V40 The Duchess Compact Head
Vintage-style American cleans to vintage British break-up. Great with your pedals too.
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Description
All the elusive, vintage pushed clean and drive sounds you love for anything from blues to roots and rock'n'roll
This single-channel, all-valve amp is all about maximum tone with minimum confusion, housed in a compact, light and portable chassis. Voice 1 offers mid-’60-type American warm clean tones. Voice II is subtly stronger and more ’50s in character. As you push the gain and engage the Mid-Kick function, the V40 takes on a more ’60s British voice for timeless blues-rock tones. All the time the V40 responds to your guitar, responds to you: it’s one for the ‘feel’ players.
Features
Single Channel & Voice Switch
You can go from clean, ’60s Californian tones with single coils, through to a driven mid-’60s British overdrive all in one channel. Voice II strengthens the midrange subtly at the input for more punch and cut.
Mid Kick
This works in conjunction with the Middle pot to boost midrage frequencies in the EQ section. The more you push the Midde pot, the more it pushes overdriven sounds, especially with humbuckers.
Reverb
V40 The Duchess uses a digital reverb section which sits somewhere between a plate and hall-type sound. It’s ‘smoother’ and more ‘modern’ sounding than a traditional spring reverb. It’s hard bypassable too if you want it totally out of the circuit.
Series Effects Loop
The hard-bypassable effects loop enables you to use delays, reverbs etc after the preamp section of the amp to keep them clean sounding. If they aren’t as clear as you like, try lowering the mix/output of the pedal, especially as you turn the amp master up.
Low Power Options
The front panel switch offers a low-power mode for around 7 watts. In addition, you can use the single-ended mode which selects to just one or other of the power valves in Class A operation (use them evenly to keep the wear roughly equal). Low power and single-ended mode together will take the output down below 1 watt RMS.
6L6 or EL34 Power Valves
V40 gives you the option of running either EL34 or 6L6 power valves. They offer subtly different tonal characteristics in terms of power stage overdrive and also overall frequency response. Notice we said subtle! There’s a bias range switch to get you in the right ballpark, but precise bias adjustment is also advised whenever you change power valves.
Deluxe features, small size.
All the features and sounds are here from the lunch box version of the V40 Duchess but this version has a wooden sleeve with leather corners, a leather handle and a deluxe Victory logo, adding an extra layer of British hand made quality to the family.
Tech Spec
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Format:
Single channel head
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Power:
42 Watts,
Low Power: 7 Watts,
High Power Single-Ended: 1.5 Watts,
Low Power Single-Ended: 0.5 Watts -
Valves:
3 x 12AX7, 2 x EL34 as standard
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Size:
222(H) x 390(W) x 220(D)mm including handle, feet & controls
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Weight:
9.2kg (20.28lbs)
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Extra features:
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Two-position Voice switch
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Mid Kick switch
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Footswitchable digital reverb with hard bypass option
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Series effects loop with hard bypass
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Power valves switchable to 6L6
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Single-ended mode
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Wooden head sleeve with leather corners, leather handle and premium Victory logo.
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Single-button footswitch for reverb on/off included
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User Guides
V40 The Duchess Compact (English)
Download user guideV40 The Duchess Compact (French)
Download user guideV40 The Duchess Compact (German)
Download user guideV40 The Duchess Compact (Spanish)
Download user guideCompact Head User Guide
Download user guideArtists who use
James Bay
Alex Marshall
Miss Vincent
Alex Freeman
Acres
Bobby Pook
Blanket
Bartosz Bazok Zelek
Bazok
Connor Christian
Connor Christian
Jake Curran
Niall Horan/Dermot Kennedy
Laurent Barnard
Gallows/Goldkey
