Victory Amps triples down on it core amp range with cool Compact V1 Preamp Pedal Editions made in collaboration with ThorpyFX
UK Amp Maker Victory is a pioneer of the Preamp Pedal game - having been the first manufacturer to roll-out its amp range into floor-based valve-powered Preamps. In fact using very unique small format Russian military spec tubes / valves - 3 x CV4014, and 1 x EC900 for Bias control. At that time no amp maker had created specific floor-based versions of their amps - let alone the whole range - and this was back in the Autumn of 2018.
Those V4 Preamps are formidable beasts indeed - which Martin Kidd had very exactingly innovated and iterated to very closely match the output of his full-size amps. Yet the V4s (named after their 4 Valves) were a rather sizeable proposition - covering a footprint of 258mm(w) x 174mm(h) x 105mm(d) including feet & knobs. Where I already determine Eventide’s workstation pedals as being Xtra-large - and they’re only 190mm wide. So for a lot of players a footprint of 258 x 174 just isn’t practical. The ongoing paradigm change has meant increasingly more pedals on a typical board - to deliver even more flavours and variations. So with something as large as a V4 Preamp onboard - you’re kind of limiting your other pedal options.
Martin was well aware of this - and being the well-considered gentleman that he is - he already had a plan in place - it just happened to clash somewhat with Covid! My good friend Adrian / Thorpy only told me today what he’s been up to with Martin over the last couple of years - as he was bound by an NDA - and could not share any insights until the pedals were officially launched - which happened today at 14:00 BST - an event that completely caught me out. Adrian is obviously very good at keeping secrets!
Because of Covid - the project was a little start-and-stop - and the nature of Victory Amps and its signature Artists - like Rabea Massaad vs The Kraken - meant that several had to be consulted ongoingly. This made things a little slow moving at times as there were so many perfectionists in the room at any given time. The new pedals were tuned in meticulously both to the actual output tones and timbres of the full-size amps - by ear - but also plotted against the results of various sound spectrum analyzers / oscilloscopes etc.
In any case it’s a good sign that Adrian is particularly proud of these pedals - he firmly stands by each and every one - although I do wonder how well they shape up to his recent gain masterpiece - the Scarlet Tunic Analog Amp Emulator!
Adrian’s favourite of the bunch is The Jack - which is sort of like a really Smooth Soldano Amp Distortion. Both Adrian and I are fans of smooth liquid distortions - like the high watermark of the MKIII Tone Bender style Pigdog JuJu Fuzz!
In any case you have a full complement of 5 compact preamp pedals - each of dimensions 66mm x 125mm x 43mm (including feet) - and each priced at £199 / $249 and equivalent.
The Duchess is akin to a Deluxe Fender Clean Amp, the Copper is an evolved take on a Vox AC30, the Sheriff is sort of a Marshall Plexi type, the Jack somewhat like a super smooth Soldano SLO-100, and Rabea’s signature Kraken rather like a slightly Darker EVH5150 - or at least that’s how Rabea plays it!
In any case here follow the individual descriptions and demos :
V1 Duchess Preamp Pedal (≈ Fender Deluxe Clean) - £199 / $249
Controls - Volume, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble.
Very much based on the V40 Duchess Amp - which delivers a vintage American Clean Sound - akin to a Fender Deluxe Reverb amp - minus the reverb of course. This will give you a really bright and sparkly sounding base / overdrive really - which can be used to tame grungier darker amps, or else just shape your core signal via the smart 3-Band EQ. For many this is the absolute perfect and preferred clean amp sound - while I'm probably more partial to the slightly more chimey clean tone of a Vox-type Amp / Preamp - which would be the Copper here. Obviously Universal Audio / UAFX have just recently released their 'Dream' Dreamp take on that format with a few more controls, but a significantly larger BB-size footprint and pretty much double the price at $419 and equivalent. The V1 Duchess is definitely the more practical choice!
V1 Copper Preamp Pedal (≈ Vox AC 30) - £199 / $249
Controls - Volume, Gain, Bass, Tone (High-End Response), Treble.
A few people seem to have gotten their hands on the V1 Copper for demo purposes - probably my favourite style of clean Amp - really bight and chimey! But also with sufficient gain range onboard to take you up to proper Brian May style Top Boosted Distortion. I'm kind of a sucker for Top Boosted Vox style pedals - and this definitely gets a consideration. Probably goes in on the 'nice-to-have' wishlist at the moment as I'm so happy with the Vox voicings of Thorpy's Scarlet Tunic, and Pettyjohn Electronics' Chime II.
V1 The Sheriff Preamp Pedal (≈ Marshall Plexi) - £199 / $249
Controls - Volume, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble.
I'm of course a huge fan of MIAB types too - JTM45, Plexi and JCM800 among those - even Silver Jubilee! As things stand I've only just landed the Ramble FX Marvel 3 Drive, and my Sinvertek N5 MGAT-1 Ultimate MIAB is due for next month - so I'm not really in a rush for another of this specific genre at the moment. Thorpy's Gunshot and The Bunker indicate that this Sheriff could be pretty special too - so it goes in on the wishlist - but has a fairly remote possibility - you never know how these things may land though!
V1 The Jack Preamp Pedal (≈ Really Smooth Soldano SLO-100) - £199 / $249
Controls - Volume, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble.
In my brief catch-up chat with Adrian - he was most effusive about The Jack in particular - with its super smooth and singing lead tones. Obviously the full-size Jack is Guthrie Govan's signature amp - and so covers all of Guthrie's virtuosity and range. Considering how I own a few hundred overdrive and distortion pedals - I don't believe I have anything closely approximating the Soldano. I've intended to get the now discontinued Wampler SLOstortion for a while - but that hasn't happened yet - so The Jack may very well be my first of that category! Straight onto the wishlist as a must-have - while I have so many commitments already for the next couple of months - I may just struggle to fit this acquisition in this side of Christmas - It could very well happen sooner though!
V1 The Kraken Preamp Pedal (≈ Sort of Darker EVH 5150) - £199 / $249
Controls - Volume, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble.
Probably the Victory Amp I'm most familiar with as I've heard Rabea play this live several times now. This is supposedly based on the EVH 5150 and somewhat refined / honed to Rabea's taste. I know he likes his mids quite prominent in a sort of modern percussive style EQ mix - while his rig always sounds somewhat slightly dark and dense. I'm doing a Metal Distortion Pedal rundown in October - so even though The Jack is a higher desirability priority for me than this - this may still be the V1 Preamp I get first!
Final Thoughts
Martin, Thorpy and the signature artists have obviously spent a long time on honing these pedals - so they're certainly among the finest of their kind.
That said - I'm not really in the market for a Clean Fender type, I also have scores of superb Marshall style pedals, and several already favourite Top Boosted Vox varieties.
So we're mostly looking at the bottom row here - where I particularly desire The Jack - but may also snag a Kraken in the pursuit of my Full Metal Racket Pedal Quest!
Of course there's a slight overlap here with UAFX's new Preamps and some of the other recent Preamp pedal releases.
Would be interesting to get some insight here from whomever has tried some, several or all of these.
Are any of you considering one of these for you board?
12 Degrees of Saturation 2023 Compact Edition
