Epiphone Valve Junior Head

Single Volume and input. 4/8/16 out. That's it.

Clean at low vol, breaks up at higher, but tone is nothing special. Nothing like the higher priced tube amps.

Don't know - sent it back to the store.

Don't know - sent it back to the store.

I've been playing forever. I read the reviews and thought this amp might add something to my tone. WRONG. I use a GT-8/Tonelab setup into the PA, and get much better tube amp sounds than this tube amp provides. Totally un-impressed.

This is the new Epiphone Valve Junior Head with one EL-84 power tube and one 12AX7 preamp tube.It is only 5 watts but this little baby is pure blues rock and roll.I changed out the stock tubes (and they were pretty good) for EI tubes and it took this little monster up about 2 notches.

I play amplified blues harmonica and this is just the ticket to play some nasty stuff.I rated this category an 8 because it does not have many features but it is exactly what I was looking for!

The Epiphone Valve Junior Head sounds as good as some five to seven hundred dollar amps that I have owned and tried.I play out with this head at blues jams and biker bars and it can walk the walk and talk the talk.It has just the right amount of butter smooth overdrive to make my harmonica sound 3-d and so very touch responsive as well.This amp can pick up every little nuance that I make ,how tight I cup the mic and harmonica,how soft or hard I blow.It is like finding the perfect woman,and for only $99 shipped to my door step!!

This amp is still fairly new,I almost always take an extra head and tubes.Have been cranking it hard and did I mention that it is as quiet as a mouse.

Have not had to deal with the mother company,for $99 bucks this is awesome if ya had to buy one a year.

I have been playing amplified blues harmonica for almost 30 years and I own Tophat,Fargen,Alamo,Victoria and Matchless amps.And the Valve Junior is in the same league tone wise as the others for my taste.This is the VERY BEST $99 that I have ever spent on a piece of musical equipment.
Please check out my website at http://bluzharp.tripod.com
PS=I like playing the Valve Junior thru a "Eminence" Man O War 12 inch speaker in a plexiglass cab that I built.

2006 Valve Junior head. No verb, no pre-amp/EQ, etc. Yet, this thing is killer! 5W power head can drive small to large speaker systems in recording or small gig situations.

The head is less noiser than the little combo version.
Great ranges: Lovely clean - Warm and raw - Nicely overdriven.
Tone ranges via volume:
10-12 o?clock= 50?s sound with lots of overtones
1-3 o?clock= late 60?s/early 70?s crank (nice breakup).
3-6 o?clock= awesome 70?s to 90?s warm crunch (serious breakup w/high freq rolloff)

A decent pre-amp allows the Valve Jr. to run at an optimum level (12 o?clock) yet get a louder sound with lots of high frequency shimmer. The Valve Jr has no reverb. I?ve hooked up a killer 1x10? cab (Ethan from EarCandyCabs.com) and the combination is fantastic! The extra cab efficiency outputs a lot of graceful tonal complexity not usual for a 5W amp with a 10? spkr. In fact, the cab seems to provide a kind of spatial reverb... very light sound surrounding top and sides of the cab offsets the sound coming out of the front... very cool depth! Without tone controls, I added a late 60?s DeArmond Weeper pedal to tweak the mid/hi tones like a funky tone control- works great. Outboard FX also sound very bright with lots of clarity. The combination makes me wonder about my Mesa Rig?.

I've used it on small proactice sessions ass well as for recording. I will gig with it at open mics, etc. Also- works well with bass guitar!

No contact.

For the $99, this is what I wish I had back in the 70's instead of that VibraChamp!!! The Mesa -slave out can be used to really drive this amp into serious volume and crunch levels, too!

A chicken head volume knob, a lighted on/off switch, an input jack, 4-, 8- and 16-ohm output jacks and 5 big watts of Class A sweetness -- what more could a player want?

This little guy is amazing! I read all the reviews and was a little skeptical, but I found no way I could go wrong for $99.99. This 5 watt Class A baby cooks. I play a homemade tele-type thinline with Texas Special pickups through it. I don't need anything else. I leave the tubescreamer, the chorus and the delay in my equipment bag and plug the guitar direct. The blues sound I get is just beautiful. I run the amp through a homemade cab with one 8 inch Fat Cat speaker. The speaker is made by Charlie Powers of Guitar CPR in Fairmont WV. Great speaker! Charlie really knows his stuff!

So far, so good.

It's a $99.99 amp. Shipping it back to China costs more than the amp.

I've been playing for almost 37 years. I own 2 tele types and a les paul special-type that I built, they all sound great through this amp. My stage amp is a Gibson GA15 with reverb. This puppy sounds almost as sweet as the GA15. At low volumes, it's sweeter. If something happened to this baby, I'd buy another without batting an eye. It's truly the first time I have been able to afford a backup amp that gave me the sound I want.

Probably made 2006, it's new.
Not many bells and whistles, as in, a single volume control and no tone control. Just turn the volume up or down, and the tone changes
Pretty fool-proof.
Nice retro look with the two tone colored front.
Nice detatchable power cord.
4, 8, and 16 ohm outputs !!!
It's got 4 little footies so it's not sitting flush on the top of the cab, and the air can get around it.

Turn it up all the way to 11, and it breaks nicely, no hum (except thru my old Boss ME-30).
Clean on lower setting.
I have an old Shane Targa with ancient Humbuckers I'm using until my new Agile gets here next week, and it sounds fine to me.
It's loud enough that my hearing got muffled in about 1/2 hour in my front room, playing thru my 2x12 Madison Symphonies ( 140 w RMS combined)
I wasn't even playing full volume, it's got presence !

(sarc) I'm sure my neighbors are really happy for me, too (/sarc)

Be interesting to see how it sounds thru other speakers; I have an old 60 watt 12" Jackson speaker I might hook up just to see.

I don't gig, so I can't tell if it would work in a live situation without mic-ing it. Maybe a small stage/club would be workable.

Unknown, but it looks like it's pretty solidly built.
Heavier and a bit larger than what I thought it would be according to the pics.

And since I quit cigarettes, I won't have to worry about the inevitable melting burn marks ;) :)

Unknown, never had to deal with Musician's Friend for support, but if support is like the service... no complaints here.
Ordered from their website, and they shipped it the next day.
It even got here a day ahead of schedule, not that M. F. had anything to do with that part.
It shipped in a double box, so it was unscathed from the UPS experience, also.

Considering there are similar boutique amps going for $250 and up, this thing is worth every bit of a 10 for the price @ $99 and free shipping (Mus.Frnd)
It surely beats building one from a kit for twice this price, unless you want to build one for your own reasons.

I've been playing at it for around 30 some years, for personal pleasure, and this is one of the nicest things I've acquired to date.
If it got damaged beyond repair... I'd buy another. You can't go wrong with this little puppy.
Just great for a bedroom amp.

If you're on the fence wondering if you should take a chance... DO IT , you won't be sorry. And if you don't like it, hell, send it back, or sell it to someone like me for what you paid for it.

I'm not really an Epiphone fanboi, as far as the guitar end goes, but this amp is an exception to the name.
Seems to have quality written all over it. Guess we'll see in about 15 years, eh?

Meantime, color me happy camper, smiley face sunshiny yellow !!

On/Off switch, input jack, volume knob, 3 speaker outputs on rear (4,8,16 ohm). That's it and that's all it's intended to be. Pretty loud for 5 watts. I figured for 99 bucks it had to be worth a try.

I use it with a variety of guitars, both humbucker and single coil. It sounds pretty good with either. I understand that Mercury Magnetics has a transformer upgrade and I am sure new tubes would make a difference, too. For now I am leaving it stock because it is just fine as is. I play it thru a ported 1-12 Sovtek cab and I am planning on trying it thru a 2x10 Ampeg bass cab. I have recorded with it but not played live with as of yet. I bought it mostly for practice and recording, and the 7 rating is for the stock, out of the box amp. I would imagine that with better tubes it might be an 8 or 9. All tube amps are a little noisy but this one is no worse than any of the others I own.

As simple as the design is, it should be reliable. I never gig without a backup. Period. You never know when something is going to happen.

I own another Epiphone amp and also a Thunderbird bass but I have never had a problem with any of them so therefore I have never had to deal with the factory.

I have been playing for 15+ years. This amp is what it is, simple and affordable. I would for sure replace it if I had to. One of the best music values I have ever had.

5 watts. One volume, three outputs 4,8,16 ohms. This amp came out this year and I found it in Musician's Friend Catalog. I liked the simplicity of the amp and I also read many of these reviews before ordering it online.

Great tone turned all the way up. Breaks up nice. Doesn't hurt the ear drums. Plugged it into an 8 ohm, 2-12 cab with Eminence Governors. I was initially, very pleased.

I can only imagine that it is reliable to fill out the warranty and hope nothing will ever go wrong with it.

5 years on the warranty.

I think it is a fantastic purchase. I own modified Fender amps from the 70's and they are 40 and 100 watts respectively. Too Loud! I'd have to see how it will perform on stage to know if I will purchase a back-up. It needs nothing else to improve the crunch and vintageness of the sound.

Already done many times.

Already done many times.

Just bought it.

So far Epi has always been excellent with customers' emails.

Well, you should try one of these with the new Brit Boost pedal made by Vox!!!!!! Just incredible as the boster pedal allows you a wide variety of tone (treble) and adds also some presence to the signal. Makes this little Epi amp an instant old style british amp. Connected to a good cab with a 12" Celestion vintage 30 brings the whole setup sound wise in the boutique type level of sound. I suspect one of these miked through a PA would be awesome.

On/Off Sw....Volume Knob.....carrying strap handle...that's it. Utter simplicity.

Vox Tonelab up front so this amp does pretty much any type of Classic/Metal/Hard Rock tones. Without it, it's dirty blues type sound.

As a "bedroom" practice rig (w/a Marshall 1x12) and sound system cranking, 5W is plenty loud.

Originally purchased to use as a practice rig. Use it with a Vox Tonelab thru an Avatar 2x12 (Hellatones) with Gibson Explorer, Vee, Invader (all w/SD SH-8's) and EC-1000 (EMG's). @ 3/4 this really come's alive. The Tonelab is pretty good on it's own, but really beefs up. I'm a JJ's tube fan so I'll be swapping out the tubes shortly....definitely will go with a milder pre-tube. Great friggin buy.

I've been cranking this little B*st*rd for about three month's and it's been pretty ball's on reliable. I plan on using it for a couple of short gig's for my "Classic/Hard Rock barband". I'm trying it out at practice and since we mic up, it should do great.

Playing Classic/Hard/Metal/Extreme Alt Rock on/off 20 yrs. Main Rig is a Mesa Roadking/Soldano 4x12 + Avatar 2x12, 5150 Combo w/Peavey 4x12. Gibson Guitars(Invader, Explorer, V) ESP EC-1000, Ibanez 400 Series. I sure a hell would get another if this were stolen...plan on getting another anyway just incase this fries....not worth fixing at this price. Great match with the Tonelab...if you have a TL, try it out. Have the other older Epi 5W Combo 8" and IMO this Jr blows it away. I use it as a footrest. Anybody wanna buy an amplified footrest?

What features? On/off swich, volume knob, and 4,8, and 16 ohm out. 5 watts. 1 EL84 poweramp tube and 1 12AX7 preamp tube. Solid state rectifier. No loop, no reverb. Just volume. Maybe weighs 5 lbs. Really nice compared to lugging around something like an old fender.

I figured what do I have to lose with this thing? 99 bucks, free shipping for Musician's Friend, and if I didn't like it, put it right back in the box and send it back. For 99 bucks, this thing is awesome.

I'm running a Custom shop Showmaster (strat basically) and a Fender Tele through a dyna comp, Bad Cat 2 tone, a tremelo and DL4 delay. From the head I'm hooked into a Carvin Legacy Cabinet loaded with vintage 30's. Remember that the amp itself has no EQ control, but it doesn't need it either. 5 watts doesn't leave you with a lot of head room. When I plug the guitar straight in to the amp and slam the volume full it grits up really nice. This thing has some balls after all. Not really ideal volume unless you're putting a mic in front of the cab, but that's what I do and it works for me.

I'm not going to inflate the score of this thing. There are many other amps that sound better than this. But I also realize that for what it is, it's awesome. For 99 bucks, it's a freakin' amazing. It's a pretty good tube sound for 99 bucks. Better than the Fender Blues Junior in my opinion.

Already dopped it once. Other than a couple of scuff marks it seems to be alright. Took a look inside and found everything to be nice and secured well. But seriously, if it really were to break to a point where I couldn't fix, I would just buy another one.

I've been playing for 8 years. I'm hardcore about my tone, and this amp doesn't nail what I like, but it does a good enough job. If it were stolen or lost, I probably would buy another one. It's nice to have the little thing sitting around. Very ideal to have if you don't want to lugg around heavy stuff. Take a chance and snag one if you can. Seriously, it's a tube amp with a tube sound. Take a chance, and if you don't like it just send it back.

This is a review for the Epi. Valve Jr. head. A great little, super simple, low watt tube amp head. The feature list is short as the amp only has the single volume knob, an on/off switch and three speaker outputs(4,8,16 ohm). Power is rated at 5 watts from a single Sovtek EL84 power tube configured in the classic open ended class A design. The pre-amp section features a single Sovtek 12AX7 tube. That`s it in a nutshell. No f/x loop, no midi-switching, no variable voicing, no built in effects. Just pure class A tone in the simplest signal path available.

I bought this amp knowing exactly what it was so there are no features I wish it had. I wanted a pure sounding, simple, low watt head to use in a simple little "blues" rig I`m setting up. Just for kicks, and this is what the amp does in spades. I wanted a low power head since I play only at home and don`t need deafening volume. Although the 5 watt output is plenty loud and suprises most players who try it.

Since I bought this head with a specific tone in mind, I have to say it performs very well. I wanted a raunchy, rude blues tone and that`s a spot on description of this little amp. It does exactly what I wanted so I am very happy with it. Especially at this price point.

As I continue to build this little blues rig, I hope to add a good inexpensive semi-hollow guitar and an Avatar 2x12 closed back cab loaded with Greenbacks. I`ve chosen an Ibanez Artcore AGS83B to use with the VJ head and will be buying it in less than two months. I can`t wait. Right now I`m playing an assortment of solid body electrics through the VJ and my Boogie standard 4x12 with V30`s. I have five different guitars loaded with an assortment of Duncan, Dimarzio and EMG pickups and all sound great through this little amp.

Through the Boogie 4x12 the VJ has a slightly dark and smokey tone. The clean tones below 11:00 on the volume are complex and sweet. Not Fender sparkle, but very pleasing in it`s own way. At this volume level the amp is super dynamic. You can go from clean to slightly over-driven tones by changing your pick attack. It`s nice to have this much control without having to touch your guitar`s volume knob. From 11:00 to 2:00 the distortion starts coming on and the amp gets very slightly compressed. You can still easily control the amp`s dynamics with your guitar`s volume knob at this point. This is the sweet spot of this amp and there are tons of tones in this volume range. From 2:00 to max the distortion gets more compressed and takes on a very rude and ratty tone. At max volume the VJ pumps out a pretty fair amount of distortion. It should be able to handle anything from blues to classic rock.

The volume taper is linear and very use-able through it`s entire range. From 0 to 11:00 the amp gets loud enough to jam with. In fact it`s loud enough to play a party or coffee shop without micing. From 11:00 to 2:00 the volume pretty much maxes out at a pretty high level. It`s louder than what you would expect, but not painfully loud in any way. Loud enough to easily play small gigs while miced up and using the amp as a monitor on stage. From 2:00 to max the amp doesn`t get any louder and starts compressing with increased distortion. If you play with a large or loud band you will need to mic this little amp, but don`t be suprised when you hear it for the first time. 5 watts is pretty darn punchy and loud.

I`ve found the VJ head to be the quietest tube amp I`ve ever used. Compared to my Single Recto it is absolutely noise free at idle. Even with the volume maxed it is very, very quiet.

Since this amp does exactly what I bought it for, I`ll give it a rating of 10. For $99.00 you are not going to beat it at raunchy, rude blues tone.

The first thing I did when the amp came out of the box was make a super close inspection. Inside and out. The fit and finish is very good and I found no cosmetic flaws. I took the chasey out of the head box and examined the guts of the amp and was pleasantly suprised there as well. The layout is very clean with plenty of working room for any needed repairs or wanted mods. The circuitry is all loaded on one PCB which is mounted very well. The jacks and volume pot are seperately mounted on small PCB`s and are connected with spade connectors. Everything was tight and right. I have had no trouble at all out of mine in the last three months.

With the super simple layout and circuit design the chances of a breakdown are minimal. Short of being kicked down a long flight of stairs, dropped in the ocean or set on fire, I think it should be very dependable. I still wouldn`t gig without some type of backup though. Murphey`s law and all of that, you know.

My only dealings with Epiphone customer support was when I was looking for a supplier of the red tolex used on the VJ head. They responded to my email within one day, but unfortunately they couldn`t help me find the exact tolex. Oh well.

I`ve been playing for about 20 years, but recently have become interested in the blues. I`ve always been a metal head so I didn`t want to spend a lot of money on a "blues" rig. Therefore this little amp worked out really well for me. It gives me the tone I`m looking for and the price can`t be beat.

My gear list includes...LTD EC-1000, LTD Viper 1000, Ibanez RG421, Fender Esquire Custom Scorpion, Jackson JS30RR, Mesa Boogie Single Recto head, Boogie standard 4x12 and assorted effects from MXR, Digitech, Boss and Dunlop.

I don`t know why anyone would steal this little amp head, but if they did I would just buy another one. I love the simple, honest tone this little amp puts out. It`s very musical, easy to play and is a joy to jam through. As far as I know there is nothing else on the market to compare or compete with it. At least not under $100.00

If anyone wants a pleasant, complex clean tone that developes into a rude , ratty blues tone as the volume goes up. Then do yourself a favor and buy one of these little amps. Not the most versatile amp, but great at what it does. It would be awesome for recording since it`s so quiet and would work very well to fill out any guitar rig.

you can get this head shipped to your door for $99.95 from musicians friend. this amp only has a few features, volume, on/off switch, and 3 jacks for 4,8,16ohm speaker on the back. the cabinet looks nice and seems to be made well for the price.

this amp sounds better than it should for the price. i played it with my strat, and an epiphone les paul, and it sounded great with both. i tried a few pedals with it, and it responded well. i am currently getting the best sound from the strat into a modified boss ds-1 to the valve junior, into a 1x12 alnico mojo tone speaker.

too soon to tell, but it seems to be made well for the price.

overall, i would say this amp is a steal for the price. you can't get anything that sounds this good for this amount of money, anywhere. take a look around and see what kind of amp 100 dollars will get you. i have only been playing guitar for about 2 years, and i have never played through the top dollar gear. most of the amps i have owned have fallen into the $150 dollar or less category, and i think if you are used to playing premium or vintage gear, you might not like it, but if you are used to playing 100 dollar gear, you will love it. it might not sound as good as your friends bad cat or your daddies old marshall, but for $100 dollars shipped to your door, you cannot go wrong with this amp.

Brand new, shiney, vinyl-smelling Chinese box with a switch and a knob on the front (with some words silk screened on it so you know what you're playing through) and a plug and three jacks on the back.

If you want "features" then plan on spending more cash! I'm assuming that anyone who buys one of these knows what they are getting, and therefore thinks it has all the features it needs to have.

I use this little guy in my studio and jamming with friends. Mostly I use it to help me pick up chicks! Really though, it's a cool little tube head and I'm having a ball with it! It has everything it promised. Not very versitile, but I knew that going in.

I play a host of guitars through this amp. A humbuckered Tele Deluxe, a P-100 Les Paul Special, a dog-eared P-90 Ibanez (Les Paul Jr.) and a zebra humbuckered Dean V. Each guitar sounds fine but I don't get quite the veriaty of tones that I do with my other heads. But they all sound tough and aggresive!

I usually like driving my amps up to the edge. I'm not a metal head, but I live for that classic, aggresive, overdriven guitar tone, ala AC/DC, Dinosaur Jr. or maybe the Replacements. I play everything from acoustic folk (not through this amp) to heavy Neil Young, to Petty, punk, blues, rock, alt rock...like most of us here. Even a "little" alt country (Drive-by Truckers, Cross Canadian Ragweed).

Nice little quiet amp (as I expected). Only noise I get is with single coils...huh? This amp makes one tone only IMO that counts or matters. It is made to be cranked to at least 2:00 o'clock and overdriven. Anything below 12:00 is pretty worthless with the way I have it tubed. And all that rich el84 tone remains trapped inside waiting to breath. I'm sure saying that will piss off a lot of people here! But really, this amp is made to be pushed, and it takes it well. I personally feel that a vintage class A amp doesn't produce "Distortion." It may cause your speakers to distort, but that's a function on driving the amp hard...aka "Overdrive"

Oh, I'm playing this through a 4x10 Carvin tweed cabinet usually. I prefer the 4x10 to my Marshall 2x12. The 2x12 sounds a little bassy to me, and with no Tone control, you pretty much have to take what you can get! I love the tone with a Tube Screamer or a Daddy-O pedal in front to eq the sound a little.

Looks to be well built and if the Chinese thing has anybody worried, I've owned a Chinese-built Pignose head for three years (also running in class A) and I'm still on the factory preamp tubes. And if this little Epi goes down, I suspect people will just toss them in the garbage and pick up a new one...when they're in stock!

I could not use this by itself at a gig because it only does one thing well. There is no "clean" with this amp. Okay, you can mimic a clean channel but then your volume is too low to be of any use, so I'd have two heads A/B'ed for anything live. But I will take this little guy out once in a while.

We'll all let everyone know how these hold up in about a year. Until then, I'll just push the livin' sh!t out of it and see what happens.

Epiphone is not Gibson! Gibson may treat you okay on the phone, but come on. You're a guy (or gal) who popped for a $99 amp. Do you really think they care?

But, a five year warranty is cool! That's better than most amp companies.

24 years of strappin' on the guitar and it's nice to pick up decent, inspiring gear now and then. I have two other amp heads (I'm a class A half stack kind of guy), a Carvin Vintage 50 (class A) and the above-mentioned Pignose GVR-60 (also class A with the help of THD Yellowjackets). I'd buy this little amp again because it's just so darn cute! And it kicks a little ass too.

Reading these reviews makes this amp sound like the greatest thing since the dual rectifier. It's not! I think the price is attracting a lot of previous solid state users, which is a good thing (life's to short to put up with bad sound!) but this amp gives you just a taste of what el84 tubes can do. They really sound nice on a gritty but clean setting, which is tough to get with this amp. I too retubed this bugger with JJ's because as others have said, Sovteks are kind of industrial and sterile sounding. But it was pretty good out of the box.

There are always thing you wish it had but I can't ask for anything more because I feel I got more than what I paid for. Make no mistake, this is a true bargin in a class A tube head but it's also kind of a one-trick pony. But it's a nice little trick!

And to all those who think this amp is under rated at 5 watts, it's because you've been hearing solid state watts for too damn long. Class A watts are big! Play this through a single 8" speaker and it'll sound small. Plug into a 4x12 cabinet, and it'll sound huge. You got to love that!

One volume, power on/off, 3 output jacks, one input......... THATS IT
THATS ALL YOU NEED
I bought 4 and run 2 through 2 custom made Avatar cabinets, both with one Celestion V-30 and one G-12 30 in each. The other 2 are backups. Sound awesome with a Groove Tube swap out. It cost me a WHOPPING 22 bucks for the swap. Now they rival my Dr. Z, THD and Two Rock. I use the little buggers live too........... along with my 2 Carvin V3's set to 50 watts a piece. I have them on the road right now and after 40 days out here gettin the snot beat outta'em, they're still going strong.

We play a bloozy rock ala Buckcherry, Silvertide. I use ES-335's, Washburn HB-35's, Strats with Humbuckers in the bridge, a Tele and 2 LP's with burstbuckers in one and JB's in the other. Effects are, in order, CRY BABY, TS-808 (original), TS-9, Keeley modded BOSS BLUES DRIVER, Boss MEGA DISTORTION, LITTLE ALIGATOR volume pedal, BOSS Delay... then to a Radial Amp Splitter then to the amps. They are noiseless and absolutely LOVE effects pedals. Absolutely great for our Music and for any style but metal really.

Again, I have them on the road. 4 of them, 2 for use live, 2 for back up. I use them in conjunction with a Carvin V3 (which is also backed up). They all have Avatar 2-12 cabs loaded with one Celestion v-30 and one G-12-30. SOUNDS AMAZING. Very think and bluesy.

Havent had to deal with them at all yet. Dot think ill need to either.

Been playing for 15 years. I own numerous strats, LP's, ES-335's, HB-35's, Tele's, ES-145's, and PRS's. Ampwise I have Fender Twins, Twin Reverbs, vibrolux and Supersonic; Music Man HD-130's; Carvin XB1000's, V3's, and MTS's; Marshall JTM-45's, JCM 800 & 900's, JCM 2000's; Dr. Z Mazerati and Prescription ES; Divided by 13; And THD Univalve. Avatar, Marshall, Bogner and Divided by 13 cab's. I would def buy it again if stolen. I love it period. Simplicity is key. Too many knobs, too much indecisiveness over tone. I hate nothing about it. I just wish it had power amp out, slave in jacks. Thats all.

One volume knob and an on-off switch...and a power cord. 5w EL84 class A chinese amp. Multiple ohmage speaker outs and that's about it. Supposed to be simple, and well, on that issue a resounding success. I'll give it a 10 as it compares favorably in features to all other amps that only have one knob. Yes, among one knob amps, it's definitely a 10 as it definitely only has one knob. I double checked this several times to be sure.

I tested this extensively with an Ibanez RG42 with the Infinity Humbuckers, and a Fender USA Strat with a Seymour Duncan Strat-sized Lil '59 Humbucker. I used a Planet Waves 12' guitar cable into the amp, then a normal amp speaker cable to a 1x12 closed back cab loaded with a Celestion Vintage 30 8 ohm speaker. So the signal path was quality from beginning to end. At first I was really digging this amp, as it has the all tube response and feel that I expected. In fact it was a better feel and response than I expected as I'm used to Class A/B, which are a little saggy feeling (as opposed to snappy feeling like this Class A). That's the best I can describe it, as the amp seemed to have a lightning fast response, which was good. The clean sounds were great, very harmonicallly complex as you'd expect, and the distortion (everything past 12 o'clock) got progressively more rich. If you want to know what the distortion sounds like, play Steely Dan's "Reelin in the Years". That's it. From about 3 o'clock upwards things start to level out soundwise, and it may get slightly louder, but it doesn't get much better. Both guitars sounded different and I feel their true nature was reflected in the output. HOWEVER... at anything past 10 o'clock, this amp has an upper high frequency noise which sounded like what you hear when your ears are ringing. A piercing sound that was like an icepick in the ears. I first tried dialing this out with the tone controls on the guitars to no avail. I then stuck an eq in front of this thing, and again no luck. I then played this exact set-up through my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (same guitars, cables and speaker cab) to check, as I thought maybe my ears ARE ringing. Nope. I tried the eq's on distortion pedals, and then I rigged an rack mounted eq into the signal chain before this thing, and still, that f'n sound. Very, very sad as this amp actually sounded and felt good. I thought maybe it's the tubes, but I doubt it as I know what microphonic tubes sound like, as well as about-to-blow-reduced-output tubes, and this wasn't it. Have someone scream into your ear for a few minutes, and then go into a quiet room and listen to the ringing noise, amplify that sound and that's it. Maybe it was just this particular amp, but I quickly sent it back. I had a suspicion that $99 would buy a flawed design made of the cheapest components that it's possible to source from slave labor. The sad part is that for many people, this will be theirs, or worse yet, their kids first tube amp, and they'll get past the return date before they notice this, by which time they'll actually have tinnitus from the sound, so they'll be double screwed. I wasn't too happy about this, and yet it could be a one-off situation so I'm not going to give this category a rating.

This thing felt really well built. Quite heavy, and packaged well. However, when you strip out the sellers profit ($20), the shipping cost from China ($10), Epiphones profit ($20), the cost of the packaging ($3), the Chinese manufacturers profit ($20), Labor ($10) you arrive at approx. $83 cost, leaving approx $16 worth of parts that actually compose this thing. So no, I would not gig without a backup. Since all amps have this cost structure to some degree or other, I would not balk at paying $600 to $700 for a decent amp. At least then you'll be gigging with with about $100 bucks worth of parts, including some additional tone controls.

I've never dealt with Epiphone. The seller (a catalog company) was very good about taking this back and I'm sure they'll sell it to someone else. Hopefully not you.

I've tried several low cost solutions over the years that seemed to-good-to-be-true (digital modeling anyone??). $99 for a quality tube amp is not possible and I would advise you to buy something better. There is a reason that Gibson gets $500 for this same amp configuration. People think it's the name, and they're right. Gibson gets $500 for this same amp because the Gibson name means very high quality design, parts and build. For kicks, I went to a music store and played the little Gibson 5 watter, and yep, it's how this one should sound. Damn, it's $400 bucks more, which I can't afford right now, but at least I learned something.

One knob, killer tone. Has a 4, 8 and 16 ohm outs. Simple, toneful, incredible (sound and value!).

It'll do everything up to metal... and even that if you stick a pedal in front of it. It's all in there, just twist the dial to find the zone (hint: try about 2:30!).

A 5 year warranty?! For $99?! You gotta be kidding! It is a very simple design, so aside from tubes (which are only warrantied for 90 days) there's not much to go wrong here. Still, if it does... it's covered for 5 years!!

$99, no tax and delivered to your door. Amazing. This amp sounds better than amps costing 3, 4 and even 5 times as much! Hell, after using mine for a couple of weeks I bought another to modify! At the price of a decent foot pedal, why not? This is, quite simply, THE BEST gear deal I have ever seen. Period.

Features: Volume Knob. The rest is in your guitar and hands :) Single Channel no frills all tube 5 watt head.
Perfect for Crankin it up anywhere you can get away with moderate sound levels. Ideal for recording or lower/mid volume jam sessions.

I play 3 guitars so when I got the head I ran it through the line up. A Squier Strat, Squier Tele Custom H+H, and modified tele with P-90 in the bridge position. I bought it for some gritty nasty blues tones. I like to crank it up and do penatonic scales for fun. I'm not a good blues player by any means, so I do it just to amuse myself and annoy my neighbors and wife. This amp is perfect for that. Will it satisfy your Tweed or Skylark "Jones" or GAS, probably not. But if you want an inexpensive tube amp that does what a small tube amp will do it's a good buy. You really can't find anything this good in this price range new.

The newer heads are quiet. Even with the volume pegged it was very quiet, even by solidstate standards. Pretty impressive, considering how noisey the first ones were reported to be.

Nice break up with the volume around 12 to 1 o'clock. With the volume cranked you get some of that spongey quality. With my single coils it's a little nassily, but I like that. Sounded pretty sweet on low volumes clean. Yea, it's only one knob you may be thinking, but it responds to your playing dynamics and guitar controls, so it's not really a limiting factor. I've heard an E-Q pedal can really bring out some magic in these heads. I'm not a tone freak so I wouldn't bother.

There's a lot of talk about modding these to get better sounds. Also, there's no limit to what you could spend on a speaker to find that ideal tone. I plugged in my 2-12's from a very old Peavey Classic and they sounded fine.

5 Year Warranty. Looks sturdy for a tube amp. Definatley well made. I don't think I would gig with it, it's really not that kind of amp, but if I did I would bring an extra set of tubes and not really worry about it.

I've been playing for 16 years or so. I've owned a few vintage 50 watt Fender Heads (64 Bandmaster and a 70's Bassman), A silverface Champ and Princeton. Recently I had Blues Jr (early Made in USA) and I think the Valve Jr while not as rich sounding as my vintage gear, definatley is a contender against the Blues Jr, especially since Blues Jr's have a so so speaker.

New 2006, received from Sweetwater. It was on back order for about a month because so many people obvious know a good deal when they hear it. All the other reviews have listed the features and they haven't changed. No frills, one knob, 4ohm, 8ohm, 16ohm speaker outs in the back, on/off switch, 1-EL84 power tube, 1-12ax7 pre-amp tube & "5" very sweet watts of power. Doesn't get any simpler than that. Don't let the "5" watts fool you, it can still shake the walls and rattle the windows. Right now I'm just using it for a great little practice amp and plan to gig with it ASAP.

Currently I am using my EBMM Axis super sport indian rose wood top and neck with two Dimarzio P/U's and five way switch and the head is going to a 1X12 closed back 80Watt Marshall cab. I haven't hooked my pedal board up to it yet but I'm sure it will take it as well as my 72 Fender Bassman 50 head does. So far the amp just by its self sounds great. Very impressive.

At first with the volume knob around 9 O'clock it was clean as a whistle. 12 O'clock just a hint of breakup and only if you hit the strings hard. At about 1-2 O'clock is where the dirt starts to come in and it's a nice old school dirt. I cranked it wide open and man it really has a nice vibe to it. I like how easy it is to control this thing with your guitar volume knob. The amp will clean up nicely when you roll the volume knob down and then back up for some nice lead work. For a one channel one knob amp I must say they designed this thing well. If you need EQ then I suppose you could put one in front of it but honestly it is voiced very well. Also as others have said "Very Quiet Operation" even cranked wide open. I always try to give credit where credit is do, and this thing deserves some nice credit for sure.

Haven't had it long enough to tell. But it seems to be built well and Sweetwater backs everything they sell. So no worries so far...

Pretty good from Sweetwater so far...

I've been playing for 20+ years on & off but more on as of late. My guitars are the EBMM Axis, home made Strat with EMG's, & a early 70's Fernandez Tele. The 72 Fender Bassman 50 & 1X12 Marshall Cab and this great new little toy. My pedal board is chained as follows: Boss TU-2 Tunner, Barber Tone Press, HomeBrew Power Screamer, Boss DS-1 with Keeley Ultra mod, Boss 7-Band EQ, Ibenez Digital Delay, Boss CE-5 Chorus, ISP Decimator into a Whirlwind AB-Y active spliter.

I play mostly Rock, Blues, Cristian Contemporary, and dabble in Funk & Jazz. Yep, if it were stolen I would most deffinetly pick up another or two. At this price point you cannot beat it hands down!!! Like another reviewer said, for the price of a pedal you can pick up one of these. Well said & Very true. Try one out and you will see and hear for youself. If you know what good tone sounds like then you should be impressed by this little "5" Watt gem...

Input jack, Volume control and a 4, 8, 16 ohm speaker outs. Thats it but that's all it needs! Comes stock with a Russian EL84 and 12axt.

I changed out the stock tubes with NOS's and it went from sounding really good to great. I have tried it out with two speaked cabs and it sounded good with both. My favoite is my 2-12 with greenbacks. This amp can get really loud, don't let the 5 watt rating fool you. Cranked, this is not a bedroom amp. Through the 2-12 it is easily giggable. You get a decent clean up to about 4, depending on pick-ups and tubes, and then into breakup land. No hum all the way up! Comparable to a vintage Fender Champ or the Gibson GA-5

Built very well. I'm sure the chasis componients are not up to US made standards but it seems to run well and feels sturdy.

N/A

For just plain fun it's hard to beat this amp. Sounds great, well built and has that vintage look. For $100 you can't go wrong.

One knob - idiot proof! But what a Knob clean to dirty and anyway you like it!

I use this with a tele style guitar and man does it sound sweet. Clean up to about 1:00 and then the smoothest tube distortion to heavy blues. They got it right this time. I had the Valve J Combo and the hum made me sell it alot cheaper than what I bought it for! I thought great sound but what the shit! Well I read the reviews and said I'm gonna take another chance because I loved the sound. Man I had to put my ears up to the cab to hear if it was on. The only sound is that coming from the tubes all the way cranked up! I'm sure you can change tubes and get it even quiter. It's a great blues amp and a nice rock and roll machine. I tried it with a 16 ohm speaker in the 8 ohm output and a 8 ohm speaker in the 4 ohm output. seperated the 2 cabs and was in Hog Heaven! That reviewer had it right!

It's well built and the cab is very impressive. Man I have to get another to keep in closest before everybody buys them up! Love to try them in stereo.The inside of this amp is very well put together.

Comes with a 5 year repair tag where can you get that for $99.00 delivered to your door with free shipping!

Been playing for 20 years and if it was stolen I would buy another one. It loves pedals! I put a Tri AC in front of it and man you can get any sound you want. But by itself it sounds Awesome!

There are few features on this 5 watt, 1-EL84/1-12ax7, single volume knob true tube amp. However, you can obtain different tones and uses by adjusting the amp and guitar volume. Different speaker choices affect the tone and use as well. For the price and quality tone, this amp head cannot be beat.

You can go from a clean tube sound to a pushed tube overdrive tone with any guitar. I use it with a strat with Rio Grandes, Carvin 135, G&L ASAT Classic and a Les Paul Special. They all sound very good. My favorite is my Strat because of multiple tones amoung the pickup choices. The amp is very quiet and delivers a terrific fat tube tone. I love the ability to turn the amp volume to about 2-3 o'clock and contol the overdrive with the guitar volume. This amp is great for Blues to Rock'n'Roll; especially old school rock. I think you would need to mike the amp for a medium and above size club setting, however it is loud for a 5 Watt amp!

I have owned it for about a month with no problems. I have no experience long term with such an amp built by Gibson/Epiphone.

I have never dealt with them.

I have been playing guitar off and on for 30+ years, mostly for fun.
I have owned a lot of equipment over the years. I also still use a Peavey Classic 30 and a Fender Deville. But for the price of a stomp box, this amp cannot be touched in terms of classic tube tone and wonderful tube overdrive. I would definitely buy it again if lost or stolen. Try it out, you won't be disappointed.

Want features? Go to the theater. Puhleeze! The front panel of this new 2006 model still only has one knob (Volume), an on/off switch, and an input jack, but the back panel now has 3 output jacks (4, 8 and 16 Ohm) and the jack for the grounded power cable. I count that as 7 features. Okay? Maybe 10 if you count the amp?s fuses, cabinet handle, and 4 rubber feet. There are 3 in-line fuses located on the power transformer wires and will require the removal of the back panel for servicing. Same for changing tubes.

Cabinet construction is very tight and clean, and the aesthetic look of the tolex covering and piping is excellent. The metal protectors on every corner of the cab should keep it in good shape for years to come. The designers have thoughtfully included a black grill insert on the back to help cool the tubes while keeping curious rugrat fingers from getting scorched.

Inside, the soldering workmanship is good, the wiring harness is neat and tidy; and, unlike the tangled mess in the previous incarnation of this amp, this model only has 3 power transformer wires unused and sealed to prevent shorts. Add to that the new RF shielding in the top and sides of the cab, and it's no wonder they were able to tame the former Epi Jr. combo?s nasty noise problem. There is epoxy dabbled around a few wire connections and the larger capacitors to keep them solid to the circuit board. Wiring to the power switch and power jack use common spade-lug connectors for easy servicing. Components attached to the front or back panel also enjoy the extra security of epoxy, with the exception of the 3 output jacks. I wonder why they didn?t do those, too. They certainly thought of everything else. Anyway, this is a really simple plug in, turn on, turn up and play kind of amp.

If you?re looking for a bedroom amp with excellent tone that is this much fun to play in the crunch zone, best to look into the ?watt ZVex Nano. This Epi is a bit too loud to consider a bedroom amp. There is no standby switch, so simply be patient and let it warm up for 15 to 20 minutes before you play. It makes a huge difference in the quality and depth of the harmonics this amp generates, and your tubes may last for years instead of months.

Test guitars included a Fender Strat w/Duncan Vintage Staggered p?ups (w/custom de-stagger) and Callaham bridge; and a Gibson Historic 67 V w/sheilded Duncan Alnico II?s, coil taps, phase switch, ToneStyler tone control, pure silver wiring, and a TonePros bridge. Zaolla Silverline guitar cables and jumpers, and Monster speaker cables were used throughout. Test speakers and cabs included an Orange 4x12 w/Celestion Vintage 30?s; Marshall 1x12?s w/Vintage 30?s; Mesa Theil 1x12?s w/EVs; Mesa Recto 1x12 w/Mesa/Celestion 90; and a Kustom 1x10 w/Jensen P10r. Test pedals included an RMC Picture Wah, ZVex Fuzz Factory, H.B.E.Germainium, ToneBone Classic, Mesa V-Twin (with 5751 tubes), ect., etc..

The tone is pure Class A all the way. There is absolutely no 60 cycle hum; and with nothing plugged in, you?ll actually have to crank it to 10 and get your ear next to a speaker to hear any ?air? from the tubes. Regardless of what kind of guitar you play, you?ll hear YOUR guitar?s tone in a way which can only be described as fat, warm, and full of harmonics. And that?s just the clean tone. With its solid state rectifier, it has the punch of a much larger class AB tube amp, but compresses perfectly when pushed into a clip.

With the volume full up, you get great power tube grind. Individual notes within chords retain reasonable definition, and the individual tonal character of each test guitar was able to shine through the signature distortion of the EL-84 power tube. Speakers like the EV or the Jensen P10r made a significant difference in the apparent brightness of the amp when compared to a warm Celestion Vintage 30, so keep this in mind when searching for the perfect speaker for your rig. In fact, a very pleasing tonal balance can be heard from 2 Vintage 30?s at 8 Ohms each, wired in series for a 16 Ohm load and plugged into the 8 Ohm jack on the amp; plus, an 8 Ohm EV plugged into the 4 Ohm jack. When the EV and Celestions are separated across the room, notes seem to hang in the air with a ghostly 3D image that is totally hypnotic.

Although you may find yourself plugging straight in just to hear that perfect, unadulterated tone of your guitar; this amp LOVES being pushed hard by pedals. Don?t be deceived into thinking this is amp a one trick pony. This amp works WITH effects instead of against them and that actually made it easier to work with my own pedals when dialing up ?that sound?. The amps natural distortion isn?t too compressed as is, so it can take really hot overdrives and fuzz pedals with ease. This amp lets you hear the character of distortion and fuzz pedals, even when the amp is already fairly distorted.

I love to play the dynamics of an amp, and I found the balance between the Sovtek 12AX7WA tube in the preamp, and the Sovtek EL-84 tube in the power amp is as near perfection as I can ever hope to find. The same tone with more preamp gain and crunch is easily obtained by using a Sovtek 12AX7WXT+ tube. More clean headroom can be attained with a Sovtek EL-84 tube rated on the harder side and a lower gain preamp tube. Chinese or Czech tubes will offer varying differences in character and dynamics, and I also tried 12AT7?s and 5751?s, but I found this particular amp likes bottom shelf Sovtek tubes best for my style, which is great because the bottom of my spare tube box is full of ?em.

Got it only 5 days ago, but I?ve already bumped it really hard a few times. It?s not that heavy, I?m just clumsy sometimes. Fortunately for me, this amp has a protective tube cap on the 12AX7 and a spring clip on the EL-84; and thanks to the metal corners on the cab, my amp is just fine and the tolex is still unblemished. I?d love to do a gig with it, even without a backup, but only if I can mic it to the PA.

I haven?t needed it for this amp yet, but I have dealt with Gibson?s customer service in the past and would demand the same overkill-level of excellent service from their Epiphone division. However, we?re only talking about a $99 amp; so, if a part does happen to fail, I wouldn?t hold my breath during repairs in the hope of finding a free T-shirt in the mailbox. The Valve Jr. has a 5 year warranty (90 days for the tubes). So far, so good, but I will save my receipt and send in the registration form, just in case.

I?ve been playing tube amps for 42 years, and this Epi head has got to be the best-bang-for-the-buck tube amp I?ve ever seen, heard, played, or owned. Ever! From bluegrass or jazz to heavy rock, this amp is flat out FUN to play, and its exceptional tone is available to all for the ridiculously low price of 99 bucks. I already have too many amps, but would I buy another if this one were stolen? Are you kidding me? I want another already! God bless you Henry J.

2006 VJR head

The amp is what is is... a 5W tube amp head with a volume control, no EQ, single input and 3 speaker outputs for 4ohms, 8ohms, and 16ohms.

The amp is short on features, whihc makes it PERFECT to front-end with your fave pedals.

I'm running it throuhg the Epi 4x12 Triggerman cab.

I use Gibson humbucker-equipped, archtop guitars. I am using the amp for rock/blues, which I think is what it is best suited for.

The amp is not noisy at all.

As for naked amp tones, the amp does EL84 cleans up to a point where it starts to overdrive. The overdrive is prety nice.

But I use MFX pedals, so I'm using it as a clean base for the MFX pedal.

This amp with my 335 and a good MFX pedal throuhg the Triggerman cab sounds awesome! I wasn't liking the 335 that much - too bright, too chimey, but with the VJR, i'm loving it again.

I have no idea. I assume due to its simplicty it'll last and last. The cab is very sturdy and there's not much to go wrong.

Epiphone has been good to me in the past. This amp has a 5 year warranty.

10+ years. I own Fender amps. A line out on the VJR would be all it needs to be eminently more useful.

Features? 1 knob? Who cares! Though having output impediance selections for 4 8 and 16 ohms is really helpful.

Using a home made tele with Dimarzio Virtual Vintage in the neck position and Air Classic by the bridge, the clean is not what this amp is about. However, the gain setting is just unreal.
The best most musical distortion I've ever - and I mean ever -
had. Using a home made cabinet with 2 Carvin VL-10's wired for 4 ohms.

Just got it yesterday, and have about 2 hours on it.
The EL84 gets pretty hot, so we'll see how it lasts...

I don't exepect that there's going to be much customer service on a 100.00 amp.

It came with sovtek 12AX7WA and EL-84 tubes. It didn't sound that great with those tubes. I replaced them with a sovtek 12AX7LPS
and a GTEL84S. Then holy cow -the amp came alive. Really really musical sounding. Think Vox AC15...

Very simple: input jack, volume, on/off, speaker connect. If price is a feature, it's a 10.

good tone through my 12" Weber speaker cab - currently favor the les paul with this setup. Nice tube drive. I use a couple pedals: a touch of delay, and occasional overdrive. The natural breakup point depends on your PU's and speaker. But left of midnight is pretty clean; tubey dirt is on the right.

nice for low volume blues, jazz, classic rock. Excellent value - kool little head for the price of a pedal.