Epi Valve Jr. Head

NMyTree · January 2007

don't_go_on_me wrote:

Any recommendations on tubes (12AX7 & EL84) and could it brighten up the tone?

These tubes lean to the brighter side: JJ/Tesla 12AX7

http://www.thetubestore.com/tesla12ax7.html

http://www.triodeelectronics.com/12ax7tesla.html

http://www.triodeelectronics.com/12ectejjtu.html

exhausted · January 2007

yeah, R2 to 10K and R1 to 1M.

i'll try that and see how it goes.

just out of curiousity, how much voltage was on the filter caps when you opened yours up?

All Those Yesterdays · January 2007

exhausted wrote:

yeah, R2 to 10K and R1 to 1M.

i'll try that and see how it goes.

just out of curiousity, how much voltage was on the filter caps when you opened yours up?

Here's the deal (and I'm going to get yelled at for some one on this one). If your smart, you take your time, and you stay away from them, you don't have to worry about them!. Honestly, You can discharge those with a screw driver or a pair of insulated needle nose pliers if you like. But your. the items your going to be doing aren't near them (sure they are on the board, and it's small). But unless your replacing those, don't worry about them. It's good to be scared, keeps you on your toes. I've done some circuit's in high school before. I honestly didn't check the filter cap voltage, I just kept on my toes, once again I'm going to get yelled at, but you just have to think things thru and be smart.

Honestly, just change our R1 first. see what you think. You'll get a lot more gain out of it (if that's what your looking for). It will brighten it up some.

I have gone up to 1M then down to about half that, now I'm back to 68K.

Have your heat sink?

exhausted · January 2007

All Those Yesterdays wrote:

Have your heat sink?

sorry? i don't understand the question.

and with voltage. i'm just paranoid and sort of a safety nut. i do want to get further into amp mod/building so i figure i might as well learn how to do everything right from the get go.

300+ volts would still sting a bit.

besides, i've got a kid and all.

All Those Yesterdays · January 2007

exhausted wrote:

sorry? i don't understand the question.

and with voltage. i'm just paranoid and sort of a safety nut. i do want to get further into amp mod/building so i figure i might as well learn how to do everything right from the get go.

300+ volts would still sting a bit.

besides, i've got a kid and all.

Roach clip? Copper alligator clip. You put it on the side of the resistor, capacitor, what ever you are soldering on (removeing and installing). It pulls the heat away from the resistor. Get them at radio shack right with the solder and irons etc... Resistors can handle a lot of heat, and they are cheap, but it really doesn't take much time, it's a good extra tip.

Yes 300 volts, does sting. Could be from 400 volts on down. If your not comfortable just discharge them. It will make you jump the first time but that's part of it.

Take your time though, relax and have fun. Safety is a big concern. If I ever change a filter cap then yes then I'd discharge them.

Did more mod's yesterday, amp was just way way too bright, with the danelectro, and the dearmond.

exhausted · January 2007

oh yeah, got the heat sinks etc. from working on pedals and guitars.

All Those Yesterdays · January 2007

exhausted wrote:

oh yeah, got the heat sinks etc. from working on pedals and guitars.

Just making sure! You got the soldering down, so you should be all right. Here is a tip, get some duct tape, so when you flip the board over to start to remove the solder, go ahead and tap the board to the chassis (so it doesn't move for you). I use the same piece the entire time. I'll screw the board back on, take the chassis, and re tube it then carry the chassi to the cabinet, plug it in and see what I think. (instead of going back and forth, putting it back in the cabinet etc....

All Those Yesterdays · January 2007

All Those Yesterdays wrote:

R1: We changed it to 1M like most amps are, and what most people use. It gives more gain, and really brightens up the amp (with a tele and a dan, it was way to bright!). We knocked it back to a 470k.

R8, R9 & C3, C4: This is where you can pull the flabbiness out of the low end. I now have these as follows; R8 & R9 = 1.5k, C4 = 10 uF and C3 = 3.3 uF We might be messing with this after the cabinet comes depending on how bassy that cabinet is.

R5: this increase or decreases power tube distortion. Because of the input capacitor R1 change you get much more gain out of it. I want power tube distortion don't get me wrong, but it was getting stupid. This is now a 47k

C5: I needed to do this to help bring some lows back into it, it's now 1000 uF 35v (big mofo!).

If I get a shot this weeks I'll get some sound clips recorded.

Here is the latest. The big problem with doing so many changes in a row (even though hearing what they did each time) is that you ears get so used to things, and you don't notice it. The amp days later when plugging it back in seems way to bright for my needs. yesterday went back in and did the following:

R1: back to the stock 68K
C3: down to 2.2 uF
R9: down to 1K

Now I have my tight punch back, not to bright and most of the flabbiness out of the low end when cranked. A little of it is still their, but I'm at a happy medium. I won't use the amp on kill most of the time any ways, usually around 1 to 3 oclock.

I didn't get around to doing sound samples on thursday, we were to busy trying to get a organ track down. Hopefully this thursday I'll be able to jump on some tracks.

exhausted · January 2007

All Those Yesterdays wrote:

Just making sure! You got the soldering down, so you should be all right. Here is a tip, get some duct tape, so when you flip the board over to start to remove the solder, go ahead and tap the board to the chassis (so it doesn't move for you). I use the same piece the entire time. I'll screw the board back on, take the chassis, and re tube it then carry the chassi to the cabinet, plug it in and see what I think. (instead of going back and forth, putting it back in the cabinet etc....

thanks, yeah, all the screws etc to get the board off the chassis is the main reason i want to discharge everything. just too much fiddling to get to the solder side to risk it for me.

i will do R1 first. R1 @ 1M and R2 @ 68K makes the input the same as my deluxe reverb. so we'll try that. i've got a bunch of values to try if that doesn't work out.

changing R2 to 10K would make the input the same as my blues jr.

i'm not changing any caps etc. for brightness at this point.

i saw one guy put a master volume in. interesting on a 5 W amp but sort of appealing i guess.

i don't want to muck up the front panel though.

All Those Yesterdays · January 2007

exhausted wrote:

thanks, yeah, all the screws etc to get the board off the chassis is the main reason i want to discharge everything. just too much fiddling to get to the solder side to risk it for me.

i will do R1 first. R1 @ 1M and R2 @ 68K makes the input the same as my deluxe reverb. so we'll try that. i've got a bunch of values to try if that doesn't work out.

changing R2 to 10K would make the input the same as my blues jr.

i'm not changing any caps etc. for brightness at this point.

i saw one guy put a master volume in. interesting on a 5 W amp but sort of appealing i guess.

i don't want to muck up the front panel though.

Screwdriver, with a magnet tip works. those filter caps are only going to do bad things if your touching their prongs. The top of the caps can't hurt you. Fortuantely those caps are tight to the board practically.

Good luck and keep us posted.

I agree I'm not up to any mods to the actual front panel. I don't need bright switches etc. It's going to be a two tone amp for me, and that's cool. When I record I'll mess with the tubes, but that's about it.

Avatar 2x12 should be here on monday!!!

exhausted · January 2007

what i did was, turned the amp on, playing though it while unplugging the AC cord.... and letting the sound fade out.

opened it up and took a voltmeter to the caps...... nothing. so it was safe.

replaced R1 with a 1M. holy shit. took the blanket off the amp. tons louded now.

briefly tried a master volume knob in place of R5. hated it. if the power tube isn't distorting, the amp has no character.

put R5 back in, buttoned it up and i'm done.

i'll find a proper metal film resistor for R1 at some point. right now there's just a carbon one in there. good enough for now.

i'm convinced that the key to this amp is the cabinet it's going through. which is why the combos sound like crap in comparison.

All Those Yesterdays · January 2007

exhausted wrote:

what i did was, turned the amp on, playing though it while unplugging the AC cord.... and letting the sound fade out.

opened it up and took a voltmeter to the caps...... nothing. so it was safe.

replaced R1 with a 1M. holy shit. took the blanket off the amp. tons louded now.

briefly tried a master volume knob in place of R5. hated it. if the power tube isn't distorting, the amp has no character.

put R5 back in, buttoned it up and i'm done.

i'll find a proper metal film resistor for R1 at some point. right now there's just a carbon one in there. good enough for now.

i'm convinced that the key to this amp is the cabinet it's going through. which is why the combos sound like crap in comparison.

Yeah R1 to 1M was nice at first, but it wasn't my thing. I tried others and am back to the stock 68k.

I agree on the cabinet. I'll be playing thru a vintage 30 and a G12H-30 cabinet from avatar (which should be in tomorrow).

Glad you gave it a shot though!

All Those Yesterdays · January 2007

http://www.turretboards.com/valve_junior_page.htm

Wow I might have to spend some more money. Get another Junior and find me a circuit with a single 6v6. This could be way way way cool.

Pacomc79 · January 2007

All Those Yesterdays wrote:

http://www.turretboards.com/valve_junior_page.htm

Wow I might have to spend some more money. Get another Junior and find me a circuit with a single 6v6. This could be way way way cool.

That's what I want, a single or dual 6v6 power tube layout and an EF86 preamp all with great input and output transformers.

exhausted · January 2007

i'm tempted right now to sell my blues jr, buying another valve junior head and a stereo 2x12 cabinet.

the valve sounds better than the blues.

All Those Yesterdays · January 2007

Pacomc79 wrote:

That's what I want, a single or dual 6v6 power tube layout and an EF86 preamp all with great input and output transformers.

I agree this could be way cool. Get a couple Valve Juniors. Turn one into a 6v6 circuit, another into a 6L6 circuit, and so on. Have them all stacked up at the studio, and have add it. And not have to spend a ton!!!

All Those Yesterdays · January 2007

exhausted wrote:

i'm tempted right now to sell my blues jr, buying another valve junior head and a stereo 2x12 cabinet.

the valve sounds better than the blues.

Friend of mine is putting a princeton circuit in his valve junior. Ephiphone did a great great job!

All Those Yesterdays · January 2007

Here is the link to the set up. I put the Dano in there to help block out the avatar logo some (don't ask me why, I'm off in the head some). Sorry about the smudges on the guitar (didn't realize it was that bad!) Should of rotated the picture guys/ gals, I'm sorry about that!

Those with out myspace accounts, PM me and I'll email it to you if you like.

The cabinet is open back 2x12, with a G12H-30 and a vintage 30 (16 ohm each in parallel) (for $288 it's a killer deal). Sounding killer. Head is a little modded (see earlier posts). The Dano is cheap but it's me. I'm a bass player, who just rights some stuff on guitar, nothing major, and that guitar is my baby.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=145893611&imageID=1702034977

All Those Yesterdays · January 2007

Finally have a cabinet for the Junior. Honestly I think there is just way to much read in this. Not to mention that cabinet is probably going to be way to small, and have a crappy speaker in it

http://www.epiphone.com/press/P_VJHS1.jpg

sennin · January 2007

All Those Yesterdays wrote:

Finally have a cabinet for the Junior. Honestly I think there is just way to much read in this. Not to mention that cabinet is probably going to be way to small, and have a crappy speaker in it

http://www.epiphone.com/press/P_VJHS1.jpg

Is that a single 10"?

I was thinking more along these lines for the jr.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Triggerman-Guitar-Speaker-Cabinet?sku=601611

too bad there isn't a 2 10" or 2 12" version.

Epi Valve Jr. Head

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