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Epiphone Valve amp mods

Spudmurphy

Spudmurphy

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 23, 2005
Messages
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Location
Cardiff, United Kingdom
I was talking to a mate last night who was raving about the little Ephiphone valve amps.

He plays in a hendrix cover band and he really is an awesome guitarist - so I value his opinion.

He said that he had found a youtube clip of a guy demoing the amp playing Little wing - but for the life of me, I can't find it. :(

If anyone out there has experience of modding these little amps, let me know - because for the price, they are a steal !!

Merry Christmas.
Spud
 
Spud, they are nice amps especially for the money, simple, maybe too simple though, and the cab is nice, there is a tube mod kit for them forget who makes it thats is supposed to add some oomph to it.
 
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I have the Valve Special combo and there doesn't seem to be as many mods for it, but it has a master volume already. There was someone selling an effects loop mod for the Junior that just plugs in because of the way it is wired, it doesnt work for mine because of the tone stack.

Anyways I just think that an effects loop would rule for these amps, and the stock tone is very nice all on it's own.

You can hear the stock tone miked up on my song, "Lonesome Junkie" on my soundclick below. Its the main melody Tele runs on the verses.
 
Maybe you could get it and turn it into a "project amp" or something... Kinda like buying a guitar body and building it and rebuilding and rebuilding it again, only with an amp. Buy the amp, try some mods (maybe do them yourself, I don't know), try some other mods, screw up, fix it, etc...
 
There's some mods for the Epi Jr, but to me that sort of defeats the beauty of what this single end amp is about, which to me is about a uniquely direct, intimate and immediate response to the guitar.

I tried a JJ EL84 in place of the stock Sovtek, but to my surprise, the Sovtek sounded far better to my ears. However, I did like the JJ ECC83S (didn't like the ECC803S in this amp) much better than the stock Sovtek. The JJ preamp tube gave the Epi some sweet harmonics and a smoother overall sound.

Speaker-wise, I like the Eminence Legend GB128 best with this amp. A Celestion Greenback should sound roughly the same.

Though I'm not a big pedal fan, this amp's usefulness quadrupled when I plugged my Maxon brown-modded OD1/TS9-808 into it. Tons more clean headroom, lots of smooth sustain and classic overdrive. It also gives me a pretty wide EQ range to choose from. Imo, this is a much better approach than adding a bunch of bells-n-whistles to the Epi Jr.
 
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I own a valve Jr and now a Blackheart Little Giant.
Blackheart Little Giant: Enrich Your Personal Life By Playing Blackheart | Gearwire

Both are 5 watt and designed by the same person, but the LG has a switch that drops it to 3
watts. I've been A/Bing the two and what I have found is:

The BHLG sounds more like a high quality amp open and full. The Valve Jr is a little more boxy sounding. Both are good but the BHLH has 3 tone controls. The BHLG seems a little louder too. The BHLG has 2 8ohm speaker jacks one 16 ohm and one 4 ohm. I think the BHLG has a better tranny too.

Brian Wampler over at Indy Guitarist has one and will be doing some cool mods to it. He mentioned in his podcast of maybe adding a master volume. If you can find them they are currently only $150 or less. There are some youtube clips of them as well.

I was planning to get rid of my Valve Jr. after I got the Blackheart, but after putting the two side by side I'll probably end up running them in stereo or A/B pedal. They crank!
 
Hey Candid/Spudman thanks for the great info.

Spudman - I was around my mates workshop yesterday (it's kinda long standing traditional thing - the last Sat before Xmas), and Guitar/Bass amp building/ pickup building musos were there.

My amp building buddy has just built a kick 4ss 18 watt amp but I can't afford one of those muthas!!- but strangely enough he was singing the praises of the Black Heart.
- I'm going to do some research on these!!
 
Spudman, I agree with your "boxy" comment. Some speaker/cab combos open it up more, but it does have a bit of a boxy quality still. Actually, I heard it sounds good through a quad cab, though I've never tried it.
 
Candid
I put the JR through a 2x12 and it does sound better. I haven't tried the BHLG through a 2x12 yet because it sounds just great through either of the 1x12s I have. The guys will freak when I show up to jam with this little brute.

Here are some Blackheart clips I did so that you can (hear my crappy playing) what they sound like.

Be Careful The clips start out low and then I roll up the volume as the clips go on. They get loud so don't ruin your speakers.

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Spudman, are you using any effects? If not, it breaks up better than the Epi does. The Epi has a small window of usuable breakup before getting pretty ugly, imo.
 
Thanks for posting the clips Spudman.

I gotta say that anybody on here who wants a bedroom amp should look no further than a black heart amp. - cheap too!!
 
I tried out the Epi Valve Jr at a store, and thought it was pretty good. The stock 8" or 10" speaker that it was hooked up to didn't sound very good. But, I plugged it in to a 4 X12, and it really opened up.

I might check out one of the Blackheart's as well. I have a 50 Watt Valveking, and it's a great amp. But at high volumes, the cops inexplicably show up at my house. I need something that is better at lower volumes, at least a level I can work with.
 
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