60's waiting to happen, really. The warranty on it is 5 years and I bought from an authorized Gibson/epiphone dealer, First Quality Music Supply, so I feel confident should any problems arise.

I've been playing guitar for about 7 years, bass since I was 12 ( I'm 35 years old ). I have a "strat", westone spectrum mx ( modified with a Gibson humbucker ), Aria, Diamond series P-bass, Fender Jazz bass ( mexican made ), Peavey classic 30 amp, Silvertone model 1482 amp, Epiphone valve jr. amp, Fender bassman 25, various pedals ( most notably a classic radial tone-bone, awsome pedal, and a danelectro daddy-o pedal, which adds an awsome presence to my classic 30, with my EQ set very mid and bass heavy the way I like it, a really sweet combination the two of them ). I use Planet waves and George L's ( the chrome, not brass plated ones ) cables, which are two high quality cables that drastically change and/or improve the tone of any amp/guitar set-up. I use GHS boomer .11 gauge strings, sometimes GHS pure nickels and occasionally try a .10 gauge set,but always return to the .11's for the feel an awsome tone. I use Fender classic celluloid heavy picks and various lighter picks for a tonal/feel change ( to scratch an itch, you know ). I have a Tascam 4-track and an R-11 and SM-57 mic to record stuff with.