Epiphone Valve Junior Combo

Very good

This is my third review. I now own two of these and my two brothers bought one after hearing mine so there are 4 in the family. A word about consistancy. They all sound slighty different. All good but the 1st original I bought still sounds the best. I have narrowed it down to the speaker. It has more bass than the others even though they all use the same speaker. I alos listen to the people who insist you need to mod certian things to get the best out of this amp. Well per my last review, I bought every 6" speaker weber makes and tried them all and prefer the stock speaker to all of the webers even though I kept the cheapest weber ( I liked the sound better than the others) in my 2nd amp. I still much prefer the stock amp than the one with the weber in it.
So my suggestion is to LEAVE THE AMP STOCK when it comes to the speaker. I have not tried different tubes. My amps are the older ones and buzz like crazy but I kinda like it.
I said it in my 1st and 2nd reveiw and I'll say it again. These little amps are the shit. $100 a pop makes this the all time best deal in musically equitment. I used to own a bunch of Traynor bassmasters ( Which I used with a weber mass and Marshall powerbrake) but after comparing them side by side the Traynors, which I used to love sound very compressed and sound like they have a blanket over them in comparision to the open sound of the Valve Junior amps. Buy one or two or three.

I bought the amp in Fall '06. It does have some hum issues, esp. when the volume is cranked up. I play almost exclusively blues & blues rock, and this tiny little 5-watt, Class A amp is practically a perfect fit. There are no channels. There's no EQ. There's nothing but a volume control and an on/off switch. Personally, It is hard for me to criticize that, because I love how limited it is. You just plug in, crank it and play, which is exactly what I wanted. But, if you're looking for an amp that's going to give you any clean headroom whatsoever, look elsewhere. The Epi Valve Jr. is designed to overdrive, period. It is a 5-watt amp ... BUT: 1) 5 tube watts is still very loud, too loud for bedroom or apartment use, and 2) stick a mike in front of it, and who cares who many watts it is? So, the seemingly "limited" power is really a nonissue. In fact, I gigged with it *unmiked* last night at a smallish blues jam and the Epi sounded fabulous.

The Epi gives you two tones, basically. Turn the vol. half way up, and you get a nice glassy clean, on the edge of overdrive, but not quite there. From that point on, it's a matter of how much of the most beautiful, thick, harmonically rich overdrive you want. Cranked ALL the way up, and you get a really nice classic rock tone. So, it is not "brutal" per se, meaning it is not a very good heavy metal tone. But, if you're going for a late 60s kind of overdriven Marshall Plexi sound, it's hard to get closer than this for the price point it's at.

I mentioned earlier, this is an ideal blues amp, and that point only bears repeating. It begs for blues riffing, and if you control your tone with the volume pot on the guitar, which I often do, then leaving it fully cranked is a really nice thing to do. :)

I play a PRS SE EG S/S/S, and I find that unlike Fender amps that are really bright and WAY too trebeley and "shrieky" for my tastes, this amp tends to fatten out my tone a lot, which I like.

It does hum. A lot. I could get it fixed, I know. But I haven't yet, and probably won't. It's annoying, but it's a $140 amp, and so ... I kinda just deal with it. If I had any electrician skills whatsoever, I might try to mod it myself, but ... yeah.

One thing I don't like is the inherent problem of an 8" speaker and a tiny box ... there is this kind of "boxy" sound to it, sounds a little closed almost, if that makes any sense. I'm thinking about getting the head & cabinet to see if that feels more "open" and "full."

Anyway, this is the tone I love and this amp is just a blast to rock with. On my salary, I am exceptionally happy with what I've got here.

Two tubes. One speaker. Two switches. Not a lot of stuff to break down on you. And the amp itself is built surprisingly well. I'm not rough with my gear, but I don't doubt this thing can take a beating and still keep on truckin'.

Never dealt w/ em, but I can say I would definitely get another Epi product again. Really impressed with this amp.

If it were stolen, I absolutely would buy another, in fact I am thinking about getting the Epi Valve Jr. head & cabinet that is now offered. (I might get that anyway! lol.) It's a tone monster in a little package for an exceptionally reasonable price, and I'm trying to find something to complain about, but I'm struggling to. At the jam I went to last night, another guy was playing a Roland Cube ... a cool amp, yes, but -- I'm sorry -- my Epi just had a much truer overdrive tone.

One interesting point about 5 watts ... it's still too loud for bedroom use! Shocked? Me too. Why not make a 1 or 2 watt Epi Valve Mini? I would buy that instantly. 5 watts is actually kind of an odd level of power. Not quite loud enough to gig, too loud for purely personal use w/o an attenuator ... so, that's a complaint, if you could call it that.

I'm definitely interested in louder, more powerful Class A amps ... ie, Marshall's 1974x 18-watt model.

I can't wait to try out some humbuckers on this.

Originally ordered 'B' stock however recieved version 1 manufactured before Jan 2005. Hum central. Louder you turned it, louder the hum. In a word, unusable out of the box. However, thru the hum I was able to ascertain that for the harp, this thing would kick if Epi could fix the hum. Did some research (here) and found out they did! Returned the 'B' stocker and reordered a new one. Made sure I ordered version II with the serial number designating made after 1/05.
Simple is as simple does. 1 volume knob, 1 input jack. Thats it. No switching, no effects, no headphone jack. NADA. Is what it is and does one thing, ampifies your signal through 1 12AX7 and 1 EL34. 5 watts RMS. Probably pushing 10 when cranked. 8" ceramic speaker. Quiet as a mouse when not playing now. Epipone fixed the hum. I use this to rehearse with so far. I will gig with it however its not loud enough to gig alone. It needs some reinforcment.

Sound is overdriven tube crunch depending on the volume setting. I incorporate my Harp Commander preamp and my modded Danecho to achieve the sounds I need. I play blues (ya think) and mostly rock. I play alot of guitar and keyboard solos on the harp so the need to change the sound comes into play quite a bit. I do it all with my preamp/pedal setup. This amp does one thing..amplify your signal via 2 valves. Little Walter style with smooth, round clipping. You are not going to get any Marilyn Manson tones outta this puppy. If you're looking for tube dirt, you have found it! If you want razor blade distortion, buy a Crate. Crank this puppy up past 2 o'clock and you have as much crunch as you need. Just a bit of hiss past 12 o'clock, other than that, the only sounds coming out of the amp are what you are sending to it. I let my guitar slinger try it out for a couple of songs...Lordy Lordy... Joe Walsh/Funk 49 in a box!

Have not gigged it yet. 2 rehearsals with 2 different bands. Didnt let me down either time. Both worked well. Cut right thru the mix un-mic'ed. Would have no problem gigging with it but would definitely need to be mic'ed up. Noticed it was on the warm side at the end of the night both times but tubes get warm don't they!!?!! At 139 shipping included, I'm not too worried about getting a new one if needed. I plan on gigging with it in tandem with my Fender Blues Jr. Had it modded to include a line out which I send to the Valve Jr. My Junior Stack if you will! Killer harp sound. The best of both worlds! Fender and Gibson in one small stack.

Never dealt with Epi/Gibson before. Like I said, at 139.00 with a 5 year warranty, not really too concerned.

Been playing harp for almost 20 years now. Have a modded Blues Jr I use for everything as well as an assortment of small tranny amps. I will start bringing this along to all my gigs as well. If stolen, would get another one and not worry about it. Lifes too short. Didnt really compare it to anything else. I believe this is the least expensive tube combo currently on the market. What would I compare it too??? The Crate v115??? overpriced/overgained and its a Crate.
This amp does exactly what I need it to do.
Fender is releasing the Champ 600. Same wattage MF has it listed at 199 with a 6" speaker....will get one of these and A/B them and let yall know. Best 139 bux I've spent on gear in a while. As a low wattage harp amp, cant beat it for the price!

I would call it the 1st version, as it has the hum everyone refers to. Features 1 knob Volume...I love it! I play Grunge, Indie rock, pop rock. It needs no more features...The further you turn the knob the more distortion you get. As of now I just play for fun....It can play pretty loud!

When played with humbuckers it can distort at fairly low volumes, with a Telecaster it takes a good crank of the knob to breakup. The sound is amazing! I was told NOT to buy this amp and now I'm mad I didn't get it sooner. It just has such a nice tube sound...It can go from very bluesy to thick crunch real fast. The hum is very noticeable(ver1), but don't let that stop you. When I hook the Big Muff Pi to it....It makes me smile!

Too soon to know

Never had to use them

I am fairly knew to playing guitar, but I've been playing music(of many different instruments) all my life, and I know pitch and tone. If It were stolen, I would definitely replace it, but I might go with a bigger model(heck I still might!) I've played around with alot of Vox amps...The Vox Valvetronix's don't even compare..IMO I used this amp to test the waters of true tube sound...Its a great little stepping stone and at $100 its the price of a "tube pedal".

This was version 1 combo with a terrible hum. I've sent it to Nigel Briggs in northern England (his modifications can be found at eBay) and he has COMPLETELY modded the amp as follows:

1. mod V.1 amp section to brown-Fender Champ (Vox) sound spec ??65
2. HT fuseholder and fuse (T100mA 250V slo-blo) ??10
3. Standby Switch ??10
4. Pentode/Triode Mode Switch ??30
5. Line Out Jack ??10
6. NEW transformer Hammond 125DSE ??50
7. fit 3 output jacks ??10

OK, so I paid this extra roughly $450 and now have a killer custom amp that I use as my first class A tone shaping amp (instead of the fabulous THD Univalve that is great but less convenient on stage) and the line-out goes to my other amps, usually Fender Deluxe Reverb RI.

Original features were 6, now it's 10 :-)

Originally it was promising but still bland with a constant hum.

Now, it sounds SWEET, bluesy, warm, 'brown', full, dynamic, class-A sexy
so if I use an MXR or Barber TonePress compressor and Keeley BD-2 phat or Hermida ZenDrive I get the tones that are in the $10'000 Dumble league, and the total cost is less than 1/10th of the price.

I may sell several of my other class A amps as this class A amp sounds stunning (thanks Nigel Briggs), BETTER than Cornford Harlequin that is considered the best class A 5W combo in the world, but has 50Hz hum and the speaker is boxy (I know as I used to own it), while this is not the case here. Sure, I can and will replace tubes with cryogenic tubes and replace the speaker eventually, yet already this is THE tone shaping combo worth having. Actually, I play most of the time in the TRIODE mode so it's only 2W and it's loud :

OK the original sound was more like 6 and now it's like 9.5 !

I gave it 8 as that's where it is (on average).

Now it's perfect as I even have a standby switch :-)

No idea, but they did listen to users and improved the basic unit that for version 2 scores highly (for the price).

I think it deserves 8 as it is in version 2, but with Nigel Briggs (see eBay offers that he has) modifications will cost you from $100 (DIY) - $450 (full mod) - and I can confirm it is worth it, IF you want the Dumble sound for 1/15 of the cost.

I play since 1960 and have only the very best gear and the best class A amps in the world (THD, Gibson GA, Fender ...) and this is now my main tone shaping unit as my style is Fender clean, bluesy, light to latino rock and jazz, yet I can even get metal sounds if I kick the Keeley OD-2 phat rather strongly :-)

In short, strongly recommended for $100 and also stringly recommended if you like and want modifications.

This is not applicable I think. The point of this amp is complete simplicity and after owning a Marshall JCM800, a Boogie MkIII, Boogie Studio .22, Fender Princeton and a Peavey Special 130 back in my beginner days I am free of that psychological disorder known as "option anxiety". Makes me wonder why all those other amps needed so many knobs (well, mainly the Boogies...I'm being a bit harsh to the Marshall and Fender...)

I'll give a 10 though because it's overall score shouldn't suffer. It's just simple and that's not detrimental.

When I first bought this, I plugged my Schecter CSH-6 (I think that's the model...I've never really cared what model most things are...)and a Tube Screamer and was slightly disappointed. It sounded boxy and somewhat harsh. I read somewhere to swap the stock Sovtek EL84 that came with it for a JJ and voila! awesome tone...Seriously, night and day. It sounds AMAZING now. I don't ever crank it because I live in an apartment with neighbors so I got an Electro-Harmonix Nano Muff which is PERFECT for this amp. It breaks up nicely and is super responsive. I still have the Tube Screamer but it doesn't quite do it for me. After the Nano Muff I went and grabbed a Big Muff for those times I need over the top fuzz and I've never been happier with a setup.

Fine so far. Makes me a LITTLE nervous to gig with it. I mean a $130 amp is a $130 amp but...

No experience with them.

I've been playing for 25 years and, like I said above, have had a pretty large spread of amps. I've A/B'ed two amps (MkIII and the Fender), I've used volume pedals (with the Marshall), ran stuff in stereo etc...and seriously, this is the best setup yet. I love it.

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.

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.

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