RE: [Harp-L] Epiphone Valve Junior Combo or Head

["John Balding" <John.Balding@xxxxxxxxx>]

Scott,

     Here is something to bear in mind when shopping for a Valve Junior.
There were two versions. The first version, produced until 12/05 had
horrible hum problems in almost every amp, due to a bad wiring scheme.
The second version, as well as the head-only version have reportedly had
NO hum whatsoever. Although Epiphone will not admit that there was a
problem with the first run, a lot of amp techs have opened them up and
noticed radical changes in the grounding and circuit path. The changes
do not effect the tone, only the hum. The combo goes for about $139 new
and the head-only version goes for $99! The head has three output jacks,
so that you can use a 4, 8 or 16 ohm cabinet, for a wealth of speaker
configurations.
     Keith Graham of the JT30.com website reviewed the Valve Junior, and
has his review on his other website, HarpAmps.com:
http://www.harpamps.com/tubeamps/. Keep in mind that he reviewed the
first version of the amp, hence the humming.

     Below is some information on identifying the different versions of
the Valve Junior. Good to know when you're shopping around. Even if the
amp is new, it would be a good idea to check the date code. Some mega
stores get tons of inventory at a time, a may have a bunch of version 1
Valve Juniors sitting in the stockroom from way back when.

"There are two versions of the Valve Jr. Combo in circulation. We'll
call the first "Version 1" and the latest "Version 2." There are several
minor external case differences but the Version 1 circuit board is a lot
different than Version 2 units. The easy way to identify if you have a
Version 2 unit is that the first 4 digits of the Junior's serial number
are the date code (MMYY). Version 2 Junior's have a date code of "0106"
(January 2006) or later. Version 2 models also have a slightly larger
Epiphone logo with added black trim. The Valve Jr. Head's circuit board
is the same as the Combo's Version 2."

Good Luck, and if you get it, please post a review on Harp-L.

John Balding

P.S. 

-----Original Message-----
From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of S&B
Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 5:25 PM
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Harp-L] Epiphone Valve Junior Combo or Head

Has anyone given the Epiphone Valve Junior Combo or the new Head version
a try yet ?

Scott

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