Epiphone Valve Junior Combo

Not really a versatile amp itself, but a large number of mods are available for it and many of them make a great deal of diference, so it's really as versatile as your collection of guitars/pedals/tubes. The same could be said about my Matchless Lightning 112 or my VoxAC306TB.

I've seen such polarity in the reviews that it obviously is an amp of a particular flavour. Some like it, some hate it, but it seems that nobody LACKS an emotional response to these. In its stock form I noticed from playing a number of them, there is large scale variation typical of the quality control that you would expect is being done on a $140 amp (minimal). Some sound really good and some sound flat. If a local shop has them instock, I'd advise trying out a few before selecting, and only order online if you've no other option.
The sound quality out of the box raised an eyebrow already. First off, the new series has extremely minimal hum (less than my AC30, a little more than my Lightning) I now have yet another reason (other than Wong Kar Wai films,etc.)to be impressed with China. A simple design (and this is definitely that) with fairly few parts is always better at displaying the nuances of the valves used and the instruments used, and out of the box, I'd have rated this around a "7" (which is still remarkable for an amp this inexpensive). After changing the tubes to old mullards and JANs from my AC30, I was shocked at the effect that had of brightening it up. I'm not a Marshall fan, nor am I a blues player, and I'm not fond of 70's music, so the more ringy,chimey scoopy sounds with loads of tonal detail and harmonics fit well with my U2/Bahaus/80's Post-Punk style.
I'm using it with a '74 Gibson ES345 TDSV, a Gretsch Blue Pearl Jet, a Gretsch Malcolm Young Signature, a '64 Hofner Verithin, and a Casio DG-20 digital guitar. It sounds great with all of them, although the ES345 gets a little too muddy for my taste unless you flip the veritone switch back to two or three.
Another issue - pedals - I use a lot of them (Vox tonelab SE, Matchless HotBox, Digitech Space Station, Whammy II - not all at once though)and it really shines with those. In fact, if you read the review of the Matchless HotBox, you'll find that one of the chief complaints was that the clean channel is top-boosted and thus is far brighter than the gain channel. This is the case when I run the Hotbox in front of the AC30 or the Lightning (both are top-boosted), but not the Valve Junior(which is not). Although obviously running a boutique pedal that is way more expensive than the amp in front of the amp does not mean that the amp is comparale to Matchless and Vox, it is interesting to note that certain characteristics of budget gear can sometimes be more favourable than the more standardized idiosyncrasies of top-end gear. I'm now ordering a top boost kit, to see how that compares with the top boost on the HotBox.
I actually planned on just using this as a way of getting a nice overdrive sound to practise with at home, for which it borders on being FAR too loud. I'm now looking into the head, and getting two of them running them stereo with single 12' cabs with alnico speakers. Mic'd through a PA, this will be good for all onstage in my band (the reason why a lot of singers sound terrible in bands these days is they're being deafened by their bandmates - it's also the reason the sound is nearly always bad at clubs).
I'd rate the sound - after tube swap and with decent equipment - at about an 8.7. I'm getting the BitMo kits for it and will review those when I install, also true of the head.
There are lots of clips of it on Youtube and Google Video. You can see/hear it do everything from Van Halen to Classic Rock - everything but the type of pop I like. I might remedy that at some point in the future.

I've no idea how long it'll last. I've only had it a month. Putting a standby switch in will help with valve life.
Frankly as long as production isn't discontinued for $100/amp, I can't say I'm worried. I could always carry two backups to the two I'm playing and still have spent less than 1/3 of a good (old, tube-rectified) AC30.

Probably not needed. There's a growing cult of Valve Junior Otakus out there with websites telling you how to do nearly everything on this yourself.

I wish it had a standby switch and a valve rectifier (though at this wattage a valve rectifier might be too much sag).
It's fun, it's class A, it sounds good by itself, it sounds amazing with good gear in front of it and some tweaking, and it cost less than my shoes.
It hasn't even been stolen and I'm already buying a few more. That's new to me.

This is my up-date after adding JJ's and a digiverb EQ pedal . PURE CRAP ! one knob and no reverb that is MUCH needed IMHO . I'm not impressed with a digiverb pedal with this amp , it don't help much.

I'm just very shocked at the GREAT reviews that this toneless flat sounding amp gets . I have tried to like this thing by adding a reverb pedal and adding JJ tubes to brighten up the FLAT sound it makes...(I'm no longer calling it tone). I play through a MIM strat which I know is part of the problem but not THAT bad. It is very quiet on all settings . The distortion this amp makes is like that small "smokey amp" distortion , very poor quality like a busted speaker . There is NO chime or bell like tone due to lack of reverb.
Cheap made , cheap sound is what you have . Mercury Magnets is what this thing needs . If you don't own one and are looking to get one I suggest this . Get a small cheap solid state amp then turn down the reverb knob all the way , bass all the way up and turn up the volumn...now that sounds like this amp to me. I play ZZ Top, Skynyrd , blues type stuff , rockabilly . This amp don't do it for me it is a poor made toneless amp in my opinion . Shame on Gibson !

Made in China....

I'm sending it back , I don't need customer support .

I am broken hearted about this amp . I really had high hopes that this could be THE tone amp I'm looking for . It's not , I'm still searching .

Mostly covered by others. One 12ax7 tube, one el84 tube, as far as I can tell (haven't opened it yet) - a SS rectifier & power resistor (as opposed to choke coil), preamp volume control.
I gave it a 10 because for it's purpose 'just one knob' is the best feature it could have. It may sound silly but if it had a tone stack and master volume I would have marked it down. (Actually, I wouldn't have bought it in the first place.)

Oh My God. One of the suggestion questions is "What kind of sounds can the amp make?". GOD TONE is one. I play Stones/Georgia Satellites style rock & roll on an Epi Les Paul ES (man I love that guitar). While it's sounds are best suited for that and Blues, it still has enough versatility for just about anything but heavy metal.
My bud on vocals plays blues-harp and tried it for that. He liked it so much he tried to steal it from me! (just kidding, but not really).

Too soon to tell but seems solidly built. Actually a little heavy for it's size. Epiphone's made a few crappy things through the years, but very few. I trust this to last. Plus tube amps, while more expensive, are much simpler to repair. You can even strip them to the bone and rebuild them from scratch. I bought this for practice, song writing, and recording, but would trust it live without a backup (would have to be miked though).

I've dealt with Epiphone before and they're usually as good as the best out there. Once I had a specific question about modding a pedal and, after they realized I knew what I was talking about, ended up talking to one of the design engineers.

"If it were stolen..." I'd track them down, stab them with a rusty drywall saw, and get it back. Oh, or buy a new one, yeah.
I love this amp so much I have both the combo and head versions. I was originally going to go DIY and build the Hoffman Schedule 40 or Weber Smokin' Joe. I tried one of these first and am more than happy.

Pretty much everything I could say about this amp has been said. I'd just like to stress two things though.
First, don't let all the mod talk you'll read keep you from getting one, if you can't do the mods yourself, and feel it would cost too much to have them done. This beauty is fine, and right out of the box is better than amps twice the price. The only real problem it ever had was the hum and that's been fixed.

The second thing is that, if you do mod, some sites have recommended replacing the transformers. This is ludicrous. It's unnecessary for the sound if you do all the other mods, and would add too much to the cost (power and output transformers are most of the cost of tube amps). If you're going to go that route you might as well just get a Fender Blues Jr or Pro Jr and be done with it.

Mostly covered by others. One 12ax7 tube, one el84 tube, as far as I can tell (haven't opened it yet) - a SS rectifier & power resistor (as opposed to choke coil), preamp volume control.
I gave it a 10 because for it's purpose 'just one knob' is the best feature it could have. It may sound silly but if it had a tone stack and master volume I would have marked it down. (Actually, I wouldn't have bought it in the first place.)

Oh My God. One of the suggestion questions is "What kind of sounds can the amp make?". GOD TONE is one. I play Stones/Georgia Satellites style rock & roll on an Epi Les Paul ES (man I love that guitar). While it's sounds are best suited for that and Blues, it still has enough versatility for just about anything but heavy metal.
My bud on vocals plays blues-harp and tried it for that. He liked it so much he tried to steal it from me! (just kidding, but not really).

Too soon to tell but seems solidly built. Actually a little heavy for it's size. Epiphone's made a few crappy things through the years, but very few. I trust this to last. Plus tube amps, while more expensive, are much simpler to repair. You can even strip them to the bone and rebuild them from scratch. I bought this for practice, song writing, and recording, but would trust it live without a backup (would have to be miked though).

I've dealt with Epiphone before and they're usually as good as the best out there. Once I had a specific question about modding a pedal and, after they realized I knew what I was talking about, ended up talking to one of the design engineers.

"If it were stolen..." I'd track them down, stab them with a rusty drywall saw, and get it back. Oh, or buy a new one, yeah.
I love this amp so much I have both the combo and head versions. I was originally going to go DIY and build the Hoffman Schedule 40 or Weber Smokin' Joe. I tried one of these first and am more than happy.

Pretty much everything I could say about this amp has been said. I'd just like to stress two things though.
First, don't let all the mod talk you'll read keep you from getting one, if you can't do the mods yourself, and feel it would cost too much to have them done. This beauty is fine, and right out of the box is better than amps twice the price. The only real problem it ever had was the hum and that's been fixed.

The second thing is that, if you do mod, some sites have recommended replacing the transformers. This is ludicrous. It's unnecessary for the sound if you do all the other mods, and would add too much to the cost (power and output transformers are most of the cost of tube amps). If you're going to go that route you might as well just get a Fender Blues Jr or Pro Jr and be done with it.

None. On or off, loud or quiet. The only reason it gets a 2 is because you can unhook the stock speaker and run to a seperate cab.

Bit too dark for the Marshall crowd, but might take an EQ OK. Mic'd through the PA and turned to around 2:00 makes for a tone that will clean up with the picking attack alone: higher than that, and you have to roll back on the guitar volume. The distortion is good and thik for sludge rock, or blues rock that goes into meltdown mode. Don't even try to play metal with it.

Stock speaker is loud but boxy, and farty on the neck pickup on my LP at high volume settings....into a Beringer 4x12 4OHM input it has a MUCH better voice.

Built well, but if you run it up against the rails all the time, be prepared for rattling and wierd noises to insue quickly. I think I'd rather have the head, but I got this for 80 bucks, so I'm not complaining...I'm just gonna keep wipping til ith either cries or dies.

23 years in, and this thing does the low-fi practice amp thing in spades, but don't think it will take you any further than that.

I have two Valve Jr. combo amps, #1088 and #1226. I bought them in November 2005. Both are (were I should say) earlier versions with the hum problem. I bought two because they sounded vastly different from one another. #1088 has more of a focused mid-Marshall-like sound, and #1226 has a fat Fender-like sound. These two sounded particularly good out of the several I tried. At $119 each I was pleased with both purchases.

I immediately retubed both amps with NOS tubes. Both amps have a 1962 GE 12AX7 and a mid-60's RCA 6BQ5. These tubes made these good sounding amps really come alive. However, I still had the hum problem. Recently, I had the Mercury Magnetics Mod installed in Valve Jr. #1088 and put in an early 1960's Tung Sol 12AX7 and a mid 1960's GE 6BQ5. This amp is now one of the finest sounding amps I've ever played through. Keep in mind that it no longer is anywhere near the stock amp that I originally purchased.....but I gotta tell you....the sound is now truly awesome and inspiring. This amp is now DEAD QUIET! The frequency range, tightly focused sound, and power is amazing. It's worth the money. I had an accomplished tube amp technician do the Mercury Magnetics Mod installation on Valve Jr. #1088. He said that this mod is not for novices to install.

I also had him do the one of the minor surgery hum reduction mods on Valve Jr. #1226 that is listed on several web sites. This definitely quieted down this amp. It did not change the sound, except to significantly reduce the hum. I may put the Mercury Magnetics Mod in this one in the future, but for now I have one really amazing sounding amp and one really good sounding amp. I left the stock speakers in both amps, because I think they sound really great.

This is the real deal in pure tube tone. Both Valve Jr.'s are very responsive to pick attack. Once again, the Valve Jr. with the Mercury Magnetics Mod is incredibly responsive.

I've never had an issue except for the infamous hum associated with the earlier models. But that has been rectified. Both amps have been on gigs and done well.

N/A

These amps are really versatile. The Mercury Magnetics Mod Valve Jr. amp #1088 is one of the finest sounding amps....ever! Yes, I know it's not really the same amp, but if you can save up, and have it installed, you'll be extremely pleased. I really like #1226 a whole lot also. So, go buy one....or two as I did!

PS A good friend who plays harp played through the Mercury Magnetics Modded Valve Jr. and it is one of the coolest amps for harp I've ever heard.

I was excited about the amp before I got it . After about 1 minute of playing I shook my head in disbelief . Where is the chime ? where is the bell like tone? this amp's stock tone SUCKS. It is sooo poor that it sounds like a 10 yr old child's beginner amp , with the bass all the way up. I had to look at the back of the amp to see if it had tubes in it , I was in disbelief this was a tube amp. Is it the tubes? Is it the speaker ? . No way can those few changes result in the tone I'm searching for. I was not happy at the good reviews I read .I wanted this amp to sound like the Dr.Z website (mini Z sound sample) and boy this is NOT it . That is the tone I'm look for. I can say 1 good thing it has NO BUZZ , matter a fact its SOOO quiet that I wonder if something is wrong. It was a birthday present so I'll keep it and make a speaker and tube change , like this it'll just draw dust . I also heard my friends new Fender blues jr amp and I was NOT impressed with it either. Maybe I'm looking for that 100watt Marshall Plexi tone in a $140.00 amp. I'll post another review on this amp after I make much needed changes .

made in China ? you know their track record ...who knows .

I'll give a final overall rating on this China made amp after the much need changes .

This is an update.

I had this amp modded for 35??? (about the same in USD).

Feature-wise, It now has a switch at the back, to select 4ohms output (the setting for the stock internal speaker) or 8ohms, allowing for a wide compability with speaker cabs, In case I need It.

So +1 for features. (again, keeping in mind this is made to be a simple amp)

Also had the input mod done, and some more power suply filtering, reducing a large amount of the hum on the sound.

Valves (tubes) still stock.

Amp sounds very good to me.

+1 for reduced hum.

Hasn't broke yet, and most hum is solved.

It's a simple amp, so not much to break.

+2

Warranty voided by mods.

I like it a lot.

+1

Five watts, one input jack, one knob for volume, 8 inch speaker.
It doesn't get simpler than this. I love it.

I was reluctant to buy this amp because of all the reviews I have read saying how bad it buzzes. I was at Guitar Center, and they were having a special on it for $99, so I bought it anyway figuring that for this price, who cares if it buzzez.

THERE IS NO BUZZ!

Maybe Epiphone has corrected the problem, maybe I just got lucky, maybe I'm tone-deaf (unlikely, I hope). I choose to believe that Epiphone has a person in product development reading all of the disgruntled reports of persistent buzzing, so they fixed the problem. I'm not a technical wizard, I just know what sounds good to me. This amp is the sweetest sounding, quietest $99 I have spent.

I haven't had it long enough to know, but it has a very sturdy look and feel.

I don't know yet.

Overall, I would say this is a great deal.

Made in China, its one of the upgraded models without the horrible hum, no features only a volume control, I rate it 8 because usualy I like having an amp with an EQ (at least 3 band) and reverb, but this is a very pure amp.

It wont give you a ton of sounds, its great for classic 60's and 70's rock, in stock form its a little dark sounding and last a little highs, but I changed the stock Sovtek tubes for some Groove tubes which are not that great but they did brighten up the amp a little and made it a little clearer sounding, it breaks up nicely after 12 o'clock, at higher volumes it becomes very compressed and the picking noises become a little annoying, its not a very high gain amp, you could make it somewhat a high gain amp with a distortion pedal, I use a TS-9 Tubescreamer and it sounds good but not distorted enough for some sounds, its very middy sounding, very Marshall-like in a good way, stock its an 8 with the new tubes I'll give it a 9, but I'm sure if I put higher quality tubes it might sound like a whole 10.

I haven't had it for too long so I can't say, Im sure it will hold up for a while, besides even if it does break after a year or 2, its a $100 amp!

Don't know yet.

This is definatley better then some of the small amps I owned/played, better then the Marshall MG series, I have an MG10CD 10 watt amp and the Valve jr. is at least twice as loud at 5w! (Thats normal for a tube amp usualy). Overall if it broke or was stolen I would buy it again because its cheap, it sounds great for a $100 amp and also because there is no other all tube amp in its price range! (The closest I can think of is the Crate V58/Palomino which costs like $260 and doesn't even sound that great, I played the 30w version and didn't like too much).