Epiphone Valve Junior Combo

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!

Simple amp with 1 input, volume control, power switch, and 4 ohm speaker jack.

The sound transitions from a fat clean, to warm blues, to vintage overdrive as you turn up the volume. A Les Paul Junior with soapbar pickup sounds absolutely fantastic through this amp. Humbuckers and traditional single-coils sound very good as well. This amp is excellent for old school music, like from the 50's and 60's. Add a good overdrive pedal and you can cover everything from Ritchie Valenz to AC/DC. The stock speaker is a wonderful Weber ceramic 8", that can put many 12" speakers to shame.

The biggest drawback about this amp is that it hums pretty bad. Some people say that vintage amps are supposed to hum. Only poorly designed vintage amps hum! I own several vintage amps, and none of them hum at all. If your vintage amp hums then it was either built wrong, or needs service. This Valve Junior can be upgraded for a reasonable price, to stop the hum, and provide a nice sweet sound. PLEASE see my Overall Rating comments below for more info. I give the amp a conservative 9 after the upgrade. (It's a 6 or 7 stock!)

The PCB traces are nice and thick. All jacks and the volume pot are hard-wired. The power transformer is huge. The speaker is of great quality. So this amp is very serviceable, and should last a long time with proper care & handling.

I do however see a potential tube eating problem with the cathode bias resistor being 220 ohms. The EL84 runs very hot, with typically 13.5 watts of static anode dissipation. Change the cathode resistor to 270 ohms (5 watt) and that will drop it down within the limits of the EL84 12 watt dissipation rating.

(Not needed)

** I'VE MODIFIED MANY VALVE JUNIORS, THERE ARE 4 PROBLEMS: **
1) 60-cycle hum from filament supply.
2) 120-cycle hum from inadequate filtering of B+ supply.
3) Poor ground connection on input jack.
4) Bias set to high, exceeds EL84 dissipation rating.

I can fix all problems. My work is neat and professional - references available. All I need is the chasis with circuitry & transformers in tact, so shipping will be pretty cheap. There's no need to send the cabinet, tubes, tube retainers, or power cord. I have all of those for final testing. To remove the chasis:
1) Unplug the power cord
2) Remove the back panel from the cabinet - 8 screws.
3) Unplug the speaker from the 4 ohm jack.
4) Pry off four, black, plastic caps on the top of the cab.
5) Unscrew four, large, steel screws under the plastic caps.

My turn around time for the work is 1-3 days. The price is $69 + return shipping. You can pre-pay, or I can send you a Paypal invoice when the amp is done. Email me for references and contact information:
verkada(at)gmail(dot)com

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.

Features include: 12AX7 Preamp tube, EL84 Power tube, 1 input jack, volume control, power switch, 4 ohm output jack, and an outstanding Weber Ceramic Signature 8" speaker - all in a nice looking cabinet.

Simple but effective!

Nice Blues-Rock sound and takes pedals well, but unfortunately the amp is plagued with hum!

*** I'VE MODIFIED MANY VALVE JUNIORS, THERE ARE 3 SOURCES OF NOISE: ***
1) 60-cycle hum from filament supply PCB traces routed along Hi-Z signal paths.
2) 120-cycle hum from inadequate filtering of B+ power supply.
3) Poor ground connection on input jack due to unmasked panel.

I can fix all problems for $69, plus the cost of return shipping. My work is neat and professional - I have over 15 years of experience in design/repairs/mods, and a bachelors degree in electrical engineering. I've also been playing guitar for about 19 years, so tone is very important to me.

To save on shipping, 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 finished product with my own tubes & speaker. To remove the chasis you must first unplug the power cord. Next remove the back panel from the cabinet (8 screws), and unplug the speaker from the 4 ohm jack. Then you must pry off four, black, plastic caps on the top of the cabinet. This will expose four, large, steel screws. Unscrew them to remove the chasis. When you put the amp back together apply just enough torque to the back panel screws to make them snug. Too much force will strip the MDF. Some people prefer to remove the cut-out screen to allow easy access for tube replacement. This is not a good idea if the amp is accessible by small children or pets.

My turn around time is usually 1-3 days. I accept a Money Order, Paypal, or a personal check from a major bank only. A personal check or private money order may take up to 10 business days to clear with my bank. I hold the amp until payment clears. So, for a fast return use Paypal or a USPS Money Order (available at any post office). The price is $69 + return shipping. You can pre-pay, or I can send you a Paypal invoice when the amp is done. Email me for references and contact information: verkada(at)gmail(dot)com

Yes it is a PCB amp. However the traces are nice and fat and the board is mounted to a heavy guage steel chasis. The power transformer is relatively huge, and the Weber speaker is quite durable. So this amp should last a long time with proper care, ie: don't use it to collect rain water, or for shotput practise.

This is an excellent amp provided that the noise problems are addressed. I've also found that the stock Sovtek 12AX7WA preamp tube is of very poor quality. It tends to have a very high hiss noise floor compared to others, which leads me to believe that quality control on these tubes is very bad. The Sovtek EL84 power tube is generally pretty decent though.

Made in China, one channel, one pot, lacks an external speaker output and a spring reverb. I've been playing solo or as a lead guitarist for bands around. Cool for reggae, blues, vintage rock'n roll. Versatile enough for me.

This amps has a very cool clean sound , begins to crunch at 11 o'clock, so if you want to play it clean tone with a band you gotta mic it up. Past 12 o' clock it's very warm, punchy and incredibly vintage. From the Who to Led Zep. Lacks headroom on large stages but the p.a and the engineer will supply the extra power, and believe me they prefer little amps. I use my only electric guitar, a gretsch electromatic with deArmond 2000 pickups. I also use a holy grail reverb and a boss cs3, nothing fancy, this thing has a sound of its own. It's noisy and i prefer it that way, vintage amps are noisy.

so far so good. no need of a backup, if this thing burns up i'd just plug a d.i with a speaker simulator in the p.a.

I've been playing for 15 years, had Orange stuff, Fender Stuff (Twin Reverb, Hot Rod), Peavey Classic 50, Marshall. Heavy, back breaking amps. I've been searching some vintage sound in a small package, easy to mic, with authentic sound, nothing digital, quiet or cold.

I gave it a 1 because it has one feature Volume.

This is all any amp should have I have a BF 1965 Fender champ with volume bass and treble i never use the treble and the Bass just set the volume and rip. It will force you to get to know those seldom used knobs on your guitar.

Is it the best sounding amp ever? NO

Can you buy a better sounding amp for under 500 dollars new? NO

this amp can make a varitety of sound based on what you plug into it. My Carvin tl-60 HH sounds awesome and can get a total range of sounds my friend brought over a Ibanez Artcore Af-73 with a custom varitone and WOW it could do anyhting. Granted that the guitar helps but this thing is what you make of it, use your guitar knobs and you can shape this sound. With the money you saved buy some pedals. Tons of volume, too loud for my apartment.

NO HUM!!!!!!!!!!!!! just go to your local epi dealer and have them order the newest model they can striaght from Gibson

Seems Solid, no problems yet

N/A

I have been playing for 6-7 years, I own alot of gear, a carvin tl-60, squire strat with MM pickups, a HArmony explorer (kinda a joke but fun), an old japan hollow body, epiphone pr-350 SR, a 65 BF fender champ, a PEavey delta blues and many other things and this is by far one of my favorite pieces if it was lost i would buy again in a heart beat, may buy a an other just because.

One volume knob, one speaker out, one 12AX7 preamp valve and one EL84 poweramp valve. For this price it's a 10.

I use a Richwood Strat with Bareknuckle pickups including a Nailbomb humbucker at the bridge. I've never owned a big valve amp (too expensive for a tight-arse like moi - I'm a bedroom guitarist) but I've owned many solid state and modelling/hybrid amps. This blows all of them away. Real depth in the tone. I changed the valves to JJs but I'll be changing the poweramp valve back to the Sovtek purely because it has more headroom and doesn't distort fizzily like the JJ when the amp is turned right up. The JJ preamp valve was better than the Sovtek though. More creamy sounding. I can get anything from super clean Strat twang to hard rock with my Behringer Tubescreamer copy (which is also awesome). I've yet to try a good metal pedal with it (i.e. a Line 6 Ubermetal) but I bet it'd sound fantastic. The speaker sounds great. Very clear. Sounds much bigger than any other 8" I've heard. With the volume turned to 10 or 11 o clock and a good overdrive pedal, that wonderful valve crunch can be yours at bedroom levels. Perfect!

Mine has had no problems at all. Built like a tank.

Never dealt with them.

By far the cheapest and best amp I've ever owned. Every guitarist should have one.

The amp was made in 2005. I bought it new from American Musical supply for $99 shipping included. I thought this was extraordinary value for a tube amp in 2005. I've had champs but couldn't afford one at the time and other vintage practice amps (harmony, kay, etc) are dangerous shock boxes that seem to use the same tubes as portable radios. I thought I was better off to go with a made in china PCB tube amp with solid state rectifier than one of those. I play originals and classic rock. This amp is great for practice and fooling around. The single knob saves you a lot of time with adjustments. I've read reviews where people compare this amp to a champ or say that it has a "vintage" sound. I've probably had 20 + vintage amps of the 50s, 60s and 70s this does not sound like a champ or a vintage amp. What it does sound like is 1974 or newer PCB marshall tube amp. This amp loves analog effects pedal. The valve junior plus a Tech 21 GT2 will give you any amp sound you need: Fender tweed, Vox ac-30, Marshall or mesa-boogie. People who knock the speaker are probably just reading something someone else wrote somewhere. The stock speaker is a Weber signature series ceramic magnet speaker. Alnico magnet is not always better. Don't switch out the speaker.

The amp without using my Tech 21 GT2 is not that outstanding. It sort of sounds like a fender bandmaster head someone dropped with bad sodering. It's spanky clean, boxy and distorts unpleasantly past 6 with that solid state rectifier. I think if you don't go past the half way mark and use pedals with this though it's a great practice amp and sounds good. This amp does better with pedals than a champ does for some reason. I love this amp with distortion pedals, chorus, delays, tremelo pedal. Loves em' all, sounds good with them all. Bottom line does a good recent issue marshall sound and loves pedal. Okay, the poop. This is a 2005 model. It has that annoying hum that makes you so angry with Epiphone. This would be a great amp if it did not have that hum. It is audible, it's embarrassing and it really sucks because this would be a great amp to record with if it did not have it. I am very resentful towards Epiphone about this as they will not fix this and the new ones apparently do not have this. So, I am stuck with this hum or pay a amp tech $60 to get rid of it. I bought a new amp so I wouldn't have to worry about techs anymore. Why buy and amp you have to fix? The amp sounds pretty good for what it is but if you can buy one from a store not through the mail or used on ebay and play it. See how you feel about the hum. I've used the amp a lot now. I've owned it for over half a year. It's starting to do something else that's sort of weird. I will plug it in, be playing and all of a sudden it will cut out and I will get low output-crackly unpleasant distortion. The amp has a 5 year warranty but I don't want to go through all of that just for this amp and then get it back and they will say nothing is wrong with it? The whole point in buying a new tube amp as opposed to a vintage one is so I could just play and not worry about this stuff. I'm just going to live with it as I have $99 into the amp and I don't want to put a cent more into it. I will just hang on to it forever even when I can afford to replace it with a champ or something. I think it's insane to put NOS tubes in this. Why put $200 NOS mullard tubes in a $99 amp? All the makeup in the world will not make a fat girl skinny. The amp is what it is. I did switch out the preamp tube with a JJ because I had one laying around. The stock power amp tube seems to sound all right. I've had lots of Mullards, Brimars and RCA NOS tubes I do not think they make that much difference over new. Save your money just use what's in there.

Sucks. LOL Came with a hum and volume drops in and out. Amp has not left the house. I always let the tubes cool before I move it

I don't know how I feel about Epiphone. I think they should have fixed the hum in all these amps made prior to 2006. If they did I would have a better feeling about the company and buy more of their products. Their elitist guitars from Japan are supposed to be better than USA gibson. Those are probably the only new epiphone products I would buy. Alot of people have put down China making this amp but there is some good stuff coming out of China and the fact that it was made there has nothing to do with this amps problems. Why does the Valve junior have the problems it does? Epiphone made this amp cheap, poor quality control, badly designed circuit.

I've been playing off and on since I was five. I'm not going to list all my gear. I've had the best of the best so I know what's great and what's garbage. I would buy this amp again if something happened because now I guess they have fixed the hum problem. But I think Epiphone should take back all the old amps and fix them free of charge. Would go a long way for selling good will for the company and repeat business but I think they deal in volume and the student market. They don't care. I love the fact the amp is cheap, sounds like a recent issue marshall, looks nice, loves pedal. I HATE THE HUM. It's unbearible. If you buy the amp don't change out the speaker the one in there is the best one for it. If your going to do a tube change go with JJs. Do not invest anymore than that in this amp as it would be like gold plating a toilet seat. Why?

There are these nobs on your guitar that change the Tone now you have to get to know your Guitar intimately & diddle with them...its about time! ( I know I enjoy it at least)

I got one of the Old versions of the Valve JR @ GCenter durt cheap...fortunately I found out about the revamped Models in time to have them order me a New Version as a Replacement.(FYI: New Models:SN# 1205---- or later, Also the pinstriping on the Front Runs thru the Middle of the Face Plate NOT accross the Top like the older ones)...I will be swapping them tommorow...so hear is Part One of my Compare/Contrast...OLD VS New Valve Juniors...

OK I've spent 6 weeks playing the Valve JR. & even with the hum issue I have enjoyed every second of it. I grew up in the 80's - so I was a victim to the "own the hippest thing" craze...I bought way too many combinations of Guitars & Large Amps & with the whole Digital Technology Boom...it was just too much money & time wasted on Technology...in 1999 I bought a DC-59 Re-Issue Danelectro for $89.00 @ GC and that changed my attitude...The whole simplicity of it just blew me away...I stopped playing my Strats & began playing the Danelectro exclusively @ gigs thru a Nifty Fifty Amp (crap)...I just could not find the right Amp-I loved the Clean Settings on my recent Vox ADVT30 (Fun toy amp) but it was not quite right...well the Valve JR does the trick FINALLY.Thank God!

My Everyday set up for the Valve JR. MKI has been Danelectro DC-59 > Tape Echo > Spring Reverb > Valve JR. I have to say I loved the JR. right out of the Box it gave that warmth to the Lipstick PU's that a Danelectro Guitar had been built for! Add a tad o spring reverb & it sounded even better...my Danelectro 50's Tape Echo Pedal is probably my favorite pedal ever, & it just loves the JR.-Nice Warm ECHOOOoooo... Anyhoo I got this really "clean" chain going with the Dano & the Tape Echo & the Spring Reverb but I need some punch but nothing that will color the Dano Pickup Tone (not easy)so...

Somewhere in the myriad of Reviews here @ HC I read about a guy using a Dano with a Bad Monkey OD into a Valve JR. & Damned if that didnt do the trick...I plan on trying out some of the suggested Tube change outs on my New Valve JR. But while I was waiting & I couldnt mod out anything I decide to test drive the Bad Monkey & it blew me away...it gave me all the crunch of the Valve JR. at only 9 o clock on the Dial (10 is better)...

So I have to say to all the Single coil Tone freak old school Blues/Psch/Jazz from Hell Players...go to your Guitar shop plug in to a Valve Junior crank it up all the way & then adjust your tone knobs & get a feel for what this baby can do...if you still dig it consider the $40 bucks for a Digitech BMonkey...it works great to boost the single coils & really warms up the Valve Junior at a low Volume ( so your neighbors or wife dont kill you)& has a nice smooth breaking overdrive...Forget the overpriced Tubscreamers...no need...& I Hate Digitech in general...

This is A GREAT AMP no matter what you Play (unless its metal)...

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Wonderful warm - Best Bang for your Buck even if you dont change out the Tubes or put an Overdrive pedal in Front...Buy it or at least TRY it...

I belive this amp was made about a year ago.

It's versatile enough for the music I play. I rather have it this way (no effects) than get digital fake ones (like on the valve special and the valve standard). Only one channel, a volume knob and tube tone. I like it this way.

I wish it had outputs for other ohms than only 4ohms. Still, it's easy to wire the output jack with a switch that converts it to 8ohms (the output transformer has an unused wire for this effect).

I always wanted a tube amp, but couldn't affoard it. Saw online projects that got me thinking about building one, but I have no experience with electronics, and it would have been more expensive than the junior.

For the concept, it's a 10. -1 for only having a 4ohms output, -1 for not having a standby switch.

I'm using it with a strat with stock single coils (the guitar i'm using the most right now) but I've tried it with my LP (EMG humbuckers).

The LP sounded great on the neck pickup (EMG 60). Dynamic, inspiring and warm. The bridge 81 did not sound so good, but maybe with both pickups on it would be useable.

The strat sounds just great. The amp just sounds 3D. Comming from solid-state amps, pluging into this amp is a whole new world. This is the real thing, and sounds like it.

The amp is very responsive to diferent guitar pickups and settings. The speaker amazed me, as it sounds bigger than it is. My last amp was a 2X30W 2X10'' marshall, and this epiphone sounds bigger. And likes pedals better.

The sounds I'm after can be described as the whole red hot chili peppers thing: from the cleanest cleans, to some crunch, to lead tone.

Being somewhat old (yet, bought it new), the amp has the hum bug. Yet, it's going to be fixed soon, and I'll update you with some news. Along with it I'm having tubes put in (maybe JJs) for peace of mind, but i'm keeping the stock speaker.

For now, as is (all stock) and with hum, it's a 7. Without hum and with fresh tubes it will probably be a 9.

Hasn't exploded yet, but I haven't had it for a long time. Seems well built, so an 8 for that.

I wouldn't gig it on the stock speaker, but with an extra cab who knows. Backups are always a smart thing when dealing with tube amps. I'm not giging right now tho.

The factory hum problem knocks 2 points out of the 8, even tho is the designers/engeneers fault.

Haven't dealt with them, and fixing the hum will kill the warranty.

I've been playing for 8 years.

If stollen or lost, I would get another one (maybe the head version), but one without the hum, so I could take it out of the box, play, and not worry about it anymore.

I love it's tone, size and simplicity, but I hate the hum. Overall, a great piece of gear. For the price, can't be beaten.