Re: Victory amps? Opinions?
So because I know so little about amps, what can I expect from something like the: Marshall JCM series, Randall Diavlo and Peavey 5150/6505?
"JCM" is a wide umbrella, and you can expect drastically different things underneath it. That said, it's hard to go wrong with a JCM800 2203, provided you're in a situation that's going to allow it to be played at the volumes it calls for.
The Peavy 5150 is a classic, and it's the sound of about half of the high-gain albums made in the last 20 years. Just be sure to put a tube screamer in front of it, and, again, realize you're going to need some volume to get "the sound".
The Diavlo is a bit more modern. It behaves better at low volumes, is tighter, and has a Tube Screamer style boost built into it.
As far as tone differences, the JCM800 2203 is the most "classic/vintage" sounding one -- it'll definitely have that Marshall vibe to it, rather than a super-saturated modern gain vibe like the other two. Still, that doesn't mean it's not suitable for metal -- last time I saw Marduk, Morgan was using one, and I've seen loads and loads of other metal bands use them over the years. They're a classic for a reason. The 5150 is going to be like a super-gainy, super-saturated version of that, with a really strong upper-midrange bite. You've heard it on a million albums, it's the "modern metal" sound pretty much. That bite can be ear-fatiguing if you're playing by yourself, but it's why this amp sits so beautifully in a band mix. The Diavlo is going to be scoopier than the other two, with the upper mids tamed a lot.
It's probably worth nothing that the Diavlo is the only one that has decent foot-switchable cleans. The JCM800 2203 has good cleans, but you have to switch which jack you're plugged into, so if you're switching from clean to dirty mid-song, that's right out; the 5150/6505 has notoriously bad cleans. Whether this matters is up to you (it doesn't really matter to me, since I never use my clean channels for anything), but it's worth knowing.
