gearhound
Lunatic Member
Hello people!!
Since it came out in 2005, the Epiphone Valve Junior has been THE low wattage tube amp of choice in the guitar world.
It has developed a serious cult-following with it's very low price and the ability to mod the daylights out of it!
Early version 1 amps had noise problems (AC hum) that were fixed in the version 2 amps that came out in 2006.
The 2007 version 3 amps are an improvement over the earlier versions with some additional component changes and a better matched output transformer.
I bought my version 2 head amp (comes as an 8" combo amp also) in early 2007 for $99 new (including shipping).
Many people (myself included) felt that Epiphone purposely put in questionable components (including a mismatched OT in versions 1 & 2) to cripple the amp as to not affect sales of its higher priced guitar amps.
Obviously, the easiest mod to do is upgrade the two (12ax7 & EL84) stock tubes....mine came with a Chinese 12ax7 and a Sovtek EL84.
The version 3 amps came with better tubes....EH 12ax7 & JJ EL84.
The JJ EL84 seems to be looked upon favorable, but many change out the EH 12ax7 for a Tung Sol RI 12ax7 tube.
I replaced my stock tubes with a 30% less gain NOS Sylvania 5751 tube (for more headroom) and a sweet-sounding NOS GE EL84 tube.
In the versions 1 and 2, Epiphone put in two 68K resistors (R1 & R2) that effectively cut gain 50% before even reaching the pre-amp tube?
In version 3, Epiphone changed the value of R1 to a more correct 1M ohm.
A common (and worthwhile) mod on the earlier 1 and 2 versions is to make R1 = 1M ohm and R2 = 10K ohm.....this mod alone greatly increases gain.
A MUST mod on versions 1 and 2 (even an improvement with version 3) is to replace the output transformer.
The Hammond 125 series seem to be the OT of choice.
Hammond 125CSE..................Good (1.3 lbs.)
Hammond 125DSE..................Better (2.0 lbs.)
Hammond 125ESE..................Best (3.0 lbs & barely fits)
Being a cheapskate (and lousy guitarist to boot) I put a Hammond 125CSE in my EV Junior.
The Hammond OT gives you a better frequency response and better bass than the stock (even version 3) output transformer.
So.........................
Upgrade the tubes
Install the correct value resistors in R1 and R2
Replace stock OT with Hammond 125 CSE/DSE/ESE OT
NOW.....it's a killer amp for under $200!!
Steve
Since it came out in 2005, the Epiphone Valve Junior has been THE low wattage tube amp of choice in the guitar world.
It has developed a serious cult-following with it's very low price and the ability to mod the daylights out of it!
Early version 1 amps had noise problems (AC hum) that were fixed in the version 2 amps that came out in 2006.
The 2007 version 3 amps are an improvement over the earlier versions with some additional component changes and a better matched output transformer.
I bought my version 2 head amp (comes as an 8" combo amp also) in early 2007 for $99 new (including shipping).
Many people (myself included) felt that Epiphone purposely put in questionable components (including a mismatched OT in versions 1 & 2) to cripple the amp as to not affect sales of its higher priced guitar amps.
Obviously, the easiest mod to do is upgrade the two (12ax7 & EL84) stock tubes....mine came with a Chinese 12ax7 and a Sovtek EL84.
The version 3 amps came with better tubes....EH 12ax7 & JJ EL84.
The JJ EL84 seems to be looked upon favorable, but many change out the EH 12ax7 for a Tung Sol RI 12ax7 tube.
I replaced my stock tubes with a 30% less gain NOS Sylvania 5751 tube (for more headroom) and a sweet-sounding NOS GE EL84 tube.
In the versions 1 and 2, Epiphone put in two 68K resistors (R1 & R2) that effectively cut gain 50% before even reaching the pre-amp tube?
In version 3, Epiphone changed the value of R1 to a more correct 1M ohm.
A common (and worthwhile) mod on the earlier 1 and 2 versions is to make R1 = 1M ohm and R2 = 10K ohm.....this mod alone greatly increases gain.
A MUST mod on versions 1 and 2 (even an improvement with version 3) is to replace the output transformer.
The Hammond 125 series seem to be the OT of choice.
Hammond 125CSE..................Good (1.3 lbs.)
Hammond 125DSE..................Better (2.0 lbs.)
Hammond 125ESE..................Best (3.0 lbs & barely fits)
Being a cheapskate (and lousy guitarist to boot) I put a Hammond 125CSE in my EV Junior.
The Hammond OT gives you a better frequency response and better bass than the stock (even version 3) output transformer.
So.........................
Upgrade the tubes
Install the correct value resistors in R1 and R2
Replace stock OT with Hammond 125 CSE/DSE/ESE OT
NOW.....it's a killer amp for under $200!!
Steve
. Anyone try using an attenuator with their Valve Jr.? There is no way I'll ever be able to crank it enough in my house to get the distortion this thing produces when you turn it up, without a visit from the police, or a divorce. I think I'll have to investigate one of the small attenuators I've seen being sold for this amp. My other amp is a Roland Cube 15X, which has a "Power Squeezer" button, that reduces the amps output from 15W to 2W, while maintaining the tone. I need something like this for the Epiphone now too.
