Epiphone Valve Junior Head

I guess mine was made in 09, bought it in june 09. It is a ver 3.
5 watts, a volume,and 4,8,16 ohm speaker outs. A tone pot would have been cool.
I play metal and rock. does not suit metal very well, I hooked up my metal zone pedal and LTD viper with EMG's, it was ok, but I have a mesa DC-3 for that. It kicks *** for rock though.

MODDIFING IS A MUST, YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT!!! sewatt.com for all the info you need to know

I use a moddified fender jaguar HH with it. It has a seymour duncan pealry gates in the bridge and a seymour duncan jazz in the neck. I ripped the stock wireing out(cuzz it killed the bridge tone IMO) put a 3 way selector in, and split the coils.
Now to the amp. It sounded ok stock, was a little farty sounding when the volume was half way up. It did have a nice tube tone, very chimey. New JJ tubes helped quite a bit, but the real improvement was after I replaced about 15 or so resistors and capacitors(just changed the values of them), and 500meg volume pot. HUGE IMPROVEMENT!!!! I can get great tones, overtones, harmonics, overdrives, its touch sensitive. Mine loves my Fulltone Fulldrive overdrive pedal too. If its classic rock this amp will do it. Its very smooth and warm, mine does not get real clean anymore due to the mods, unless you work the volume and tone pots(still not very clean). The best part is the tubes, caps and res only cost me about 50-60 bucks and about 2 hours. I did the mods in 2 rounds, and it was well worth it. Cant wait to get a better output transformer for it.

never had a problem

hope i never find out

Ive had this thing for about 4 months, I would get anouther if it were stolen. I got it to get the cranked tube sound at a resonable volume(still to loud for a apt. with volume all the up). I havnt used it with a drummer yet but it should be loud enough to keep up, especially when boosted. After i modded it i took it to a local music store and played it against a vox night train, and it stood toe to toe with it. only the night train is more than double what i have invested in mine.
MODDING IS A MUST go to sewatt.com more info on these and other single ended amps than youll ever need to know. dont use the bitmo unless you want different sound options, they dont help some of the crucial tone enhancements.

Im not sure why Epi crippled these things but after 60 bucks worth of parts(the caps and resistors i changed were not any better guality just different values) a couple hours, basic sodering skills, I ended up with a amp I love.

Basic one volume knob 5Watts one el84 and one 12ax7

4ohm, 8ohm, and 16ohm outputs

first things first I have to say that this is in fact a very giggable amp if you want saturated sounds simply mic it through the pa and your good to go
please disregard anyone who says it is not giggable my band has played many venues big and small and this amp has not failed it is hard to hear onstage but thats why monitors where invented just politely ask the sound guys to turn it up on the monitors and you should have no problem with it
cleans are another story definately good for studio or home practice
but not live unless its at a coffe shop with no drums but thats it


I can honestly say this is my main giggin amp Im in a post-punk/new wave type band and this amp just rocks i personally dont like the thin high pitched guitar tones associated with the genres we play i love creamy thick vintage tone and this amp delivers i play through a fender telecaster and a Danelectro dc 59 and another telecaster with humbuckers I dont use many effects I stick with the basics bad monkey od and vox wah i use the bad monkey for a bit more gain and eq
so its always on with the amp set to 3 o'clock sweet smooth vintage tone with lots of harmonix is the product its suprisinly not very noisy even with single coils and the bad monkey on

this amp just shines with single coils but is also very good
with humbuckers its perfect for blues,punk,rock almost anything except for anything that requires massive cleans or metal

another quick note switch the stock tubes for jj's or mullards and its sonic heaven

anyone that wants to hear this amps tone go to www.myspace.com/theph1lsophies all the live songs where recorded with the valve jr and guitars listed above

I have had mine for 1 year and a half and no problems so far
also just to show how reliable it is
my band plays 2 weekends out of every month at least, many bars back yard parties and clubs its been hit and knocked down many times and it still works and sounds beautiful

totally road worthy if your not convinced buy a back up its not like
they cost a fortune

never used it

i think its 5 year warranty for electronics and

a 90 day for the tubes

been playing for 3 and a half years not as long as many others but I have played many amps and this is by far one of the best especially for the price

great amp would still buy it for double what i payed

Not sure the year. I play mostly Blues and Blues influenced Rock. Everyone who has posted reviews for this thing has covered the features. You don't buy these beasts for the bells and whistles, I for one went back to the EVJ after realizing that all kinds of knobs and features confuse the hell out of me.

I'm using a rather spartan setup. I play with an Epiphone LP Standard Plus Top guitar (has a gorgeous Ice Tea style burst) w/ a Gibson Burstbucker 1 in the neck position and a Seymour '59 in the bridge. Just gutted it and installed RS guitarworks Superpots for volumes, CTS 500K audio tapers for tones, and RS Caps (.015 neck, .022 bridge). Switchcraft mono jack and short switch complete the electronic. Right now I have just a crap Planet Waves 20 ft. cord going into an MXR Distortion III into the EVJ.

These amps are absolutely amazing. I have been running it in all different settings and especially love the dirty sounds. I have found that cranking the amp up all the way, running the gain on the MXR full up, and using the volume on the MXR as a MV elicits some of the most incredible overdrive sounds I have yet experianced. Just going right into the amp sounds great too, but this amp really needs a little bite from an OD to shine. Cranking it and having good electronics in your guitar lets you control all the dynamics.

I have been using many tubes. I tried a Mullard EL-84 but found out like everyone else has that these things love JJ EL-84's. They are just smoother and creamier than most others. The preamp slot has been floating between a Tung-Sol 12AX7 and a JAN/Phillips 5751. I personally love both. The JAN has slightly less gain and creamier qualities.

These things are very durable as far as I understand. I don't gig but if I did I would trust that with an Identicle backup I would be fine.

These things can't be beat for the price. I plan on getting some mods done to it. Go to turretboards.com and you will find some wonderful stuff. I'm sending it in for a Marshall style turret board, new Output transformer, standby switch, and sag mod.

Lots of luck to all the EVJ users out there. If you havent converted yet you will. Let's face it: Everyone loves power tube saturation. It's the sound of the records you know and love and these little beauties make it possible for all the bedroom players out there.

This is a review of version 3. The features are well known, nothing to add here.

Used with the matching VJr cab and Vovox drive speaker cable. Guitars: early 90ies Fender American Standard Stratocaster, 67' Guild Starfire III and Ibanez AK105SM. Very noisy from 12 o'clock, unbearable noise from 3 o'clock. Didn't matter to me because for home use more than 9 o'clock was just too loud. I was looking for a nice tubey clean sound anyway. It came with EHX 12AX7 and Sovtek EL84 tubes, I changed them to JJs which was an improvement in sound, not in noise.

The sound is nice and tubey but incredibly thin with no body at all. Sounds like an old pre ww2 radio (a good one though). You can get used to it if you don't use any other gear. But every time you switch back from a 'real' amp it will make you frown badly. If you get used to it, the tubes are fun. Lots of harmonics and very direct. For that, as a practice amp it will make you a better player.

Real low volume is possible but the tubes will not deliver their nice harmonics. You need to go to at least 9 o'clock before that happens and depending on your right hand technique this will already be too loud for use in an appartment.

I cannot comment on higher volume settings for I never used them.

I've ordered it online. The first one I received didn't work, I had to return it. The second one did work but after three weeks I sold it again. Therfore I cannot comment on longtime reliability. I probably wouldn't gig without a backup.

Never contacted them.

All in all, it was a huge disappointment. I had fun with the tube sound for a while but in long terms couldn't stand the thin sound. It is called 'Junior' for a reason: young players may have fun with it but if you're a little more experienced and know your tone, go and look somewhere else.

what features? 4 8 & 16ohm outputs
1 input i volume knob

i play metal and put a digitec hardwire metal pedal infront of it
and it's the best sound for home recording/ practice i've found
it can get pretty loud not enough to keep up with a drummer but that's what i have a 100watt head for- but for recoding guitar and lower volume practices this is the best sound i've ever heard.

i just got it time will tell

i bought a 2year warranty from the place i bought it

$150- no solidstate combo amp in this price range comes close
i really love this thing

Yes ten. Everything you need and nothing you don't: input, knob, switch, outputs for 4, 8, and 16 ohm cabinets. Version 3 I think, made in '08-ish. It's loud enough for what it is... certainly loud enough for a mic to pick up, so yes it's powerful enough. It's not going to blow your drummer away, but the whole point of this amp is that you can get real tube character at lower volumes. My last couple amps were Fender tube amps, most recently a hot rod deluxe, which only gave up the real tubey tone at a very high volume level. The Valve Junior is perfect for recording and live situations without too much stage volume. Not a stand alone rock gig amp... However, properly mic'd and monitored it would work. Or, given the price, you could buy two or three. I play classic rock mostly, and a little blues, and this amp sounds great. Other amps have sweet spots that are sometimes difficult to dial in. The Valve Junior doesn't really make any bad sounds.

I've played a variety of guitars through a variety of cabinets, and with a couple different preamp tubes, and most combinations were great. Single coils ring with harmonics. Humbuckers will make it break up sooner. It's not at all percussive or harsh. A 12AT7 instead of the 12AX7 dials down the overdrive, but IMO it also takes too much of the character of sound. I installed a Groove Tubes 12AX7 instead of the stock Chinese 12AX7, and that made it even better. It sounds like straight-up classic rock tube tone. I didn't want to believe the hype, but I saw it on Ebay for $75 and I couldn't resist. My expectations were high, and I am not disappointed. It's responsive in a way that makes you aware of nuances in your playing. It likes pedals, but doesn't need any to make great sound.

Time will tell.... It's so simple; what could possibly go wrong?

N/A just got it.

I've played for 20+ years, through every imaginable combination of gear... I love the sound of this amp. I would replace it if it were stolen. I'd like to see a 20W version for club gigs.

On/off switch, Volume, 4/8/16 ohm output. So for features, I give it a 2. For QUALITY of the features, I give it an 8. It does everything it should. Sounds good as soon as you plug it in. It rocks. And is the loudest 5 watts I've ever heard. So I'll average and call it a 6. If your looking at this amp, you know what it is and isn't supposed to do/be.

It sounds AWESOME! I love it. For years, the holy grail of sound to me was my friend's 56 or 57 tweed Fender Deluxe. I still love that amp. But this little guy does just as much, in my opinion. It's great. Clean up to about 10 oclock, then it just gets dirtier and dirtier. Nice creamy vintage-sounding distortion.

Nothing yet... I've travelled with it, played it a lot, haven't had any problems yet...

Epiphone has answered my questions, and even talks about modding it on their website. I don't think I'll have a problem, but I don't know yet...

I wish it were a 15 or 20 watter... That's my only problem with giving this amp a 10. I love it. Best $225(with the matching cab) I've spent on guitar equipment. Period. Do I miss the tone controls or anythign? No. If it sounded like crap I probably would, but it doesn't so I don't. I played a Fender champion 600 or whatever their little 5 watt amp is. This one was way better in my opinion... I've been playing for 15 years, and this little thing makes it all worth it. I've got a Jay Turser Moserite copy with a p90 and Eastwood Zippo pickup, a Chinese Tele copy with Fender guts, and a funky little Samick with 3 p90s. This amp loves them all, and sounds different with each one.

Paid $250 for the head/cab combo from GC. Amp has Input, Volume, and 3 speaker outs. Lack of features is not a shortcoming in my opinion. I've found myself using my guitar's tone controls more to get the sounds I want - something I should have been doing all along. I bought this amp as I wanted a clean amp - something without digital effects.

I just bought mine last month, and it's the Ver 3. Sounds great out of the box, but I stuck an old Amperex 12AX7 in it after a few hours - much brighter than the stock Sovtek. Changed out the EH EL84 as well to an unmarked 60s era NOS EL84 (best guess is Matsushita.) Again, a huge change in tone - now the amp resonates beautifully. If I add an analog chorus it sounds so nice - takes me back to the late 70s when chorus pedals first came out. I siomply can't get my chorus to sound this nice through any other amp.

Hard to believe how well these are made.

The Gibson Group is great. Kudos to whoever thought of a budget boutique amp. Also, thanks to Gibson for listening to buyers of a budget amp and making the upgrades.

I plan on modding it further. Luckily the Ver 3 fixed many of the earlier version's shortcomings. I would really like to add an effects loop between the pre and power stages. Shouldn't be too hard as the schematic comes with the amp. I think I may also order the upgrade kit from AlnicoMagnet off eBay. He seems to be the only modder who specifically makes a kit for the Ver.3 heads.

bought 3rd gen junior head ran hard for 13 months than sound cut out took to the amp to a amp guru said wasnt worth fixing. The screaming sounds i got with a broke in celes vin 30 blew me away lady luck sounded mushy in comparasin to afraid to buy a new one IM NO AMP TECH

VINTAGE LEADS ALTHOUGH IT DIDNT NEED; IT I RAN A SEYMORE DUNCANE TWIN TUBE DISTORTION WTH VOLUME ALMOST 8 DISTORTION ON 2 TO 3 WORKED WELL TOGETHER

NEED TWO TO GIG

ONE WARRANTY AFTER THAT YOU BETTER KNOW YOUR WAY AROUND AMPS I CANT SAY THEY WOUNDNT FIX IT AFTER THE WORANTY NAVER ASKED BUT I WILL AND LET U ALL KNOW

Paid $250 for the stack, head and cabinet, from GC. As mentioned, one volume control and 3 speaker impedance outputs: 4, 8, & 16 ohm. That's about it. I thought I'd add a tone knob, but after owning it for a few weeks now, I don't think I'll bother. You just have to use your guitar's controls. I do wish it had a spring reverb between the pre and power sections, but I may put one in later.

Excellent sound. I played around with different tubes and finally settled on a Holland made Amperex 12AX7 and a Japanese made Mytron EL84 (likely Matsushita) - both made in the 60s. I'll keep the Russian stock tubes for spares, but I really like the combination of the two I have in - very clear highs, pronounced mids, and tight bass.

I also like the way pedals sound through this head - especially my analog chorus and delay. Sweet.

I don't see how anthing can go wrong as simple as this amp is. The cabinet on both the amp and speaker cab are extremely well made.

Not sure if I'll need them, but Gibson and Epiphone have been around for a while.

I've been playing for over 25 years. Have owned many guitars and amps. I was looking for a good clean amp and was won over by this. I did not want anything with digital effect circuits on it.

Man, this is one hell of an amp! It's got that sound..that thick, crunchy tube tone that's been showcased on countless rock albums. And, my god, is it loud. Played at half volume for about half an hour, my ears were ringing. Anyhow, it's a really simple, 5W Class A tube head with a single volume knob. The stock tubes are a Sovtek EL84 and a Sovtek 12ax7. Anyone could take this out of the box, plug in a 4,8 or 16 ohm cab and play.

I currently own several guitars: a 1974 Les Paul Deluxe, a 2004 Mexican Telecaster, a Korean Strat and an 1981 Vantage Flying V clone. I use a home-made cab with two 12" 1966 Oxford 12J4 speakers.
As musical styles go, I play anything from Classic/Progressive Rock to Blues and funk. Much to my surprise, this amp is able to cover all of these genres quite well. The output is fairly clean up to about 10 o'clock on the dial, then the tubes begin to break up. While the distortion is nice at all volumes, it can be a bit "farty" higher up (3 o'clock+), especially using neck pickups.

This head is built impressively. I would have never guessed it was made in China until I looked at the back panel. The construction is very solid; it doesn't rattle or shake even when cranked. When I purchased the EVJ head, I assumed that it would be a good practice amp for home use. Now that I've been playing it for a little while, I won't hesistate to bring it to my next practice session or small gig. It easily can keep up with a drummer at half volume.

I purchased a one-year replacement warranty when I bought it, though I doubt I'll need it. I don't plan on seriously "modding" the head (bitmo, etc) but I'm considering eventually replacing the tubes to JJs to clear up some of the "fartiness".

I have been playing for roughly 9 years (17 years old) and have owned many different types of guitars, organs, synths, basses etc. Buy this amp. You won't regret it. Some folks turn their nose at 5W heads, but believe me, this is one amp that you'll cherish for years to come.

5 watt tube amplifier, combo with an 8 inch speaker. One volume control, a quarter inch input jack, and a power switch. It does get pretty loud and breaks up nicely on its own without a distortion pedal. Works great at home for practicing.

This amp has a great sound and the crunch is perfect. There's not much low end due to the speaker size but I like the classic rock sound you can easily get, especially with a humbucker in your guitar. I also play a telecaster through it and with the tone knob down most the way on the guitar I can get a pretty well rounded crunch with a little less output. I pactice with band and haven't had to turn the volume all the way up yet, although it sounds great cranked

The amp is small and not too heavy. The strap expands a bit and is comfortable, its just light enough to carry in one hand. The back is covered and the power cord detaches. Its a simple design, for me it takes all the thinking out of it and its a nice change of pace.

Haven't used them yet

I picked this amp up used for $80 and I can say that its the best deal I've gotten on any piece of gear. Even to buy one new at $150 would be worth it to me. Its easy to get a good sound out of it and its responsive to my picking touch like any other tube amp. I would be pissed if it got lost or stolen, I'd have to buy another one for sure

Won't repeat what's been said already. This amp is a lesson in abstract minimalism, except you can plug into it and it has a class A EL84 output section. Nice.

I play a range of stuff around the whole rock-blues-jazz-alt-metal-funk kinda area. Current setup is very minimal: Fender Tele or Gibson Melody Maker into a Vox Wah, Boss DS-1, Z.Vex SHO and Ibanez tuner into the amp.

My amp didn't remain stock for very long, but from what I can remember the sound has a lovely blues combo vibe but a but thin and sterile, and perhaps a little boxy too.

I've since performed the Bitmo Trio mod (tone control, boost and input impedance voicing), replaced the output transformer for a Ceriatone SE, stiffened the power supply with a brace of huge 100uf caps, fitted a faux-sag function (essentially a resistor in the power supply designed to limit current flow just like a valve rectifier) and a standby switch. And of course replaced the tubes with a Tesla 12AX7 and JJ EL84.

It sounds infinitely better now. My head is a V3 unit so it has a proper 5.2K output transformer but the stocker is still too small. One of your first mods should be to leaver that little lump of metal out of the chassis and fit in a serious chunk of iron... I went the Ceriatone route but a Hammond 125ESE is standard practice. Don't skimp on size; not only sound all that iron give you serious tone but when you decide to do an octal mod (which you will after you run out of other stuff to do to the amp) you'll need to handle the high output.

The Bitmo Trio adds the bit of tonal diversity that the stock amp obviously lacks. Being able to tame some of the amp's stock high end is good. The boost function gives a welcome step up in gain though we're talking just-breaking-up overdrive. I find even with the boost on and the SHO cranked it's still a very moderate amount of drive - AC/DCesque. For genuine distortion you will need to put a pedal in front of it (hence the DS1).

The best part of the Bitmo mod is the impedance switch. The decals say "Lo - Mo' - Whoa!" but essentially it is "Fender - Marshall - Balls Out!". "Lo" is full sounding, bubbly and bright, with a good bass extension. "Mo'" is more midrangey, tighter and great with a bit of distortion in front - pure classic rock. "Whoa!" is a bit of an animal... the level boost is huge and there is no quiet setting as such... it goes from loud to very loud only! It is a cracking tone though... huge presence, great harmonics.

Unmodded sound is about a 6 - modified a 10!

I'm sure it was very reliable until I stuck my soldering iron in it! ;-)

Actually even despite my best attempts to undo all of Epiphone's hard work it is still rock solid. The cabinetry work defies the price they sell these guys for... they might have skimped a bit on the tubes and OT, but the head and extension speaker cabs are solid as a rock and the covering is trimmed very nicely indeed.

Internally it is tube sockets on a PCB but very little in there gives me need for concern. You wouldn't gig without a backup (or at least, a full set of replacement tubes and fuses) because that's just commonsense, but nothing about the VJ screams "fragile".

Warranty... LOL... my warranty was voided within 3 hours of ownership.

Actually, Epiphone are geniuses. "Let's make an amp everyone will modify, because they'll buy it just to modify, hence all the warranties will be voided and we'll never had any returns!"

Seriously, your backup is the great folks at sewatt.com. They're all you need.

I've been playing guitar for something like 14 years, though these days I play bass and drums in a professional sense more often. Guitar is something I just do for myself or around the BBQ at parties.

As I get older (hmmm.. I'm only 28) I'm starting to appreciate a much simpler and to-the-point style of playing and this reflects in the gear I'm now using... gone are the multieffect floorboards, digital modelling amps and shreader axes, replaced with simple, honest guitars, pedals and amps. The Valve Junior, which is about as simple and honest as amps come, suits this philosophy perfectly. It's small and portable, plenty loud, easy to use and full of great valve tone. And of course, it costs so little. It's perfect.

It also has reawakened the electronics geek hacker in me, and it is so rewarding to modify an amp yourself to suit YOUR ideas and YOUR style of playing. I've still got lots more that I want to do with it; I want to add a parallel octal output stage (6V6), an extra gain stage in the pre and spring reverb... maybe even old Fender style tube-tremolo. I really want to see how much you can fit into this little package. I also would like to replace the Eminence speaker in the 1x12 cabinet with something better like a Vintage 30.

Basically, the Valve Junior is what you put into it. It is a blank canvas - you have to make it great. The good thing is that the price of entry is cheap, and the cost of modification is even cheaper, and you'll end up with a great sounding amp for a fraction of the cost of a boutique low watter. And the best part is, it will totally be your own.

I took a chance on this amp after seeing a barrage of amps at the guitar center. I could have easily spent about $80 more and gotten a fender superchamp with 2 channels and effects/eq...but I wanted something simple. Can't get much simpler than one volume knob!

I use this amp only in my home studio. I can barely turn it up past 12 o'clock without the light fixtures rattling!!

The newest ver3 comes with JJ12AX7 Pre and JJEL84 Power. I have put in the TungSol 12AX7 and recommend it as your first cheap and easy mod!

The Eminenance speaker is great in my opinion, but I'd like to try others in the future. with the half stack, I have that option!

Plus this ver3 has 3 outputs (16, 8 and 4 ohm)

I'm playing bluesy rock, beatles, cracker, nashville sound, etc. and it totally nails it!!

Quiet amp for all volume levels

I love when I'm really grooving, it almost sounds like reverb happening but when I stop, it stops. Must be something inherent to the Tubes. This is my first tube amp.

The distortion really starts up about 12 o'clock and up. and it growls but still has plenty of tone and separation. not all muddled (AFTER MODS!!).

I think it's built like a brick **** house, personally. Not only is it pretty but it's tough!

Haven't dealt with them. I did the BitMo mods, so I lost my warranty by self servicing.

Been playing 25 plus years, off and on.
I'd buy it again if lost of stolen but might also move on up to someother tube amp now that this little $250 amp has whet my whistle!

Love the way it sounds and looks. Love how easy it is to just come home, turn on, plug in, and go! couldn't be easier. I remember inthe past i'd spend 30 minutes tweaking this and that trying to get a sound instead of just playing, and improving my own technique instead of trying to mask it with EQ and effects.

It's got 1 volume knob. That's it. I won't give a score here because for some people, it's a plus, and for others, a detractor.

Stock, the low end sounded flabby and farty. That's really the only thing I remember about it before I started modifying it.

After the mods, It has a much tighter bottom end, a sparkly high end, a switchable gain boost, and crunchier distortion. It sounds the way I want it to sound.

In all honesty, this is an amp you buy to mod. With a few mods, this amp roars, and the possibilities are nearly endless (it won't do metal). This amp has the potential to be anything you want (which is why I give it a 10). If you're going to mod it, I highly recommend you check out sewatt.com rather than buy a bitmo kit. You'll learn alot more, and you won't have just another bitmo VJR.

If you don't feel like being adventurous with mods, then you might want to look at the crate V series.

Construction wise, it's a very sturdy setup. I think you'd be hard pressed to break it.

Internally, the power tube is dissipating too much power stock. It is also lacking a screen resistor, which is a safety feature designed to blow out before the entire circuit gets destroyed if something goes bad. These aren't immediate threats, but can affect the amp's overall longevity. If you're going to mod this amp, those are the first two things you need to do.

i'm not sure i have a warranty, not after what I've done to it. Once you start modding, you are your own customer service.

I've only been playing a few years. I'm not good at identifying "tone" yet. However, I do know this amp is much better than my previous amp, a rogue RG120R. It has a great tube character to it that I've never experienced before. It has a nice warm clean tone, and that awesome tube crunch.

What attracted me to this amp was its ability to be customized, its price, and the fact that it's a tube amp. If you want an amp that you can put your heart and soul into to create something you could never buy from a store, this is the amp to get.

features....ok we all know this by now: a low wattage, single ended, diode rectified, el84 driven guitar amplifier, at its rootsy, stripped down best. input, volume. reminds me of my first amp that i found in the garbage and used every day for 2 or 3 years- except unlike my first, this Epiphone is much more powerful and it is tube driven. a big rave to the 4/8/and 16 ohm output options, as i have many different speaker boxes laying about. i currently use this amp mostly through a 4 ohm, late '50s/early 1960s, fifteen inch, ceramic magnet, low wattage jensen speaker, mounted in a homemade pine plank box.
for those of you Big Boys who are way too cool to get anywhere near a 5 watt amp, well, keep going because you will never get it: genuine music isn't about using your equipment to reflect your perceived manhood; that phenomena started with hendrix, peaked with led zep, and (should have)ended with hair metal in 1988.
anywho, this is an amp for bedroom/practice/recording use; it is not a pete townsend era stadium rocker, nor should that style be the end-all benchmark for all guitar amps. the first 15 years of electric guitar music, whether it be country, jazz, blues, or rock, was virtually ALL done on amps of this caliber. 5 watts RMS is plenty of power for bedroom/practice/and most recording applications.

first off, i use the VJ with a fender spring reverb tank up front. you know, the big tube powered boxes that the surf guys used, i forget the model; its a reissue. only way to go with reverb is springs, IMO.
i am a strat man, predominately. i am into old roots country, blues, and jazz but i have played, and enjoyed, most genres(yes even metallica).
my main strat has a messed up tone pot; basically it is full on unless i twist it around for 10 minutes- in my opinion, full on strat gives me too much high end sparkle through this amp. but, that is my problem, not the amp. when i do get the tone backed off without crackling, it sounds fantastic- rich with harmonics, clear, beautiful, captivating. i also have a humbucking guitar, which is on the muddy end(schecter), and wide open treble is a non-issue with this guitar. bottom line, if you are a single-coil player, dial back the treble a bit. humbuckers, no problem.
BUT, this amp lacks in the bass department. i have played it through closed backed 2x12s, open 1x12s, an open 1x15, and in every case, low end is lacking. that is my one and only complaint with this amp, and i bet(and i will try this winter) that a simple (but expensive) output tranny swap will work wonders for this issue.
i originally purchased this amp with the intention of learning a bit about electronics, maybe swapping out some resistors and capacitors, and so i am not at all dissappointed in spending $139 or whatever it was. for that money, its the best bargain i have ever purchased.
this amp is a perfect amp to use as a canvas for tube experimentation, also: it is so pure in circuitry, you will be able to easily discern differences in tubes if indeed they exist. this summer i had the chance to finally crank the VJ, with different output tubes, and that is where the tube type makes a difference- in the cranked settings. the newer el84s that had the most robust vacuum seemed to be the loudest and fuzziest. they also seemed to transmit more high end sparkle. the old output tubes i have('50s and '60s Matsushitas, VOM, Phillips, and unknowns)seem to sound best (probably due to treble cut)at lower volumes.
preamp tubes, same thing, i experimented with the 12__7 family: i have tried 12ax7, 12au7, 12ay7s in this amp; all have different gain factors; all drive the el84 differently, and behave differently at different volumes.
as i intimated, this amp is a virtual laboratory for <i>really</i> learning about tubes and tube circuits; thus far i have only scratched the surface.

no problems yet. with printed circuit boards, one should expect issues in the decades or centuries to come, but again: this amp is cheap. one way to make it cheap is to print the circuitboards. so who cares? it is such a simple design, that if it is treated responsibly and run at moderate levels, then it will likely be reliable.

not applicable

i have been messing with electric guitars for more than 25 years. i have owned other gear; the most relevant to this review are: 1980s Fender Stage Lead II (solid state); Marshall JCM800(tube, but incorporates diode clipping); Orange Tiny Terror(all tube); early '70s Traynor YGL-MKIII(all tube); Mesa Boogie Lone Star(all tube), Crate solid state head(can't remember make/model).
this amp is a keeper. i will reference it, tweak with it, enjoy it for what it is: a simple, stripped down, all tube, no-excuses, basic guitar amplifier.
my future goals are to build point-to-point fender(twin or deluxe) and marshall(jtm) clone kits, when finances allow.

epiphone valve jr head& 1*12 epi cabinet. 3rd version head

wooow thats pretty cool mini stack.

one volume and power switch only.

4,8,16 ohm out

12inch eminence lady luck speaker

i use with esp ltd ec400at. i try with digitech bad monkey so its very cool 70s and esrly 80s overdrive sound .

clean sound is very cool.its no like fender brighty clean.

you must be use eq pedal .i'll try boss mt 2 for heavysounds.

So i try epi cabinet with peavey classic 30 combo.Epi lady luck sound very close blue marvel sound.but peavey combo original a little bit good then epi cabinet.

its very solid

i dont need

im 8 years played electric guitar.this things very compact .its cheap .its very cool looking.this is very good amp for money.i wish it has effects loop ,stand by switch and preamp volume and eq .

1 SWITCH 1 VOLUME Point off for no stand by. Otherwise perfect!

Ok with the stock valves EH AND SOV EL84 it still fantastic but breaks up a little early and a little hard sounding with Humbuckers so an 8. Put a Mullard EL84 and a JAN 5751 and it is the perfect amp for small venues and a Strat. Through a semi closed peavey classic cab loaded with a single gm25 greenback this set up is perfect. Not a bad sound throughout the dial. At gigs i put the volume at 12 o clock and slam the front end with various pedals to taste. Perfection to my ears. Bought another head and matching epi cab but put both a Mullard el84 and 12ax7 and it has a creamy breakup that compliments the first rig perfectly. A stereo set up that's easy to move and cheap but sounds a million dollars with the NOS valves. The circuit is so simple and pure it really allows the tone of these wonderful valves from yesteryear to shine and each of my guitars voices comes through intact. To give you an idea of where i am coming from my last amp which i have sold due to this rig was a DR Z MAZ JUNIOR great amp but this rig gets me 95% there tone wise and i have the option of a stereo set up or simply a back up. The volume is spot on for small gigs and if not just mike up. These amps with the right tubes are fantastic, chime, bell like tones that bloom as the notes decay..metal look elsewhere classic rock and blues they're a must have. Point to point vs Circuit boards means nothing when you use good valves. Repairs etc sure PTP is better than a circuit board, but sound wise please..there is no difference!

Pretty simple amps but will see how the transformers go.

Please.

I've owned Rivera's too many to list but a Venus 6 for one, DR Z'S MAZ & Z28, Genz Benz Black Pearl, Laney tt, vc, lc, THD Univalve, Emery Sound, Tech 21 Trademark 60 and 10 don't knock em til you try em, Engl Thunder 50, Marshall DSL50, DSL 201, I've played through most Bad Cat's and Cornford's as well as numerous Fenders. The reason for the run down was not to brag but simply to show i can compare these amps to top shelf gear and am not 11 in my bedroom. Only been playing 10 years but am in my 30's and have been gigging 6 of those so these amps have been used live in a band setting playing mostly radio rock and originals. These are a cheap alternative that will get you into that boutique EL84 book of tone with some NOS Valves and still keep the majority of your hard earned cash in your pocket. They are so cheap that you could afford 2 and not think twice. I love them and although i don't regret my EXPENSIVE amp adventures i've learnt you don't have to spend big to sound good and wish i had found these amps much sooner!!

An on/off switch, a volume knob, 3 different impedance speaker outlets - ummm yep thats it. Its simple and I LOVE simple.

An awesome little amp that grew on me the more I used it. Initially I thought it sounded quite dark and muddy when cranked and had no clean voice but then I discovered (doh!) that the numbers of, wattage and design of speakers made a huge difference. Ended up with a Celestion 35 watt 12" speaker and found the spot. After reading a couple of forums I swapped the 12ax7 preamp tube for a lower gain 12AY7 and, for me that really did the trick. Tone went from good to awesome and it gained a clean voice at reasonable volumes as well. The amp naturally drives really nicely but it really loves pedals as well - so you can make it sound how you want. With the volume cranked there is little background noise. I play a MIA strat and 2 Maton humbucker loaded guitars through it and they all maintain their character and sound good.
I play this at home and can acheive all sorts of good sounds (jazz, blues, rock and filth) at neighbour friendly volumes - turn it up and your ears will ring. I also own a Boogie Nomad 55 amp and find that I love the sound of the junior as much and, because it works at lower volumes, I play the epi more often. My rating with the original 12ax7 = 6, with the 12AY7 = 9.

Because it is so small and light I tend to take it to jams and sessions etc, so it gets transported alot. Plug it in and it always fires up. Been playing it daily for over 18 months and it's never broken down. Fek, at this price you could could buy 4 and just swap them around if they broke.

Bought it second hand and immediately opened it up for a look inside. Warranty - POOF, what warranty. I've never had to do customer support in the 18 months its been mine.

Playing electric since 2002 and this was the best amp purchase ever. I bought it as an experiment and was really surprised by what it delivered. A really simple, cheap, good sounding amp - its a no brainer, buy 2.

Volume and power switch.

Update to previous posting

Swapped tubes. Originally came with sovtek tubes. OD was HARSH and hard to get a good tone out of.

Replaced with a Tung Sol reissue 12ax7 and a JJ el84.

The distortion is sooner, and much, much smoother. With a TS9 for boost, it is 80's metal.

Highly recommend tube swappage. Much better OD. Clean sounds the same. (jazz baby, yea!)

I bought this amp because I needed a practice/small amp which features decent tube circuitry, with medium gain for blues/rock. I needed also an amp that responds well to pedals since I like DIY electronic stuff and modding.
This thing has all it needs: tubes all the way and a volume knob. it has 3 outputs for 4,8 or 16 ohms. Brilliant for swapping cabinets. Except an output for headphones... But add a power soak with headphone output and you have the real stuff: headphones straight from an overdriven amp are horrible. (And if you don't even drive this amp a little, you don't play guitar at all...)
It has no tube rectifier, but since it is a class A single ended amp, all "sag" mojo is a bit useless anyway. Solid state rectifiers are also reliable.
I give a 5 out of honesty: for me it's 10, since it's bang for the buck and is a usefull element of a rig, other will say 0, maybe because they want all in one box.

These days I'm playing on a strat with "noiseless" pickups. A little warmer than singlecoils, but way more SC than HB. This amp is a gem only by controlling the guitar's knobs. It's also very dynamic: just alter you picking and you have all tonalities you want. This amp can actually drive very hard with the noiseless pickups, since they have higher output than SC.
I use the amp with the special designed valve junior 1x12" extension cabinet (eminence Lady Luck speaker). Never harsh, never dull.
all 60ties sounds can be achieved. Pedals do the rest.

looks very reliable and feels heavy. no problemo.

5-year warranty. But I'm not sure.
I'll stick to the 2-year warranty by the EU.

First real tube amp I own. others were either unaffordable or not the label "tube" worthy.
Excellent for every player who wants to move up from small solid state crap to real tone for only a couple of bucks.
It are these amps that were used often by the Great in studio recordings, since they are simple, sound good and are easily pushed into overdrive.

click the link, i don't type.

I've played it with my ibanez semi-hollow with gibson p'90s and a 60's telecaster. The hollow got a nice fat jazz sound sort of outta it, while the telecaster sounded brighter and crisper. (just like they're suppose too). the amp starts to distort/fuzz pass half way on the volume. but it does sound nice with any and all effects i've tried with it. I only use it as a practice amp and tracking demos, its a nice sounding amp for those situations where a big tube amp is too much noise. I wouldn't use it for a show, just practice. the clean doesn't stay clean at loud volumes.

Like i said before, i'll only use it for practice and demos. It's a solid amp. can't see much going wrong with it, and if anything does it's probaly from my misuse.

never used customers support unless anything i buy is defected from the get go. if anything happens down the line i usually have a friend fixed or repair whatever it is.

It's a very good practice amp and fits whatever guitar you play straight into it. I handles pedals really really really really really good, and for a small practice amp you can get good tones out of it with great east.

features are well covered. mine is a 2008 model purchased in may 08. it does have the sovtek tubes. I rate features a 10 because i'm not stupid and knew it only had the volume knob when i bought it. that volume knob really does it's job.

i play sgs. i have a standard and a faded special both stock. they both sound awesome through this amp. the variety of tones i can get using the guitar controls and the amp volume is fantastic. i have a mesa rectoverb 50 and a lonestar special. i got this because it was cheap and only 5 watts. this valve jr, to my ears sounds better than both of those amps for what i like. gritty tone that will overdrive w/harder attack. harmonics just bloom out of this thing. to be honest i dont really miss not having reverb and such. i like how this is just pure. this is how guitar is meant to be played. with the volume up all the way on the amp and my sg faded on the bridge pickup i can get some of the most articulate distortion. lots of bottom end w/slamming mids and non piercing highs. i by the way am playing this through a marshall 1x10 extension cab from my marshall micro stack. i am going to buy the 1x12 that's made for it soon.

seems very well built. i do wish it had a standby to preserve the tube life but oh well. it was 129.00 us dollars and i can replace the tubes if needed. i really like the sound of the stock tubes and will not be changing them out anytime soon. it does not seem to be weak in construction in any way. i've only had it a short time so we'll see.

never dealt w/them.

i've been playing for around 9-10 years now and have really come to love the class a sound. i really like to get any distortion from the natural tube overdrive and speaker breakup. it pisses me off that this amp is so cheap. when i think of the thousands of dollars i spent looking for this tone. i had an orange rocker 30 that i liked for this same reason but you had to turn it up way too loud to get the overdrive and it was over a grand.

2007 Epiphone Valve Jr Head w/ 2007 Epiphone Valve Jr extension cabinet w/ 1X12 speaker. Amp is a 5-watt, single-tube, class A Tube Amp. It is single channel w/ an On/Off button and volume. That's all. No effects loop, no head-phone jack, nothing. Very simple and No-Frills. Amp works great for small venue or recording situations. Would still be useful for larger gigs if mic'ed. Though only 5-watts, the amp is deceptively powerful. Small and compact, easily transported, works great w/ pedals of pretty much all kinds - kind of what it's built for.

I've used 3 different Les Pauls with it (Custom, Standard, Classic) and a Taylor T5. It's for Classic Rock through maybe light grunge/metal. Distortion is definitely there, but not too heavy. Doesn't suit my musical styles, because I need some clean sounds, too. This will not do clean w/ any reasonable volume. The distorted tones are great, and especially for the price range, but there's no real clean sounds to be had w/ this thing. The higher the volume the more the distortion - that's pretty much what this thing does. The amp's variety is dependant on the pedals you use. I've used a digitech Bad Monkey w/ it, but nothing else. It does handle all pedals well, though. No real static problem, even at high volumes. I'm rating the sound quality high because what it does, it does well. It just won't do clean.

No real extended use so can't really say, but it seems well constructed.

N/A

I've been playing for a little over 15 years, and have dabbled in all kinds of music. Primarily I'm playing Classic Rock type stuff right now. It's worth buying if you've got a couple hundred bucks you're not doing anything better with. It's a fun little amp and sounds great for small venues and recording. There are several readily available modification kits that can add some features, but stock it's still useful. I would never use it exclusively just because you can't get a clean tone w/ volume, but what it does, it does pretty well for not much money.

i have the head and matching cab. it has an on/off switch, and one volume knob.
I kinda wish it had a tone knob as the sound tends to sound muddled but that can be helped if the amp is allowed to warm up.
I use this amp in my bedroom mostly and it's plenty loud. I haven't played out with it yet but if i did it would be loud enough for the smaller venues.

this amp is very versatile. it responds well to my ds-1 pedal and my crybaby wah. it sounds good with a dirty humbucker or p-90 but loves strats. you can really hear that fender sparkle which i love.
the amp stays clean up to about 10 o'clock, at 12 it starts to get dirty with that natural tube overdrive that roars and sounds great. i can't speak beyond that as i haven't pushed it further since i live in a residential neigborhood. but i imagine that it could sound good at higher levels also.

i've had the amp for almost half a year, bought it used, and have never had a single problem with it.

never dealt with them, but probably wouldn't get any help due to the fact that i bought it used

been playing for about 4 years. it this were lost or stolen the only other amp i'd consider buying would be a fender twin reverb, but since i'm not rich i'd probably buy this setup again and just use an external reverb. when buying this i considered small marshalls, vox valvetronix but settled on this one from reading reviews and trying the other amps mentioned. this baby is definately a steal at this price. the only upgrade i'd consider is changing the tubes, but only after they've burnt out because i like the sound coming out right now.
here's a tip if you try this amp, crank it up because it sounds divine when naturaly overdriven

One volume knob. Thats it! I'm a 'less is more' type of guy. This is exactly what I've wanted for quite some time.

I play everything from old blues to EVH. Blues and classic rock tones are pretty easy to achieve with just the volume. Getting to EVH just requires the right pedals. Speaking of pedals, this amp loves them! I have the 'Version 3' of this head. Seems Epiphone has fixed alot of the problem areas that the earlier versions had. To me that means alot of those mods don't neccesarily need to be done here. The sound quality is top notch. Excellent sound and very loud. I also have the Epi cab. The speaker only sounds better with age. The stock JJ Tesla/Electro-Harmonix tubes are great upgrade from the previous junk on the older versions. For those of you who view the one knob as a limiting factor consider tossing an EQ pedal in the chain. Amazing what happens!

I've had mine for 10 months and it has been perfect. I usually run mine at full bore for at least one hour everyday. Excellent reliability!

Never needed them.

This amp is an excellent buy. Top notch quality (made in China)at a very affordable price. I would for sure replace this amp if it were stolen. I really wish Epiphone would build a 20W version of this amp with a few more knobs(gain and such) and the possibilty of adding a second cab. That has nothing to do with this awesome amp however. Overall this amp is the cats meow.

Has only an on/off switch and a volume (no master which would be handy). To be fair it does has a variety of speaker impedances to choose from, and unlike it's main rival the controls are on the front where you can reach them, has a great looking cabinet and is well constructed. Most importantly it is valve powered.

It has surprisingly good tone and dynamics and is fun to play. With the matching cabinet can sound pretty raunchy without that horrible speaker farting. However, as some others have commented, it sounds a little "thin" to me. The example I tried has abundant treble which I think is a good thing because you can always roll back the tone on the strat and still enjoy the treble with the Les Paul. The downside though is lack of bass for which there is no easy solution. Only other complaint is the lack of clean headroom, although this may vary from one unit to the next and some reviewers have noticed improvement with different valves. Comparing it the the Fender Champion combo with it's laughable 6" speaker this represents much better tone for buck.

Have not had the unit long enough to have it break down, but looks pretty rugged.

Have not had to use them, but I've heard it's better that way.

When purchasing I was looking for good valve tone at a civilised volume that could be used at home. This fits the bill, and I can also use it at church and mike it up. What I like most is that it gets that saturated tone without the volume, although I intend to get better quality valves to improve clean headroom. Compared to it's nearest rival the Fender Champion this represents by far better bang for the buck. Here downunder in NZ the fender retails for (an astounding) $US450 equivalent, while the Valve Junior with matching cab is closer to $US500 equivalent (shocking I know), but even at this price I still want it. I wouldn't say the same for the Fender Champion. I consider the price in US justifies buying better valves to improve tone, but here in NZ I'll thrash the ones it comes with first.

Input Volume Output

Its OK, I don't understand what all the gushing is about. Its voiced well and sounds nice when clean, but cranked I really didn't like the overdrive that well. Not nearly as tight or nice as any other old class A amp I've ever played. I own a 59 Silvertone 1 12" and a 60 Gretsch 1 15", Marshalls, modded Rocktrons and recorded with old Fenders, Champs and Princtons, Voxes etc., and all had a better cranked overdrive tone. The amp seams to loud to be all that usable in the sudio except for the slightly lushes clean tone, and to underpowered to make the clean tone usable for a jamming situation. I would say a cool amp, maybe modding can tighten it up, the price is right but all these 10s are bogus. I did like the low volume clean tone, so when I took it back I traded in for an original run Hot Rod Deluxe, beautiful clean tone at all volumes and with pedals can fit any situation. That amps an 8.

The EL-84 tested bad in my tester, when replace with a decent 84 it was OK, but it didn't change the tone much. The input and output jacks seem a bit loose.

As long as you go through Guitar Center, those guys are always great.
The 10 is for the GC staff in Madison, WI.

I played for a long time, went from Humbuckers to Teles and most points in between. I have alot of gear and have played through most at one time or another. I read alot of these reviews and find many people trying to mod one amp into another, do yourself a favor and save a little more jing to get the amp you want. You want the Fender Marshall, Vox or Valco sound, buy them, they,re out there and they are still the gold standard for TONE. BTW I own 2 Epiphone Jeff Baxter model acoustic guitars and would buy 5 more if I could. So props to Epiphone they are a great company.

One channel. One Knob. That's it.

I bought a stand-by switch, but I am waiting for warrenty to expire before installing. I use it at home. Amp is VERY loud for 5 W.

I play classic rock/blues. I have an extensive effects chain, to include 4 rack units. Been playing 25(?) years now. I'm old school. Used to play Skynyrd through an MXR and Sears Home stereo circa 1980.

Ibanex 540s, Hamer Special, Fender Tele Deluxe, Dano 59 reissue.

I've been concerned for several years because I could not figure out for the life of me why there was no low budget market for low-watt tube amps. The Bumboxes go for $499 for 1W, seems somewhat ludicrous.

The Epiphone exceeded my expectations. It screams quality right out of the box. The size is rather large and it's weight is rather decent. I was expecting far less. The construction is dead solid. The value of this amp is probably $3-400 if it weren't made in China.

No repairs. NA

I'm going buy the cab for this. Figuring the quality of the amp is very good, even considering it's made in China. I'll wait for other reviews before I swap tubes. There is real decent clarity while playing. I don't know about the dark tone. You can EQ or adjust through effects.

I'm gonna also buy a Black Heart 1W for $149. The Epiphone is rather loud because I am addicted to the overdriven tube tone. A 1W would be rather interesting playing at home. I have a Peavey Deuce 120W for 20 years now. I used to turn it on full volume back in the 80's. I wasn't popular with the neighbors. That is the cab that I've been using. Twin Black Widow 12 inches.

Volume knob

Tried it out in a sound room at GC, it was amazing playing through a Gretsch 5120. I basically listened to it feedback for 20 minutes and it's sounded beautiful! This other guy had his heart set on a Vox Heritage AC-15 and he bought the Epiphone too.
I took it home and played it through my Epiphone Les Paul Junior 57 reissue. It still sounded great. This is it for me.

Seems really solid. Just got it so I can't comment.

N/A/

For under $300 this is the best tube amp I've owned and I've played just about everything. I can't wait to play it out, it's a very loud 5 watts. I read all about the mods but to be honest I'm leaving it alone. I'm actually getting rid of my Delta Blues. I'll never buy a big amp again. If anything I'd get another one of these and run them in stereo.

one knob, dummy
needs a tone knob
and a reverb knob...ha!

a little noisy cranked, but good god! played this in sound room at GC and people were coming in to listen... and i'm a ****** player! (i fake it pretty good)
nice overdrive... really sweet and full
sounded better than the jtm 45 re-issue mini stack or whatever it is that costs 1500.00
this is about 100.00 - 129.00 retail!
better than th bhudda in the room... all the mesas and anything else in there that costed upwards of 3 grand.
played 4 different ones and here's what i found out...
these things vary considerably
some are wimpy
some are dark
some are constipated
some are brittle
and some are magic
i found one that's magic.
the only reason i didn't buy is the 5 watts was too loud for the apartment!

10

most other reviewers have pointed the lack o features, to me thats the best feature of all. I wonder if any one would dare to make a 50 watt amp with just a volume knob... if so i want one! I do all my fiddling and tweaking on the floor thanks so i don't miss having to pay for extraneous circuitry and knobs that i'll only touch once.

i play this with a jap fender(CIJ) 62 rei tele and tokai tj-65 loverock (DC les paul junior copy) both with stock p/ups through an assortment of pedals of varying quality (B-bomb!) and although i ahve an eq, i only use it for scooping out some mids to get a more modern distortion or a sweeter clean (do yourself a favour and get a eq, or 2 or 3, and you have a booster, amp modeler, filter, noise reducer, hell even a muter). i must admit i have swapped out the sovteks for jj's (just do it alright), and it really turned this cute wallflower into a centrefold pin up tone slut, if you'll pardon the analogy. no hum or noise issues with mine, and i think the darkness some mention may have a few possible causes: 1;sovteks 2;crap p/ups &/or guitars 3;playing with the amp vol below 10-11 o'clock 4;not giving the amp long enough to warm up, i know the manuel says 1.5 minutes or something but thats only so you don't blow tubes, give it 30-60 minutes 5;a combination of all these. i have to turn the tone on my tele down nearly halfway with this thing or it sounds too bright! and i like bright! the only time mine ever sounds dark to me is when its played at very low volume 5 minutes after turning it on. any way, i love the sound of this thing, very transparent and warm clean, quite aggressive ooooohverdrive, but not in a death metal way. only 9 cos it hasn't made me cream my pants (yet).

had it 9 months, played every other day, lugged for 30 km's to and from rehearsals 1-2 times a week, with my daughter climbing over it periodically, no worries so far, built like a brick shit house basically, all ply no mdf, quite overbuilt really, but i'm not complaining.

i give epiphone a big fat one for the crap one year dealer warranty supplied to customers in australia as opposed to the 5 year manufaturers warranty for north america/europe. that sucks. and we're closer to the manufacturer you sods. i hope it is an indication of how well these things are expected to hold up.

it's all been said. great. buy one. now. then buy another one. for back up. then buy another one, go on, you always wanted to go stereo. besides my tele the best piece of kit (yes, kit) i own.

It doesn't get any more basic than this. Two tubes (12ax7 & el84), one volume knob, and 5 watts. It's simplicity is the beauty of it. If you want more knobs to play with this ain't your amp.

I just can't believe that this $100 amp sounds so absolutely amazing. The breakup on this thing is so nice and smooth. It has that class A el84 sparkle with some good grind to boot. Some people complain about it being too dark but I think it has alot to do with the guitar and pickups you're using. I'm playing a Yamaha AEX-502 semi-hollowbody which has stock P-90 pickups that have a bit more bite than most P-90's so it isn't an issue with me. I run a Visual Sound Route 66 overdrive/compressor as well as an MXR MicroAmp in front of the amp and run the head into a custom made 1x12" speaker cabinet with a Jensen C12. I pretty much always get my overdrive from pedals but just plugging straight into the amp and cranking it yields some great overdriven tones as well. There are supposedly all of these mods for this amp to make it sound better but aside from replacing those shitty stock soveteks with some JJ's there is nothing else it needs. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

I've only had it a week but so far there have been no problems with it. It has a smart design and look. I think it would hold up just as well as any other tube amp out there when subjected to the wear and abuse of the rock n roll lifestyle.

Couldn't say. I haven't had to deal with them and let's hope it stays that way.

In the future when Epiphone finally stops making these amps the guitar player world will be divided by those who own one of these amazing amps and the poor fools who couldn't/wouldn't/didn't shell out the measly $100 to buy one of these amazing amps. For $100 you can do no better. I've owned and played some pretty decent tube amps since I first picked up the guitar and I can say without a doubt that this amp is one of the best sounding and most fun to play amps I've owned. Factor in the price of it and it stands alone. This is by no means a complaint but since the Valve Jr is only 5 watts it really is for home/recording use. It just won't cut through playing live with the rest of your band without miking it. Epiphone, you must make a 15 watt version of this great amp. Yes I know there are mods out there that can be done to it to make it a 15 watt amp but at the price tag of $500 it kind of defeats the purpose. I'd give this amp an 11 if the rating went that high.

No features except a volume control, which is a feature, as well as tubes, which gives the user the ability to experiment with tone via changing tubes, and also light weight and compactness which gives the unit portability.

So I guess it does have features, sort of.

Every guitar I grabbed off the rack at GC, single and humbucker, cheap or expensive. Every pedal I could get the salesman to hook up at GC. Some people say the clean tones remind of Fender, and the over-driven tones remind of Marshall.

Actually, this amp reminds me of a Buddha combo amp I owned a couple of years ago. It sounds American but reminds the player of classic British Rock. It cleans up nicely and distorts easily if that's what you want it to do.

I think the stock amp only needs a stand-by mod on it's own. However the ability to further mod the amp is there if desired, so a big thumbs up for design.

I have no idea.

I have no idea.

Playing on and off since 1969. I'm like most musician's, I buy and then I sell to buy again. I love this amp and hate nothing about it. I compared it to the Blackheart, which is comparable in size and design. I didn't choose one over the other as I'm getting both. I wish it had a stand-by switch but the design is mod-able so no worries.

If you need, as I do, a light portable tone monster, this could be a choice for you. Just like most who have purchased and reviewed, I agree that the Epiphone Jr. is a winner.

Features (or lack of them) are well described below. Just input, volume and - this is good - 3 speaker-out sockets @ 4, 8 or 16 ohms. For what its intended for, this little valve amp really doesn't need anything more so....

I play Gibson Les Paul Standard (Burstbucker Pro's) and Gordon Smith Graf through the amp. At top volume, the Gibbo sounds a little mushy, I think the p/ups may overpower the amp a little. Good for power rock stuff though, and solo lines really sing beautifully - very rich dynamics.
The GS Graf seems a better match; slightly lower output p/ups and a sweeter overall sound; cleans up a little more easily than the Gibbo.
The 5w output of this amp is sort opf "in-between" really; its a little too loud for home rehearsal (my home, anyway) if you want good overdriven sounds, yet just a little too quiet for proper rehearsal with the band (classic rock covers mainly). Shame. It takes my Boss OD pedal very nicely though - amazing singing lead lines and very musical and controllable feedback - great fun!

Only had it a couple of months so I can't usefully comment. Its well put together and very simple - unlikely to be any major problems, and even iof so they can I'm sure be solved easily, quickly and cheaply.

Never needed thus far.

Playing for many years (mainly recording), only the last 5 in a regularly gigging band. I have an Ashdown Peacemaker 60w 2x12 tube combo (mine's fine, don't knock 'em) for larger rooms. Gibson, Gordon Smith and Aria guitars.
The Valve Junior is a great little amp; cute (!) and does what it says on the tin. Lovely overdrive when pushed - as surely its meant to be - though not for anything but the smallest of venues in my book.
I'd replace it if stolen (! ??90 I paid, who would steal it - its a steal anyway at that price!) but might consider Blackheart, Peavey, Fender alternatives just because its fun.

1 input, 1 volume control, 5 watts of pure tube power, 4, 8, and 16 ohm outputs. Really excellent feature set. Could not be simpler but it's perfect!
Ah, the lack of a standby switch is going to hurt my tubes quicker than normal, I'll take a point off for that.
Once and for all, you don't need a tone knob!

I was a bit worried after reading some reviews that said the overdrive on the amp sounded muddy and dull. They claimed that it needed to be modded with a brightness switch or to change to some quality tubes. In any case, this is just not true! I play an SG with bareknuckle pickups and the sound is bright and clear even with the volume on full, the searing tube fuzzy distortion peels your face off. It's really great. Pretty loud too. Too loud for my neighbours and too quiet for my band. 5 watts is a stupid value! A mod I might consider is making it less powerful - to 2.5 watts for example. This would facilitate recording. For 90 euros, it's the best sound ever! A joy to play. I did find I could make some tonal improvements using a 7 band eq though... I definately reccommend an EQ pedal to go with this amp. I may change the tubes in the future but the cheapo ones sound great already!

Yep. Pretty damn solid for cheap chinese crap and cruddy cheap tubes. Lack of a standby switch will wear out and possibly damage the tubes quicker than than normal.

Best 90 euros I've ever spent! Awesome for recording (finally, I can record the sound of tubes breaking up without having to bury the thundering fender twin under a pile of duvets and blankets, awesome for playing too. There is a load of great mods that can be done on this amp so it'll grow with me.

Well its meant to be simple so can't really hold that gainst it.But a gain and tone woulda been nice.

Well stock mine was kinna woofy and bassy,lacked harmonics and OD.
I swapped the tubes out for RFT el84 and mullard 12ax7 and revoiced the preamp and added a diode clipping gain stage based on the Marshall Jubilee and it turned into a pint sized Marshall.
Honestly they are mediocre stock but they are also $100-$129(now) so what do you expect.But they are cool to learn how to mod amps.
I'll rate it for stock tone.

seems solid for a $100 amp.

Well if you want to just plug in and jam,its kinda lackluster its bassy and don't overdrive enough to play lead without a pedal.
If you have a some electrical skills it can be made cool for a few dollars in parts and a couple strong used or NOS tubes.

Not many features, but that's the beauty, isn't it? Just
a whole lot more tone than it should rightfully have!

Using this little beast in a stereo set-up with a
tech21 trademark 60. Gretsch Special Jet with
Dearmond single coils>MI Audio Crunch Box>MI blue boy deluxe
>Carl Martin ChorusXl, stereo split into the trademark and junior.
The sound with the stock Sovtek and EH tubes was not bad,
but in the quest for more clean headroom I changed these
out for a Ruby12AT7 and a RubyEL84. Holy shit!! Tone for miles.
The amp has taken on a new character. Gorgeous singing, fat cleans up to around 4.00 on the dial, and then a slightly crunchy Keef tone.
Also minimal background noise. Was intending to have mods done, but now the jury is out.... Compliments the trademark set to fender or mesa sound. Fills out the mids nicely. 7 before but now....

Not much to it. Had my amp guru bias and check it out. Could not believe the build quality vs the price.

Slow as the second coming to send it after I ordered it!

Played an old Silverface twin and one of Jims stacks for years. Sold them both due to chronic CBF syndrome, with regards to carting them around.Currently own an AER compact 60, and a Yamaha CPX800, as well as the aforementioned. Would buy another....no..will buy another. I love the way it seems to morph from a little vox to a baby champ with minimal movement on the dial.

Simplicity at it's very best! I use a multi-effects pedal that i've owned (2 of the same actually)since 2001 and do all EQing, reverb, etc so the one-knob-job works great for me.

I've played my Les Pauls, PRS, Tele, Strat, Explorer,T5, and Ibanezes through this thing and all sound great. My main axe now is a Ibanez SZ520 with DiMarzio PAF & PAF Pro, with coil tap for neck. I was a little displeased so I replace the matching cab that I have a vintage 30 in with a simi-closed back cab loaded with two K120 JBL's(wired for 16 ohm)... Tone to the Bone!!

I've been using the rig mostly at home for practice and recording. Since the JBL's, I think I will start taking it out and I feel confident it will be ok.

Never dealt with them. A good thing.

I've been playing for about 35 years. Full time road band for a few of them. I have collected quite a bit of gear including some cool amps. Vintage Bassman 10, Musicman HD130 combo, Kustom Challenger, Fender Blues Jr (w/mods), Hot Rod Deluxe (w/mods). What I love about this amp is that I can now achieve tones of wide open tubes with out my wife and kids running out of the house. Would surely buy again, may just to have another.

Wonderfully simple from the factory "one-knob wonder", and useful 4, 8, and 16ohm output jacks. Currently, mine is modded with bitmo trio voice gain, tone knob with pull boost, loop-d-jr (efx loop), standby switch, hammond 125ese output transformer, bigger power supply cap (i don't know enough to say how big!), and, of course, tubes are currently labeled groove tubes, and i don't know what they really are! It's been almost 2 years since i bought it, mods started a year ago, one at a time, and every time i get more impressed with the sound. I try to play blues, rock, heavy rock, country, jazz, soul, oldies, funk.... almost anything but "rap" and "techno" or whatever!
I can be happy playing almost anything with this amp!! You might need to mike it if you wanna gig with it. I have yet to try a holy grail or spring king thru the efx loop, but in front of the amp, reverb sounds great.. until you pass 11 o'clock on the volume, it becomes unmanagable. It is truely inspiring to jam with for a poor musician. the rating reflex the extensive modifications.

Can create anything from warm jazz, to twangy country, to booming classic rock and metal(Sabbath and early Aerosmith come to mind). With the right speaker combination, the sky is the limit! I have two Pyle Driver speakers (Derek Trucks claimed to use them in an interview i read), one in a closed back cab, and one in a open back cab (actually the frame of a dean combo amp, i just removed the head of the dean and added a jack), which sound great indenpendantly, but awesome together. the creamy tube overdrive is to die for! I own a westbury (kind of like an SG copy, for those who don't know), and a schecter tele copy.

it was yanked off one of the cabs and fell about 2 1/2 to 3 feet, landing on its top, while on! she sustained one small war wound at the back right chassis screw cover involving a small tear in the tolex covering, but she never missed a beat! Impressive for china, eh? I wouldn't care for a back up, but I'm poor(you already know that!)

All mods done buy my tech friend (thanx TIM), never tried, or needed, to contact gibson/epiphone.

I also own a fender hot rod deluxe, a few acoustic guitars and another harmony LP POS. been playing about 18 years. If my evj were stolen, I would like to see the thief gutted, drawn and quartered, after a healthy(?) dose of electro-shock thearpy (wilst being force to listen to kenny g). All in all, i doubt any thing will ever have more bang for your buck. I love almost everything about it, and hate almost nothing. How can you hate tubes? I wish it had a woman that made me this happy!!

ITS GOT ALL YOU NEED

THIS AMP IS T.N.T. I GOT THIS AMP FOR MY BIRTHDAY.
AT FIRST I WAY GOING TO GET A MARSHALL MICROSTACK BUT THIS WAS A BETER AMP CLASS A TUBE AMP ONE NOB AT LOW VOLUMES SO PEOPLE DONT CALL THE COPS I RUN IT WITH A MARSHALL GOV NOR SO I CAN GET A REAL GOOD ROCK SOUND AT 3 OR 4 BUT ONCE YOU GET IT UP TO FIVE THERES NO NEED FOR ANY PEADLES ITS GOT THAT NICE TUBE GAIN.

FOR MY STYLE BLUES ROCK BLUES-ROCK AND HARD ROCK AC/DC STYLE THIS IS A WINNER

I DONT REALY KNOW YET HAD IT FOR A MONTH SO FAR ALL GOOD

I KNOW THE PEOPLE AT THE STORE I GOT MINE FROM NO PROBLEMS WITH SUPPORT

I HAVE BEEN PLAYING FOR 8 YEARS WITCH IS A LONG TIME FOR A 12 YEAR OLD KID I ALSO OWN A MARSHALL 1987X WICH IS A BIT MORE MONEY BUT I WOULD SAY THE EPIPHONE HAS JUST A GOOT SOUND AS THE MARSHALL I PLAY MINE INTO A GIBSON 1967 SG

NOTE I THINK EL34S ARE A BETER THAN THE EL84S

When I see a tube amp for $99.99 with one volume knob I expect one input and one output jack. So as far as features I don't expect much however I was surprised to see output jacks for 4, 8, or 16 ohm speaker cabs. What a suprise! This is a basic amp so if you are looking for something with knobs you have no busisness coming near this amp. I bought this in December of 2006 at Guitar Center for only $99.99. I was looking for a low wattage basic tube amp for recording and practice without spending over $1000 for a botique. For specs and where this was made just read other reviews. This amp does exactly what it was intended for and more. There are plenty of mods on ebay that are very enexpensive, easy to install and for $99.99 you can get several amps and do different mods on each one.

A FIVE WATT AMP IS NOT DESIGNED TO BE PLAYED WITH A LOUD BAND. I have read some reviews that complained that this was not loud enough. If you want to use this for live music you will have to mike it which I have done and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. Just make sure you have a good soundman. I play blues,rock,country and gospel. I bought this for mainly blues and rock. This has a very nice clean sound with very little noise. I get a nice fender priceton reverb type clean sound. I keep the amp volume at three oclock and use the volume knob on my guitar. You actually have to learn how to use the knobs on your guitar but if you have a decent guitar you will be happy. If you have a crappy guitar you will get a crappy sound. I have guitars ranging from gibson setups to strats (one with duncan livewires)to a 1952 es125 with a single P90. As you turn up the volume on your guitar this is where the magic starts. Every guitar is slighty different. You get a early marshal type of distortion not too harsh and very creamy. The best thing is you can stay in the same room, the sound level is very manageable. This amp is very sensitive to picking dynamics. I use several speaker cabinets but I like my 2X12 loaded with eminence patriots the best. This will not have the dynamics or the construction that a botique will have but for the price you can't go wrong.

Although this was built in China I have had this for one year and I have experienced no problems. The cabinet is built well enough and there is not enough inside this amp to really go wrong.

I bought this at guitar center and they are pretty good(to me anyway)about replacing defective gear. I have had no issues with anything I bought from epiphone.

I have been playing for around 30 years. I play electric guitar,acoustic guitar and bass guitar. I have different types of Gibsons(about a dozen), 4 or 5 fenders and about 8 other types of electric guitars. I like everything about this amp and there is nothing I don't like about this amp because I played it several times with different guitar and speaker combinations before I bought it. I knew exactly what I was getting before I took it home.

It actually has a good feature set all things considered.

The volume control allows for very precise control over breakup/distortion.
It can run into 4, 8, or 16 Ohm cabs.
The tubes (preamp and power) are relatively easy to change.
There's plenty of room inside the head for ventilation of the tubes, so you don't have to worry about them overheating.
And it has a handle.

If I could add anything to the amp, it would be Reverb, but... if you play in a room that's not too big with hardwood floors, even that's not a problem. It loses 2 points for this because there's no good way to put a reverb pedal in front of an overdriven tube amp.

My style centers around blues. I've been playing rock, punk, emo, classic rock, indie... anything a self-respecting college student listens to.

My main guitar is a G&L Legacy with stock pickups and a Stellartone ToneStyler with a depth control. I've also played 2 SGs, a Jackson POS, and a Bill Nash "Vintage" strat with lollar pickups through it.

The amp can do anything from sparkling cleans to growling overdrive capable of classic rock or early metal. The character is closer to Marshall than anything else, but it's an earlier marshall before the quintuple super lead garbage.... think bluesbreaker or jcm-800 non-master volume sound, but at a volume that you can use in a garage or bar without hearing protection. With the right guitar/settings, you can almost get a fender tweed twang, but with a bit more of a low-end growl.

Actually, with the amp all the way open, you might need hearing protection if your house is small.

The distortion is by no means brutal. It's a very smooth vintage character that is easily tamed by altering your guitar controls or pick attack. It responds as it should to different kinds of pickups/guitars, and it's very responsive to subtle changes of the guitar controls. Slight changes in the tonestyler, volume, and pickup selector can make the tone with this combination go from slight country twang to a distinctly strat growl that would make a lot of les pauls jealous. The SGs sound like they're supposed to and the Nash/Lollar strat screams like Stevie Ray Vaugn's over-wound pickups if he played through an early marshall.

I can't imagine playing with another amp right now, certainly not for the price. If they made one with a rudimentary EQ and reverb and marketed it correctly, they'd drive Crate, Pevey, and Marshall out of the market/price range.

When it's time to buy another amp, I'll be looking at the SoCal 50 because of how much this amp impressed me.

Unfortunately, these amps are made in Asia (I believe in China) and like all products from the region, they're plagued with reliability issues due to bad workmanship and an almost complete lack of quality control.

Fortunately, the PCBs and microchips are made well-enough. It might just randomly die on you. Mine did. I was pissed. The thought occurred to me to just have it replaced with Guitar Center's replacement policy, but I took it to a warranty repair center instead. They basically just took the thing apart and put it back together again and it started working. I also replaced the tubes with Groove Tube re-branded Russian (Sovtek) tubes for the heck of it.

So, don't gig without a backup if you haven't had a competent tech rebuild it. After that, it's probably fine.

But at just over $100, you might as well just get 2.

Haven't dealt with Gibson. The repair shop I took it to took almost 3 months to get it back to me because they're overworked. This is a result of Gibson not authorizing enough service centers in Atlanta.

My recommendation is to buy from Guitar Center with a replacement plan... the turn-around time to have it replaced is shorter than you can probably expect on warranty repair from an authorized service center.

This is one of the few places in the guitar world where you seem to get more than you pay for.

It's another reminder that a product doesn't need to be innovative to be amazing. And it's a reminder that if you choose to sacrifice unnecessary features instead of design principles and quality (ignoring incompetent chinese technicians), you can get something amazing at a reasonable price.

What features??? Input, One vol knob, Power Switch and 4, 8 and 16ohm speaker outs.
I bought this and the matching extension cab what a killer combination. Simplicity at its best.
I hate fiddling with knobs I just want to play. Turn that volume knob and see how many different sounds you can get between the amp and your guitar controls. Awesome.
Many people mod theirs but I have no intention of doing so I love this amp as is.

I wanted an amp that was simple, cheap to service and sounded great when I read the reviews on this one I was sold, when I heard the clips on Youtube I thought forget it!!! But then I tried one out instore with my own cab and couldn't believe what I was hearing. After 1 hour (Must have annoyed the guys at the store as I was trying out the amp with overdrive pedals so I could cover myself for low volume work as well as cranked up tones. I played my MIJ Telecaster > MI Audio Blue Boy Deluxe > Valve Junior Head > My own caband thought I had it made it was great. But as soon as I took it home my little cab just sounded so lifeless. However considering I had only spent just over 200AUD on the amp I ordered the Extension cab and WOW what a difference turned up to twelve and this thing rocks just use your volume knob for clean tones. Also the BBD wasn't cutting it at lower volume so I sold it and bought a Keeley BD-2. This is a tone match made in heaven Tele > BD2 > Valve Junior. Using my volume knob I can go from nice warm cleans to ballsy drive just like that.

Build quality seems awesome for such a cheap amp and cab. Don't see any problems with it as I only play out everys often. Basically this will be mostly for my own enjoyment. If it broke down I would probally just by the same amp again. I have only had it for about 4 months so I have had no issues as yet

Haven't dealt with them, haven't need to.

I play mostly classic rock > hard rock, think CCR to AC/DC to Guns n Roses with my Tele > BD-2 > Valve Junior setup I have definitely found my tone. I spend less time fiddling and more time playing than before. On weekends I just have the Valve junior at 12 o'clock and use the BD-2 for a lead boost when needed. During the week I run the Valve Junior at 9 o'clock and the BD-2 gives me that same kind of overdrive at lower volumes. Truly awesome stuff for not alot of cash. Well done Epiphone

The best feature here is... no features.

No pre-amps, no digital effects, no nuthin'. That's one of the reasons I wanted it, though. The simplicity of it makes it reliable, easy to repair, and provides (to a purist like me) the best possible sound.

1 input for your guitar
Your choice of 3 outputs according to speaker resistance.
Power switch
Volume knob.
The end.

Perfection.

Clean tone is good, but only available at low volume. If you want clean at high levels in this price range, go buy a Roland Jazz Chorus or just play through a bass amp.

This thing breaks up into tube distortion right about at the level where you can keep up with the drums in a garage band. In other words, it's perfect for all those applications where people with their 100W (or even 50W) tube-driven half-stacks are using attenuators to cope with the fact that their amps are too loud.

You get the tube crunch rock guitarists live for without constantly being told to turn it down. It's real tube distortion in the power stage (there is no pre-amp stage) that you can actually take full advantage of in almost any setting (except at home... this is NOT a good choice for a practice amp.)

If you play on a bigger stage, you can always mic it.

Lots of rich and satisfying tone out the matching 1x12 cab. I tried it with a 4x12 cab, and it gets pretty much the same sound with MONSTER low end.

I mostly use a peavey JF-2 (a 335 hollow-body with mini-humbuckers), or a lucite LP copy which I modded with Seymour Duncans. Both sound great with it.

A little bit of noise to it if you don't let it warm up enough. Not bad.

"Would you use it on a gig without a backup?" is a stupid question. I wouldn't gig without back-up underwear, let alone without a backup amp.

I haven't owned it long enough to give an opinion here, but the simplicity of it seems like it would make it pretty robust.

Never dealt with them.

This puppy is changing the rules of guitar amplification. In a market stuffed with powerful solid-state amps trying to simulate the tube-sound "holy grail", an amp which barely costs more than a hundred bucks offers the real thing, at a volume level which you can use in any situation.

The one thing I wish existed is a 1x12 or 2x12 combo cab with this head built in. (They actually build it in to the Epiphone LP gift pack, but only with a puny 8" speaker). This head plus the matching 1x12 speaker cab makes a pretty sweet "mini stack", but it would be nice to be able to take a set-up like that to gigs without lugging two separate boxes around.

Then again, knowing that I can build any kind of "frankenstein stack" I want with this head is probably worth the hassle, so maybe I take that wish back a little.

This amp fits nicely in the class between "practice amp" and "wall of Marshalls". It can't replace either of those solutions, but for what it is, it's pretty darn near perfect.

I'm giving it a 9 because of it's versatility in the studio, where I'm using it at the present time. Mine has been modified and I'll explain that later. The key with this amp is the amount of gain/volume. It will probably never be a great heavy metal amp, but I don't play that kind of music.

I have the head and standard Lucky Lady cabinet.
Does killer AC30/Bluesbreaker/Tweed tone. Comes close to EL34 Marshall tone and doesn't kill the ears like my buddy's 1976 Marshall 50 watt Lead Bass combo.

This is my $.95 (That's 95 cent) modification:

Replace 68,000 ohm R2 with a 22,000 ohm 1/2 watt resistor.
Place a 150 picofarad ceramic disc capacitor in parallel with 1 MegOhm R6 (all of the mods on the internet say 100 picofarad or less; I say excess is best).

Sounds killer with a Tele and killer with a Les Paul.
Chime away brothers (and sisters)!

Yeah I'd gig without a backup, but I'm a reckless @ss.

Warranty, uh, better to modify it on top of the PC board in a way that can be completely visibly undone - also puts less strain on the solder joints and traces. I can't remember what the parallel resistor value would be to drop R2's value to 22K, but it can be easily done. I'll give Gibson 10 for past experience.

I've owned Marshall, Vox, Boogie, Mitchell, Fender, Ampeg, Traynor and Sunn tube amps. With a little encouragement, these cheap little buggers really sing.

Not even a consideration.

What this amp is all about. Absolute dynamite through the right speaker. I'm pushing an Eminence 10" Rajun Cajun. Louder than you think it would be, delicious wonderful full rounded tube tone.

Who knows? Cheap Chinese toy. What a marvel. There's not a lot to really go wrong. Murphy's law protects you here.

Can't imagine bothering fixing it. I've had it for a year now.

Been playing 35 years. Own lots of other gear, including several fairly expensive tube amps.

This little critter is one of my favorite favorites.

I've had it for over a year now. I'd most certainly simply replace it if it happened to break down.

Dollar for dollar, one of the best buy gear purchases around, IMO.

Well nothing to speak of. This Version 3 has a EH12ax7 and Sovtec EL84 and new OD. 4-8-16 ohm jacks.

Tried it in a low jam and it was totally lost in yhe mix. Plan on as a practice amp only.Clean up to 9 o'clock and way to diry for my taste after that.
But this is what it does. If you like Fender amp clean glassy tones you better try before you buy. No clean headroom.

no problems

n/a

Just didn't work out for me. As stated no clean headroom after 9 and way to muddy after that. Very well made. I bought with extension cab also very nice quality. Its going back. I'm bummed cause I really do like the simplicity. I prefer driving a clean sound for definition and dynamics. It is loud but unusable for band, just lost in mix. Good bedrm fun with pedals.

Why do I give a one knob amp such a high feature rating? Because simplicity is the best feature you can have! One power tube, one preamp tube, one switch, one knob...one kick *** old school tube amp! The reason I bought this is because I bought a Marshall Plexi reissue....fantastic amp but too loud for home and you MUST use a good guitar or it really shows. Same with this amp though but cos its less loud, its less irritating when using **** guitars.

Sounds fantastic. I mean 200AUD? Can't be right can it? I use a strat through this head and in through a marhsall cab with greenbacks. I do use pedals with it. I use a Tonebone valve distortion pedal and instantly hammer saturated vox queen sounds. beautiful mid ranges. Hendrix is also very acheivable. To be honest I cant dont need to say anything.. This Amp can acheive anything based on you guitar and pedal setup. Its simple, pure valve tone is all it needs. Loudness is perfect for the home. You have to mic it for gigs but hey its sounds awsome. You can easily get a crap sound out of it if you use the wrong pedal and guitar. But it does compliment and is very pedal friendly for sure.

Made in China...however again its so simple not much can go wrong with it even if an ape made it. AWSOME!!!!! So wat if it breaks down...dish out another days pay and u got another one! I really respect this amp.

This amp is incredible. you can achieve anything with it if you use the right guitar, cab and pedal. And a great sound at that! Enough said. Stick a Squire strat in and you get "decent" tone but with flabby mids and dark lifeless to an extent solos. Plug in a USA Strat, Gibson or Ibanez and you get screaming well balanced perfect pinch harmonics sounds...Bass, midd and treble even out perfectly to make you smile. Id pay $1000 for this amp. It blows away any artificial bull**** of an amp marshall AVT100 etc with loads of "features" which just colour the sound and make it sound like an asmatic ant with heavy shopping blowing through a straw. Feel free to comment back on anything I have said. Cheers

This amp is truly bare bones, and i love it.

Here's the specs out of the box:

Pre-Amp Tube/Valve: 1x 12AX7A (will be either a Sovtek, Eectro-Harmoix, or JJ/Tesla Tube (Most likely a Electro-Harmonix))
Power Tube/Valve: 1x EL84 (Either a Sovtek, Electro-Harmonix, or JJ/Tesla Tube (Most Likely a Sovtek))
Solid State Rectifier
5watt RMS Power output
Single Ended Class A, Cathode BIAS
4, 8, & 16 Ohm speaker output
35watt power consumption


This Amp as only one channel, and no other knobs besides the volume control, and besides that, the input jack and the On/Off switch there is nothing else on the face of the head.

This amp lacks a standby switch which i really believe would have been a nice feature to include.

This amp is alot more versatile than most reviews let on. They tend to describe this amp as only good for blues and nothing else. However this Amp is able to turn out tones that range from Eric Clapton to Black Sabbath and anyone in between, with a little help from some effects pedals. I recomend the use of a ProCo Rat2 distortion pedal. This will give you enough versatility to play anything from Blues to Grunge to Old-School Metal.

Straight out of the box this amp is very impressive, and simple modifications will make it even more so.

First of all, you must understand that this amp is a replica of 50's and 60's Era low wattage tube amps with some modern benefits. Therefore you should understand that it is a little more tonally tempermental than most, and highly sensitive to minute playing variations.

A important tip that I would like to give you is to let it warm up for 30, 45 mins or even an hour, before you play. It will of course begin normal operation in 10 or 15 seconds, but I feel that the tone improoves greatly if you give it time to warm up.

The Volume knob will give you a warm and clean sound from the off position to about 10 or 11 o-clock, at this point it moves into a pushed sort of distortion until it reaches about 1 or 2 o-clock, and from then on it begins to produce rich, and thick distortion.

This amp is known for letting the pure sound of your guitar ring through, so the tone may vary significantly from one guitar to another, i personally use a Gibson-Epiphone 1966 re-issue SG with a Dirty Fingers pickup in the bridge position, and a Gibson Alnico 2 pick-up in the bridge possition. I hope to swap the Alnico for a '57 Classic pickup soon which should improve my tone siginificantly.

This amp is known for having some muddy lows at times, but i find that the problem is almost non-existant as long as the amp is given proper warm-up time. These problems are also removed via amp modifications, and swapping in higher quality tubes. Most users recomend changing the tubes with JJ/Tesla Tubes if the amp does not allready come with them. An EQ pedal can also be used as a solution to the low end problem.

This amp is a dream for anyone who wants to play blues, and any 60's or 70's rock or Metal.

Some claim that the amp has a problem with noise and hum. I personally do not find this to anything at all significant, and only barely noticable. And it's not anything that I haven't heard in even a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier. If you do find it has any hum problems, this is usually solved by installing better tubes or preforming some amp mods.

One final note: this amp has only 5watts and many write it off simply because of that (I was told by one man that if it only has 5watts I was no better than one of the little mini solidstate amps made by Fender and Marshall, but he was wrong, i've used both and I know.) This amp is however very, very loud. I turned it to 9-o-clock at guitar center on Black Friday (anyone who's ever been to a Guitar Center on Black Friday knows how incredibly noisy and packed it can be,) my companion who was at the other end of the store said she could hear me loud and clear over the comotion.
As for giging volume, it does come close, however for many venues it comes too short. but this can be solved by simply running the head through a larger cabinet, or micing it and running it throught he venue's PA system (my prefered method).
I find this amp is also just fine for band practice, unassisted.

I find this amp to be very reliable, as long as you don't do anything stupid to it. (i.e. play in the rain)

The customer support is handled by Gibson Inc. and is helpful, friendly, available (24/7), and knowledgable.

1-800-444-2766

I've been playing for some years now, And I generally use Gibson Style Guitars (i.e. SG, Les Paul etc.) I generally use brands other than Boss for my pedals, and stomp boxes, and I am a big fan of the Monster Cable line.

If this amp were lost or stolen I do believe that i would by another one. The only other amps that I would buy other than this if I had the money would be the Epiphone Blues Custom (maybe,) a Marshall Vintage Tube Stack, or a Orange Stack.

Once again the only complaints I have is some muddy low-ends, that i can usually fix with proper warm-up, and can be fixed with different tubes, or mods, and the fact that it does not have a standby switch.

One final statement:
This amp is very very veristile and can hit almost any tone imaginable except for extreem, searing metal, as long as you run good FX pedals and stompboxes through it.

If you want an affordable, versatile, Tube Driven, classy, asthetic Amp, this is exactly what you want.

Input, volume knob, 'On' switch. All in a nice looking box, with 3 speaker-outs at different impedances. Thats it!

Nevertheless, this little amp has an awesome sound. 5w is pretty loud - loud enough for most rehearsals I imagine and certainly for home use and studio work. But I doubt very much that it will be sufficient for all but the cery smallest of venues for live work. I play in a 'pub' band; it might be OK for some of the small ones, we'll see. Sound wise, you get a rich, full tone which gradually clips into overdrive/distortion as you turn it up in volume. Simple. But it means there isn't huge headroom for clean-ish sounds; it starts to break up fairly early. But fat overdriven tones are great for classic rock covers (my band does mainly that). I'm playing it through 2x12 Celection Vintage 30s. I may have a listen to the Epiphone 1x12 cab designed for this amp.

No idea, only had it a couple of weeks. Seems well put together.

No idea.

Great little amp for the money and for what its designed for: low-level work, studio work and home use. It really does sound like a 'big' tube amp at friendly volumes, especially when you crank it up into overdrive. Very nice indeed.

This is a V2 head bought several months ago, 2007. I have two of them, in fact. Bought as blems. The fuses were not making contact, otherwise they were fine. Easy fix, totally free!
Versatility is a quesiton for sure. Stock or modded you get low volume clean, or bigger than your bedroom/basement distortion.
One input, One volume control.

The features I wished it had, I put in myself.
On the first head I added, Loop De Jr effects loop. This gives the full preamp tube output to the jack.. so don't use it with something that requires a guitar level input, it will overpower it.
You can, however use it to drive line level devices, and you can plug halway into the stereo jack, using any pedal, to break into the power amp.
I added a tweed tone control. A gain control. standby. Crunch, Twang and Bright switches on the front. With an NFB, negative feedback, resistor on the back.

I switched to JJ power tube and ECC83 Siemens preamp tube.


I'm going to give it a 10 for versatility. Can it do everything? No, but you can do a lot with it. Also, if you are talking about lower volume versatility, well.. it's got great clean sounds, esp. modded, and it has really sweet overdrive, more modded!
since you can clearly see the input and volume control, you have no right to expect minimalist design to be maximus versatility.
But you can expect to tweak this amp this way and that.. toward your own use.

Head One was built for gain. It's monstrous.
ZZ top, AC/DC, Led Zep. No sweat.
The clean channel, NFB on cuts power dramatically, starts getting dirty around 12:00 on the dial, depending on your pickups. Expect to find nice jazz tones, and pretty good country clean.. and more if you mod it further.
I play blues rock country and fingerpick. I use these two amps for everything.
Head two has only volume, tone, NFB, standby and a hole in the front panel I'm still deciding on.
It's mostly cleanish.. compared to Head Ones insanity.
Very very nice used together.

Quiet as a mouse. Even cranked. You dime it.. put it on ten, you have to expect a bit of hiss, etc. But I promise, no expensive Fender or Marshall I ever heard didn't do the same if not worse.

I liked the stock amp for somethings, with some guitars.
I like the modded heads with any guitar for anything.

I've been in these two heads a zillion times. Thought the PCB board is not an easy thing to work with, it's held up fine.
Well made cabinet.. everything is just fine.

The only breakdowns I've suffered were from my crappy soldering.
Easily fixed.
Strong amp!

Five year warranty. I've dealt with Epiphone before, and they've never not fullfilled their promise and been damn decent about it, too.

both my warrantys were voided when I did the mods.
I was only going to do one, but once I realized what I could do, and how good the amp was, I realized the warranty was more than likely never to be needed.

Started in the mid 60s.
I own a ton of stuff, but since we're talking Epiphone here.. I only want to list, two vj heads, on vj cab, one epi sheraton and one epi lp studio.

If it were stolen I would congratulate the thief on his excellent taste.
then I'd buy another, immediately.

What I love about it is pretty broad. The cost! man this is a lot of sound for very little money. A keeper. One could use this for practice at home, jam or rehearsal, recording at home or in studio.
Mic it up and gig!
The look, it looks great. very nicely done. I reversed the panels on head one, so it's black in front, now. And head two got reversed and flipped, marshall style. they both look way great.
the wood, the tolex, the shielding, I love all these things. thanks to epi!
I love my neck pickup, Kent Armstrong Hot P90s in the sheraton, on head two especially. soo mellow and sweet. just blows me away.
And I love my strat tele lp and sheraton overall in either amp.

I don't hate anything about them.
I changed all I needed to.. and frankly, I think they are made for that.

Compared to solid state amps costing much more.. this is way better.
Marshall and Behringer solid state amps up to 30 watts don't compare in any way at all.

Look.. again I have to say. I'll give it a 10 for overall. but if you need to hear good the size of milwaukee.. you need to spring the two grand for a monster.
If you need good that can be heard by you, your drummer, your microphone. here you go.
Metal heads probaby wont like it.
Hard rockers will love it.
Country pickers will probably need A/B power for anything beyond a church gig, or small bar.
Jazz players in a sedate setting would probably like this a lot.
Blues and Rockabilly.. also good!

In closing. There are arguments, some fantastic, comparing this to amps costing vast sums. That ought to tell you there's something serious happening here.
Tone is always subjective.. so is use.
If the gig gets much bigger than a couple of hundred people, you are going to need to mic this, and probably spread a bit of it through the monitors. It's not Godzilla.
To get it's best distoriton you will need some pretty easy going roomates. It will be darned loud.
However, these love pedals. so crank that master volume down, and get your practice volume from the pedal.
It will still sound really good.

I recommend Hammond 125ESE or Weber transformers for V1 and V2 heads.
(you don't have to swap on V3, epi upgraded.)

For the sounds I want to make, with my efx loop, and other mods, these two heads will be mine. unless I sell them because I like doing the mods so much I wouldn't mind doing two more.
If you don't know how, email me and I'll do yours for you.
!!

Epiphone valve junior, 5 watt head tube amp. Pretty straight forward. You have a power switch and volume knob on the front. The back of the unit has a 4ohm, 8ohm, and 16 ohm plugin, which is an excellent feature and allows you to use any cab. Made in China. Let's face it, if you are looking for features than you shouldn't be looking at this amp.

So, it's pretty simple. By rotating the volume knob you get increased gain and breakup. For me, the breakup starts at around 11 o'clock. What this amp gives you is unblemished tube tone. There are no bells and whistles. Simply a beautiful, clear, tubey tone. Very pleasant to listen to. After allowing your tubes to warm up for about 45 minutes, the tone becomes very saturated. For a little added gain I put a Keeley modded Boss SD-1 and it just sings! This little box is probably the most pedal friendly amps I have seen. Epiphone has really outdone themselves here. They have skipped all the expensive gadgets and gone straight to the point. Unblemished and seriously defined tube tone. Finally, someone has made a tube amp that is affordable for everyone without sacrificing sound quality. This is a must buy for the older generation who enjoy just plugging their guitar into an amp and letting your fingers do the work. A must have!!!

Nothing has gone wrong yet, knock on wood. The design is very sturdy. The stack is very pleasant to look at, excellent design and a real retro look. There are spots where the Made in China characteristics come out. Take off the back grill and you will see that it's simply stapled, rather tacky looking. There a few other spots that I thought could have looked better but everything is very well put together. I did the head and cabinet a one over, took off the grill and took the speaker apart. I must say that everything looks very well put together. Not with the Gibson glamour, but it does the job.
My one and only complaint is that instead of having screws hold in the back grill, I would have much preferred a latch or easy access door of some sort. Seeing as how you need to change out your tubes now and then, it would make things a little easier.

My warranty is valid where I bought the amp. If something goes wrong, I just bring it there. As for Epiphone or Gibson support, I wouldn't hold my breath trying to get a hold of those guys. Just take it back to your dealer if something goes wrong. And fill out your warranty card!!

I have been playing guitar for about 20 years. I have owned many amps and guitars. Most of them ar gone now, either sold or broken. At some point I just wasn't happy with the tone anymore. But, I have a feeling this little gem will be sticking around! What I love about this amp is the simplicity and the focus on pure tone. This amp is all about you, your guitar, and what you can do with it. If you need an amp with a million gadgets to get the sound you want, don't buy this one. If you play heavy metal, this probably won't knock your socks off. But, if you want a great sounding tube amp for an exceptional price, buy it!!
If there was anything that I could add to this amp, it would be a standby switch so you can warm the tubes up before playing. Other than that, you don't need anything else.

Year? >>> Vintage non-humming 2007 re-issue of the 2007 model...

Features? >>> None! A volume knob that should be labeled gain...

Power? >>> None... But, just enough to make sounds!

Channels? >>> Like half a channel...

Wish list? >>> I wish it had just a little more punch on the bottom end. I don't feel the side of the 2x12 cab hit me in the chest. When I push the bottom hard, it gets flubby! Not tight. Knowing that, ahead of time helps sets expectations and if you run direct as well as into it for stage or studio, it's a feature not a drawback!

Where do I use it? >>> I plug a cable from my guitar into it and it makes sounds. Usually recording. Occasional jamming out..

OK - First of all, CHANGE THE TUBES IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got this LFO tremelo effect on head one and microphonic squeel on head two after the first three days of sessions. Change the tubes and "poof" problem dissolved.

To be fair,for $99, how good could the stock tubes be? I spent that on matched replacements.

VERY expressive tone. Great amount of roundness and tube compression. So, it sounds full and musical with all kinds of different pick attacks. I'd like a find a way to get full power out of the amp with the 10:45 to 11:30 gain setting where it has minimum break up but full tube compression. That's more a symptom of the way I front end this puppy.

I front end two of these running stereo with a variety of guitars and pickups. All custom mutts, lots of Lace duallys, chrome domes, Robin Texas Tornadoes, Hot Rails, etc. However, it all goes through a PODxt Pro, TC Fireworx, Lexicon PCM80. This all goes stereo direct as well as through the pair of VJs. Then into an old 78 Tweed Marshall 4x12 Cabinet that I have split directly down the center and slapped two pieces of plywood on (a result of a terrible keyboard stand accident in the 80s). Like I said before, when you run direct, you're really pumping that low end into the mix board to get that punch. It can overwhelm the input stage and make your amp rig all muddy. This little amp just throws all that low end away and does it's thing. I love that!

Besides the tube stuff above, who cares? These are like $99!!!!!!!!!!

If it's broken, you can't even afford to ship it... Just replace it...

Dido above. I can imagine the tech support call. Uh when I turn this knob thing and stuff, like the sound normally changes, but duh the thing's not making the sound that it normally makes...

Sir, Is the unit plugged in?

Er uh.... Click... Dial tone.....

For what I need, It's a 9.1 price to features, its a no brain-er 10!

I really want to figure out how to get a little more cabinet punch out of it...

I may just buy two more to run each speaker discretely. I think the 2x12 speaker load is soaking up the power I need to get the punch...

Year? >>> Vintage non-humming 2007 re-issue of the 2007 model...

Features? >>> None! A volume knob that should be labeled gain...

Power? >>> None... But, just enough to make sounds!

Channels? >>> Like half a channel...

Wish list? >>> I wish it had just a little more punch on the bottom end. I don't feel the side of the 2x12 cab hit me in the chest. When I push the bottom hard, it gets flubby! Not tight. Knowing that, ahead of time helps sets expectations and if you run direct as well as into it for stage or studio, it's a feature not a drawback!

Where do I use it? >>> I plug a cable from my guitar into it and it makes sounds. Usually recording. Occasional jamming out..

OK - First of all, CHANGE THE TUBES IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got this LFO tremelo effect on head one and microphonic squeel on head two after the first three days of sessions. Change the tubes and "poof" problem dissolved.

To be fair,for $99, how good could the stock tubes be? I spent that on matched replacements.

VERY expressive tone. Great amount of roundness and tube compression. So, it sounds full and musical with all kinds of different pick attacks. I'd like a find a way to get full power out of the amp with the 10:45 to 11:30 gain setting where it has minimum break up but full tube compression. That's more a symptom of the way I front end this puppy.

I front end two of these running stereo with a variety of guitars and pickups. All custom mutts, lots of Lace duallys, chrome domes, Robin Texas Tornadoes, Hot Rails, etc. However, it all goes through a PODxt Pro, TC Fireworx, Lexicon PCM80. This all goes stereo direct as well as through the pair of VJs. Then into an old 78 Tweed Marshall 4x12 Cabinet that I have split directly down the center and slapped two pieces of plywood on (a result of a terrible keyboard stand accident in the 80s). Like I said before, when you run direct, you're really pumping that low end into the mix board to get that punch. It can overwhelm the input stage and make your amp rig all muddy. This little amp just throws all that low end away and does it's thing. I love that!

Besides the tube stuff above, who cares? These are like $99!!!!!!!!!!

If it's broken, you can't even afford to ship it... Just replace it...

Dido above. I can imagine the tech support call. Uh when I turn this knob thing and stuff, like the sound normally changes, but duh the thing's not making the sound that it normally makes...

Sir, Is the unit plugged in?

Er uh.... Click... Dial tone.....

For what I need, It's a 9.1 price to features, its a no brain-er 10!

I really want to figure out how to get a little more cabinet punch out of it...

I may just buy two more to run each speaker discretely. I think the 2x12 speaker load is soaking up the power I need to get the punch...

I just bought a used Epi valve jr head. It is an all-tube 5 watt screamer. Just 1 channel, and 1 volume knob, 3 speaker outputs(4,8,16 ohms). I bought it to use in my home studio, and for that purpose, it is perfect.

The sound quality is classic tube amp. At low volumes, it is clean, with a hint of grit and growl. At full volume, it is a lot louder than I thought it would be. It has a nice smooth distortion/overdrive sound, tho a little dark with a lot of low end. If I use my Les Paul with DiMarzio pickups, it drives the preamp really well for a nice "classic rock" sound. If I plug in my Fender Telecaster w/ stock pickups, it doesn't drive as hard, but has a nice trebly bite and crunch. This head pushing an 8 ohm 1-10" speaker is louder than you might think, with little hum or noise.

I have had it a short time, but it seems well-built and the black/red tolex covering should hold up to some abuse.

No experience in this area.

I have been playing guitar/bass since 1979 in various bands. I have also been producing my own music in my home studio. This amp is perfect to add to your arsenal of sounds. It is not meant to be gigged out(due to low power). This little screamer is meant to deliver tube sounds at low volumes, and that it does well. If you drive the preamp with a distortion/overdrive device, it really sounds nice and can shine. It can replicate those classic Marshall/Hiwatt Brit tones pretty well. I own Fender, Marshall and Peavey amps, and I am tending to use this little amp more than the others. It just screams!!

One Volume Knob, thats it.

Wow this thing is a tone monster, sounds really smooth with great feel. Its a little dark sounding but I'm really pleased with it. Tried it with a damage Control Solid Metal and my Boss ME50 and sounds great with both units. I really like the amp on its own though with just guitar. Im not someone who plays alot of clean stuff, but this makes me. BTW I have a Ibanez RG570, USA Strat and a EPI Les Paul. I love it with the strat. SRV tones galore

Have to wait and see. Seems well built though.

Neather dealt with them.

I've been playin about 9 years, I play mainly Blues/Classic Rock. This amp suits those styles perfect. I think I would gig with this amp also and just mic it if needed. I can't believe how loud it is. I have a few MFX/amp modellers and I think they sound great but just lack the feel and inspiration. Ill keep them for recording purposes I think.

The main feature of this amp is that it has none !
Very simple to operate : plug-in, crank it up and play.

This little beast is amazing ! To me, it sounds perfectly tuned right out of the box.
It's a one trick pony yes but what a trick ! I use it with both my Fender Strat and my Gibson Flying V. They both sound good. Some people say the amp is too dark or that it lacks brightness. I disagree. This amp is perfect for taming the extra treble of a Stratocaster.
There are so many companies out there that makes overbright amps. This is a good change I think. This amp reminds me of the Deep Purple Machinehead sound.
Black sabbath and Led Zeppelin are also in there. I just wish they made a 50 watts version that sounds just as good.

So far so good. I bought this recently so I wouldn't know.

Haven't dealt with them.

I've been playing for 18 years. My main amp is a Marshall JCM900 SL-X.
This little head is the closest thing to a Marshall at decent volume levels.
If it was lost, I'd buy it again. The only thing I dislike about it is that it's not loud enough for giggin'. I'll have to mic it up.

Only has volume

I am running my chain this way: guitar, boss me50, bbe sonic stomp, amp, marshall 2x12 cab. This little thing sounds great. Best amp for playing at low levels and it cranks to. I finally know what the volume knob on a guitar is for(you realy can use it) Only thing that may be better is an orange tiny terror (at 4 times the price)

just got it

just got it

Best small amp out there. Get the BBE Sonic Stomp

One channel, one volume knob. Simple. I wish it had a tone control, but I get around that with a DOD 7 band E.Q. I use this amp mainly for recording and piddling around, not enough power for gigs or rehearsal. Thats why I have Marshalls.But overall great tone and lots of fun and for $99, you can't beat it.

The amp makes pretty much one sound. Volume knob controls clean to distortion. At about 10 o'clock it gives a good Chuck Berry sound. Dime it and it goes to town. Put an o.d. pedal in front of it ( I use an Analog Man tube screamer) and look out! This puppy rocks. And it is sensitive to different pickups. I play rock (ACDC, Thin Lizzy, Four Horsemen ) and this serves the purpose for recording demos.

Built like a tank. No problems.

Never dealt with directly. Got it from Sweetwater Sound and they back up every thing they sell. No worries.

I've been playing since catfish were walking. Been using Marshalls since the early 70's. If this amp were stolen, I would replace it. I love it's simplicity and basic sound. Very similar to early 60's Gibson and Epiphone amps. This is a fun amp. I would like to have four of them to gig with. That would make a hell of a racket.

2007 model I think; one knob model with a wopping 5 watt of pure tube tone. And yes 5 watts is plenty loud for any bedroom studio. Needs as previously stated an EQ. This amp is great for bedroom levels and to experiment with different types of pedals because it is so "tonally" flat. It is not fair to rate this amp on features because there really aren't any.

Tone: Nice clean up to 12:00ish then the amp breaks up beyond that. I did replace the tubes with a matched triode ECC803S gold pin and a quicker break EL84 and this amp really sounds good for what it is. This amp with a little help from various effect pedals really can sound great from crisp clean to 60's British AC30 OD. My effect chain looks like this-->Peavey HP Special USA--->Barber Direct Drive--->Boss EQ (bump the low freq's to beef up the low end)--->Toadworks Meat (discontinued so buy one if you can still find them as this pedal really adds girth to your tone)--->Boss Digital Reverb--->Barber launch pad for impedance matching and tube cooking (if you have never tried this pedal, you should. Its a clean boost pedal/AB switcher/Buffer). The cab I use is a Peavey 2x12 16ohm designed for the Classic 30 head and it sounds great with the above setup. This amp pushing my 5150 4x12 cab was thin and weak sounding. Lastly, this little amp loves pedals so have fun trying various combinations in various locations in your chain to find your tone. Also I found that if you let this amp warm up for about fifteen minutes the tone will mellow out considerably to a creamy buttery warm tone; but also I'm smacking the front end input of this amp pretty hard with the Barber launch pad well above unity gain, so that may also have something to do with my end tone. As far as noise is concerned, I run all of my gear through a Furman power conditioner for really clean 120VAC power.

So far so good. This amp is really built well, almost overbuilt for its size. Nice covering, 1/2" plywood construction and with spring tension tube guards/holders.

Never plan to call them.

I have been buying gear for 25 years. I have owned mostly Peavey over the years just because their products have always suited my needs well, and that I have never had issue with them and I try to buy what is made here in the US or at least what is assembled here. I own a full 5150 II Stack, Classic 30 head (very nice), Line 6 Vari-tone III, Line 6 Spider and now the Epi Valve Jr. and they all have their "tonal" place in my music spectrum. This is a good buy for what it is a simple clean tube amp with great potential. Plus with only two tubes to play around with, it takes a tube load off of the 10 tube monster 5150 and the 5 tube Classic 30.

This is a very straight forward amp with few features which is a good thing. This is a basic 5 watt one 12ax7 preamp tube and one 6l6 power tube. This was made in china but the costruction seems to be good, you'd be amazed how many big name amps are built in china these days. On the front panel you get a input a on-off switch and a volume knob. On the back panel you get three speaker jacks one for 4ohm, 8ohm and 16ohm. For $99.00 new from guitar center what more can you ask for.

Depending on the speaker cabinet and what type of guitar you use you can coax several different sounds out of this amp. I have a 2x12 speaker cabinet loaded with eminence speakers(don't remember which ones)that I run this through and I play a strat with Duncan Livewire active single coils. This amp is very sensitive to your volume placement and your attack on the strings. What works best for this guitar is to set the amp volume around 12 to 3 o'clock and use the volume on your guitar to control the drive. At low volumes this amp is sparkling clean (think small fender) and as I turn the volume up on the guitar I get more and more distortion (think 70's tube amp). If your guitar has cheap electronics you will notice it with this amp(muddy sound)which could also be a good thing for lo-fi. This amp is for classic rock, blues rock, blues and some country. I love this amp and it does exactly what I got it for which is for recording but if miked since it is only a five watter it also sound good live. It is pretty quiet for an amp in this price range.

I have had this amp for only 8 months but it is built pretty well and I always have some sort of a backup when I play live with a tube amp(25 years of experience). I have had no issues with this amp and if I did Guitar center has always been pretty good about service.

I do not remember what thew warranty was but if it last me over a month with no issues then it will last for quit a while. Usually when I buy things from guitar center if there are issues they usually handle it but I have also found that every Guitar center is run differently.

I have been playing for over 25 years. I play either classic rock, my first love the blues or country. I own around a dozen amps ranging from small practice amps(peavey) to what could be considered boutique amps(bedrock,mesa boogie) and plenty of fender tube amps. I play fender and gibson guitars and I have about 25 of those. I compared this to other small tube amps but for the price and sound this beat them. If you think that you need more features just go on ebay and there are companies that sell upgrade kits with standby high low swithing etc. If you play metal or want a distortion machine this amp may not be for you. This amp may not have enough clean headroom for some country picking but for everything else it works fine. And if you are not sure just go play it with your guitar at the store.

These amps have been out for a couple of years now but they have maintained a steady level of popularity. After playin on my friends Epiphone Valve Jr., and finally obtaining my own, I know exactly why. Sure, this isn't one of the most versitile amps but I didn't buy it for that. It's simple and that is the outstanding aspect to it. Just a 5W class A tube circuit (el84 power and 12ax7 preamp tubes) with a power switch and a volume knob. It doesn't get more simple than that. A lot have rated this amp low in the features dept. because of this but I rather feel that if you aren't hunting for a bazillion knobs and an on-board computer/midi/modeling doo-hickey then this amp has the most important feature possible: TONE. Seeing as there is no EQ, no effecs,and no bullsh*t to this amp, it allows the true tone of your guitar to shine through. It is also very sensative to your picking style. Best of all this amp has 3 outputs: 4,8, and 16 ohms so you can use this amp wih just about ANY cab.

For the money this should be a must-have for any guitar player. It's just too much fun not to own. That single Volume knob comes in very handy and can deliver a wide range of tones from a warm clean to a raunchy, crunchy rock tone. The higher you turn the knob, the more the preamp tube is pushed and the harder the sound gets; one of the most pleasing rock tones I've ever heard. Down low on the volume and you can get a full bluesy tone. The type of guitar and the type of pickups being used affect the sound immensely. I mainly use a Gibson SG with a 498 in the bridge and a Dillion SG with a Gibson 500t in the bridge and both sound fantastic out of this amp. I have also used a handfull of other guitars and each one has a completely individual tone that is really delivered by this amp. As I said before, the limited controls on this amp actually work to its favor in this very way. I play a lot of metal and in that sense I suppose this amp might not deliver the goods. However, there's aways the option of a distortion or overdrive pedal to push it even farther. I have had excellent results with all of my overdrive pedals (mainly DOD stuff). One thing I should mention is how damn LOUD this amp can get. I have used it in practice and I plan to use it live soon (yes, it's that loud). I never knew that 5 watts could be so loud. It really shakes my entire house when only at about 12 o'clock on the volume! When I used it in practice out of my Fender GE-412 cab I was actually louder than the rest of the band. I have also used it with my VOX 2x10 cab and a Kustom 1x12 cab and have still never heard 5 watts sound so good. On it's own it can give a warm, full bodied clean to a thick Sabbath-like groove to an all out AC/DC rocker. All with just one knob. It does pay to experiment with different tubes. I have tried out a few and have found JJ's to work the best in it but that is always going to depend on each persons individual taste. There's also a TON of mod's out there to hot-rod this amp. I would love to try a Tube Works pedal with this!

I have not had any problems and I doubt I will. Other people that I know that also own this amp have yet to tell me of any flaws in production. So, while I have not, and noone that I know has not had to deal with any reliability issues I'm gonna rate it high.

Like I said, haven't had to deal with the Epiphone/Gibson people yet so I can't tell you for sure.

I have owned a LOT of gear in my 15+ years of playing and I would CERTAINLY buy this again. It has instanly moved into one of my favorite gear spots. It gives me that same feeling when I was a child and I got a new toy; I wake up early and quite excited to play with it. I do wish that it might have come with a preamp or gain knob but it's nothing I'll dwell on. And if I do there's plenty of mod's out there to make it possible but I don't see myself doing that any time soon. Find a friend who has one, find a shop who has one, find a sound clip online, do whatever you can to check this amazing little amp out. For the money it CAN NOT BE BEATEN!!!

input, on/off, and volume in front - 4, 8, and 16 ohm speaker outputs in back - nice. 5 class A watts and not bad looking. $100 delivered...is that a feature?

as is, weak. JJ tubes will help fatten - and it needs eq. Sans the mods, use an EQ pedal. Don't try to make a fender outta this - it's got 1 EL84 power tube so think mids, and go with it. Put a TS-type drive pedal after the EQ and use your higher-output PU for nice brit-rock tone at low levels...REAL nice with a decent guitar and speaker. Remember those JJ's - makes a diff.

16 months and no probemos amigos

These are fun to play with. You can do the mods or use pedals to further shape tone - and new tubes are a must, imo. So, if you have the desired pedals lying around, and a good spk cab, it's a cheap trip to decent lower-volume tube tone. Paid a hundred bucks new, delivered(!) - currently $130 at MF, or less on 'the bay'...the price of another pedal.

Brand new made in 2007 I assume. This amp suits my need for an indie rock 4 piece i'm in myspace.com/plainclothestracy. It has 1 channel with just a volume knob. Simple enough for anyone I suppose. I wish this amp had instead of 3 seperate cabinet jacks i think there's a 4 ohm, 8 ohm, and 16 ohm I wish it just stuck with one so I could add an extra extension cab to the one I currently have.

This amp is pure valve. Turn up the volume know you have 5 loud watts of overdrive. With a substantial amount of gain. If you wanna play metal then go by a Mesa which in my opinion is as dry as the Sahara desert anyhow. The amp does dirty up at high volumes. And it is plenty loud enough to give with. I use a El Degas Les Paul copy with extremely hot dimarzio's. I also use a standard american strat for a bluesy sound. This amp would fit well with rock, country, blues any genre that requires tone *cough* metal.. It is also relatively quiet with the les paul. The Fender you get a little feedback as always.

This amp seems reliable. The chance of dropping it are that of getting struck by lightning because it's lighter than your balls. I've yet to have it break down knock on wood. But it seems like if it did as simple as the amp is it wouldn't be hard to fix. Plus it was only $99 bucks.

Haven't dealt with them I deal with my local music store.

I have been playing guitar for about 5 1/2 years. I own along with it and the 2 guitars. A boss blues driver for and extra boost, an old ibanez tremelo, and a boss chromatic tuner. I try to keep it simple. If it were stolen I'd find the sob and break his face. And go buy another cause they are cheap haha. I got this amp from a trade with a hot rod deville which some would say your nuts. But the 12 inch speaker gives me the punch i need as regards to the 4 10s in the fender. Also the fender is way to clean it won't break up and it's too heavy. I would recommend this amp to anyone who plays good music, wants a valve amp for cheap, and doesn't want a hernia. Keep rocking ladies and gents!

The Valve Junior is allegedly modelled on the first generation of simple valve amplifiers that accompanied the newly invented electric guitar in the 1950s. There???s 5w of power under the hood with single knob to control the volume, like the early Fender tweed champs. Although 5w sounds diminutive in the tube world that???s still pretty darn loud; it would easily disturb the neighbours when fully cranked and will get the floor rumbling through the matching 112 cab. The only features the guys thought to include were three outputs for the amp to be hooked up to 4, 8 and 16 ohm speaker cabinets, allowing it to be used with pretty much any guitar cab ever made no doubt. A rating of 3 isn't a criticism - it just means this is a bare-bones amplifier.

I bought mine with the matching Epiphone 112 cab, so will describe how it sounds through this. It has a strong 50s vibe about it, no doubt since it was based on amps from that era. Without pedals the only sound you???re going to get from this amp is early rocknroll. The amp has a strong midrange and attack and at 5w is quick to break up, having a thick, slightly grainy overdrive. With modern high-output humbuckers the amp breaks up at around 10 o???clock, and of course a little later for single coils. The clean tone provides a nice foundation on which to use pedals if that???s your thing, but it lacks the sparkle of a post-tweed Fender. It???s a bit meatier. Running an EQ in front of it can widen the tonal palette, but every once in a while I???ll bypass the effects and just plug the guitar straight in jam like they would have in the 50s.

It seems relatively solid, though it is the cheapest tube amp going around and comes from China, so naturally my confidence in it isn't high. On the other hand it's such a simple amp that there are less things that can go wrong with it. I found the stock Sovtek tubes would rattle if the amp was turned up past 1 o'clock, so I replaced them with a Tung-sol reissue 12ax7 and JJs EL84. I can now crank the amp fully without any annoying rattles. The tube swap also unexpectedly cut out a lot of background hiss (which was quite minimal anyway), and made the tone slightly clearer and I guess more hi-fi.

With tube amps this cheap now there's really no need to compromise with solid state amps anymore, especially if you already have a rather sizeable pedal collection. A pedal running into this amp will give a more natural and responsive tone than any (current anyway) digital model ever could like you find on those Roland Cubes and Line6 amps. I'm more satisfied with this head and cab package than I ever was with a Fender Blues Jr, which cost me twice what the Epi package did. I think both tube amp virgins and seasoned valve connoisseurs would be able to appreciate this amp - flexibility, tube response and a decent tone for pocket money really.

2007 Valve Junior Head. For practice use, maybe small jams.

Sounds from clean to distorted. Using a Fender Highway One Strat.
I got the amp brand new. Tested it in comparison side by side with a Roland Cube 20 watt with effects etc because it was the same size and price range. I had two speakers to plug it into. 12" Celesiton Alnico Blue, and a 10" Celestion Vintage Ten. Hands down its louder than the Roland both cranked full. Sound wise the Roland beats the crap out of it. It seems to be a fun retro looking package. I really dont need another project to drive me nuts researching all the mods available. Personally I'd leave it to hell alone. It is what it is. A 5 watt small tube thing. Dry sounding as a two day old pizza. To me it didnt seem to have enough poop to really push the 12" speaker. It did rattle my old eardrums however. The 10" was better but didnt push that either. (Compared to the Fender Pro Jr I had it in) For $129 bucks its a better deal than the noisy Pro Jr. It may sound pretty good with the Epiphone cabinet that has a 12" speaker. Some have reported the speaker is not too hot. That may be the ticket to get the old retro sound. I dont know. But it would look nice. Overall the Roland has great various distorted sounds for a few bucks more and almost as loud. (Almost)And a lot more fun. Having said all this, there is nothing wrong with it out of the box. Good quality and it indeed does kick booty for 5 watts.

Probably ok. For 12 bucks from Musicians friend you get two years to screw it up and get a new one. Provided you dont modify it.

Ive been playing for several years. Im older. What is nice it has three different speaker ohm plugs in the back. I'd think with a couple pedals it would make a killer harp amp, even blues guitar, but nothing for clean loud playing. But its 5 watts. If you get it dont go nuts on the mods till you try it awhile. If youre going to sink another 100 bucks into it then get a bigger amp to begin with. I'd get it with the cool speaker cabinet for sure. If the speakers cheap and it breaks up all the better. If I didnt have a couple tube amps already Id a kept it for the hell of it. I think it would be tons of fun to break out at the local ego jams. For a fun rating I'd give it a 10.

I believe the serial indicates a 2006 production date. I wanted it to experiment with. This a single ended single channel amp. I wish it had a gain and master volume. This amp may be used in the lab?

The variety in sound will come from your guitar, the attack , the position of the VC and the speaker you use. The amp will distort , however its that nice single ended crisp sdistortion. There is no brutality here or none intended, however it does have a nice retro sound. I plugged in the speaker from the Valve Special (purchased last week) (see review) and I couldn't believe how loud it was. This is the loudest five watts I have ever heard. Many people that love this amp have offered mods to better the tone and after seeing the schematic(enclosed with instructions) it looks like many of these mods were incorporated into newer products. The product is noisy when you crank it and are not playing, however none of the noise creeps into the output. This suits my style as I am trying to learn some of Mike Bloomfield's riffs. I may make changes to the amp?

The first one I purchased played for 7min and died down. I turned the switch off and turned it on again in a minute and it came back and played for 5 min. This time i waited and turned it on again and it went down it 2min. I took it back to the dealer and they repalced it immediately. I am giving this a good opinion because it did not cause me any great inconvenience. In 45 years I have never purchased a product tha failed to work and most of what Istill have has worked for many years. This was a fluke.

I have had good luck with Gibson. There dealer Music Arts Enterprises was fantastic!

I have been playing 45 years. I would replace this unit and of course if I lost I would place my self in rehab for people who lose very large objects. I love the price I have accesories that cost more. I hate nothing it is simple unpretentious and delivers the goods. Because of my intent I did not compare it to anything, I wish it had a gain control and possibly one other socket for an extra 12AX7. These are possible things that I can do. If you are on a limited budget and are looking for a great value or just a gear hound this amp packs a wallop for any one's dollar. Sure this dosen't sound like a botique amp, however, you can go out and buy that great guitar you always wanted with what you'll save. and you will still be awfull close. With some slight mods and the right speaker this amp could killer. This amp also leads me to believe that tone stacks are highly overrated.

ive had this for about 7 months now wanted to wait to write a reveiw so i could test it out overtime. ill tell you i use this head with a 210 hartke cab for bass and it rocks i do use it for guitar but i just loce it as a bass amp..this puppy has some puch and ive actually used it live i just mic it and it just thumps. ive had new jj tubes put in to get a little more clean head room stock a just under half way i got a little grit but now i can go almost 3/4 way up and just nice awesome 70's bass grind..

for bass very nice love the sound..with my american strat its a little thin but i did the tube mod because i wanted the clean headroom so without at least some kind of pedal its just too bright. if you turn her up all the way though it rocks but its too loud for practice these things are really loud..very quite get some noise with my strat(what amp doesnt make noise with a strat) my les paul and my thunderbird bass are dead quite though

ive used it live about 5 times all with bass and i use it at home alot and the kids are always climbing on it for a chair or banging on it and ive havent had any problems..the only thing i would even remotley knock points off for are that the power chord can sometimes come loose in the socket

have never used them ive owned alot of epiphone stuff over the years though and have never had any problems i seem to always buy the epi version of whatever gibson i have at the time as a player and sometimes the epi version is better than my gibson's

just a great little amp and like i said they make fantastic bass amps..

Features: all tube, class A, 5 watt design. single knob (for volume). three speaker outs 4ohm, 8ohm, 16ohm.

This amp has some easily overlooked features that make it handy. For one, its self-biasing, so you have no trouble experimenting with different tube brands and mixing. You still gotta use a 12ax7 and el84 of course. I wish the amp had an eq section and a master volume. but hey its 99 bucks so whatever! as far as versatility: the amp ranges from punchy cleans to all out overdrive. i've run this through the matching cab and other speakers and it always sounds great for the style i'm playing. this ranges from classic rock to blues to 70's style metal. for modern tones you'll deffinitely need an EQ medal

sounds range from nice cleans to warm breakup to really harsh overdrive.

you control the gain by driving the tubes (thanks to a 5 watt class a design). this can be done via the volume knob, your guitar's volume, and the pickups you use. with a passive i get a good range of tones. with my extra high output active humbucker this amp has NO cleans. just warm to brutal (but not scooped mid-range brutal).

the valve jr has a neutral EQ at lower volumes but then its cranked the mid range really comes alive with heavy bass presence and good highs. this amp is very quiet during operation.

this amp is not suited for modern styles as is (ie: modern shred and scooped metal). its all about mid range tones so you can do classic rock with ease and some awesome 70's metal tones that i use in my progressive metal band(and we're damn heavy!) if you like scooped tones just put an EQ pedal in there and youre good.

simple design, simple operation, cant go wrong

i'd use it without a backup but you should always have extra tubes and a spare fuse just in case

havent dealt with them, havent needed to

amazing value. i got the head brand new for 99 and the cab brand new for 130. cant beat this value. this has replaced my 140 watter! for jamming, practice and most venues this amp will perform fine. if youre competing with a huge amp or are in a bigger venue you need to mic it. problem solved. i love the tone and the real tube design! i just wish it had an EQ and master volume...

i give it an 8 because i love it to death but if it was lost or stolen i'd save up for a pro amp

Very versatile in that it drives all kinds of cabinets (thanx to 3 separate outputs in the back).
No tone controls, just volume... but if you need to tweak thetone simply use an EQ pedal and you're good to go.
Also, if you need more drive use an OD pedal.

Great for rock, classic rock, and some earlier forms of heavy metal (Judas Priest) with an OD pedal. You can certainly shred with this guy.

Very quiet (no noise and/or hiss) and unexpectedly loud for only 5 watts. Certainly too loud to play in any apartment.

Regardless of volume issues, this amp sounds great and even better when driven by a nice pedal... actually, even with a cheap Bad Monkey the results are recording-worthy.

Not at all dark sounding as some have written in the past. I experienced a big, muscular sound with plenty of highs.

In all fairness, need to add that I bough mine used and that the previous owner upgraded the tubes to JJs, so I don't know what the amp sounded like out of the box.

Too early to comment

I've been playing for 26 years as a hobbyist. Own 30+ guitars and 7 amps.
I would certainly buy this amp again.

It's a 1-trick pony. But that one trick is a controllable tube overdrive/saturation.

The sound on this thing is absolutely amazing if you're into tubes. For $130, you won't find a better amp head. This thing makes every practice amp out there a joke if this is the sound you're looking for.

If you want metal or a lot of variability, then get a modeling amp...but it won't respond to your guitar controls or your picking as well as a real tube will. For blues, classic or even hard rock, jazz, pop...you won't find a better amp for the price.

I run mine wide open with a G&L Legacy or an SG and use the guitar's volume controls to control the sound with a gutted Vox Valvetronics cabinet (the amp died and I didn't replace it). I also have it running into a THD hot plate because it's just so damn loud. Yes, the hot plate alters the sound a bit on the quietest setting, but it makes it playable in my apartment.

I would imagine it would take pedals allright, but I don't plan on using one except for a clean boost.

And this is with the stock tubes. I'd imagine you could tailor the sound to your liking with slightly different tubes.

Again, it's a 1-trick pony...but it does that one trick really well.

I dropped it once...ripped the leatherette when it hit, but didn't notice a single probelm affer the fact.

The amp hasn't broken down, and I don't expect it to. There's not a lot to go wrong with it and it's simple enough to get fixed.

Epiphone's guitars (apart from the elites) seem to have the same choices made in their construction: good wood, horrible electroncis. That is not the case with this amp.

Never dealt with Epiphone; never plan on it.

I absolutely love this amp. My eventual plan is to run it wide open through the Hot Plate on a loop of an LS-2 with something else on the other side into something like a Black Cat that's really clean...and use the amp like a distortion pedal. As it is right now, it sounds absolutely amazing for the price and does exactly what it claims. If it dies, I'd go buy a new one before having it fixed and then use the fixed one as a backup. At $130, there's no reason not to own one...it's cheaper than pedals made to model this kind of amp.

I am guessing it was made in 2006 or 2007 since I just bought it new.
Features: Volume, Input, On/Off switch. My cats can operate it. Full tube amp since it has a 12AX7 preamp tube and a EL84 power amp tube. 5 Watts. Three speaker outputs (4, 8 and 16 Ohm).

I am using it at home for my hobby of torturing my wife and cats using whatever is sonically available to me (guitar, keyboard, piano, organ, voice). I am predominantly a pianist(weddings, lessons, etc.) but play guitar for some variation and such. It is a good volume for my usage: loud enough to feel it, not too loud that the neighbors take up pitchforks and storm my house. I would hate that to happen because they would probably take all of my beer and good liquor.

Only thing I think it is lacking is an effects loop.

Scoring this one is difficult since it is short on features but it has all of the features that I require it having. I would give it a 10 but minus 1 for no effects loop. That justifies my 9 rating.

I will preface all of these comments by saying that it is still 100% stock. This is my first full tube amp.

People have said that it is a little dark and have to agree but I like a slightly darker sound after many years of playing through cheap solid state amps that way too bright and brittle sounding. Even though it has only one control it is pretty variable on sound by just using the volume knob. Its clean is pretty good and I like the feel of the distortion. It is very quiet with very little noise.

I am using a pretty wide variety of guitars with it: An Ibanez SZ520QM (HH), Ibanez Roadstar II RS140 (SSH), Johnson Strat (SSS Texas Specials), BC Rich Ironbird (HH bridge=DiMarzio Breed), Oscar Schmidt OE40, OLP Luke (SSH active). I has suited all of my styles which range from Blues to Country to Rock.

One of the most impressive things that I have found about the Junior is that it loves pedals! I have a Jekyl & Hyde pedal that I have held onto even though I have not had much luck with it through solid state amps. It kept sounding too piercing. It sounds great through the Valve Junior! I had gotten rid of most of my pedals sicne I got tired of not liking them but now I am afraid I may start piling them up again!

I am currently playing it through a modified Kustom Tube 12A combo amp. I added a switch and an input jack so i can use the Kustom as a combo or a cab. I will be doing this mod to my other amps to give me some flexibility: Kustom 12A with 8" speaker, Peavey Transtube 212 EFX with 2x12 and a Fender Cyber-Deluxe with a 12".

It seems sturdy. I usually wouldn't gig without a backup no matter what I am playing.

I don't feel I have had it long enough to give a good rating on this.

Have not had to use.

I have been playing about 4 years now. I listed most of my guitars and amps above.

I would definitely replace it with another one if stolen. The price is great and I really like it. It is super flexible since it takes pedals so well. I have never been an Epiphone fan until I played this amp.

I love how simple it is. It is going to force me to actually spend time learning instead of tweaking umpteen knobs and switches. I have modelers that I spend more time tweaking than playing.

It is pretty much alone at its pricepoint for being fully tubes. I am new to tube amps and was not prepared to drop $400 at the moment. This give me a great introduction to tube amps and doesn't break the budget.

Overall, I think it is a great amo and a great value!

2005/2006 5 watt all tube amp. This is the new version with the reduced hum. I play Latin, Blues, Rock, Jazz, New Age..etc ... I play through this amp mostly with my American Fender Start with David Gilmour EMG pickups. I also us my TogaMan Guitar Viol(BowedGuitar.com) through this amp. I find that the bowed part sound s a lot warmer. You know all the features (or lack of) of this amp already. I do wish it had reverb. Everything else is fine.

This is where this amp really shines. I turn mine up to about 11 o'clock and control the gain with the guitar's volume knob. This amp doesn't stay too clean, but I do mic it up and use the P.A.'s reverb for it. As long as I have a monitor nearby I am in tone heaven. This little amp really surprised me...

Looks pretty solid, but for $99.00 I wonder where the cut corners. I plan on buying a couple more and getting them modded with Mercury Magnetics. So far, I have not had a problem with it.

Never dealt with them.

I have been playing for about 12 years now. I recommend everyone who is into tube tone to get this little gem. You will not regret it.

Brand new.. probably a 2006, as it's the version 2 model.
I play rock blues country and pop on this thing.
One channel, one volume control, one on/off switch. that's it.

Mine is dead stock and about three weeks old. It came as a blem from Musicians Friend.. I managed to discover the fuses weren't connecting in the holders. fixed it for free in about five minutes.
voila.. perfect.

I wish it had a standby.

It has plenty of power.. esp for the overdriven sounds.. otherwise it's a practice amp.. and wont keep up, on clean settings, with a drummer unless he's taking it easy and you're chording. Then it might be ok.

These will not continue to be sold at 99.00.. you'd better get off your crack and go by one cheap while you can.

I'm giving this a ten because wishing it had stuff or did things I had no reasonable expectation for would be dishonest.

Real sweet tube clean esp if you're pushing it almost to overdrive.
I've used strats teles p 90s humbucks.. and it has a good relationship with all of them.

An el84 tubes sounds like an el84 tube.. and if you don't like that, you're probably goofy in the first place. The overdrive is fantastic..from mild to wild this has stuff you can really get into.

maxed out it's a bit mushy.. but then.. what amp isn't?

It's quiet.. it's toneful.. it's got plenty of volume for jams or solo practice. it loves pedals in front of it..

Today I jammed tom petty, and zz top..
then I fingerpicked clean for a while, folk to jazzier stuff.

I am always able to make this amp sound good, fast.

what you use in front of it, it responds to wonderfully.

(unless it's crap.. hey! know what sounds really awesome.. the cheapo behringer cs100 compressor all by itself.. man.. the amp has the tone.. )



I'm giving it a ten.. for two reasons.. out of the box at this price it's tone madness!
however.. for those wanting more, it's available in common modifications, cheap and in several voicings.
how can it deserve less than a ten?

five year warrranty. My 15 year old epi sheraton has an even longer warranty. I doubt I'll ever need either of them.

The main projection for hassle is the lack of a standby switch.
it will cause the tubes to warm up too fast, and reduce their lifespan a bit.

but I can't deduct points, since I knew it didn't have one.

it's built well.. nice inside and out.. solid everywhere.. good materials. no sloppy glue or anything like that..
I'd have to say it's really overbuilt.

So far, other users are NOT having any problems. No component failures, etc..

so though mine is new.. the warranty is in effect, and is a long one..and reports are all good from others.. a ten!

I've never done warranty with epiphone or gibson. I've communicated with them several times. And they've always been great. Even sent me a whole bunch of really nice posters!
So I have nothing bad to say about them.. and haven't heard anything bad.
another ten.

My first amp was five watts.. back in '64.. a little silvertone with a 6 or 8" speaker.
I have about 30 guitars and basses.. three amps.. lots of stuff..recording etc.

Not only would I buy this again.. I am going to buy another one.
It's just too good a deal.. too good a sound.. too many possibilitys..
it would be foolish of me not to.

Compared to solid state offerings in this price range, this amp blows them away.
other small tube amps seem to cost twice as much, at least.

I do think they should install a standby switch.
otherwise.. I think they have done this exactly right.

To move the amps performance around would make it more costly.
What EPI has done is give you a really sweet tube amp that can be whatever you want for tiny money and not a lot of effort.

I think that's better than adding a hundred bucks to the price.

Buy this amp. Keep it for the rest of your life. As long as you practice at home.. you'll be glad you have this. If you do small gigs.. like play in church.. or jam in the garage or basement... or even lots of clubs and bars that are 300 or less seating.. you'll be glad you have this amp.

I typically plug a digitech rp7 in front of it.. and there's my reverb EQ modulation.. etc.. and the amp gets along fine with it.

I can drop the volume of the amp down to a whisper and still it sounds very good.
above the 10:00 position.. the amp is really just great.

I have to say this is one of the best buys out there.. what it is is way more than it's price tag.

Music 123 has them for 129.00... MF still has them at 99.00.
ebay used ones are available.. you can't miss at these prices folks.

I know it sounds like gushing.. and I know amp experts would swap a few compliments and add a few criticisms.. that's their nature.
But for most guitar players.. this is as good as it gets for an amp of this size and type.

I liked my Marshall mg15dfx.. and I liked my Behringer GM110..
they both had nice qualitys and were great to practice with.

Now, I never turn them on.

One knob is enough for this little tone monster!

This may be the ultimate jazz amp! Nice warm full rich tone! If you want to hear some great sounding audio clips of this beast just go to
www.myspace.com/clifffrederiksen-the speaker was a peavey Sheffield 1X12 cabinet. These are awesome sound clips!

Seems very well built-not much to go wrong!

I wouldn't know-never needed it.

This little beast rocks! Wvery studio or jazz musician ought to have one!

Less is more at least when you're paying 100 bucks for a tube head. I think an EQ pedal could really open up some options.

I have it connected to a 16 ohm Carvin tweed 2-12 cab loaded with US-made "British Series" Carvin speakers. I play an LP Jr. with a Seymour Duncan '59 in the bridge and the stock P-100 at the neck. I can get a wide range of tones with this set up. Want to rock out, I use an MXR Distortion+, which really helps the tone out even with the distortion at "0". It's also useful to overdrive the amp at lower volumes. I also once owned a Classic 30, and to compare the two would be unfair but I'd be hard pressed to choose between the set-ups

No probs, 5-year warranty.

see above

No tone, volume on/off only. Rating is relatively high because of the convenience of multiple ohm settings for different cabs. Tube, w/ss rectifier.

Great for blues. Very sweet cleans at lower volume & tons of gain when dimed w/humbuckers. A little too gainy (especially for harp), so I will probably sub a 12at7 or 5751 for the 12ax7.

It is built like a tank w/a 5 year warranty. No need for backup. but really to new for me to give an appropriate rating here.

No issues w/Epiphone.

Love clean & overdriven tones. Far out performs the valve jr. combo. I would be willing to pay 20-30 bucks for a tone control. There is nothing out there in this price range that comes close in tone.

ok one volume knob, I would have liked a tone knob or a mid cut but no big deal. For 99 bucks, it'll get modded with one. the fact that you can plug it in to a 16, 8, or 4Ohm cab is a great feature in a low cost amp that gets overlooked. Makes it easy to pawnshop for a cab to go with it.

Clean tone is kind of dark, but I like it that way. I wasn't looking for a fender clean anyway. full volume sounds good with my Gibby LP standard, but a bit flubby. Mids are a bit farty, especially open d and g strings. sounds great with my MIM tele for clean tones, not great distorted and just sounds ok with my American Strat. But...

Put a Rat Re-issue big box in front of it, turn the knob to 2 oclock and the LP sounds excellent, Tele very good , Strat so so. Does still need EQ to fine tune it.

only had it a month so no telling. It does seem well built, and looks simple enough to fix if something did go wrong.

Never dealt with them. Actually , this is the first epiphone product I've ever owned.

Been playing 20 years, owened several tube amps in the past, nothing that really blew me away. Most recent was the Peavey classic 30. Good amp, but Gas, you know, wanted to try new things. Moved on to modelling gear(podxt / xt llive) and atomic reactor several years ago. Sounded good, but a lot of tweaking. On a whim I decided I wanted to try this amp. I really forgot how great a tube felt. Modelling gear can sound good, but you don't hear or feel that glass, you know? So, I'll be modding this to get the most out of it. Maybe buy another and try to get a fenderish sound out of one, a marshally / vox sound out of another. This really is a fun amp for under a hundred bucks.

One knob, one input, and sweet sounds. Sounds good the way it is. Reverb would be nice but not necessary. Very open to mods if thats your thing or you want to learn about building amps.

This thing sounds wonderful. All by itself at different volumes it takes on different sounds and all them are fun and pleasing to my ears. Sounds great dimed for some ripping overdrive or down lower for clean to bluesy drive. Sounds insane warmed up with an overdrive pedal and medium volumes. Great for pedals. I like to run the Jecky side of a Jeckyl and Hyde pedal into it with the amp up about a quarter. Very nice.

Not a lot to go wrong in there. Basic class A amp.

Haven't used and don't plan to since I plan to void the warranty soon.

For the money you cannot beat this amp. For 200 dollars more you still can't beat this amp. I would replace it if stolen. I love it just the way it is. For 100 bucks everyone should own one.

An input jack, a volume knob, 3 speaker outputs; the last is the important difference from the combo version having only one speaker output. Single-ended Class A, 5W of pure tube power: a cheap alternative to Gibson's LP Jr amp, and a DIY modder's delight. It has just enough power for some studio work and bedroom level practice.

Everything you'd expect from a single-ended Class A circuitry: by design it has a limited headroom, thus such amps always compress sound and cannot sound clean at higher volumes; on the positive side, the resulting compression and natural overdrive sound very musical. Tonewise, the amp is very midrangy, which may be good for classic rock and blues, but could be limiting for other styles (for the lack of lows and highs). It can sound decent with higher-end guitars, and quite cheap with lower-end ones. The noise levels seem within acceptable limits for a tube amp.

I have not used it long enough.

I did not have to deal with them.

been playing for 20 years; experienced with plenty of high- and low-end gear; at $100 these amps are very affordable, so replacing one would not be a problem, but depending on the application there may be more versatile ones, e.g. you could find a similarly priced used Epiphone Galaxie-10, also SE Class-A, but with 3 band EQ, gain/master control, and a stand-by switch all stock.

Note: all of the ratings were done for the stock amp.

2006 model. You know the deal: one knob, multi-tap OT. 5W Class A, etc.
I always say that if an amp has 1000 sounds, it has at least 999 bad ones. A good amp should have at least 1 great tone and it should easy to get it.
The VJ's greatest feature is its simplicity. It has no bad tones. It has one good tone.
The VJ's greatest luxury is the multi-tap OT. I think ALL heads should have that feature. Great flexibility.
The reason I got one is to mod it. It is well built and has LOTS of room for mods. I added a tone knob among other things.
Many people talk about replacing tubes and using pedals. This is not to criticize those people, but 2 resistors can do much more than a $200 NOS Telefunken 12AX7. Modify the input. No excuses, just do it; you'll be glad you did.

Stock, the VJ was quiet and sterile. Quite frankly, I didn't care for it at all. I'd give it a 6 in its stock form.
After modifying the input (stock it resembles a fender low side; change it to fender high) I'd give it an 8. The whole amp opens up a lot. It allows you to overdrive the first gain stage with a single coil. It also allows more "sparkle" to get through.
Next I removed the 2 extraneous resistors that made a voltage divider right before the volume control, and instead added a simple tone control. After this mod, I give it a 9. This is not a vintage fender, nor is it a boutique amp that rivals amps 10 times its cost. It has its own flavor out of the box (bland) but can me much improved and teach you a lot in the process. I'll give it an 8 on the assumption that you all do youselves the service of modifiying the input.

Don't care- $99!

This amp is great for modding, and great after some light mods. It is not the holy grail, but it is built well, very simple, and a no brainer at $99. Get it. Modify the input.

The feature is the sound and price. It has a volume knob - so as far as features it is limited. But it has the classic tube compression and overdrive sound. If you play at louder volumes (12 o clock +) you get a robust overdrive/distortion. Below that you get the full tube sound without a great deal of crunch.

I play in a classic rock band, church worship band, and home recording. I was worried the 5 watts would be too small. It is quite capable of decent volume. I alternate between simple (with a distortion,wa and delay direct to the amp) and complex (rack compressor, rack tube preamp, rack effects - reverse DI box to change impedance > two amps in stereo). I get the tube spank either way with this amp. Very happy with the sound. And for a tube amp this is very quiet in the studio.

The classic tube spank is in this thing. I've always been a tube amp user. The rounded wave overdrive of tubes is very nice to my ears. Over the years I've used Fender, Laney, Carvin tube amps and this amp is in that same sounding area. If you want a low price way into the tube sound this is it. The price gives you the feeling you just bought Manhattan for $15 - it's a deal!

Personally I found the distortion past 12 o clock a little harsh so I use external distortion. I regularly use a les paul, several ibanez shred types, fender strat, and an ovation acoustic guitar. All get the nice warm tube sounds. I use a 12" Fane speaker in a well damped closed cab. I've also used a 12" celestion in an open back cab. Both sounded good with more bass on the closed cab.

It's worth having an eq pedal to adjust tones. If you want the scooped mids like a half stack, clean high end, etc. Keep in mind the basic rock/blues sound is right out of the box with the amp. Think about an eq if you want some more versatility

Used for three months so far in active gigging with no issues.

N/A

I've been playing live and recording about 20 years. I also play bass, keys, sing, do sound, and sometimes sing. If it disappeared I would buy another one immediately. I love the tube sound. As I mentioned You can get a para or graphic eq unit to help with tone sculpting if that's a need. I would say 85% of players would be happy with out of the box tone.

If you get one be sure to surf the net for all the mods. This is dufus easy to get some neat options soldered in.

Same as the others posted on here, I like the simplicity of this unit, just plug in and go! It's also fun to control the sound using only the guitar, with some practice it can be great.

This amp is loud! I bought it as a lighter, lower volume alternative for my Marshall TSL60 head. I plugged in a turned the dial to half way and it was much louder than i expected, sould be loud enough to play small gigs, really pleased. Sound is great, no hiss, as long as you're using a good guitar the sound will be good, don't expect this thing to sound amazing with a cheapo strat copy!

Seems pretty sturdy.

n/a

For ??100 this is an amazing piece of kit!

This is actually a review of the BitMo mods for this amplifier. I have tried the BitMo Duo Tone and the three way voicing switch as well as the BitMo Spanky in two seperate VJ heads A/B ing them with an unmodified Valve Junior head, all three carrying the same tube complement of JJ EL84 and GE JAN 12 AT7. All three were run through a 16 ohm cabinet with an alnico 12, then through the stock 8" ceramic on the combo.
For reference's sake, changing the tubes on the 'control group' stock amp took roughly 8 minutes, while the attachment of the Duo Tone and the voicing switch took roughly 2.5 hours (partly due to my inexperience with soldering and neurotic need to double check everything). The Spanky mod I was able to successfully complete in less than 40 minutes.
Also for clarification I am in no way affiliated ecomomically, familially, platonically, nor have any existing business relationship with Mr.Bruce Hutcheon, maker of the BitMo mods.

Testbed 1 was the duo-tone and voicing switch equipped head. The push pull tone knob adds a gain stage and allows you tonal control, while the three way voicing also adds a gain stage and has three voicing options (it wouldn't be completely accurate to characterize them as Fender, Vox and Marshall, but they sounded not too dissimilar). The mod is well made and well thought out, and for use in a recording amp, would be very beneficial. It is also not very additionally noisy (although you definitley hear the difference when you pull out to second stage). I noticed that there was a sizeable difference between speakers at this point- running this head into the combo's speaker generated a much more useable spectrum of workable tones, whereas running this head into the alnico 12" kept me on the brighter two settings to avoid mud (and this is with JANs in preamp, volume at 1:00 and the bridge pickup of a 63 telecaster - not exactly inclined to sound muddy). I attribute this to my being accustomed to my AC30 and my Matchless Lightning 15, both of which produce distortions that are quite bright and dynamic, rather than the warm compressed thud of most recent Marshalls.
You can get a lot of sounds out of this mod, and with the right speaker it does sound quite good, but it does cut the headroom significantly (surprise- this is exactly what it's supposed to do) and being married to a setup of one alnico and one ceramic speaker and running my rig in stereo, the Duo Tone and Voicing Switch eventually got replaced by my ordering another Spanky. When I get my fourth Valve Junior, they'll go in it.
Testbed 2 was the Spanky - This adds a little bit of gain and a little bit of treble and bass. The newer version also includes bright and cut caps to further tailor your sound. The degree of differnce that this kit makes to the sound of the stock valve junior is really quite noticeable even to non-players. It makes the amp more articulate, glassy, and chimey and though the gain is a little higher, the headroom still is sufficient to play a stereo pair as a live rig mic'd into a P.A.
It even breathed more life, punch and responsiveness into the tone when using it as a basshead with a '72 P bass.
I noticed that the Spanky's range was instantly very similar to the sweet-spot I'd found on the duo tone that I hadn't moved it from since. For $25 and less than 1 hour's work and no drilling, this mod is even more of a no brainer than the Valve Junior itself. There are also variables explained in the instructions that allow for even more variety and customization, so once you take the plunge into modding, you might potentially think of the BitMo as a 'gateway mod'.
Testbed 3 was the standard Valve Junior head. It's pretty decent sounding even before anything, as long as you have an eq pedal and some new tubes but until you've tried these mods, you really haven't heard this amp at its best. Once you have, you'll be thrilled with it all over again.

I did the work, do I take a backup me to a gig?

Hutcheon was friendly and helpful, especially with my initial terror about draining the capacitors (it turns out to be a lot easier than I'd heard).
Epiphone are friendly every time I've spoken with a rep when I used to work in a guitar shop. For all I know the people in China that make the amps are even friendly, but the important thing is that what they make works. Even if everyone in each of these transactions had been belligerent and hostile, I'd still be thrilled with the result.

For other gear, style of music,etc. please refer to one of my other reviews on the Valve junior, where I've already listed it.

This amp has only one feature and that is volume. It's a class a 5watt amp and all the extras will have to come from your pedals if you use any.

I've played about 6 differednt guitars on this unit and they all sound great. I use a boss reverb pedal in from of this amp and it gives it a great sound dimention of spatialness. The sounds are round and articulate and really is a lot of fun to play with. It loves all the pedals I've thrown at it and I can't say that for all the amps I use and I have 4 more rigs at the house. For the money you can't loose on this amp. It costs less then most of the pedals I own. I replaced the 12ax7 and el84 with JJ's and it just sparkels at low volumes and has that class a growl at high output.

Just got it a week ago and no problems yet.

The sound for the money can't be beat. Try buying a boutique 5 watt amp for this price and people will laugh at you. Let them hear this amp and tell them what you paid and they'll cry.

I'm not really worried about where it's made, but I opened it up and it looks great (not much to really screw up in there).

No versatility, but you bought it because you wanted the tube tone, so place an EQ (I have the MXR 10 band) pedal in front of her to shape that true tube tone. Done.

All it has a is a volume, on/off switch and 3 different speaker impedance options in the back, that's it!

At only 5 watts it'll suprise the hellllll out of ya'! She stays clean up until about the half way mark and with a pedal in front of it you can really shape that tube tone to your liking. I'm pumped, baby! It's completely 100% quiet! Maybe it's just mine, but I didn't hear NOTHING until I started playing, how sweet is that, man!?

The tone is pure and it's a 100% tube path so it's ... 100% tube tone, too. Love it. I got going with it and hooked up my whole pedal collection to it eventually and went at it for hours and giggled like a lil' girl scout the whole time, couldn't believe it! LOL! I've got a ton of amps sitting around and this is getting all the attention right now. Unreal, man. It's the tits, yo!!

I'm a metal head, so I instantly found the Metal Muff pedal sitting in front of her and even the Radial Plexitube Tonebone sounded good in front of her, my other pedals where just as pleasing. WOOOHOO!

I used all my guitars in front of her, Jackson with humbuckers, Fender with single coils, Washburn w/EMG's and a LP with PAF's and it loved them all.

100 bones? I feel guilty, almost like I stole something! LOL!!

I broke it open and am already looking to start modding, but it's not really needed as I've got pedals that'll do what I need. But I love to tinker.

The inside looks pretty naked and the thing is really professional looking and it's put together nicely and it's VERY simple, so there's really not much to go wrong in it, ya' know. GREAT, huh??!!

Haven't had any problems, so no opinion.

Are you kidding? Won't need it at this price, man! This is the disposable tube amp, guys!! This is it!

At 5 watts it's about the only tube amp I own that'll sound good at bedroom levels and I've not been able to turn it up past the halfway mark, yet! How cool!

This is just a great deal that you HAVE to get in on, ya' know? You want a tube sound/performance at a steal of a price? This is it, man! If you reading this review and REALLY thinking about "Should I" or "Shouldn't I" ... dude, 100 bones?

A study in simplicity. IT'S ONLY SUPPOSED TO HAVE ONE KNOB! That's why I give it a "ten". If I was expecting more, I'd have given it less. The selectable speaker output is nice for using different cabs.

I bought this amp after watching them for a while and thinking, "$99.95 isn't much of a risk." I picked one up at GC, brought it home and hooked it up to a Marshall 2x12 with g-12H 70's in it and to be honest... I was a little concerned at first. The tone was dark to say the least, but the little sucker didn't have any trouble driving a 140 watt cab. Since I use a plethora of boxes on a large Furman pedal board, I knew I'd be able to shape the tone alot, especially via the graphic EQ. With my usual wreckless abandon, I took the Junior to a two-piece gig. miked it up into the mains, shaped the graphic a bit and it really sounded quite nice. Not as much breakup as I expected, actually, but more than loud enough for gigging (miked up, and all...) and the tone was even a bit brighter than the twelve watt Fender than I usually use for these small gigs. After two sets I decided to try my secret weapon on the Valve Junior and hooked up my big, scary, 1946 Variac rheostat that I bought at a flea market for twenty bucks. I dropped the voltage to about 67 or 68 volts and the V Jr. slipped into the Zen state of magical tube amp interdimensional wonderfulness. The power tube breakup came shining through like magic while the tone stayed bright and defined. Rolling off the guitar volume cleaned it up enough to pass for "clean". My bass player told me to TURN UP! He never tells me to turn up. I'm telling you, you could spend three thousand on a boutique amp and still have to work at getting the tone I'm getting on a hundred dollars! I'm going to buy three more of these so that I never don't have one. Now listen, a very good friend of mine sells those mod kits for the V Jr. on eBay. His mods work great and I definitely want to mod one of these. BUT NOT THIS ONE! I will not be changing the tubes or harming my little brown amp in any way. If you take it from me, I will hunt you down like a murderous pitt bull and lop your head off with a rusty fishing knife! God bless the Chinese for making this thing on the cheap.

I don't know if I can depend on it yet, but given that it's also built like a tank, I don't imagine it's gonna fall apart soon. We'll see about the circuitry over time. BTW, The cab is made of plywood! Not bloody particle board or MDF. No opinion yet on the rating.

Not yet.

I have been playing, on and off, for a long f'ing time. I like to tinker and try all kinds of stuff. My rig is something of a mish-mosh, but not without rhyme or reason, and I wire and maintain my gear with an eye toward neatness and respect. If you abuse stuff, it will let you down eventually. On most rock gigs I use a 60 watt Marshall tube head with either a 2 twelve or four twelve. Recently I built a rack amp with a gutted Roland JC 77 and Digitech tube pre. I'll try anything twice. The Roland is an attempt to get a really clean clean tone. I use Fender amps, Marshall, anything that sounds good. I use a Roland guitar synth, a dozen pedals and fifteen different guitars. My main gigging guitar is a Hamer USA semi-hollow with a piezo bridge and synth pickup. The lve rig is sometimes stereo, sometimes mono. If I'm playing loudly through the marshall, I put a plexiglas baffle in front of the rig. I intend to try the Epiphone amp at a full band gig, miked appropriately. The only thing I wish the Jr. had is something to hold my beer.

this amp is as simple as air. A volume control and that's it. the saving grace is it's speaker outlets. Most of my speakers are rated at 8 ohms, but it's nice to have that option of other ratings. With the right kind of adapters, I can use this with any amp i have.
- I did some home recording recently. I was using my Fender Junior Pro and i was bothered by the tube rattle. Although, i liked the sound from the fender amp, i couldn't have that rattle. I hooked up the Epiphone through the Fender and and got the sound I wanted, rattle free.

Tones can go from a low clean to a thick distort.At about 1 o'clock on the volume dial thing get fun. past that it gets louder, and a little more fun. For what i like to play, anything between 10 to 1 o'clock works best. it's not like i'm going to be using this at the Staples Center anytime soon - if ever.
Although, because it's a simple amp, it can bring out a few faults real quick. dead strings sound even deader on this amp.
- I like playing my Telecaster through this. It can get twangy and clean at low volumes. When I play my Dean Stylist though it, It chunks up good and woody at 10 o'clock. At lower volumes, with a little reverb and slapback, both guitatrs sound great.

No problems so far, but all it's been doing is sitting at home being used once in a while. Of course, when you suffer from GAS, it's so hard to give each amp the full attention they all need....

wouldn't know, never had to deal with epiphone/gibson.

I've been playing since the late sixties. I'm not a big fan of big amps as i have no need for them. With these small simple amps, the limitations are part of the sonic puzzle. This Epiphone is as simple as it gets. And because it overdrives fairly soon, i can get the crunch i want without too much damage to my house.
- I also own a Fender Junior Pro and a Vox P15SMR408. I've managed to use each amp as a head for the other amps speakers. It works out well that way, a real flexible arraignment If I really want to get loud, I can bring out my crate 1, then things get interesting.
- I was given to some free money to spend at Guitar Center. I think I think i got a little overloaded on the choices. I kept looking at everything I could afford. Finally, I saw this on sale next to the Crate POWER BLOCK. When I heard the Epiphone though a 4 x 12 stack, I thought this little amp has some good possibilies, so I bought it.
- This item was a gift, i'd still want to replace it - only after i track down the thief - yadda yadda yadda.
- For it's size, cost and features, it's a great deal.

The Amp is just off the boat from the People's Republic of China; Yes, that's where it comes from folks-as does most of your goodies that you've been buying over the last 8 years! Anyway, I immediately exchanged the Russian tubes inside with Groove Tubes- One GT-12AX&M in the preamp section and a GL-EL84-S (#5) in the power. Then, I plugged it into the mono plug of a Marshall 2x12. I pulled out my strat with voodoo pickups and,
very, very impressive tones came forth. It is my practice setup from now on.
Of course, this is the very reason that I bought the Epi Valve Jr. Head-for practice.
Nothing extra to complicate this arrangement. Though, I would have like the product to be made here in the U.S.A.

The tones are clean and break up early. I've happily used it with pedals and a Line 6 floorboard.
The head holds it's own in a very small room. I wouldn't want to use it for a gig though.

Seems to be solidly made, when I changed the tubes, the back grill plus two sets of metallic corner guards have to be replaced. This puppy is solidly built. Again, it was made in the PR of China-so, these days, quality control is dictated. Time will tell how this amp head will last
over time; however, I believe that it will do so, very nicely.

Although this product is subcontracted and imported by Gibson, Who knows in the long run,
since RP China as a source is a wildcard for the future.

I've been playing for forty years, have over 20 guitars and five other amps (three tubes).
Although my friends are still rightous snobs about tube amps, I think that they will be impressed by this head. It's a great little number if you want it, need it or can only afford to buy this; or, if you enjoy seeing a vintage Epiphone logo on the front. If you have the bucks and need a small practice amp. I'd suggest getting a Gibson handwired GA5 Les Paul Jr. amp.
It is, and will remain a classic. The tones from the GA5 compared to this amp, is like eating a good sirloin compared to a Macdonald's hamburger (sorry if you are a vegetarian, or a lover of Micky Dee's). The handwiring and parts make the difference. Also, if you consider a GA5, consider upgrading to the same GT configuration, as above.

has 4, 8, and 16 ohm outputs which is an awesome feature in my book!

10!!! Excellent classic rock breakup when this thing is cranked. You can't get anything that's going to sound better than this for $100. I give it a 10 based on price,value, and tone. Sure an original jtm 45 will kicks it's butt but you'll have to refinance your house to afford one of those these days!

So far so good

This is the best $100 I've ever spent!

Exactly what it needs ... a volume knob. This 5 watt Class A amplifier is built to reflect the true tone of the guitar that you are playing. It is a simple, and very affordable, tube amp. It also features 4, 8, 16 ohm speaker out jacks (a very nice and flexible feature), which covers about all speaker cabinets that guitarists use.

Just great! I really like the sound of this little amp. With the volume low you get a nice clear yet round and warm tone from the amp. Crank it up for some crunch, and add an overdrive pedal for more sonic mayhem. It really acts like an amplifier should -- just amplifying the tones that are sent to it -- whether it be a particular guitar plugged straight into the amp or a particular guitar with whatever effects connected in between.

Still too early to tell. I have only owned the amplifier for a month. The build quality, though, is much better than one might expect for a $100.00 amp.

Never had to deal with Epiphone.

I am very pleased with this purchase. For those who have not played the amp, this little 5 watter is loud. I use and attenuator to tame it while being able to crank the volume for maximum tube saturation. I will change the tubes out soon to investigate the sonic differences. Right now, though, I am pleased with its sound as is. If better quality tubes improve the amplifier???s current tone, I will be all the more pleased. I believe I will buy another head, but I think I will get the Valve Junior combo also just so I have both.

Straight forward, all tube head with a volume knob.Crank it up and go. 4,8, and 16 Ohm outs are a real plus. It has alot less features than the Line6 junk I just unloaded, but the tone makes up for this.

All I can say is what a great little amp for practicing!Running it into a 2x12 cab. w/V30 Celestions.I no longer need to fire up my marshalls everytime I want to play. I dumped a Line6 Flextone for this little gem because the modeling amps hate pedals.Goes from very clean to crunch as you crank it. It absolutely loves my Route 66 OD, you can drive it to a VH or Hendrix tone with the right guitar. OK, it doesn't have the worldclass tone of my JTM 45 with the Heyboer OT tranny, but for $99 this thing is worth every cent.I'll be buying another one so I can run in stereo.

N/A, just bought it.

Never dealt with them

I've been playing for 30 yrs, have G.A.S. and realize it.Amps include JCM 800,JTM 45,Line6 Flextone,Boutique pedals such as Sweetsound Uvibe,Tonebone Classic, Route 66 OD, Vox Clyde Wah, Maxon Delay. I love the pure tube tone in this simple little head.For the price this has great value, I'll be getting another one.

This is a follow up to my review below...

I put an MXR 10-band equalizer in front of this amp and it CAME ALIVE!! I'm serious when I say this, I just put my Marshall Silver Jubilee away, because this amp sounds so much better than the Marshall...I thought I would never do such a thing, but the truth be told, the VJ Head w/ the EQ sounds better! It is very sensitive to the EQ, more so than the Marshall ever was. In fact I was about to sell the MXR eq because it didnt do much w/ the Marshall...well, w/ the VJ, every frequency is sensitive. B4 you mod the VJ, try the MXR 10 Band Equalizer...because of this discovery, I'm not even going to bother modding it xcept for tubes...I went on mercury magnetics web site and listened to their sound bites...with the mxr, it sounds almost exactly like their sound bites...nice and crisp, with full-ranged tones...

Features are, as every other reviewer has described them, minimal to nonexistent. This can actually be a huge plus. My Dr.Z and my Matchless Lightning don't have too many knobs on them either. This keeps you from defeating yourself or trying to make the amp make allowances for the (too) wide range of guitars you play through it without knowing how to adjust the tone on the instrument.

Yes, the amp is capable of a "Cream" era 70's sound. For those of us that really don't like that sound particularly, it can also do a pretty good AC30 impersonation when mated with the right preamp valves and speaker. For a higher gain sound, put a pedal in the chain, or better yet a bunch of them (it handles multis like my Vox Tonelab SE with aplomb that probably makes my AC30 weep quietly from the closet). It can be on the dark side without EQ control, but this can also warm up effects or bright, thin sounding guitars, so decide whether you need to add eq before you start.
I'm using mine in stereo from the Tonelab with the combo version of this amp on one side running its little ceramic 8" and a JAN 12AT7 for high frequency bite and the head mated to a '40's (?) Bell & Howell Projector Speaker cabinet with a Jensen C series alnico 12 in it and a higher gain JJ12AX7 in the preamp for a bit of warm overdriven voxiness and chime. Both are running JJ EL84 in the power stage.
Not to mention the cabinet options this little head gives you give a great opportunity to have COOL looking gear that keeps people guessing (rather than something they can run out and buy). My guitars are two Gretsch (Malcolm Young Signature and Light Blue Pearl Jet) a '71 Gibson ES 345, a '64 Hofner Verithin, a Tele thinline, a Casio DG20 and a Parker Nitefly (mainly for recording). The amps currently favour the brighter guitars, but that's easily flexible, and if I want the ES 345 to sound less like a sled of Les Pauls hitting a wall, I can ease back on the Vari-Tone switch.
My music style is '80's post-punk (Echo & The Bunnymen, U2, Placebo, Simple Minds,The Cure, INXS, psych furs, The Cult, James, Def Leppard, Suede etc. and I'm yet to find one of these that the combination of the two amps and a decent multi-processor can't dial in.
It's great and versatile for recording, and so far has been loud enough for live, just mic it up - singers perform better when the rest of the band isn't drowning them out anyway. I'm not sure I would reccomend these as 'beginner' amps or as a 'stand-alone' piece of gear, as no one piece of gear does all the things we want it to, but for a super warm and dynamic low wattage class A amp stereo pair that looks dead cool onstage and cost less than a decent pair of shoes, these are definitely worth a try.
The fact that you don't have to break your back trying to carry your AC30 or Matchless around to a club (not to mention worrying about someone stealing it) is just icing on the cake.

Since it's a stereo pair, I suppose there already is a backup in place, but it hasn't been a problem so far.

Yet to come up.
Their warranty is fairly long (5 years I believe) but modding them voids it. I have all the Bitmo mods and have been waiting for a time when I'm feeling like a bunch of benchwork to install them all. I've read excellent things about them, but honestly when I get home from work and walk up to my little rig, I usually end up playing it instead of getting out the soldering iron. If this changes, I'll review the Bitmos as well.

This, after slight tube swapping and mating to a mismatched speaker configuration (alnico/ceramic)stands pretty close to some amps I've paid a great deal more money for. No, it's not really a substitute for an AC30 if you're touring or playing big venues, but since I'm not these days, its a lot less of a headache and a whole lot less of an expense plus it has a lot more individuality (at least for now).
If I ever get myself to sell my other amps, I'll have to come back and rate this a "10".

For $100, this amp head gives us (1) a real tube pre-amp section; (2) a real tube power amp section; and (3) three speaker outputs (4, 8, or 16 ohms). Also, it is a very attractive little head, with a solid feel and apparently good build quality. True, it lacks a standby switch, tone knob, and some other features--thus the rating of "6." But it's only $100!

Wow! I have played the amp through a 2x12 cab at Guitar Center, a vintage 2x15 cabinet (a great-sounding old Teisco cab), and a 1x12 Line6 cab that I picked up. It sounds different through the different cabs--but it always sounds great. And it's incredibly loud for 5 watts. It has an outstandingly warm tone, moving into a full-throated--but not over-done--distortion as you crank the volume knob. I've tried with a number of different guitars. It makes even my Teisco Spectrum 5 sound great! (Beautiful, cool guitar, but its wacky pickups are tonally challenged.)

I play nothin' but the blues, and this amp is great for it. A metal-head would need a pedal or two, but the amp takes pedals well. I've plugged in a Frantone Cream Puff, a Zoom UltraFuzz, a Voodoo Labs Superfuzz, a Snarling Dogs SuperBawl Whine-O-Wah, a Rocktron Black Cat Moan wah, a Voodoo Labs MicroVibe, a Visual Sounds H2O Liquid Chorus and Echo, and a PreSonus TubePRE preamp. The Epiphone has treated all of them kindly. In fact, it's a real pleasure trying out my pedal collection through the amp! With some pedals--for example, the Frantone Cream Puff--the Epiphone sounds as though it's channeling some previously unknown tone god.

I don't gig, but I did use the amp for my company's holiday party, playing it through the 2x15 cab in a room of about 200 people. It was plenty loud for the venue: in fact, I was louder than the bass player, who had a 100 watt solid-state amp and two 12s.

I've only had the amp a couple of weeks, so I can't predict how it will work in the long term. It appears to be solidly built.

I've never dealt with Epiphone and thus have no opinion in this category.

I've been playing about 25 years. I have owned a variety of other amps, including three vintage Silvertone tube amps (one of which I still own: tiny, but great sounding), a Fender Tremolux (great-sounding amp), a tiny Danelectro (beautiful, warm sound), a couple of Peaveys (including a Delta Blues 210, which is also a great-sounding amp), a couple of Alamos, some solid-state amps (a couple of Voxes, a Fender Frontman 25R, a Crate . . .), and a couple of Teisco amps (including a Teisco Checkmate 50 and a Teisco "Miny T"). I own a bunch of guitars, mostly off-the-wall stuff. (I'm a big Hound Dog Taylor fan: thus the Teiscomania.) This Epiphone appears headed instantly for "Most Favored Amp" status. I haven't gotten a bad sound out of it yet; it treats my guitars well, even the weird ones that no other amp has ever really liked or respected; it treats my pedals well; and it's surprisingly adaptable.

I would definitely buy another if this were stolen or lost. In fact, I've thought of buying another so I can run the pair in stereo--and maybe at last get a knock on the door from a neighbor, asking me to turn the darned thing down!

I love the vintage look, the small size (I hate lugging heavy amps!), and the tone the tone the tone the tone the tone!

This is a great little amp. For $100, it's almost unbelievable.

Basic - All you really need!

OK, I'm STOKED! Just got it in from musiciansfriend last nite...Tried it this morning. I'M IN DISBELIEF. How in the world did they get a $99 amp to sound this good is beyond me. I've been looking for a cheap alternative to a Vox AC30 and I think i've found it. With my les paul and strat I NAILED Edge's sound, IMHO. Now, that's to my own ears comparing it to a AC30 I played 2 weeks ago. I was looking for that "Chimey" top end the AC30 is known for, and this comes pretty close, well at least good enough for me! Now, it doesn't sound EXACTLY like one, mind you, but if you went out and spent $1600 on a new AC30, it won't sound exacly like Edge's setup either. I found it with the volume between 2 and 3 o'clock, and LIGHTLY picking the notes on the guitar. If you hit them too hard, it will be too harsh and distorted. At that setting, if you hit a power chord it's gonna crank...Some reviewers said it sounds sorta marshally - I disagree. It has a higher top end, and it's not as smooth as my Marshall Silver Jubilee; more like a fender or vox cranked. (BTW, I played this thru my Crate Blue Voodoo 4x12 cab, which is a great cab - I dont think they make them anymore...)

ONE IMPORTANT OBSERVATION: I noticed when I played a note, I heard a too-familiar fizz on the top. As I suspected, the tubes are microphonic. I tapped on the top of the head, and sure enough you can hear it thru the speakers...They are Sovtec tubes, but probably 2nd's or low quality. I'm gonna retube it next week anyways, so no worries here.

Buy One of these before they sell out of them! I went to a store that had 3 of them last week, they were all gone a few days later...

I would bring a backup if I was playing out with it...

I'm sure epi would take care of things if needed

Playing 28 years, have played every style, from Elvis (Hey, you laugh, we were so busy w/ gigs we almost quit our day jobs!)to heavy metal. Used to be one of those 80's players with stacks and racks of outboard gear. I smartened up, and now use good floor pedals with my Les Paul, strat and 1981 BC Rick Mockingbird thru my Marshall Silver Jubilee. Simple. Currently in a Christian worship team. This amp fits right in with contemporary Christian music...

Although many reviews have already been submitted I feel the urge to say my say as well. Groundbreaking piece of kit, no excuse to buy average small trannie amps anymore. Get AT LEAST one of these.
Simplicity is a beautiful thing, and this ampette is beautifully simple.

Goes from clean to a decent roar by a quick flick of the single volume knob. Turn it up and control things from your guitar. Sound quality is very , very nice. Its class A valve, so you're sorted for quality sounds. Responds well to my Gibson The Paul ( 1979) and Squier Tele. Take effects well to, I use a Boss GT3 multi and various overdrive units. Slight hiss when fully cranked on its own, but on the whole very quiet indeed.

Time will tell, but the signs are good. Build quality seems very decent. Comes with a 5 year warranty! That's 2 years more than you get on an average brand new car! Nice!
Solidly built, no compromises made. Nice and chunky , but still cute.

Should be really easy to service this one, or get it serviced. So simple, not much that can go wrong that cannot be easily fixed.

This one is a keeper for sure. Use a vintage Roland Bolt 30 Hybrid amp as a cab for the Valve junior. Fitted with a Celestion classic 80 speaker. Does the job very nicely. For the price, this thing is a no- brainer. Did I mention that the amp is cosmetically flawless as well? Epiphone really have their quality control well sorted on these products. What next? A 20 watt version with EQ and reverb perhaps? Now that would be glorious. For the moment, this fella is the bargain of the year.

one volume knob and that's it!! It's a simple as it gets! 5 watt el84 power tube...damn loud for just 5 watts!! one 12ax7a. Nicely constructed and looks really cool also.

very sweet class A amp for just 100 bucks! You don't come across many tube amps within this price range that is new and accessible to the public whether you're a begginer or amatuer to a pro. This amp is alot of fun to play with. There are some weaknesses. But you can expect alot for 100 tube amp. THe cleans are very nice. Dynamics are good. Crank this little bastard and it's got some killer distortion! You can certainly use this for rehearsal and jam with a drummer or band. Since it doesn't have any eq features. you're stuck with the tone unless you get a good OD and EQ pedal. I have my VJ running through a Fulltone OCD and Boss GE7. It sounds amazing! The Ge7 has certainly help taken this amp to new heights along with the OCD!! I'm going to test drive her in a band situation and see what my ears tell me. So far I'm very happy with this setup and saves alot of the tube life on my Laney Vh100R head.

No need to reiterate. I really wish it had a standby swtich. Bought a mod on e-bay; which will naturally void the warrenty. I use this at home as my main practice amp which I alternate between a valve Crate. This amp pumps power. For the life of me, I don't see how a nighlight only carries 2 more watts. I barely crank it past 9 o'clock. I have it plugged through Boss ME 50 and ultimately this amp subs for my Peavey 120 W Deuce combo. I don't want to overuse the tubes on the vintage Deuce, plus 120 W is too friggin loud living in an apt complex. The only thing I find fault is the on/off button which seems like cheesy plastic from a child's toy, IMO. Not a top quality switch.

I am a 25 yr amateur hobbyist. Played a brief ciruit. I think I know what sounds good. I play rhythm, blues/classics. The amazing thing is that when I play with the stereo, I am unable to distinguish between the produced sounds of Aerosmith/AC DC, like I do with the Crate Taxi valve. The tone is natural. Pure tube classic. I also accentuate with BBE Sonic and Aphex Exciter, GE 7. The GE 7 works well with a lack of tone knob. I only play with distortion and humbuckers, Ibanez 540S.

I was absolutely amazed at the size of this amp and it's weight. For $99 I was expecting something mediocre in size and weight, but this amp speaks volumes of quality right out of the box. No cracking issues with tubes. Just takes a good 3-5/10 minutes to warm up. It took me years to conform to Japanese products until I've realized Japanese quality surpasses US. (God help me) I've totally resisted anything Chinese, until now. The power chord is detachable, like the Marshalls. Believe it, this baby takes up quite a bit of space on top of your cabinet, for 5 W.

5 yr warrenty.

This amp is an answer to my prayers. For the past 3-5 years I have sought high and low with the low-watt tube amp market. Last year, I bought a 1980's Marshall Lead 15 W head and I thought that my search ended there. The 1 W Bumbox and a few others are way too expensive. For the life of me I couldn't understand why there wasn't a low-watt tube market, but for $99 this exceeded my expectations 3-fold. This product is a watershed in amplification. Don't let 5 W fool you. It probably sounds closer to 40 W. I know, I A/B switch it with a 30 W. I am able to play right along with AC/DC, Eagles, Aerosmith seamlessly without alarming the neighbors and police.