Epiphone Valve Junior Head

SlashNBurn99

Anyone own one ?

I've been checkin out the reviews and they seem to be an excellent bargain.

There only $99US, and for an all tube head thats fairly good.

They are only 5 watts but people are micing them and using them for gigging.

I bloody hate GAS

partch

For the price, I have been realy concidering trying one of these 8) Seems to be piles of real good feedback, & I would love to hear how the GNX4 mates up with one of these. No opinions or personal experience with this little guitar head? Anyone?

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Valve-Junior-Tube-Amplifier-Head?sku=482069

SlashNBurn99

Hey Partch,

I just ordered mine. People who own them say that they are louder than a 50 watt SS.

So an all tube amp for that price which is pretty loud is fine by me.

I think the GNX will sound great thru it.

partch

Hey Slash I hear ya on that one bro That price is so good you just can't go wrong at least giving it a try You will have to let me know what you think of it when you get it & can put it through it's paces. My only real concearn & it's not huge is will it be loud enough on the platform? I right next to the drummer & vocals & keyboards are always very loud. I think it would suite for sure when I'm playing chords & Rythem BUT: sometimes Lead/Melody can get burried pretty easy on the platform. I currently use the power Block all knobs at 12 Oclock & it's not to loud at times I could take just a tad more for my taste They are getting a drum sheild for the drums as there miced & in the house mix so we want to attenuate them & get that platform level down some I deffinetly think it will be loud enough then? I played a Fender Pro Jr for a while it was 15W class A it flat out cranked :shock: So this is about a 3rd of that driving a 12 instead of 10 inch speaker. It should suite me fine

jscott013

I own a pair. I have them hooked up as a monoblock stereo setup. Presently I have a cheap pair of monitors to run them through. Despite the crapola speakers the pair of VJs sound awesome. Nothing like a few tubes to sweeten up the GNX4.

If you are so inclined these amps make great modification platforms and there are dozens of webpages dedicated to tweaking the little buggers. I've done a little fiddlin about here and strongly suggest the standby switch mod. (Extends tube life)

Before hooking up the GNX4 I played around with these little tube amps quite a bit and was very happy with their warm sound. I was surprised to see how much you could do with one knob! The tonal variations that can be had at different volume levels are vast. A very interesting lesson.

For my tastes I run these at about half volume when using them with the GNX. With these two amps that yields a clean and relatively loud set up.

IMHO these amps are not loud enough for gigging. However, I am not a performing musician and perhaps not qualified to make that judgment. I play in a small room, with two of these. Full volume is fine here, but in a larger venue, and playing with a number of other musicians, I'm afraid these just won't get it.

Something to keep in mind: both of my amps came to me DOA. In fact, if you check out the Epiphone forums you'll learn that's not uncommon. Don't freak! The tubes often come loose as they are mounted upside down in the chassis. During shipping, they can be jarred loose. Yes, they have taken steps to correct this (tube retainers) but this modification was insufficient. Just take off the back cover and make sure they are well secured (push them in)

Be careful back there. The caps hold a charge that could knock the crap out of you (perhaps kill you). However, the fuse is inline on the inside, and changing tubes was always a 'end user repair' in the past (as was replacing fuses). Can't see why that should be any different now.

Hope I've helped. Sorry if my late posting has arrived too late to be of any use :oops:

phatsack

i was thinking about getting one of these too, anybody know how \"transparent\" the sound of these are, or if they color the tone of the GNX at all?

SlashNBurn99

Hey Jscott, thanks for the info.

I'll make sure I test it in the store when they receive it to make sure it works.

Yeah for gigs it would definately have to be miced and be run through the PA.

Theres actually some clips on youtube of a fella playin through one live and he sounds pretty good.

jscott013

Slashnburn- no problem, you're welcome. Sure, buying them locally would give you a chance to check em before you tote them home. Don't have any shops nearby, so most stuff gets mailed to me.

phatsak- I would not describe these amps a \"transparent\". However, as I stated in my first post a fairly clean sound can be had. The voicing becomes more noticeable past half volume. Of course that does give a gigging musician less choice, but as SlashNBurn mentioned you can mike the cab.

A full fledged gear junkie I have a good number of amp and cabs choices here. I have yet to find a combo that didn't sound good with the GNX. However, if you have a specific tone in mind, the systems voicing could be frustrating. It all depends on how particular you are.

With that said it would also be important to note that when guitar strings vibrate I am ecstatic. I have never listened to or played music based on genre. And, I have rarely heard a guitar make a sound that I didn't think would useful at some juncture.

partch

I recieved mine yesterday 8) I gave it a test drive both with & without the GNX4. That said this Amp is not for me without the GNX4 or some pedals in front of it. It's cleans are limmited & sterile, it begins to get character around 12 Oclock & I feel the sweet spot for amp alone is 2 or 3 Oclock anything over that I did not care for the Tone so much. at 2 to 3 Oclock you can use your guitar volume to get some decent range of tones out 7 the Amp has good Character at that point. Now were this amp Shines IS:

Set the Amp volume at about 10 or 11 Oclock Go into the Valve JR with your GNX4 or other pedals I use the GNX4 as the pre Amp 1/4 out at about half crank it realy fattens up the GNX4 tones breaths life into them!! The GNX4 gets what it needs, the Valve JR get's what it needs & you can get some realy nice Tones from clean to chunky heavy out of this thing!! All it is fairly loud as well very comparable to my Power Block with all levels at 12 Oclock on it. Now obviously the Block could supply much more & the Valve JR well you may be able to get a little more out of it Bumping up the GNX4 1/4 outs more. But I would not use the Valve JR this way with the GNX4 or pedals in front of it with the Valve JR volume beyond 12 Oclock max. More like I said 10 or 11 as to still get nice cleans when you patch is clean.

Overall this amp is a keeper for 99 bucks it rocks!! i deffinetly would say that it mates very well with the GNX4 8) I'm pretty happy with it & will let you all know when I have time to use it live & such.

SlashNBurn99

Not fair Partch

Can't wait to get mine.

I want it to run my pedals/pedalboards through also.

How are the dynamics compared to the powerblock when using your gnx4?

partch

It's better fuller more responsive it just has something that Solid State seems to lack. I like the block alot!! It works well with the GNX4 & is pretty darn good head, BUT not quite as good as the Valve JR. Again If I had to use this Amp all by itself I would not like it as well!! I feel it needs the GNX4 or pedals in the front to help it out some & be able to operate it in the cleaner region of the Amp.

philflood

Well, being the GASSIEST guy here on the forum, I had to pick one of these up for $99. The other lower power boutique tube head I was looking at cost over $500, so this is a great bargain. Basicallly, my assessment of the tone matches Partch's. But I think this head could be used in the classic EQ>Dist>EQ> Amp configuration. Since it had no onboard tone controllers, it ought to be a perfect head for this type of set up. Partch - were you running it through the Emimence cab? I ran it through my 4x10 Marshall cab and it has nice character at most volume settings, running from a light creamy buzz at the 10 o'clock position, to a more saturated break up once you get past 2 o'clock. I haven't tried it with the Eminence cab, but I imagine it would seem a little cleaner through that cab. Anyhow, at $100 for a tube head, you can't eally go wrong.

partch

Yeah Phil- That's all I have 1 at Church 1 at home Kustom KPC 12 with Emminence mod 12's installed & the tweeter unhooked. Don't get me wrong the resonsiveness & Tone were not terible Just a Tad Harsh the more Harder I drove it, & also got a little muddy. It seemed to be smother cleaner when not driven as Hard. I'm sure alot of this as well will be getting to know the Amp & how it responds to my patches etc.. I Love the Amp don't get me wrong for 99 bucks I think everyone should have 1 or 2 I'm putting JJ tubes in it this afternoon It will be interesting to see how that changes the Tone if at all. BUT I know plenty of people that swap out the Sovteks imediately So anyhow I'm giving that a try to see how the Amp Tone changes? I'll keep you all posted on that effect: Quick cheap upgrade if it's whorth it 8)

maccolliens

It's better and more comprehensive response to it just seems to lack something solid. I like a lot of blocks! ! It works well with the GNX4 & is pretty good head, but not as good valve JR. Similarly, if I had to use the amp itself, I would not like it! ! I feel the need to pedal in front of the GNX4 or to help some operations can clean areas of the Amp. .

Cobaltblooz

Maybe \"Australian Ugg Boot Spam\" will keep this forum alive.

Hey Partchy & Shred!
:twisted:

shredd

\Cobaltblooz\ wrote:

Maybe \"Australian Ugg Boot Spam\" will keep this forum alive.

Hey Partchy & Shred!
:twisted:

Well, you know, the world simply can't function if there isn't some way for people to subsist without WORKING for a living, right? :roll:

Howz' things with you 'blooz???
(PS - LOVE your avatar...though that's not how I usually visualize Anne - it's usually more along the string-bikini-and-whipped-cream variation... :twisted: )