BitMo offers several reasonab
to add additional tonal flexibil
stock Valve Junior, priced from
and $70.
The kits are available through
or thetubestore.com.
Finally, the switch is installed and working!
BitMo Brat – This mod kit adds
trol with a pull-switch which ad
British top boost overdrive.
moving the spots where his components
are placed in a kind of cross-continental,
electronic game of chess. After we heard
what this thing is capable of in “Whoa!”
mode, I’m fine with losing a little headroom in the “Low” position. Keep in
mind that Bruce ships current kits with
updated instructions.
winded jams. I’m sure my neighbors hate
this thing, but who cares, I pay taxes
too. It was so nice to be able to get that
familiar fat tone without breaking either
the eardrums or the wallet.
Position two, or “Mo’” mode, imparts
more of a British flavor to the Valve
Junior, increasing the gain and bottom
end. This was a nice setting with the
Junior’s volume knob between nine
and 12 o’clock, offering up a convincing Faces-era Ronnie Wood-esque
medium grind. This would be great for
fat rhythms, and less sustainy, stringier
sounding leads.
The capper here is the aptly named
“Whoa!” position. All of the bases can
be covered here – clean-ish, grind, and
distorted, all while retaining the amp’s
new-found, British-flavored thickness.
Park the amp’s volume control at three
o’clock and you’re golden. The guitar’s
volume knob becomes your amp’s chan-nel-switching control, and when the
hot-rodded Junior is running balls-out, it
sounds incredible with creamy, singing
sustain, inspiring me to indulge in long-
Bruce has managed to take a very good
thing – the stock Epiphone Valve Junior
– and with a relatively simple mod, make
it a thousand times better, taking it from
good to great. This amp and mod combo
would be great for most any live club
situation when a cranked-sounding tube
amp is needed. It’s almost a must for
home recording, although I can’t guarantee it won’t wake up the young ‘uns.
We’d like to thank Epiphone for unleashing the Valve Junior upon an unsuspecting public. The combos go for $150, and
the heads and the cabinets go for $130
each. They are available wherever fine
instruments are sold. For more information, visit epiphone.com.
rol – The Duo Tone
r – This kit adds an
e back of your Valve
one kit housed in a
The BitMo kits are available from thetubestore.com, or you can order one from
Bruce via his eBay store.
Head to premierguitar.com to hear before and
after clips of our modded-out Valve Junior!
