Raw Power: Victory amp and speaker cab

England has a rich history when it comes to the production of valve guitar amplification, with Marshall, Laney, Orange and HiWatt just four pertinent names. Hoping to join that illustrious club, and already a good way down the same path to legendary status, are Victory, a company that launched just two years ago.

Their range of handmade amps and cabs is headed by the V100, and among the number of players who are turning their attention to this lovely 100-watt head is Guthrie Govan, best known for his work with Steven Wilson. More recently, a man with several more years under his belt has also taken notice of Victory: Iron Maiden’s Dave Murray.

“I’d been interested in Guthrie for a while, so I gave the guys at Victory a call,” Murray’s guitar tech Colin Price told Maiden’s official fan club magazine. “The amp arrived and I dialled in a setting, plugged the Les Paul straight in and it was an instant classic Dave Murray tone. Although the guys at Marshall have been superb over the years, we’re excited to bring the Victory heads into the new live rig.”

The amp features two channels that can provide a huge choice of tones, from sparkling cleans to meaty overdrives, while two master volumes, a footswitchable lead boost and a resonance control certainly up the versatility stakes. There’s an on-board spring reverb too. To complete the stack, pair it with the V412S cabinet, loaded with four Celestion Vintage 30 speakers.

Audiences around the world will hear how good the V100 sounds when Iron Maiden tour their The Book Of Souls album. But take it from us: it sounds superb in just about all applications.

£1,999 for the amp, £699 for the cab and well worth it.

More from www.victoryamps.com

All Right Then

The story of Iron Maiden man Dave Murray’s most famous guitar.

Nothing could stop Iron Maiden during the 80s. Live, they were unbeatable. Alongside the ever-present Eddie and the band’s tireless leader Steve Harris was Dave Murray (pictured) with a black Fender Stratocaster in hand. He used the guitar on all of the band’s classic albums and, as Murray told Blabbermouth.net in 2008, it has a fascinating history of its own.

“It used to belong to Paul Kossoff of Free,” he says.” I bought it in 1976. I saw it advertised in Melody Maker, and I went down and checked it out. I got the serial number to make sure it was his guitar. It cost quite a bit of money but I didn’t care. I just sold everything I had so I could get it, and I used it from then on. It just felt like I was holding a piece of magic because he had used this guitar.”

Classic Rock 216: News & Regulars

Simon Bradley is a guitar and especially rock guitar expert who worked for Guitarist magazine and has in the past contributed to world-leading music and guitar titles like MusicRadar (obviously), Guitarist, Guitar World and Louder. What he doesn't know about Brian May's playing and, especially, the Red Special, isn't worth knowing.