True old school full throttle gain from an amp...

MR. CREEPER · August 31, 2012, 09:31:05 PM

So, I haven't commented in some time on here, but as a guitarist and songwriter, with a love for the "old school" tones and riffs I needed to share. I bought a Version 3 Epi Valve Jr head and cab a few years ago, just for fun to see if there was anything there beyond the big stack I had been playing. Ahyhoo, after some minor mods to speaker, tubes, etc I have discovered the purest, most unbeliveable tone I have ever played, period. Just wanted to share. Any familiar stories?

bbottom · August 31, 2012, 11:40:20 PM

I had an EPI valve jr for a bit and dug it.

everdrone · September 01, 2012, 09:32:10 AM

I have an epi valve junior combo

for jamming at a quiet apartment it is no good at all, on 1 it is waaayyy louder than a TV at a superbowl. pedals sound like they are going into solid state with no character at that volume.

you gotta crank big amps to get the awesome hard rock sound methinkz

but ya small amps sound awesome for teh bl00z

RacerX · September 01, 2012, 10:19:53 AM

I'm getting excellent tones outta my Blackstar HT5 at home. I sold my Jr. once I got it.

Lumpy · September 01, 2012, 12:44:59 PM

My guitar player uses a Valve Jr. head in the practice space. It's a little dark on it's own (no mods) but he plays a Telecaster so it balances out nicely.

MR. CREEPER · September 03, 2012, 05:22:04 PM

I did minor mods ie: jj tubes, greenback speaker and i only run a tube driver boost/od for full tube sound. Easily in the tonal ballpark as old school marshall, hiwatt, orange type tones. You'd be amazed.

VOLVO))) · September 03, 2012, 05:50:11 PM

Wait until I get this Blackheart in the mail from Dean. It's getting new, higher quality filter caps, new tubes, and whatever else I can think of. Might see if I can add another gain stage...

bbottom · September 03, 2012, 06:09:35 PM

I went into GC center today (never again will I make this mistake on Labor Day) and saw that Egnater makes a small tube amp now.
If I wasn't completely annoyed by all of the racket I would've tried it out.

bitter · September 03, 2012, 06:25:26 PM

Quote from: bbottom on September 03, 2012, 06:09:35 PM
I went into GC center today (never again will I make this mistake on Labor Day) and saw that Egnater makes a small tube amp now.
If I wasn't completely annoyed by all of the racket I would've tried it out.

Other than being a little knob heavy, those egnaters sounds pretty good. At least in terms of clean for pedal testing. I think I tried one of the ~30 watt models (Tweaker, not the rebel???)

mawso · September 05, 2012, 01:35:38 AM

I really like the tone I get from my modded valve junior

but it's never quite got the pure roar you can get from a class AB power section imo

MR. CREEPER · September 05, 2012, 06:34:28 PM

Definitely not any scooped type roar that an ab amp can get w/ eq section, but a smokey, sizzle with major bite. Billy Gibbons cranked a champ(class a) for most of few ZZ Top albums with great effect. I love it.

mawso · September 10, 2012, 11:00:47 PM

I don't know a lot about getting scooped tones. I'm all about the mids. But a little crossover distortion from a Class AB section just adds that extra bit of punch and sex.

I would not take any of Billy Gibbons' accounts about what he recorded with terribly to heart. He's notorious for his tall stories.