Victoria Amplifier Co. 35115 115 Combo

New 6 mo ago.Very versitile.I use it mostly for low volume jazz gigs. It also distorts wonderfully and has plenty of volume for the raunchy bar gig. Tw o channels each with volume and shared bass treble and presence.

I use a variety of humbuckers and single coils and can get a good sound with them all.Mostly jazz standards with occassional blues/rock. No noise. Wide variety of clean to tube overdrive sounds. Rich clean sound.

This amp is played daily and gigged several times a week.No problems. I usually don't bring a backup. I 've replaced one preamp tube.

There was shipping damage .I talked to Mark and Pete several times in hopes of fixing it myself. When I sent it back ,Victoria paid the shipping and sent it back in two days. I also talked to Mark and Pete several times before buying both my Victorias. They are patient and available.

I've played off and on for 35 years. Full time for the last 5[300 dates a year] My working amps are a Victoria80212, Victoria Pro, Acoustic image Coda R and a Fender Pro Jr. I plan on replacing the fender with a Victoria Deluxe.I would replace both my Victorias if lost or stolen.This amp is great for low to medium volume clean gigs and loves to be cranked and get raunchy.To my ear Victoria makes the best sounding basic guitar amp I've heard.The build quality is high and customer support is great.

I ordered this amp in 1998, the features are well described in the review's below. My 35115 ('59 Pro copy) has all NOS tubes, Tungsol 5U4, Tungsol 5881s,RCA 12ax7s and a GE 5751. When I ordered this amp I sent a real 50's Jensen P15N speaker (reconed) to Victoria to put into this amp. There was nothing new available at that time, which sounded right.

I play Blues and use Strat's and Tele's. The only effect's I use are a Fender reverb tank and a tremolo pedal. For the sound description, please go to the Victoria website, I couldn't do a better job. I know how a real '59 Fender Pro should sound. I owned several and have one, just for reference and it's nice to own a piece of Fender amp history. This Victoria with the NOS tubes and the old speaker sounds as great as any great vintage Pro I played. I'm still as happy, maybe even happier after the 8 years I owned this amp. It is truly my favorite amp and I also own a Tweed Bassman. I use the Bassman for bigger places, but try to mic the Pro if possible. It is hard to give a 10 since there is no Perfect amp out there. But in fairness to Victoria, their goal is to make amps to sound like the old Fender Tweed amps and my 35115 does exactly that. So mission accomplished by Victoria and therefore it should get a 10.

No problem in 8 years!

Mark was always very helpful and I own two of his amps.

This is my number one amp, I think that says it all.

This amp was ordered directly from Victoria Amp Co. in December 2005. Features are listed in previous reviews. Top notch components, immaculate workmanship. Tubes: 5U4, 2x Tung-Sol 5881 reissues, 2x12AX7, 1x12AY7. Mark Baier suggested to upgrade the stock Eminence Legend 15'' speaker to a Weber AlNiCo, because he knows what I like.

This amp has huge sound and it has enough headroom for club gigs. I mainly use a Les Paul with p90s. It has an airy feel, lows are big and upper mids are focused. It's rated for 35 watts, but these are loud watts. I play mainly 50-60s blues and r&b, and I think this amp is especially apt for that style as well as roots music in general. I have owned Victoria 35210 and 35310 which are great amps, but I prefer this for the style I play. The thing is that you must dime the amp and you can get all those great tones you hear on old records just by using the vol and tone pots of the guitar and regulating your pick attack. Very dynamic and responsive amp.

The workmanship is immaculate and the amp is built like a tank. Shouldn't be any problems with reliability.

The customer support couldn't be better. I have emailed Mark on several occasions asking different technical questions and he replied right away to every single message. When I told that I was going to Chicago for a business trip, Mark invited me to visit his shop where I spent a nice afternoon with Mark and Pete testing different amps and tubes. When I decided to order this amp, I called Mark up and we discussed different options regarding the speaker and tubes on a phone.

I've been playing for almost 25 years and have owned several different amps. I was never satisfied with my tone until I bought my first Victoria. When it comes to the tweed tone, this amp is as good as it gets.

This is a real amp. No effects, just simple controls: One volume control for each normal and bright channel, treble, bass, and presence. Mark and Pete upgraded the speaker for me and put in a legend eminence 15' for no additional cost. I was told from them that it sounds a little better than the Jensen counterpart (for the 15' anyway). The controls are simple but if you know what you are doing then you can use them to your advantage. Push the volume up a little, roll back on the treble and volume on your guitar and you have a great sounding jazz amp. Turn up the guitar volume and crank the treble and the amp just explodes with creamy tube distortion. This amp is also very good with dynamics. It is sensitive to how hard you are playing- you can play light and still get very good clean tone at a moderate level, and you can also play a little heavier at the same level and get some very nice overdrive. Like I said, simple controls but very effective if you know what you are doing.

First off, let me start by saying that I'm pretty much a jazz player. I do alot of blues ect. but I always incorperate everything I have learned studying Jazz. About 90% of the gigs I play are straight ahead restaurant/small club jazz gigs. However, I also play fusion using this amp as well. I mainly play a Valley Arts Tele through this amp (that guitar is another review that I should do soon). The tele sounds fantastic through this amp. The sound is very rich and full, but the combonation can get very nasty (in a good way) at the right volume and setting. I have also played a Heritage 535 and my handmade archtop through the amp. The archtop sounds nice but feads back very easy because of the 15' speaker, it's just pushing alot of air. The heritage semi-hollowbody sounds very nice with the amp at moderate levels, but sounds a little too muddy when you try and crank the amp and add a little distortion. For me, single coil's sound best through this amp, but I'm sure there are a lot of people that can argue that comment.
This amp can break up pretty easy but that is part of the design. If you have played black and silver face amps all your life and want a tweed, then beware, these things break up alot easier. Your not going to get as much clean headroom because that is the point of this amp. Don't get me wrong, you can get a good clean loud sound through this amp, but it break's up sooner than most 35 watt amps. The tube distortion is unmatched.

Reliability is great. That is why I like doing business with small companies. When they ship equipment, it has been inspected properly which makes the reliability much better. Plus you can't beat the warranty.

I work at EM Shorts guitars so I have been dealing with Mark and Pete for a while now. I spent quite a long time deciding which amp to get and they helped me out with that decision.

The amp has been perfect so far. It just gets a big sound with 15' speaker. It is great for good players but will make a bad player sound even worse. There aren't any effects on this amp to cover any bad playing so don't think you'll play like Hendrix or Wes Montgomery with this thing straight out of the box (sorry, I just get tired of crappy players thinking really nice equipment will make them sound better, hell I work at a guitar store so cut me a little slack). I know all of these amps are hard to find at a guitar store to try out. Since I work at a guitar store, I've gotten to play most of them, so if you have any questions on any of the models I'd be happy to help you out.

"LESS IS MORE" Presence--Bass--Treble and "Interactive" Volume controls for Bright and Normal Inputs. "THATS IT!"
For those of you who are not familiar with interactive controls it means that the volume control that you are NOT using effects the volume/tone of the input volume on the channel that you ARE using. The effect on volume is minimal, but what you will hear is a boosting of mids OR a mid-cut depending on which volume is higher. By "Using" this phenomenon in conjunction with the presence-bass-treble controls you have an incredible amount of control over your tone with just a few knobs! And by using this simple and direct method you loose "NOTHING" of the Pure guitar tone that you were after in the first place!

I have been working at this for over 18 years, mostly playing Fender BF amps or boutique equivalents...This was my first foray into "Tweed-um" and I must say that my Jaw-hit-the-floor when I first played through this amp! I can't overstate the above statement about un-needed, and often un-used controls;loops;and switching STEALING the precious tone that you've worked so hard to find. "SIMPLE IS BETTER".
I play Blues/Jazz/Rock with both an old Tele and a LP Special with P-90's (thats the shit)And this amp SINGS AND SCREAMS! It is very touch sensative and produces the sweetest mid-high break up I've ever heard. And then theres that tight-ass bass. You wont find a fatter bottom on any thing out there. This amp was made for single-coils if you are a fan of humbuckers you might want to consider Victorias 2x10 or 3x10 combos, I played a buddies bucker-equiped Les Paul through my amp and while it sounded good... it lacked definition.
On a technical level I must disagree with the other reviewer who swaped-out the Jensen C-15N for a Weber VST 15A150-O. At 35 watts this amp already breaks up from 7-on and for me the loss of headroom and clean volume at decent "Band" level was too much of a sacrifice. What I came up with to get a better "Driving-Crunch" was to re-tube!
Slap a couple good 6L6 WGB's or a pair or Sylvania 5881's and your in "ZZ-Heaven"

I bought this amp used, and I haven't had a single problem with it.
Construction is flawless!

I'd give it an 11 if I could.
I e-mailed Mark(Baier)several times with various questions about my amp and he responded imediately every time. and I didn't even by this amp from him!
First rate customer service...

What more can I say?
If you DO need and actually USE multiple channels;five tone knobs;master volumes;parallel effects loops; and all the rest, then this is NOT an amp for you. But you won't know what your missing, because there is NO WAY to add all of that an NOT have it affect the signal path in an adverse way. "SIMPLE IS BETTER"

Me again. This is the next installment in my on-going review of the Victoria 35115. When last I typed I'd just discovered Pandora's presence knob.

Chapter III: A Really Good AlNiCo Speaker. I installed a Weber VST 15A150-O. It's similar to the original, straight coned P15N; except it won't fail at some crucial moment in your musical career. Now that the speaker is broken in, and all of the comparisons have been made, I'm stunned. The ceramic 15F150 yielded broad & brilliant results. The AlNiCo is equally brilliant, but in a very different & authentic tweed way. Because of its lower "breakup" threshold (due to the straight cone) you can hit the sweet spot at lower volume and realize the most amazing natural compression as it begins to overdrive.

This amp has been tremendous (even with the stock Italian Jensen) and subsequent iterations have only served to further inspire. The real trick is in the "less efficient" speaker. The Weber 15F150 & 15A150-O are rated at just enough power to handle the amp at full throttle (40 oz. magnets, 1.5" voice coils & 50 watts). The tone yield is simply jaw dropping. My advice, put the AlNiCo in the amp, mount the ceramic in a nice open-back pine extension cabinet and switch between them for different applications. It's two for the price of one.

It has my full faith.

N/A

I'm writing an addendum to my previous review. After tinkering with my Victoria 35115 for a month I feel like I've taken the lid off of the Ark of the Covenant. (Don't look at it! You'll melt, Holmes.) I mentioned in my initial review that the secret was in running the treble control high. That's a great setting but; for the best possible tone, control and volume; here's what you do. Plug into the the #1 "Normal" channel input. Turn the Normal channel volume to 12 (the Bright channel volume should be off completely), the treble to 4-5, the bass NO HIGHER than 3 and the presence to 12. You will be able to grab fists full of tone from the air around you. I am not kidding. With your guitar's volume wide-open, the amp will absolutely roar. As you back the guitar's volume knob down, you'll go from various stages of overdrive all the way down to sparkling, pristine, perfect crystalline clean. As I mentioned, I play Gibsons with w/ P90s. You'll want to tinker a bit depending on the output of your pickups. Fender guys will probably notch the tone controls up a tick and humbucker guys might consider rolling down a tick. It's neither here nor there. You'll find tone bliss soon enough. Just as the tone controls add gain and volume, maxing the volume adds GOBS of tone. Everything is completely interactive. One final note, even at full tilt the Victoria is dead quiet. Unlike an old fender you never get the feeling that it's going to explode and burn down the house. Oh yeah, the purple jewel light grows on you.

The very foundation upon which I've chosen to build my tone house.

Let me set the tone of the review. If you want specs and techs, go to Victoria's website. I'm going to deal with intangibles here. I'm reviewing a brand-new, hand made Victoria 35115. This looks like the first review for this particular model. People have an aversion to amps with 15" inch speakers. I believe that's because nobody's made one worth having since Fender stopped producing the narrow panel Pro in 1960. This amp is very much like the old Fender narrow panel tweed Pro, but I believe it's better. The components are better, the workmanship is better and modern day speakers are significantly better.

People tend to get hung up on "features". Features are generally added to mask the lack of quality. Fender starting putting reverb on Blackface amps because they sounded flat as compared to tweeds. The very best '65 Deluxe or Super Reverb will never sound as alive as a '59 Bandmaster or a new Victoria. (Here's your "real world analogy"). McDonalds puts that concoction of ketchup, mustard, pickles and onions on their little burgers because they don't taste like anything, right? Tweed style amps (like Victoria) are instruments in-themselves. They have the best, most elusive "feature" of all; extraordinary tone. Read on...

I play Gibson guitars with P-90s. I DO NOT play blues (jump, Chicago, west coast, Mississippi or any other kind). Don't let anybody tell you tweeds are only for blues or "oldster" music. I play huge chords & alternate tunings. Bo Ramsey and Ry Cooder would be proud! Dial the volume up to about 6, max the treble (I know what you're saying, "max the treble? Eew!" That's because you're used to dead sounding PCB and plywood stuff. The treble on this amp adds sparkle and gobs of overdriven character). Most tone controls on most amps work against you to muddy-the-water, pierce your eardrums and flatten your speakers. Victoria gives you absolute versatility. There isn't a clunker tone in the box. Experiment with and dial in your bass and presence (the presence will reign in the high frequencies if you'd like) and get going. It will simply roar! Roll the volume down on your guitar to get the best clean sound you'll ever hear. Clean does not have to mean mean sterile.

This is where the 15" speaker comes in. I switched the stock Jensen (a damn good product) out for a Weber VST 15F150. Weber makes the best stuff going, bar none. If Victoria could do one thing to upgrade it would include Weber speakers, but that's another review. A well made 15" speaker will provide lows you won't believe. Mids are nice and even and highs jangle and shine. The break-up is very different from a 12 or 10. It may be the difference you've been looking for. If you play single coils, you're cheating yourself for not trying a 15.

At around 28 watts, the 35115 growls at low enough volume to actually make it useable. Put the distortion boxes, overdrives & attenuators away. You just won't need them anymore. Experiment with your guitar's volume control. Most players glue it to 10 and struggle with stomp boxes for variation. Master the volume control and the world is your oyster! Complete freedom!

Reliable? You bet. Like I said, it's based entirely on a late 50s Fender. The components are top flight and the craftsmanship second to none. If something does wear out with time, you can take off the back panel, hit a few solder points and manage a quickie reapir. That's beauty of point-to-point wiring. If the PCB in your re-issue Super Reverb fails, you're done. In 50 years you'll see Victorias on eBay for stupid money.

Mark Baier will talk to you like a human being but, please don't bug him with the trivial stuff. He's busy building your amp! If you're seriously contemplating a Victoria he'll bend over backward to accommodate. I spoke to Mark three times before I made my final decision. The third time I called, I gave him a CC #, he finish tested & boxed the amp and moved it out the door that afternoon. What more do you want? I guess you could go to Guitar Center and deal with an 18 year old with acne and really big pants. If you have $2,000 to spend on an amp, take the time to research a Victoria. Mark will be happy to help you decide.

I've been at this for around 25 years now (God, I'm very old!). The rise of the upstart boutique amp manufacturers is the best thing to happen in my time. I clearly remember being stuck with tone dead, poorly made Rolands; Crates; Marshalls; Fenders...I'm still enduring therapy for trauma caused by a Peavy I had as a teenager. Victorias are for adults with a few bucks and a measure of taste. If you're proud (and I know you are) it's time to step up and demand the best. Why continually settle fro schlock? Make the investment and be happy with your decision.