Ed Zeplin Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 I just picked up one of these amp heads for $49. I don't have a dedicated speaker for it yet (I may plug it in to my Mesa/Boogie amp's speaker when I get the chance) but I was curious if anyone has one and what I can expect from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Had one for a day.....2nd time I fired it up it sounded like a golfball was rattling/bouncing around inside the head. $49 is a GREAT price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versatile Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 People were talking about these a year or so ago... Very cheap MIC with vintage looks OK in theory but 'you get what you pay for' Many folks have upgraded the valves and are then much happier... I have the 'Valve Special' which is in effect a Junior Combo with dfx At a low price is probably OK to mess around with... V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomse Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 I just bought a Valve JR and the 1- 12 Cabinet brand new in the box's i payed 300 for both . I have heard great things about them . and i like the retro look of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAC Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I picked up a mint condition used Epiphone VJ Head for around $90. It sounds awesome! You got a great deal on yours! Congrats! I had two of the V1 combos. The first was cool but, the second was a hum monster. The head I have now blows the two combos I had away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugeyed Earl Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 I bought a used head and matching 1x12 cab last year for $50, the seller said it was broken but didn't know if it was the amp, speaker, or both. I rolled the dice and it turned out to be a broken fuse holder in the heater circuit, a very easy fix! My head had already been upgraded with JJ and EH tubes, but was stock apart from that. I'm impressed that both the head and cabinet are made from plywood rather than MDF, though the Tolex is soft and easily torn (mine had a few minor scrapes.) I wasn't blown away by the sound, but I mainly bought it as a project to tinker with, so I gutted the head and installed a 5-watt plexi circuit. It's much more fun now :) One little nuisance that seems to be common with these - the was a lot of glue oversprayed on the inside of the panels (on top of the tolex.) I had to put all my body weight on the cabinet to get the back panel off. I used some solvent to remove the overspray, it comes apart more easily now. I think there was much more buzz around these amps 10 years or so ago when they were new, but they've been eclipsed now that there are dozens of low priced tube rigs on the market. That's a good thing in our case - they can be had cheap and make a great little tinkering platform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starpeve Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 I.ve had the V3 combo for 4 odd years now, bought new, and I really like it. Sure it's simple and basic, but so am I! I'm planning on doing some mods to it ( prob. The Bitmo kits ) but that's really only because I'm a tinkerer. They're surprisingly loud , too much so for a home practice amp, so mine only really comes out for a bit of guitar hero wank when I can get away with it neighbor-wise( middle of a weekday, etc) . Don't know if I'm just lucky, but I've had none of the negative experiences read about, with noise, muddiness etc. I couldn't even tell you with valves mine came with! mine generally gets used one of 3 ways- low volume with my Digitech rp255 pedal with amp/cab modelling , mid volume through the pedal with effects but no amp/cab modelling, or Loud with my guitar plugged straight into ,no pedal. Sounds good to me all ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donaldmoon Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Hi, I bought one too. It wasn't expensive and I wanted to hear it. I found a Kustom cabinet (1x12") to go with it. It's kind of a mystery to me ... Why is it so large & so heavy? There must be a story to go with this thing ... Anybody know what it's about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I just bought a Valve JR and the 1- 12 Cabinet brand new in the box's i payed 300 for both . I have heard great things about them . and i like the retro look of it. the one I had was the same setup, new in box head and cab, got it some 8 yrs ago when they were a bit less, but exchanged it the very next day (after 2 firings & the bouncing golfball sound) for the Blackstar HT5H, which is still going strong when I need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 I have the V3 Combo as well. No real complaints here either; my only problem with the amp is the lack of reverb. I will fire it up occasionally with a guitar with natural resonant properties to take the place of the reverb, such as a semi hollow or a strat and after it warms up that Class A tone just sings. I love the touch response of the class A circuit. I often forget how good it sounds with the right guitar plugged into it. Even though I don't play it as often as my Traynor, I still consider it a keeper. Enjoy yours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vomer Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 I've got a V2 combo with some mods. Swapping out the stock tubes to JJ Teslas brightened it up. Mods done by ebay's 'Alnicomagnet' include rebiasing (I think, not too hot on amp tech myself) the preamp for a 'Fender' voicing, is Alnicomagnet's description, and it does shift the tone slightly towards the US, with better cleans and edge of breakup clarity. This was further helped by changing the speaker for the new Celestion Eight 15, an 8" speaker that they bill as their 'biggest sounding 8" ever'. It's an improvement over the V2 speaker, bigger and more open sound, but I haven't tried it against the V3 Eminence. Not expensive either, about £20. I would love to try this amp through a good alnico speaker. These things are loud, as Starpeve says, I found I was barely able to use mine at home so I got Power Scaling installed which works well. A bit of an investment, but I like the amp and I'm not likely to sell it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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