Epiphone Valve Junior Head

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.