Epiphone Valve Junior arrived :-)
- From: Al <alnews67@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 22 Dec 2005 19:11:01 GMT
Well, the Epi Valve Junior arrived today :-)
Not spent a huge amount of time playing with it, but here's a few
observations ...
On plugging in - Oh dear, what's that hum? Seems that the hum problem is
well known. Looks like an improvement to the B+ smoothing is required.
Plenty on this on t'internet. Some suggest going to DC heaters, but that
seems OTT to me; A hum balance control would be just as easy to fit.
Seems also that there is a long earth path from the input socket - Should
be easy enough to 'star-point' the earths though.
Once over the initial shock of the hum, the tone is otherwise excellent!
Clean tones are nice (although there's not a lot of clean headroom to be
honest). Moving up to around half way on the volume control produces a
lovely slightly crunchy tone - Fantastic! This gets more crunchy up to
around three quarters on the volume control when the sound become a
little brittle. Flat out is slightly less brittle, and remarkably LOUD. I
think the 8" Epi branded Weber has a lot to do with the quality of the
tone, and maybe the volume. Giggable volume? Probably not.
What's really nice about the amp is the simplicity of it. One control -
Even I can manage that. Hey, I might even start using the volume and tone
controls on the guitar ;-)
Construction seems pretty solid, although the vinyl covering looks a bit
thin and the corner protectors are pretty weedy. But, it's reassuringly
heavy and looks great to me (some may disagree about the plastic Epiphone
badge I'm sure). The basket-weave grill could be 'bigger' (i.e. cover the
whole face of the amp), but overall it has a great vibe :-)
Had a quick peek inside. PCB construction, seems very well put together
for the price. Forgot to look at the brand of the 12AX7 (it's in a can),
but the EL84 is a Sovtek (which is fine by me). I'll try some different
valves in due course.
Plenty on this little amp on t'internet for anyone that's interested.
Personally I think 89 quid is a bargain for the amp as it stands. Once
I've spent a few quid on sorting the hum and maybe tweaking the gain
(reducing rather than increasing in my case) I'm sure it will become my
main amp :-)
Al.
.
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