Scottsdale, AZ (January 22, 2014) -- Fender is proud to announce the release of many new accessories for the 2015 NAMM Show.
Fender American Select Solderless Stratocaster Pickups Fender Select Stratocaster pickups are over-wound for increased output and are made with alnico 5 magnets and wound with enamel-coated magnet wire for warm tones. All-new three-pin solderless connections make for remarkably easy pickup replacement, and all mounting hardware is included.
Fender Custom Shop Fat ‘50s Solderless Stratocaster Pickups Fender Custom Shop Fat ’50s Strat pickups deliver the single-coil 1950s Stratocaster sound you know and love. Hot-rodded wiring design delivers enhanced bass response and an extra shot of 21st-century attitude. All-new three-pin solderless connections make for remarkably easy pickup replacement, and all mounting hardware is included.
Fender Texas Special Solderless Stratocaster Pickups Characterized by their midrange chirp, crystalline highs and tight bass, Fender Texas Special Strat pickups feature an overwound single-coil construction that produces big Texas-blues tone. All-new three-pin solderless connections make for remarkably easy pickup replacement, and all mounting hardware is included.
Fender FWP-1 Wah Pedal Fender’s FWP-1 Wah Pedal delivers classic and rich vocal sound with a smooth feel and consistent crystalline response. An internal switch enables either “buffered” or “classic” output allowing greater flexibility in pedalboard placement of the unit itself and order of effects.
Fender Malmsteen Overdrive Pedal The Yngwie Malmsteen Overdrive Pedal unleashes the pure and powerful heavy tone of the neoclassical shred master. This high-quality, compact and rugged stage-worthy pedal with special tone-shaping circuitry was designed in close collaboration with Yngwie himself.
Fender Jackknife Wood Acoustic Guitar Stands This elegant stand is crafted from solid hardwood and designed to showcase your acoustic guitar or bass. The padded surfaces are safe for all finishes, and the compact design folds down to fit into most gig bags. Available in black, cherry and natural stains, it is perfect for the home or studio.
Fender Phoenix Capo No matter your neck size or string tension, the Phoenix Capo provides rock-solid tuning stability for any steel-string electric or acoustic guitar. Thanks to this intuitive spring-action design and lightweight body, shifting pitch has never been so easy—or so portable. Features include: lightweight cast-aluminum design, quick one-hand application, versatile fit for any neck shape and sleek ergonomic design.
Fender Grip Hand Exerciser Designed with the assistance of Certified Hand Therapists, The Grip is one of the most advanced hand and finger exercisers available. Use one finger at a time, in pairs or all fingers simultaneously. The ergonomically designed tips keep your fingers in place during exercise and help create stronger hands and faster fingers.
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Fender
The EL86-driven, 25-watt, single-channelThe Deputy Compact Head is the newest of Victory’s mighty mites. Although it’s generally lunchbox-sized, The Deputy looks like a proper amp head—eschewing the mostly metal, vented enclosure design used in some other Victory offerings. Created in conjunction with Pete Honoré (known to many YouTube guitar heads as Danish Pete), The Deputy Compact Head aims to span ’60s British-style clean tones and ’70s classic-rock overdrive. It’s truly compact at 15" x 8" x 7.5" and 17.6 pounds.
Dawg Daze
Other than the bijou size, which is not unusual these days, The Deputy stands out for its use of EL86 output tubes. Although it can be re-biased to use the more common EL84, Victory ships the head with a pair of new-old-stock EL86 tubes which are broadly similar to EL84s in character and output power—though capable of a little more of it from a little less voltage. They are also relatively available and affordable as NOS components. The preamp is driven by three 12AX7s. Rectification is solid-state.
The straightforward controls include gain, treble, middle, bass, reverb, and master, plus a 2-way bright switch and a 3-way voice switch. The latter is arguably more of a gain-structure switch, though gain, voice, and tone are often used interchangeably in guitar-speak. The amp’s lowest gain setting is accessed via the upper position. The middle position stacks another +6 dB of gain on top of that, and the lower position adds upper-mid and treble on top of the extra 6 dB. As for the reverb, Victory describes it as a mix of plate- and hall-type textures, and it is probably meant to sound a bit more contemporary, studio-like, and less specific than a traditional spring reverb.
The amp’s back panel includes send and return jacks for the series effects loop, two 8-ohm speaker outputs and one 16-ohm output, bias checkpoints, and a bias adjustment pot. Rather than being cathode-biased like most EL84 amplifiers, The Deputy’s EL86s are run in adjustable fixed bias, which delivers slightly tighter, firmer response from any given pair of tubes, while maximizing their output potential (all else being equal). As such, you need to check and adjust this setting when replacing the EL86s or substituting EL84s. The Deputy’s circuit is arranged on a rugged printed circuit board, the components are all high quality, and the transformers are U.K.-made.
Hot Lunch
I tested The Deputy with an open-back 1x12 cabinet equipped with a Scumback J75 and a closed-back 2x12 with Celestion M65 Creambacks. I also paired it with a Gibson ES-355, a Fender Stratocaster, a selection of overdrive pedals at the front end, and a Source Audio Collider in the effects loop for delay and reverb. Almost regardless of what’s in the mix, The Deputy is a great-sounding little head. In fact, any sense of “little” largely vanishes from consideration once you start playing it. Full, fat, deep, clear, and vintage-leaning, with a character that’s very much its own, The Deputy doesn’t care if there’s a stompbox anywhere in sight, but it’s also an excellent pedal platform.
The Deputy’s tube complement and Victory’s English origins might imply that strictly Vox-like voices emit from this diminutive head, but the circuit enables many more trans-Atlantic sounds. With the EQ dialed in right and the bright switch engaged, The Deputy will indeed cop AC-style tones on the clean and crunchy side of that spectrum. But the robust preamp voicing and fixed-bias output stage—as well as the solid-state rectification—lend a tautness that enables convincing Fender-like tones when you want them. By dialing down the middle control to around 10 o’clock with the voice in the low-gain position, the gain below noon, and master just advanced from midday, I heard pretty good Deluxe Reverb sounds. There’s certainly more than just one breed of clean to source.
On the whole, I preferred heavier amp-generated crunch and lead sounds with the voice switch in the middle position, the bright switch off, and a little bump from the midrange control. Set this way, The Deputy lends thickness to a Strat without adding harsh or spiky clipping, while the ES-355’s humbuckers are blissfully muscular and aggressive. With more conservative gain settings, the extra upper mid and high end from the brighter voice add cutting power and a shimmering, cranked-Vox-like character that plays well with many styles. Add digital reverb—which moves readily from “just a touch” to an evocative atmospheric wash—and the palette of tones at hand becomes even more impressive.
The Verdict
With an able assist from Pete Honoré, Victory has pulled off another deft design. It’s a toneful performer that can sound and feel bigger than it is. For a single-channel head, it’s crazy versatile—with or without pedals. But if you’re into economy on the equipment and cost fronts, you’re bound to be pleased with how much you can do with this high-quality, diminutive head, a cab, a guitar, and nothing else.
Victory Amplification The Deputy 25 25-watt Tube Amplifier Head
