Victory V40 and other small clean heads

Moltisanti

So now the Victory stuff has been around for a while, what is the general consensus on the V40 head ?

I like the idea of a small clean (mostly) head, with decent power and a Fender voicing.

Is the V40 any good in reality ?

What else is out there along similar lines ?

Dopesick

I've been tempted by this just for it's portability and power (okay, and looks as well). This head is specifically for people who want to use it as a pedal platform.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/gurus_5015_guitar_head_white.htm

olafgarten

I don't get Pedal Platform amps, surely any amp that can do a Loud Clean sound is a good pedal platform.

RandallFlagg

I just sold my V40 but only because I have switched up and gone to a Helix. I really like the V40, especially through the matching creamback loaded cab. It is tonally voiced a little dark, but sound just right at stage volume, will sound a bit dark at quieter home playing volumes. If I still gigged I would still have it but to get the tone I wanted it was too loud for home. 

The V40 sounds very good with a Klone slamming the front end or boosting a clean tone, has a lovely thick warm mid range sound.

Dopesick

olafgarten said:

I don't get Pedal Platform amps, surely any amp that can do a Loud Clean sound is a good pedal platform.

Depends on the voicing of the amp in question. I use my Matamp on clean but it has so much grunt that any distortion/fuzz running into it can kill a cat at fifty paces (or something like that). Same with the vintage Hiwatt amps. Pure unadulterated beasts.

AndyJP

The V40 is superb as a loud clean amp.  It's super portable too.

I use it as a pedal platform with a Zilla Fat Baby (g12-65 speaker).  Have used it for home, rehearsals and gigs.

Pretty settled on a simple pedaltrain nano+ rig consting of:

Mini Poly Tune
Wampler Dual Fusion
Wampler Tumnus
Wampler Ego Mini Compressor
Deep Blue Delay

With these pedals I've covered country, blues, rock and jazzy stuff.

Personally I love it, it'll be with me for some time.

ThePrettyDamned

olafgarten said:

I don't get Pedal Platform amps, surely any amp that can do a Loud Clean sound is a good pedal platform.

Technically a blackface twin does a loud clean sound but, for me, a Marshall JCM 800 is a better clean pedal platform as some distortion and fuzz pedals sound like broken glass through such trebly amps. 

I wonder if the popularity of blackface amps is the reason overdrive and distortion pedals seem to be voiced smoother and less "big" than they used to be. 

So you can choose pedals based on the amp or vice versa but, for me, q clean platform amp is not just loud and clean but has a powerful eq section that can add or remove high treble content and tighten or loosen the bass. 

gordiji

Dopesick said:

I've been tempted by this just for it's portability and power (okay, and looks as well). This head is specifically for people who want to use it as a pedal platform.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/gurus_5015_guitar_head_white.htm

Anything with 'sexytone' & 'holiday' / 'waiting' written on the front strikes me as gimmicky and would make me run a mile.