BY JORDAN WAGNER
Oftentimes, the hallmark of a great amplifier
is its ability to produce a great clean tone.
The amp can have every feature under the
sun and be packed to the gills with options,
but if its basic clean tone does not shine,
most of the time all of the other tonal features will fall short. While learning the ropes
of crafting a good guitar sound, I personally
remember being constantly reminded of this
fact by older, more seasoned veterans of the
trade. I foolishly dismissed them for a long
time as being unrelated to any tone that was
important to me, and thus my ability to detect
a great guitar sound suffered for a long time
as a result. It was only after spending some
time with a sixties-era Fender Super Reverb
that I began to realize just what all that advice
meant: a strong, pristine clean tone sounds
great, and overdriven can sound amazing. If
the main purpose of an amplifier is to amplify,
it should be able to accurately represent the
tone of the instrument feeding it.
Victoria Amplification has a well-respected
reputation in the industry of crafting amplifiers that do just that: incredible, sparkling
cleans that are powerful, punchy and complex
sounding. Mark Baier of Victoria started his
profession in 1993, recreating some favorite
amps that, in his eyes, defined the roots of
the rock n’ roll generation. Most of these
designs revolved around the concepts initially
put forth by Leo Fender, which had become
so hard to find (and afford) that he set out
to provide working musicians with another
option. Tracking down a vintage 1959 Fender
Bassman is a journey in and of itself, never
mind being able to afford such a prize once
you’ve found it. Victoria aims to provide an
alternative to the often-maddening quest to
achieve that elusive sound of yesteryear. With
the Golden Melody model, it’s obvious that
the company is showing no signs of slowing
down in their vision.
The best word to describe the Golden
Melody is loud—very loud (I know, that’s two
words). There is no complex circuitry in this
amp, just one channel aimed at giving the
cleanest tone possible. The time-tested combination of two 6L6 power tubes, a GZ34/
5U4 rectifier and three 12AX7s coupled with
two 12AT7s in the preamp provide an insane
amount of headroom.
The Golden Melody is very difficult to distort,
so if overdrive is needed, a pedal is definitely
in order. It should also be noted that this
amplifier takes overdrive pedals extremely
well. Every classic overdrive pedal I put in
front of it was able to give pretty good dirt,
all the way up to some very luscious gain
tones. An Ibanez TS9 Reissue, Fulltone OCD
and Boss SD- 1 were used in this application.
Victoria also provided foot switchable
vibrato and reverb, which borrow the circuitry
from the company’s immaculate-sounding
Reverberato design. The circuitry is fully tube-powered, with an impressive range to work
with. When set low, the reverb acts as a shallow pool underneath the sound, providing a
slight lift to the tone. Higher settings can yield
everything from great surf rock to cavernous
cathedral tones. Not to be outshined by its
electronic brother, the vibrato can be tweaked
from slight, slow pulses to raging swirls.
When the amp is cranked and pushing air, the
volume ramping of the tone with the vibrato
engaged in a high depth mode can easily be
felt. It really is a fun, exceptionally musical
feature to play with, and there were not any
noticeable pops or hums when engaging or
disengaging either mode.
The tone controls are very responsive and
provide a large range of sounds, especially
the midrange control. The midrange control does not get enough attention in clean
tones, but it is still extremely useful when
there is no dirt in the sound. Higher settings
with the tone knob rolled off gave some of
the warmest jazz tones that I have heard
using a Gibson 1961 Reissue SG. Dropping
the mids and upping the treble caused the
amp to exhibit some of the best qualities of
a well-maintained sixties-era Fender Twin:
a biting but smooth high-end and pleasing,
round lows.
On the outside, the Golden Melody is a
beautiful combo. Victoria has a reputation
of using some of the highest-grade circuitry
components available, and they definitely do
not skimp on the presentation of their product either. A light, classic lacquered tweed
wrap covers the bottom three-quarters of the
amp, and the top portion is covered in a very
high quality alligator-type material that is a
gorgeous, deep reddish-brown. Victoria’s logo
is displayed in what looks like a homage to
the vintage amplifiers and radio companies of
yesteryear, which gives it a very classy appeal.
The design of the amplifier is impeccable,
minus a few visual flaws on the outside of the
amplifier itself. While the combo was transported and played through several times, no
loose components or rattling were apparent.
The chassis did not seem to line up with the
back panel, however—it was off by over 1/4”
on one side. This was a small issue that did
not affect the tone of the amp in any way, but
it should be noted that it was present and
ought to be corrected.
If you have been trying to keep your eyes
peeled for a simple, loud, impeccable-sound-ing combo amplifier, the Victoria Golden
Melody should not go unnoticed. It really is
a great meld of modern, reliable design with
a vintage vibe in mind, with an incredible
amount of headroom. Truly a work of art.
Buy If...
a no-frills, crystal-clear vintage tone
that can fill a hall without distorting
is just what the doctor ordered.
Skip If...
You need more versatility, such as
a drive channel or effects loop.
Rating...
4. 5
ONTHEWeb
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Victoria Amps
MSRP: $3495 Street: $2795
victoriaamp.com
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