Epiphone Valve junior

[bulldogguitars]

I just bought two of these little guys, and I gotta say they sound pretty darn good. But..... was wondering what I could do to clean one up. Meaning, have no breakup at a cranked level.

[Steve Conner]

Rip the guts out and replace them with the guts of a UL Twin?

Seriously, how are you going to get a big clean sound with only 3 watts available? I think about all you could do is reduce coupling capacitors to cut the bass and give the illusion of more power.

[bulldogguitars]

I knew my options were limited. Ive started replacing the caps already and replaced the 12ax7 with a 12au7. Its better, and I can live with it now. Thanks

[Enzo]

Do you really think a Twin would fit in there? Might be a little cramped. Perhaps if we left out the reverb, that should be a space saver.

[clyde1]

If you go over to 18watt.com there is a very long thread about the VJ. It seems to be a favourite topic there. The thread is months old and has over 2K of posts. I can't be bothered since I wasn't there at the beginning and have never heard or seen one of these amps. There go your holidays.

[The Captain]

In order to save your brain, a page twds end in the 18w thread uses this link as a summary of the basic mods: http://forums.birdsandmoons.com/foru...ad.php?t=32385

hope that helps, Captain.

[Rayme]

Did the 12AU7 really make any difference? I may want to try this!

[tubeswell]

Any lower gain pre-amp valve will clean up the signal going into the output tube (but then there goes your typical champy sound)

[TD_Madden]

changing preamp tubes are cheap and easy "mods".

[ronh]

I put a 5751 tube in mine. Now I get some overdrive with it cranked. Clean otherwise.

[Rayme]

Thanks for the info Ronh, looks like a cheap way for me to play with the sound!
Rayme

[Rayme]

12AX7 Swaps

Research shows I should be able to swap these tubes for the 12AX7 in my Epipy Jr..
5751
12AU7
6681
ECC83
CV492
12AV7
12AT7 Any comments???? Thanks, Rayme

[TWANG]

Research shows I should be able to swap these tubes for the 12AX7 in my Epipy Jr..
5751.... Very nice.. use one in my vj five watter.

12AU7... clean only.. nice for low vol. practice. you'll need pedals.

6681.. never tried.
ECC83.... stock tube.
CV492.. never tried.
12AV7.. never tried
12AT7 ... 30% less gain than the 12AX7

Any comments???? Thanks, Rayme

My first 18 watt vj conversion..
good platform!

[TWANG]

Latest five watt build.

He'll run a 12AT7 preamp tube.

standby
power
gain pot
gain switch
tone
volume
preamp out
power amp in
single input, but I often do hi/lo input
rear fuse holder
marshallized board
new OT
custom panel

gonna use different knobs.. just had these on for the pic

[Tonewood]

Latest five watt build.

Nice. How do you do the text on the pick guard material?

Thanks-