Post #1: New to the family!
So a thing I never thought would happen has happened. I have sold my V40 Compact Head.
My V40 Deluxe is now being used for preference as the clean amp and the Kraken has been used all year as the gigging amp, which has the meant the V40 has not been used since March and it is too good an amp to not get used. So she has gone to a new home.
However a new beasty has appeared. Meet the new Victory V130 Super Countess Heritage Series 100W Head!
I'll leave it until it's played live to decide on Overdrive 1 or 2 but right now I could noodle OD2 all day long.
This is every amp I ever wanted to play live in one box and my goodness can it be loud.
This is not a bedroom use amp!! I am so looking forward to its first full outing though.
Thank you Team Victory for another truly magnificent thing!!
More to come but first impressions and why it had to be bought here:
I am a huge fan of the Kraken but IMHO the OD2 channel on this is the nicest drive sound I have every heard.
The Crunch channel is going to be great for normal rhythm work but I now have the choice to go glassy clean AND use that OD2 setting for lead.
I may be in love. If you can find a better sounding amp that is more flexible then go buy that. But if you want great cleans, Malcolm Young style crunch and the sexiest lead voices on Earth (which have their own Master volume so that it is a genuine solo boost) then just go ahead and buy one of these!
Russell: "anyone know what this amp was like for classic rock"
Me: " If you look at my settings above I have the Clean Gain wound up all the way. On the Crunch voice & this is Malcolm (Young's tone). It is wonderful. I use that for Rhythm and then press the footswitch to turn on OD2 for solos. Again see settings above for that voice's gain and volume settings. The volume was low as this was in the house and this thing is loud!"
Russell: " Is it usable at home as well with the volume so low?"
Me: "I have an understanding family. The tone is great at this volume. Victory are really good at managing tone at lower volumes. This is in the 30 watt mode (so a bit squishier than the High mode) and I was able to get some great tones going. However that was not 'bedroom' volume. It was still pretty loud. I had it a smidge louder at Andertons. I probably wouldn't gig it any louder than this except bigger stages or open air ones. The Andertons settings are above"
Russell: "Where does it sit in the Marshall / Fender(or British / American) spectrum of tone?"
Me: "I've been giving that a chunk of thought recently. This amp is powered by 6L6s as are, all of my Victory Amps these days. This feels to me like a hot rodded Marshall. With the Clean Gain wound all the way up, the glassy cleans of the Clean Voice have just a bit of hair if you hit it hard and it has more in common with the high headroom 100W Marshalls than say a Hot Rod Deluxe. It's sharper than a HRD too, less bassy, less flabby.
The Crunch goes from barely breaking up to Malcolm Young. Because it's the Clean Channel in Crunch voice it is beautifully articulate. This is not high Gain, it is a true Crunch. I have spent hours noodling with this but AC/DC tunes are so much fun to play here. So again, Marshall influenced, but with that Victory magic that makes it sound more than a Marshall.
There are some Amp makers that have made a business out of the hit rodded Marshall thing and a couple of those amps have had me thinking of straying from Victory recently. But not anymore. The Overdrive channel is pure Victory. I would say Marshall influenced but Victory are so much more and really do have a voice of their own.
Rabea said in his part of the official Victory Amps video that Voice 1 was a bit Kraken like. And yes I can see that: Kraken Gain 2 has been my solo sound for almost 2 years. But. This feels smoother. I need to take it live to really make some decisions but I would imagine, with the second Master volume up, this will make an amazing cut through solo tone. But there is also Voice 2 of the Overdrive channel and that has a thicker voice and destroys anything else I've tried. I really want this to cut through, I don't even mind if I have to push the OD Volume a bit to do it, because it sounds so nice. Pick your cliches... thick, rich, creamy, saturated, etc..."
Russell: "having that 2nd master would be a bit advantage!"
Me: " My Kraken has two channels which have 2 master volumes across both. So you can have Gain 1 at MV1 or MV2 and you can have Gain 2 at MV1 or MV2. It means you can have a volume boost to either voice.
The V130 works differently. You can have the Clean channel with either Clean or Crunch Voices and that has its own volume. Then you get the OD channel with either voice 1 or voice 2 and that has its own separate volume.
I will use the clean channel on Crunch at Rhythm Volume and then the OD channel at a louder volume for solos. Voice to be decided."
Russell (a little later): "Simon, you were spot on with your assessment of this amp! After speaking to you I bit the bullet and ordered one from Andertons and gigged it last night. My god what a sound! I've had good sounding amps before and versatile amps before but never the 2 things in the same amp! Really impressed!"
http://www.victoryamps.com/v130-the-super-countess.html
Andertons Music
https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/VICV130/guitar-amp-heads/victory-v130-super-countess-100w-head
Website: http://www.breakcoverband.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/breakcoverband
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/breakcover
My V40 Deluxe is now being used for preference as the clean amp and the Kraken has been used all year as the gigging amp, which has the meant the V40 has not been used since March and it is too good an amp to not get used. So she has gone to a new home.
However a new beasty has appeared. Meet the new Victory V130 Super Countess Heritage Series 100W Head!
- The Clean voice is lovely and on the Gain setting I use has just a sniff of break-up.
- The Crunch voice is Malcolm Young in a box (again, as I set it).
- And the 2 overdrive voices destroy any other hotrodded amp tones I have ever heard.
I'll leave it until it's played live to decide on Overdrive 1 or 2 but right now I could noodle OD2 all day long.
This is every amp I ever wanted to play live in one box and my goodness can it be loud.
This is not a bedroom use amp!! I am so looking forward to its first full outing though.
Thank you Team Victory for another truly magnificent thing!!
More to come but first impressions and why it had to be bought here:
Demoing at Andertons:
Initial thoughts and Q&A with Russell McClung:
I genuinely think this amp is a bit special.I am a huge fan of the Kraken but IMHO the OD2 channel on this is the nicest drive sound I have every heard.
The Crunch channel is going to be great for normal rhythm work but I now have the choice to go glassy clean AND use that OD2 setting for lead.
I may be in love. If you can find a better sounding amp that is more flexible then go buy that. But if you want great cleans, Malcolm Young style crunch and the sexiest lead voices on Earth (which have their own Master volume so that it is a genuine solo boost) then just go ahead and buy one of these!
Russell: "anyone know what this amp was like for classic rock"
Me: " If you look at my settings above I have the Clean Gain wound up all the way. On the Crunch voice & this is Malcolm (Young's tone). It is wonderful. I use that for Rhythm and then press the footswitch to turn on OD2 for solos. Again see settings above for that voice's gain and volume settings. The volume was low as this was in the house and this thing is loud!"
Russell: " Is it usable at home as well with the volume so low?"
Me: "I have an understanding family. The tone is great at this volume. Victory are really good at managing tone at lower volumes. This is in the 30 watt mode (so a bit squishier than the High mode) and I was able to get some great tones going. However that was not 'bedroom' volume. It was still pretty loud. I had it a smidge louder at Andertons. I probably wouldn't gig it any louder than this except bigger stages or open air ones. The Andertons settings are above"
Russell: "Where does it sit in the Marshall / Fender(or British / American) spectrum of tone?"
Me: "I've been giving that a chunk of thought recently. This amp is powered by 6L6s as are, all of my Victory Amps these days. This feels to me like a hot rodded Marshall. With the Clean Gain wound all the way up, the glassy cleans of the Clean Voice have just a bit of hair if you hit it hard and it has more in common with the high headroom 100W Marshalls than say a Hot Rod Deluxe. It's sharper than a HRD too, less bassy, less flabby.
The Crunch goes from barely breaking up to Malcolm Young. Because it's the Clean Channel in Crunch voice it is beautifully articulate. This is not high Gain, it is a true Crunch. I have spent hours noodling with this but AC/DC tunes are so much fun to play here. So again, Marshall influenced, but with that Victory magic that makes it sound more than a Marshall.
There are some Amp makers that have made a business out of the hit rodded Marshall thing and a couple of those amps have had me thinking of straying from Victory recently. But not anymore. The Overdrive channel is pure Victory. I would say Marshall influenced but Victory are so much more and really do have a voice of their own.
Rabea said in his part of the official Victory Amps video that Voice 1 was a bit Kraken like. And yes I can see that: Kraken Gain 2 has been my solo sound for almost 2 years. But. This feels smoother. I need to take it live to really make some decisions but I would imagine, with the second Master volume up, this will make an amazing cut through solo tone. But there is also Voice 2 of the Overdrive channel and that has a thicker voice and destroys anything else I've tried. I really want this to cut through, I don't even mind if I have to push the OD Volume a bit to do it, because it sounds so nice. Pick your cliches... thick, rich, creamy, saturated, etc..."
Russell: "having that 2nd master would be a bit advantage!"
Me: " My Kraken has two channels which have 2 master volumes across both. So you can have Gain 1 at MV1 or MV2 and you can have Gain 2 at MV1 or MV2. It means you can have a volume boost to either voice.
The V130 works differently. You can have the Clean channel with either Clean or Crunch Voices and that has its own volume. Then you get the OD channel with either voice 1 or voice 2 and that has its own separate volume.
I will use the clean channel on Crunch at Rhythm Volume and then the OD channel at a louder volume for solos. Voice to be decided."
Russell (a little later): "Simon, you were spot on with your assessment of this amp! After speaking to you I bit the bullet and ordered one from Andertons and gigged it last night. My god what a sound! I've had good sounding amps before and versatile amps before but never the 2 things in the same amp! Really impressed!"
More info at
Victory Ampshttp://www.victoryamps.com/v130-the-super-countess.html
Andertons Music
https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/VICV130/guitar-amp-heads/victory-v130-super-countess-100w-head
Band Pages
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BreakCover/Website: http://www.breakcoverband.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/breakcoverband
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/breakcover
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