Re: [Harp-L] Epiphone Valve Special - Opinions and Help for Newbie

[Howard Chandler <h_chandler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Scott

That amp with the 2 preamp tubes is set up for hi gain guitar use.  The 
first preamp tube has both triodes connected in parallel to boost 
drive.  The second tube is a unity gain cathode follower to buffer the 
tone stack.  It is then followed by several stages of OPAMP solid state 
amplifiers to give more gain.  You could try taming it by replacing the 
first preamp tube with a lower gain tube like 12AU7.  I haven't seen or 
played this amp, but was able to find a schematic.  For harp the two 
gain stages you get with a single preamp tube is more than enough, but 
driving a tonestack with a cathode follower is not a bad idea. There are 
bunch of guys on http://www.sewatt.com who mod these things.  If you 
have a friend who's good with a soldering iron there are number of 
option including replacing the circuit board with point-to-point turret 
or eyelet board.  Try the tube swap first.

Good luck

Scott Hicks wrote:
> I'm a newbie player, started less than a year ago but have only started to get serious within the last couple of months.  I picked up an Epi Valve Special on a decent deal after reading a few positive things about the Valve Jr. for the budget-conscious harp player.  I liked the idea of tone controls, two pre-amp tubes, line out, and built-in reverb (not awesome reverb but usable).  The previous owner (guitarist) replaced the original tubes (2 - 12AX7's and an EL84) with JJ's, and replaced the speaker with a 60W Celestion G10.  I have the amp paired with a custom bullet with a lo-z Shure CM and built-in hi-z transformer, a pretty hot mic.  Overall, I like the tone, it has a nice mid-range honk.
>
> My biggest issue is volume.  Now I know that I shouldn't expect too much from a 5W amp, but with the master volume dimed I can only get the gain up a quarter of the way before the feedback starts.  I'm really very green so I'm wondering if anyone can recommend changes that would allow me to get a little more volume.  I'm also open to any suggestions on how to improve tone, if anyone has any experience with this amp.  Thanks.
>
> Scott
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