Anyone here got a Valve Junior? Could it do Doom with a boost/pedal?

[GarethSE]

So, I've been really GASing for a something more british voiced recently for doom/drone/sludge/stoner purposes. Most shit is totally out of my budget, which is my main problem. I have a 5150 but it just doesn't have that british voiced character that all my favourite doom tones do have.

So yeah, does anyone here have a Valve Junior? How do they sound?
I figure with a pedal adding a fuckton of distortion on top of the amp's natural cranked sound, this could really bring the middy grain and smooth top end I've been seeking.

Anyone here got a HM-2 and a stock valve junior they could record a clip of to demonstrate maybe?
Or any other recommendations for CHEAP shit I could use to get a good Doom/Drone sound?

edit: http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_ga15.htm perhaps one of these? anyone tried one?

 

[TheDriller]

I don't know about the Valve Jr, i've never heard one in person,
but i did buy one of those GA15 things for modding.

before i emptied out the chassis and got to work, i plugged it in for the lulz, just to hear what it sounded like stock.
it was utter garbage, by far the shittiest valve amp i have ever heard in my life. avoid it like the plague.

i quickly turned it off and tore out the pcb, still have it lying around at home actually.
its only redeeming feature is that it made a nice "host body" for my own circuit, it all turned out very nice in the end.

 

[GarethSE]

Ah
I thought the GA15 thingies were supposed to be clones of the valve juniors.
hm, anyone else?

 

[TheDriller]

I thought the GA15 thingies were supposed to be clones of the valve juniors.

I heard that too, i can't compare cos i haven't heard a Valve Jr in real life, but i do know the GA15 sounded horribly cheap.

off the top of my head, i doubt you will get the kind of heavy doom tone you are looking for from the Valve Jr, it seems to be more of a clean amp.

perhaps the Orange Tiny Terror would be worth a look?

 

[Line666]

I played a Valve Junior a while ago, very bluesy, I don't think you'd be able to get the sort of 'chaos in an amp' thing you're looking for out of it.

 

[J.DavisNJ]

Any amp can work for doom honestly with some pedals. Grab yourself an HM-2, Catalinbread Supercharged Overdrive (BRUTAL pedal, check it out), and you should be good! JB runs his Sound City amp clean when using the HM-2 and tubescreamer.

-Joe

 

[GarethSE]

yeah
thats what I figured
I'm not looking for an amp that can do doom on its own, rather an amp that has a british voicing that will compliment a nice fuzz/distortion pedal for a heavy as fuck doom tone.

need hm-2 so badly
joe check my topic in rate your mix, i think i am getting close with my 5150

 

[plague_rider]

I have a HM-2 that i'm going to be selling soon, though its not the Japanese version, i think its the korean/taiwanese version…

if this still suits, let me know

 

[Harry Hughes]

A mate of mine has a Valve Junior, but he's an old school amp kinda dude and wouldn't have exactly approved of me plugging my POD into his amp, setting it for the most horribly filthy way over gained sludge tone to see how it sounded.
By itself, it's as vintage sounding as you'd expect.
It does have the kind of glorious, old school power amp distortion you need in spades, seriously.
What's not in it's favor is a 8 inch speaker in the combo. It's not gonna push enough air for sludge/drone/noise/doom/, period.
Best bet is to save money on just getting the head version, plug it into a proper 2x12/4x12 for some proper low end/low mid content, crack the fucker and plug a pedal in front.

 

[006]

I have one myself, only plugged it into my Mesa cab a couple of times, it's a neat little amp especially for cleans and whatnot. Maybe I can do clips if I have some DIs or something. I also have an HM-2 and a TS9 sitting at the house so...

 

[GarethSE]

I have one myself, only plugged it into my Mesa cab a couple of times, it's a neat little amp especially for cleans and whatnot. Maybe I can do clips if I have some DIs or something. I also have an HM-2 and a TS9 sitting at the house so...

wanna re-amp some of my acoustic guitar tracks? <3

plague rider, consider it sold, you may have to wait a while for me to raise the money cos CoD: Modern Warfare 2 comes first at the minute, but if youre up for waiting, consider it sold m'boy

and harry, thats exactly my thought
guitar -> hm-2 -> valve junior -> 2x12
voila.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

I had one. I sold it.

 

[006]

Haha, if you wanna send them over I'll see what I can do this week.

 

[ForefrontStudio]

I know a guy that had the 5watt head. he modded daylights out of it. there'a lot of mods out there for it I guess. his sounded awesome! it was very classic rockish when the volume was at 10 I think he was running it through some crappy 1x12 with a v30...? never heard one pushed to doom though. they're so cheap though I would imagine it would come in handy to have around.

 

[greyskull]

i have a valve junior i use as something to stand on; and when i want a really shitty sound.

 

[Jind]

If I was going to buy a small 5 watt head/amp it would be a Blackstar HT-5, it has both a UK and US voicing.

 

[plague_rider]

Done

 

[iraobryan]

I have one that I've modded (unsuccessfully). If I ever figure out the oscilation issue I'm having I'll post some clips. The gain is much improved with the mods, but I haven't tried it with any pedals yet. I think it's possible to get the sound your looking for, but probably only with extensive modification. There are probably better options out there, though none as cheap as the Valve Jr.

 

[006]

Yeah I mean, honestly the Valve Jr. just doesn't offer much in terms of shaping the sound, it's one knob after all haha. The HT-5 may be a better option since either will really be fine for running pedals into, both are a LOT louder than you would think being 5w and both have a more classic voicing available, the HT-5 having an "American" voicing available as well so it has quite an edge with that and the shaping.

 

[Wolfeman]

I love my Valve Jr.

Seriously though, what can you expect out of a 5watt EL84 based amp?

It sounds like it looks. But it does get pretty loud, and with a good fuzz or boost in front, I think it would sound great for doom/sludge/etc. If you can live with no loop or tone controls, go for it. Also, it's not hard to throw another volume knob on the thing so you can have a gain and volume control.