VC35 The Copper, mint condition, in store demo model, with original box and paperwork

 

Chiming EL84 cleans, expressive mid-gain sweetness and rich classic rock roar

 

It’s all about the chime. And the rock. And the rock’n’roll. And the roots and the blues and the pop... and anything else you want to coax from a quartet of EL84 output valves in the British tradition

 

The sonic blueprint was set in late-1950s England, then modified, evolved and refined through to the hand-made, boutique valve amps of the 21st century. Yet this is far more than a re-imagined AC-alike. In classic Victory Compact Series style, we’ve packed all those tones and more into a pint-sized powerhouse that can deliver anything from traditional chiming trebles, through jangling pop, punching mid-rich rock, higher-gained classic rock and plenty of American boutique-style cleans and low-gain textures to boot. It’s the EL84 amp that will keep the purists happy and attract a load of new friends along the way.

 

 

 

A word from Martin Kidd, Victory's Chief Designer...

 

 

 

“We’ve been talking about a ‘classic’ EL84 amp for ages. It’s a unique tone and feel with a specific kind of high-end response that differs from any of our other amps.

 

We batted back and forth between a more traditional Vox approach and something more ‘boutique’, but also with some Marshall-type 1974/2061 sounds.

 

We veered away from those circuits significantly, however. The VC35 uses a mix of fixed and cathode bias in full-power mode and is cathode biased in low power. There’s also a NOS EF184 pentode valve in a cathode-follower configuration to drive the tone stack in the preamp.

 

Victory has a great stock of them, they have very low microphonics and have proved to be superbly well made and reliable.

 

VC35 The Copper can deliver a wide range of clean and crunchy sounds convincingly, alongside plenty more that will keep the higher gain fans happy. What’s really surprised me is that so many of our close friends of varying playing styles are equally enthusiastic about its sounds and feel. I’m sensing a real buzz around this one!”

 

Mids for Voicing

 

We’ve included a mid boost switch to add bite and overdrive for rich, vocal lead tones.Try it with the bass cut and plenty of gain for classic rock soloing bliss.

 

Reverb

 

VC35 has a no-hassle, super-reliable digital reverb (like our V40) to keep you ambient. Somewhere between room and plate... and there’s plenty available!

 

 

Master Tone Cut

 

This global tone control works as it does in the classic Vox amps... except the trebly stuff is found clockwise. It’s great for that final high-end response tone tweak to your playing environment.

 

 

High & Low Power

 

35 watts/full power is great for punch and headroom; 12 watts low power gives less volume, more compression and a different harmonic and dynamic response.

 

 

Series Effect Loop

 

 

 

If you’re running the VC35 gainy, your time-based effects – reverb and delay – will stay cleaner sounding here. For classic clean tones, run effects into the front.

 

 

External Bias Test & Adjustment

 

 

 

When it’s time to change your EL84 output valves, you can test and adjust the bias for the replacements quickly and safely.