Victory Duchess V40 Deluxe Combo

On Friday night Break Cover supported Bruce Foxton's 'From The Jam' at the Barrington Theatre in Ferndown. And I got to take both 'my' Victory Duchess amps.(Edit: I have written that these are both mine - I am supposed to give the Deluxe back: it feels like that might not be that easy to do.) It turns out two really are better than one. Everyone remarked on these as they look so good. I left them like this while The Jam were soundchecking. and everyone stopped by for a look. One of the guys working the stage had a really good  look round and it turns out he's already recommending Victory to the world and a friend of his has a Kraken. Mic'd up and ready to go they look even better. Unlike these two! One of the things that has always struck me about the Victory Amps I have used in anger ( V40H, Kraken & V40 Deluxe) is how nice these sound at home, in practice rooms and at small venues. Unlike some valve amps where they have to be pu

Quality 9.5/10 I have had this amp for 4 weeks. It has lived in my study, the car, on stages and in practice rooms. I have carried it up and down stairs and it has gone from hot to cold and dry to raining to dry again. It's been noodled on, practised with and gigged with. Basically for the last weeks I have used it in as many different scenarios I could and it has been moved around like a normal busy gigging band would move it. It has some weight (24kg) but it feels lighter than, for example, a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe or Deville. It certainly feels easier to carry.  It is a prototype so has or had some very, very minor issues. All of which Victory know or knew about. But I will mention them here to help demonstrate the quality of this combo: The slip cover has a tear. It came like this and I have a sneaky feeling it is actually the cover from another amp in the existing range and is pending the correct cover for the production version.  The footswitch didn't wo

No sound clips this time. As this was my first time I thought it should be private. No idea why. Answers on a postcard please. Also, as it turns out, I've only got 2 kettle leads at home - all my spares are in the practice shack and as I want to do a real world comparison with pedals that means I have to unplug one amp to play the other. No problem. First off, the thing that shines through most is: don't Victory make some beautiful amplifiers? Side by side these are stunning. I almost lament the production Deluxes having the brown appointments becuase as a black and white pair they look incredible together. They also sound out of this world too. There are no bad sounds to be had here - to find a favourite tone is firmly just a matter of personal taste. Initially, I set them identically with the Deluxe leading the way as that is the next amp to get gigged and set like this; they really do sound different. Voice 1 and mid kick off and the Deluxe has it (was a competit

A good amp should inspire you to go beyond your comfort zone and try new things. Well the Deluxe is more than a good amp - it's a great amp and it's a real confidence booster. So, for the first time, at rehearsal tonight, I took a single channel amp and a guitar and that was it. No pedals and none in the boot of the car as backup. . We have a gig coming up soon which is one of those rare & special ones. Our normal second guitarist Terry can't make it so Neil, our regular dep, is standing in. Neil normally plays a Fender Deville but for this he has asked to borrow my V40H and 2 x 12. So we're going in double Victory V40 (the two amps will look amazing side by side on stage). His plan is to get cleanish tones from the amp plus drive from a Blues Driver and lead boost from a Boss EQ. Tonight's rehearsal was to warm Neil up to the set and check he was OK with my V40H. This was achieved in spades with Neil's SG sounding much more aggressive than through the

I have a sneaky feeling this is the thing that a few people have been waiting for. First a disclaimer: My recording equipment is terrible. Too much money spent on guitars and amps to spend on PCs and recording stuff. Perhaps I'll do the next one on my phone, it may be better. The webcam was pointed at the amp - which doesn't do a lot on the surface so it looks like a still picture with a bunch of sound clips. Listening back the amp tones come through extremely well DESPITE my terrible equipment and average playing. This is how the amp was set: I'm sure none of that will matter when you hear it. The guitar is a Reverend Bayonet RA90 There are no pedals - the Bayonet is plugged directly into the Deluxe. Any questions please ask. Enjoy... Simon is a guitarist in Salisbury Classic Rock covers band Break Cover. Break Cover  website Break Cover  Facebook

Having finally realised that the Deluxe and the original V40 are different amps, albeit like a closely related family member, I spent Saturday afternoon treating it like a new amp and finding tones that will work in a gig environment and not comparing it constantly to my original V40 head. This amp is beautiful. I've found myself using it clean much more than any amp I've used with this band. In my quest for a clean signal path I've ended up using the built in reverb and tremolo. I adore the trem on this, I mean I REALLY like the tremolo sound this amp makes. In fact, I'm going to have to admit that I have a problem in that I am probably going to have to change my normal V40 head to a Deluxe just so I can have this tremolo in my life. I have a couple of trem pedals but I do not have a pedal that makes THIS noise and I find myself wanting to use it way too much. Thanks Victory - my wallet hates you. Listening back to the recording of the gig I realise I am com

For anyone on the Victory Amp Owners Club on Facebook you will note that I was thinking of buying a specific Reverend guitar this week. Well I absolutely proved that it is always best to try these things in person. I went from a Tricky Gomez (love the look, didn't like the sound)  to a Sensai (loved the sound, didn't like the colours) and then discovered a Reverend Bayonet fitted with a Railhammer   Hyper Vintage Humbucker and Railhammer P90 . Normally I don't like P90s but this blew me all the way away. Many thanks, as always to Andertons for the incredible customer service. If you've not been: visit their website now! Something else that's also been bugging me all week - The TC Electronic Flashback delay setting I use on the V40 head is sounding exceptionally digital / artificial through this amp. Now I know the Flashback is digital but this underlines my earlier comment about you get out of this amp what you put in and also emphasises even more that this is a

Day 6: Today has been marred by gremlins in the pedal board. No testing occurred today due to noises off taking over my board. Would I ever buy a G2 System? Yes please if it sorted out all the issues I have with pedal board gremlins!! For a brief period of time a Teleaster was plugged raw into the Deluixe and a truly, truly stunning noise emerged but then one of the pedal gremlins obviously leaped into the guitar electrics and buzzy doom ensued. Ah well better luck tomorrow maybe. Day 7: Today I have learnt that when you use one of these: and your pedal board gets to a certain size This is the most important video you will ever need to watch: That Pedal Show – How To Power Your Pedals Properly &The Legend Of VCPI My gremlins yesterday were generated by the incorrect use of the letter C. (Specifically Boss Tuner pedals providing onward power to another pedal need to have the right current to power both the tuner and the next pedal in the chain AND Whammi Ricochet p

Day away from amplifiers yesterday to recover from the day in the studio. However... Time to just let the amp do some work. No assistance from pedals. First part of the test is with a Musicman Reflex.  Voice 1 is a lovely full home tone, it picks up nicely with the mid kick and breaks up well with the Volume at 12. As per earlier posts it is definitely cleaner for longer than the original V40. Switching from Low to High will be where those that have been asking for a more Silverface or Blackface sound will want to spend their time.In High mode at home, I am loving Voice 1 with the mid kick off. It reminds me of an old Twin that a friend of mine used to own. As the Volume does more work I have to reduce the amount of reverb to make sure it doesn't over power and playing with the reverb tone is very satisfying. Although I am wondering if even more reverb could be made available to really satisfy those looking for that particular sound. Many amps with valve

The Kraken continues to blow me away. It has a magnificent reputation as a metal amp but for me this continues to be the perfect Classic Rock amp. Gain 1 for all that is British and Gain 2 for getting me close to that Steve Stevens' tone. 10 tracks recorded today, 7 on the Kraken and 3 on the Duchess. I love the predictability of the Kraken: it does exactly what I want every single time. More gain, less gain, more volume, slightly quieter; everything is just so usable. Once again the Duchess and a Telecaster was a thing of wonder. We recorded a song today that was 88 years old and the way it sounds we could have recorded it anytime from about 1971. Stunning, authentic, rich tone. The Kraken was played without any effects at all and was the most massive thing in the room. The Duchess was layered with a ThorpyFX Peacekeeper with the occasional stab with a Gunshot and a Chain Home. Thanks to all at Victory, with support from ThorpyFX, for making studio time such a pleasu

Pedal board adjusted for having a Deluxe. Digital reverb removed and power reused for the Ricochet. Only to find that it is no longer working and won't accept a power supply. That can get returned as its less than a year old - I will use the EHX B9 for that effect tonight. Annoyingly that also means I will have to use the B9 on the recording tomorrow when I wanted a sub octave effect #firstworldproblems. (FYI our other guitarist purchased a TC Electronics Sub n Up and we used that with the B9. Extremely effective) Keeley Katana Boost removed and ThorpyFX Chain Home utilised for boost function only. Setting up the amp is very easy, one plug for the power and another for the footswitch. Having been used to a head and cab this is a delight! If I had to go underneath often I would probably ask Victory for a slightly shallower top baffle as the access to the under panel is not easy and I can see me getting cross if I need to get under there a lot on a crowded stage. Fortunatel

One of my personal bug bears, learned from the Fender Hot Rod, is combos placed directly on the floor. There is a danger of all the sound pointing at your feet and you losing track of just how loud you are. I have fixed this with a sneaky second hand purchase of an amp stand. Much better! The #1 feature that marks the Deluxe out is the additional presence. The amp, particularly at this angle, is really popping through the mix. My default setting of Voice 2 and Mid Kick on are definitely doing their thing. I play in a two guitar band so finding balance without falling over each other is our number one focus and the Deluxe does this easily. I find the Deluxe cleaner than the V40. There is a marked 'blackface' feel to Voice 1 especially with added bass wound in. Voice 2 definitely has a little more edge but with the Volume turned down to give head room for pedals I'm finding 10 o'clock on the Deluxe is cleaner than the V40 head I normally use. I notice a ma