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Epiphone Valve Jr.

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tone2thebone said:
Robert, If it doesn't hum the magic isn't there buddy. :P Its the little "flaws" that keep the bad spirits away...

;)
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I heard once that the Hopi's put a flaw in every rug they make so that the spirit has an opening to leave and enter the rug.
 
Nelskie said:
Was just browsing the Epiphone website, and saw that they are coming out with a "head only" version of the Valve Jr. for 2006. Same 5W, same tube section as the amp version, with outputs for 4, 8, and 16 ohm speakers. Akin to its combo amp brother, the cosmetics of the Valve Jr. head are keeping with the vintage-retro flavour, sporting black and reddish-brown tolex, gold badging, and white pipe trim all around the facing. Too cool!
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Excellent reviews and discussion in this thread Nelsk & `Bone!!

Is there any way to use the epi head to drive the speaker in my AD30VT?
 
Nelskie said:
Gee, hadn't thought even thought about that. A matching cab would be way cool. Man, you gotta' love what Epiphone is doing with their line of amps - both the tube and ss stuff. I saw your & Matt's posts on the Triggerman combo, and totally agree that it's one sweet looking rig. You might also want to check out their new Blues Custom combo amp, too - due out mid-summer 2006:

http://www.epiphone.com/default.asp?ProductID=270&CollectionID=13

I'm fairly certain that one of these will find its way into my studio.
Click to expand...

Anybody know how much these'll be going for?
 
The Epi Valve Jr head From Musician's friend (it's got *filaments*. Totally bulbular...Incandescent!):

Monster tone in a small, affordable package.

This head version of the Valve Junior Tube amps includes features not found in its combo cousin. These include DC filaments for both the preamp and power sections, reducing unwanted filament hum. It also has 4, 8, and 16 ohm speaker outputs so you can drive any kind of extension speaker, from a single 8" box to a 4x12" cab.

Like the combo version, the Valve Junior Head delivers great tube tone with 5W of Class A power.

Epiphone Valve Junior Tube Amplifier Head Features:

* 5W
* Single-ended Class A electronics
* DC filaments for both preamp and power tubes for reduced filament hum
* 4, 8, 16 ohm outputs for speaker flexibility
 
ToT - Although I am native I don't know much about Hopi culture. I do know that there are no perfect things in this world and if there are it won't be perfect for very long. So we appreciate it for what it is at the least.
 
tone2thebone said:
ToT - Although I am native I don't know much about Hopi culture. I do know that there are no perfect things in this world and if there are it won't be perfect for very long. So we appreciate it for what it is at the least.
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Ahhh yes, the tyranny of perfection.
 
tone2thebone said:
ToT - Although I am native I don't know much about Hopi culture. I do know that there are no perfect things in this world and if there are it won't be perfect for very long. So we appreciate it for what it is at the least.
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What is your tribal background `bone?

BTW has anyone ever read the BONE comic series? Good stuff.
 
Nelskie said:
Hopi: Native American tribe from southwestern region of the United States, primarily NE Arizona. Wikipedia has some good information here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopi
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Thanks Nelskie...

Btw, are you planning on recording some a-how how how music for us ? I am really looking forward to hear you play! :)
 
Swede - *rubbing hands together & flashing an wry grin* Yes, indeed, there'll be some clips. Mebbe' a whole mess of 'em. Things be goin' down here at the Ice Ranch in Fargo, USA, and right now that's all I can tell ya'. In the meantime, mellow down easy, and keep those frets buzzin'. ;)
 
*buzz* *twang* *buzz*
will do nelskie :)

Btw, that gibbons style hat in your avatar would be awesome. I wonder were you can buy those!
 
My Valve Jr. head is due to arrive two days from now ( I just hate to wait!).

After reading so many great reviews about this amp, especially the head with it's DC filament upgrades, I just couldn't stand it. For $99.99 delivered from Musician's Friend, it was an easy decision. I have an Avatar semi-closed back cab loaded with Celestion G12H30's waiting for the little monster. Also on hand are 3-different NOS EL84's and about 4-different NOS pre-amp tubes for some tonal experimentation.

I love the simplicity of this amp. Some of the greatest tone ever recorded was done on single ended class A amps. With all of the technology of today trying to emulate tone like that of yester-year, it's good to see this return to the simplicity that produced the tone in the first place.
 
Would it be possible to simply mod my AD30VT to act as a speaker cab?

I was looking at the following Valve Junior mod site:

http://www.valvejunior.com/

and discovered that he made a power attenuator out of a 12w bulb!


Bulbs & tubes in the same amph?!?

.....Homer Simpson style drool........
 
aren't you feeling a little sick "cough" "cough"

better leave early!

i was playing my tele and then my ibanez with dual humbuckers earlier through the valve jr. and the bad monkey....that is a fun little amp!

I haven't played the ibanez in awhile but after listening to lots of early clapton dual humbucker goodness i took it down and was actually surprised at how good the tone was. I need to lower the action but it was fun playing it (i've been od'ing on the tele since i got it).

ww
 
The Valve Jr has arrived...

OK, initial impressions....

Valve Jr.
Stock tube complement:
1-Sovtek EL84
1-Sovtek 12AX7WA
Speakers: Avatar 2X12 with Weber C12N's @ 4ohms

The first thing to mention with this amp (for those of you who haven't played one yet), is that these little beasties take a good 15 minutes or better to warm up. I don't mean it takes that long to warm up until you can hear it, but until the amp is at full volume and with full tone. I had heard something about this from someone on another forum, and I'm glad I was aware of it. Otherwise I would have been very underwhelmed when I first plugged in. Before warm up the sound is weak and the tone flat and a bit fizzy.

Now that the amp has warmed up to its proper operating temperature, the volume knob can be used to vary the effect. Form 0 to about 11:00-12:00 the tone is pretty clean, but you can dig into the strings a little and get a bit of attitude out of it at the upper end of this range.

At about 1:00 the amp becomes a little darker with a more noticable bass response. This is where the OD begans as well. Again, the tone is pick sensitive which is a nice classic class A amp feel.

Above 2:00 the OD becomes much more pronounced and so does the bass response, which was a little boomy. With the neck pickups selected on my P-90 guitar and my Strat with the overwound pickups, the bass response is a little more than I cared for. It seem as though that the bass response softened a bit the longer the amp was on. The OD is easily controlable with the volume knob on the guitar. Little amp volume was lost when rolling off the guitars volume, but the OD was definitely attenuated.

Overall, the tone was much like a classic old tweed amp. Think Clapton's guitar on the Derek and the Dominoes Layla album. Straight guitar and warm, full, round tube tones.

Next, I tried the amp with a tube change.
1-EL84 NOS Tesla/Rosnov
1-E83CC NOS Tesla

Everything that I liked in the stock amp configuration, was enhanced with these tubes. The cleans were sweeter and rounder with a greater depth. The OD was better defined and less boomy. The amp was slightly louder in general.

I found the sweetest, warmest tone came from my Agile AD 2500 DC with the P-90's...no suprise there, though.

That's as far as I was able to go last night, but this weekend I'll try the amp out with a few other tubes and one Celestion G12H30 and a 2X12 Celestion G12H30 combination.
 
Yo Bloozcat - I got me an Agile AL-2000 P-90 Goldtop comin' next week, and I'm really looking forward to plugging it my own Valve Jr. They're toneful little beasts, aren't they? And for the price . . . whoa!

Not sure what you have for pedals, but I run my Digitech Bad Monkey & Tone Driver through the Valve Jr. with awesome results. The Monk helps the tone acquire that nice Allman-y style OD I like when using my Les Paul. The Tone Driver, on the other hand, really helps push that sonic envelope, resulting in cool vintage Aerosmith and classic Zeppelin tones. Yummy.

I was surprised you didn't mention anything about the hum. Seems like all of the other reivews I've read mash on that topic to no end, and totally forget that its a Class A tube amp. Like duh, a Class A's gonna' hum a bit no matter what.

Overall, just glad to hear a reverent ear such as yours appreciating what this little rig can do. Me, I'm totally hooked on this amp. As a matter of fact, I really should have two! :D
 
Nelskie said:
Me, I'm totally hooked on this amp. As a matter of fact, I really should have two! :D
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thats a great idea...why don't you get another one...set them up as stereo and go crazy! Of course we will expect a full report

ww
 
ww - The thought has crossed my mind - something like a million times. Yeah, that set-up would totally rock. Whoooaaaaaa, steady there. I'm getting woozy and light-headed just thinking about it.

Must . . . have . . . more . . . gear . . . . AAAARRRRGGGGHHH!
 
Nelskie said:
I was surprised you didn't mention anything about the hum. Seems like all of the other reivews I've read mash on that topic to no end, and totally forget that its a Class A tube amp. Like duh, a Class A's gonna' hum a bit no matter what.
Overall, just glad to hear a reverent ear such as yours appreciating what this little rig can do. Me, I'm totally hooked on this amp. As a matter of fact, I really should have two! :D
Click to expand...

There isn't a hum problem with the Valve Jr. Heads...just the combos. The Heads use DC filiments and the combos use AC filiments. That's one of the benefits of the head vs. the combo. BTW: This amp is quiet. I mean compared to my other tube amps it is a quiet little thing. Only a little hiss when it's dimed, and that's true of all tube amps...except this one even has less hiss. :)

I couldn't resist. After I got my Agile AD 2500 DC w/P-90's, I picked up a set of Pete Biltofts (Vintage Vibe Guitars) Alnico P-90's for it. As good as the stock Agile P-90's sound (and they do sound good), the VV's are just smoother and more articulate. The Alnicos are just sweeter sounding to my ear. The ceramic Agile P-90's do rock really well though. They have really nice bite in OD. A cool feature of the VV P-90's is that Pete is now including a set of ceramic magnets with the alnico and a set of instructions for swapping them out. So with these pickups you can get that smooth, warm alnico tone, or edgy rockin' ceramic tone. Pretty cool. They're not very expensive either. I think they were about $105.00.

I like this little amp enough that I'm considering the Epiphone 2X12 30watt Blues Combo amp. 2-5881 output tubes, 5-12AX7's and a GZ34 rectifier tube!. If that amp performs like this little valve Jr. does, it'll be a real winner.
 
Robert said:
Dang! I am getting this syndrom of gear aquisition now too! I want both an EPI head and a good cab, plus a few Agiles!
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me too....if i spent half as much time playing as i do "researching" gear....

ww
 
Here's the Epi combo I was speaking of in my earlier post:

462302.jpg


Here's the specs:
Epiphone Blues Custom 30 tube amp Features:
· Power: 30 AB/15 A W
· Type: 100% Tube
· Class: A & AB
· Rectifier: Tube- 5AR4
· EQ: Two Modes-Independent and Interactive
· Preamp : 12AX7 (5)
· Power: 5881 (2)
· Speaker Type: 2X12" Lady Luck by Eminence
· Tube Reverb
· Channels: 2
Outputs: 4 Ohm (2), 8 Ohm (2) & 16 Ohm

And it just so happens (what a suprise!) that I have a matched pair of NOS 6L6WGB's (5881's), and an NOS 5AR4 (GZ34) sitting at home with nothing to do...for now, anyway... oh, and speakers too...;)
 
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