Epiphone Valve Junior Combo

Epiphone Valve Jr 5 watt Head has one volume knob and on/off switch. Mine is the new 3rd version with the 4, 8 and 16 ohm options for speaker out.

Sounds very dark with my Gibson Les Paul Standard, has no compression.
Is VERY loud, too loud for an apartment, breaks up nicely around noon on the volume but is too loud, so I play it with the volume around 9:00 and I use a pedal. Ive tried many pedals, the Fulltone Soulbender fuzz pedal sounds good with this amp. This amp will sound better with a Fender guitar, its a dark sounding amp and needs a bright guitar. Amp is quiet, has no hum. I run it into a 12 inch Jensen speaker housed in a Songworks closed back cab.

I already dropped it about from 3 feet in the air to the ground and nothing happened, still works, no hum.

Decent amp, very loud, needs a Fender guitar, is dark sounding, has no compression, a Maxon OD-808 overdrive tubescreamer would be perfect.

I know, it's only got one knob for volume and that's it. However, I love the absolute simplicity of it, and that one knob gives you one hell of a range of tones! I play harmonica, and playing with different settings for the amp volume and harp volume can give you everything from pristine clean to dirty, gritty, over-driven blues-harp-from-hell tone.

I love playing blues harp through this thing, because it accentuates the natural tone of the instrument rather than burying it. As one reviewer noted, this amp will work with what you give it. If your tone isn't good to begin with, don't expect it to sound good out of the amp. But if your tone is solid, it's great. The full spectrum of the tone comes through, low to high. When you open the volume to just under 3/4 (the sweet spot for me), the tone doesn't degrade into a growly mess. Instead, the tone remains strong, the overtones remain strong, all of the subtleties of your playing remain intact, and the amp simply adds beautiful, warm-sounding distortion on top of and around what you're playing. The definition of the notes aren't lost in the slightest, either, which is great for harp as you can still get all of those great percussive effects, hand effects, etc.
I'm sure there are boutique amps out there that sound better, but for $149 this has got to be one of the best values out there - I would still be impressed had I spent double or triple that amount!

So far so good.... only had it about a month. Seems to be very solidly built, though.

Have not had to deal with costumer support. However, I am impressed with how Epiphone improved this thing through the different versions (I have version 3). It seems as though they have really listened to what musicians were saying about the amp, and improved on most of the issues that were in the first and second versions. For that, I'll give an 8.

I've been playing blues hamonica for about 10 years (keyboards for 20), and this is by far the best amp I have played through. I used to own a Fender Blues Jr, and in my opinion this thing is miles ahead in tone quality! It's simple, well-constructed, and perfect for blues harp! Given the price tag of $149, this has to be one of the best deals on the planet!

I did a review on the Valve Junior Combo ( Version #3 ) in 2008 on Harmony Central and this amp is still just what I need,"Simplicity at it's Best". What I have done since my last review is I have changed out the speaker and it has made a HUGE difference.In place of the stock 8" speaker I put in a Ted Weber AlNiCo Signature 8 eight inch speaker .
http://www.tedweber.com/

I rated this section a 9 because it is what it is , back to the basics.

The stock speaker was loud as heck but it was VERY HARSH for playing harmonica through but the Ted Weber Alnico "Signature" 8" speaker brought "TONE" to the equation that is warm/responsive and when pushed it has a very smooth and chewy attack.I have been through a LOT of different brands of 8" speakers and the Webers are the BEST!

I have been abusing Weber Speakers for years now and nary a problem,they just sound better the more you play them.

Ted Weber is possibly the nicest person I have ever dealt with ! He listens to your needs and can special build to your situation and usually for cheaper than what you would pay for a stock speaker.

I have been playing harmonica for about 40 years now and amplified for 29 years and I think his speakers and the Valve Junior are about as good as it gets for my style of playing. You can check me out at
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=SteveHarvell&view;=videos

I just bought this amp today, I usually wait a few months before I review to see if it lasts. But I wanted to write one now. Features are basically non existent on this amp. But they aren't needed. Input Jack, Volume knob, Off/On Switch, and you can hook different cabs up to it too. 5W, all tube. I use this amp in my bedroom or anywhere that doesn't involve a drummer. I'll give it a 5, but the amp isn't about features. Play one, and you will see.

I use an epiphone dot, and a fender telecaster deluxe. The humbuckers in the dot create a breakup at lower volumes, while the wide range in the fender stay clean for a bit longer. They both sound great through this amp though. This is natural tube over drive and it makes me drool. It's so warm and full and beautiful... I just can't say enough about it. If your looking for a real clean amp, this isn't the way to go though. Get a fender tube w/ reverb in that case. If the overdrive is this nice through an 8" speaker , I can't wait to see how full it is through a 12". Compared to $2000 tube heads, I'm sure this isn't equal. So for the price, I'll give it a 9.

Again, I just bout it today, so I'm not sure yet. Sorry. But my dot has held up. I know for a fact that Epiphone is a quality company who produces things for real musicians. They care about there products unlike other big companies like fender. You won't have any quality issues buying from Epiphone.

I've dealt with Gibson before a few times, and they were great. No problems.

I have played guitar for about 8 years now. I'm a simple man, with simple things. I know good sound when I hear it, and this amp sounds great. It really inspires me to write. It blows my fender hot rod's overdrive out of the water(fender clean is where its at though). My advice is that you play it, and see if its right for you. Reviews are nice, but they don't mean that much in the grand scheme of things. Sit down, play it, get inspired. If you don't like the sound, move on to the next amp. I love this amp.

I picked up a V3 VJ. While it only has one control (volume) it's responsive enough that you can get a variety of tones out of it by changing the settings on your guitar, or simply modifying your attack.

In a practice room with a drummer with full kit, it had just enough head room. Add a tube screamer, you should be able to keep up.

I play garage/punk/blues/dub, and between my Jaguar and my Stratotone I find this little tube amp has the appropriate tone for most of the songs we play.

However, in my experience anyway, this amp needs a little work before it starts to meet its potential. The stock tubes (a Sovtek el84 and an EH 12ax7) provided a reasonable tone until about 11 o'clock on the dial. Past that, and you got fuzz and buzz, not a warm breakup. I switched the Sovtek for a JJ and the EH for a Tung-Sol, and I was surprised by how different the sound became. Now, the more you turn it up, the better it sounds.

Switch the tubes, seriously.

I haven't had it very long, but I've probably run it full out for 8 hours or so. So far, no problems. But it's a tube amp, so don't bang it on anything or leave it out in the cold.

Haven't dealt with them yet.

I needed a little amp that was easy to move around, but still had enough power to practice with a drummer. After the tube switch, I have no regrets picking this up. You can really get it howling with the volume wide open, and when it's turned down, you get nice string definition and some warm chime.

I chose this amp over the Fender Champion and the Vox Pathfinder 15r. I would certainly buy this amp again, although I would have to factor in the cost of picking up new tubes as well (about $30).

versio 2 combo unmodded

Heh heh, yeah well I own a friggin '69 marshall superbass and comparing the two is completely retarded. I mean, dude? What the f?%k! I can't play the marshall in my house without the neighbours going nuts (I've got an se100 and it just ain't the same), and I for sure as hell ain't gonna mod it even though it's been through hell! dumbass. The little VJ is about hot-rodding, you idiot. You know, those early chevys and fords weren't so hot either, but... I still have faith in my version 2 combo and there's something in there... makes you wanna get in under the hood. Something running flat out. But all that being said- I do agree that $300 to spend on a $100 amp- well you can find old fenders and gibsons not too far from that and well... man the choice is yours.

good so far

no need

playing since '89 on mostly strats amstd 86, fullerton 84 '57, fuzzes rat 2, muff, way huge, marshalls jcm 800, '69 superbass. The EVJ sucks out of the box, but...

through ads....

Hah-Ha-Hah.., With all advancement of music gears with reviews, people are still on their way to rock bottom believing that this is a fine amp. Bottom line is you'll be spending more time and money on improving the sound of this amp that I believe the only thing you can salvage is the case. Lets face it, most of the reviewers here never even had the chance to own a real amp like an early marshall.

Product is good for low-end user...

Single channel, single ended 5 Watt all tube amp. Just volume control. Mine is a rev #3, with multiple impedance outputs and Eminence speaker.

It all comes down to what it's been thought for, I think. This puppy was thought to be an easy, plug-and-play, no frills combo, and that's what you get.

After reading lots of boards I have opened mine just to find that many of the mods suggested on the web have already been implemented in the latest revision. Things like using Alpha volume pot, DC heater, proper output transformer primary impedance, better tube quality, correct values of resistors on input voltage divider and things like that have already been addressed.

Mine came with an EH 12AX7 and a Sovtek EL84.

Despite the lot of people complaining about this combo being shrill, I must disagree: mine sounded very dark and muffled.
I have made some mods to it, like installing Mallory caps and a Tweed-like tone control, and now it sounds very good to me.
It gives a very spanky sound that's prone to distort quite easily. Too bad the 5 Watts combined with the small 8" speaker are just too loud to crank it home.
It's kind of a vintage-sounding amp. Dirty and punchy. I just love it.
It takes stompboxes very well, so I can get good saturated tones at bedroom volumes with my TS9 (with 808 mod).
It used to be dead quiet when it was stock, after the mods it's a bit noisy but much better sounding to me.

I bought it because I wanted an amp that was different from my main amp (a Mesa/Boogie Mark IV combo), and that could give me some fun modding it. No complains, it just does the job.

I play it with a Tom Anderson Drop Top and a custom made guitar.

Rating is for the stock sound. After the mods, it deserves at least a 7.

Just had it for a month. Anyway, I've taken a look inside and it looks like it may last forever. Despite it's made in China, it's very well done. Component quality looks quite good. It's a very easy amp, there's not much that can fail inside that black little box, I'd expect it to last long enough to get fed up with it :)

No idea.

For the price I paid for it, it's a bang for the buck. For less than 100 Eur you get a good cabinet, a good chassis, a big power transformer, a suitable output transformer, two good tubes, a well done pcb and a bunch of passive components. Even if it does not sound as you wish, every monkey that knows how to use a welding iron can modify it. There's plenty of boards, schematics and suggestions, it can provide hours of fun just by experimentimg new changes to the circuit.

I really can't complain about the available features, as anyone who looks at this little combo will clearly see it was designed to be very simple.

The one feature that I really would have liked to have seen on all versions of the combo would be 4/8/16 ohm speaker outs on the rear panel. Most of the speakers I've ever wanted to try with this amp have been either 8 or 16 ohms. Happily, I see the newest revision of the combo has this feature.

The revision of the combo I had sounded a bit stale to me with the stock Sovtek tubes. So like most other Valve Jr owners I replaced the stock tubes with some new ones. I used a JJ EL84 and a JJ 12AX7.

I'm really impressed by how well this amp takes to pedals. I use a Maxon OD808 reissue for my overdrive sound and that really sounds warm through the Valve Jr. It's extremely easy to get a solid, warm overdriven sound. For heavier sounds, I use a Krank Distortus Maximus. This pedal also sounds really great through the Valve Jr, and I'm actually able to get some reasonable sounds for metal (n.b. it's an 8" speaker.. don't expect miracles!!). My Holy Grail and DL4 also sound quite full with this little monster.

I think that the worst thing about the sound this little combo produces is that it is very mid heavy and can be a little muddy sounding. There is a relatively easy fix for this. I've found using a GE-7 (or favorite eq pedal) can do a lot to tame the wild mids.

I think the stock speaker is for the most part quite good for the price of the amplifier. I think the only think I could want more there is a little bit better bass response. But hey, it's an 8" speaker. Maybe I want a bit too much.. :)

I have tested the amp with both passive (SD59/JB) and active (EMG81/85) pickups, and I have been very happy with the performance with all pickups. Of note, I think the Seymour Duncan 59 sounds particularly impressive. I really love the creamy tone I get out of that pickup with this amp.

I've had it for about 5 months now and no issues.

Haven't had to speak with them. I have had zero issues so far. I know others who have had to deal with warranty work though, and their experience was positive.

I bought this little combo for home practice and recording, and I really can't say that I've had any disappointments. It's served it's purpose well, and other than the lack of 8/16ohm speaker outs, I'm quite happy to keep singing it's praises.

This little amp is as simple as they come but in the blues , "Less Is More" !

The Valve Junior Combo version #3 has improvements that now make this the best deal on the planet . Wow is exactly what came to mind after about 2 minutes of blowing my harp through the new Valve Junior Combo version #3 . I absolutely loved version # 2 head and combo that used a 4 ohm speaker but this new version has upped the stakes considerably !

The new version is so open-fat-rich and full sounding that it is like a 7 to 10 watt amp that is completely hand wired ( which it is not) . The 16 ohm "Eminence" speaker ( engineered in the USA and made in China ) that comes standard in the new version is the loudest 8 inch speaker I have ever played through . At first I thought the speaker was a bit harsh but after about 10 hours of playing it has now transformed into a keeper ( most every speaker has a break in period before it reveals the true sound it is going to produce ) . After getting the 16 ohm "Eminence" broken in it has turned into a speaker that has a very aggressive growl and penetration that will cut through the mix in a band setting . Really , this amp will do fine on it's own in a small club setting unmiked .

What I like to do is turn the Valve Junior Combo version #3 about 3/4 wide open and back off 3 or 4 clicks on my harp mic for rhythm and backup playing . She stays a bit clean this way but still a touch of hair and grit when ya cup the mic tighter and blow a little harder . And when you reach over with your pinky finger and turn the volume wide open on the mic , it is like having a tiger by the tail . The power and touch dynamics are so organic and bottomless that it makes playing and practice fun again .

The speaker and amplifier circuit are very well thought out and matched . I tried the combo with other speakers and the "Eminence" 16 ohm speaker ( that it came with ) did the best job of bringing out the full potential-range and depth of what this amp is capable of . This amp is pretty even across the board as far as the low-mids-highs are concerned . But it does lean a bit more toward the mids to highs . But when tried with various other speakers the amp acts like a chameleon and adapts to them .

For playing amplified harp this is the BEST I have ever played through so far ! The Valve Junior Combo version #3 can be a little kitten and cleanly purr , but crank the volume and you unleash the "TONE BEAST FROM HELL" . How in the world can they make and sell such a quality amp like this for $149.00 ? Heck , the cab alone is worth that , it is built like a tank .

Mic this baby and it is mind blowing ! Take 2 of the Valve Junior Combos and a "A/B/Y" pedal and you are good to go with a loud band . With the pedal , use one combo for rhythm and then kick in both for a scorching lead solo . Two of these at the same time , cranked , is like having a religious experience .

I give the Valve Junior Combo version #3 my highest rating , a (7) Harp Salute . It also deserves my next coveted award , and that is my "Nasty Harp Award " , When ya crank that volume knob on the Valve Junior Combo the tone gets so fat and nasty/chewy , the way Chicago Blues should sound and be played . At one time I was a bit obsessed with tube heads and extension cabinets , but they take a while to set up and there is more to carry . I still like them but there is something to be said for the portability of just grabbing the little Valve Jr. Combo and running out the door to the gig.

Epiphone has hit a Grand Slam with the Valve Junior Combo version #3 !


http://bluzharp.tripod.com

I have only had this version # 3 for about 2 months but I have a version # 2 head and combo that has seen more biker bars and spilled beer than a
a motorcycle .

Awesome !!!!! I have had contact with Bob Burns and other techs there and they are a delight to deal with .

This is like my wife ! This is the amp of my blues harmonica playing dreams !