dudes, so no joke, I was dumpster diving for computer parts and I found an excellent specimen that works perfectly. I decided to buy a guitar and now im learning how to play.
@Tronlegacy22 Congrats man! What an awesome find. You'll have the opportunity to be starting to learn guitar while using a really great amp. That's a nice thing to have - normally people start out with crappy amps, and once you're getting decent you still feel like you suck, but really it's the amp holding you back. So when you're getting better, you'll actually sound better! I've got a Valve Senior now that I got in a trade and I LOVE it. Have fun!
Best review of the valve junior on YouTube. I've owned this amp 3 times (just bought it again!) and think it's the best. Almost vox'y in tone. But this video did show me that the fender classic player jaguar sounds like poop.
@mrovantes b) false! You can't base your opinion of any piece of gear on one video. Play one yourself and then judge. I had a MIA Jaguar and after a few years of issues with it and never really being happy but still wanting the Jaguar sound, I traded it for a CP Jaguar that had just come out. Same sound, resolved issues. If this video shows you anything about sound, it's that this amp/speaker/mic combo isn't ideal for the sound. I stuck with the same setup so you can focus on the amp sound.
This was an excellent way to demonstrate the capabilities of this little amplifier. Thank you very much for doing it. I noticed that for me, there were some volume and pickup settings that sounded great and others somewhere in between dull and wonderful.
Niice job, good review. I have the earliest version of the VJ combo, and of course had to live with the awful hum...till I replaced the jack, speaker, and tubes- sings nicely now I love it
the hum is coming from the wiring in the wall. it is picked up by the pick ups in the guitar and amplified by the amplifier. i've played in bars where the wiring was so old, probably not grounded somewhere that was so bad i wanted to pack up and leave. Epiphone realized this problem and tried to alleviate this problem by changing the wiring in the last version but too late the damage was done, they were not big seller due to bad reviews. my fender hums like crazy, my gibson not so much.
@userboy6 Yep, humbuckers'll buck the hum. Wiring is definitely something that a lot of venues don't think about, that and acoustics of course. It's a shame.
when you lower the impedance you allow more signal to pass through. this is a 16 ohm speaker, if you hook up say an 8 or 4 ohm speaker which the latest version can it will get louder. the wiring was changed in the third version to help eliminate the hum and yes i know it's 60 cycle hum i even get it with my solid state Peavey. headroom is just another way of measuring volume, it's all relative to the size of the room your in also.
@userboy6 Yes, when you lower the impedance, it will change a bit, but plugging into an 16ohm cab vs. using the 16ohm speaker won't be a volume difference. So yes, if you're plugging into something that's a different impedance it'll be louder, but that's not comparing apples to apples. And I'd be curious what an amp could do to eliminate the hum in the pickups, sounds like some pretty interesting technology.
this is an older version Epi, if you get the newer version3 there's very little hum(you get that with any tube amp) and it has speaker outs in the back. hook a bigger cab and it gets louder!
@userboy6 There's no difference in sound between the 3 models. Amp hum is when you turn on the amp and it hums on its own, which this doesn't have, you're hearing the typical 60 cycle hum of single coils. This VJ had one speaker out too, the newer ones have multiple. The transformer in this version has taps for the other outs, just not connected. And with a bigger cab it's not a volume difference - more speakers doesn't mean louder. Just more headroom than the tiny speaker, which seems louder.
Great idea, good execution. Don't like your choice of guitars, but I'm pretty sure it's relevant for most people. Oh well, off to look for some video with a nice 80s hairmetal axe on this amp..
Great idea, good execution. Don't like your choice of guitars, but I'm pretty sure it's relevant for most people. Oh well, off to look for some video with a nice 80s hairmetal axe on this amp...
@kuruyad Sorry you felt the need to note that. I play the guitars I think sound great, and fortunately for making demos I'm using guitars that people are used to the sound of, great for gauging how the amp sounds. With unfamiliar guitars it can be hard to tell what sounds good/bad because of the pickups/guitar and what's because of the amp. I'd take most any Fender guitar over most any "hairmetal axe" any day. I guess it's just a matter of taste, I have what a lot of people consider good taste.
I remember when i was torn between a Marshall MG and a Line 6 Spider amp for practcing. Someone told me to get one of these instead and i just looked at it and laughed, oh how stupid i was not knowing what valves were. But in the end i got a Vox AD30VT so atleast i was halfway there.
I saw your video reviewing the vox 15R and both this video and that one interest me because i am looking for a practice amp. Which of the two would you recommend?
What the amp would be used for:
The amp would be used in clean and overdrive (high and low volume on the epiphone) and would be used to play all styles from blues to pop punk to post hardcore. It would be mainly used in my bedroom but it have to be loud enough to jam with my friends. It will be used with an epiphone les paul standard.
@JAG1470 For your situation I'd definitely recommend the Vox over the Epi. The Epi can be clean at a very low volume, but even it overdrives with humbuckers (like I'd assume are in your Les Paul, see 1:59). I'd consider the Vox a much more versatile amp, and if I had to choose between having only one of the two, I'd definitely choose the Vox. The Epi is a nice amp, but it's going to be overdriven if you want volume. I like the Vox's clean sound over the Epi in general too. Hope that helps!
@jessegimbel Thanks for the advice, yes the epiphone has humbuckers and ive heard that more versatile amps are good for stopping bedroom practices being boring. Thanks!
@123marijn321 No pedals, no effects, short guitar cable. Just guitar to amp sound. I wouldn't use any pedals for demos unless it was a demo of a pedal, or otherwise I'd put the pedal right on the street to avoid confusion. All of the sounds here are just straight, simple tone!
@foreverjimmy I'm not really sure what you're talking about, at all. 0:40-1:30 with strat, 4:36-5:17 with tele, and 7:55-8:25 with jaguar are all clean sounds in this video. There are even some cleaner sounds in the higher volume seconds, like when the tele is turned up a bit. Not sure what you're hearing.
@foreverjimmy Yes..when you use a humbucker into a low-watt tube amp, it's going to start to overdrive, and it will overdrive easier (say, with a single coil even) then you turn the volume up on the amp, like I just had in the video. The video shows how the amp sounds at 3 different volumes with each guitar. When the amp is guitar with the single coils it's clean. I even wrote out the times for you for when the sound is clean. You're losing me here.
hi man!this amp sound incredibly good.i have a question.can you give me a comparison between this and the harley benton valve micro amps,just by your own knowledge?cause i'm very interessed in micro amps,but even in containing the cash flow!!!sorry for the language,i'm italian.thank you in advance :)
@kimkikki Since Harley Bentons aren't available in the USA I haven't used one, but from everything I've read online, they're almost exactly the same (I believe what I've heard is the VJ is the same as the HB except it has a cheaper speaker and no tone knob). I'm crazy about small amps too, and I wouldn't want to own both amps, I'd be happy with one or the other and put the money toward something like a silverface Fender Champ. Hope that helps!
@TheSchoolsux345 If it's going to be your only amp, this. The Champ 600 sounds pretty great, from the once or twice i've tried it, but you can get such a wider variety of sounds from this, if I could only have one of the two it would be this. Both are great-sounding amps though. I'd have a Champ 600 except their speaker jack is 4 ohm and the cab I built is 8 ohm.
@LeviMan2001 I'm with you. neck pup sound on a Tele is one of my all-time favorite guitar sounds. Is yours a standard MIM? There are so many great MIM teles. I keep hearing a lot of good things about those Baja Teles, though they seem a little bastardized to give more options.
nope, like the description says the amp is completely stock except that it has JJ tubes. I did just install a switch on the back so I could switch the 4ohm output to 8ohms. Mine is the first version of the VJ which only has one 4ohm output, as opposed to the 3 outputs on all other versions.
ok interesting, certainly has nice tone, something I can't get with solid state amps, I could be tempted with this one, then I might sell off one of my SS amps.
Mine's got a maple neck. I like my Tele a lot of rhythm guitar, and the maple neck seems to be a little harder feeling. My strat has a rosewood neck which feels a little softer, which I like better for lead work. It's a little less defined for chords than the maple, while single notes sound smoother. I've never really liked rosewood on a Tele, but to each his own.
That's good how you made this demo. Showing the guitars and the pickups used, and recording with a good microphone. A demo that makes comparisons and makes sense, well, wonder of wonders.
Thanks! That's my goal. I'm a graphic designer so I want to show the information people need. People are always posting comments on videos asking what pickup was used, what the amp settings were, what guitar it was, etc. so I want to put it all right there.
dudes, so no joke, I was dumpster diving for computer parts and I found an excellent specimen that works perfectly. I decided to buy a guitar and now im learning how to play.
Tronlegacy22 4 months ago
@Tronlegacy22 Congrats man! What an awesome find. You'll have the opportunity to be starting to learn guitar while using a really great amp. That's a nice thing to have - normally people start out with crappy amps, and once you're getting decent you still feel like you suck, but really it's the amp holding you back. So when you're getting better, you'll actually sound better! I've got a Valve Senior now that I got in a trade and I LOVE it. Have fun!
jessegimbel 4 months ago
Best review of the valve junior on YouTube. I've owned this amp 3 times (just bought it again!) and think it's the best. Almost vox'y in tone. But this video did show me that the fender classic player jaguar sounds like poop.
mrovantes 8 months ago
@mrovantes b) false! You can't base your opinion of any piece of gear on one video. Play one yourself and then judge. I had a MIA Jaguar and after a few years of issues with it and never really being happy but still wanting the Jaguar sound, I traded it for a CP Jaguar that had just come out. Same sound, resolved issues. If this video shows you anything about sound, it's that this amp/speaker/mic combo isn't ideal for the sound. I stuck with the same setup so you can focus on the amp sound.
jessegimbel 8 months ago
This was an excellent way to demonstrate the capabilities of this little amplifier. Thank you very much for doing it. I noticed that for me, there were some volume and pickup settings that sounded great and others somewhere in between dull and wonderful.
MrMoneyHelper 9 months ago
Niice job, good review. I have the earliest version of the VJ combo, and of course had to live with the awful hum...till I replaced the jack, speaker, and tubes- sings nicely now I love it
dmedicFF 9 months ago
i just watch Down River, dude were almost neighbors. i'm in Willow Grove. great voice BTW. i wish i could sign like that.
userboy6 10 months ago
@userboy6 Ah how about that, right around the corner! Thanks for the compliment, I appreciate it!
jessegimbel 10 months ago
the hum is coming from the wiring in the wall. it is picked up by the pick ups in the guitar and amplified by the amplifier. i've played in bars where the wiring was so old, probably not grounded somewhere that was so bad i wanted to pack up and leave. Epiphone realized this problem and tried to alleviate this problem by changing the wiring in the last version but too late the damage was done, they were not big seller due to bad reviews. my fender hums like crazy, my gibson not so much.
userboy6 10 months ago
@userboy6 Yep, humbuckers'll buck the hum. Wiring is definitely something that a lot of venues don't think about, that and acoustics of course. It's a shame.
jessegimbel 10 months ago
when you lower the impedance you allow more signal to pass through. this is a 16 ohm speaker, if you hook up say an 8 or 4 ohm speaker which the latest version can it will get louder. the wiring was changed in the third version to help eliminate the hum and yes i know it's 60 cycle hum i even get it with my solid state Peavey. headroom is just another way of measuring volume, it's all relative to the size of the room your in also.
userboy6 10 months ago
@userboy6 Yes, when you lower the impedance, it will change a bit, but plugging into an 16ohm cab vs. using the 16ohm speaker won't be a volume difference. So yes, if you're plugging into something that's a different impedance it'll be louder, but that's not comparing apples to apples. And I'd be curious what an amp could do to eliminate the hum in the pickups, sounds like some pretty interesting technology.
jessegimbel 10 months ago
this is an older version Epi, if you get the newer version3 there's very little hum(you get that with any tube amp) and it has speaker outs in the back. hook a bigger cab and it gets louder!
userboy6 10 months ago
@userboy6 There's no difference in sound between the 3 models. Amp hum is when you turn on the amp and it hums on its own, which this doesn't have, you're hearing the typical 60 cycle hum of single coils. This VJ had one speaker out too, the newer ones have multiple. The transformer in this version has taps for the other outs, just not connected. And with a bigger cab it's not a volume difference - more speakers doesn't mean louder. Just more headroom than the tiny speaker, which seems louder.
jessegimbel 10 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Great idea, good execution. Don't like your choice of guitars, but I'm pretty sure it's relevant for most people. Oh well, off to look for some video with a nice 80s hairmetal axe on this amp..
kuruyad 11 months ago
Great idea, good execution. Don't like your choice of guitars, but I'm pretty sure it's relevant for most people. Oh well, off to look for some video with a nice 80s hairmetal axe on this amp...
kuruyad 11 months ago
@kuruyad Sorry you felt the need to note that. I play the guitars I think sound great, and fortunately for making demos I'm using guitars that people are used to the sound of, great for gauging how the amp sounds. With unfamiliar guitars it can be hard to tell what sounds good/bad because of the pickups/guitar and what's because of the amp. I'd take most any Fender guitar over most any "hairmetal axe" any day. I guess it's just a matter of taste, I have what a lot of people consider good taste.
jessegimbel 11 months ago
Ha!
Hope for low budgets
*presses subscribe*
yearofrolling 1 year ago
I remember when i was torn between a Marshall MG and a Line 6 Spider amp for practcing. Someone told me to get one of these instead and i just looked at it and laughed, oh how stupid i was not knowing what valves were. But in the end i got a Vox AD30VT so atleast i was halfway there.
Awesome little thing though this is.
guitarl3g3ndz 1 year ago
I saw your video reviewing the vox 15R and both this video and that one interest me because i am looking for a practice amp. Which of the two would you recommend?
What the amp would be used for:
The amp would be used in clean and overdrive (high and low volume on the epiphone) and would be used to play all styles from blues to pop punk to post hardcore. It would be mainly used in my bedroom but it have to be loud enough to jam with my friends. It will be used with an epiphone les paul standard.
JAG1470 1 year ago
@JAG1470 For your situation I'd definitely recommend the Vox over the Epi. The Epi can be clean at a very low volume, but even it overdrives with humbuckers (like I'd assume are in your Les Paul, see 1:59). I'd consider the Vox a much more versatile amp, and if I had to choose between having only one of the two, I'd definitely choose the Vox. The Epi is a nice amp, but it's going to be overdriven if you want volume. I like the Vox's clean sound over the Epi in general too. Hope that helps!
jessegimbel 1 year ago
@jessegimbel Thanks for the advice, yes the epiphone has humbuckers and ive heard that more versatile amps are good for stopping bedroom practices being boring. Thanks!
JAG1470 1 year ago
is it just the amp? you arent using any pedals/effects?
123marijn321 1 year ago
@123marijn321 No pedals, no effects, short guitar cable. Just guitar to amp sound. I wouldn't use any pedals for demos unless it was a demo of a pedal, or otherwise I'd put the pedal right on the street to avoid confusion. All of the sounds here are just straight, simple tone!
jessegimbel 1 year ago
so...no clean sound ?
foreverjimmy 1 year ago
@foreverjimmy I'm not really sure what you're talking about, at all. 0:40-1:30 with strat, 4:36-5:17 with tele, and 7:55-8:25 with jaguar are all clean sounds in this video. There are even some cleaner sounds in the higher volume seconds, like when the tele is turned up a bit. Not sure what you're hearing.
jessegimbel 1 year ago
@jessegimbel when you use the humbacker i can here it sound un-clean....even in 2:12 I can here the single sound not clean
foreverjimmy 1 year ago
@foreverjimmy Yes..when you use a humbucker into a low-watt tube amp, it's going to start to overdrive, and it will overdrive easier (say, with a single coil even) then you turn the volume up on the amp, like I just had in the video. The video shows how the amp sounds at 3 different volumes with each guitar. When the amp is guitar with the single coils it's clean. I even wrote out the times for you for when the sound is clean. You're losing me here.
jessegimbel 1 year ago
hi man!this amp sound incredibly good.i have a question.can you give me a comparison between this and the harley benton valve micro amps,just by your own knowledge?cause i'm very interessed in micro amps,but even in containing the cash flow!!!sorry for the language,i'm italian.thank you in advance :)
kimkikki 1 year ago
@kimkikki Since Harley Bentons aren't available in the USA I haven't used one, but from everything I've read online, they're almost exactly the same (I believe what I've heard is the VJ is the same as the HB except it has a cheaper speaker and no tone knob). I'm crazy about small amps too, and I wouldn't want to own both amps, I'd be happy with one or the other and put the money toward something like a silverface Fender Champ. Hope that helps!
jessegimbel 1 year ago
hey man if you can, can you check out the bugera v5? it pretty good but bot many people review it
dooodooo666666666666 1 year ago
this or the fender champ 600
TheSchoolsux345 1 year ago
@TheSchoolsux345 If it's going to be your only amp, this. The Champ 600 sounds pretty great, from the once or twice i've tried it, but you can get such a wider variety of sounds from this, if I could only have one of the two it would be this. Both are great-sounding amps though. I'd have a Champ 600 except their speaker jack is 4 ohm and the cab I built is 8 ohm.
jessegimbel 1 year ago
Love that tele neck pup sound. I instantly recognized that from my MIM tele.
LeviMan2001 1 year ago
@LeviMan2001 I'm with you. neck pup sound on a Tele is one of my all-time favorite guitar sounds. Is yours a standard MIM? There are so many great MIM teles. I keep hearing a lot of good things about those Baja Teles, though they seem a little bastardized to give more options.
jessegimbel 1 year ago
@jessegimbel Standard MIM tele, 2002. It's got Dice for knobs though :D. I run it into a Pignose G40V, super great budget tube amp.
LeviMan2001 1 year ago
Nice pro job on presentation,easy to follow. Well Done!!
F1carsguitar 1 year ago
great playing dude. congrats!
tudorvaipan 2 years ago
have there been any mods on this amp ?
konnen2 2 years ago
nope, like the description says the amp is completely stock except that it has JJ tubes. I did just install a switch on the back so I could switch the 4ohm output to 8ohms. Mine is the first version of the VJ which only has one 4ohm output, as opposed to the 3 outputs on all other versions.
jessegimbel 2 years ago
ok interesting, certainly has nice tone, something I can't get with solid state amps, I could be tempted with this one, then I might sell off one of my SS amps.
konnen2 2 years ago
Great demo! Is the Tele a maple finger board, or a rosewood?
MrGTI05 2 years ago
Mine's got a maple neck. I like my Tele a lot of rhythm guitar, and the maple neck seems to be a little harder feeling. My strat has a rosewood neck which feels a little softer, which I like better for lead work. It's a little less defined for chords than the maple, while single notes sound smoother. I've never really liked rosewood on a Tele, but to each his own.
jessegimbel 2 years ago
don't worry about the playing!
we're watching the video to see how early it breaks up and how much it breaks up.
your video demonstrates that in the Valve Junior very well! 5 stars.
000steelandstone000 2 years ago
I agree, great demo. 5 stars + subscribed
theoriginaldimi 2 years ago
That's good how you made this demo. Showing the guitars and the pickups used, and recording with a good microphone. A demo that makes comparisons and makes sense, well, wonder of wonders.
BabyButtSmell 2 years ago 10
Thanks! That's my goal. I'm a graphic designer so I want to show the information people need. People are always posting comments on videos asking what pickup was used, what the amp settings were, what guitar it was, etc. so I want to put it all right there.
jessegimbel 2 years ago
Small tube amps are tasty. I dig it.
xr650r01 2 years ago 3