Mickguard Posted September 20, 2005 Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 Got my Valve Junior... It's just what I was looking for...the tubes break up nice n' early...plenty of overdrive without too much volume. It'll be great for band practice --but this is not an apartment amp, it's still too loud if making any noise is an issue. For me the issue is primarily my ears, and like I said, the volume level on this amp --even maxed out--is quite tolerable. The amp's completely simple too --just a volume knob and a jack. No muss. No fuss. One thing I like is that each guitar sounds different-- and changing pickups really makes a difference, because there's no eq to smooth that out. This is NOT an amp for playing jazz...blues, sure, that'll work. But there's basically no clean sound. On the other hand, if you're looking for that garage rock/Johnny Thunders thing...then this amp kicks ass. The only problem --don't know if it's a big problem yet --the amp's noisy as hell. Just a big bad hum...gets worse the more you push the tubes...(my Ampeg makes noise when you push it really hard too, but not this loud). Which is why I'm assuming it's a problem with the tubes ---at this price, I'm sure the tubes are the absolute lowest quality tubes out there. So I'd be interested in switching those out. But someone suggested to me that it could be that's something grounding out on the inside (he says that the Fender Blues Jr. has a problem where a screw touches the volume pot). First thing I'm going to try is to return this amp and get a replacement--maybe the next one will work. Means I'm out the cost of shipping it back though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted September 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 First off, Gibson's customer service and tech support people are pretty great about responding --I've had emails from three different people about the hum problem already. But check this out: I unplugged the Valve Junior's speaker and plugged into my Music Man instead...and guess what? No more hum! So it's something about the speaker...should I go ahead and take off the back panel and fiddle about in there? Can anyone suggest where to look? Or is this too dangerous to monkey with (considering I don't know what I'm doing). And you know what else...put it through the Music Man's speakers (2x10) and it sounds awesome! Cleans up the sound really nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted September 20, 2005 Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 ungrounded speaker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted September 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 ungrounded speaker ← Hey Wes, yeah that's what I'm thinking...I'm going to take off the back panel right now and see what I can see... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted September 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 Well, I opened it up...no loose dangling wires...too bad, that would have made it easier to spot...the solder looks a little dodgy on one of the connector wings, but that's about it... Anyway, since the noise disappears when I plug in the Music Man, I can assume it's not the box...so it has to be a problem with the speaker or its jack/cable, right? Shouldn't I be able to add a ground wire in there--attach it to a screw inside or something? I'll wait for a sage to provide me with info... Oh yeah, and it sounds even better with the back panel off...think I might just leave it like that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorecki Posted September 20, 2005 Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 ungrounded speaker ← Hey Wes, yeah that's what I'm thinking...I'm going to take off the back panel right now and see what I can see... ← Realistically, it sounds likely to be the exact opposite, since speakers aren't grounded it could be a ground loop, metal somewhere to metal frame of the speaker? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted September 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2005 Ah, doesn't matter anymore...too many variables to figure it out myself, and the amp just isn't worth the hassle of taking it to someone else...the store I mail-ordered it from told me to ship it back, they'll ship me a new one... See, the way I figure things....they heard my accent on the phone when I ordered, and said, "hey let's send him this one, you know, the one that makes this godawful noise...he won't know enough to send it back..." Well, it's possible. Probably not though, the guy was really cool about it on the phone. We'll see what happens when the next one gets here. Anyway, my theory on mail order places is this: the farther away you are from the shop, the more likely you'll receive some POS reject. Good thing I didn't order the amp directly from China, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeiscosRock Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 heres to hoping the new one won't hum QUITE as bad - from reviews I've read it seems that some hum alot and others not so bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted September 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 heres to hoping the new one won't hum QUITE as bad - from reviews I've read it seems that some hum alot and others not so bad. ← Yeah, that's why I was prepared for a certain amount of hum...but not this much. I obviously got a bum one. Have to say, I've had emails from THREE Gibson/Epiphone reps about this...not much they can do to help on it (although they'll be reporting the problem to the design team, maybe they'll fix the next generation). But they've been pretty nice about it. Anyway, the Valve Junior's cheap enough that I'll be able to play with modding it down the road (I won't do that myself, I'll find a hired gun for that). It needs a standby switch, for one thing. And I'd probably want to replace the speaker with something sturdier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodBlessTexas Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 That's interesting. The one I played with at GC didn't hum that I could tell, it just sounded thin and uninspiring to me. The more I think about it, the more I'm tempted to build one of the many tube amp projects out there. Then again maybe I'll buy a Jr. from GC and return it after spending some more time with it if I decide I really don't like it. Thanks for the extensive feedback on the product idch. Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted September 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 You must not have turned it up much...up until about 12 o'clock the noise is bearable...but the sound just isn't there...there's no point in trying to get a clean sound with an amp like this, I figure. Well, that's not quite true-- I found the clean tone quite decent, with a definite tube edge to it...but I suppose any preamp will get that for you... Start pushing it past 12 and the thing really starts to kick ass --well, I really liked the sound, but then again, I'm an old punk, what do I know? Plug it into a different set of (better) speakers, the sound cleans up a lot (and the hum dies down quite a bit). But the whole appeal of this amp is its portability. Anyway the hum really starts to go bad as you push it past 12... And it's worse because I tend to roll off on the volume knob a little bit, give me a little wiggle room to boost things (I don't like pedals--the appeal of this amp was its sheer simplicity). Anyway, I shipped it back and heard from the dealer today --he tells me all of the Valve Juniors he has in stock buzz like that...maybe something went wrong with the conversion to 230 volts? Is that possible? It's a shame, but for the price, the amp would have been just right for practice...I tried plugging my tri-AC into the PA the other night, but it just didn't punch through the way a tube amp does. So I'm still on the lookout for a good 5 watter--maybe I'll go up in price (I'm selling my Music Man this week, so depending on how high the bidding goes, I might go for something nice). Maybe one of those switchable Randalls...I like that preamp concept... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted September 23, 2005 Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Here you go. A 16/5 watt switchable 3#12AX7/2#EL84 all tube combo. Carvin Vintage 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted September 23, 2005 Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Very niec marksound. and it's cheap too! I'll have too look into that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted September 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Yes, that looks nice...wonder if I could find one around here though? They've got a dealer on the other side of France....could be worth an email.... Anyway, I was really tempted by this one a couple weeks back, but it's not really in my style of music...still, it's really pretty Handbuilt Goldtone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.