V40 Deluxe and V40H supporting From The Jam

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 putting some serious output out to sound good these still have quality usable tones at lower volumes and with lots of power attenuation options to help that.

However, very occasionally you get to ignore all that and put them on high power and get the master volumes up over 50%. Friday was one such occasion and having them played side by side really let them shine.These amplifiers LOVE the big stage - and the deluxe at volume is the best sound ever! This Deluxe is really something. Genuinely a professional amplifier that is versatile enough to do anything.



The two absolutely compliment each other - the V40H was being run with a Blues Driver and a Gibson SG Standard played by our dep guitarist Neil. Here's Neil with his mate Bruce:

I was running the Deluxe with a Thorpy FX Peacekepper, Gunshot and Chain Home to run the various gain stages. Here's the board:

The brighter Deluxe and the darker V40H blended together well but the Deluxe was definitely the more prominent of the two. We tailored our set for post-punk covers to suit the audience who were there to see the main band. This meant I needed less gain, more presence and perhaps just a bit more mayhem than usual. Fortunately that was easily within the reach of the Deluxe and the pedals.



The Deluxe 'roared'. I can think of no better term. The sound dominated on stage with cut, anger and a truly original tone. It did that thing where I think I sounded better which inspired me to play better which in turn made me sound better - which I swear should be Victory's motto.



The versatility of this amp is out of the park. Its gone from how well it handled the beautiful tones of Joey Landreth, to my versions of Wilko Johnson's, The Kink's and Tenpole Tudor's kind of attitude.



Sadly the support slot ended so very quickly and it was time to move off and let the main band on. Can I do it again please? And can it do it again with the Deluxe? It is nigh on perfect!


Thanks to all at Victory for creating such a beast and a beauty all at the same time with the Duchess V40 Deluxe. And thanks too for the chance to put this through its paces. You should sell a billion of these because it really can do absolutely everything. And look stunning doing it.

This is the amp for everyone and anyone aspiring to be a professional sounding guitarist.


Simon is a guitarist in Salisbury Classic Rock covers band Break Cover.
Break Cover website
Break Cover Facebook




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