Epiphone Valve Jr Head

BB · April 4th, 2006, 04:22 PM

Whats the scoop on these $99.00, 5 watt heads? I've read the noise of the combo has been done away with in the head, but what say you that own one?

3StringGuitar · April 4th, 2006, 04:52 PM

I love it, well the way it looks at least. The on/off looks a little out of place but meh. I'd like to give one a go, can't really go wrong for $100 can ya? What I'd love to see is a good 25 watt version come out, or even a 50 watter, that'd be awesome. I just picked up a Sovtek and love the compact feel of it. Something like that but a bit more afordable with maybe a volume and tone would be cool. Does it run off EL84's?

BB · April 4th, 2006, 05:02 PM

From what I've read, one El84 and a 12AX7 are the tubes....with a solid state retcumfire.

Yes....hard to beat the price. I'm sure the clean headroom is nil, but maybe a tube swap would help some.

3StringGuitar · April 4th, 2006, 05:10 PM

Yeah, I never quite understood the point of low watt heads but eh. I'll deffinatly look into one of these though, could be fun to just mess with.

red57strat · April 4th, 2006, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3StringGuitar

Yeah, I never quite understood the point of low watt heads but eh. I'll deffinatly look into one of these though, could be fun to just mess with.

The fun of a low watt amp is to set it a full volume and then use the guitar's volume pot to control how clean or dirty the sound gets. You can do this at home while your family watches TV upstairs.

The plus of it being a head is that, to some of us, a bigger cabinet with bigger speakers sounds better than a small cabinet with a small speaker.
That and, being a head version of a cheap amp, you won't be stuck with the crappy tone of a cheap particle board cabinet.

My champ sounds great plugged into my Vibrolux Reverb's two 10" speakers. It's very dynamic. Sweat when the guitar's volume is low and a monster when the guitar is cranked up.

3StringGuitar · April 4th, 2006, 10:05 PM

All good points I never really took into consideration :)

InstituteOfNoise · April 5th, 2006, 04:06 AM

I have one on order that will be here Thursday. Just another option at my recording studio. Have some JJ tubes ready to go in it. Will probably use it with my Carvin 4x10 cab, which has 2 Ragin Cajun's and 2 stock Carvin VL10's which are actually pretty decent. I'll probably setup a 1x12 with a ceramic Weber Blue Dog as an alternate option.

JohnnyCrash · April 5th, 2006, 04:15 AM

The head is a better option than the combo... but still, it's not that great of an amp at all.

The trannies are a big weak point (well actually ALL of the components are weak).

I'll give em this much - THEY'RE CHEAP.

Oh, also, they're great for gutting and rebuilding low watt heads into... otherwise - garbage... put another $50 and you've got something with a lot of mojo... but at that point you could build a Champ!

Speaking of Champs... there aint nothing like a Champ, and even these aint like a Champ...

By the way, I've got a few freak Champs (that'll take either a 6V6, 6L6, or EL34 power tube and run at either 6 or 10 watts) that I built - a Champ in a 2x12" cab is unholy!

JohnnyCrash · April 5th, 2006, 04:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BB

From what I've read, one El84 and a 12AX7 are the tubes....with a solid state retcumfire.

Yes....hard to beat the price. I'm sure the clean headroom is nil, but maybe a tube swap would help some.

Single Ended "Class A" type amps don't get any "sag" from a tube rectifier... Class AB amps can, though. The voltage dip to the power tubes is what'll do it... so it's physically impossible for this circuit to do it (it's a Class A).

Swapping the tubes will get you a better sound, but this circuit is a gut bucket build. Edgy brittle distortion, with less "musicality" to the tone.

If a Champ is closer to the "ACDC Back in Black" sound, this amp is closer to the "Remington Electric Razor" tone.

pjf626 · April 5th, 2006, 03:55 PM

If you want to hear how it sounds, check around some other boards and there are sound clips posted. Sounds pretty good to me.

pjf626 · April 8th, 2006, 01:06 AM

Just got mine today wow best 99 bucks I have ever spent. If you like 60 and 70s rock this thing is great. You don't need any overdrive pedals with this thing.

3StringGuitar · April 8th, 2006, 01:10 AM

Awesome, glad to hear you like it. I'm very very tempted to get one but must hold off for a while. Maybe I can pick one up used in a few months. Is there much of a hum problem or anything?

vic108 · April 8th, 2006, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by red57strat

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3StringGuitar

Yeah, I never quite understood the point of low watt heads but eh. I'll deffinatly look into one of these though, could be fun to just mess with.

The fun of a low watt amp is to set it a full volume and then use the guitar's volume pot to control how clean or dirty the sound gets.

Yeah man! I love small and cranked amps!
I got 2 different modded Champ designs and
both are voiced completely different but both
will cut you off at the knees. The 6 watt Champ
in a Deluxe cab with 12" Celestian can gig with
a bass player and drummer with no problem.

pjf626 · April 8th, 2006, 10:22 AM

Absolutely dead quiet fully cranked. I guess there was a hum problem with the combos, they have fixed that on the heads. I am playing it through a Earcandy 1x12 closed cab with an Eminence greenback clone, tone for miles and smiles.

Montana_Dawg · April 29th, 2006, 02:45 AM

I just picked up a head, and of course, the first thing I had to do when I got home was tear it apart!

Epiphone made some major improvements over the combo version. They fixed a lot of issues, and added a couple of things as well.

I really like the bridge rectified filament supply. Rock solid, and a few adjustments to the filter caps make it even better.

The other thing, and a major one at that, is that they relcated R10 and R11 and changed the values. R11 is now a 220K resistor, and is in a bleed position. This means that the dangerous voltages that are stored in the filter caps now have a way to bleed off the charge to ground. On the combo amps, this feature does not exist, and that makes them dangerous to open up.

I also like the insulated input jack, the multiple output jacks (4, 8, or 16 ohm), and changes to the trace layout to elimate the crossover hum. Also, a problem with the combo was that the input jack was grounded to chassis ground. Because there is another chassis ground point on the other side of the PCB, this created a ground loop with lots of hum. The mod for this was to cut the trace and run a jumper wire. The new head eliminates this issue, and ties the ground directly to the system ground.

Here is a schematic I made of some of the changes Epiphone made:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2.../Epi_VJH_2.jpg

All in all, a sweet little amp for plunking around the house. I just plug in my modified Blues Driver, and go to town.

However, as an electronic tech, I simply cannot leave well enough alone. I will be adding a simple tone mod, a simple gain mod, and a standby switch. Plus, I will change out the Sovteks for something better.

I use the head to drive the extra 12" cabinet that came with the Fender Roc Pro 1000. It does a great job!

For the price, this baby is a gem!

gibby101 · April 30th, 2006, 03:46 AM

I just got one of these today and am loving it! Changed the tubes out to a JJ in the power slot and a JAN 5751 in the preamp. Stays clean up to about 4 and then it gets the gradual overdirve kicking in. I'm using it with a G-Flex at 4 ohms and it dead quiet all the way up and really loud when cranked.

xStonr · April 30th, 2006, 09:16 PM

I gave into the temptation and picked one up the other day. I put some JJ's that I had laying around as the Sovteks are a little harsh to my ears. I'm running it through an old Sunn 4X12 cab that I borrowed. I'm thinking that a 2x cab would be ideal for what I want. It's the best bang for the buck out there in an amp.

Montana_Dawg · May 1st, 2006, 12:15 AM

I drew out the schematic for the head. The main circuit part is the same as for the Combo (except the input jack ground).

The rest is either added, or changed.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...wg/Epi_VJH.jpg

Joe-Bob · May 4th, 2006, 03:40 PM

Well, you guys got me thinking about picking one up for myself. At $100, it just might be a fun toy.

Cobra8272 · May 5th, 2006, 10:21 AM

Hi
after reading a few posts about The epiphone valve amps i put an order in for a head but here in Australia won't get it until July.
I'll start looking for a 2 x 12 cab and some speakers - any recommendations?
What about the Vox 2 x 12 cabinet?
rgds
Cobra

Vol. Knob · May 5th, 2006, 11:48 AM

Low watt amps are fantastic.

Great to have in the recording studio. I have a Newcomb head, it's actually a PA. It has one input and runs all of 12 watts, it's a 5E3 and it's over 50 years old. It actually can hold it's own at band practice if I plug it into either my 2x12 or customized 15" and 10" cabnet. I have a Teisco that I found at the side of the road, 15 watts into a 10, fantastic AC15 wannabe tones.

For a mere $100, the Epi sounds like a killer deal. Not hard to scrape together that kind of scratch. Would be a fantastic practice and recording amp. I need to hear one.

I've seen guys gig on amps of this size. All they need is to mic it and run it through the PA. Heck, I once saw a guy gig with a battery powered mini "Marshall" that he stuck in a long PVC tube and had a mic in the other end. He had a killer trashy tone and suffered no noise or unwanted feedback.

Joe-Bob · May 5th, 2006, 02:19 PM

Anybody know who's got these in stock?I haven't found them locally yet.

xStonr · May 9th, 2006, 10:05 PM

The usual suspects online should have them back in stock. Also, your local GC can order you one too.

April 4th, 2006, 04:22 PM	#1 (permalink)
BB Friend of Leo's Join Date: May 2003 Location: Pacific NW Age: 53 Posts: 3,188	Epiphone Valve Jr Head Whats the scoop on these $99.00, 5 watt heads? I've read the noise of the combo has been done away with in the head, but what say you that own one?

April 5th, 2006, 04:06 AM	#7 (permalink)
InstituteOfNoise Tele-Holic Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 662	I have one on order that will be here Thursday. Just another option at my recording studio. Have some JJ tubes ready to go in it. Will probably use it with my Carvin 4x10 cab, which has 2 Ragin Cajun's and 2 stock Carvin VL10's which are actually pretty decent. I'll probably setup a 1x12 with a ceramic Weber Blue Dog as an alternate option. __________________ Chime... http://www.myspace.com/TheBandChime Clip Vault... http://www.myspace.com/andyztunes Institute of Noise Productions... http://www.myspace.com/instituteofnoise

April 29th, 2006, 02:45 AM	#15 (permalink)
Montana_Dawg Tele-Holic Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Oregon, but from Montana Posts: 548	I just picked up a head, and of course, the first thing I had to do when I got home was tear it apart! Epiphone made some major improvements over the combo version. They fixed a lot of issues, and added a couple of things as well. I really like the bridge rectified filament supply. Rock solid, and a few adjustments to the filter caps make it even better. The other thing, and a major one at that, is that they relcated R10 and R11 and changed the values. R11 is now a 220K resistor, and is in a bleed position. This means that the dangerous voltages that are stored in the filter caps now have a way to bleed off the charge to ground. On the combo amps, this feature does not exist, and that makes them dangerous to open up. I also like the insulated input jack, the multiple output jacks (4, 8, or 16 ohm), and changes to the trace layout to elimate the crossover hum. Also, a problem with the combo was that the input jack was grounded to chassis ground. Because there is another chassis ground point on the other side of the PCB, this created a ground loop with lots of hum. The mod for this was to cut the trace and run a jumper wire. The new head eliminates this issue, and ties the ground directly to the system ground. Here is a schematic I made of some of the changes Epiphone made: http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2.../Epi_VJH_2.jpg All in all, a sweet little amp for plunking around the house. I just plug in my modified Blues Driver, and go to town. However, as an electronic tech, I simply cannot leave well enough alone. I will be adding a simple tone mod, a simple gain mod, and a standby switch. Plus, I will change out the Sovteks for something better. I use the head to drive the extra 12" cabinet that came with the Fender Roc Pro 1000. It does a great job! For the price, this baby is a gem! __________________ I would rather be a jack-of-all-trades and master of none, than be a one trick-pony out of a job.

May 1st, 2006, 12:15 AM	#18 (permalink)
Montana_Dawg Tele-Holic Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Oregon, but from Montana Posts: 548	EVJ Head Schematic I drew out the schematic for the head. The main circuit part is the same as for the Combo (except the input jack ground). The rest is either added, or changed. http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...wg/Epi_VJH.jpg __________________ I would rather be a jack-of-all-trades and master of none, than be a one trick-pony out of a job.

May 4th, 2006, 03:40 PM	#19 (permalink)
Joe-Bob Friend of Leo's Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Dallas, Texas Age: 46 Posts: 4,017	Well, you guys got me thinking about picking one up for myself. At $100, it just might be a fun toy. __________________ "German is the language God uses when He really means business." --FZ

April 4th, 2006, 04:52 PM	#2 (permalink)
3StringGuitar Tele-Holic Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 623	I love it, well the way it looks at least. The on/off looks a little out of place but meh. I'd like to give one a go, can't really go wrong for $100 can ya? What I'd love to see is a good 25 watt version come out, or even a 50 watter, that'd be awesome. I just picked up a Sovtek and love the compact feel of it. Something like that but a bit more afordable with maybe a volume and tone would be cool. Does it run off EL84's?

April 4th, 2006, 05:02 PM	#3 (permalink)
BB Friend of Leo's Join Date: May 2003 Location: Pacific NW Age: 53 Posts: 3,188	From what I've read, one El84 and a 12AX7 are the tubes....with a solid state retcumfire. Yes....hard to beat the price. I'm sure the clean headroom is nil, but maybe a tube swap would help some.

April 4th, 2006, 05:10 PM	#4 (permalink)
3StringGuitar Tele-Holic Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 623	Yeah, I never quite understood the point of low watt heads but eh. I'll deffinatly look into one of these though, could be fun to just mess with.

April 4th, 2006, 10:05 PM	#6 (permalink)
3StringGuitar Tele-Holic Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 623	All good points I never really took into consideration :)

April 5th, 2006, 04:15 AM	#8 (permalink)
JohnnyCrash Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lost Angeles and Orange County Posts: 7,128	The head is a better option than the combo... but still, it's not that great of an amp at all. The trannies are a big weak point (well actually ALL of the components are weak). I'll give em this much - THEY'RE CHEAP. Oh, also, they're great for gutting and rebuilding low watt heads into... otherwise - garbage... put another $50 and you've got something with a lot of mojo... but at that point you could build a Champ! Speaking of Champs... there aint nothing like a Champ, and even these aint like a Champ... By the way, I've got a few freak Champs (that'll take either a 6V6, 6L6, or EL34 power tube and run at either 6 or 10 watts) that I built - a Champ in a 2x12" cab is unholy!

April 5th, 2006, 03:55 PM	#10 (permalink)
pjf626 TDPRI Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 30	If you want to hear how it sounds, check around some other boards and there are sound clips posted. Sounds pretty good to me.

April 8th, 2006, 01:06 AM	#11 (permalink)
pjf626 TDPRI Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 30	Just got mine today wow best 99 bucks I have ever spent. If you like 60 and 70s rock this thing is great. You don't need any overdrive pedals with this thing.

April 8th, 2006, 01:10 AM	#12 (permalink)
3StringGuitar Tele-Holic Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 623	Awesome, glad to hear you like it. I'm very very tempted to get one but must hold off for a while. Maybe I can pick one up used in a few months. Is there much of a hum problem or anything?

April 8th, 2006, 10:22 AM	#14 (permalink)
pjf626 TDPRI Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 30	Absolutely dead quiet fully cranked. I guess there was a hum problem with the combos, they have fixed that on the heads. I am playing it through a Earcandy 1x12 closed cab with an Eminence greenback clone, tone for miles and smiles.

April 30th, 2006, 03:46 AM	#16 (permalink)
gibby101 NEW MEMBER! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: CA Posts: 2	I just got one of these today and am loving it! Changed the tubes out to a JJ in the power slot and a JAN 5751 in the preamp. Stays clean up to about 4 and then it gets the gradual overdirve kicking in. I'm using it with a G-Flex at 4 ohms and it dead quiet all the way up and really loud when cranked.

April 30th, 2006, 09:16 PM	#17 (permalink)
xStonr Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Down in the Boondocks Posts: 1,364 4 Photos	I gave into the temptation and picked one up the other day. I put some JJ's that I had laying around as the Sovteks are a little harsh to my ears. I'm running it through an old Sunn 4X12 cab that I borrowed. I'm thinking that a 2x cab would be ideal for what I want. It's the best bang for the buck out there in an amp.

May 5th, 2006, 10:21 AM	#20 (permalink)
Cobra8272 Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Perth - Western Australia Posts: 257 4 Photos	Hi after reading a few posts about The epiphone valve amps i put an order in for a head but here in Australia won't get it until July. I'll start looking for a 2 x 12 cab and some speakers - any recommendations? What about the Vox 2 x 12 cabinet? rgds Cobra

May 5th, 2006, 11:48 AM	#21 (permalink)
Vol. Knob Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 577 103 Photos	Low watt amps are fantastic. Great to have in the recording studio. I have a Newcomb head, it's actually a PA. It has one input and runs all of 12 watts, it's a 5E3 and it's over 50 years old. It actually can hold it's own at band practice if I plug it into either my 2x12 or customized 15" and 10" cabnet. I have a Teisco that I found at the side of the road, 15 watts into a 10, fantastic AC15 wannabe tones. For a mere $100, the Epi sounds like a killer deal. Not hard to scrape together that kind of scratch. Would be a fantastic practice and recording amp. I need to hear one. I've seen guys gig on amps of this size. All they need is to mic it and run it through the PA. Heck, I once saw a guy gig with a battery powered mini "Marshall" that he stuck in a long PVC tube and had a mic in the other end. He had a killer trashy tone and suffered no noise or unwanted feedback. __________________ I have a few bands: 7 Mysteries Zerababyl Inflammatory Rhetoric

May 5th, 2006, 02:19 PM	#22 (permalink)
Joe-Bob Friend of Leo's Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Dallas, Texas Age: 46 Posts: 4,017	Anybody know who's got these in stock?I haven't found them locally yet. __________________ "German is the language God uses when He really means business." --FZ

May 9th, 2006, 10:05 PM	#23 (permalink)
xStonr Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Down in the Boondocks Posts: 1,364 4 Photos	The usual suspects online should have them back in stock. Also, your local GC can order you one too.