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Epiphone Valve Special Guitar Combo Amplifier (5 Watts, 1x10 in.)

Perfect for recording! Rich tube sounds stream out of this little amplifier and fill your bedroom with vintage sound. On top of having tube sound this little amp also offers DSP effects usually only found on Epiphones larger amps. Learn More...

    • New $239.95
    • free ground shipping
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Overall User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10

Individual User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10

Feature:
Well knowing this is a single channel amp, you don't buy it expecting the versatility of $1000 tube combos, but theres a lot of tones that can be pulled from this amp with some tweaking. You're not going to get a high gain sound, or tube-driven reverb but the digital reverb thats there is quite good. And the DSP effects prove frustrating, as anything beyond the most mild setting are too extreme. I dig the 8 ohm speaker output on the back, meaning I can easy push a cabinet of my choice, and the standby switch is a welcome addtion since the Valve Junior head and combo don't have one. An effects loop would be nice, but for the price range I'm quite happy to have a master volume, quite usable eq stack, and decent reverb.

Quality:
The amp came without a problem. Great fit and finish, especially considering the price. Its hard to tell how it will hold up. I've had solid state amps crap out on me after a couple years of regular playing, so if this last that long I'll be happy.

Value:
Personally I think this amp stacks up a lot better than the Fender Pro and Blues Junior, as well as those tube class A Crate amps. I would have bought the Valve Junior head version if it had reverb, but it was worth paying for the Special and getting standby switch, eq stack, master volume.

Desirability:
This is one cool looking amp, vintage look with black vinyl and gold basketweave grillcloth. If I were in a band I would gig with it and mic it up, rock it with pride. Gotta love the chicken beak knobs.

Sound:
I love the creamy full clean sound of this amp. I could max out the master volume and treble, and put the bass, mids, and reverb pointing straight up at 12 o clock and play arpeggios and chord comping all night. Pushing the gain beyond 50% and you get into some ok blues territory, and maxing out the gain produces a good raunchy bark but the stock speaker struggles to keep up. For the moderately clean sound with my humbucker-equipped LP style Ibanez Ghostrider- I would give it a 10, anything beyond 50% gain I give a 6-7, so an average of 8 on sound.

Ease of Use:
If you can't get a good sound out of this then you need a better guitar. I've only had mine a couple days and haven't even swapped in better tubes or tried different speakers, and I'm digging it. One great thing, is that it LOVES stompboxes. Setting the amp clean (gain 1/4 up, master 1/2) a DOD Grunge gave me some crisp and chunky high gain sound perfect for riffing and palm-muting. My TS9 Tube Screamer pushed the amps natural overdrive into great high gain soloing tone.

Support:
Haven't needed it.

Overall:
Between some stompboxes, and the natural tone of this amp, I can cover a lot of bases and I am really enjoying playing again. I wish the effects were more usable. If it was stolen or broke down through no fault of its own, I would replace it in a heartbeat.

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