Tonal nirvana: Victoria and 65...

[Hot _Grits]

This weekend my rock band supported an Australian band called Airbourne that's getting the big push from EMI these days. So, as occasionally happens, my good friend/amp importer Ryan lent me some stuff to expand my rig.

I ended up running my Victoria Double Deluxe in tandem with Ryan's 65 London with matching 2x12, with my G2D classic and a Catalinbread Super Chili Picoso in front for boosting duties. So the London was set up on the marshall 18w channel (with the g12h30 miced) to provide focus and high end sweetness, while the Victoria extended the bottom end and buffed up the midrange.

Well, I have to say this rig is the best onstage sound I've ever heard. Balanced, ballsy, fat and loud without being fatiguing or overpowering the rest of the band. The Vic and 65 sit together hand in glove, unlike other multi-amp setups that fight over the frequency range. Either amp is a dream amp, but together they are a thing of utter beauty. I loved every second of standing in front of that rig. Initially I had some reservations about whether there would be enough push from pairing an 18w with a 36w amp and entertained notions of taking a 50 or 100w amp along, but I went for the best amp my friend has and not once did I feel underpowered.

So now all I can think of is ways to get the cash together for a 65. It's going to take some superhuman wheeling and dealing, but if there's any way I can make it happen...

 

[Rainmaker]

Re: Tonal nirvana: Victoria and 65...

I love hearing of tonal revelations like these... I'm glad you found what you wanted - the cost is just the nature of the beast!

"Balanced, ballsy, fat and loud without being fatiguing or overpowering the rest of the band." That there is what I want in a rig. I'm sure many others feel the same way.

How did you find Airbourne?

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Tonal nirvana: Victoria and 65...

Well, they're a killer band, alright. They are basically dead-on ACDC, and while you could argue that's not exactly breaking any ground, they were very, very good at what they do. Perhaps a tiny bit less r&b groove than classic ACDC and a lot more emphasis on energy. JCM800 full stacks onstage with Explorers and SGs, though the sound was more like two Anguses rather than Malcolm and Angus. They also had a couple of cool moves: the singer/lead guitarist (let's call him bonangus) did the old 'climb through the crowd and play on the bar' trick, which i've seen before, but then proceeded to drop behind the bar, pour himself a pint, and walk it back onstage. Nice.

 

[Stevo]

Re: Tonal nirvana: Victoria and 65...

Dude, you are becoming a master gear-geek! Sounds great. I am glad that you had a fun gig. From the one song that I've heard, your rock band has a nice classic rock sound with attitude, edge and punch - right up my alley. How was the audience?

 

[Curly]

Re: Tonal nirvana: Victoria and 65...

I'm a fan of both of those amps, so I think that would be a great rig.

I've thought for a long time that a perfect rig for me would be a combination of a tweed type amp with something like a Vox AC30, and the London is still in that camp, with a great crunch tone.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Tonal nirvana: Victoria and 65...

That 65 Amps London is one of the loudest and ballsiest 18W amps I've ever heard. It's hard to believe the power section is just 2 EL-84's. If I ever find one of those heads at a decent price, I'll be tempted to get it.

I've always loved the sound of mixing an American amp with a British amp.

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Tonal nirvana: Victoria and 65...

Dude, you are becoming a master gear-geek! Sounds great. I am glad that you had a fun gig. From the one song that I've heard, your rock band has a nice classic rock sound with attitude, edge and punch - right up my alley. How was the audience?

Hiya Stevo!

how was the second leg of your trip?

The audience was probably 5-600 people, a real meat and potatoes rock audience, so they really liked my band.

I've had the best year of my life gear-wise. With the strong New Zealand dollar there's been a mini explosion of high-end amps available just recently, and I'm friends with all the importers, so I get to try them all: Matamp, 65, Splawn, Tophat, Carr, Victoria, THD, Diezel, Custom Audio, Zinky, a million pedals...

Even the chain store types pretty much warm up whatever new thing they have and hand me cable when they see me coming. I'm also doing clips for one of the importers and will likely be a demonstrator at a mini version of that amp show you guys have. Good times.

Next up, Div 13 and Bogner are are about to arrive...

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Tonal nirvana: Victoria and 65...

That 65 Amps London is one of the loudest and ballsiest 18W amps I've ever heard. It's hard to believe the power section is just 2 EL-84's. If I ever find one of those heads at a decent price, I'll be tempted to get it.

I've always loved the sound of mixing an American amp with a British amp.

The London really comes into it's own in the studio. That thing sounds so good on tape it's unreal, and there are so many sounds. I've got got everything from a dead-on Beatles revolver clean to chunk rhythm to complete meltdown. Everywhere that amp goes it makes friends: my friend and I dropped two matamps a reinhardt, an Uberschall and the 65 to some friends who are recording an album. Ryan went to pick them up and wasn't allowed o take the London home, as the engineer was reamping much of the record with it. And this is a hardcore record...

 

[Hoss]

Re: Tonal nirvana: Victoria and 65...

I've thought for a long time that a perfect rig for me would be a combination of a tweed type amp with something like a Vox AC30QUOTE]
i've been thinking the exact same thing!!!

i would love to play through a rig like that!

 

[Rich_S]

Re: Tonal nirvana: Victoria and 65...

I build my own amps these days, but if had the $$$, I'd buy a 65 London.

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: Tonal nirvana: Victoria and 65...

I build my own amps these days, but if had the $$$, I'd buy a 65 London.

I'm starting down that track, too, and I'm definitely going to be looking at 18 and 36w marshall/vox hybrids similar to the 65 and gabriel. It's going to be interesting seeing how close I can get, but I have a feeling getting to the level the 65 guys are art will take a lot of time.

My friend who imports 65 had a talk with Dan Bould and Dan says that a huge part of the cost of the London is repaying the huge amount of time they spent on testing every possible OT. And I'm sure That would be the hardest part of capturing the magic...

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Tonal nirvana: Victoria and 65...

Curly and I met Dan at the Amp Show a few years ago, and we were both blown away by the London 2-12 halfstack. I got to play it a little, using Dan's LP.

Then, a year later, I went to the Vacuum Tube Valley expo and both Dan and Pete Stroud were there with their amps. This time, they let me demo the amps for people, while they talked business with dealers. I got to play it for over an hour, and my wheels started spinning about affording one. I really wish it had reverb, but it doesn't really need it anyway.

Pete knows tone, and we talked about pickups too. Lucky Pete.....Gibson sends him tons of stuff from their Custom Shop...even custom pickups. Anything he doesn't want, he gives to Dan. They've probably hooked up people at Gibson with a few 65 Amps.

 

[larry_emder]

Re: Tonal nirvana: Victoria and 65...

Airbourne put on an awesome show! I agree, they're nothing unique, ...but my god are they entertaining.

just about blew my ears off though, they had 2 Marshall full stacks EACH!