Victory V4 ‘The Duchess’ Head
Victory’s low-gain, high-powered compact head takes some beating. Time to downsize?
Victory Amplification’s onward march toward domination of the world boutique amp market had another boost at this year’s NAMM Show, with the arrival of a rather tasty valve-driven head that’s small enough to live on most pedalboards. Launched from the same design springboard as Victory’s V4 pedal preamps, ‘The Duchess’ amp is just a little larger but contains a Class D power stage that can deliver a whopping 180 watts into a four-ohm load. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a smooth digital reverb and a tremolo effect.
Another reason for the V4 Duchess’s slightly increased dimensions is that the mains power supply is built in, so there are no wall warts to pack in your gigbag, just a regular kettle lead. As you’d expect from Victory, the build quality is first class, with a tough powder-coated steel chassis and mini chickenhead knobs protected by a raised steel kick bar. Cooling is assisted by a 60mm fan on the left-hand side of the
is activated by an onboard switch or a remote single-button latching footswitch. A smart violet LED positioned above the footswitch informs you the tremolo is on. On the rear panel, there’s a single input jack, a remote footswitch jack, a pair of send/ return sockets for The Duchess’s series effects loop, a balanced line out, and a single loudspeaker outlet. Another useful extra is a standard nine-volt 500mA outlet, which can power other effects.
Overall, the V4 Duchess is typical Victory – built for the rough and tumble of professional touring, either in pedalboards or on top of speaker cabinets. While tipping a pint of beer over it would not be recommended, it should stand up to any amount of rough treatment.
Sounds
It might look pint-sized, but this is really all about massive valve-sweetened clean sounds. There’s some natural overdrive from the all-valve preamp, which sounds fabulous for contemporary Robben Fordinspired clean soloing tones, but things really start to happen when paired with your favourite overdrive pedal. We tried combining The Duchess with a couple of Tube Screamer and Centaur replicas, as well as a Zoom MultiStomp, which packs a selection of digital overdrive and distortion pedal models. All of these can be run off
The Duchess’s built-in DC outlet with current to spare, though some multi-effects can be hungrier and may still need their own power source.
We teamed the Victory with a 2x12 open-backed cabinet fitted with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers, making a total eight-ohm load into which the V4 Duchess delivers a solid 90 watts. Even at roughly half of its 180 watts maximum output, The Duchess offers exceptional clarity and headroom and is almost brutally loud, easily capable of overpowering most drummers in an unmic’d gig environment. The all-valve preamp works to sweeten the tone and enhance any drive pedal’s best features, while acting as a truly stupendous clean channel.
The Duchess’s onboard effects are superb, too. The digital reverb sits on the border between warm and bright, while the tremolo adds plenty of vintage atmosphere, giving The Duchess a seductive contemporary Twin Reverb-inspired vibe. There’s more than enough range on the Speed and Depth controls to cover any need, from punky staccato warbling to deep pulses that conjure up evocative 50s vibes. The balanced line out is clean and powerful, too, although there’s no speaker emulation. Victory argues, quite logically, that there are now so many standalone emulators, it makes sense to leave users to find their own ideal solution if they need one.
Verdict
Compact is as cool as ever, and Victory does compact better than most other manufacturers. There may be some solidstate heads that offer more functionality perhaps, but the V4 Duchess’s big temptation is its unique preamp design, powered by four of the best valves ever made in the UK. If you team The Duchess with Victory’s V112-Neo cabinet, which houses a single four-ohm Celestion
Copperback capable of handling 250 watts, you’ve got a supremely portable rig capable of producing earth-shattering volume, while the head on its own will fit into any overhead luggage carry bag.
Aimed at professional players and serious amateurs looking for a lightweight solution that doesn’t compromise on tone or quality, it’s hard to believe that The Duchess packs as much power as two Twin Reverbs into a box the size and weight of a large paperback. Quality at this level doesn’t come cheap and we think that, overall, the V4 Duchess is excellent value for money. It’s an inspired design combined with artistic flair and a deep appreciation of what makes for great guitar tone, or as Victory’s founder and designer Martin Kidd says, “it’s quite the little box”.
The Duchess offers exceptional clarity and is almost brutally loud, easily capable of overpowering most drummers