Epiphone Valve Junior Combo

Mostly covered by others. One 12ax7 tube, one el84 tube, as far as I can tell (haven't opened it yet) - a SS rectifier & power resistor (as opposed to choke coil), preamp volume control.
I gave it a 10 because for it's purpose 'just one knob' is the best feature it could have. It may sound silly but if it had a tone stack and master volume I would have marked it down. (Actually, I wouldn't have bought it in the first place.)

Oh My God. One of the suggestion questions is "What kind of sounds can the amp make?". GOD TONE is one. I play Stones/Georgia Satellites style rock & roll on an Epi Les Paul ES (man I love that guitar). While it's sounds are best suited for that and Blues, it still has enough versatility for just about anything but heavy metal.
My bud on vocals plays blues-harp and tried it for that. He liked it so much he tried to steal it from me! (just kidding, but not really).

Too soon to tell but seems solidly built. Actually a little heavy for it's size. Epiphone's made a few crappy things through the years, but very few. I trust this to last. Plus tube amps, while more expensive, are much simpler to repair. You can even strip them to the bone and rebuild them from scratch. I bought this for practice, song writing, and recording, but would trust it live without a backup (would have to be miked though).

I've dealt with Epiphone before and they're usually as good as the best out there. Once I had a specific question about modding a pedal and, after they realized I knew what I was talking about, ended up talking to one of the design engineers.

"If it were stolen..." I'd track them down, stab them with a rusty drywall saw, and get it back. Oh, or buy a new one, yeah.
I love this amp so much I have both the combo and head versions. I was originally going to go DIY and build the Hoffman Schedule 40 or Weber Smokin' Joe. I tried one of these first and am more than happy.

Pretty much everything I could say about this amp has been said. I'd just like to stress two things though.
First, don't let all the mod talk you'll read keep you from getting one, if you can't do the mods yourself, and feel it would cost too much to have them done. This beauty is fine, and right out of the box is better than amps twice the price. The only real problem it ever had was the hum and that's been fixed.

The second thing is that, if you do mod, some sites have recommended replacing the transformers. This is ludicrous. It's unnecessary for the sound if you do all the other mods, and would add too much to the cost (power and output transformers are most of the cost of tube amps). If you're going to go that route you might as well just get a Fender Blues Jr or Pro Jr and be done with it.

Mostly covered by others. One 12ax7 tube, one el84 tube, as far as I can tell (haven't opened it yet) - a SS rectifier & power resistor (as opposed to choke coil), preamp volume control.
I gave it a 10 because for it's purpose 'just one knob' is the best feature it could have. It may sound silly but if it had a tone stack and master volume I would have marked it down. (Actually, I wouldn't have bought it in the first place.)

Oh My God. One of the suggestion questions is "What kind of sounds can the amp make?". GOD TONE is one. I play Stones/Georgia Satellites style rock & roll on an Epi Les Paul ES (man I love that guitar). While it's sounds are best suited for that and Blues, it still has enough versatility for just about anything but heavy metal.
My bud on vocals plays blues-harp and tried it for that. He liked it so much he tried to steal it from me! (just kidding, but not really).

Too soon to tell but seems solidly built. Actually a little heavy for it's size. Epiphone's made a few crappy things through the years, but very few. I trust this to last. Plus tube amps, while more expensive, are much simpler to repair. You can even strip them to the bone and rebuild them from scratch. I bought this for practice, song writing, and recording, but would trust it live without a backup (would have to be miked though).

I've dealt with Epiphone before and they're usually as good as the best out there. Once I had a specific question about modding a pedal and, after they realized I knew what I was talking about, ended up talking to one of the design engineers.

"If it were stolen..." I'd track them down, stab them with a rusty drywall saw, and get it back. Oh, or buy a new one, yeah.
I love this amp so much I have both the combo and head versions. I was originally going to go DIY and build the Hoffman Schedule 40 or Weber Smokin' Joe. I tried one of these first and am more than happy.

Pretty much everything I could say about this amp has been said. I'd just like to stress two things though.
First, don't let all the mod talk you'll read keep you from getting one, if you can't do the mods yourself, and feel it would cost too much to have them done. This beauty is fine, and right out of the box is better than amps twice the price. The only real problem it ever had was the hum and that's been fixed.

The second thing is that, if you do mod, some sites have recommended replacing the transformers. This is ludicrous. It's unnecessary for the sound if you do all the other mods, and would add too much to the cost (power and output transformers are most of the cost of tube amps). If you're going to go that route you might as well just get a Fender Blues Jr or Pro Jr and be done with it.

None. On or off, loud or quiet. The only reason it gets a 2 is because you can unhook the stock speaker and run to a seperate cab.

Bit too dark for the Marshall crowd, but might take an EQ OK. Mic'd through the PA and turned to around 2:00 makes for a tone that will clean up with the picking attack alone: higher than that, and you have to roll back on the guitar volume. The distortion is good and thik for sludge rock, or blues rock that goes into meltdown mode. Don't even try to play metal with it.

Stock speaker is loud but boxy, and farty on the neck pickup on my LP at high volume settings....into a Beringer 4x12 4OHM input it has a MUCH better voice.

Built well, but if you run it up against the rails all the time, be prepared for rattling and wierd noises to insue quickly. I think I'd rather have the head, but I got this for 80 bucks, so I'm not complaining...I'm just gonna keep wipping til ith either cries or dies.

23 years in, and this thing does the low-fi practice amp thing in spades, but don't think it will take you any further than that.

I have two Valve Jr. combo amps, #1088 and #1226. I bought them in November 2005. Both are (were I should say) earlier versions with the hum problem. I bought two because they sounded vastly different from one another. #1088 has more of a focused mid-Marshall-like sound, and #1226 has a fat Fender-like sound. These two sounded particularly good out of the several I tried. At $119 each I was pleased with both purchases.

I immediately retubed both amps with NOS tubes. Both amps have a 1962 GE 12AX7 and a mid-60's RCA 6BQ5. These tubes made these good sounding amps really come alive. However, I still had the hum problem. Recently, I had the Mercury Magnetics Mod installed in Valve Jr. #1088 and put in an early 1960's Tung Sol 12AX7 and a mid 1960's GE 6BQ5. This amp is now one of the finest sounding amps I've ever played through. Keep in mind that it no longer is anywhere near the stock amp that I originally purchased.....but I gotta tell you....the sound is now truly awesome and inspiring. This amp is now DEAD QUIET! The frequency range, tightly focused sound, and power is amazing. It's worth the money. I had an accomplished tube amp technician do the Mercury Magnetics Mod installation on Valve Jr. #1088. He said that this mod is not for novices to install.

I also had him do the one of the minor surgery hum reduction mods on Valve Jr. #1226 that is listed on several web sites. This definitely quieted down this amp. It did not change the sound, except to significantly reduce the hum. I may put the Mercury Magnetics Mod in this one in the future, but for now I have one really amazing sounding amp and one really good sounding amp. I left the stock speakers in both amps, because I think they sound really great.

This is the real deal in pure tube tone. Both Valve Jr.'s are very responsive to pick attack. Once again, the Valve Jr. with the Mercury Magnetics Mod is incredibly responsive.

I've never had an issue except for the infamous hum associated with the earlier models. But that has been rectified. Both amps have been on gigs and done well.

N/A

These amps are really versatile. The Mercury Magnetics Mod Valve Jr. amp #1088 is one of the finest sounding amps....ever! Yes, I know it's not really the same amp, but if you can save up, and have it installed, you'll be extremely pleased. I really like #1226 a whole lot also. So, go buy one....or two as I did!

PS A good friend who plays harp played through the Mercury Magnetics Modded Valve Jr. and it is one of the coolest amps for harp I've ever heard.

I was excited about the amp before I got it . After about 1 minute of playing I shook my head in disbelief . Where is the chime ? where is the bell like tone? this amp's stock tone SUCKS. It is sooo poor that it sounds like a 10 yr old child's beginner amp , with the bass all the way up. I had to look at the back of the amp to see if it had tubes in it , I was in disbelief this was a tube amp. Is it the tubes? Is it the speaker ? . No way can those few changes result in the tone I'm searching for. I was not happy at the good reviews I read .I wanted this amp to sound like the Dr.Z website (mini Z sound sample) and boy this is NOT it . That is the tone I'm look for. I can say 1 good thing it has NO BUZZ , matter a fact its SOOO quiet that I wonder if something is wrong. It was a birthday present so I'll keep it and make a speaker and tube change , like this it'll just draw dust . I also heard my friends new Fender blues jr amp and I was NOT impressed with it either. Maybe I'm looking for that 100watt Marshall Plexi tone in a $140.00 amp. I'll post another review on this amp after I make much needed changes .

made in China ? you know their track record ...who knows .

I'll give a final overall rating on this China made amp after the much need changes .

This is an update.

I had this amp modded for 35??? (about the same in USD).

Feature-wise, It now has a switch at the back, to select 4ohms output (the setting for the stock internal speaker) or 8ohms, allowing for a wide compability with speaker cabs, In case I need It.

So +1 for features. (again, keeping in mind this is made to be a simple amp)

Also had the input mod done, and some more power suply filtering, reducing a large amount of the hum on the sound.

Valves (tubes) still stock.

Amp sounds very good to me.

+1 for reduced hum.

Hasn't broke yet, and most hum is solved.

It's a simple amp, so not much to break.

+2

Warranty voided by mods.

I like it a lot.

+1

Five watts, one input jack, one knob for volume, 8 inch speaker.
It doesn't get simpler than this. I love it.

I was reluctant to buy this amp because of all the reviews I have read saying how bad it buzzes. I was at Guitar Center, and they were having a special on it for $99, so I bought it anyway figuring that for this price, who cares if it buzzez.

THERE IS NO BUZZ!

Maybe Epiphone has corrected the problem, maybe I just got lucky, maybe I'm tone-deaf (unlikely, I hope). I choose to believe that Epiphone has a person in product development reading all of the disgruntled reports of persistent buzzing, so they fixed the problem. I'm not a technical wizard, I just know what sounds good to me. This amp is the sweetest sounding, quietest $99 I have spent.

I haven't had it long enough to know, but it has a very sturdy look and feel.

I don't know yet.

Overall, I would say this is a great deal.

Made in China, its one of the upgraded models without the horrible hum, no features only a volume control, I rate it 8 because usualy I like having an amp with an EQ (at least 3 band) and reverb, but this is a very pure amp.

It wont give you a ton of sounds, its great for classic 60's and 70's rock, in stock form its a little dark sounding and last a little highs, but I changed the stock Sovtek tubes for some Groove tubes which are not that great but they did brighten up the amp a little and made it a little clearer sounding, it breaks up nicely after 12 o'clock, at higher volumes it becomes very compressed and the picking noises become a little annoying, its not a very high gain amp, you could make it somewhat a high gain amp with a distortion pedal, I use a TS-9 Tubescreamer and it sounds good but not distorted enough for some sounds, its very middy sounding, very Marshall-like in a good way, stock its an 8 with the new tubes I'll give it a 9, but I'm sure if I put higher quality tubes it might sound like a whole 10.

I haven't had it for too long so I can't say, Im sure it will hold up for a while, besides even if it does break after a year or 2, its a $100 amp!

Don't know yet.

This is definatley better then some of the small amps I owned/played, better then the Marshall MG series, I have an MG10CD 10 watt amp and the Valve jr. is at least twice as loud at 5w! (Thats normal for a tube amp usualy). Overall if it broke or was stolen I would buy it again because its cheap, it sounds great for a $100 amp and also because there is no other all tube amp in its price range! (The closest I can think of is the Crate V58/Palomino which costs like $260 and doesn't even sound that great, I played the 30w version and didn't like too much).

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

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

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

not yet

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

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

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

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

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

Don't know.

Good, same day response to my questions from Gibson.

Amazing value.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is it the best sounding amp ever? NO

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

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

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

Seems Solid, no problems yet

N/A

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

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

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

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

Never dealt with them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I belive this amp was made about a year ago.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I've been playing for 8 years.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Would put an 11 if I could ;)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Welcome to throw away USA.

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

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

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

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

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

n/a

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

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

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

Should be good no warranty now!

don't know.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No idea.

Things this amp is not:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A parting observation:

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is an update

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I have yet to try differnt tubes.

Good so far.

10

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

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

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

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

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

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

Going to mod mine so much for the warranty.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Using with American Strat with Lace Sensor pickups.

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

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

Just bought it.

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

As below.

As Below.

As below.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

However, those 5W are LOUD as hell ! Seriously! DON'T buy it unless you have a basement to play in or want to play it clean. I can't even approach the crunch setting (~1 o'clock) in my flat, it's way too loud. My floor vibrates really bad when I go over 11 o'clock! I will use it in a few weeks in a pub with my rock band, it's loud enough.

Seems built as a rock, smells quality for 150 euros. I will see in a few months.

Have not dealt with them so far, and don't think I will need to.

I have been playing for about 7 years. I own the gear mentionned hereabove, an Epi LP w/ Gibson humbuckers, a Squier '51 and a (tube) Marshall Studio 15.

If it was stolen, I'd definitely buy another one, especially now that the buzz problem is fixed (look for the 1205*** s/n which are the fixed ones). For 150? these amps are a freakin' good deal !! I might buy an A/B Box to use it for my clean sound. However I'll try before to throw in a 12AX7 EH and an EL84 JJ, to make it crunch earlier.

I thought I would have fun with it a few days and then cry on my 150? (as always when I buy gear without thinking) but man this little amp rocks so hard, i love it ! The single pot is so fun to use and its look is so cool. I can't help but play "Sex machine" each time I power it on.

It's the 2006 (made in China) version... noiseless !
This little 5 watts (loud enough) amp is more than OK in clubs or pubs configurations.. plug an Esquire or a Tellie in it... and it's just "plug & play"... I give it a 10/10

See above...

I think that Epiphone (Gibson) have resolved he "buzz" problem with the 2006 edition... so is it too for the head version... again...10/10

I don't know much about Epiphone, I've had a Coronet in the sixties... shame on me... I sold it to buy a Gibson...?

I've been playing for 45 years... my current materials are 2 Fender Stratocaster (USA RI-57) H-1 and four Jim Reed Guitars (Tele style)... a Ash model with P-90 neck PU, a thinline, a Ash with hotrail (push-pull) bridge PU and a one and only one piece alder Esquire... I own a DeArmond Jazzbox X-135 and a cheap Cort Earth 100 electro... my amps are a Jim Reed Legend 28, a Fender Pro Junior + this little 5 watts wonder... oh! yes I have a Laney LA65C for my acoustic too...

Read below...I'm giving it a 10 even though HC says that's for 'very versatile'-- but that's not what this amp is about. I bought it for it's LACK of features, and for that, it's perfect.

This is actually an update, since this is my second Valve Junior --I sent the first one back (bought in October 05) because of the noise problem. The amp made too much noise--obviously a design flaw. I even complained about it to Epiphone and Gibson because I loved the tone of the amp so much--they were very prompt about their replies, I'll give them that.

I really regretted sending the VJ back...just haven't been able to get the sound of it out of my ears... I like my other amp a lot too, but it's 15 watts, which is already too loud.

Well, guess what, the people at Epiphone/Gibson have been paying attention to the complaints about the amp...about a week a go I got to hankering for another VJ. I decided I'd just live with the noise problem or pay to get it modded. I wrote to the Epiphone sales team...and got an email back the same day saying that they had redesigned the amp! So I ordered a new one two minutes later...

The arrived today...I frankly didn't expect much, and like I said, I decided to live with the noise...turned it on and...yep, you guessed it: the noise is gone!

Sure, it still makes a bit of noise, but no more than any other tube amp I've heard. And I bet with a proper set of tubes, the noise level will go down even more, while the tone level will go up. I'm playing single-coil guitars too, that probably adds to the noise level a bit.

I love the sound of this amp! I love it cranked, starting around 2-3 o'clock. Although it's sound quite nice at 12 o'clock too.

The sound on this model feels tighter than the last one though, punchier and stiffer --the 05 model really had that creamy thing going, this one's sound is definitely more brittle...probably has to do with the design change, what do I know?

The speaker tends to fart a lot when the volume's maxed out...but that's part of its charm I suppose.

Anyway, take my sound review with a grain of salt, I've only had it for half a day. The main point of this review is to discuss the noise problem and point out that it looks like Epiphone has corrected the design.

Can't give an opinion. Looks solidly built.

I have the impression that they redesigned the back panel --looks like there are two models, one with a single opening, the other with two openings --I'm pretty sure the first JV I had had one opening. This one has two.

Like I said before, both Epiphone and Gibson were really prompt about answering my emails on the one --I got emails from several people too, including tech staff, not just marketing flacks. And all that for an amp that cost less than 150 euros.

Backlit On/Off Switch
Volume Control
Jack Socket
Valves (tubes)
Speaker
What more do you need?

1) Switch on
2) Turn volume knob to 2 o'clock - leave for 1 hour.
3) Take Squier '51 which has been pre-strung with 0.015 > 0.056 Newton set tuned to open G.
4) Plug in Squier.
5) Place Coricidin bottle on pinky of left hand.
6) Hit that classic "Dust My Broom" riff on twelfth fret.
7) Ignore Alfred Black Dog (my labrador) howling.
8) Ignore "Her Highness" screaming (Ithink she says "turn it down!!!!"

SHEER BLISS!

Yes, I've had the hum and hiss problems sorted by my local Tekki for #10 - he won't let me in on the secret but he did a superb job.

No problems so far - except from the wife and the dog!

As an ageing bass player who also plays slide - this is it!
No effects, just use the guitar knobs and your hands to control it!
FUN,FUN,FUN!
Have used it at local pub jams and gigs with no problems other than everyone asking "What the h*** is that? Where can I get one?"

Yes, I would buy another!

_$119.99 ( BEAT THAT!!!)
-Single ended class "A" amp
-One input jack
-One 8" speaker
-One external jack for a speaker ( 4 ohms )
-One Volume control knob
-One EL84 power tube
-One 12AX7 preamp tube

Basically it.

Sounds absoulty great. I play 70's and 80's hard rock and heavy metal. I use with just a Jackson Reverse and a Ibanez tube screamer and it POURS tone out of the little 8" speaker. I just today changed the power tube to a JJ Telsa EL84 and it sounds perfect. 10X better than it did before, more way more smooth, rich, and warmer. And it now sounds way less harsher than it did before.

The only concern i have in this area is the hum. Past nine 'o clock the hum starts to get loud. But when you are playing you cant even hear it.

But again, the tube screamer( TS-7 )plays a huge role in the tone im getting for this amp. I would highly reccomend you get one. I use it as a treble booster and for extra overdrive.


CAUTION AMP IS VERY LOUD FOR ONLY FIVE WATTS RATING

It has held up fine. Havent had it that long though, maybe four months.

Havent delt with them.

You can get any tone from AC/DC to Van Halen with this amp. I rate it a 9 just because of the little hum, but again you can barely notice it when actually playing. May plan on getting another one in the future.

Features = Tone.

This amp sounds very, very good. Yes, mine has hum and perhaps I will have it modded to reduce the hum, but frankly, I don't mind it when I'm playing it, which is the fun part. I had a Vibro Champ years ago, same kind of low-watt amp, and this sounds as good but may be louder. With volume at half I can play my Strat and use the guitar volume to control clean and overdrive. To my ears, the stock speaker is just fine. I did replace the preamp tube and got mo' tone, and I will replace the power tube as well.

N/A. I got mine "used" but mint for $65. Don't care if it breaks.

N/A

Been playing since 1975, if I lost this I would replace it with the head version now it, since it has better grounding and taps for 4/8/16 ohms. A great little amp for practicing that gives up great tone and which is simple enough that you can change out either the power tube or preamp tube and hear a difference, good or bad. Pure tube tone at an affordable price.

2006. one channel, one knob, one el84, one 12ax7. Perfect for blues and rock. I bought it just for around the house. I wanted the 5 watt head, but the store only had the combo. So at 99.00 it was hard to pass up. One 4 ohm speaker out. I run it into a 12" closed cab. It gives the amp a little more beef. I don't seem to have the hum most people complain about. You can get a lot of different sounds with your guitar volume and a tube screamer.

I play an old rg560 Ibanez hum sing sing. Great guitar for blues and rock. Not a heavy metal amp. Great blues amp

brand new ( two weeks old )

I've been playing about 40 years. I have owned 4 marshall, a fender twin, a mark 4 mesa, traynor, vox. And I have played just about any amp made. You know a good amp, when you turn it on, it should sound good right away without a lot of tinkering, This amp sound very nice ane at 99.00 You can't go wrong

03-05 ?? Valve Junior Combo
This amp is only suitable for any style of music where distortion is necessary and overhead isn't a requirement. It has 1 12AX7(ECC83) preamp tube and an EL84(6Q5D) power tube. 1 input jack, 1 speaker output jack (which is plugged into the internal 8" speaker). This can be used for an external cabinet. I think the speaker is a Chinese made Eminence. One (1) volume knob, a power on switch. No tone controls, no gain, no standby. Single Channel, output is 5 watts, Class A design.

A lot of hum, and some hiss. Way, way too much hum. Originally, this amp was much too noisy, especially at any setting. It was the scary kind of hum. I kept expecting to hear peculiar explosions, see smoke and smell pungent ordors. But, never did. I played it with P90 and humbucker equipped Gibsons. I play the blues mostly, which is a suitable for this beast. A Friend got this amp, because it reminded him of a Dr. Z Mini-Z, which reminded him of some good GA-5 he played way back when. So it wound up on my workbench for a few weeks. I did some web searches and found a few sites and a real growing interest in these. Anyway, I found the fixes. When I got around to applying these mods it didn't take long. I just used a bunch of old parts. I fixed a ground problem which turned out to be a proximity issue. I also replaced the cheap Chinese input jack with a good Switchcraft, and put in another one (to split the signal to another amp). I also put in a filter network for the power supply. All the hum and hiss go bye-bye.
This amp only makes two sounds, quiet and distorted. But, what a distortion it is. Wow !!! With the original speaker, it is just a nice dirty growl. I disconnected that and plugged it into an 10" Weber Blue Pup, and what a change. The volume controls the gain, the more volume, the more distortion. I wouldn't call it brutal. Just kind of hot and sparkly. Louder than I expected. If I were to have rated it prior to the fix, I'd have to give it a 1, but now, it's clean off the scale. I'll split the difference and give it a ---

The amp seems to be reasonably well made, just cheap in design. The tubes will probably need replacing. I'd like to put in some vintage NOS tubes. I wouldn't gig with out a back-up yet.

I don't know about the warranty.

I'VE GOT TO GET ONE OF THESE. I like the simplicity of use, and I like the sound. I'd like to see a standby switch. I think I'll buy the head version. Heck for this amount of money, can I go wrong?

This is from the KISS school of amplification. Volume, Jack, On/Off at the front. Speaker out at the back.

Aesthetically, I think it's great. Those who don't want a primal guitar experience should probably look elsewhere or consider it's sister amp with the tone controls and digital effects (Valve Special).

I have a 2001 American Series Tele, an Antoria (70's Ibanez) Les Paul Junior copy with an unidentified refit P 90,an Epiphone Zephyr Blues Deluxe and a Gretsch Bo Diddley Electromatic.

Even stock, this amp gave me a real guitar lesson. I don't know if it's the simplicity of the circuit or what, but the responsiveness of the guitars through this is WAY past what I've experienced with any other amp.

The tone is overdriven rather than distorted and varies with the position of the volume knob. The P 90 on the Antoria (which might be a Seymour Duncan) loves this amp. The Bo Diddley sounds knockout, although I noticed an alarming disparity in output between front and back p/up that I hadn't caught before. The Tele was good, but it does sound better through other amps. The Blues Deluxe has a big, resonant body which I think the 8" speaker struggled to reflect.

I'm likely to try an Alnico Jensen and follow up on some mods that I've seen that will reduce the hum. The noise is so prominent that only the committed lo-fi er will want to record with it.Also, it changes in response significantly after it's been on for about two hours - and for the better.

Would've been a 9 but for the hum.

Too new to tell. It is a cheap (mdf, vinyl, tin corners) but robust construction. I am considering getting a couple more for reasons other than back up, but I've seen nothing to persuade me that it should be any less reliable than my AC 30 (!). I'm not impressed with the way the handle is fixed but then, it's a great little amp for under a hundred quid so it does represent value for money.

Gibson Europe responded promptly to my enquiry about availability of a cover (there isn't one). Other than that, I can't tell. I find that Epiphone products generally tend to be poor at the dealer/distributor interface hence my rating.

I've been dabbling for about 30 years. I have 3 transistor amps (Roland Microcube, Peavey Backstage 30, Fender Bronco) and an AC 30. I've owned many other guitars. Have previously owned a Laney Klipp 100w (70's/early 80's) and a Marshall Super lead 100w (wish I'd known that trick for reducing the output to 50w before I sold it!).

I would hate to be without one of these for all it's faults. Would definitely replace it.

Price and specification were the main reason for this purchase. I'm planning to twin it with a Fender Blues Junior (Fender clean, Epi overdriven. It does everything I want it to do except shut up when the guitar is turned down/strings are damped.

Power, Volume, input.

That's it. A basic 'old school', class A tube amp.

Except for the noise factor, this amp could suite all styles except for low volume practice and recording, where the noise is a substantial factor.

If the nose bothers you, check out the new head-only version with improvements.

Seems reliable enough, and solidly constructed.

Never needed customer support.

Overall, I wouldn't buy the amp again. I would howver consider the newer model, which addresses some of the nose issues.

This is Nice amp, except for the hum. I'll bet a new combo model is due out soon, as the new head-only version has the hum problem somewhat addressed.

The new head version of the Valve Junior Tube amp includes features not found in its combo cousin. These include DC filaments for both the preamp and power sections, reducing unwanted filament hum. It also has 4, 8, and 16 ohm speaker outputs so you can drive any kind of extension speaker, from a single 8" box to a 4x12" cab.

5w tube, 8" speaker, volume knob...what else do you need? Well actually, I wish it had a headphone jack. I use it solely as a practice amp, but find myself reaching for this more these days than my larger amp. Also, it's very portable.

Plenty loud and breaks up at a lower volume than most tube amps which I like. 8" speaker doesn't seem like it could handle too much volume.

I play classic rock, blues, and rockabilly. I have two DeArmonds, one with goldtone humbuckers, and the other has 2k single coils. Both sound great through this little amp

Obviously not a lot of variety in sound out of this amp, but it sounds good. I simply plug my Dano Fab Echo pedal in and this amp has a great sound. I've also used my Digitech RP50 through it, but find I need to really cut back on the effect settings for this amp. As I mentioned above, the amp gets that tube break up at a lower volume than most which is nice when you use it as a practice amp.

Minor hum, but not enough to bother me, and can't be heard when you play.

I wouldn't anticipate any issues with it. It does take longer than my other tube amp to warm up.

N/A

I've been playing for 20 years. My other amp is a Peavey Prowler. After many years of playing lots of equipment I love these two amps. They were both very inexpensive and provide me exactly the sound I want.

I have two DeArmond guitars..the most underrated quitars available. I have a M72 which is a chambered, flat top with USA goldtone humbuckers. This guitar is hot and rocks out. I also have an M77T, arch top, 2k single coils, bigsby tremelo...basically a Gretsch duojet. Deep blues and rockabilly sound.

I love this amp for it's styling, sound, and portability. If it were lost or stolen, I would certainly buy another one.

As guitarists, we tend to get too wrapped up in all the features or amps these days, and multi-effect units. This amp simply has the one feature you need volume!

I just it brand new a couple of weeks ago and it has been nothing but a blast. You can turn it down, but why? the way to go is to crank it all the way and then your sound with your guitar controls. It has a funky nasty little growl that sounds great with my new G&L ASAT semi-hollow. I have used it live in a very small club (no drummer) and it held its own most of the time. Just a trifle underpowered unmiked. But I had a blast. I just wish it didn't have a computer power cord or had a good place to stow it. I know I will show up somewhere and not have one. who needs the stress?
Still for $100 I think everyone should have one. BTW, you can unplug the little 8" and run the amp into a 4x12 and LOOK OUT. It's more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

Yeas, it ahs the tone you want for funky, poppin, Tele twang or good slow burn blues. Don't try super clean Jazz. I play single coils and love it. It is noisy, but who cares. As stated, this thing shines on 10, with the volume/tone controls on my guitar, I can get lots of nice sounds.

So far so good. I have trouble thinking of this little boxa s pro gear. I would not take to an important gig without a backup. But it is feather-light, small and seems to be very well constructed. I may be toting this thing around asis in 20 years. I think I will try to figure out a way to secure the powere cord to the amp though.

N/A

I've been playing for years. I recently sold a Roland JC-120 and bought an old Music Man fifty-112 RD which sounds Oh my goodness like heaven. I play G&Ls, an old-style SC-3 and a new ASAT. There is so little risk with this little amp. I mean it cost less than my Route 66 OD and comes with a speaker! It is truly plug and play. There are a couple of other more expensive amps in the line but they just Addd effects and things to complicate the issue. This one is just no frills fun. Enjoy it like a toy.

Made last year, 2005. I bought it from American Musical Supply. I love the way they deal with there customers. I haven't had a bad experience yet.

Versatile enough to make my Strats and my Epi Les Paul Classic sound GREAT!

Single channel, one knob does it all. The knob shouldn't be labeled "volume," it should be labeled "BEEF!"

I use this amp at home being that I don't gig anymore. I just wanted a simple, toneful amp. And after reading quite a bit, I bought the Valve Junior. BUT, I did understand that I'd have to do a few mods to it.

I'm giving it a 3 because of the way Epi shipped these amps out with the ground issues.

I use a Strat with the standard Delta tone p'ups, a Samick SSM-1 Strat copy with Carvin S60 single coils in the neck and mid, and a Bill Lawrence L500-XL in the bridge. And an Epi Les Paul Classic with DiMarzio Virtual PAF's and updated electronics from Black Rose Customs.

It suits my playing just fine. I was looking for a sweet classic rock, heavy blues tone and I now have it.

Like I said before, I don't gig anymore so I don't have that to worry about. So for me it's very dependable. I've played for a few hours straight with the volume around 12 o'clock a few different times with no troubles. So far so good.

I gutted the amp 3 days after I bought it, so right there I voided the warranty. But I bought it knowing what I was going to do with it.

I've been playing off and on for approx. 27 yrs. Long enough to still remember me having a KISS ARMY membership BEFORE Alive II came out! I also used to play bass in a Christian P&W/rock band. I still have my Samick Stingray copy bass and Hartke combo amp.

If i were stolen, YES I'd buy it again. But then again, Epi just released the Valve Junior head for $99. Hmmm, that would be sweet to try through some different cabs.

I love the old school AC-DC, KISS tones I can get with no pedals.

I used 2 websites to get the mods done. The first one mostly dealt with the noise problem Epi let go out the door. The second one dealt with the noise, but also showed how to get some gain increases. Both guys were great at answering any questions I had. I had a total of about $25 in parts and an afternoon in time to get this amp to where it should be. Not too shabby. Next stop is some new JJ tubes unless I can find a good deal on some NOS GE tubes.

http://www.coolpick.com/way/cool/about/valvejunior.html

http://www.euthymia.org/DIY/VJmods.html

This is an addition to my review below, in response to the overwhelming number of emails & requests that I have received.

The amp sounds much like a tweed era champ, or gibson single-ended amp. However there are design flaws that provide loads of hum & buzz...

1) 60-cycle hum (gets louder as you turn up the volume) - caused by AC Filament supply traces running along the Hi-Z audio signals. To fix this you must cut the filament traces near the tube sockets, and run wires instead, as far away from signal traces as possible. New holes must be drilled in the copper near the tubes, to accept the new filament supply wires. Of course, you also have to re-locate the 100ohm filament ground reference resistors to star ground.

2) 120-cycle buzz (always there no matter how you set the volume) - caused by inadequate power supply filtering. To fix this you must increase the first stage filter cap. 100uF gets rid of most of it, and makes it as good as vintage single-ended amps. The problem is there is very little room on the PCB. You could drill new holes through the copper & fit a snap-in cap (be sure to glue it to the board with silicon). However, there's only enough room for a 22mm diameter cap. The cap must be rated at 450V minimum.

This is not a job for a novice, but rather for someone with experience modifying tube amps and PCBs. NOT TO MENTION THAT LETHAL VOLTAGES INSIDE TUBE AMPS CAN KILL YOU INSTANTLY!!! DO NOT OPEN ANY ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT UNLESS YOU ARE QUALIFIED TO DO SO, OR YOU CAN SERIOUSLY DIE!

In short, this amp can be modified to sound good by experienced & reputable tube amplifier technicians. There is a considerable amount of time involved, plus some parts required.

I can do the work for $69, including parts & labor. This is a HIGHLY discounted price. You are responsible for any shipping costs. I'm in Upstate, NY. (If you use UPS, you can send it to my business address to save on shipping costs.) I am not responsible for shipping damage, so please pack it well. Turnaround time is usually 2-5 business days, plus shipping time.

Thanks,
Dan
EE
(References available)

What the &^$# do you think? It only has volume. My friends call it the Man-Amp, because it is bonehead simple to use and play with. It's probably the only Class-A tube amp you're going to see below $200, and I would call that it's best feature. Still, it get's a deserved 2, because at least you can change the volume level.

This is my favorite amp. I have a Behringer 212, and it is a souless, god awful sounding monster. I also have a Fender Hot Rod Deville, which was my first tube amp. I like the sound it has better than both of those. This is the perfect amp for bluesy, funky $%^&, there is a level of responsiveness and warmth that perfectly suits funk, rock, blues, and jazz.

At the lower end of the spectrum, you have a nice warm clean sound, and there is almost no hum. I like this sound for playing in the school jazz band, since our fantastic drummer can keep his dynamics to a reasonable level.

The middle end, around 12 o'clock, it starts to hum a bit, and it'll get crunchy on complex chords and hard-hit notes. This is a fantastic blues and funk zone, and with my beater guitar I can get a Hendrix/Frusciante type tone, and with my hollowbody, I get a more BB King type wail.

Towards the end, you get into Brian May/Jimmy Page land. No, you will not sound exactly like them, but you will be playing through a hot, responsive little combo that hums like the dickens if you aren't playing. If you tack on an overdrive pedal, it goes into a thick, syrupy kinda tone.

Overall, this amp has great tone, a persistent hum, and a versatile sound depending on how many guitars you own. You may want to get some sort of mod for cutting bass, and i'm personally modding it to get rid of hum. My buddy's a tech and he's says $20 worth of caps and resistors will clean up it's act. I'm also aiming to get a little more headroom, but I may just need to play it through a speaker cabinet instead. Remember, 5 watts of class A is rated at a clean level, and it will sound about half as loud as a 50 watt class-A amp all other things (speakers, preamps, etc.) being equal.

The sound is the one I have in my head, plus hum. I can't wait to fix it.

&^$% yeah I'd depend on it. I thought it was cutting out the first week I had it, but it was a guitar wiring problem as it turns out (Curse you squier!). This thing needs to warm up for a couple minutes and cool off a couple minutes between switching it on and off, but other than that it's a low-maintanence beast.

Don't care. If this thing craps out on me, it's got the perfect chassis for a new custom amp. It's speaker is perfect, apparently a Weber, according to my buddy. It's cheap enough to the point where it shouldn't matter about reliability, because if you take it in to a tech, fix it up so it's all vintagey and cool, it's basically like getting a custom amp for the $200 you spent repairing it. I guarantee it will rock in either case.

I got a nice Ibanez hollowbody and a beater Squier 51, and I love the sound of both of these instruments through the valve jr. I don't know why everyone's so hissy about the hum, it's like twenty bucks extra to fix it, why the hell you would miss out on this amp is beyond me.

I've got a Jacques trinity wah, and a Danelectro Daddy O, and both are superb through this baby. I intend to purchase a delay in the future, and will probably want an effects loop, but other than that, I can see no problem with effects.

Well, it has exactly the features I was looking for :-).

As others have said, single-ended Class A. Stock tubes are a Sovtek 12AX7WA in the pre-amp section and a Sovtek EL84 for power. 8-in. speaker. Volume knob.

OK, there are two different issues here: tone and noise. And, of course, they're inter-related, since you can't enjoy the tone if the amp is too noisy.

Even out of the box with the stock Sovteks, the tone was excellent. Just by switching pickups, adjusting the guitar controls and playing with the volume, it was easy to move from a warm, ringing jazz sound to creamy blues, even into classic rock.

But, as others have pointed out, the amp buzzes -- and as you increase the volume, the buzz increases. Based on what I've read here and elsewhere, it seems clear that some of the design compromises that went into making a $100 tube amp contribute to this problem. I think it's also clear that there are QC issues at work, since some of the amps are noiser than others.

Anyway, since I got this amp for learning and practice, I could have lived with the stock setup; however, I decided to contact Epiphone to see if they had any suggested fixes. They suggested the problem was a bad pre-amp tube and asked me to take the amp in for service.

The service tech didn't replace any tubes, but did replace a leaky cap and resolder the output tube. The result was an increase in gain but no change in the noise.

At this point I decided to retube. I put in a JJ ECC803s and an Ei EL84. To my ears, the difference in tone was remarkable. I thought the amp sounded good with the Sovteks, but now it was warmer, rounder and with much greater clarity -- but no change in the noise.

I then got some NOS JAN GE 5751s and Mullard M8162s (12AT7). Wow. Noise much reduced while still offering the improved tone of the JJ. For now I'm sticking with the Mullard.

I'm playing an Oscar Schimdt OE-30 with a stock pickup in the neck and a DiMarzio super distorition in the bridge. Play mostly jazz/blues and a little classic rock.

Seems very solid.

Warranty is 5 years on the amp, 90 days on the tubes and (I think) speaker. Epiphone responded quickly when I sent a question via e-mail. The local service center was did the work quickly and called to discuss what they had done and why.

I've only been playing a short while, but I really wanted a tube amp. I didn't think I'd be able to afford one till I found the Valve Junior. Since I'm not using it professionally -- no gigging or recording -- I could have enjoyed it in its stock form; the noise wasn't enough to bother me for the type of playing I do. But I had fun playing around with the different tubes and putting in the Mullard really makes the Valve Junior even more enjoyable.

very few. thank goodness.

Regarding replacement tube selection:

JJ'S ARE NOT THE ONLY QUAILTY TUBE IN THE WORLD.

sheesh! you people read 100 times that JJ's are the best, and nobody experiments with anything else. what a mind virus. the stock sovteks, in my opinion, sound better than anything else in this amp when it's opened up to max volume. less harshness, less compressed, just bigger. if you plan on using this amp for power tube distortion sounds, leave the stock tubes in it. EI brand el-84's are nice in it as well. brighter, earlier break up.

many sounds to be had in a low watt tube amp - if you're a good player and know how to coax subtleties out of your guitar.

too early to tell - though construction seems great for the money.

am currently emailing CS about the buzzing problem (didn't occur at 1st, then reared it's head after 1 month).

got a prompt response.

the inherent noise (hum / buzz) is a problem. perhaps if enough people complain to epiphone and request warranty service, they will recall the product or fix it. i can see the 11 year old chinese sweat shop laborers cringing at having to make the adjustment...

and again: DON'T LIMIT YOUR TUBE OPTIONS TO JJ's.

JJ's are fine, but try others too, let your ears be the judge - not the sheer volume of posts you've read by other brainwashed victims of the "JJ are best" mind virus...

The best "feature" of this little amp is that there are no features to get between you and your tone. Whatever you plug into this thing is what you'll get out of the speaker. Do your tweaking at the guitar and you're there. For the price, this is a very well assembled and solid little amp. I'm giving an 8 here because a the amp would be really nice with a standby switch.

I just don't know how to describe how bad the buzz is that generates from this little amp. I wanted to love this amp because of all it offers but there just insn't anything sweet, cool, or retro about the level of noise in this thing. I honestly don't know how anybody can use one of these amps stock! Tune swapping didn't help, either. I've read about all the mods that supposedly tame this beast but man, I haven't got time for the pain, if you know what I mean. Don't get me wrong - the tone is there and it sounds great! - but it's burried under a wall of buzz!

I wouldn't know, I just finished returning it to Guitar Center.

Guitar Center was great about taking it back. I don't know anything about Gibson or Epiphone customer service.

This is the coolest looking amp on the planet! Like I said, I wanted to love this amp like I would an old Champ or Musicman but not until they address the issue with the buzz. It's absolutetly awful and no one should have to mod a brand new amp just to get rid of the noise! When Epiphone fixes this issue I'll buy another one - hell, maybe even two! - but until then, no deal.