Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I've tried a few Victoria amps and they haven't bowled me over. They are made the way Fenders wish they were but they always seem a bit colder and don't seem to have the same reverb sound.

I have an acquaintance who felt the same way as me and I think even owned a couple of Victoria amps, but flipped when he heard one of the newer ones. He bought it and played through it for a while and loved it, but he's back to his THD Flexi and various Dr. Z amps now.

sharkboy wrote:I've tried a few Victoria amps and they haven't bowled me over. They are made the way Fenders wish they were but they always seem a bit colder and don't seem to have the same reverb sound.

I have an acquaintance who felt the same way as me and I think even owned a couple of Victoria amps, but flipped when he heard one of the newer ones. He bought it and played through it for a while and loved it, but he's back to his THD Flexi and various Dr. Z amps now.

Good points Mark..I also owned one of their deluxes, bassmans and a 3x10 bandmaster..also a reverberato. All very well made but stiff...maybe it takes time for the cab's and speakers to break in. I need something smaller than a showman for smaller gigs...I punched the button so a review will be forthcoming ...

Congrats! With EL34's it really shouldn't be terribly stiff, and there might be a few mods to fix that if it is. Their stuff just looks great inside and out.

I heard you folks in SR got some snow this week.

Hope you kids are doing fantastically well down there. Miss ya.

sharkboy wrote:Congrats! With EL34's it really shouldn't be terribly stiff, and there might be a few mods to fix that if it is. Their stuff just looks great inside and out.

I heard you folks in SR got some snow this week.

Hope you kids are doing fantastically well down there. Miss ya.

Ends up mine is tubed with 4L6's but believe I can swith them out to EL 34's...I'm trying to cover a couple of basses ..need the headroom for surf that the 6L6's provide but also want to get some grit for some rockabilly/blues so need some breakup at moderates volumes..we'll see. Snow on the hilltops around here..

So, make sure that yours is set up for EL34s. In occasional cases, the internal differences in connections between the two tube types is enough to cause EL34s to come to an early demise in an amp designed only for 6L6s.

sharkboy wrote:So, make sure that yours is set up for EL34s. In occasional cases, the internal differences in connections between the two tube types is enough to cause EL34s to come to an early demise in an amp designed only for 6L6s.

I given thought to using a set of those Yellowjacket Tube Adaptors to convert my Victoriette from 6L6s to EL84s. Does anyone any any experience with them?

I use Yellow Jackets occasionally in my THD Flexi. #1: they have to mechanically fit in the enclosure you put them in- in some boxes they make the yj+EL84 too tall; #2: your tubing options will change your sound- the JJ's that they come with sound a bit like a JJ EL34, but with considerably less headroom- other brands may lean toward a harder distortion; #3: they add a little bit of noise (adding noise, plus reducing signal, so noticeable s/n change for studio- generally no problem for stage- especially with something like a Victoria that is pretty hum-free.)

I'm sure you know this, but the other obvious factor is that you need to get the YJs for the bias methodology of your amp.

Also, if you really want it to quiet down they have new ones that are triode connected- I don't have any of those, but will almost certainly change your tone.

I've never played through a Victoria amp...don't they make replicas of Tweed Fender amps?

JakeK wrote:I've never played through a Victoria amp...don't they make replicas of Tweed Fender amps?

Yep, most of what they make apes the circuit of the Fender tweeds...Champ, Deluxe Bassman etc...The Victorilux was the first one of the first ones Mark built that has onboard reverb and tremolo. He has branched out more and is making a clone of the Gibson GA 5 as well as some others..

The Regal 2 is pretty nice, especially for blues. Due to the fact that it is basically two single ended, cathode biased amps sharing one speaker, they're very versatile for gigging, since you can swap from 6V6 to KT88 power levels on each side. Since they have less than 400v B+ though, they can be a little dark for me and others.

Greg

Victorilux arrived today...worst packing job ever..lots of peanuts had to be removed from the speaker baskets. Good news is it's a fine amp. Tubed wit 6L6's. The controls are very interactive...tweed to brown to blackface tones are easy to capture by spinning the tone controls. The onboard reverb and tremolo are excellent. For a single knob reverb, the effect can still get very wet. 2 12" speaker set up moves a lot of air and sounds very full. As I understand it, this model can be had with 3 10"s and also a single 15" which likely would be real good for the SRV thing. All and all I can see this one being a good "grab it and go" and small gig amp

kenposurf wrote:Victorilux arrived today...

If you're as please with the Victorilux as I am with it's little brother, the Victoriette, you'll be one happy camper. Congratulations.

Thanks Richard...what kind power tubes do you have in your amp?

kenposurf wrote:Thanks Richard...what kind power tubes do you have in your amp?

George, yours is a 2x12 with 6L6s.
Mine is a 2x10 with 6L6s.

So, the El's would break up sooner than the 6L6's?