# Epi Valve Senior



## dwagar (Mar 6, 2006)

here's an amp you don't hear much about.

18W, 2x6V6

I've been toying with getting something lower powered than my 2 Marshalls (50W, 60W) to haul to local jams, to use when we play smaller gigs. I do have an attenuator, but, hey, I'm getting older, the Marshalls are too heavy. I'd also been thinking about getting something a bit less Marshall voiced.

I dropped in to L&M on Thursday to kill a 1/2 hour, they had a Valve Senior head sitting there for $299, new. The last one they had I guess. They are discontinued.

I went back yesterday for a test drive, compared it to a Darkhorse, you know, I really liked this amp. The price was definitely right. I snapped it up.

We were gigging last night so I thought it couldn't hurt to try it out on a couple of songs. I wasn't sure how well it'd fare in the volume dept so I ran it through my 2x15 D130 JBL cabinet (IIRC they are 103dB speakers). It was very loud, I ran it at about 1/4 volume.

I really liked it, I used it for the whole night. It's a keeper. No pedals required, like a good tube amp should be. After the new toy period ends, I may look at a tube change or something, but for right now, I figure I scored pretty darn good for $300.

Here's a pic off the net:









now I just have to find a cheap used Valve Junior 1x12 cab to match. I'll have a very inexpensive, pretty light rig to haul around.

The only drawback, I'm 58 now, I don't like buying something with 'Senior' in the name. Jeez.


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## Bevo (Nov 24, 2006)

Nothing wrong with being a senior, lots of discounts!

Thats a great looking well laid out amp, I never saw these in the shop which explains them not carrying it anymore.
Great price on it too!!


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## dwagar (Mar 6, 2006)

I'm surprised they didn't sell these like popcorn. From what I've been reading, the only bad thing is the Reverb, it is pretty horrid. I don't use it anyway.

A couple of drawbacks to buying a not very good selling amp though, it's really hard to find mods and upgrades, and I haven't found much info on breakdowns, what to watch out for. I bought an extra year of warranty on it (to two years), so I'm not concerned about something burning out.

I am quite happy with the tone out of this cheap amp. I think it'll get more use than I originally bought it for.


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

dwagar said:


> I'm surprised they didn't sell these like popcorn. From what I've been reading, the only bad thing is the Reverb, it is pretty horrid. I don't use it anyway.


I was glad to hear you say that about the reverb. I have a Valve Jr that I use when I'm playing my Epi LP. Now I don't mind that it doesn't have reverb. These amps are pretty amazing for their size.
I use mine with an Ibanez TS9 that I bought recently and I love the new sound I'm getting. Enjoy yours, your back will love you for buying it.


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## dwagar (Mar 6, 2006)

One of the big reasons I first looked at it was the reputation of the Valve Juniors.


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## dwagar (Mar 6, 2006)

L&M did have a VJ cab in the back.










Interesting cab, all birch, Eminence speaker, $180 new. I don't know if I'm going to like the speaker yet, I'll have to break it in to see. Easy to change if I don't.

Total investment is under $500, a light rig for jams, I can use the head when I want for gigs. Pretty darn reasonable IMO.


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## Steve Adams (Dec 31, 2009)

I love my Junior, i have it modded with more mods planned. if you ever sell the senior, look me up please. Im jonesin for one of those...


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## Bevo (Nov 24, 2006)

That looks nice and it fits your goal of a light rig.
Is it closed back or open?


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## The Kicker Of Elves (Jul 20, 2006)

dwagar said:


> L&M did have a VJ cab in the back.
> 
> Interesting cab, all birch, Eminence speaker, $180 new. I don't know if I'm going to like the speaker yet, I'll have to break it in to see. Easy to change if I don't.


I have the VJ cab as well. I swapped the Eminence Lady Luck for a new Celestion Greenback but eventually switched it back. You have the right idea, give the stock one a shot.

It was definitely voiced well for the Valve Jr head.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

Man, that is a really interesting head. It would fit what I am looking for right now as a backup perfectly. Is the reverb a spring reverb unit? It could be upgraded pretty cheaply if so.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

dwagar said:


> I'm surprised they didn't sell these like popcorn. From what I've been reading, the only bad thing is the Reverb, it is pretty horrid. I don't use it anyway.
> 
> A couple of drawbacks to buying a not very good selling amp though, it's really hard to find mods and upgrades, and I haven't found much info on breakdowns, what to watch out for. I bought an extra year of warranty on it (to two years), so I'm not concerned about something burning out.
> 
> I am quite happy with the tone out of this cheap amp. I think it'll get more use than I originally bought it for.


I was looking around for info online and it seems there was massive shipping delays when these came out. And that not a lot of them shipped when they did ship out. I saw a thread on TDRPI where people posted about these for a full year before anyone actually found one to buy lol.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

[YOUTUBE]limcPyX9WfU[/YOUTUBE]

Not in english, but cool tones. The little bit he plays at around 7:22 with the gain cranked sounds amazing.


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## dwagar (Mar 6, 2006)

torndownunit said:


> Man, that is a really interesting head. It would fit what I am looking for right now as a backup perfectly. Is the reverb a spring reverb unit? It could be upgraded pretty cheaply if so.


it is a spring reverb, a short tank. From what I've read just replacing the tank doesn't completely fix the problems though. Doesn't bother me, I might add a hair of reverb, which is okay on this amp, I never use it much anyway.


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## Steve Adams (Dec 31, 2009)

I'm not a fan of massive amounts of reverb. Just a liitle openness is what I like. Not dick Dale reverb. Yes. Play the lady luck for a while. It gets better after some amount of time. A tube swap will defiantly help your tone a bunch. eBay some vintage tubes, I'm using bugle boy amperex and the amp warmed right up. Great tone. I'm going into my amp and swapping out all caps, resistors, trans, and adding a dumble tone stack. I will be making the junior have more clean headroom this way. Dirt is coming from the ethos overdrive anyways. Again, if you ever want to move that senior, find me.


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## dwagar (Mar 6, 2006)

I have switched out V1 and V2, I have a stash of 12AX7 pulls from a '66 Baldwin organ, relabeled RCAs I think.

That's a good idea, I'll start watching for some 6V6s from the Bay. 

And I'll use this Emenince speaker for awhile before I decide whether to switch it out.

Thanks!


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## Steve Adams (Dec 31, 2009)

No problem...i just watched that video, the clean from it is sick....I HAVE to get one....Im looking for another junior cab to...going to run 2 of them with the heads!


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## dwagar (Mar 6, 2006)

I agree, I'm watching for a good used 2nd cab too.


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