Victory MKX 50w EL34 amp- Review and Demo with Videos

[HowieJams]

I have had my Victory MKX for almost a week now and I finally had a little time to make a few videos and give my thoughts on this amp.

If you recall, I had bought a Victory Sheriff 25 before this one and I loved it, I was actually going to give my son-in-law my Friedman JEL-20, but he preferred the Sheriff so I gave him that along with one of my Friedman 1x12 cabs.

I enjoyed playing the Victory Sheriff 25 a lot, more than the Friedman and at least as much as my Victory MKX, but it was a very bright amp which on its own might not appeal to everyone, but it cut though the mix well and it was a truly responsive amp to play, it was a truly pissed off raw Marshall tone with more gain.

On to the Victory MKX...

It has great specs...
3 channels, all have gain knobs, clean, OD1 and OD2.
My favorite is OD1 with the gain at max.
It is 50w (2 EL34s) with a 9w low power mode, great for home use.
Built in reverb, 2 different reverbs with level and decay knobs.
It has 2 Master volumes, separate channel volumes, and seperate eqs for clean and gain channels
It also has presence and resonance controls on the back.

The amp has lush cleans, OD1 is enough for most leads, but has this wooly tone I love, and OD2 has a ton of gain, but can be tamed with its gain knob.

If I have any critcism of the amp and this is just me....
I like amps where I just turn them on, put all the eq knobs at noon and play, maybe I will turn the treble up or down a bit to taste.
The MKX I can do this on the clean channel, but the gain channels are a bit dark for my taste.
I needed to turn the treble and presence knobs to about 7 out of 10, no big deal, but something I rarely do.
Also, this amp is more picky with certain guitars...
It loves my Les Pauls, but needs more tweaking with my Ibanez Prestige AZ2402 and Charvel Guthrie Govan USA humbuckers?
It is fine on their single coil settings, but it needs tweaking especially on the Ibanez humbuckers, it is very dark sounding and I will need to tweak the presence and treble a bit and maybe add or decrease the mids a hair.

OK, enough of the bad stuff.
The amp is really nice, I love the OD1 channel, I can just live on that and be happy.
The reverb with decay eliminates the need for any effects pedals.
This is truly an amp you can just bring your guitar and plug in and play anything from lush cleans, gritty cleans, blues, crunch, or sustaining leads just by switching channels and dialing in the amount of gain you want.

I still miss the Sheriff 25, but I would still take the MKX over the Sheriff, the Sheriff was just a fun and responsive pissed off tone, the MKX is much more refined and grown up.

Here are 3 videos
I threw together today - the 1st is a full review 18 minutes long and the other two are 4 minutes

 

[romanianreaper]

I thought it sounded great! Didn't sound dark to me. I know you are used to the JEL-20 and heard that is a bright amp.

 

[HowieJams]

I thought it sounded great! Didn't sound dark to me. I know you are used to the JEL-20 and heard that is a bright amp.

I used to think the JEL-20 was bright, but the Victory Sheriff 25 was brighter than that.
The MKX is darker than my SLO-30 and Astro 20, just need to bump up the Presence and Treble a bit to like 7 out of 10.
The SLO-30 is not a bright amp by any means, but the MKX is darker than the SLO.
I am still getting used to the amp, but I think it will be a keeper, my son-in-law is not getting this one.

I need to do a comparison between the SLO and MKX.
I also need to run some more guitars through the MKX, I might try it with my Fender Modified HSS Strat today, that guitar sounds great with all of my other amps.

 

[romanianreaper]

That is awesome! You would probably struggle with an Orange amp. I'm used to them now but they are dark.

 

[romanianreaper]

You had a good description when you said "refined" for the tone. I watched your video again and when you were playing solo parts and sounded really smooth and clear.

I know Victory has roots in Cornford amps and I haven't heard a lot of Cornford tones but have heard enough to know it is different and has more low end and less "kerrang". I think that Victory amp sounds really good and to me is a cross between Marshall tones and Cornford tones. Crunch but not super bright and I actually like that. At a gig, would probably sit in a mix really nice.

Like most of us here on the forum, you definitely have a core tone you like and your amps reflect that. I do think there is enough of a difference between EL84s and EL34s, 6V6, 6L6, primarily with rock and metal, that it is something to think about when making a purchase.

I'm probably going to get a KSR PA50 power amp and am going to pick up a Fractal AM4. I can still use my Synergy with it and even other amps like Friedman pedals, etc. I was so close to getting that Victory amp or a Marshall or Friedman head but think the PA50 is good for my setup. I'm a guitarist so subject to chslange....lol

 

[HowieJams]

You had a good description when you said "refined" for the tone. I watched your video again and when you were playing solo parts and sounded really smooth and clear.

I know Victory has roots in Cornford amps and I haven't heard a lot of Cornford tones but have heard enough to know it is different and has more low end and less "kerrang". I think that Victory amp sounds really good and to me is a cross between Marshall tones and Cornford tones. Crunch but not super bright and I actually like that. At a gig, would probably sit in a mix really nice.

Like most of us here on the forum, you definitely have a core tone you like and your amps reflect that. I do think there is enough of a difference between EL84s and EL34s, 6V6, 6L6, primarily with rock and metal, that it is something to think about when making a purchase.

I'm probably going to get a KSR PA50 power amp and am going to pick up a Fractal AM4. I can still use my Synergy with it and even other amps like Friedman pedals, etc. I was so close to getting that Victory amp or a Marshall or Friedman head but think the PA50 is good for my setup. I'm a guitarist so subject to chslange....lol

I actually backed the presence and treble down and I like it even better.
I was just playing for over an hour.
It still seems to stand out over the backing tracks.
I will probably get around to making some more vids, I really should do that after I am warmed up, but I just get in the mood to make a vid and just wing it.
I tend to like smooth tones more than "kerrang" for my style.
Like you said, my amps reflect that.
I probably would like to go back to using my Boss SD-1 as a boost, especially with the JEL-20 Plexi channel, but I am trying to stay simple.

Let me know how you like the Fractal, I would probably like it, but I like simple set-ups.

 

[romanianreaper]

Let me know how you like the Fractal, I would probably like it, but I like simple seset-ups.

Oh yeah, definitely will! I owned a Fractal Axe-Fx II years ago and loved it but never used it with a power amp and cab. The AM4 is more simple and limited which I need. I'm not good with "tons of options" these days, lol