[Harp-L] Re: different tubes for my Epiphone Junior amp?

[HTownFess <Spschndr@xxxxxxx>]

Mike, I just got through testing some stuff with a Epiphone Valve Jr.
Half-Stack rig and am puzzled by your question.  What kind of harp mic
are you using?  The VJ head I'm using doesn't need to be turned past
halfway up to get going; pointing the knob at the V in Volume was
sufficient.  I tried a Sovtek 5751 and the output came down somewhat,
but I didn't like the tone/dynamics nearly as well as with the 12AX7;
might make you happy, though.  Then I tried a JJ 12DW7, which is often
useful in baby amps, and it didn't have much drive at all.  This was
with a Superlux and a CM GB.

What did work was a Lone Wolf Harp Tone+ pedal and the 12AX7.  Turn
the bass knob on the pedal up to 3 o'clock, leave the amp turned up,
and back the pedal output down.  It got significantly quieter and
still sounded good.  Best part was up at normal output levels though.
You want a stock Valve Jr. to sound fat, use a Tone+.  I'd say use a
Tung-Sol RI 12AX7 too, makes an audible improvement in an amp with
that simple a circuit; stock main tube's tolerable.

There's an audio clip from last summer of that half-stack with the
5751, Tone+, CM mic and a Weber 12A150-O speaker that I didn't know
was in there (friend's half-stack) at the Harp-L Google portal Files
page: go to http://groups.google.com/harp-l/files/ and look for the
EpiTone+ filename.  Sorry, direct links do not work there, but right-
click on the filename & save to your machine and you can listen at
leisure.   The stock Eminence Lady Luck speaker is cleaner, darker,
and not quite as loud as the Weber, but feeds back less and is way
more than adequate; to my ear, a cleaner speaker's better for that amp
if you want to play out.  One can get a Superlux mic, Tone+ pedal,
Tung-Sol RI 12AX7, and Valve Junior Half-Stack for about the price of
a new Blues Junior.  Stay tuned for a video demo before long.

Stephen Schneider

On Jan 3, 6:18 am, "Mike Meyerstein" <mike.meyerst...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
> Folks;
>
> Sorry if this has been done before, but I can't find anything like this in
> the email archives
>
> I would like to replace the tubes in my Epiphone Junior amp with some that
> will saturate (distort) at a lower power level. This is so that the nice fat
> sound will be possible at lower levels of volume. At present, I have to turn
> it up nearly to full whack before I get the required distortion. Even though
> it's only a 5 Watt amp, it is then really loud. I would like to have it
> quieter and then I can mic it up through my PA if I need more volume.
>
> Any advice on replacement tubes?
>
> thanks
>
> Mike Meyerstein
>
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