® GUITARPLAYER.COM JANUARY 2007 FEED YOUR OBSESSION GEAR VICTORIA REGAL For 13 years, Victoria Amplifiers has been crank- Regal lacks in clean headroom, it more than ing out clever twists on classic Fender circuits. makes up for in tonal intricacy. At low vol- But the new Regal ($2,695 retail/street NA) is umes, the amp’s clean tones are absolutely loosely based on early Valco amp circuits of the stellar, with a crystalline, yet rich high-end ’50s and ’60s. Cosmetically, the Regal, is, well, sparkle that exhibits as much complex sonic regal, with a ultra-retro TV cab design draped detail as any amplifier I’ve ever heard. As you in beautiful vanilla Tolex. The nut of the Regal crank up the Volume, the tones get richer and is its dual single-ended, class A design, which throatier, yet they stay focused and ultra-musi- means a couple of different things. First, the cal. The Regal’s 15" Weber speaker gushes with Regal allows you to swap its stock Tung-Sol warm, taught lows and sparkling highs—all 6L6s with a combination of output tubes (EL34, without harshness, or weird high-end artifacts. SPECS 6550, 6V6, KT66, etc.)—all without re-biasing The real fun begins once you start VICTORIA REGAL the amp. The single-ended design also gives off swapping tubes. Some of my favorite combina- • Class A, dual single-ended design amazingly complex tones that are rich in even- tions were a 6L6 mixed with an EL34, which • Handwired circuit order harmonics. In short, the amp is a yielded tougher midrange tones, and a tad more • 5U4GB rectifier tube proof tube-tone geek’s wet dream. top-end sparkle than the stock set. An EL34 • Two Tung-Sol 6L6s (accepts many other output tubes with no biasing The drawback of the design, however, is and a 6V6 gave me a super spongy attack with adjustment) power. For example, a dual 6L6-equipped amp loads of stringy detail, and a pair of KT66s pro- • Footswitchable Spring reverb and running in class A/B—say, a Fender Pro or duced a load more muscle and clean headroom. tremolo Vibrolux—will be louder, and will have more The Regal’s reverb is magnificent. It can • Weber 15" alnico speaker headroom. In addition, the power tubes on deliver subtle washes, or stone-cold, over-the- • 49 lbs single-ended designs run hot. But what the top Dick Dale-style tsunamis, and the amp’s GEAR proof The Victoria Regal’s simple control panel reeks of ’50s cool. The Victoria Regal’s chassis features a neatly wired point-to-point circuit, and chassis-mounted components. How about a power tube complement of a KT66 and a 6V6? The Victoria Regal lets you taste-test all sorts of funky combinations. tremolo circuit is as throb-o-licious as it gets. This is due, in part, to the Regal’s tremolo cir- cuit, which works by modulating the bias of the driver preamp tube. This yields a deeper, more undulating trem that stays crystal clear— even when running the amp wide-open. Once you settle on a tube complement—and that’s hard, because it’s a blast to experiment—the Regal will reward you with high-caloric, vin- tage tones fit for a king or queen. VICTORIA REGAL KUDOS Three-dimensional tones. Easy power tube swapping. Killer reverb and tremolo. CONCERNS Not enough headroom for some applications. CONTACT Victoria Amp Co., (630) 820-6400; victoriaamp.com g Copyrighted © 2007 by Newbay Media. Reprinted with permission by Guitar Player..