Victory V40 Deluxe - Experience and thoughts please..

jimkehoe

Does anyone own a V40 Deluxe or failing that the original V40.
I am interested to know how it fares with a Tele to do clean, just breaking/americana type overdrive and 70s style break up re Kossof etc.
Particularly at home volumes - Any good?

roberty

No personal experience but a lot of people on this board seem to have been disappointed by the origin V40

jimkehoe

roberty said:

No personal experience but a lot of people on this board seem to have been disappointed by the origin V40

I've certainly seen that re the original V40 but think the deluxe is more Fendery i.e more sparkle and presence the the original.

roberty

Cool well that makes an interesting proposition. On paper the V40 does it for me

tone1

I’m sure @RandallFlagg had the combo version 

RandallFlagg

I did. I've had both the V40 and the V40 Deluxe combo. I preferred the V40 core tone, its warmer and fatter, the Deluxe has a brighter thinner sounding character which made the overdriven tones a bit less appealing to me as the mid-range is a bit lacking compared to the V40. The trem and reverb on the Deluxe are superb though.

Both amps sound better turned up but as they are 40 watts this can be challenging unless you're gigging.

jimkehoe

RandallFlagg said:

I did. I've had both the V40 and the V40 Deluxe combo. I preferred the V40 core tone, its warmer and fatter, the Deluxe has a brighter thinner sounding character which made the overdriven tones a bit less appealing to me as the mid-range is a bit lacking compared to the V40. The trem and reverb on the Deluxe are superb though.

Both amps sound better turned up but as they are 40 watts this can be challenging unless you're gigging.

That's good to know as I will predominantly be playing at home, not surprisingly at "home" volumes. I thought the 7 watt setting would be better. Maybe I just stick with a Princeton.

RandallFlagg

I now play a low watt Mesa Boogie and they can sound good on the lower watt settings on the clean channel at home volumes but I had a Morgan PR12 which is basically a Princeton at that was ideal for home volumes. I think the apeinceton is probably my favourite amp. I need to get another

Kebabkid

Have you considered one of these?

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/116794/divided-by-13-jrt-9-15-head-choice-of-2-heads-purple-or-cream#latest

The 9 watt setting with 6V6s is great for home but it can be wound up and hold it's own at gig levels. Same with the 15 watts of EL84s. Great pedal platform, too.

stratman3142

I can't answer your question directly but below are my experiences.

I had an original V40 before I got my Tele, so I can only comment on experiences for gigs and home use with a Strat. I have no experience of a V40 Deluxe.

I got a V40 to replace a Hotrod Deluxe III which I was finding a bit too weighty and thought a separate amp and cab was the way to go.

At Andertons I tried EL84 and 6L6 loaded V40's and took along my own Marshall 1912 (closed back) cab loaded with a V30 celestion speaker. I much preferred the sound through my cab compared to the recommended cab which sounded small and compressed by comparison. I slightly preferred the EL84 loaded V40 so that's the one I got. Eventually I moved to a V-type celestion speaker in my cab which seemed a better match and less "in yer face". At gigs I used the V40 with the master set high and got the OD and distortion from pedals. It worked well when cranked up loud. I didn't find the sound particularly inspiring at home volumes.

I stated to miss the convenience of a combo and got a Blues Cube Artist 1x12 as it was light and sounded good. That sounded good at gigs and more inspiring at home volumes. The crunch sounds were surprisingly good, but I mainly used it clean with pedals. I compared them side by side and, of the two, I preferred the Blues Cube Artist, so I sold the V40.

Turning (almost) full circle I recently purchased a Hotrod Deluxe IV and I've used if for a few gigs. It's lighter than the HRD III and I much prefer the clean sound to all the previous amps I've mentioned. I'm still not a fan of the OD channel but the HRD IV clean channel sounds great with pedals. I've still got the Blues Cube and use it as my second amp at gigs. I've listened to them side by side and the HRD IV just sounds fuller and warmer. And it sounds great with my Tele.

It depends what you want. For cleans and a great pedal platform, I'd choose a Hotrod Deluxe IV. The volume taper is a bit better so it's more manageable at home, but it's still 'effing' loud.

jimkehoe

Kebabkid said:

Have you considered one of these?

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/116794/divided-by-13-jrt-9-15-head-choice-of-2-heads-purple-or-cream#latest

The 9 watt setting with 6V6s is great for home but it can be wound up and hold it's own at gig levels. Same with the 15 watts of EL84s. Great pedal platform, too.

Great amp but no reverb or trem and not sure it would behave at home volumes. But thanks for the input.

jimkehoe

stratman3142 said:

I can't answer your question directly but below are my experiences.

I had an original V40 before I got my Tele, so I can only comment on experiences for gigs and home use with a Strat. I have no experience of a V40 Deluxe.

I got a V40 to replace a Hotrod Deluxe III which I was finding a bit too weighty and thought a separate amp and cab was the way to go.

At Andertons I tried EL84 and 6L6 loaded V40's and took along my own Marshall 1912 (closed back) cab loaded with a V30 celestion speaker. I much preferred the sound through my cab compared to the recommended cab which sounded small and compressed by comparison. I slightly preferred the EL84 loaded V40 so that's the one I got. Eventually I moved to a V-type celestion speaker in my cab which seemed a better match and less "in yer face". At gigs I used the V40 with the master set high and got the OD and distortion from pedals. It worked well when cranked up loud. I didn't find the sound particularly inspiring at home volumes.

I stated to miss the convenience of a combo and got a Blues Cube Artist 1x12 as it was light and sounded good. That sounded good at gigs and more inspiring at home volumes. The crunch sounds were surprisingly good, but I mainly used it clean with pedals. I compared them side by side and, of the two, I preferred the Blues Cube Artist, so I sold the V40.

Turning (almost) full circle I recently purchased a Hotrod Deluxe IV and I've used if for a few gigs. It's lighter than the HRD III and I much prefer the clean sound to all the previous amps I've mentioned. I'm still not a fan of the OD channel but the HRD IV clean channel sounds great with pedals. I've still got the Blues Cube and use it as my second amp at gigs. I've listened to them side by side and the HRD IV just sounds fuller and warmer. And it sounds great with my Tele.

It depends what you want. For cleans and a great pedal platform, I'd choose a Hotrod Deluxe IV. The volume taper is a bit better so it's more manageable at home, but it's still 'effing' loud.

Thanks - Very useful. The map any would replace would be a 65 reissue Princeton which is great but just thought the V40 deluxe would give a bit more variance. Also when I tried the trem and reverb they both sounded great.

Kebabkid

jimkehoe said:

Kebabkid said:

Have you considered one of these?

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/116794/divided-by-13-jrt-9-15-head-choice-of-2-heads-purple-or-cream#latest

The 9 watt setting with 6V6s is great for home but it can be wound up and hold it's own at gig levels. Same with the 15 watts of EL84s. Great pedal platform, too.

Great amp but no reverb or trem and not sure it would behave at home volumes. But thanks for the input.

No worries and yep - it's a bare-bones amp (no fx loop either) but a glorious sound. Home volume is fine on either setting but V40 or Princeton might be better. Have you looked a Carr Sportsman? IMHO, they're a stronger Princeton amp.

Good luck with your search

Crazed_Fandango

stratman3142 said:

I can't answer your question directly but below are my experiences.

I had an original V40 before I got my Tele, so I can only comment on experiences for gigs and home use with a Strat. I have no experience of a V40 Deluxe.

I got a V40 to replace a Hotrod Deluxe III which I was finding a bit too weighty and thought a separate amp and cab was the way to go.

At Andertons I tried EL84 and 6L6 loaded V40's and took along my own Marshall 1912 (closed back) cab loaded with a V30 celestion speaker. I much preferred the sound through my cab compared to the recommended cab which sounded small and compressed by comparison. I slightly preferred the EL84 loaded V40 so that's the one I got. Eventually I moved to a V-type celestion speaker in my cab which seemed a better match and less "in yer face". At gigs I used the V40 with the master set high and got the OD and distortion from pedals. It worked well when cranked up loud. I didn't find the sound particularly inspiring at home volumes.

I stated to miss the convenience of a combo and got a Blues Cube Artist 1x12 as it was light and sounded good. That sounded good at gigs and more inspiring at home volumes. The crunch sounds were surprisingly good, but I mainly used it clean with pedals. I compared them side by side and, of the two, I preferred the Blues Cube Artist, so I sold the V40.

Turning (almost) full circle I recently purchased a Hotrod Deluxe IV and I've used if for a few gigs. It's lighter than the HRD III and I much prefer the clean sound to all the previous amps I've mentioned. I'm still not a fan of the OD channel but the HRD IV clean channel sounds great with pedals. I've still got the Blues Cube and use it as my second amp at gigs. I've listened to them side by side and the HRD IV just sounds fuller and warmer. And it sounds great with my Tele.

It depends what you want. For cleans and a great pedal platform, I'd choose a Hotrod Deluxe IV. The volume taper is a bit better so it's more manageable at home, but it's still 'effing' loud.

This concerns me as I want an amp to replace my HRDiii, not because of its sound, but because it's become unreliable.  The difficulty is, finding something which sounds at least as good.  That seems to be impossible, even when spending double the cost of the HRD.

stratman3142

Crazed_Fandango said:

stratman3142 said:

...Turning (almost) full circle I recently purchased a Hotrod Deluxe IV and I've used if for a few gigs. It's lighter than the HRD III and I much prefer the clean sound to all the previous amps I've mentioned. I'm still not a fan of the OD channel but the HRD IV clean channel sounds great with pedals. I've still got the Blues Cube and use it as my second amp at gigs. I've listened to them side by side and the HRD IV just sounds fuller and warmer. And it sounds great with my Tele.

It depends what you want. For cleans and a great pedal platform, I'd choose a Hotrod Deluxe IV. The volume taper is a bit better so it's more manageable at home, but it's still 'effing' loud.

This concerns me as I want an amp to replace my HRDiii, not because of its sound, but because it's become unreliable.  The difficulty is, finding something which sounds at least as good.  That seems to be impossible, even when spending double the cost of the HRD.

Try a HRD IV. Although I can't comment on reliability because I haven't had it for long.