buzz Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 (edited) ok im gonna get an epiphone valve junior head but i wanna know a few things. firstly im gonna get a pro to do all this stuff also im not very educated regards electronics so please keep suggestions and info in laymans terms as much as possible.CHEERS NOW.... i wanna put a things like bass,mid,treble,gain controls etc in the amp.i know this is relatively easy so lets not worry about that. i wanna put a reverb in it and the tech i talked to said it could be a bit iffy to do a spring one etc. cos of resistance or impedance or whatever, so im thinkin either a BASIC rack reverb unit or a typical reverb effects unit such as the EH holy grail.i dont need anything fancy,just something that will give a good reverb without negatively affecting the amps tone. can these be wired to the amp in a way so as to cause no extra noise and no negative effect on tone?? i dont want it(stompbox reverb) to be plugged into the amp, i want to just put the circuitry of the FX unit,wired to the amps circuitry to give the best tone and functionality.is that doable? if im gonna do the 'stompbox-in-the-amp' thing should i get a digital or analogue reverb (for best tonal/noiseless when wired into the amp) also i want an effects loop.again he said putting an effects loop is dodgy cos it could interfere with the circuitry and whatnot.what can i do about this?? i just want it to have a typical basic effects loop like other amps have again i dont need anything fancy. i know there are external effects loop units available but these all have the aforementioned problem of being more about "bells and whistles" than giving me a simple effects loop.the amp only has an input no effects loop.the external ones i have found seem to be only "expanders" on an amps current effects loop. help on this problem will be GREATLY appreciated cos its these issues that are dampening my excitement about this amp. Cheers!!! Edited October 23, 2006 by buzz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logical Frank Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 You know, I hate to be a naysayer, but I think if you want on-board reverb and an effects loop, you don't really want a Valve Jr. To me, the whole appeal of that amp is it's simplicity. I have a Valve Jr. and I could recommend it to anyone as a decent-sounding small tube amp at the price but they're definitely a bit chintzy and, in my opinion, not worth paying someone to mod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzz Posted October 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 You know, I hate to be a naysayer, but I think if you want on-board reverb and an effects loop, you don't really want a Valve Jr. To me, the whole appeal of that amp is it's simplicity. I have a Valve Jr. and I could recommend it to anyone as a decent-sounding small tube amp at the price but they're definitely a bit chintzy and, in my opinion, not worth paying someone to mod. i can see where you are coming from and many people would have the same opinion as you,but i look at it like a good basis for it to be a great amp.it has bare essentials and i can then add on things that i want that would be specifically best for me. basically im tryin to say if i buy a peavey classic 30 it will have some features i dont want or need etc. same with many other amps. at least with the epiphone it starts with 'nothing' and i can make it how i want it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logical Frank Posted October 24, 2006 Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 Fair enough! This thread actually inspired me to bust mine out again. It's a fun little amp for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted October 24, 2006 Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 There are plenty of Class-A amps out there that come with the features that you want. By the time you get finished paying a tech to add all that stuff you could have just gone out and bought one. The VJ is a nice little amp, but you can do much better for quality if you're out to spend the money anyway. You can also buy a plethora of pedals that'll do what you want to add to the amp, and there's no need for an effects loop because there's really no preamp to color the sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzz Posted October 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 oh ho!!! im intrigued!!! so because its class A and has only one preamp tube (and im imagine as long as i dont run it flat out so that it distorts) i can run all my pedals from the input to my guitar and it'll sound perfect anyway??? i have a fuzz,chorus,delay and ring mondulator and im gonna get a reverb (either rack or an EH holy grail). i can run all those through the input w/ no tonal damage??? if so ------> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logical Frank Posted October 24, 2006 Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 If you're looking for a step-up from the VJ w/ some tonal controls, there's a lot of options that can be had for pretty cheap. I got a silverface Fender Champ for two-hundred bucks not long ago and it's really a much nicer amp--and w/ bass and treble controls to boot. I had to build myself a little RCA to quarter inch adapter to plug it into a seperate cab but it sounds great through 12-inch speakers. There's also about eighty-five million Champ clones that were build from the fifties through the seventies that sound just about as good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzz Posted October 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 i dont live in the usa so shipping will add loads to whatever i want to post into ireland. if what the other person who posted says is correct with what im sayin il be a happy bunny and will get the Epi amp.i can get my tech to mod it how i like and iv plenty money kept aside for that purpose. i get where youre comin from and appreciate your help but im happy enough with my "game plan" thus far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted October 25, 2006 Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 oh ho!!! im intrigued!!! so because its class A and has only one preamp tube (and im imagine as long as i dont run it flat out so that it distorts) i can run all my pedals from the input to my guitar and it'll sound perfect anyway??? i have a fuzz,chorus,delay and ring mondulator and im gonna get a reverb (either rack or an EH holy grail). i can run all those through the input w/ no tonal damage??? if so ------> The reverb and delay WILL sound better through an effects loop, but most pedal-based units are designed to go through the front-end of the amp and still sound good anyway. My point was simply that the VJ is simply not worth the expense to put in all the mods you want when you can buy a Vox or Peavey with everything for less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzz Posted October 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 but especially because of the amps design it should sound better plugged direct to input than it would if i plugged the effects direct into a different amp lets say? a mild crunch is the hottest i will be pushing the amp. i think its just clicked with me!! the less preamp you "use" on the amp with effects such as chorus and delay the less is the requirement for an effects loop. if i ran the amp totally clean i wouldnt need an effects loop at all.cos the preamp wouldnt really be being used. right? cheers for all the help so far,id be pretty muddled otherwise.i wont drag this out longer than i have to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primal Posted October 25, 2006 Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 Think of how the preamps tone shaping would affect the sound of, say, a flanger. How would the pure guitar signal sound with flanging applied compared to how the preamped tone (say, more bass or more treble) would sound with flanging applied. The purpose of effects loops for preamps is more than just pre-distortion vs post-distortion effects application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzz Posted October 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 yeah i know that the preamp tubes len a tonal variation but its not gonna make itsound bad just a touch different. so if i plug in all these effects(blah blah etc etc) into the amps input, the tube will give it a certain tonal touch i know that. but will plugging effects in without an effects loop sound bad/muddy/suck tone or whatever? thanks again for everyones help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted October 26, 2006 Report Share Posted October 26, 2006 yeah i know that the preamp tubes len a tonal variation but its not gonna make itsound bad just a touch different. so if i plug in all these effects(blah blah etc etc) into the amps input, the tube will give it a certain tonal touch i know that. but will plugging effects in without an effects loop sound bad/muddy/suck tone or whatever? thanks again for everyones help. Unless you go boutique, just about any stompbox is going to "suck" tone. The best we can hope to do is compensate with fresh batteries, proper placement of effects, and finding that elusive "balance" among all the knobs and switches. The lifelong quest of finding the holy grail of tone is why we all continue to play! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitefly SA Posted October 26, 2006 Report Share Posted October 26, 2006 true bypass switches always help aswell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted October 26, 2006 Report Share Posted October 26, 2006 true bypass switches always help aswell. Not necessarily. Some people in the biz have made pretty strong arguments against "true bypass". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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