Members squareking Posted June 5, 2006 Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 Epiphone Valve Junior. She's more excited than I am about it! Now where are those links to those modding pages... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoboPimp Posted June 5, 2006 Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 I found the best mod for those is to pack them up in a box and sell them to someone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elliott Damage Posted June 5, 2006 Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 Originally posted by RoboPimp I found the best mod for those is to pack them up in a box and sell them to someone else. haha, did you try one? i haven't tried one, but the clips I've heard do nothing for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members squareking Posted June 5, 2006 Author Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 Originally posted by RoboPimp I found the best mod for those is to pack them up in a box and sell them to someone else. True bypass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 4Kenoath Posted June 5, 2006 Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 Originally posted by jimihalen True bypass? Heh...a new speaker and tubes is probably mandatory. What are they, 8"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members utterhack Posted June 5, 2006 Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 You'll find the links just fine, young Jedi. The most important will be the DC filament (goodbyes the hum). Everything else is gilding the lily... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fernmeister Posted June 5, 2006 Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 had a second go at one yesterday and I think it would be a fun little amp to mod. a boutique-killer it is not, but for the price it *really* hard to say no to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members #16 Posted June 5, 2006 Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 Originally posted by RoboPimp I found the best mod for those is to pack them up in a box and sell them to someone else. EXCELLENT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members english_bob Posted June 5, 2006 Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 Originally posted by 4Kenoath Heh...a new speaker and tubes is probably mandatory. What are they, 8"? Yes, it's an 8" speaker, but there's some indication that it might be a Weber, and general consensus that, as 8" speakers go, it's pretty decent. My Valve Junior perked right up when I replaced the stock Sovtek tubes with Harma and Tung-Sol. Some of the mods I've seen do seem a little over the top but some, such as the DC filtering and the addition of an 8 ohm output seem pretty useful. I WILL get around to modding it- I'd like to do some myself, but it's a matter of finding someone with a little more know-how to make sure I don't kill myself doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members squareking Posted June 5, 2006 Author Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 Jake and english_bob, could you offer some mini-reviews of the Valve Jr? FWIW, she's more than likely going to pick up a 335-style Agile to go with it.The Kluge's cover of "Folsom Prison" sounds pretty good! The Jr. was used for guitar and harmonica. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tonemeister87 Posted June 5, 2006 Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 Congrats on the amp Google for mods Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members english_bob Posted June 5, 2006 Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 Review? Sure... Um... features? There's a knob and a switch. If the switch lights up it's on. The further you turn the knob, the louder it gets, unless the switch isn't lit, in which case it stays the same. Very quiet. Sounds? Amps seem to have a "wake up" point on the volume control. Below there they sound muddy and bored. The VJ wakes up around 10 o'clock and stays chimey and relatively clean up to about 1 o'clock (I'm using all single coil guitars). After that it starts to get dirty until it's properly raging at 3 o'clock. Nothing much changes after that. With humbuckers, others have said that it won't stay properly clean at all, but I don't think this amp is designed for that anyway. Tones are very middly, to the point that there might be too much "honk" for you. You might want to invest in a cheap EQ pedal if you like a little more shimmer. It works better with some guitars than others- my Strat sounds quite beefy, my Jazzmaster sounds boxy, but when paired with my Cornell Romany Plus, which is a boutique 1x12" Fender Champ "with benefits", the VJ adds a lot of the midrange meat that Fender-sounding amps don't have. Some of the mods are things that will affect the overall tone- someone either here on HCFX or in the HC reviews mentioned adding a component to an empty slot on the PCB that improved overall tone, Euthymia has a mod to convert the input from the equivalent of a "low" sensitivity input to a "high", and wiring in an 8ohm output to allow a bigger speaker might increase bass response, which isn't exactly earth-shaking from a single 8", as you can imagine. It's also loud as hell. Having no tone network to speak of means that it's too loud for any civilised bedroom at full pelt (past about halfway, actually), and it'll compete with bigger amps at rehearsals. That midrange-heavy tone, which on its own is a little rough on the ears (but in a good, "Tom Waits' voice" sort of way), translates to a lot of "poke" in a mix. The build quality looks pretty solid, but the stock valves are very average Sovtek brand and need replacing as soon as you have the cash. The amp has much more clarity with better quality tubes. One reliability issue: at a gig (and this only happened once) the VJ started squealing VERY loud, and could only be stopped by turning it off. When I turned the amp on again after 15-20 minutes, it was fine. The amp had been on without a break for quite some time without a break, so the resulting heat buildup may have been the cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members inscho Posted June 5, 2006 Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 I have the epi valve jr. in the head form....its a really dark amp, I put in a mullard 12at7 to clean it up some...but I may go to a 12au7 for even less gain. I don't have any el84s laying around so I haven't changed it out yet.One thing to note is that it sounds significantly better after it has warmed up for about 30 minutes.But I agree its not boutique killer (at least not without extensive mods). but it is a great buy and a fun little amp with decent tones. It will suit my practicing just fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members squareking Posted June 5, 2006 Author Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 Originally posted by english_bob Review? Sure... Thank you sir! I read these reviews and get that "sounds awesome, but probably could use a few mods to get it running at its best" feeling - then I realize it's less than most pedals out there. I'm sure it's going to be an excellent first amp for the gf. She was stuck on a Tele for the longest time but she's chasing a 335 now. We'll see... I'll have to look into new tubes, too...probably do a swap first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members utterhack Posted June 5, 2006 Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 Have you checked out the AndyZ mod vs. stock clips?http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=144124 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members aussy Posted June 5, 2006 Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 www.valvejunior.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ZX-Matt Posted June 5, 2006 Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 This link has mods, plus links to other sites used for reference.http://www.klugemusic.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=78 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members papa taco Posted June 5, 2006 Members Share Posted June 5, 2006 Wow. Congrats to your Guy Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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