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Last Call....


aphawki

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Posted

Can only imagine this has been asked 50 million times....so here goes 50 million and 1.

 

Getting ready to replace my 15w solid state Marshall with an Epi Valve Jr. Just wanted to make sure for this watt level and pricing if this is the way to go....or is there another that I am missing. I have pedals and all that good stuff so not too worried about the lack of adjustments on the Jr. Any last call ideas would be awesome!! Thanks in advance!

Posted
Can only imagine this has been asked 50 million times....so here goes 50 million and 1.

 

Getting ready to replace my 15w solid state Marshall with an Epi Valve Jr. Just wanted to make sure for this watt level and pricing if this is the way to go....or is there another that I am missing. I have pedals and all that good stuff so not too worried about the lack of adjustments on the Jr. Any last call ideas would be awesome!! Thanks in advance!

Are you asking if VJr. is the only 5w' date=' class A valve amp out there in it's price bracket? No. Google for a list.

VJr. may capture the "Marshally" valve tone better than any other in stock form. Beyond that, it's a matter of what voicing you're after.

 

A VJr. V3 with one/more 12" speakers will blow away your 15w Marshall SS, so be ready for a sonic explosion -- that's good.

 

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

Posted

A VJr. V3 with one/more 12" speakers will blow away your 15w Marshall SS' date=' so be ready for a sonic explosion -- that's good.

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

 

Yeah that's what I wanted to know! This is going to be my last purchase for awhile. :D/ alright...maybe not.

Posted

You'll be fine. Everytime i add another pedal to this amp i like it more. From

Digital amp modeling to boutique pedals I don't think there's anything this

amp doesn't like.

Posted

Fine for what? He never said what he's looking for.

 

With my setup i'm good for anything from blues to metal. What else is there?

Considering he is replacing an MG. He has pedals already. If he doesn't find

what he's looking for it wil probably just be a question of optimizing his pedal

board.

Posted

If he's looking for fat loud clean he's gonna be unhappy.

you can even take off the 'loud' part and still not have what you want for clean with this amp.

I personally find it handles what I want to do all around..

At home, the cleans are fine, for practice or recording..

for jamming they'll still do for the most part.. and there's always micing it up.

 

But the el84 sound is what it is, and so is single ended, so I have to agree with m theory.. a little more detail about expectations

would be a good thing.

 

Overall.. yep. killer amp, killer price, killer sound, and pretty broad in it's sounds for rock and up the tube chain.. but hey, particular, too.

specific.

That's a great selling point if you know the tones you want.. but could be a downer if the basic sound of the amp is not like what you're dreaming of.

 

So. I'd say yes, with reservations.

zz acdc standard hard rock.. way good..

bluesy, too, and put a pedal on it and you're in pretty satisfying metal territory.

 

TWANG

Posted

Might add this also, just my opinion, but if you are limited to playing at low volume (bedroom, apartment dweller, dorm room, etc.,) you may not be happy with this amp (or else your neighbors definitely won't be happy with you).

It begs to be cranked up pretty good to get the best tones out of it, and unless you have a fairly nice sized room to crank it up in, it can be painfully loud.

Kinda like the Angus Young of amps...small, but loud, rude, and aggressive.

Posted

I suppose I should put in there what I was looking for. Sorry about that. (Thanks for all the advice by the way!!!) I am looking for something that is going to work much better with my pedals than the solid state Marshall I have now. I like more of the rock and metal sounds...so I will have pedals in front of it either way. I guess in all honesty...what I want is to have a tube amp to use at home that will be fun and inexpensive. I currently am working on getting better but there is no way I do any gigging or anything like that. It will be all from my house...in my living room...ripping it up when no one is home!

 

To answer a lot of the questions too...I really don't use the clean all that often on my Marshall...love the distortion! I have an overdrive pedal that just doesn't like to work on the solid state (learning as I go...sorry for that purchase.) as well as a wah pedal that again just doesn't really like to be used on the little Marshall. So I guess again, I just want to get into a tube amp without breaking the bank but something that will be fun!

Posted

Then the VJr would be a good choice and will serve you well. It's forte is it's power tube distortion at loud levels, and they definitely sound great with all the pedals I've tried. But they have a good fat clean tone down low, and with just a good distortion pedal you can still get whatever tones you need at bedroom levels.

 

Gil...

Posted
Then the VJr would be a good choice and will serve you well. It's forte is it's power tube distortion at loud levels' date=' and they definitely sound great with all the pedals I've tried. But they have a good fat clean tone down low, and with just a good distortion pedal you can still get whatever tones you need at bedroom levels.

 

Gil...[/quote']

 

Thank you. That's what I am looking for. (That and a good way to spend money that I don't have...ok I have at least enough to get the amp.) I think I am just excited to get a tube amp either way. I think my biggest problem is that I constantly keep looking for the "next" thing to get. I should probably see a doctor about that...but then if that was the case I should probably let them know the whole forum might be showing up for the first visit.

Posted

Actually what I want is the sweet bronze bass boat finish you have on your amp m-theory. That color is awesome!

Posted

I play in the living room often, too.

it's 100W per side and the vj has NO problem keeping up.

all gil said is spot on.. and a good pedal and you can even keep the volume down a bit for softer practice.

 

 

TWANG

Posted

Thank you all again for the insight. Gil, not looking at the combo...haven't heard as many positives with that as I have with the head. Going to just get the half stack. I figure I can swap out the speaker that way (sometime down the road)...and plus I just like the look of the stack.

Posted

I have a Hafler T3 tube preamp that I use through my VJ. Incredible clean and I can get good modern crunch and solo gain tones with channels 2 & 3. I feed it through the Loop d Junior. I can get good tube distortion at lower volumes this way too.

I use the regular input and VJ preamp when I want that vintage Marshall tone. I have an entenuator added if I need to be at lower volumes. Tone suffers a little but it still sounds beter than any SS in it's price range at low volumes.

These little amps are great.

Posted
With my setup i'm good for anything from blues to metal.

Let's be at least a tiny bit realistic. A Vjr and a megabuzz pedal are not the answer to every question, believe it or not.

 

I guess in all honesty...what I want is to have a tube amp to use at home that will be fun and inexpensive.

Well, that narrows it down to a bunch, but the Vjr would seem to fit.

 

I think my biggest problem is that I constantly keep looking for the "next" thing to get.

Welcome to the world of G.A.S. It's a lifetime ailment, so you might as well get used to it and enjoy the ride.

 

Actually what I want is the sweet bronze bass boat finish you have on your amp m-theory. That color is awesome!

Thanks. I like that, too, and it actually looks much better in person. This is one of the colors in duplicolor's "Metal cast" "anodized" line of spray bomb finishes. You apply a metal flake basecoat, then a transparent color coat over that. I apply a 2 part acrylic epoxy clear over it when I'm done. I used these colors for pedals that I build, because they're quite stunning, particularly after clearing with that 2-part clearcoat. I believe this color is the orange, though it definitely looks more like bronze.

 

I used to sell auto refinish products in a previous life, so I learned a bit about finish application, and even some pretty cool tricks, and I use whatever I can in my pedals and other builds. I wish I still had access to those 60,000 + colors, and automotive refinish products, not to mention the booths to spray them in!

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