Valve Jr Mods, good news/bad news

[iowa]

I recently ordered the Bitmo Tweaky mod and tone control for my stock VJ head. I was hoping to get some more clean headroom and be able to tweak the tone. They arrived quickly and well packaged and with thorough instructions.

Once I looked at all the parts, I decided that I wasn't ready to tear into my amp, so I took it over to the local amp tech. I had him do the Spanky (Vox-like) mod and add the tone control.

The good news...
At low volumes the the amp is cleaner and has more sparkle. The tone knob really makes it easier to dial in your tone. There is a small increase in clean headroom. And finally, at higher volumes the overdriven tone is less muddy and more musical. It is still not a clean amp, but it is a lot more useful in my book. I play a Tele with a p-90 in the neck and a Xaviere with a pair of hot (10k and 14k) HB's. Both sound great thru it. I am very pleased at the sound I am getting from the VJ now. I would highly recommend the Bitmo mods.

Now the bad news...
While my VJ was in the shop, i borrowed a Zinky Velveteen. A really simple 13 watt tube amp with volume, gain and a single tone knob. WOW, this is a smokin' amp. It gives me a great clean tone to contrast the OD tones on the VJ. Now I have to justify to the wife why I need another amp when I just told her how much I like the modded VJ.

As a final note, when I picked up my amp from the tech, he told me that he has a vj head and was impressed enough with the way mine turned out that he is going to do the same mods to his.

 

[candh]

Don't justify....change perspective.

Show her a few of the fellas collections over at TGP "how many amps do you have?" thread. Tell her that is the norm and your restraint should be rewarded with a start on your own minor collection.

Ya... I know.......but it's worth a shot.

 

[Southern Ill]

If she takes a look at the Zinky I would think she would like the cool velvet tolex and let you keep it.

 

[1293]

Don't justify....change perspective.

+1

Two amps is not unreasonable. I have a Musicman 100RD, a Microcube, a Valve Junior, a 2X12 18 Watt TMB, a 5E3 Tweed Deluxe, and a nearly complete Trainwreck Express. I never get to play any of them - I haven't even peeked into the closet they're stored in since November. Oh, and I've been buying parts for D'Lite 22 that I don't have time to build.

Please feel free to use me as an example of what's unreasonable.

 

[studio1087]

There's nothing wrong with an active music hobby. Could be worse....you could collect monster trucks. Just tell her that you love music and you're creative. Remember to smile.

My wife of 17 years has not gone insane........
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The biggest change that I did to my Valve Junior was adding this to my pedal board.......
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[Pvee]

I just finished modding a Epiphone Valve jr and am very pleased with it.
I made a speaker cabinet and put a 10" Eminence speaker in it and it sounds great.

Does need EQ help and I use an EQ pedal and analog delay in front of it but I have designed in a Low, Mid, High, EQ circuit that I am adding as soon as I get all the parts.

 

[Sollophonic]

My valve Junior combo has the following mods which IMO are pretty essential.

1) Opening up the input stage, by putting in a lower resistor before the preamp

2) Lowering the resistance between the pre amp and the power valve

3) Upgrading the output transformer to a Hammond which has the most dramatic effect of any mods.

4) Changing the valves for something better than the stock ones.

All these increased the volume, the tone, the sensitivity, and the playability of this amp.

Sollophonic

 

[iowa]

Update

I tried some different tubes in the VJ today. It came stock w/ an EH 12AX7 preamp and EH EL84 power tube.
I tried an old GE 12AT7 and give some additional headroom at the expense of some volume and gain at the top end of the dial.
I also popped in a 12AU7 to see what a really low gain tube sounds like. It really lowered the volume and the gain at full volume. Doesn't sound great to my ears, but it does make the VJ a nice amp to run a modeller thru. I plugged in my ToneLab and was able to far cleaner tones at higher volume than with the stock AT7.
I may leave the AU7 in to play thru the ToneLab at home and pop in the AT7 or AX7 when I take the amp out to my weekly jam session.