Epiphone Valve Junior Combo

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).

This one was a B stock, so I think I got the 2005 model that buzzes and hums more than the new ones. I don't mind the hum, but this thing buzzes like; "picture like when you put two fingers on the 1/4 inch jack when your plugging in your guitar HUM" except all the time!

Other than the buzz it is a "10" for tone. For the price, I may put up with the hum, or return it for a newer one, we'll see. I like it so much, I hate to part with it and wait a week for a new one.

Built like a tank! Worth $500, not $120, Epi's out of their minds, this amp is the steal of the century!

not yet

Tis amp is a "10"! Period! ...Buzz, hum or not. Get one NOW or you'll see them on Ebay a year from now for the price of the vintage Fender Champs, I'm very serious, get one now. Instant tone from 1967-1972, picture Paul Kossoff, Peter Green, Jimmy Page tones, for $120!!! No modeling or solid state here!
W O W!

2006 model year, 2 pinstripes and top logo (version 2). I wanted to share some feedback that I got straight from Gibson support. I listened to 2 of these amps- one with 3 pinstripes and a center logo- and the other with 2 stripes and a top logo. The 3 pinstripe version hummed noticeably, so I didn't buy. The 2 pinstripe version had no hum and is in my garage now.

Gibson confirmed the fact that the version with 2 pinstripes is newer and has a fix for the hum problem. Excerpt here:

"Thanks for contacting Gibson. The newest versions of the Valve Junior have 2 horizontal black stripes across the top of the face panel. Past versions have had 3 stripes across the mid section of the face panel.
Besides the minor cosmetic change, the only other specs change was the addition of DC filaments to the power supply on the new versions. Thanks."

Sounds amazing. I have a Peavey Classic 30, and the tone that this generates is actually better- than a $550 amp!

Don't know.

Good, same day response to my questions from Gibson.

Amazing value.