Epiphone Valve Special Combo

Pretty well explained by other reviews: made in 2007, 5 watt tube amp, 10" speaker, built in digital effects and reverb.

Mine has been modified, though. I replaced the generic 10" speaker with a 12" Celetion. The cabinet is just barely big enough but a bit of routing the new speaker fits perfectly. I have also completely bypassed the digital effects and reverb so that the sound chain is as analog as possible. This makes the amp basically a single channel tube amp with low, mid, treble controls.

I wasn't going to bother writing a review until I read the one written by "David." No offense, but my experience is completely different from his.

With the new speaker and no digital effefects, the amp sounds amazing! The tone is pure and sweet. The EQ controls have minimal impact, but adjusting the Gain and Master Volume controls gives a pretty impressive range of tones.

This is easily the loudest 5 watt amp I have ever heard. Last night I played played bass with two guitarists; one used my Epi with a Strat and the other a Vox AC15 with a Tele. My Epi blew away the Vox!

This amp also loves pedals. I have an assortment of the Danelectro mini pedals even these "cheap" effects really shine through the amp.

Some have complained about how heavy the amp. Well it is and I'm glad! A large part of a combo amp or speaker cabs sound comes from the box itself. Rather than going with lightweight (usually = cheap) materials, this box is as solid as they come. That stability really adds to the speaker performance.

I have been inside the amp itself and was impressed by how clean everything is. Nice and tidy. Makes it easy to modify or fix.

The tube sockets and spring clips are a bit flimsy, however.

Never had to use.

To my mind, this is the perfect amp. Every signal chain starts with a good guitar into an amp with the best clean tone. Then you can add whatever you want to get your sound. Starting with a crappy clean sound is just asking for trouble.

This amp only does one thing but it does that better amps costing 4-5 times as much.

This is a brand new amp. At first look you think this is an amaizing amp. Master volume, Reverb, Efx. plus bass, mids, and treble. Class A amp. If you look schematics the first tube its on parallel like some marshalls. A knockout for the price...but..

I Powered up and 15 min later the play button. Hum. I plugged my PRS and the sound was ok, nothing to celebrate. i connect the speaker from my 66 pacemaker and the tone comes alive. The stock epi speaker its lifeless. The clean tones are ok, but the strong point of this amp is the overdrive because you can crank all the stages of this amp at low volume. You will never get metal dist, or some high gain with out stomp box. The reverb and the DSP are noisy and below the average. The construction is ok but HEAVY for a 5 watt amp. I dont see the point of a 44lbs. 5 watt amp. I weighted all the parts and the most was the box. Wood press is so heavy and too thick, thinner wood or ply wood could be great for the weight.

I will never gig with it. Too heavy and low wattage even for small clubs. If you plan to play in starbucks its ok, but for the size and the weight i rather a micro cube or a behringer amp. I'm too close to get my money back. Maybe I will. i dont know.

The amp came with small tear in the back tolex. I blame UPS in the first place but the box was not beat in any way. I was not aware that the amp was dancing inside the box in a plastic bag with small pices of carton. VERY POOR PACKED. I think this an epiphone fault. not ZZounds

Playng for +20 years, own a PRS Cu 24, a ES 335, Fender Bassman 10, Epi pacemaker, acoustic and nylon guitars, Custom Made Bass

Fairly versitile amp, I mean unlessyou want to play metal this amp will probably help you out with clean and low gain sounds, one channel, i use this amp to practice in my basement, its got enough power to jam with an average volumed drummer,(loudest 5 watts ive ever heard,) but i definetly wouldnt use it at a show, i dont use the delay much unless im just messing around, the flange is ok i guess,the chorus is your typical built-in-to-amp quality, not perfect but usable, i could use a footswitch, but as for tone control i couldn't ask for much more. I play mainly classic rock, blues, and occasionally a little modern rock and this amp suits me well.

like i said before, i couldnt ask for much more tone control for my style of music, its got incredible tone at low volumes, cant be beat.
the overdrive is suited for blues, if you turn it up all of the way i guess you could make a sad attempt at metal but i doubt it would be any good. no humm at all, a except for a fait buzzing when the master volume and gain are at their most.

one time i thought it was breaking down but it turned out just to be my guitars input, easily fixed, so no issues.

no opinion

if it was stolen i would buy it again the next day, i compared it to another all tube 10 year old peavey, a few kustoms, a g dec, and a tube hybrid 20watt marshall, this one had the best tone.

Basic stuff with some cheap effects. The effects do what they're supposed to do though. It's a home/practice/recording amp.

This amp is dark. Rather that tweak or mod it, or change the speaker, take it for what it is. It's a musical instrument, a class a 5 watt tube amp with it's own distinctive sound. This ampmade me rediscover my strat bridge pu. Plug a twangy tele into it and yin meets yang. Kinda like Pages tele/supro combo (use the bridge pu).

no problems.

Haven't been there.

This things got Character.

Single channel, single-ended Class-A amp, with Volume, Gain, Treble, Midrange and Bass controls. 5-watts output, powered by a single EL-84 and two 12AX7 preamp tubes.

The DSP effects (Delay, Chorus, Flanger) are really really bad, but the reverb is surprisingly good.

Also, the Valve Special has a standby switch, which is a plus, but it lacks an extention cab line-out and an effects-loop.

Note to Epiphone: get rid of the incredibly cheesy DSP effects, add an effects-loop and an extention-cab line-out, and you've got something to crow about.

Unlike so many amp manufacturers who falsely advertise "Class-A" operation with two or more power tubes, the Valve Special is a true single-ended "Class-A" amplifier, with only one EL-84 power tube.

I play mostly blues and early-70s rock. My axes are Strats and Lesters with Lollar pups, and I'm able to get a big fat tone out of this amp without a whole lotta mud. Bass is set at 9 O'clock, with the Mids and Treble maxed-out. But the trick is to max-out the Volume knob, so you're pushing the power tube, then dial in the Gain knob to between 9 and 12 O'clock, depending on taste. The result is a very nice bluesy sound with just a bit of crunch on top. The stock 10" speaker is mediocre at best, so I'm going to up-grade to a Jensen Alnico 10' rated at 15-watts. Also, the stock tubes sound a bit lifeless, so a tube up-grade is called for as well.

On the plus-side, the amp handles stomp-boxes very nicely with only minimal singal noise or microphonics. For only $375 (Canadian Dollars), the Epiphone Valve Special is a very pleasant surprise.

Only has it for less than two months...

I've been playing for 35 years, and this "true Class-A" amp is defintely worth $375.

Great for practice, rehearsal, and small club dates.

The serial indicates a 2005 mfj. date. I originally purchased this product because I wanted to tear it apart and see if I could add some embelishments or refinements. Also there were no Valve Jr. heads available. The amp is versitile and has relatively good tone. The features are nice and the reverb sounds better than in my Roadking I. I was intrigued by the price I expected crap and received quite a supprise. I will use the amp for practice and if I go over to a friends house. Its quite full featured for the price.

Variety is not strong point of a single ended amp, however, with the reverb and the DSP more sounds are available than expected. The amp will distort with the gain on full and the tone stack in the right posotions. It is most likely that the tone stack eats much of the voltage going in to the second 12AX7. It is most likely a tone recovery stage and also a unity gain amp for the DSP. A schematic will quickly tell. I tried it with Humbuckers however it sounds real fine with single coil. With a neck pickup (either) it dumps most of the highs, however is great for Jazz. I still prefer My Twin or a solid state for Jazz styles. The distortion is edgey and is embelished by reverb and the lowest delay setting. The amp is noisy only at full volume.

The amp appears well constructed , however I do not have the time in to make that qualification

I have had excellent response from Gibson in the past and they have done nothing to reverse my opinion.

I have been playing 45 years. If it were stolen I would buy another. If I lost an object that large I would commit my self to some form of rehab. I love what it is not. The amp is not pretentious and dosent promise the moon and give you squat. This is a true case of less being more. This is a lot of amp for any money. I was not comparing because I was going to tear it apart and experiment because the internet cult for this amp said it was noisy and lacked tone. I like it just fine , however I may experiment on its younger brother and see if those miods are worth incorporating in the Special. I beliver that many of the mods that were made by the cult followere of this amp were incorporated by Gibson labs. If you want sonething in this line that is not lacking for anything buy the Boogie 5:25 Express. If you don't want to drop $1,100 this the amp for you.

This is an usual review in that my purpose for purchasing this amp was not traditional. The amp was purchased because no one had a Valve Jr. on hand,. especially the head. I stumbled upon this amp while checking the internet for EL34 circuits and info. The salesman said try the the Valve Special. I wasn't expecting perfection , in fact, the exact opposite. I had read about mods for this amp (Valve Jr.) and some of the short commings. I figured a couple hundred for a chassis, tubes, Xformer,case, ect. I could mod it to my hearts delight and have no guilt. The exact opposite of modifying my Road King.
I hooked up a single pickup guitar and eh, hooked it up to a humbucker equipped guitar and maybe we have something here? I played with the tone stack mid level and the preamp 3/4 for what it is it performed well enough for me to plunk down $250.00. The digital reverb with the addition of the delay can sound quite deep. In any case the reverb is still better than the reverb on the Road King I. With all applogies to Mesa Engineering the new 5:25Express's reverb is as good as it gets. Perhaps they can upgrade my reverb? Well one can dream. It must understood that many of my numbers are based on the value at such a low street price, especially, a five year warranty.

The amp has many sonic deficiencies. I must say that most of the problems that have driven an almost cult like, mod craze, I have not experineced in my amp. The hum is there, however is very low level. I may add a cap to the power supply and may not have to. However this puppy was purchased for experimentation. As it stands a bridge pickup seems to give very nice highs. However when you switch to the neck pickup it goes from bright to flat, almost a dampened Jazz sound. This with the trebble at max mid at 11 o'clock and the bass at nine o'clock.

This may be because of the tone stack gobbling up energy and possibly a non optimal operating voltage range. Further a class A amp will not be as bright. Other factors may be choice of speaker and cap values attached to the tone pots and or coupling caps. I need to open up the amp and schematically represent the circuit.

None the less I compared some of the tones I got to those on the Sixties recordings by Mike Bloomfield and they were good enough to use for practice. The effects were cheesy,(don't want the effects, don't push the switch) however used in moderation with the impressive reverb they can be sonically pleasing, just don't over do. If you want incredible go out and buy the new 5:25 Express Boogie you won't be sorry! This amp sounds nice if you are not comparing to the likes for the former, however a lot better than my first amp (a Univox 45)for which I payded the same thing, however in early 1960's dollars. My Univox did'nt have reverb!

No reason yet, just purchased. I am impressed with a five year warranty.

I will ask for a schematic. I have had good luck with Gibson in the past.

Playing 45 years. This amp would't be a blip on my deductable. If you are loosing objects this big I would be reading Phych blogs. I love it because its such a bargin. The fit and finish are great and the look is just retro enough to come back into style. There is nothing I hate or dislike enough to talk about. I really did not compare because it was not my initial reason for purchase. I wish they would up the price to cover a foot switch or include it. Most foot switches I have ever tried to get are made out of unobtainum unless you mail/E order.Based on the footswitch function it may not be worth the twenty bucks. May make my own? This is a kick ass peice of gear for the money and I will inform this page if I do any mods which make the thing killer. It is most likely that I will change the speaker. I may just collect all of them. Sometime one gets more than they bargain for, however in this case it may be a good thing.

already covered in earlier posts. i've had mine for almost a year and still love it although the effects are crappy and useless,the tone is dark,and the worst speaker i have ever heard. it is versatile on its own for those that dont have pedals.

i use this amp mainly for practice and recording. i also own a valve jr head which has a much better overall tone than the special, but i but i can get more overdrive at less volume than than the 1 knob wonder so i still prefer the special. i orgionaly swapped a celestian tube 10 which seemed better,but then put in a 12" celestian seventy eighty that came out of my crate palomino v32 (which fits by the way) now it has a much bigger sound. i also put in some j.j's tubes. it still is a little dark but i found that the digitech screamin blues is the perfect dist pedal for this amp because it is really trebely and compansates for the darkness. now i can nail the stones "can you hear me knockin?" sound. i play classic rock covers,and origionals and this amp is much better than the vox ad15vt i used to own. i can record with it in my apt without pissing off my neighbors which i cant do with my crate palomino v32. oh.... i also tried the valve jr through the special's speaker for $@#%s and giggles and it does have better clean than the special, but i like reverb which the jr doesnt have. the digital reverb sounds good to me as it doesnt get to tanky for recording.

no humm,too small to gig, ive had it on for hours at a time recording and have never had a problem.

i've prabably voided the warranty by modding to fit the 12" celestian.

i've been playing for 23 years and i own a fender hot rod deluxe amp, peavey classic 30, crate palomino v32, valve jr, valve special. my axe's... schector c1 classic, american standard strat, 1980 iceman.
if any body from epiphone is reading this...LOSE THE CRAPPY EFFECTS and SUBSTITUTE A BETTER SPEAKER!!! although the reverb is ok. this amp is dark but very warm and with a few upgrades can be really great.the sovtek tubes must go......so does the farty speaker.but thats fine none of my amps are stock. if i had to do it all over again i would still pull the trigger but i would give the crate palomino v8 a hard look as i love the v32.

read past reviews...could use a footswitch for the DSP and or the reverb, not bad though

Couldn't agree more with the one of the other reveiwers, by itself it is realy muddy and farty, with no treble...worse speaker in a combo that I have ever had but the chasis is the same size, I am pretty sure as the standard, so I put in an Eminence Texas Heat 12" speaker, and now it's night and day. Things sounds awesome. Breaks up nicely, twice as loud, yada yada. Still doesn't have brutal distortion, but hook up a pedal and man, just plain awesome. My pedal is a korg hyper distortion that has a cabinet resonator so this thing sounds like a half stack and at reasonable volumes. The speaker change balanced everything out. With issued speaker a 3, with speaker change definately a 10

Owned the Valve standard for a while and that kept cutting out, but found one of these cheap and couldn't resist due to the tone (with a few upgrades). So far so good with this one, but who knows it's a cheap chinese built amp

anwered emails in the past so kudos

Been playing 15 years, and for the price and upgraded speaker price it's still worth it as long as it holds up. I also own a Peavey XXX. The Special can hold it's own against the XXX, but not in the volume. Different tube sound which can be attributed to the Class A vs Class AB tupe setup, love em both, but the Special is better for home rockin. Also the XXX doesn't need any help in the distortion department. Wish it had a foot pedal. Would definately buy again at this price.

By now you know the features, horible speaker though, very loud 5 watts, has a bad speaker, unusable DSP....no depth control a bad speaker, dual speaker outputs, a bad speaker, gourgous looking/boutique level fit and finish and did I mention a bad speaker???. could get a nine or ten easilly with a stock quality speaker and then ask 4 times the price, kinda glad they didn't wake up to this though. Marketing messed up big time. For having to dish out big buck for a good speaker and unusable DSP, another 5 or 6 bucks at manufacturing level could have also included an effect loop and this amps would be highly sought after.

Ok here is where it gets interesting, I am going to use a deluxe super strat on this almost exclusively with a Zoom GFX5 and I put in a 12" in Celestion V30, yes, it fits snug hight wise but it fits and makes the amp very heavy, (used in many boutique amps). The speaker is ultra efficient and it has doubled the percieved volume of this amp. It brought up the treble big time, I had to pin the treble,run the mids 2/3 and almost no bass before with the stock bad speaker, now with the replacement all I can say is wow, It breaks up a lot earlier now so where I used to set the gain at about 1-2 oclock now it's at only 10-11 oclock maybe cause the cleaner speaker is not masking early break up by being so much cleaner, now I have the treble set at 2/3 (full out is way to much), mid about half and bass about half or less. The difference is outstanding.I play mostly blues and rock with some Satriani and Vai thrown in for good mesure. Well I thought that it was "Da Bomb" for blues and it is but it shines for that trebly country twang and surprise of my life, it is the best sound amp I have ever hear for full out rock/metal with my GFX5 in front of it.......holly crap, metal type distortion set with compression and I set my effects board for a bit of cabinet resonance and you can feel the thump in the floor on power chunking rythms and the best part?....wholy shit is it loud, I had a marshall AVT50 head with the matching cab and this little sucker is as lound if not more with a tighter more bell like top end kinda like a Mesa Boogie but with tons of thump......ya need pedals or a processor but, WOW, and properlly set it's dooing a real nice clean with enough head room for a drummer at clean as long as the drummer isn't pounding, but kick in the distortion and rock&roll and especially metal, well let the drummer go nuts 'cause there aint no way he's gonna bury you......5 watts...imagine. Is this a vesatile amp?, no, on it's own it's a one trick pony, clean to mid break up and does it very well and that deffines 70 percent of radio music, with a decent processor and a speaker change? It does it all and does it with ease and it's one of the best sounding amps I have heard in my life. Is it perfect, no, it hums and go figure I put in a more efficent speaker and the hum got louder....DUNH....but really it's not any worse than my Fender Vibrolux's snap, crackle and pop not to mention hiss and look at what you pay for that on trick pony....by the way, with the speaker mod this amp is getting a higher rating than the Lux!!

I haven't had it long enough to judge long term reliability, but five years waranty and a output transformer that can handle ten times the wattage and everythings seems overbuilt on this amp, ok, it's not p2p wired but sometimes that can be good and the build quality is excellent.....so far so good. I deppends more on your dealer that anything else, five years waranty?, I don't think it would have come with that kind of a warantee if they were gonna be in the shop all the time. Power amp tube will have to be changed often enough but a price to pay for class "A", preamp tube should last a good long time and the tube are prety common so that's far from expensive, time will tell.

5 year warantee, the dealer is superb, the company ?, I don't know 10 for my dealer tho.

I have been playing 42 years now, started as a little kid so I think I know my stuff, I have owned it just about all and can sing the praises of many amps and guitars. This is only the second amp I have ever swapped out a speaker on, most good quality amps come with a pretty decent speaker. The first speaker swap was because the coil seized up so I tried something else and it changed the tonal character of the amp, not better or worse, just different. The speaker swap on this one was a necessity, I thought this amp was going to become a great little practice amp to preserve my Vibrolux and the Vibrolux is also a little louder than needed for practicing, I didn't think this amp was going to become my new main amp and that I'd put the Lux up for sale !!! All I can say is if you buy on the get a better speaker for it, the amp cost does not reflect the extra coin for the speaker, so it ran a total of about $500.00 Canadian, was it worth it?, yes, every penny. Would I replace it?, yes and swap in another speaker again too. I hope that Epiphone comes to their sense and offers this amp without the DSP and with an effects loop instead and I hope they don't come to their senses and upgrade the speaker and start charging $1000.00 plus for this amp wich is what it's really worth. I say that any one being leary about this amp should give it a try, if you got a good delear the he'll take it back, they are easy to resell.