I’m officially offended (by Victory amps) 😡

[MarcB]

the new Victory “boutique” amps cost circa £6,500! which is utterly ridiculous.. !!
in the video they even market the amp (keep in mind Lee Anderton is part owner of the Victory company) to men with “man caves” and to match the colour of the leather with their Porsche.. ffs.

Why is the guitar fraternity hell bent on making the guitar scene a high end “dentist” luxury item market.. ffs.. guitars and amps have always been (and will always be) a working class thing.. by pushing the products into the luxury market is basically saying to working class kids .. “you can’t afford the nice stuff” which makes me utterly offended..
and ..
the amp sounds shit.. which is great .. coz “top knot” has ordered one.. pfft.

Bon-bloody-jour.

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

No thank you. I bought my Hiwatt Custom 100 and my Matamp GT150 both combibed for less than that price. There is no chance in hell that amp is built better than either of them, or sounds better than either of them.

Do my amps match the curtains or recliner? Hell no, and Idgaf. That blue one in the video looks like it was meant to match the bathroom walls at a seaside hotel.

 

[MarcB]

No thank you. I bought my Hiwatt Custom 100 and my Matamp GT150 both combibed for less than that price. There is no chance in hell that amp is built better than either of them, or sounds better than either of them.

Do my amps match the curtains or recliner? Hell no, and Idgaf. That blue one in the video looks like it was meant to match the bathroom walls at a seaside hotel.

For that money.. you’re talking any vintage amp tbh! you have to be mental, stupid and gullible to buy one of those pieces of crap..

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

For that money.. you’re talking any vintage amp tbh! you have to be mental, stupid and gullible to buy one of those pieces of crap..

I'm not saying they don't make high quality gear, and I am not saying I won't pay for high quality gear.

But my two Custom 100's are from Hiwatt Custom Shop and Reeves, my Matamp was made to order for me, but damn that Victory costs as much as two of those amps which are built as well or better than most any amp on the planet in terms of meticulous wiring and quality of components. The most I have paid was for the Custom Shop Hiwatt and a little more for a Magnatone Panoramic Stereo head which has a stereo signal path from its input to its two cathode biased power amps, a huge sounding spring reverb, and the best stereo harmonic tremolo you will ever hear built in, and it still cost half of that price.

Then there is that ostentatiously huge logo. It's like they have to tell you you won by paying that much for an amp.

 

[MarcB]

I'm not saying they don't make high quality gear, and I am not saying I won't pay for high quality gear.

But my two Custom 100's are from Hiwatt Custom Shop and Reeves, my Matamp was made to order for me, but damn that Victory costs as much as two of those amps which are built as well or better than most any amp on the planet in terms of meticulous wiring and quality of components. The most I have paid was for the Custom Shop Hiwatt and a little more for a Magnatone Panoramic Stereo head which has a stereo signal path from its input to its two cathode biased power amps, a huge sounding spring reverb, and the best stereo harmonic tremolo you will ever hear built in, and it still cost half of that price.

Then there is that ostentatiously huge logo. It's like they have to tell you you won by paying that much for an amp.

Your amps sound delicious! And yes the huge logo was the first thing that made a small piece of vomit rise up into my snarling mouth.

Bonjour.

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

Your amps sound delicious! And yes the huge logo was the first thing that made a small piece of vomit rise up into my snarling mouth.

Bonjour.

Unfortunately the Magnatone was stolen, but man it was such a gorgeous sounding amp. I am half tempted to sell the Matamp to fund buying a replacement for it. My Hiwatt and Reeves Custom 100's are my two ultimate keepers though. It doesn't matter if played clean, classic rock crunch, or balls to the wall distortion or fuzz they sound better than any amp I ever played through for most of the stuff I play. The Magnatone would cover all the lower wattage roots type tones I could ever need that the two Custom 100's don't cover.

 

[MarcB]

Unfortunately the Magnatone was stolen, but man it was such a gorgeous sounding amp. I am half tempted to sell the Matamp to fund buying a replacement for it. My Hiwatt and Reeves Custom 100's are my two ultimate keepers though. It doesn't matter if played clean, classic rock crunch, or balls to the wall distortion or fuzz they sound better than any amp I ever played through for most of the stuff I play. The Magnatone would cover all the lower wattage roots type tones I could ever need that the two Custom 100's don't cover.

If I was in the market for an amp I’d definitely consider a magnatone.. that said I’m not that fussy.. if it’s got tubes and a reverb tank.. I’ll take it!

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

If I was in the market for an amp I’d definitely consider a magnatone.. that said I’m not that fussy.. if it’s got tubes and a reverb tank.. I’ll take it!

I can deal without reverb tbt, but that stereo harmonic trem on the Magnatone is gorgeous, and being able to run the stereo signal from my tape echo through the amp's two stereo inputs and outputs on one light weight head is awesome. Add to that the fact the amps core tone is amazing, the reverb is every bit as good and deep as any stand alone reverb unit and that is also split to both stereo sides somehow, and that makes it one of very few amps I would spend that much coin on.

 

[MarcB]

I can deal without reverb tbt, but that stereo harmonic trem on the Magnatone is gorgeous, and being able to run the stereo signal from my tape echo through the amp's two stereo inputs and outputs on one light weight head is awesome. Add to that the fact the amps core tone is amazing, the reverb is every bit as good and deep as any stand alone reverb unit and that is also split to both stereo sides somehow, and that makes it one of very few amps I would spend that much coin on.

Those magnatone panoramic’s are a bit steep too tbh.. £3.5k is a bit rich for a 2x12 combo.. but at least they look good..

 

[charliechitlins]

Well...lots of people are already into the fact that they have "boutique" guitar gear.
Once you go boutique, there is a direct line to the OP.
Nobody complains when a wristwatch thread starts and a bunch of 'guitar players' show off their Rolexes.

 

[MarcB]

Well...lots of people are already into the fact that they have "boutique" guitar gear.
Once you go boutique, there is a direct line to the OP.
Nobody complains when a wristwatch thread starts and a bunch of 'guitar players' show off their Rolexes.

I’m into watches and was on the waiting list to get a Rolex.. but then had a realisation that my daily Hamilton khaki never skips a beat and tells me the time.. so I promptly cancelled the Rolex.. (and spent the money on guitars)

perspective is a wonderful thing..

Stick to your roots..

I’m a working man.. not a yacht owner.

 

[MarcB]

Can I just point out the best comment on the video

“Victory is the Kirkland of guitar amps”

 

[charliechitlins]

I’m into watches and was on the waiting list to get a Rolex.. but then had a realisation that my daily Hamilton khaki never skips a beat and tells me the time.. so I promptly cancelled the Rolex.. (and spent the money on guitars)

perspective is a wonderful thing..

Stick to your roots..

I’m a working man.. not a yacht owner.

Good save.

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

Those magnatone panoramic’s are a bit steep too tbh.. £3.5k is a bit rich for a 2x12 combo.. but at least they look good..

I'd agree if they didn't give you two amps from front to back within one chassis with amazing stereo effects. Don't think of it as one $3500 amp. Think of it a two $1750 amps in one chassis.

Also, I think the Panoramic combo is a 2x10. I had the head which I liked for being able to spread the cabs far apart.

 

[ourmaninthenorth]

6 1/2 bags gets me a second hand Bartel Roseland and a Sugarland.

Opportunity cost is your friend and antedote to this nonsensical bubble blowing.

Victory amps...boutique?? heaven for-fooking-fend.

 

[MarcB]

I'd agree if they didn't give you two amps from front to back within one chassis with amazing stereo effects. Don't think of it as one $3500 amp. Think of it a two $1750 amps in one chassis.

Also, I think the Panoramic combo is a 2x10. I had the head which I liked for being able to spread the cabs far apart.

With the head .. was you able to split the signals left and right.. to create the “wet and dry” thing?

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

With the head .. was you able to split the signals left and right.. to create the “wet and dry” thing?

The signal is split left and right at all times. You can plug a single cable into one input, but from there it is split stereo no matter what. Or you can use something, whether you have one of those rare guitars with stereo output jacks, an ABY, a stereo pedal, or a mixer to split your signal and send it to each completely independent stereo input. In that case you definitely can do a wet/dry combo into the amp's stereo inputs.

But from that point once the signal is sent to the amp it will pass both sides through the reverb and tremolo whenever they are engaged. The reverb and trem are both controlled either on the amp itself or via the included footswitch. You cannot assign the reverb or trem to only one channel, it's either on or off for both stereo sides. So while yes any effects infront of the amp can be assigned to soley one side, the reverb and trem are global.

The stereo line outs are also post reverb and trem, so after the amp if you say wanted to use it as a $3500 preamp and FX processor you could absolutely run say chorus, phase, flange, delay, dirt, or octave effects to only one side with a load box hooked up to each speaker out to nix the output. I mean hell Gilmour used a Mesa/Boogie that way as a preamp, so why not?

Damn, now you really have me thinking about offing my Matamp to buy another Panoramic. While it makes a great guitar and bass amp combo, both my Custom 100's and Ampeg VT22 work amazingly well for bass also.

 

[MarcB]

The signal is split left and right at all times. You can plug a single cable into one input, but from there it is split stereo no matter what. Or you can use something, whether you have one of those rare guitars with stereo output jacks, an ABY, a stereo pedal, or a mixer to split your signal and send it to each completely independent stereo input. In that case you definitely can do a wet/dry combo into the amp's stereo inputs.

But from that point once the signal is sent to the amp it will pass both sides through the reverb and tremolo whenever they are engaged. The reverb and trem are both controlled either on the amp itself or via the included footswitch. You cannot assign the reverb or trem to only one channel, it's either on or off for both stereo sides. So while yes any effects infront of the amp can be assigned to soley one side, the reverb and trem are global.

The stereo line outs are also post reverb and trem, so after the amp if you say wanted to use it as a 3500 preamp and FX processor you could absolutely run say chorus, phase, flange, delay, dirt, or octave effects to only one side with a load box hooked up to each speaker out to nix the output. I mean hell Gilmour used a Mesa/Boogie that way as a preamp, so why not?

Damn, now you really have me thinking about offing my Matamp to buy another Panoramic. While it makes a great guitar and bass amp combo, both my Custom 100's and Ampeg VT22 work amazingly well for bass also.

Thanks for the great explanation.. which puts this magnatone on my radar.. !
IMO .. it’s all about the preamp’ing and clean boost into the volume pedal.. you get so much more out of the pickups/amp.. and allows the guitar volume to be utilised as a boost.. (like all the cool cats). I was using a Presonus “blue tube” as a splitter and preamp.. which works really well.. (into a vox escort and blues jr) for the wet n dry.. but since getting the ac30 have ditched that for just the clean boost into volume pedal.. and then three stages of extra boost if needed.. via the boss eq > odr1 clean but with raised spectrum > odr1 (2) with gain.. which gives me a good range of “goto” tones..
that said .. I’m missing the dry signal.. from days of yore.. so I may add the “blue tube” back in and hook up the blues jr or escort again..

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

Thanks for the great explanation.. which puts this magnatone on my radar.. !
IMO .. it’s all about the preamp’ing and clean boost into the volume pedal.. you get so much more out of the pickups/amp.. and allows the guitar volume to be utilised as a boost.. (like all the cool cats). I was using a Presonus “blue tube” as a splitter and preamp.. which works really well.. (into a vox escort and blues jr) for the wet n dry.. but since getting the ac30 have ditched that for just the clean boost into volume pedal.. and then three stages of extra boost if needed.. via the boss eq > odr1 clean but with raised spectrum > odr1 (2) with gain.. which gives me a good range of “goto” tones..
that said .. I’m missing the dry signal.. from days did yore.. so I may add the “blue tube” back in and hook up the blues jr or escort again..

I definitely ride my guitars volume knob, but that is always pre-dirt or boost. I know that based on impedance and the caps between your guitar volume and tone that volume knob riding can also greatly alter your tone. Does using the volume pedal instead change that leaving your tone intact, only cleaner and quieter?

 

[MarcB]

I definitely ride my guitars volume knob, but that is always pre-dirt or boost. I know that based on impedance and the caps between your guitar volume and tone that volume knob riding can also greatly alter your tone. Does using the volume pedal instead change that leaving your tone intact, only cleaner and quieter?

I use the volume pedal for swells predominantly.. (and as a foot rest lol) but with the clean boost added directly to the volume pedal (1st in chain), it acts as another pre-stage boost (for the pot internally on the vol pedal) and the guitar pots/pickups..
.. for reference - my newly acquired TH 57 pots had a very, very narrow volume window..from 10-9 then from 8 below nothing.. but with the boost>volume pedal trick .. I’m getting much more from the pots on the 57.. as the boost is pushing the output that much more.. the boost is not maxed out, I have set around 1/3rd boost.. so it allows the other gain stages on my pedal board to act incrementally with out overloading the signal.. as with all ac30s it can get flubby when overloaded.. (eq boost sorted this out by decreasing the lower frequencies) .. overall i now play with a softer attack but with good articulation from the guitar and amp. I now have the guitar volume set around 8 and tone around 6-7 and then adjust if needed.. but more often will leave it and get a boost/eq/tone change from one of the three gain stages on the pedal board..

*Edit this is literally my solution to any issues with pickups.. no need to change.. just gain stage and eq.

Bonjour.