Epiphone Valve Junior Combo

One Channel, one volume control, 8" speaker. The amp is rated at 5 watts, has one preamp tube and one power tube.

Tone is irritating and muddy at high levels. The Valve jr lacks complexity, texture, is one dimentional, and I find it boring to play. Most usable sound is between nine and one o'clock. Seems to like single coils better then high output humbuckers. I play a Fender MIM deluxe player's strat, a Dean Cadillac equiped with Seamore Duncans JB's (neck) and Jazz (bridge) and it actualy sounds decent at low volumes with my Gibson acoustic/electric Songwritter deluxe, but not above nine. Look, I have to be honest with this amp. I have owned it for over 2 years and in my opinion, there is no way this amp can be rated 10. I don't know how this amp reached the rating as high as it is. Most of the reviews I have read on the valve jr. usually start by saying I added this speaker or changed this tube or whatever. Im sure you guy's put alot of hard work into modifing this amp, and the overall sound has been improved but let's be truthful to the people who want to buy a good sounding inexpensive practice amp and are reading our reviews for some advice. If an amp needs a new speaker, new tubes, new whatever, it is not a very good amp to start out with, and being that this is a practice amp with no features other then a volume nob, an 8" speaker and a couple of tubes, I would ask you to think twice before you spend that kind of money upgrading this amplifire to sound decent. So why not save your cash and just buy a good sounding practice amp with a few good effects already built in to the amp? I would recomend VOX's Pathfinder 15r, It has a very natural, tubelike sound. with usable tremolo, a volume nob, both bass and treble control, a real spring reverb tank, a line out, a headphone jack and even has an 8 ohm external speaker jack so you can send the output to any cab you wish. You don't need to modify this amp, in fact, I wouldn't recomend it becouse it already sounds good. I owened the Valve jr for 2 years. When I recently went to sell it the buyer gave me 80 bucks, my wife almost blew the deal by exlaiming "for that?!?" That about say's it all. When I asked the buyer why he was interested in the valve jr. he said he wished to modify it. I just rolled my eyes.

I owned it for 2 years, it never broke down.

Did not contact epiphone.

Its ok, ive played better at this price.

I bought it a year ago.
Version 3.
cons: class A 5w and a volume pot, multiple outputs, portable, look, $$$
pros: no stand by switch, small speaker.

I own a laney lc30II, I bought the VJ V3 for practice.
I read all the good reviews here, and many of the web sites dedicated to mod it, so I decided to try one. I took me a couple of chords and riffs to say to the salesman "ok, I buy it", even though the lady luck sspeaker was a little harsh sounding... but hey, it is 8"!!!
Despite this fact, it is a nice amp for the money I paid.

The first thing I did was to check bias current, mine is at 48 mA @ 12.2 Watts IIRC, just in the limit. So I??m not planning to add a trimmer to adjust bias. It is a tube eater but it is only one tube.

I read that this amp begins to sound good after many hours of playing.
I??ve been using this for a year and it sounds way better now.

Sound quality when using the onboard speaker is what you can expect from a small 8". It lucks bass, so it is like a high pass filter. But this can be tamed with an EQ or TS.
But with an extension cabinet it is another thing.
With those 22uf caps across the cathode resistors it gets farty when cranked, not as a Fuzz Face but near.
It gives me "you shook me all night long", "money for nothing" or "at the woodchoppers ball (live)" sounds just with a tweak of the volume pot and the guitar controls.
I use it mostly with my DIYs Rangemaster, Red Fuzz and P90. (check aron nelson??s forum)
A variety of execellent tones, nice touch and feel. And it is very loud!

If you do not plan to take it to small parties with your friends like I do, you should consider buying the head and the cabinet duo.

I took it from Palma de Mallorca to Buenos Aires, had some hits. Looks tough.

I cross my fingers...

I owned some boutique amps in the past. But after years and years of playing I prefer lower wattage amps. To me a low watt true class A is just perfect.
Epiphone did an excelent product, and most of all, they improved the amp based on users reviews. I hope they include a stand by switch in the future, a bias trim, and consider a 10" speaker.
I??m very happy with it. If lost I would buy another.
I also consider the posibility of doing my own clone with better capacitors, and with a hammond 125ese.

Epiphone Valve Jr 5 watt Head has one volume knob and on/off switch. Mine is the new 3rd version with the 4, 8 and 16 ohm options for speaker out.

Sounds very dark with my Gibson Les Paul Standard, has no compression.
Is VERY loud, too loud for an apartment, breaks up nicely around noon on the volume but is too loud, so I play it with the volume around 9:00 and I use a pedal. Ive tried many pedals, the Fulltone Soulbender fuzz pedal sounds good with this amp. This amp will sound better with a Fender guitar, its a dark sounding amp and needs a bright guitar. Amp is quiet, has no hum. I run it into a 12 inch Jensen speaker housed in a Songworks closed back cab.

I already dropped it about from 3 feet in the air to the ground and nothing happened, still works, no hum.

Decent amp, very loud, needs a Fender guitar, is dark sounding, has no compression, a Maxon OD-808 overdrive tubescreamer would be perfect.

I know, it's only got one knob for volume and that's it. However, I love the absolute simplicity of it, and that one knob gives you one hell of a range of tones! I play harmonica, and playing with different settings for the amp volume and harp volume can give you everything from pristine clean to dirty, gritty, over-driven blues-harp-from-hell tone.

I love playing blues harp through this thing, because it accentuates the natural tone of the instrument rather than burying it. As one reviewer noted, this amp will work with what you give it. If your tone isn't good to begin with, don't expect it to sound good out of the amp. But if your tone is solid, it's great. The full spectrum of the tone comes through, low to high. When you open the volume to just under 3/4 (the sweet spot for me), the tone doesn't degrade into a growly mess. Instead, the tone remains strong, the overtones remain strong, all of the subtleties of your playing remain intact, and the amp simply adds beautiful, warm-sounding distortion on top of and around what you're playing. The definition of the notes aren't lost in the slightest, either, which is great for harp as you can still get all of those great percussive effects, hand effects, etc.
I'm sure there are boutique amps out there that sound better, but for $149 this has got to be one of the best values out there - I would still be impressed had I spent double or triple that amount!

So far so good.... only had it about a month. Seems to be very solidly built, though.

Have not had to deal with costumer support. However, I am impressed with how Epiphone improved this thing through the different versions (I have version 3). It seems as though they have really listened to what musicians were saying about the amp, and improved on most of the issues that were in the first and second versions. For that, I'll give an 8.

I've been playing blues hamonica for about 10 years (keyboards for 20), and this is by far the best amp I have played through. I used to own a Fender Blues Jr, and in my opinion this thing is miles ahead in tone quality! It's simple, well-constructed, and perfect for blues harp! Given the price tag of $149, this has to be one of the best deals on the planet!

I did a review on the Valve Junior Combo ( Version #3 ) in 2008 on Harmony Central and this amp is still just what I need,"Simplicity at it's Best". What I have done since my last review is I have changed out the speaker and it has made a HUGE difference.In place of the stock 8" speaker I put in a Ted Weber AlNiCo Signature 8 eight inch speaker .
http://www.tedweber.com/

I rated this section a 9 because it is what it is , back to the basics.

The stock speaker was loud as heck but it was VERY HARSH for playing harmonica through but the Ted Weber Alnico "Signature" 8" speaker brought "TONE" to the equation that is warm/responsive and when pushed it has a very smooth and chewy attack.I have been through a LOT of different brands of 8" speakers and the Webers are the BEST!

I have been abusing Weber Speakers for years now and nary a problem,they just sound better the more you play them.

Ted Weber is possibly the nicest person I have ever dealt with ! He listens to your needs and can special build to your situation and usually for cheaper than what you would pay for a stock speaker.

I have been playing harmonica for about 40 years now and amplified for 29 years and I think his speakers and the Valve Junior are about as good as it gets for my style of playing. You can check me out at
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=SteveHarvell&view=videos

I just bought this amp today, I usually wait a few months before I review to see if it lasts. But I wanted to write one now. Features are basically non existent on this amp. But they aren't needed. Input Jack, Volume knob, Off/On Switch, and you can hook different cabs up to it too. 5W, all tube. I use this amp in my bedroom or anywhere that doesn't involve a drummer. I'll give it a 5, but the amp isn't about features. Play one, and you will see.

I use an epiphone dot, and a fender telecaster deluxe. The humbuckers in the dot create a breakup at lower volumes, while the wide range in the fender stay clean for a bit longer. They both sound great through this amp though. This is natural tube over drive and it makes me drool. It's so warm and full and beautiful... I just can't say enough about it. If your looking for a real clean amp, this isn't the way to go though. Get a fender tube w/ reverb in that case. If the overdrive is this nice through an 8" speaker , I can't wait to see how full it is through a 12". Compared to $2000 tube heads, I'm sure this isn't equal. So for the price, I'll give it a 9.

Again, I just bout it today, so I'm not sure yet. Sorry. But my dot has held up. I know for a fact that Epiphone is a quality company who produces things for real musicians. They care about there products unlike other big companies like fender. You won't have any quality issues buying from Epiphone.

I've dealt with Gibson before a few times, and they were great. No problems.

I have played guitar for about 8 years now. I'm a simple man, with simple things. I know good sound when I hear it, and this amp sounds great. It really inspires me to write. It blows my fender hot rod's overdrive out of the water(fender clean is where its at though). My advice is that you play it, and see if its right for you. Reviews are nice, but they don't mean that much in the grand scheme of things. Sit down, play it, get inspired. If you don't like the sound, move on to the next amp. I love this amp.

I picked up a V3 VJ. While it only has one control (volume) it's responsive enough that you can get a variety of tones out of it by changing the settings on your guitar, or simply modifying your attack.

In a practice room with a drummer with full kit, it had just enough head room. Add a tube screamer, you should be able to keep up.

I play garage/punk/blues/dub, and between my Jaguar and my Stratotone I find this little tube amp has the appropriate tone for most of the songs we play.

However, in my experience anyway, this amp needs a little work before it starts to meet its potential. The stock tubes (a Sovtek el84 and an EH 12ax7) provided a reasonable tone until about 11 o'clock on the dial. Past that, and you got fuzz and buzz, not a warm breakup. I switched the Sovtek for a JJ and the EH for a Tung-Sol, and I was surprised by how different the sound became. Now, the more you turn it up, the better it sounds.

Switch the tubes, seriously.

I haven't had it very long, but I've probably run it full out for 8 hours or so. So far, no problems. But it's a tube amp, so don't bang it on anything or leave it out in the cold.

Haven't dealt with them yet.

I needed a little amp that was easy to move around, but still had enough power to practice with a drummer. After the tube switch, I have no regrets picking this up. You can really get it howling with the volume wide open, and when it's turned down, you get nice string definition and some warm chime.

I chose this amp over the Fender Champion and the Vox Pathfinder 15r. I would certainly buy this amp again, although I would have to factor in the cost of picking up new tubes as well (about $30).

versio 2 combo unmodded

Heh heh, yeah well I own a friggin '69 marshall superbass and comparing the two is completely retarded. I mean, dude? What the f?%k! I can't play the marshall in my house without the neighbours going nuts (I've got an se100 and it just ain't the same), and I for sure as hell ain't gonna mod it even though it's been through hell! dumbass. The little VJ is about hot-rodding, you idiot. You know, those early chevys and fords weren't so hot either, but... I still have faith in my version 2 combo and there's something in there... makes you wanna get in under the hood. Something running flat out. But all that being said- I do agree that $300 to spend on a $100 amp- well you can find old fenders and gibsons not too far from that and well... man the choice is yours.

good so far

no need

playing since '89 on mostly strats amstd 86, fullerton 84 '57, fuzzes rat 2, muff, way huge, marshalls jcm 800, '69 superbass. The EVJ sucks out of the box, but...

through ads....

Hah-Ha-Hah.., With all advancement of music gears with reviews, people are still on their way to rock bottom believing that this is a fine amp. Bottom line is you'll be spending more time and money on improving the sound of this amp that I believe the only thing you can salvage is the case. Lets face it, most of the reviewers here never even had the chance to own a real amp like an early marshall.

Product is good for low-end user...

Single channel, single ended 5 Watt all tube amp. Just volume control. Mine is a rev #3, with multiple impedance outputs and Eminence speaker.

It all comes down to what it's been thought for, I think. This puppy was thought to be an easy, plug-and-play, no frills combo, and that's what you get.

After reading lots of boards I have opened mine just to find that many of the mods suggested on the web have already been implemented in the latest revision. Things like using Alpha volume pot, DC heater, proper output transformer primary impedance, better tube quality, correct values of resistors on input voltage divider and things like that have already been addressed.

Mine came with an EH 12AX7 and a Sovtek EL84.

Despite the lot of people complaining about this combo being shrill, I must disagree: mine sounded very dark and muffled.
I have made some mods to it, like installing Mallory caps and a Tweed-like tone control, and now it sounds very good to me.
It gives a very spanky sound that's prone to distort quite easily. Too bad the 5 Watts combined with the small 8" speaker are just too loud to crank it home.
It's kind of a vintage-sounding amp. Dirty and punchy. I just love it.
It takes stompboxes very well, so I can get good saturated tones at bedroom volumes with my TS9 (with 808 mod).
It used to be dead quiet when it was stock, after the mods it's a bit noisy but much better sounding to me.

I bought it because I wanted an amp that was different from my main amp (a Mesa/Boogie Mark IV combo), and that could give me some fun modding it. No complains, it just does the job.

I play it with a Tom Anderson Drop Top and a custom made guitar.

Rating is for the stock sound. After the mods, it deserves at least a 7.

Just had it for a month. Anyway, I've taken a look inside and it looks like it may last forever. Despite it's made in China, it's very well done. Component quality looks quite good. It's a very easy amp, there's not much that can fail inside that black little box, I'd expect it to last long enough to get fed up with it :)

No idea.

For the price I paid for it, it's a bang for the buck. For less than 100 Eur you get a good cabinet, a good chassis, a big power transformer, a suitable output transformer, two good tubes, a well done pcb and a bunch of passive components. Even if it does not sound as you wish, every monkey that knows how to use a welding iron can modify it. There's plenty of boards, schematics and suggestions, it can provide hours of fun just by experimentimg new changes to the circuit.

I really can't complain about the available features, as anyone who looks at this little combo will clearly see it was designed to be very simple.

The one feature that I really would have liked to have seen on all versions of the combo would be 4/8/16 ohm speaker outs on the rear panel. Most of the speakers I've ever wanted to try with this amp have been either 8 or 16 ohms. Happily, I see the newest revision of the combo has this feature.

The revision of the combo I had sounded a bit stale to me with the stock Sovtek tubes. So like most other Valve Jr owners I replaced the stock tubes with some new ones. I used a JJ EL84 and a JJ 12AX7.

I'm really impressed by how well this amp takes to pedals. I use a Maxon OD808 reissue for my overdrive sound and that really sounds warm through the Valve Jr. It's extremely easy to get a solid, warm overdriven sound. For heavier sounds, I use a Krank Distortus Maximus. This pedal also sounds really great through the Valve Jr, and I'm actually able to get some reasonable sounds for metal (n.b. it's an 8" speaker.. don't expect miracles!!). My Holy Grail and DL4 also sound quite full with this little monster.

I think that the worst thing about the sound this little combo produces is that it is very mid heavy and can be a little muddy sounding. There is a relatively easy fix for this. I've found using a GE-7 (or favorite eq pedal) can do a lot to tame the wild mids.

I think the stock speaker is for the most part quite good for the price of the amplifier. I think the only think I could want more there is a little bit better bass response. But hey, it's an 8" speaker. Maybe I want a bit too much.. :)

I have tested the amp with both passive (SD59/JB) and active (EMG81/85) pickups, and I have been very happy with the performance with all pickups. Of note, I think the Seymour Duncan 59 sounds particularly impressive. I really love the creamy tone I get out of that pickup with this amp.

I've had it for about 5 months now and no issues.

Haven't had to speak with them. I have had zero issues so far. I know others who have had to deal with warranty work though, and their experience was positive.

I bought this little combo for home practice and recording, and I really can't say that I've had any disappointments. It's served it's purpose well, and other than the lack of 8/16ohm speaker outs, I'm quite happy to keep singing it's praises.

This little amp is as simple as they come but in the blues , "Less Is More" !

The Valve Junior Combo version #3 has improvements that now make this the best deal on the planet . Wow is exactly what came to mind after about 2 minutes of blowing my harp through the new Valve Junior Combo version #3 . I absolutely loved version # 2 head and combo that used a 4 ohm speaker but this new version has upped the stakes considerably !

The new version is so open-fat-rich and full sounding that it is like a 7 to 10 watt amp that is completely hand wired ( which it is not) . The 16 ohm "Eminence" speaker ( engineered in the USA and made in China ) that comes standard in the new version is the loudest 8 inch speaker I have ever played through . At first I thought the speaker was a bit harsh but after about 10 hours of playing it has now transformed into a keeper ( most every speaker has a break in period before it reveals the true sound it is going to produce ) . After getting the 16 ohm "Eminence" broken in it has turned into a speaker that has a very aggressive growl and penetration that will cut through the mix in a band setting . Really , this amp will do fine on it's own in a small club setting unmiked .

What I like to do is turn the Valve Junior Combo version #3 about 3/4 wide open and back off 3 or 4 clicks on my harp mic for rhythm and backup playing . She stays a bit clean this way but still a touch of hair and grit when ya cup the mic tighter and blow a little harder . And when you reach over with your pinky finger and turn the volume wide open on the mic , it is like having a tiger by the tail . The power and touch dynamics are so organic and bottomless that it makes playing and practice fun again .

The speaker and amplifier circuit are very well thought out and matched . I tried the combo with other speakers and the "Eminence" 16 ohm speaker ( that it came with ) did the best job of bringing out the full potential-range and depth of what this amp is capable of . This amp is pretty even across the board as far as the low-mids-highs are concerned . But it does lean a bit more toward the mids to highs . But when tried with various other speakers the amp acts like a chameleon and adapts to them .

For playing amplified harp this is the BEST I have ever played through so far ! The Valve Junior Combo version #3 can be a little kitten and cleanly purr , but crank the volume and you unleash the "TONE BEAST FROM HELL" . How in the world can they make and sell such a quality amp like this for $149.00 ? Heck , the cab alone is worth that , it is built like a tank .

Mic this baby and it is mind blowing ! Take 2 of the Valve Junior Combos and a "A/B/Y" pedal and you are good to go with a loud band . With the pedal , use one combo for rhythm and then kick in both for a scorching lead solo . Two of these at the same time , cranked , is like having a religious experience .

I give the Valve Junior Combo version #3 my highest rating , a (7) Harp Salute . It also deserves my next coveted award , and that is my "Nasty Harp Award " , When ya crank that volume knob on the Valve Junior Combo the tone gets so fat and nasty/chewy , the way Chicago Blues should sound and be played . At one time I was a bit obsessed with tube heads and extension cabinets , but they take a while to set up and there is more to carry . I still like them but there is something to be said for the portability of just grabbing the little Valve Jr. Combo and running out the door to the gig.

Epiphone has hit a Grand Slam with the Valve Junior Combo version #3 !


http://bluzharp.tripod.com

I have only had this version # 3 for about 2 months but I have a version # 2 head and combo that has seen more biker bars and spilled beer than a
a motorcycle .

Awesome !!!!! I have had contact with Bob Burns and other techs there and they are a delight to deal with .

This is like my wife ! This is the amp of my blues harmonica playing dreams !

This is my second review. Don't want to be a bore but do want to pass on what I think greatly improves the amp.

I have owned this amp for a year and read about all the different mods you can get. Well, all I did was replace stock Sovtek tubes for JJ Tesla's (cost ??18) and it is now fantastic.

If you want a clean sound then it's great.

If you want natural power amp distortion then it's great.

As others have said before me..turn the amp on 30 minutes before playing it.

Solid so far.

A totally brilliant amp.

It needs tone controls. Mine had big treble boost problem.

The cab with it looks great but the speaker sounds bad-Too much treble...the Head Its like a bad pedal tone nob that doesnt give enough bass freguency; I think it needs a larger value in the head circuit too allow more bass. Im not a mod expert but I think it might be cap on the guitar input that needs a larger value probably?
My vox valvetronix 30 sounded much better. I took the junior head and attatched it too a few great speakers and it was much better!!It still did not beat my vox with stock speaker. Heres the bad part. I then hooked up a small cheap crate practice amp to this same great speaker and the little small amp sounded better than the tube head.
I can only imagine what my vox could do with this cab. In all fairness the Junior head was pretty good alone with a different speaker. I returned it to Gc mostly because I hated the speaker cab. I love Epiphone and play their guitars. I did love this little head, but mine was just way too bright. I posted this just too help balance the reviews as these reviews influenced my decision to buy. The head did sound good with a $400 cab, but was way too bright.

I can't say, I didn't own it long enough-looked well made.

I give it a 6 only because of its low cost. Mine was too bright and unusable without heavey eq. I might try the Blackheart amp designed by the same russian guy who desiged this head; it has tone controls and a cut switch to 3 watt. Oh and the VJ head was too loud to actually practice in mid to full overdrive. Im sure the Valve Junior head can sound great with the right voicing mod -I just dont have the skills or time to fiddle with it. I hope I didnt ruffle anyones feathers with this review, I did love this little head, I may have just got a bad unit with too much variance in a couple circuit parts that didnt complement each other.

One volume pot some speaker inputs and one internal speaker all you need.
I know it's not any features really but thats what this amp is a 5w class a valve combo practice amp!

It does one sound a straight very strong and warm clean sound! i use a few guitars on it a Fender Japan Tele a PRS Custom 22 and an Ibanez hollowbody and it sounded great with all of them and worked really well with all types of pick-ups.
If you want a distortion sound just pick a pedal you like and run it through the front easy as and sounds great and has a surprising amount of volume!

Now i ordered this via the internet and i recieved one and it made no sound whats so eva, probaly due to the speaker or the jack input which was a big let down so i swapped it for another one and exactly the same problem! so i thought i'd try one more incase it was me being stupid and the third one worked fine! i hate to knock it down points but 2 in a row is pretty bad.

There is no customer support in the Uk for Epiphone! the shop was alright but the lack of company help sucks.

If you get one of these that works then is a great amp and does exactly what its supposed to!

This amp only has an on/off switch and a volume control on the front panel, but on the back it has speaker outputs for 4, 8 and 16 ohm. Based on the the range of clean to over-driven tone that results as an increase or decrease in the volume level, the option to use a variety of external speakers, and the really loud 5 watts that this amp puts out, I find this amp to be both simple and versatile.

This amp with an 8 ohm 12 inch Mesa closed back cabinet and an Fender American Telecaster produces a nice range of sounds. The low level clean sound has just the right amount of bite and drive. The high volume level distortion also sounds good with the Telecaster.

This amp appears to be very well built. It is solid and the attention to the detail of fit and finish is as well or better than many amps costing significantly more money. The manufactures 5 year warranty seems to imply that the amp will be reliable. I use the amp without a backup for small gigs and rehearsals.

The amp has a 5 year warranty on every thing except the tubes.

I purchased this amp based on the previous reviews, the low cost of the amp, the ease of changing tubes when and if desired, the low wattage, and the company name. The great sound and quality of the amp is a bonus.

It's just a simple straight forward EL84 amplification circuit. The output transformer but mainly the speaker provides all the tone it has to offer. Tube amps can't get more simple in design than this.

The circuit and ouptut transformer are fine. But the main thing is the speaker and that is crap. It is efficient and loud but at the same time it sounds very brittle and metalic. In no way this is a vintage tone as they claim.
No amount of mods will improve this. I've connected this speaker to another amp and it sounded just as bad specially when driven hard.
Even at low volumes I can't get a decent sound and EQ don't fix it when recording tracks.
It sounds good when I use it for keyboard though because it's so bright so no need for a tweeter.
Sometimes I use the amp just as a head to a decent speaker cabinet and that makes all the difference. It sounds "normal".
This amp just needs a good speaker that's all. No mods or anything else.

Extremely well build amp. Almost an overkill. It's nice to see somehting build so well these days, specially in China. It'll probably work for a 100 years privinding you change the tubes couple of times.

Not needed.

Cheapest tube amp available, mediocre sound for guitar, ok for keyboard with it's original crap speaker.

Volume, line out

This amp is pretty dark. If you are looking for nice cleans, I would stay away. This amp is made to be pushed, not to the extreme, but definitely pushed. I have used it with a strat HSS and a tele. This amp treats effect pedals well. I have tried it with a humbucker into a metal zone into a 7 band equalizer and it got a great metal tone. You can get everything from Black Sabbath to Mastodon. It would not do Nu Metal or chain-saw type distortion. It does blues very well. I like a lot of alternative and indie rock, so it is a little to dark for me, but an equalizer helps a lot. I also use a weber attenuator with it to get good power tube saturation.

Built like a tank

N/A

I have been playing for 5 years now. I play a custom guitar into a couple effects into either this or my Ampeg Jet. I would cut my losses. I really like it, especially in combination with an equalizer pedal and an attenuator. I love how easily tube saturation is achieved, but I wish it was voiced a little brighter. At the end of the day, I am glad to have it in my arsenal.

input jack, volume control, power switch. only play at home.very loud when cranked.

great for old school blues and rock. starts to get a bit gritty at 10'o clock with humbuckers, at 3 o'clock it's very loud & very dirty! will sustain for ever - gary moore style. with single coils it starts to get gritty at just over 12'o clock and gives a great blues tone. if you need any more, use a good overdrive/distortion pedal.

bought mine in october 2005. hummed and buzzed like hell! took it back to sound control in stockton-on-tees, and they changed it for a newer model-this one is really great.

never used epiphone as sound control sorted out my problem. however, i understand epiphone do supply a 5 year warrenty.

i have been playing for around 30 years, on & off. this little amp sounds great for what i do. i have, over the years, owned a lot of good stuff, mesia boogie, fender, marshall etc, and this amp is up there with them - honestly. if anything happened to it i would buy again, without hesitation.

no need to explan the features...
bought it 1 jear ago..

sounds nice at all.changed the tube for EH 12AT7 for more clean headroom,sounds nice after about 50 hours.the tubes need some time to "warm up",about 20 min.i play mostly bluesrock and some dirty pop with a fender strat(made of different strats,with a tele neck).this guy is very honest with nearly no compression.you get what you give,means it shows every wrong note and mistake.you need to have tone in your fingers,so this is no beginners amp.it breaks up nicely at about 1 o clock(with gainboost mod).i dont like its sound,when the vol is full,sounds to damaged.guess its a speaker distortion.the speaker is ok at all,but too small,to give a real punch.gonna build a new cab with a jensen 12" to get more volume and punch.it works in a band,but you have to mic it.the sound is "classical",it has no modern rocksounds and no metal attitudes.he likes tubescreamers and stuff,but sounds muddy with modelling stuff.different guitars have very different sounds on this amp for there is a very short signal chain and no toecontrol at all.it can be modded very easily.it doesnt sounds like a marshall or a fender,it has some kind of its own sound

gigged a lot with it.still workin

i??ve been playin 4 a while.i have seen lots of equipment,and this one i pretty cool.no boutique tone,but its ok since i like unpolished dirty sounds.u can play the blues on a highend superamp,but with this one,its more authentic i think.best partner is a good guitar a good cable,a booster or tubedrive and the vol knob at the guitar.crappy guitars will sound crappy.you can get a lot of different sound,as long as u know how to get them from your guitar.you get,what you give

Mine is a newer version - likely 2007 with the newer hum reduction design. Have to give it a 2 because it is what it is - very basic class A 5 Watt tube amp. Don't interpret that as bad.

This amp is simply outstanding. At lower volumes, it is quite clear and clean, crank it up and it gets very dynamically responsive to your attack and breaks up beautifully. After one day, it is my favorite amp ever - even with the cheap stock tubes.
This is an amp that you have to understand though. I think those reviewers who call it "dark" sounding have to consider what the amp is and is not. There not much in the circuitry coloring your sound. I spent about 3 hours with it yesterday - no effects with an american tele. On the bridge pickup, the sound is quite bright and cuts through nicely. With both pickups on, the I got a quite nice rhythm sound and with a little turn of the volume knob got some nice growl. On the neck pickup, it is admittedly "darker" sounding, but might be a good sound for some jazz and other uses. I would anticipate the same "darkness" with a neck humbucker, but with an earlier breakup because of generally higher output. The point is, this bad boy amplifies what it gets. Start putting the tone control circuits in and all the other bells and whistles and you start gaining more control at the expense of the short path between you and the tubes and the speaker. I think the criticizm for being "dark" sounding is a reflection of the lack of ability to color the sound by boosting the treble or cutting the bass. I submit that all that can be fixed with an equalizer pedal like a Boss GE 7 or the like if you want more control. But, appreciate this amp for what it is - a great sounding, very responsive amp.
Lots of mods are possible and well documented on the Internet. I contemplated quite a few before getting mine, and am now contemplating far fewer if any. This little guy just screams with creamy smooth distortion and the most responsive dynamics I have experienced. Still has just a little of the hum when cranked, but quite tolerable. May try to tweak that a bit, but this amp is quite good out of the box when you understand that it is simpy going to amplify what you put in. Want color, treble, bass? Get an equalizer and one of these and I don't think you'll regret it. The sound just doesn't get much better than this.

Survived shipping, but can't comment otherwise.

no experience

I have about 18 guitars and 7 amps. Have been playing for 40+ years. I would replace it in a heartbeat, and would buy another if I spot a deal just for fun. As an electrical engineer, I might investigate some of the mods suggested on the Internet. Perhaps add a little more power supply filtering, and mod of the input circuit and the voltage divider between the preamp and power amp stages just for fun. But I'll be thinking long and hard about it or buying another for mods.
Haven't done the calculations, but it appears that the bias may be a little high on the output tube (decreases tube life) so I might tweak that, but trust me, this guy is AOK right out of the box. I might get another just to experiment with, but really it is an excellent amp as is. Some allege that the parts are cheap, but that is an issue that only time will tell, and it is so simple and cheap, it can easily be fixed or replaced. BUY ONE.... or three.

There is everything i expect from the amplifier - power switch for starting it up and volume button for adjusting volume. There is no need for any more stuff, it would just ruin this lovely layout.

when you turn it on, it sounds... well, something you expect to come from a tube amp. not bad at all, but nothing special either.

but hey...

let it warm up... for about 20-30 minutes. then turn it up to near breaking up level and play... play with your heart and soul, with all the mojo you have got!

It would be 10 if it would reach that tone faster than 20-30 minutes.

PS! it loves Tube screamer as well:)

built solid... sometimes i have heard some kind of fizz or smth... but that can be from the poor electricity i have in my home. Its a V2, so there are no other noise problems:)

dont know.

I love this sucker for its small size and great tone - not your usual package... If it were stolen i would buy another one.

As a long admirer of Fender Champs and simple Class A amps, I had to see what these were about after all the reviews. The simplicity is a major plus, and swapping the tubes is a piece of cake- no need to bias. My only wish is that there was a stand-by switch.

Ok- I first bought a VJ head and paired it with a nice 2x12 cab- plenty of power/volume. The nice part is that this can be pared with pedals to get the best of huge/classic amp tone with the ability to play & record at room volume- not like your playing a stadium gig.

So I was impressed enough that I wanted to see if the VJ combo was just as good....WOW. -Let's just say it's the only amp I play. In both the VJ head and the combo I've basically just swapped the 12Ax7 tubes to Groove Tube Gold series. Nice warm tone. I use this amp with a Digitech RP 250 in a classic "Bassman" type setting and the result is perfect. I play various electrics from my '77 SG, a Squier '51, but by recent fav is an '57 Epi LP Jr which I swapped in a true 'P90' to replace the excessively hot P100 it came with.

What a tone!

No issues yet.

From my experience and my playing style, this thing does it all and does it well. I gave it the true love/hate test the other night by playing out live with my lil' jr. I play a lot of slide and I basically played with a piano and a bass player and didn't need to mic the amp. Mic'ing the amp though would have definitely brought a more fuller sound to the room, but I basically played with the amp at 10 o'clock and had all the volume & projection I needed. If I bring in some drums, I will definitely go the mic'ing route. The piano player was floored on how great this amp sounded. I'm even leaving the "drink rings" on the amp for character..

For features, there are tubes, transformers, and a speaker. It even has extra features like a volume knob and a cabinet to hold all of it with a great eye appeal. I like the amp.

I've been playing for about 40 years, so I've heard and played a lot of amps. This little amp sounds pretty darn cool. If you are at all familiar with Hank Williams Sr. and have hear his old music, the old raspy, hot, clean and dirty at the same time is what this amp delivers. I took it into the tiny club I play at last night. I put it next to my other amp and I just kept going back to the VJ. It did not have the clarity of my other cool amp, but it had a tone that was very pleasant. I bought it because my other amp is 40 watts and I never get to turn it up. I bought the VJ after reading about it so much. It filled the club with truly acceptable tube-tone. I have JJ Tubes coming for it already from Eurotubes, because I believe in them and recommend them. I will probably switch out the speaker at some time in the future. I only ran the amp at about 10:00 or so. I use pedals for other tones. People loved it. In a live situation it was great. I run an Analog Man Sunface NKT, Mini Chorus, Juicer, and a AR20DL Delay into whatever I play through. Without these, the amp didn't have a lot of life. Plug in good stuff and it is fantastic. I didn't even get any hum. It's a decent amp. It is what it is: a 5 watt tube amp. Pedals bring it to life. If you hate effects that is a personal choice thing. I try to give my little audience the best listening experience I can with my limited abilities. But, sorry, nothing gets a 10 in my book except the genuine 59 Strat I had a long time ago.

Fortunately I know one of the best amp tech in the US is there in Arkansas, so if I ever had a problem, I would pay him to do what he does for a living: fix stuff.

I wouldn't bother sending in the warrantee on an amp I paid $120 for. Deal with a reputable company to begin with and deal locally.

This amp sounds old fashioned. Old school. Minimal in every way. I used it live and I loved it. I would use my big amp in a big venue, but for a small club where you want tube tone at a resonable volume, this amp does it for me. Use your effects to bring it to life or not.

Newer model EVJ. Meh, it has one input, one knob, and one switch. That's plenty for me.

After reading the many reviews on this little beast, I had to try it myself. It's honestly just the thing I'm after. I do more home recording than anything else and if I need a big rig to play on, I know plenty of gear-heads to sort me out. The sound is just what I was after! When people say to at least A-B a couple of them in store, listen to them. The first EVJ I tried was good but on a hunch I asked if they had another I could try. Sure enough, the second was amazing compared to the first, to the point that the clerk serving me remarked on the difference. There is a point where the tubes fizz and isn't that pleasant but that's when pushing it almost full-circle. I put a Crowther Hotcake in front of this thing and the good times kept rollin'. Got slightly Smashing Pumpkins tone outta the thing which was rather splendid. Also, no hum issues with this one as it is a newer model.

Hasn't broken, looks simple to fix, and if not, I'll buy another!

Probably wouldn't bother them

The tone you get for the price is wonderful! It's worth it, but do try and compare multiple versions as the quality control isn't that groovy.

This is just an addition to my previous review where I've rated the sound quality less because it was sounding fuzzy but now after couple of rehersals I feel I need to correct it to 10.
In the last two rehearsal I've played against 100W Music man. The little EVJ amazingly did cut through. All the boxy, fizzy sound seems to come together to a very cool grunty tone in a live band.
Couple of things I've learned about EVJ to make it sound better:
Let it warm up for 1/2 hour.
You need to use quality guitar.
Don't go past 3/4 volume
That's it, great little amp for line band jaming!

Doesn't really have any features other but On and volume knobs ans speaker out jack (if you remove internal speaker jack).

I have several 5 Watts amps, some I've build. This EVJ has a well decent ballanced sound. That is the bass, mids and treble are at about the same level so it's not lacking in this respect. It is quiet loud for 5 Watts but not as loud as it could be due to the output transformer. I've connected one of my build amps to the EVJ speaker and it was about 30% louder that's not to say the the stock EVJ isbn't loud enough for rehearsals. It just dirty all the way because it has to be at least at 3/4 volume and helps to have pedal to boost when doing leads.
Now for the tone of EVJ. It sound somewhat brittle even at low levels. (For recording you'd want to cut it of at about 6k that helps). But it's not a bad sound and is really a personal prefference.
Goes ok till 3/3 volume but once you got to 3/4 or max the sound becomes very treble fizzy. I don't like that. I'ts the speaker not handling higher levels. When I connected my other amp to the EVJ speaker it was even fizzier as it was louder. No amount of mods will get rid of that unless you change the speaker. maybe Epiphone dind't count on people pushing the amp to the max.

Well build and still works but it's only couple months old so can rate this yet.

It's a very cheap amp and even the speaker gets fizzy at high volumes it is still great value and still better than other 5 Watts commercial amps I've tried. I find this amp little addictive and play it very often even thogh Ihave much better amps I can use. I guess it's has a little magic to it for being not only cheap but having it's own original tone.

Got input socket and level knob that's all.

The closest description of sound would be something like the sound of an amp from old Elvis recordings when at about 1/2 volume. It's got that kind of breakup tone. When you max the volume it goes in to heavy distortion but still retains it's tone. It is a good tone with own unique character. It sounds the way it looks OLD. Excellent from grunge rock. It about as loud as 5 watts can get. Pluging it to 12" speaker or other cabs makes it sound little fuller but not that much louder to make it worth draging extra box with you. The speaker in this amp is pretty good as it is and provides lot of tight bass for 8" size.

I was hesitant to buy it being made in china but went to the shop and after close inspection I bough it. Very solid cabinet, metal corners, good solid chassis metal and is painted even where you can't see it. Has tube retainers and even preamp tube cover. Transformers look good and are of a good size, oparticularly the poower transformer looks quiet large and is probably slightly oversized which is a good thing. Speaker sais "E" that's all but apparently designed by Webber. Giood clean solid build. Far better quality build than my Fender Junior but only at 1/3 of the cost.

I didn't like the way it sounded in the shop because it was brittle sounding and treble were this. I bought it with some heavy modifications in mind, basically just to have fun moding it. Took it home and out some older worn in tubes and it sounded better without being so brittle aon the treble. So I put the original tubes back and took it to a jam where I trashed it for 4 hours and max volume.
Next day I played the amp again at home and it sounded much better. The tone was more defined and not so brittle and even got little fatter. That's because the tubes and the little speaker got worked in.
Now I don't see any point in doing any mods at all. It sounds as good as any well build 5 watt amp if not better.
So when you buy a new one don't jump to change things right away. Give it a good trash for few hours to break it in and you'll probably like it enough to leave it original. I'm not changing anything on this amp. The only thing I'd preffer is that the amp would be lighter, made of wood or plywood. On the orher hand maybe it would rattle like Fender Juniors do so if that's the case the little extra weight is worth it.

One knob - volume. As versatile as I like my amps!

It sounds terrible. For those who don't have tube amp experiences, low power tube amp even 1 Watt should sound clear and punchy like for example Fender Twin but off course with lot less volume.
This Epiphone sounds flat, brittle, blured, muffled and above all has a volume level of about 1 Waa not 5 Watts which in good amp would be loud enough for rehearsals. Problem is eather very bad speaker or oputput transformer. The circuit design is basic but good enough.

While the amp is useless sound wise, it is extremely well build in solid box, good chassis which is painted properly even in places you can't see, transofrmers are nice and shiny, tubes have spring retainers and over all design looks quiet unique. This amp should last for years.

It's a shame the way it sounds because is build so well but it's about the tone after all.

You buy a piano... where are the EQ controls, where is the volume control... and as for digital fx...? blimey they've missed 'em off, guv!!! So why did you buy it... hopefully 'cos you love the tone and everytime you sit down to play it, it sounds inspiring and harmonically rich and you just want to go on playing. Where's the tone or digital fx on a sax, a clarinet or a trumpet or a classical guitar? Same with a really good valve amp and guitar... this one is featureless control wise [volume pot obviously!] and less is more! [my wages being the exception] So with 2 classic rock valves, the EL84 and the 12ax7 you should get some great valve amp sounds.

Most valve amps tend to be characterless tonally at lower volumes and it's not until you get at least beyond half way that that valve magic starts to work. Same with this amp... 2 to 3 o'clock seems to be the sweet spot with a Strat... but it's way too loud for sitting next to and happily strumming away... it'll split your ear drums in two! Hire your local town or village hall for an afternoon and take the VJ down. Place the amp in the middle of the hall and place yourself at the end of at least 9 foot of good guitar cable. Prior to this you'll have switched on the amp, set the volume at 70 to 75% [2 to 3 0'clock] and left it heating up its valves for about say 20 minutes.

For the benefit of other HC users you may well consider recording your efforts. With the amp in the middle of the hall you can now play and listen with the amp able to move some air and your ears under less pressure! The amp will produce some wonderful overdriven sounds but also try your overdrive pedal as a boost... you'll have some sonic fun and really get to know what this amp can perform like.

I suspect that the stock speaker at 8" is not as good as it could be. I'm not sure but when I tried my VJ with a 10" Peavey speaker the improvement in tone at all volume levels was immense.

I have no idea as to its reliability gig-wise. My VJ has been with me for a year now and I have a love hate relationship with it. The valves are now the always recommended JJs and yes they sound way better than the stock valves. There are no moving parts... unless you turn the volume up and play!

Epiphone UK were not exactly honest about problems with the VJ mark 1. The Mk 2 which I have is hum free and has no noise problems at all. They would not acknowledge that the noise problems were way beyond what was acceptable on any amplifier... especially for home use. I know because I exchanged many emails with them as they ducked, dived and dodged!

My VJ has been with me for a year now and I have a love hate relationship with it. The amp however is simply great fun and a great idea. The shame is that it is so loud at its sweet spot for overdriven sounds. 5 watts of valve amp is tinnitus inducing. Therefore I hardly ever play it!!! It sits on top my Peavey Solid State Backstage 50 and it's the Peavey with a Bad Monkey that gets all the use. The Peavey sounds way better at normal home playing volumes and is more inspiring to play. My Peavey is from 1988 so has not been infected with anything digital! My Strat [USA 1972] plus the Bad Monkey and a Boss DD3 in to the Peavey blows the VJ away at normal home playing levels. The VJ sounds boxy, harsh and thin in comparison...

So get in that blues band [with a musical drummer of course?] or take the VJ out to a large hall somewhere where you can really put it through its paces because at home with the family and neighbourhood your hopes to rock immortality may well be challenged!

I bought this amp as my second having played for a year, as a budget valve amp. Don't be fooled by my playing time though, I certainly know more about tone than alot of guitarists I know who are far more accomplished than me.

I'm gonna have to rate it low in this, seeing as it has barely any features, but I must also say that's its strong point. A volume knob, an input and a power switch. Single channel, obviously.

This is a purely bedroom amp, but even at 5w of valve power it's far too loud. I get shouted at if it creeps over 10 o'clock on the volume. I'd like it to have an EQ and reverb, but I've heard from modders that adding these features sucks tone and volume, so it's best off without them. Perfect Blues/Classic Rock.

Obviously, it's very limited without pedals, but the sound quality is awesome for the price. I use it with a Fender MIM Strat, for playing Blues and Classic Rock. It starts to break up around 1 o'clock, and the valve saturation is really beautiful. It goes up to about Led Zep gain with an LP, which is all I need, but remember this is flat out, and at far too high a volume for home use, so I ordered a Digitech Bad Monkey. This isn't as nice as the amp's power valve OD which is a gutsy, throaty British crunch but it certainly works as a budget overdrive pedal for home use. The setup certainly slays anything else in the pricerange that I paid for it, ??130 for the amp + pedal.

Unfortunately, the speaker can't handle the amp. It's fitted with a Weber Signature Ceramic 8, but at anything above 3 o'clock you get this horrible fizzy speaker breakup, not the pleasant breakup from a Celestion Alnico Blue, it's fizzy and harsh. I replaced the valves with a Mullard 12AT7 and JJ EL84 to calm this, as I knew some of the fizz came from the stock garbage Sovtek valves. This remedied it a little, but I'm still left with the fizzy speaker at maximum crankage. I highly recommend changing the valves to a Mullard 12AT7 and JJ EL84 if you can, they're an extremely potent combination in this amp, and if you can, go for the head + extension cab.

Never broken, absolutely perfect condition, and I crank it regularly at home. I'd advise changing the valves to a Mullard 12AT7 and JJ EL84 if you can, the stock Sovteks are low-quality, thing glass, microphonic and I would go as far as to say about half as structurally strong as the new valves.

Haven't had to deal with them, so I'm giving this a 10 as that's the best you could hope for in this area.

Been playing 2 years now. I bought this amp with the Bad Monkey overdrive as an upgrade from a Fender Frontman, and it's in a whole different world. It's so much warmer, with beautiful vintage valve tone in spades. Much better than any modelling, SS or hybrid in this pricerange. The only other alternative IMO would be the new Fender Champion 600, but they're harder to get hold of.

Great amp let down only by crappy stock valves and fizzy speaker.

Bought brand new May '07 from Musicians Friend. This amp isn't versatile, but that's the beauty of it. Simple class A tube amp. Would've been nice to have a standby switch, but if that's all I've got to complain about, then I haven't really got anything to complain about, for the price. This is a practice amp for me. I recently made the switch to apartment dweller, and realized the big amp was neither practical (nor wanted by my neighbors!) Plus, if I go somewhere for practice, I wanted something a little easier to tote around. I really swear by Peavey amps, but ever since I heard about this little gem, I've really been intrigued by it! It's only 5 watts, but it's got enough volume for a small gig, unmiked. As you all know all it takes is a mike and a sound system to make any amp gigworthy. My effects chain gives me all the options I need (more on that later), so really this little thing is everything I wanted/needed.

The previous reviews say it all. From typical clean to a nice overdrive. No metal tones here, but that's what pedals are for. This is not tonal heaven for me, I'll admit. It would take a Peavey Bravo for me to get there (I regret selling that amp every day of my life). But, that said, it certainly does have a great tone, very true to what a simple amp like this should be. Since you can't control the tone much I can't get it to sound quite as round and thick as I'd like, but good nonetheless. However, this amp responds exceptionally well to pedals, I couldn't be more happy with that aspect. A previous reviewer mentioned something about the sound being "boxy" because of the small, closed package. I pulled out the ol' marshall 4x12 and sure enough, it opened up the sound a little. Now I know there will be some chomping at the bit to tell me an amp like this wasn't designed for that kind of speaker setup and you won't get optimal sound of out that, blah blah blah but it's the only cab I had available. if I had a 1x12 or 2x10, something like that, I would have gladly used it instead. Haven't retubed it yet but planning on going that route as for most folks there seems to be an improvement with the JJ tubes.

I don't depend on any one single piece of equipment. Well, except my cabinet I guess. But the valve jr. seems sturdy enough to handle some abuse. I wouldn't recommend being careless with it, though, as for as cheap as this amp is, epiphone had to skimp somewhere. It hasn't seen enough duty yet to crap out on me, but I trust Epiphone enough that it shouldn't have any major issues that aren't provoked. I give it a 9 because nothing is perfect, and I haven't given it enough time to break yet (hopefully it won't though)

Never dealt directly with Epiphone, so no clue about their customer service.

I've been playing for 11 years, over half the guitars that have come and gone have been Epiphone, so I've got quite a fondness for the brand and the value they deliver, I probably would have never considered this amp were it not for the name. Currently it serves a Epiphone G-400 Deluxe, Fender Mexi Tele, or Washburn A-5 reissue played through BBE Boosta Grande>Crybaby>tuner pedal>Akai Shredomatic distortion>Arion 7-band eq>Digidelay. If I'm not using the epiphone valve Jr. I'm either running through a Peavey Triumph 120 or VTM 60 to the marshall 4x12. Both fantastic, but I needed a low volume amp. If I ever needed to replace this amp, I'd spring for another! Seriously, as long as you've got a distortion pedal (and maybe an eq if that's important to you), why do you even have any other practice amp? Sell your other amp, and buy this! Seriously, 100 bucks for a practice amp with cheesy distortion and a headphone jack (woopty doo) or 150 for this amp? There's only one logical choice: get a valve junior. Had I been able to buy another Peavey Bravo for this price (I got lucky and got my original Bravo for 75 bucks I guess because the shop owner thought it was a Bandit, he told me it was a solid state amp) I would've went that route, but lately You can't find a Bravo unless it's listed on eBay for a buy it now price of $400. The competition was either the new Peavey 5-watt JSX (and at four hundred bucks, I quickly disregarded that notion) or the Crate 5-watt tube amp (v15? Not sure of the model). The Crate cost more and honestly, I wouldn't have expected much from it. Crate, to me, equals mediocre. But that's just my experience.
In closing, this is an excellent amp. Whether you're comparing it to its price range or to amps above its price range. Epiphone seriously could have gotten away with slapping a standby switch and some tone controls and charging double or more for it. I highly recommend this amp.

Made recently, I got my combo less than a month ago. When I got it it only had one volume knob, now with my mods it has two, (added a gain control). For me it has all it needs, it doesn't need a tone control, standby, etc. Just one speaker out, it would be good if it has a few more outs, to run into other cabs.
Just a simple no frills small amp, which on full pelt is very loud. It would cope with a restrained drummer, and it would do small pub gigs with ease. Miked up, its awesome.
I'll give it a ten, as although it has few features, its role as a loud, simple tube amp is not in question.
If you want features, buy a Line 6, if you want tone get one of these.

Out of the box, it is good, but Epiphone wire up these as if it has a low input. I played it stock for about three days, built myself a lightbulb attenuator for a change in tone, but then after reading up on the various forums about this little beast, I decided to take the plunge and modify it a bit. Discharged the caps, by playing through it after switching off at the mains, left it for 15 mins, then opened it up. I replaced the input resistors to give more signal to the preamp valve, I then replaced the resistors between the preamp valve and the output valve with lower value and a pot to control the gain. I added a small high power resistor across the output jack, to protect the transformer. I now have a perky bright little amp.
I will probably replace the output transformer, and maybe revalve. But the simple mods I have done have made a dramatic diffrence. Gives you a nice warm clean sound at bedroom volume, turn it up a bit more and it starts to chime like an old Vox, a bit more welly gives a beautiful crunch. Flat out its wonderful, clear tone through the overdrive, and very true to both the guitar you are playing thru it and VERY true to your playing. This amp doesnt differentiate between mistakes and virtuosity.
A good ammount of bass response from the 8" speaker too suprisingly, through a good cab its great, though dont just run it into any old thing. I put it thru a PA speaker cab, and the tone was far worse than its stock speaker.
It has the rare ability of being able to coax feedback out of guitars that are normally reluctant.
Effects pedals are a joy, run an EQ pedal into it, and my cheap nasty little Danelectro Fab Echo sound wild, instead of plain dull.
It is also a wonderful amp for playing slide guitar, it picks up all the overtones with ease. I would say that it would make a great lap steel amp as well.

Valve amps need a different approach. These amps are tough in many ways, they are easy to modify, they are easy to replace valves, components etc. But there are a few rules like, dont run it without a speaker load, or some kind of load on your output, itll blow things up inside. You cant drop it too often, then again, valves are replacable. Apparently the way it is set up, could mean that tubes last less time than other amps, this is curable, but involved some serious mods.
But the cabinet is pretty tough, the speaker cloth is substantail. the chassis seems tough enough to withstand a bit of abuse.
The switch seems a bit cheap, as do the stock control pots, but this is a cheap amp, so theyve got to make savings somewhere. They are easy to replace as well.
Funny rattle sometimes, I think it is one of the valve springs, but its part of its charm to me.

Never dealt with Epiphone and probably now never will.
What a clever marketting thing they have got. They produce a cheap amp, with a goodish tone out of the box, yet it has the ability to be easily modified to give it an awesome tone. Yet the process of doing this instantly voids the warranty. Yet Epiphone could easily uprate the amp themselves to do this out of the box.
So you have two choices, leave the amp sounding average to good, till the warrany expires, then modify, or dive in with the soldering iron, and wave byebye to customer support. I chose the latter, if this amp blows up as a result of my fiddling around, I will either have to repair or replace. The former is easy, the latter is cheap.

I love this amp, and Im tempted to buy the head only version and build a small cab, and voice the two differently. There are websites, forums and little industries dedicated to modding these, and turning them into almost boutique amps.
I play a variety of guitars, but I find this one suits all of them. I own an old Tele, a cheap Stagg Jazzmaster, a Les Paul Junior type with a P90, all of them sound ace thru this little thing. In particular I find it complements my Telecaster Resonator conversions, www.sollophonicguitars.co.uk, these sound great thru this amp. A mate played his Highway 1 Strat thru it, and managed to get feedback out of the guitar for the first time ever.
Another thing, it makes cheap pedals sound wonderful. Pedals which sound lifeless thru other amps, come alive with this amp.
A great amp, but be prepared to modify and be prepared to become addicted to its tone.

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 .