Victoria Amplifier Co. 518

I have only had this 1 week. Bought it new.It has one volume knob and 2 inputs . I play rock and blues with it in my home studio.

This amp sounds great with my Eric Johnson Strat plugged straight in with no effects .It starts to distort at about 9 and sounds best to me at 12. The distortion is fairly clean even turned all the way up , but the tone is very good with the strat. Its fairly loud , almost enough to get your ears ringing in a small room. I also play a custom 24 PRS but can't seem to get a good sound out of it with that guitar.I think effects would help but havn't tryed anything yet.

Just got it , but looks very well made.

Have had no reason to need customer support.

I have been playing about 25 years. I also own a Carr Mercury , a Cornell Romany , and a Mojave Coyote. If it were lost or stolen I would probably get another if i could afford it. I love this amp because it is made in USA , a great practice amp for my strat , it's very high quality , it's compact, but plenty loud for my studio. I don't really hate anything about it. I compared it to other amps and choose it because the reveiws were good, and that it was made in USA. I have no regrets with this purchase.

This amp is not about features. It is about pure tweed tone in a small, light, very portable package. The reason I bought mine is that I needed a high quality amp that I could use around the house, record with, and take to low volume jam sessions. For these puposes it is as good as it gets. Although it has no channel switching etc, I'll give this amp an 8 in this category because I can use this little thing for blues, country, rock, and traditional cajun music.

What I really like about this amp is that is sounds really good at any volume setting, with any guitar. I play a 52 RI Tele with Rio Grande TallBoys and a Les Paul Classic with Seth Lovers. Both sound great. Very quiet. Plug this little monster into a separate cab(tone tubby 112 alnico hempcone), grab a humbucker equipped guitar and crank it. WOW! I NEVER imagined a 5 watt amp could grind like that. Amazing!

I have never had any problems with the amp.

n/a

I've been playing for about 15 years and own a few other amps that I like a lot also. These include a Carr Rambler, 78 Marshall MK II, and a Clark Lil Bit LTD. I'll keep this thing forever. Looks great. Sounds great. Period.

Combination volume on off switch, two inputs. Not sure what the difference is but #1 sounds best to me. Eight inch Jenson speaker, tweed covered pine box. Simple and effective. Give it a 10 cause it does what it's meant to do. But versatile it aint, so split it with a 7.

Custom shop hardtail alder body maple neck strat with custom shop 54 pickups, active Clapton boost.I run through a Clark Gainstar to the amp. Perfect for home,studio or small get together. Tweed clean to abot four with my setup, five gets a nice breakup, and beyound that gets dirty. I jam, blues rock jazz country. I get the same sound but louder and bigger with my Clark Beaufort. Basically a real creamy type clean and overdrive. I am loving the sound I get around the house with it.

Have had it several years, the more I play it the better it sounds. Besides the originals are still putting out this same wonderful tone, so no worries.

Called him once not very helpfull, at all. But great amps, so...

Playing for years, as long as my personality and taste in music doestnt change I'll keep it forever.

Sounds just like a tweed champ should. Great!

Had to replace a power tube after a year which is no biggie

This is why I am doing the review. Mark seems to be a great guy and answers questions about the amp he makes, but DONT ever come to him w/a problem. Example: When I got the amp I dint think to pull the back cover; no reason to. But after a year or so, I decided to open the back kust to check it out. I couldnt get the bloody back cover off! I mean I tried so hard I was afraid of breaking the back cover. I emailed Mark and asked him about it, got no response. So I emailed again and again no response. I finally called and talked to Mark, he was very quite, and offered absolutley offered no help or solution.
He came off woth an attitude like "So what do you want me to do about it", although he didnt come right out and say those words.
So, needless to say the conversation was very short. The people on the different 'boards and NGs said stuff like "Why do you want to remove the cover anyway, just play it!" Which was a lot like the answer I got from mark.

Great amp, but lousy customer service AFTER the sale. I bought the amp directly from Mark and he was helpful and polite when talking about the amp, he even made me think I was gettin some thing "Special" because I bought one of the first ones made he said "I am sending you my amp, the one that I use at home", but the serial number is just under #500? . AFTER the sale when you have a problem is when you really find out whether they are customer friendly. I finally had no choice but to pry the cover off with a screwdriver, because I
brought it to two different amp places and nobody would take responsibility to try and take it off for fear of breaking it.. It was that tight of a fit! Now the cover is on and the fit is so tight it stays there with no screws in it!

This is an update of the review directly below

I've fallen for Telecasters. I sold the Pauls for a couple of teles. I fully intend on getting a '57 reissue goldtop Les Paul and either a Reissue Special or '56 reissue Goldtop for my P90s. This amp with Teles is just like God's own voice, though. It can be sweet, raunchy, funky, jazzy, you name it. It's so simple yet so versatile. Blues, rock, country, jazz, whatever. This amp likes humbuckers a lot, but LOVES P90s and Telecasters. Kinda like humbuckers are a close friend, but P90s and Teles are the lovers.

by the way, the new JJ 6V6s are as good as any of the NOS stuff.

Still hasn't broken down. I don't expect it to.

What Features??? It's a Champ! It is a 2003 model, but I ordered it with a 12" speaker, so it is mounted in a deluxe cab. This is a HIGHLY recommended upgrade!! It is a Class A point-to-point handwired amp, 3 tubes (1 5Y3, 1 6V6, and 1 12AX7/ECC83), 2 imputs and one volume knob. Sometimes I wish I had a tone knob or separate Treble and bass knobs, but screw it. It sounds great as is. Perfect for practice levels when cranked, but it is a tube amp, so when pushed it still is freaking loud. At night, I use a 15W wever Mini-MASS attenuator.

I have 2 Gibson Les Pauls; one studio with Jim Wagmer Crossroads PAF clones, and one special with Lindy Fralin P90s. I love the tweed fender voice, both clean and pushed. Clean it is so warm, but has plenty of the fender sparkle and twang. When you overdrive it, DAMN! it just grinds away when doing chording to such bands as AC/DC, Zeppelin, The Who, and ZZ Top. I can't copy those tones, but I love the way the amp sounds. It has more of a "grind" compared to a Marshall's crunchier sound. The Vicky also has a more precise attack, compared to a Marshall's chewier sound. I like it better. It just sounds edgier than Marshalls. I normally set the amp at 9 and control overdrive with the guitar's volume knob. When you turn down to milder overdrive, You get into Mick Taylor/Ronnie Woods Stones territory almost perfectly. This mode is GREAT for blues, and just turn the guitar's volume up a bit more for a sreaming solo. This amp does classic rock, country, and blues perfectly. The amp just sounds sweet!
There is one thing, though. For any potential buyers, order one from Victoria with the Jensen P12N. It handles the bass MUCH better than any 8" speaker. I can't recommend that one modification enough. Having a tone knob or Bass/Treble controls would be nice for a bit more versatility, but it sounds so freaking good, that I'll give it a 10 anyways.

Never broken down in 3 months, and I run it hard and long. Treat it like a tube amp, and It will outlast you (if you keep up with maintenance- new tubes, capacitor and resistor changes after about 30 years, etc...).

I called Mark and asked him about wether I can get a 1X12 champ and he seemed very friendly. I can't give a judgement on support, however. I've never had to really deal with him about service, etc...

I've been playing for about 5 months, but I played the piano for 11 years, so I have picky ears and I've picked up the guitar fairly well because I grew up with finger dexterity and musical training (I'm only 23 years old- born in 1980). I can already play "Crossroads" by Cream, for example (I ain't Clapton though- yet :) ), I can play it note for note, too. I only have one gripe about the amp. they advertise NOS tubes, but when I took the back panel off, I only saw one NOS tube- a JAN/Phillips rectifier. The power tube and Preamp tube were both Groove tubes!?!?!? I was ticked off, needless to say. I spent birthday money on some NOS tubes, so I have a Mazda 5Y3 rectifier (supplies the B+ voltage a bit later, prolonging the life of the tubes), a Mazda 6V6 and a blackplate RCA 6V6, and some RCA and one RFT ECC83s. The RCA preamp tubes were a waste of money as far as I'm concerned. The Mazda and RCA 6V6s both sound awesome. The RCA is a bit smoother and the Mazda a bit sleazier/grungier. The RFT had a bit less treble than the RCA preamp tubes, but had a much tighter bass when overdriven. Much smoother than the RCAs too. I alternate between the power tubes for varietys sake, but the RFT stays in.
The other amps I've had are a '66 ampeg Gemini I (GREAT amp, by the way. I don't know why I sold it), and a Gibson Goldtone GA15, with the 10" speaker. I didn't like the Gibson (that model, anyways). The Vicky, though is here to stay. Because of the Groove Tubes in there stock, I can't give it a 10. After some tube swapping, the sound is 10, but minus 1 for the Goof Tubes.

Other than tone, this amp doesn't have any features. I've really grown to dislike features. I use this amp at home, which it is perfect for. A fine example of the tweed Champ, this amp is cathode biased with 1 12Ax7, 1 6V6, and one 5Y3 rectifier tube. Eight inch Jensen speaker, one knob for volume, 5 watts. Tweed covering, of course.

Great tube sound at somewhat lower volumes. I say somewhat because this thing is still pretty loud. For playing blues and rock in, say, an apartment, this thing has few rivals that I've come across. There isn't a whole lot of variety, but it does a great job at the sounds that it does make. I really like my tele played through this amp, but my 335 really shines as well. I agree with another comment here about how you can feel the paper of the speakers as you play. Very true.
This amp is very revealing, and there is nothing to hide behind, but that's what makes it a great practice amp in my opinion. At higher volumes you start to get an incredible all-tube breakup. Before that, the cleans come through very well, and as you go up in volume you quickly increase breakup. That's another thing I like. I have other amps that are fairly low wattage, and they are loud as hell when you get them going. As stated before, this is why this amp is so great for at home use...

I wouldn't gig with it, and it should be pretty easy to fix barring any problems.

I've sent some emails to Mark at Victoria and he has answered every one. The emails were short and to the point, and all my questions were answered. That's all I ask. I purchased this amp new from Larry at SoulCactus Sound. A word on that: Generally I'm a pain in the ass customer who likes to know what is going on all the time with my order. Larry was very understanding, answered emails, got me tracking numbers, etc. Very much a pleasure to work with and would recommend him to others. This is a major reason why I like this whole boutique thing. I like being treated like a customer should be and the effort that goes into making these products. This Victoria is no exception!!!

If this amp were stolen, I would buy it again in a heartbeat. For what I bought it for, playing at home, this is a great little amp. Victoria quality and tone throughout. One minor problem, it is a little on the expensive side, but it is defintely worth the cash.

2002 Victoria 518-T
It's not about features...this amp is designed for true tone. One "chicken-head" knob

OK - let's start with a confession...I was ready to pan this amp due to limited tonal characteristics - ie: great clean tone - but limited tonal definition when driven (8-to-12 on the volume scale) - or fuzz vs. nice breakup .I own several amps...Bogner Shiva, Fender '65 dlx Reverb RI, Ampeg J-12T RI. I did replace the stock Electro Harmonix 12AX7 with a NOS GE-5751 and like the added clean headroom. I gave up on getting the "right" natural OD from this baby so I decided to improve the clean tone with the 5751 tube and use my Voodoo Lab Sparkle drive upfront. NOW I'm HAPPY! I disagree with a previous review that said that the 518 doesn't take pedals well (Class A, etc.). The 518+Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive is an excellent match.

So far so good - Heard good things about reliability,

A+++ Great care and interaction with the head honcho in Naperville

I've been playing since the 70's. Playing several LP's, Strats,Tele's and a few Dano reissues as well as an Epiphone Wildcat w/Alinco
P-90s. Incidentally - this amp loves P-90s, as well as Gibson humbuckers and Fender SC's
This IS a pricy amp for it's capabilities. I have found a "best kept secret" in the Ampeg J-12T Jet (sells for around $400) but still love the quality,low weight , vintage "class", amazing build and TONE of the Vic 518. If you can afford this boutique amp and add others for
versatility then go for it.

Since I use it mostly for recording, it is prefect as is. I can place it in a corner with a mic and I'm not tempted to adjust eq, etc.

I recently bought a Bad Cat 2 Tone pedal that essentially gives me three footswitchable channels, gain and master volume, and eq. It provides all the flexibility I need.

Best tone I've gotten for recording. I've owned Mesa, Orange, Rivera, Fender and other amps -- they were all good, but this one's better for my needs.

Using various condensor mics, it sounds HUGE. I also enjoy just sitting around and playing through it. It's plenty loud, especially running through a cab.

Should be fine. It's built very solid. They tell me anyone can repair these type amps.

No experience, but I bet it's good.

I have owned all kinds of amps, but I sold them all when I got this. It's easy to carry. Is perfect for jams and recording. Miked, it's fine for stage. I do like the versatility the Bad Cat 2 Tone pedal adds -- channel switching, master volume, eq. But I got along fine without the 2 Tone.

It's a really nice amp. Thought I was paying a lot, but now realize it is absolutely worth it.

Would get another. My second choice would be an Orange AD30 head.

One knob, two inputs, five watts and one 8 inch speaker. While some may find this limiting I find it all you need, and I have been using a boogie for 20 years. Antoher feature is you can actually have two instruments plugged in and it dosent sound weird like most amps.

It is actually my wifes amp and she uses a 1959 fender duo-sonic with pure nickle strings and I cant even tell you how good this sounds! It is modeled after the fender champ around 1959 and I swear that these two student models were made to be togeather. Tone heaven. I use a CS Stratocaster and it can be a bit fizzy when turned above 7, but I find myself plugging into her amp when ever she isnt around becasue you can actually feel the paper of the speakers in your fingers as you play. Absolutly magic. But it certainly punishes bad technique.

I/we play anything from blues to blues/rock to neil young and led zeppelin. Dont kid yourself and think you can turn this thing up to twelve and play it in an apartment. This thing is REALLY loud. Almost enough to come over a drum kit. Unfortunatly the sound really starts happening at about 9 which is loud enough to get complaints from the neighbors in a stand alone home. (time for that studio in the basement).

Variety of tones? Well you can plug in a 20' cord into input two and it makes the tone more bassy but otherwise you get what ever your guitar really sounds like. IT is important to use picking attack and the controls on your guitar to maxamize the versitility. A stomp box in front of the amp can be a little tricky as well because the class A is so high fidelity it can make them sound extra rude. Distortion boxes sound as if your going direct to tape which can be good if you like that sound. Im off to try and find an overdrive box that will compliment the amp.

After running it through my 12" spreaker i would consider getting this amp customized with a ten inch speaker.

It has been a month and it sounds better every day. One little thing is the amp light has stopped working. Shouldnt be a problem (lifetime warrenty) but at this price something like that shouldnt be an issue.

I sent an email off to Mark (the owner) about using an external 12 in speaker and he replied the next day. He remembered the amp and was going to keep it himself (there was an attached note to the amp saying this thing is a fire breather). Im going to resolve the light issue through the dealer (or fix it myself)

It is simply an amazing amp. Super portable and has me dreaming of the Deluxe copy Victoria makes. I have been using a boogie for 20 years and it is really refreshing to use something so simple that sounds so amazing at practice levels. I am certain that i will be bringing this to the open blues jams around town.

I would literally cry if this amp were stolen or ruined in any way. Like i have said it is the perfect amp for my wife who only plays at home and its great for me to play at home too. It is obviously a practice amp so thinking youre going to gig with it (if you have a drummer) is kinda silly, but then again if you didnt need a clean tone and it was a coffee house venue you could do it.

Did i mention that this thing is just gorgous? If it is in the room you just cant help but turn it on and play. Very insperational.

Why did we get it? Well I explained to my wife about all the amp choices and having played a real tweed champ many many years ago I thought for her situation it would be a great choice. Again, I cant tell you how stunning that duo-sonic is through this amp!

Yes, the amp is really expensive. But hey, its going to last 40 years at least so I view it as a great investment.