Anyone made a Epi Valve Junior sing?

[mooboo]

Thought I'd ask the Les Paul fanatics this one.. I need a small practice amp, maybe some recording. How well do these little beasts sing? I was thinking about getting the combo. Would it record well? I have a Crate V18 2x12, but it is a little harsh/loud in my room (plays great in the open area of the stage, just not suitable for indoor crunch).

Anyone have any sound clips? Suggestions on alternatives?

[BigKahune]

Hot plate.

 

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/THD-Hot-Plate-Attenuator?sku=481283

[FennRx]

the combo will not sound all that great. you need the head and a decent cab,if only the matching VJ one. you will also need a [insert dirt pedal of choice].

 

ymmv

[lespaulj45]

2006 Les Paul Std

2007 J-45 Std

Epiphone Valve Jr

Epiphone Blues Custom 30

 

I live in a small house and use the Valve Jr all the time...its easier than lugging a 74 lb 2X12 epi amp from room to room-play around with 12AX7 tubes-I use a sov-tek chinese tube presently and at tolerable levels it works fine and it only has one preamp tube so its wont break your wallet-only 5 watt but it works fine with a early breakup-and its easy to move around!

 

The Custom 30 is another animal altogether=its 5 12AX7's and 2 5881's-this amp does anything I want it to,when I bought it I compared it side bt side to a Fender Twin and for 1/3 the cash it did just fine as long as you arent playing Shea Stadium

[Joolin]

My Valve Jr. was modded by a previous owner to have a master volume (among other things). At the house I'm living in, I can't crank it very loud so the master volume is essential. I still haven't been able to find out who actually did the mods, but if you can find someone who will do it, it will make the VJ much more usable in a bedroom setting. I don't know how it stacks up against an actual attenuator though.

 

Also, I agree with anyone suggesting the piggyback version rather than the combo. I haven't actually played the combo, but the speaker I was originally running it through before I got a dedicated cab was the 6" speaker of a little combo I have and it sounded pretty awful. I have the matching cab now and I like it so far. If you can afford it though, I highly recommend getting an Eminence Red Fang. That's what the guy I bought the VJ from was running it through and I can honestly say I have never heard anything quite like it. The breakup was so smooth it barely even sounded like distortion so much as pure, thick saturation.

[Hall]

I have the jr. in a little office room at home. Open it up all the way and use the guitar's volume as your heat burner. Does fine. Or, put a Screamer or a Rat in the path if you need more dirt at a lower volume.

[JThunderz]

Have you ever thought of one of those Line6 pods? They're not awesome but they sound alright and you can DI em for recording or just run em through headphones if you need to be quiet..

[kerpalalexander23]

i actually have one of these for sale at the pawnshop i work at. I plugged this head into a 4x10 bass cab and i was very surprised to say the least. on 1 its clean but pretty loud and when i kranked it up i got a nice fat, overdriven tone out of the bass cab. And it's quite loud too! For the $60 price tag im actually thinking about picking it up.

[Bluemoon]

I had one. It was one of the early models...version 2 combo. It was pretty muddy sounding, even after a speaker swap to a Weber.

[Taz]

I have not tried the vj, but I agree with Thunderz... if you are looking for something to use at home and maybe for some recording a Pod is a good solution.

You cannot beat a full stack of tube tone live on stage, but a pod will re-create that at home studio or apartment living conditions better than any combo I have ever come across.

[Mr. Robot]

I have not tried the vj' date=' but I agree with Thunderz... if you are looking for something to use at home and maybe for some recording a Pod is a good solution.

You cannot beat a full stack of tube tone live on stage, but a pod will re-create that at home studio or apartment living conditions better than any combo I have ever come across.[/quote']

 

Sounds to me like you are being podantic .:)

[Silenced Fred]

Vox AC4, nuff said.

 

Goes down to 1/4 watt, up to 4 watts. Sounds great, and at 1/4 watt, fully driven, its a beast at usable bedroom levels

[Twiz]

I've got a Valve Jr. but it's the head and 1X12 version. I use mine for practicing mostly at a low volume. I get some good tones with a distortion pedal of some kind (I use either a Boss DS-1, EH Big Muff PI, or a RAT that I just got). If you really want to get the tubes to sing, but don't want to annoy people that live with you, try an attenuator, and crank the volume.

[Riverside]

Valve Jr. (v3) head through the Leslie 45 sounds way cool.

 

I use it, I love it, I recommend it.