Epiphone Valve Special Combo

It is what it is.... Maybe I got a better amp than most of ya but frankly the DSP isn't noisy com pared to what I read here. Then again, I use only tubes. Give it a good kick, maybe that will help.
Needs a beer holder on the side or somewhere.

I have read all the reviews and I respect their opinions. The DSP is fine with me, I only use two effects anyway: Boss Overdrive-vintage yellow one and a vintage Harmonix stereo chorus, the one everyone wants. Now for the rip... I play 90% of the time thru a 75 Twin-rewired by Doug Anderson at Tone Zone in Pasadena so I have a good sound I Think? Very Nice... The contrast between the two is this.. NONE. lol
Basson 4x12 X 2 bottoms. That is what I use for speakers with that dinky little 5 watt. No bs... now the Basson's is 101 Db efficient but so what. It is unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I meant to put all those bats there too. There is nothing else like it for my 69SG. NOTHING.. I needed a little amp so I went with this dink, got it new for $120.00 when they first came out. DEAL.. It is a joy to play and plenty for most small gigs. I can't even turn it up. Well there ya go. Give it a try. I also was playing a 67 Marshal in the same room. No it ain't no Marshal but it didn't cost 5 grand either. thanks Dave M.

I thought that I blew it out. Try plugging it in... DA me

not yet...... better not after my rating here..

playing for 45 years, it ain't gonna get stolen! I wish that it had better tolex. like a Fender or Marshal. put together very though.. no blemishes.

This is a fairly well featured amp....

It has lots of built in FX, most of witch are completly useless.... the chorus and phaser are okay.... but add so much noize into the mix there hardly good, the delay is complete useless with the limited settings.

The reverb however is very nice

The amp has just one channel, so is a bit limited on stage and the little 10 inch speaker included with it is quite noizy

The sound is very nice for a small amp, if your looking for metal gain.... get something else, if your looking for a nice warm tone with a warm well balanced overdrive, this is perfect, it lights up the sound and has a nice warm tone, though the included speaker is very very bassy

Ive been using it with strats, telecasters and the occasional les paul, i once borrowed a rickenbacker, and it lit up with a very nice jangly sound

Because of the way the gain is handled, the clean sound is about 12 o'clock for a strat and has a tiny bit of overdrive, but its pretty good overall

Awfull...

i did get it used, but i got it from a pritty good music shop, who said that the previous owner barley used it becuase they sold there guitar with it so i assume they never got into the guitar... and it looked new...

Had it for a month and it started having intemitent startup problems, witch i think were related to the Digital FX

After about 5 months it was knackered completly, i only had the chance to gig it once...

i removed the DFX and bipassed them using a schematic i got from epiphone and it worked for a wile before the power transformer for the output went out giving it a classic "running on a lower voltage" sound... and its just not worth replacing...

Not fantastic realy...

Never managed to get it repaired, epiphone were quite helpful sending me a schematic

Ive been playing for, well ages, and this is a fantastic sounding amp for the price, but the reliability is very questionable


Ive played through some fairly good kit, from vintage valve marshall stacks to AC30's and for the price this is fantastic in comparison to the awfull solid state things you can get for the same sort of price, but make sure you get a good one ;)

10 inch speaker, I think Epiphone uses some specialty speakers for their amps. It's all stock. 5 watts Class A. 3 band eq reverb and DSP effects. Gain and master volume controls. Chicken head knobs. Covered back. A 12AX7 and an EL84. Gave it a 7 because it's pretty basic.

First off let me say, the DSP FX are useless. It's not very responsive to its eqs. I turn down the Mids all the way down and use the treble and bass all the way up and play around with that. But that's with an all stock Dot Studio. I played a Squier strat (I test gear with crappy guitars to see how good it really is) and the eqs worked fine. It mostly depends on your guitar. The drive becomes use less at around 2 o'clock (5 watts can only take so much) After that there's this "fuzz" that appears. I play a Digi Tech Valve Distortion through it and it's pretty freakin' awesome. It handles is well. Again, as others have said, this amp loves pedals. I played a Boss ME-50 through it as well, a few adjustments, and there is it! It can even sound good with a digithech RP 250...couldn't believe it either. But, here's the magic, I plugged this amp, all stock mind you, into a Marshall 4x12 and WOW! That was awesome!!! Incredible tone. I played it through the Peavey cab for the Valve King, it brought out the high-mids, the Mesa/Boogie 2x12 was neutral, but the Marshall...now that was something.

It been good so far...I've had it since Christmas...heavy though. It seems sturdy.

Overall it's a good buy. It has a great tone, clean and driven. It's my standard for driven stuff. Basically, it's my overdrive pedal. Great value!

5 watt, passable reverb, cheap digital effects, heavy, nice vintage look.

Quiet, even with single coils. Loud for its size. Nice warm overdrive with gain a 1 o'clock. Muddy with humbuckers. Good sustain. The eq controls can't brighten up the treble enough, but use an old Boss ME20, and can clean it up. As other reviewers have noted, this amp loves pedals. The Boss ME20 works wonders with this amp. One day I might try a better speaker, or switch out the tubes, but for $165., I can live with it.

It's a nice blues/rockabilly amp.

no opinion. seems solid.

no opinion

I've been playing for 5 years after a thirty year hiatus, and I wanted to try a tube amp. I've been using a line 6 pod 2, and wanted to get the feel of the real deal. I bought this used a year ago, and while I'm not crazy about it, it's a lot a bang for your buck.

This is a BEAUTIFUL amp. I recently purchased this at a local music store, and was really blown away by it's warmth. I will say, the stock 10" doesn't quite handle everything it's got, so I put a 12" Celestion Vintage 30 in it. I play in a soft rock band in Des Moines, Iowa, and with the new 12" it'll cover a drumset with the gain and master straight up at 12 o'clock. For the price, this is a great amp!

The tonal variety of this amp is absolutely AMAZING! I play a Gibson Les Paul and a MIM Tele, through a Cry Baby, a Keeley Modded Tubescreamer, a blues driver, a DS-1, and Line 6 DL4. This amp just eats these pedals right up. It'll go from blues-y, to punk, to soft rock, to Journey, and pretty much any other tone you want to throw at it. One thing that isn't so great is the DSP effects. They're basically useless.

This is one of the most reliable amps I've ever owned in my 17 years of playing. It's never given me any problems. I don't even feel it's necessary to bring a backup rig to shows.

Never had to deal with it!

Epiphone Valve Special combo purchased new from Guitar Center in 1996. I gave it a 6 because you have to know what you are getting...which is a single channel, 5 watt, class A blues and rock machine. If you expect more, you will be disapointed. The digital effects are worthless and it would have been better to have left them off the amp. Its a one trick pony but for the $$$'s it does that trick well.

I bought this amp when my kids began playing so that I could jam with/teach them at reasonable sound levels, which I can not do with my Marshalls. I did two things to the amp flat out when I bought it. 1. I built an exact replica of the combo cabinet and loaded it with a Jensen P10R to broaden the sound. I also replaced the stock Epihone speaker with a Weber Signature 10. The Jensen is bright and the Weber is midrangey, very nice!! I am considering having the digital effects removed from the circuit.

So far so good. A lot of home studio use and no problems. I dont expect any. I also bring it with to gigs as a hot spare. It is built very well.

N/A

I like to record using different amps for differnet sounds. This one has some of that old Chicago Supro tone to it, a.k.a. first Zeppelin album vibe. It really does like pedals, too.

Construction, admitted that is a well built amps.

i think the amps is best for blue, jazz music and maybe some classic rock. i tried metal-zone and sorry, just not right for me.

DSP is a real crap and noisy. But, agreed with you guys, the reverb is surprising good and sound natural which make my Behringer reverb RV-100 sound digital.

Used only in room, so although has just 5w, but LOUD.

before any mod: I like the clean sound (12'clock Gain & 12'clock Volume). EQ knobs not quite responsive.

After changing the speaker to Celestion T10 and swap JJ 12x7U, the sound has improved. However, the real improvement is after done the DSP bypass from the PSB circuit. Tone/sound becomes bright, EQ knobs more responsive to setting, and no more 'muddy' sound.

i'm using Fender Strat with bridge pickup setting and able to get a good tube tone with 1'clock Gain and 12'clock Volume. Great sounds!

No at the moment.

Appearance: lovely boutique amps looks
Sound: Good after changing speaker & tubes. Great after DSP bypass mod.
i think if Epi just stock a better speaker and get rid of the crappy DSP, this is a real good amps available in the market at that price!

my rating:
before mod 5 pts
after mod 9 pts

I've owend this amp for almost a year now, using it almost exclusivly with my Nashville Telecaster. Overall, I'm fairly pleased with its performance, a difinite good buy for the money. Specific cons would fisrt and foremost include the 16 included effects. They greatly amplify background noise when being used, and with no adjustability I haven't found many of them "practical", rather they seem kind of gimmicky. I supppose not much more can be expected of builtin effects on a budget amp, but I would rather have a nice tremelo, etc than 16 lousy effects. The amp produces a nice tube tones, especially when overdriven with the gain maxed out (which is usually where it resides for myself). Tone control could be a little better, as the EQ seems a little flat at times. The extension speaker option is a nice feature, as ive heard good things about the amp when hookup up to an additional cab. All-in-all, the Valve Special represents a great practice amp at a considerably low price.

Same as the others

I use with SG and Strat with Lace Holy Grail PUPS. This is a reveiw of the amp as purchased from the store, I have not modded or made any changes to the amp at all. My style of music is blues and classic rock and this guitar suits it perfectly. It is not noisy , in fact there are no problems with the sound at all, just a little dark. I am hoping to clear up with new speaker and new tubes. I do not think it needs any further mods because the sound is so close, just a little dark. The speaker change may be enough.

Amp can pull off the same sounds as a Hot Rod Deluxe, just not as full sounding, and not as loud. Same sounds, just better in the Hot Rod. I would call that not much variety, but if you have a good guitar, you can make a good variety of sounds. This amp LOVES PEDALS!! If you are just wanting a good basic tone to color, you cant go wrong here.

Dont know.

dont know

20 years playing, 5 years professionally. Faded SG, Stratocaster w/Lace Holy Grails.

If lost, I would replace with the exact same model. I want to say here that the other small amps sound really small. Because of the larger cabinet of the Special, it sounds like a bigger amp to my ears. Valve Standard sounded even better, but I didnt need that many watts. The only amp I have heard that comes close to real guitar sounds in this price range. I bought this only because I jammed with a guy who had a Junior that I thought sounded great for home use, when I went to try one out at the store, I heard the Special and it was just as good, for me, as a Hot Rod Deluxe, and I would much rather have this than a Fender 600 or Blues Junior.

Class A, 5 watt valve combo amp (3 valves) with built in effects (delay/chorus/flanger and reverb) and a 10 inch speaker. 1 channel.
Equaliser: gain, middle, bass, treble and master volume. And has a stand by switch to keep the valves on when your not playing and a external speaker jack. Nice 50's style Retro basket weave cab.
(Made in China).

Firstly, this is a blues amp, not for metal and is basically a practice amp with it's own tone. The stock speaker is muddy and farty and needs to be replaced, I replaced mine with a celestion g10. When you do replace it with a good speaker it will transform the amp.
The cabinet itself is fairly large for a 5 watt and so it does not suffer from a 'boxey' sound like some other small valve amps.
The reverb is certainly usable, but the digital delay, chorus and flanger are not, but you get what you pay for digital effects are never good, i didn't buy the amp for that, i had my own pedals, also when using the effects, it hums, but is barely noticeable.
As for sound, the amp is good, clean is good fairly clear and a little chimey and it gives good bluesy overdriven/crunchy sounds. I play British stuff, Stone roses and Oasis, it is fine for that, very good with a speaker replacement. The clean channel breaks up quite nicely. Rating: 7 with a stock speaker and 9 with a G10 Celestion.

The amp is fairly new, so no opinion, seems solidly built though.

No opinion, never needed to contact Epiphone, would they respond to a guy in England about his valve special? Doubt it.

You have to replace the speaker and when you do you will have a really nice amp. It is good value and has good features, the digital effects are not great, are digital effects ever great?
I replaced mine with a Celestion G10 and it sounds nice. I can now play harder stuff, more distorted, using my Boss ds1 it sounds great. I have been playing 10 years and needed a practice amp, I wanted a Fender Blues Junior but didn't want to spend ??400 on a 15 watt amp. I would say over a laney lc15 I would still buy this as it sounds good with a speaker replacement and not as 'boxey' as the laney. Instead of adding digital effects they should have just made sure a decent speaker was used. I love the look of the amp, the basket weaving, chicken knob controls, equaliser, fairly versatile, good value for money for a true class A valve amplifier for home use. No complaints. Recommended.