Well, I'd been reading seemingly endless posts about how fantastic the EVJ is and it'd been a while since I'd bought any new gear (the blingin' grad student life I lead prohibits regular guitar expenditures) but then I found myself looking at a chequing account flush with my monthly pay cheque while clutching a little birthday cash in my hot little fist. I really felt that there was only one manner in which to handle this sudden financial comfort. Did I fill my fridge full of less scary/mouldy food? Nope. Did I treat myself to a trip to the laundromat? Not a chance. I marched myself over to the local Guitar shop and ordered myself a brand spankin new EVJ combo. The net result is that this Friday I should be receiving my shiny new toy and will hopefully finally understand the slightly giddy way you all talk about this bloody amp.
isnt there a Tom Petty song...'..the waitin' is the hardest part.'?
congrads on your decision.
Congratulations! Having just gotten myself one of these last Thursday, I can tell you it's a little beast :-) Add a little Arion Tubulator (was 9.99 at MF, don't know if it's back up to the regular 19.99) and you've got yourself a hot little screamer.
I built a little attenuator with a volume control from Fry's, I'll post details when I get a chance to upload the pictures. Cost me all of $15, maybe, in parts.
There's lot's of people modding the amp; claims to improve brighness, better sound fully cranked (less mush) etc.. I am tempted, might do some of those in a couple of months.
--vink
"Life is either an adventure or nothing" -- Helen Keller
Good to see you've got your priorities right. :mrgreen:
I've had a lot of sobering thoughts in my time.
It was them that turned me to drink.
The net result is that this Friday I should be receiving my shiny new toy and will hopefully finally understand the slightly giddy way you all talk about this bloody amp.
You're gonna love it! 8)
Vink: I'd like to see how you built your attenuator. I know Smokindog built one too, but I wouldn't have a clue as to how to doi it. :? Got my Tubulator on it's way to my house too! :wink:
Dan
"The only way I know that guarantees no mistakes is not to play and that's simply not an option". David Hodge
Vink: I'd like to see how you built your attenuator. I know Smokindog built one too, but I wouldn't have a clue as to how to doi it.
Dan
Dan, will post more info in couple of days .. I'll open it up and take a picture so you can see, and see if I can easily create a simple schematic for it. You need to be able to solder. It's better if you have a multimeter and know how to use it, then you can make sure everything is connected right before you use it.
--vink
"Life is either an adventure or nothing" -- Helen Keller
Fluid
Oh yeah, I'd take one of these little tone monsters over clean clothes anyday. :D
Congrats on the new amp, but be warned, all tube amps can become a serious addiction.
Have fun and let us know what you think of it.
Wes
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Like a few others have mentioned, if someone was to put out a guide to making an attenuator I'd appreciate it! Even five amps can have neighbors getting cheesed...
Welcome to the familly of satisfied Epiphone tube amp owners...
I love my Epi Valve Special...
Who needs a signature?
I mean really...
It's almost always lyrics...
or a cliche...
or garbage about me...
Lets just save YOU from the pain, ok?
Dude, your a student.. you dont need food or clean clothes. :lol: Just get a little Fabreeze ($1.75) and squirt em down now and then and as far as food goes you are going to be so busy playing.. who has time to eat??
Congrats on the amp.
Jim
“The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn” - David Russell (Scottish classical Guitarist. b.1942)
For attenuator advice, look over on: http://valvejunior.com/ in the forum at the bottom of the page.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
For attenuator advice, look over on: http://valvejunior.com/ in the forum at the bottom of the page.
Hey, thanks Ricochet! That in wall volume control unit looks pretty easy. Even I should be able to do it! :D
Dan
"The only way I know that guarantees no mistakes is not to play and that's simply not an option". David Hodge
Smokindog did it. :lol:
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Thanks for the link Ricochet! I really like the idea of the lightbulb attenuator, when my VJC arrives I'm going to take a peak inside and see if I can't figure out how to set one up. The schematics given on the site scare me a little bit as the OT is a well done turkey if you blow the bulb. I'm thinking that what I'll do is build an external box with attenuated and unattenuated outputs and then run back into the the combo. It's a little messy but I think seeing the lightbulbs would be kind of neat and switching back and forth would be a piece of cake. Unfortunately grad work in mechanical engineering doesn't involve a lot of amp modification or electronics work of any type so it'll be light treading while I get a feel for things.
If you bridge the input jack to the attenuator with a 5W power resistor of 20X the nominal impedance, it'll save the OT from smoking when the bulb blows. You just need enough load on the coil to kill the Q so it won't make those >10KV spikes.
You can also experiment with combinations of series and parallel light bulbs. Series bulbs are volume compressors. Parallel bulbs are expanders.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
