bluesman345 Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I have a 15 watt Valve Standard with an NOS (ca. 1975) 12 inch CTS speaker. The amp is a little dark sounding, but brightens up nicely with my Boss GE-7 equalizer. I really like the overdrive with the gain cranked up - very bluesy. I use my Boss ME-50 for effects, and sometimes use the reverb on the amp - I don't bother with the DSP (they should have thought that one through a little more). We haven't received any Valve Seniors in my neck of the woods yet. Until I am able to take my Standard into the store to A/B it with the Senior, I would like to hear from anyone who has bought a Senior and has had a bit of time to put it through it's paces. Some ads state that the Senior is 18 watts, while others say it is 20 watts. I am wondering if it would be worth it to trade my Standard in for a Senior, since, all things being equal, 3 to 5 watts more shouldn't make much of a difference. Or would it? The Valve Standard/Senior is primarily for "bedroom" use, although I could gig with it mic'd if it is loud enough. I don't want to get caught up in all the hype, but I have been kinda gassin' for this thing. Sowhaddayathink??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Bluesy - I was playing my VSr last night (had it since 10/24) and finally came to the conclusion that I LOVE the stupid thing. I know it won't last 40 years like my BF Fenders, but wowwee it sure sounds nice. I especially like that it can sound GREAT at very low volumes - no pedals needed. I think it's the ideal tubey-goodness amp on a budget, for bedroom to decent stage volumes. More here, including videos, pics of the guts, SCHEMATICS(!), and other opinions from owners: http://forums.epiphone.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=11567 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenrirlupus Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I don't have one, but i think i'd have to suggest trading in the standard... if you want to go back to el84 tubes, you can always use yellow jackets... and instead of DSP there's spring reverb... Then again, it's your decision... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis G Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I'm with Brian. I haven't had much time to fool around with this, but have been experimenting with not only various settings but different guitars as well. As noted somewhere else, the range of tone you can get by tweeking the master and gain knobs is real interesting. I've been fooling with a delay pedal to "assist" the reverb, if you will. Have we mentioned that the reverb sucks? :) . Also, I'm getting surprisingly little to no feedback when playing my Dot or Gretsch 5122, other than maybe some initial hum when things begin to warm up, and I'm about 6' in front of the amp. It's a pretty "ballsy" or "throaty" sound from what I've seen so far (more so on hollow/semi hollow than solid body) and I'm looking forward to some info on tube changes, minor mod's etc. All in all, I'm liking it a lot. It and my Blues Jr. will be my "go to" amps for quite some time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaydodge Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 my ears are still recovering from the last time i played it...sure is loud through a 2x12" cab.. i have changed all the caps except 1.. i am experimenting with R8/C12...as i find it a little bright..i've also changed some of the cap values near the phase splitter/feedback loop..i'll let you know how that goes when i figure out how to fit a 100nF orange drop behind the presence knob :) if anyone else is experimenting, please let me know if you find any errors in schematic (it was dark when i did the resistor values hehe)..hopefully it makes sense enough to start modding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saljam Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I've had my VS Combo since last Wednesday. I'm really digging the warm tones I'm getting from it. However, I am not the best judge since this is my first tube amp (I got rid of my Line 6 Spider III). I love messing around with the settings. I am looking for a little more in terms of distortion but a pedal should take care of that. Overall it was a great buy for my first tube amp. I'm very happy with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 my ears are still recovering from the last time i played it...sure is loud through a 2x12" cab.. i have changed all the caps except 1.. i am experimenting with R8/C12...as i find it a little bright..i've also changed some of the cap values near the phase splitter/feedback loop..i'll let you know how that goes when i figure out how to fit a 100nF orange drop behind the presence knob :D if anyone else is experimenting' date=' please let me know if you find any errors in schematic (it was dark when i did the resistor values hehe)..hopefully it makes sense enough to start modding :)[/quote'] Jay, please post the cap upgrades for the rest of us. Still lovin' this little Chinese POS. Thanks, Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaydodge Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Hi Brian I unfortunately don't have 2 of these to compare how it sounds..but I am able to tolerate it through jensen loaded cabinets now which is an improvement for me these are very prelim..!! (and could be wrong as its not in front of me at the moment) C15 = 100nF -> 47nF C17,C19 = 100nF -> 22nF i did the usual up the power supply section a bit. C32,C33,C34,C36,C37 = 22uF -> 47uF i changed C8,C9 to elma cerafine versions of the same thing (although they're 100V so slightly bigger..barely fits really but oh well :)) all other caps are now either sprague 715 (?) orange drops or silver-mica..except the cathode bypass caps on the reverb section.. i'll keep you posted.. i plan on swapping some resistors around next and looking for a simple way to get the reverb less ugly with the stock tank.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Thanks Jay, post some pics of the board if you think of it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaydodge Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 excuse the quality - phone sucks and camera is not here atm also..upon lookin at fixing the reverb i noticed i had something in the wrong spot in the schematic (R31 is slightly out of place)..i'll post a revised version later in case i find something else in the meantime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwalin Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 does anyone know a better reverb tank that will fit in the box? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 does anyone know a better reverb tank that will fit in the box? See post #49 in this thread: http://forums.epiphone.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=11567&p=3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaydodge Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 here is an updated schematic... changes: - corrected position of R31 in reverb section Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tragic1281734187 Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 Hi Brian I unfortunately don't have 2 of these to compare how it sounds..but I am able to tolerate it through jensen loaded cabinets now which is an improvement for me :) these are very prelim..!! (and could be wrong as its not in front of me at the moment) C15 = 100nF -> 47nF C17' date='C19 = 100nF -> 22nF i did the usual up the power supply section a bit. C32,C33,C34,C36,C37 = 22uF -> 47uF i changed C8,C9 to elma cerafine versions of the same thing (although they're 100V so slightly bigger..barely fits really but oh well :)) all other caps are now either sprague 715 (?) orange drops or silver-mica..except the cathode bypass caps on the reverb section.. i'll keep you posted.. i plan on swapping some resistors around next and looking for a simple way to get the reverb less ugly with the stock tank..[/quote'] Hey Jaydodge, Just wondering how the mods went. What kind of change were you looking for? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenrirlupus Posted November 9, 2009 Share Posted November 9, 2009 See post #49 in this thread: http://forums.epiphone.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=11567&p=3 Actually, this thread is more specific... http://forums.epiphone.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=11739 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zagatron1 Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 It's day two, and so far it's sounding great. For the price it's a great buy for someone who wants a decent tube amp, and doesn't have money for a used motor vehicle to pay for one. The sound of my VSC is close to my Carr Rambler amp (but without the tremolo). I wanted a tube amp for home, this is the one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eracer_Team Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 I see you're near Vancouver.. I was in a local L&M down here in TO... and they had a VS on the floor, didn't get to play it but they said the floor price was $445 canadian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drdos Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Finally got to try my Senior at practice last night. Although I wasn't able to put it through a lot of tweaking this Amp is sweet. I was hoping for a warm DR type of sound and I was pretty surprised by the overall tone. Yeah the reverb does suck, but I never use much. The looks and build quality of the outside of this amp make you feel like you spent a lot more money on it. The EQ section of this amp works pretty well IMO. The amp is pretty responsive to even a slight change in Treble/Mid/Bass that's a big plus. All in All I am very please with this amp.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesman345 Posted November 16, 2009 Author Share Posted November 16, 2009 I see you're near Vancouver.. I was in a local L&M down here in TO... and they had a VS on the floor' date=' didn't get to play it but they said the floor price was $445 canadian[/quote'] Well, one FINALLY made it to the True North Strong and Free Was that a combo or a head that you saw? When I was in the local L&M last week, the manager couldn't even find the amp in the system. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eracer_Team Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 they had the head sitting on top of an epip cab. the price was just for the head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmore1514k Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 After the change of valves and reverb unit I fnally tried for a few minutes. And it really surprised me. Far better than expected. Nice cleans and nice overdrive. The head feeds a 2x12 cabinet with greenbacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenrirlupus Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 greenbacks. eww... midrange... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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