British amp designer Martin Kidd and his team at Victory are on a roll with the Compact Series of lunchbox-style heads that includes the Kraken, RK50 Richie Kotzen, V30 Countess and Sheriff 22. Now there's a new member joining that esteemed lineup in the form of the 35-watt V35 head The Copper. And it's drawing on some classic British influence.
The V35 is a single-channel amp finished in metallic copper and draws its homegrown influence from the Vox AC30 and Matchless combos that have evolved over the last 50 years in the backlines of everyone from Brian May to The Edge. But Victory has put its own signature spin on that much-loved lineage here.
The four EL84 power valves attest to its Vox inspiration; and tonehounds will be expecting chiming and midrange punch here. Victory is confident you'll find all that and more, from pop jangle to higher-gain classic rock and American boutique-style cleans.
With a single gain control, The Copper needs to deliver a wide range of drive tones and Victory describe the VC35's as 'very interactive' with its tone controls, including a bass cut switch giving you deeper editability over your tone. And the same attention to player control can be found in the mids too…
The V35's mid-boost switch can be found alongside the familiar mid rotary control to add overdrive for lead. Victory advise players can get their classic rock kicks by using it with the bass cut and generous levels of gain.
There's another nod to Vox with the master tone cut control for tweaking the high end on stages. And when you don't need the Copper's full 35-watts of headroom, the amp's low power mode offers 'less volume, more compression and a different harmonic and dynamic response'.
Like the V40 Duchess, the V35 has onboard digital reverb, and there's a matching 2 x 12 V212-VB cab available separately, as well as a V112-VB 1x12 version.
Victory's VC35 The Copper will retail for £1,079/€1,189/$1,299. Visit Victory Amps for more info.
