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!

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.

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)...

?

?

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.

One volume control. One tiny speaker. One nice little amp.Not much for sparkle or high end clean tones, but it does dlightly dirty real well.

I use it with a '66 Gibson ES-330, a '60's Kay K-300, and a new Epi Casino. All are single coils - get a little hum with some, but it sounds great with all. Excellent for roots rock, blues, etc. sounds.It can be cleaned up for some low volume jazz tones, too. It compare very favorably to my low-end vintage amps.
Overall, a pretty exciting little package - the kind of amp you can't wait to play with.

Took back the first one I picked up because it didn't work, this one is fine. Only 1 week old, so too soon to tell about longevity. But for the price, it seems liek very good value.

No dealings with Epi. Always had good luck with Gibson responding to questions. Don't anticipate any problems with service.

Own way too much gear - including vintage Supro, Silvertone, and Danelectro amps. It's a phenomenal value and lots of fun. Would buy it again in a heartbeat -highly recommend it for players who understand its limits.

This is an update to my review on the previous page.
I have thrown in some NOS Brimat EL84 and Mullard 12AX7. These totally rock and make the amp crunch a bit earlier (11 o'clock instead of 1 o'clock) with a less harsh sound than the original Sovtek (which are good nonetheless for clean sounds).
But if you want to get the real tone out of it at low volume, you MUST do these simple mods (especially if you have humbuckers) :
- change R1 (68k) to 1M and R2 (68k) to 22k or let R1 in place but bypass R2 with a jumper
- bypass R6 (1M) with a jumper (optional : make a switch for this to go back to stock sound for more versatility if you still want clean sound).

This totally unveil the sound, it loses its too much harshness and make the amp crunch at 7 o'clock. That's right, 7 o'clock. Ok, no more clean sound, but man, what an utterly awesome crunch ! Much better than the stock crunch, more compressed, still vintage but also ok for modern rock and more. 12 o'clock : flabbergasting overdrive, almost metal. Make it more verstatile for overdrive sounds, at almost bedroom volume (but beware 'cause these mods make the amp louder at the same volume setting). The humbuckers sound a lot better too, less dark, maybe a little high for hot pickups, but that's what the tone pot is made for : roll it down to 5-6.

Would put an 11 if I could ;)

Still good, I might try to rebuild it point-to-point just for fun and to make it more easy to mod in the future.

Excellent value for the DIYers and those who want good vintage crunch tone(s) !

This is to help you guys with hum. There's a few things that are very simple to do to upgrade these little amps. THe best place to get this info is:
http://www.valvejunior.com/

It's all laid out and any tech can easily do this in less than an hour given parts are available.

I don't own one of these so I can't comment on them.

I've heard the cab is made of fiber board so don't expect too much resistance to abuse. I'd also think that for the given price, don't expect this to last under any real heavy use situation.

Welcome to throw away USA.

Going by the things I've read about these amps:
They sound very good if they don't hum.
They are cheap but worth it if you intend to use them for practicing.

This would probably make an excellent first tube amp and I'd probably prefer to get this for a child starter over a Solid State amp that trains a newbies ears to wait tone is, or rather isn't.

One knob for volume, when it gets past 11:00 it starts to distort. I think it really needs a e.q. pedal especially if you are driving it with a overdrive pedal the difference in tone is night and day with a e.q. pedal. Boost the lows and cut some mids raise a little highs and this amp rocks. Then use a tube screamer to pump the mids again while you are soloing. Reverb would also be nice but I use a echo pedal to compensate. I replaced the original speaker with a alnico jenson and put JJ tubes in it.

In its original state the amp sounds pretty good, but with a few minor upgrades this thing can sound great. I own a mesa boogie lonestar specail so I know what a class A tube should sound like and this thing comes pretty close, just missing a little sparkle and more volume. Ive replaced the original speaker with a 8 inch alnico jenson, and replace the tubes with jj's. The sound improved but the biggest difference in tone was acheived by using an e.q. pedal. The amp literally came alive epecailly while using a distortion/overdrive pedal. P.s. this amp can stay cleaner and get louder if you use a compressor with it.

I have the old version of this amp and it starts to hum loudly at random times, a quick fix is to shut the power off and its fixed. I dont know why it does this. Im going to research some fixes for it or maby I just buy the new version.

n/a

So let me add up the damage, $90 -amp $60-speaker $30-tubes $60-eq pedal $15 dano-echo pedal == about $250 for a damn good sounding tube amp. Thats pretty unbelievable considering That I paid $1400 used for my mesa combo. I also used to own a mesa subway rocket and this thing sounds as good. I wanted a tube practice amp that would sound good with my expensive boutique pedal board. You cannot imatate the feel of a good tube amp. Ive tried the modelers and the feel sucks,and music is all about feeling. This amp is great when I dont have to play with a drummer. I would definitly buy another one of these in a heartbeat.

I have the new model that doesn't have the noise problem in stock form. Simple circit one knob baby just you a couple a tubes and your weapon of choice! Bought this amp for fun and home use. I was pleasantly surprised at the tone and output for 139.00$. This is an amazing value for a tube amp with this much mojo. Basically no features no reverb or other stuff but hey use your tone knobs and volume knob and you can ride the rails between warm and hairy clean to unbeleivable real tube distortion.that is all before I went crazy with the mercury transformer and circit kit 299.00 bucks(ouch!)and a set of JJ tubes from eurotubes 26$ and a 75 amp tech fee.

with the above mentioned mods this thing is a beast. the local amp tech looked at me when I brought it to him like I was nuts! I mean realistcally you could buy a really nice used 5 watt anp for what I have in this thing. $550 is a little crazy but I would put this thing up against any of them it is truly amazing it is very loud with an amazing amount of bass for an 8" speaker ( oh yea the stock speaker totaly rocks way better sounding than a jensen alnico 4 ohm I tried don't bother buying a new speaker the stock one rocks.Volume at 1:00 ride your strat volume from glorios quack to stevie tube. Oh yea the amp tech was floored couldn't beleive the tone. I love that it's a sleeper can't wait to drop jaws at a blues jam.

Should be good no warranty now!

don't know.

My main amp is a victoria 4510. I can't stop playing the epi though. I mean this is the real deal tube tone tube distortion touch and volume sensitive loves my tele,strat,paul and special I gotta get somebody to play harp with this thing. I think you could just do the circit mods and use the stock transformers and even the stock tubes and have something very special for less than a 100 bucks over initial cost. But if you are into a fun project and got a few ben franklins to burn I highly recomend this insanity! It's a hobby dammit it's not always supposed to make sense!

The amp has no "features"; it only has a volume knob, which sort of doubles as a tone knob. The louder you play it, the more gain you'll get. That is all.
My amp is a 2006 model, which is important because the older ones hummed. This one is very quiet.
There is no headphone jack, no effects loop, no nothin'. You can run a 4 ohm speaker off of it. That might be cool, but it's certainly not necessary. It is a practice amp, but you could use it for jamming with some dudes. It certainly sounds good enough for playing out.

I use a Mexican Fender Strat. The amp sounds freakin' awesome. I like old Luther Perkins style country, rockabilly, and Flat Duo Jets style punk/psycho-blues music. This amp, with an overdrive pedal, is absolutely dead-on perfect for these styles of music. It will also work beautifully for surf or even Ramones style punk rock.
However, if you want any reverb, you'll have to get a decent echo pedal. Echo pedals (like the Danelectro BLT, which I use)are cheap, so get one. This amp loves pedals.
It is a fact that single coils (Strats or Teles or P90 guitars)sound better through this amp than do humbuckers. Don't know why.

I haven't had the amp long, but there is nothing to go wrong with it. Like any tube amp, the tubes will eventually burn out, but that's not a fault of the amp. I would use it at a gig without backup. Luther Perkins never used a backup amp!

3 year warranty for workmanship, but warranty doesn't cover the tubes or the speakers. I think the speaker is on a 6 month warranty, but for how much I play (half-hour a day), I doubt that I'll have any trouble.

I have been playing for a year and a half. This amp is everything I could have wished for for the price. My grandfather had a 1958 Strat, which I have played through his old Silvertone tube amp, and this Epiphone easily matches the sound quality of old classic tube amps.
In order to reach it's full potential, the amp needs an overdrive pedal and an echo function. Danelectro makes great and inexpensive stuff. But for the price paid, you simply cannot criticize the Valve Junior. And no, the new ones don't hum, at all. Buy one, and you'll still have enough dough for another Agile or Jay Turser guitar.
I do have a twinge of guilt when I realize that some poor Chinese slave laborer made it possible for me to buy such a good but inexpensive amplifier.

This is the brand-new, hum-problem-fixed version. It has no features except a volume knob and a power switch, which gives it a 10 in my opinion, except for two things: lack of a tone knob and the jokey little 8" speaker. A 12" would sound awesome. Or how about a 2x10" version? And a simple tone control would make this into a whole different amp, or several different amps.

Otherwise, it's like Epiphone read my mind. Why would I want a bunch of cheesy circuitry between my pickups and those tubes? In a world gone nuts for cold solid-state slathered with DSP and modeling, Epiphone has remembered what most of us have forgotten: The AMP is the thing!

Some users complain about the lack of reverb, but that's one less cheap component to screw up, in my opinion. It lets me pick my own reverb. I use an EHX Holy Grail set on Spring. Same logic goes for overdrive, compression, and EQ, not to mention the sweet vintage MXR Analog Delay I've thrown in. An array of pedals probably sounds better than low-end, onboard FX, and it can be upgraded one FX at a time and tailored to suit one's own taste, and, most importantly, if one breaks, you just swap it out instead of getting stuck with a half-broken amp. Oh, and you can use your preferred effects array with your other amps. You do have other amps, don't you?

So far, I'm using it with single coils on a Strat clone and humbuckers on an oddball Electra Outlaw MPC, which is a neck-through mahogany beast from the '70s. I play fingerstyle, country, surf, folk, and a little funk rhythm and rock. This amp sounds not approximately but exactly like what I'm after. Let me be clear about this: It is not a hi-fi component! It is not clean, especially when you push it! It will color the signal from your guitar! That is the whole point of an amp, in my opinion. Since solid-body electric guitars are not using a nice wooden top to move air, something, somewhere in the signal chain has to vibrate and add harmonics and intermodulation products, or else your guitar will sound decidedly egg-shaped and boring. Nothing adds this "warmth" and complexity as musically as a low-powered tube amp, and here Epiphone has filled the order perfectly.

Unlike most transistor circuits and even tube preamps, the Valve Jr's power stage is responsive to touch. A good player who knows how to produce tone with his hands can make this thing talk. At high volumes, it crunches according to touch instead of going all fizzy.

I knocked the little 8" speaker, but its mid-rangey, slightly flabby, nasal honk *is* the "vintage" guitar sound. Do you envision the electric guitar as some sort of sprawling sonic utopia, the Alpha and Omega of every mix, or as filling its assigned niche in a combo, along with other instruments? If the latter, then the lack of extended bottom will not bother you, and in fact may be a plus. With this amp, the guitar will go where you put it.

Not enough bass, you say? Well, that's what a bass player is for.

If you enjoy hogging the whole frequency spectrum, to the point where a decent engineer has to dial out half your signal with EQ, then this is not your amp.

The simplicity and solid construction point toward reliability, but I haven't had it long, so I don't know. I would *never* feel comfortable gigging without a backup, particularly with a tube amp! I would at least bring along a little solid state beater that does more or less the same thing as this, like maybe a Behringer Thunderbird GX108. Ideally, I'd bring another little all-tube tone monster. Either way, I could run them wide in stereo unless (more like until) one of them failed, and then I'd still have an amp.

You guys who say you *never* gig with a backup: I don't know how you sleep at night.

No idea.

Things this amp is not:

It is not for metal or hard rock. As far as I can tell, you need lots of clean headroom for that particular kind of crunch, which features tons of bottom.

It is not what most jazz players think of as a jazz amp, particularly not for solo work. It's nuanced, but it's nuanced in its glorious muddiness, which is not what jazz players want. Myself, I wouldn't hesitate to play Chet Atkins-style material through it, which is about as nuanced and jazzy as I would like to get. It would obviate the need for chorus FX, which so many jazz players seem to lean on. Why bother with chorus when you have sweet hairy power tubes?

It is not for playing stadium gigs without sound reinforcement. Seriously, when it comes to amp volume, nearly all guitar players are utterly deluded. In a recording studio, you want low volume so things won't rattle and mics won't disintegrate. In a practice room, you don't need to shake the rafters and deafen your bandmates and make them compete for airspace. And on stage, you should get your tone from your amp and your volume from this groovy invention called the house PA. Yes, the sound man can put a mic in front of your little amp and dial the right amount of it into the mix instead of having to blow the audience out of the bar just to get the vocals over your rockin' mega-stack. Face it, almost none of us is ever going to play a stage that's big enough for even a 60 much less a 100 or 200 watt guitar rig. Most of us have too much amp.

I'd compare the Valve Jr. favorably with my vintage Gibson Minuteman GA-20RVT (with leaky vintage caps), my silverface Fender Champ, my Peavey Bravo 112, my Hughes and Kettner Blues Master, and my Seymour Duncan Convertible 100w 1x12-- all low-wattage (the Convertible has a pad) all-tube amps I have owned and spent more money on than the Epi Valve. If I lost this amp, I'd need another. At this price, I'm tempted to stock up. I wish it had a tone knob and maybe a more serious speaker.

Newest version of the Valve Junior, redesigned by Epiphone and has no hum. Basic class A amp that delivers warm vintage tones as good as (if not better than some) some classic tube amps of the '50s.

Like I said. Epi has really been paying attention to what people are saying about these amps and have completely addressed the hum issue. Looks like they added a insulated input jack and added DC supply to the tube filaments. If you buy this amp make sure from your dealer that you are getting the newest version and have them order it directly from Gibson if you have to...that is what I did.
What more can I say about the sound of this little amp? If you put in some NOS tubes you got a GA-5 for 100 bucks!

Not much could really go wrong with this amp...there just isnt much in there :) and it is built like a brick **** house. Very solid construction, nice tolex cabinet with metal corners, beautiful vintage design with retro design and white piping. Manufactured in the USA, this amp would cost more that a hundred bucks for the cabinet alone. Be sure to register your amps warranty online with Epiphone. I think it has a 5 year warranty minus the tubes and speaker which have a 90 day warranty. By seeing what Epi did to address the hum issue on a amp with this kind of base price shows the dedication...to me anyway...to listening to its customers and supplying a great product at a great value. I am sold on Epiphone forever.

I havent had to deal with Epiphones customer support. Warranty is 5 years minus tubes and speaker which are 90 days.

All I can say is run out and grab one or two of these amps NOW before they jack the price up on these to 300 dollars or so. That is what they are worth. I am going to run out and buy a couple more. Maybe i will run two in stereo and keep one new in box for a backup...its just too damn good of a deal.

Its a brand new 5 watt, Class-A, 8" speaker, 3-tube, one knob, one switch (lighted), tone monster. Nice vintage appearance. Has an external speaker jack so you can disconnect the housing speaker and use a 4-ohm cabinet with it. I'll bet it really rocks a 4-ohm cabinet. I'll have to try that experiment.

This is a very versatile amp. At low volume you can get a nice blues tone with enough overdrive to have nice sustain. Cranked you can get everything from a nice overdriven Chicago blues tone to Led Zep #1. Don't expect a Slayer/Metallica thing without a pedal.

I bought this thing to compliment my Silvertone model 1481 which is also a 5 watt, Class-A tube amp with volume and tone controls. (I have reviewed the 1481 on Harmony Central also.) I wanted to run them in stereo. Believe it or not, the Valve Jr. blows the Silvertone away. Its louder and is more HiFi - more dynamic range. You heard it here vintage tube amp people - the Valve Jr. is way cooler and more versatile than the 1481.

The sound on this amp is great. Much louder than I expected and much louder than the Silvertone 1481 I mentioned. I have read reviews that older models of the Valve Jr. hummed. Mine is quiet. Even cranked to eleven it was quiet. Just general tube noise. Nothing horrible.

The amps suits my styles of music. I haven't played it with any pedals in front of it yet, but I'm looking forward to it. I'll bet it will compliment both an overdrive and a Boss Metal Zone nicely. I'm also looking forward to putting a wah and Rotovibe in front of it.

I haven't seen any need to change the speakers or the tubes yet as other people have mentioned. Its great right out of the shipping box.

As I mentioned before, don't expect this to do the Dimebag thing without a pedal. But it will be great for blues, classic rock and 70's hard rock. I can imagine it doing the Hound Dog Taylor thing perfectly. I'll have to try that!!

Only had it for one day. I hope it lasts. We'll see how it survives after this weekend after it gets a dose of Boss Metal Zone.

No idea. I imagine Epi to have good customer support. I have heard and read good things about their support here and at Musician's Friend.

This amp is everything the reviews say it is. Loud enough. Overdrives easily when cranked. No noise. Excellent bang for buck. If I didn't already have the Silvertone 1481, I would buy two of these. Everyone should own two of these!! They sound great. Cool vintage look too. Beats getting ripped off by some boutique amp maker in Vintage Guitar or building an amp yourself. I guess if you have $800 to spend on a hand wired, 5 watt, Class-A tube amp, don't let me stop you. Or you can send your money to me, Al Franken.

And again, I want to let the vintage amp people know that this thing smokes the real vintage amp, my Silvertone 1481. And I know tube tone. I own a 76 Marshall 100 watt combo, a 75 Marshall halfstack, a 68 Twin (BF circuit), 77 Twin, Fender M-80 and a Silvertone 1484 with the 6 X 10" cabinet.

The reviews are dead on.....BUY THIS AMP NOW.....BUY TWO!!!!!

Class A single end tube amp. Its best feature is its simplicity, of both controls (one volume) as well as the circuit. One 8" ceramic speaker and a cute but solid retro styled cabinet. Overall a nice package, and surprisingly affordable.

Mine is the newer version, which is worth mentioning, because apparently EPI took heed of what players and techs were saying about version 1, and redesigned the circuit to correct some of the things that were generating complaints. The most noticeable change is the elimination of hum. My VJ is one of the quietest tube amps I have encountered.

As far as the tone of the amp, it is fundamentally good in terms of tube tone and breakup, but there is room for some improvement. There is plenty of volume (it's "louder" with a little more clean headroom than my early 60's 5F1 Champ), and the speaker seems capable of handling the output. However, I thought that the amp right out of the box sounded too dark and lacked fidelity. I play a variety of guitars, but mostly single coils and P-90s. Stock, the VJ lacked the snap and sparkle that I like to hear from my '56 Telecaster, or my EJ Strat.

The good news is that, with a few simple changes (bye warranty), I was able to get a much more satisfactory tone out of the amp. The changes were 1) trash the Sovteks and install a NOS Sylvania 6bq5 and RCA 7025; 2) perform input impedance mod and; 3) install 100pf silver mica capacitor to brighten up the overall sound. All of this took about 30 minutes and less than $5.00 worth of parts (except the tubes, which I had in my stockpile), and led to a noticeable improvement in tone. Now the amp is more "sparkly" and has some of that bite that I listen for.

There are some other mods out there that I ave not bothered with, but you can find the on the internet. One company sells a transformer and choke kit that, when installed, is supposed to turn this amp into a baby tone monster, but the cost of the kit is more than twice the price of the amp!

Realistically, this amp is not supposed to compete with a vintage Deluxe Reverb, AC30, or one of the "bo-teek snob boxes" that sell for many time the price of the VJ. But for an inexpensive pcb amp with 2 tubes and an 8" speaker, it ROCKS! I have already ordered the head version as well.

The simplicity of the circuit leads me to predict it will earn fairly high marks for reliability, although all tube amps are to some degree fragile instruments. I probably would not gig this amp unless it was a party or other informal situation, only because it seems just a little small, even miked, for gigging. Great for the studio, though.

No experience with customer support, although its parent company, Gibson, has excellent CS.

If this amp broke I would probably be able to troubleshoot and fix it myself, it is so simple.

Been playing a LONG time. I have lots of gear, mostly vintage Fender, Gibson, PRS, and LOTS of old and new tube amps. The VJ in both configurations will be part of my collection. The combo is perfect right next to my desk to practice and write with, and I am hoping that the head version (with the cab that I put together for it) will accompany me to some smaller jams or other playing situations.

A parting observation:

Epiphone sells GREAT GEAR for the money- not just the VJ but some of their guitars seem like a really good value.

One channel two tubes 8 inch speaker. Simple as it gets.

I use a Les Paul classic with a Duncan custom in the bridge and a 59 in the neck. I run a Boss OD-3 and GE-7 equilizer up front with a Teese RMC-3. Mine is the first version from last year with the one cutout in the back and the stripes on the face-Plate are different They are on top not in the middle where they intersect the volume knob. I have no buzz whatsoever in it. It does have little 60 cycle hum but not enough to even hear above talking. Must be qaulity control with the filter capacitors I guess i got lucky the 60 cycle hum does not get louder as I turn the amp up. I bought it for practice with my band so I didnt have to lug around a half stack. I can get killer sounds out of it slamming it with an OD pedal. Cuts through easy and is very responsive. It keeps up with drummer no problem and even comes through better than the other guitarist half stack. It distorts at high volume but back off guitar volume and you can get a decent clen sound. Distortion is killer with an OD up Front and an EQ. The EQ helps alot to beef it up. If done correctly it can sound like much much bigger amp. I have the original tubes in it. Sovteks. I love this damn thing I use all the time.

I would use it without a back up. I do all the time. Its very simple circuit. The input jack and on sitch could break I suppose but easy to replace and probably wont break unless the amp is dropped or something similar. I throw it in the back of my truck all the time no problems with it yet.

N/A Never used it. I asked gibson about the different faceplate and they responded saying everything is subject to change?? Could tell me anything else about it.

Been playing 25 years I have other ams Soldano Marshall, If it was lost or stolen I would definetly get another one. For the price it shreds. I love that it sounds like a tube amp should and is very responsive, keeps up with a live band easily unless you play huge gigs, even then you could mike it and get away with it easy. Outsanding Tone. I chose it after doing some research on small tube amps and I came across this one and for the price it was a gamble I thought. I won that bet. Cause I didnt try one out first. I was hoping it would be cool. Easily I would have paid 2 to 3 times the 80$ I spent to get this thing. Go buy one you wont be sorry.

This is an update

I've owned this amp for about 7 months now and it's cleary one of the best amps I've played. In fact I now own two of them and both of my band members bought one. It's just the best kept secret ( no longer a secret) in guitar amps. In my earlier review I said that this was the all time best deal of anything ever. ( or words to that effect) and I still believe that.
At $120 shipped this is crazy, twisted sick. I have two of the older ones with the major buzz but it does not bother me at all. The prices have gone up, I believe they are $140 now but it would be worth it at three times the price or more.I would pay much more for this amp.

It's the kind of amp that you sit down with in a store and walk out telling yourself you need that amp but the sick thing is even an illegal Mexican working for $5 an hour can buy two or three in no time.

If you like classic 60s 70s Hendrix, Zep ACDC and even Van Halen than you will buy this amp and love this amp.

I've owned them all, Original Marshalls and reissues ( both are fantastic) Hiwatts ( not really my cup) Traynor bassmasters ( great bargains but I like the valve better) Dr Z ( owned the Ghia when they used cost like $600 now they are up there).. The little valve fits right in there with my all time favorites.

The unbelievable thing about this amp is it's ability to cut. The little 8" speaker is killer. I use this amp is a 3 piece live situation for rehearsal ( un miked) It is hard to believe but this amp is loud enough. We wail on ACDC and Zep and the tone is spot on. It's more than just volume that you need, you need something that cuts and while I have much louder amps, They do not always cut as good as this tiny thing.

It's just an amazing little amp. Do not spend $800 or more on a little all tube amp by Dr Z or other "booteeks". They may sound great but try one of these first. It's a great feeling to save $700 and get tone that matches or bests the fancy names.

BTW, I took the advice of many and tried some speaker "upgrads" I bought four Weber 8 inchers when they had thier sale/ I bought both ceramic and both alnico models. I tried them all and ended up putting the stock speaker back in on of my amps and left the cheaper Alinico in the other amp. The stock speaker is the shit. Certianly the best match for the amp. I kept the weber in the other amp only because I was to lazy to switch the stock speaker back. It still sounds good but not as good as the other amp with the stock speaker.

I have yet to try differnt tubes.

Good so far.

10

This is the best deal going for an all tube single ended Class A combo amp, I should know, I've been building guitar amps for a few years. The features provided on this amp do what they are intended to do.

I like this amp with a telecaster on the bridge pickup, turn the volume to about 2 o'clock and get a great lead tone.

I have a version 2 amp and it is not noisy at all.

Tried an Alnico Weber 8A125T, but prefer the stock (Weber) speaker.

Clean tone is a little thin but not bad coming from an 8 inch speaker.

For the price, get a second for backup, and run'em in stereo!

Going to mod mine so much for the warranty.

Got this amp to try some mods on, this review was for a stock (changed power tube) amp. I have been trying to play guitar for 40 years. I have built and sold many amps (see Texas Tube Amplifier Company H/C reviews) and had to see if this amp was worth the money. Yes, it is definitly worth the money. If you want an amp to give that classic tube distortion at a lower volume level, this is a great deal. FWIW, I will be selling modified, point-to point/barrier strip constructed Valve jr's with a couple of different circuit options, email me. (my website is down)

Part of what makes this amp great *is* the lack of features. One volume control -- that's it. The tone knobs on your guitar actually do something you know ;)

I would have liked some additional features like a headphone jack and/or additional ohm outputs but for the price you get what you pay for.

I bought the amp when it first came out and was victim to the hum and buzz problems. I paid to have it modded and now I could not be happier. The newest revision (look for serial numbers starting with 1205) do not have buzz problems so do not to worry if you're buying one new today.

Excellent tone. Clean up to 12:00, break up from 12:00 - 3:00, past that it's got a really nice natural distortion. Takes great to pedals and records well. It's really LOUD. Too loud for bedrooms but probably too low for un-miced gigs.

At the end of the day it's a valve amp for $129 that doesn't sound like crap. You really cannot go wrong. You may want to invest in some new tubes eventually because the stock Sovteks do not sound as good as just about anything else you can buy. I threw a coupld of JJs in mine and I noticed a definite improvement in tone.

Built like a rock. My only concern is the MDF cab which whill not hold up well if you keep taking the back panel off. Everything else seems rock solid.

My warranty has been voided. Let's hope it never breaks! I have an Epiphone guitar and their support has always been great.

Great buy overall even though after mods and tubes I paid over $225 for it. If you can get one of the new revs or the head version you can't really go wrong unless you are looking for a ultra-high-gain, drop C, chugga-chugga amp or clean as a bell at 10 jazz amp. Great for blues. Great for classic rock.

You can read about the features elsewhere. A single input jack and a volume knob. What else is there to say?

Using with American Strat with Lace Sensor pickups.

Mine has the infamous hum problem with the volume turned up about one quarter. Very annoying.

It does sound nice though. But I will probably either return it or seek out the modification. Any tips on how to get this done?

Just bought it.

Basic, inexpensive tube amp. If not for the hum, I think I would really like it.

As below.

As Below.

As below.

Just got off with "Bob" the "amp guy" at Gibson who handles all amp problems. He swears there is no swap-out that's ever been done with the new-old VJs and denies any problem with the originals.

He refuses to say if you bring it to an authorized repair place if they'll honor the noise fix or not. But he denies any global fix or repair strategy and that the new rev is simply "revised specs", not a fix. Basically, the guy was a flaming CYA lying corporate bunghole.

Everybody knows about the problem, and Gibson/Epiphone refuses to deal with it. So much for customer support. "Bob" didn't want to know about the problem, wouldn't admit they had ever heard about it before, and wouldn't admit the new rev was a "fix".

This is the kind of user-friendly company you really want to do a lot of business with.

A great product conceptually, and it works quietly after the fix rev, but avoid the early models with the single cutout in the back at all costs. Gibson is basically pulling the Monte Python Dead Parrot routine over the first noisy gen of this product. "It makes noise don't it? Then it ain't dead, is it? Warranty denied!"

2006 version, without any buzz as said in other reviews. I even have no earth in my flat electrical installation and it doesn't make any noise.

You know the stuff : one volume knob that acts like a gain when cranked all the way up. Plug and play, that's totally its philosophy. Perfect for me. I give it a "No opinion" though 'cause I love it this way but it's quite limited nevertheless.

I play it with an Epi Les Paul (w/ Gibson 490R & 498T humbuckers) and with a Squier '51 which I bought at the same time.
A bit dark with the humbuckers, but good nevertheless. The single coils love it. Gain goes from very clear (a beautiful clean in my opinion, I use it mostly this way in fact as I have a Marshall Studio 15 for the crunch with a Master volume - same as a JCM 800 but in a small 15W combo version) to very useable crunch (AC/DC, Thin Lizzy etc.) Not for high gain stuff (thrash metal etc.) of course, but this baby loves pedals (Guv'nor, DS-1 ...) so who knows ...
So in plug and play version, t