NAMM 2020: Victory V4 Duchess pedal amp
I know, another pedal in an amp. I think we’ll be seeing a few of these at this year’s NAMM Show. Hot on the heels of the Orange Terror Stamp announcement, Victory have announced the V4 Duchess pedal amp, its version of their celebrated Duchess amp condensed into a portable pedal-format.
Duchess V4
The new Victory Duchess V4 is an all-valve preamp, with its own 180-watt Class D power section. That is definitely a lot more power than Orange’s Terror Stamp model. It comes with a standard 3-band EQ section, onboard reverb and tremolo, a series fx loop and a balanced line out.
Victory V4 Duchess pedal amp 180-watt Class D · Source: Victory
Martin Kidd, the brains behind the V4, knows a thing or two about making great amps. This new, British made model could be a big hit, as it straddles a lot of ground for such a compact piece of kit.
“Victory has always valued portability and great tone: our Compact Series heads have been on professional stages all over the world since their introduction in 2013. In 2019 we introduced the V4 Pedal Preamps: the world’s first guitar pedal preamps with four valves. They are a fantastic solution for players who want a pro-standard valve preamp/front end to augment their existing amps, or indeed for pedalboards, fly rigs and/or rented amps.
“The new V4 Guitar Amp was the obvious way forward: let’s add a lightweight power section to that all-valve front end. We knew we could design a superb sounding amp that wasn’t compromised by a lack of power, lifeless tone or burdened with endless options that you never use. Instead it partners our heritage in great valve tone with a laughably lightweight yet seriously loud solid-state power section.
“The result is a simple, professional-grade guitar amp that you can take anywhere. The front end takes your drive pedals exactly as you want it to, there’s an effects loop, plus on-board digital reverb and tremolo for ambience.
“What about speaker emulation and IRs? We’ve deliberately left them out. Everyone we talk to seems to prefer their own personal IR solution, whether that’s hardware or software. There are a great many options available and the pace of development in that world is vertical. The great news is that V4 The Duchess Guitar Amp will run happily without a speaker load if you just want to use the direct output… or run a speaker cab and the DI however you see fit.” – Victory chief designer, Martin Kidd
Victory V4 Duchess pedal amp rear panel · Source: Victory
Plug and Go
With the Duchess V4, you can just plug straight into a cab or a speaker cab sim and off you go. Expect low to medium crunch tones from this model. You can watch the demo video below to hear it in action. I think it sounds great and the price is not unreasonable either, especially when compared to its all-valve siblings.
RRP – GBP 499 / USD 699
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