Valve Junior reality check ;^)

[Steven Lister]

I've just had a week off work and got bored.

 

Hey' date=' a bit more time playing the Jr. and a little less time "modding" it and the next time you're out a week the last word in your sentence might be LAID. Eh? Just couldn't resist..., but seriously (sort of), is that Keith Richards planging away on a telecaster in your avatar? Man that is the hipest, coolest on Epi's entire forum.

 

Hit every BLUE NOTE baaaby..., I'm going to play on:-"

[Bakz]

A couple of my thoughts on the inceasingly ubiquitous VJ.

 

I'll start by saying that I have no issue with the guys modding the Valve Junior in a myriad ways to acheive their individual performance goals. It's loads of fun' date=' inexpensive...and it if it floats your boat , great !

 

Now I [i']hopefully[/i] won't annoy too many folks with the next bit.

 

Once you start thinking deeply about how the VJ sounds and start modding it, there's a real danger of missing its whole point.

[it can sound a bit harsh at higher settings and it's gain structure doesn't suit everybody...but a nice smooth EL84 like the JJ, together with a preamp tube with the right gain, will usually knock off enough rough edges.]

What you have is a beautifully simple little amp that sounds how it sounds. You can turn it up or down, on or off.

It has a good measure of that touch sensitive response that's envied in many great simple tube amplifiers...and all for the price of a night in the pub!

Just turn it on and forget it. The sound you get is then down to the guitar and what you do with it. An amp like the VJ is very liberating and can teach us a lot about touch and dynamics, as well how to use the guitar's controls !

What you hear from an amp like he VJ is the player !

Get a decent pair of tubes installed and fire it up. If it then doesn't sound good , it ain't the amp's fault !

 

That's that off my chest. Won't say another word ;^)

 

I agree. VJrs are terrific amps right out of the box. I have two heads, both of them are modded. One has an MM choke, and an E Series Hammond OT with some tone, gain and bias mods to the stock circuit card. To maintain the beauty, I kept the standard single volume control. The final result has been spectacular. To look at it, you wouldn't know it wasn't stock. The main reason I modded mine was for the educational aspect, and the only good reason I could justify for doing this. I have a JTM45 kit amp, and also an AVT50H, but that one Jr has become my main rig. Harpist, guitarist, audio engineer, what ever excuse you can find, please get yourself a Valve Junior. Stock or modded, they are one of the finest amps on the market, and all I need.

 

Another tip for smoothing out the VJr, try an Eminence Lil' Buddy.