I've had this about a week now, bought it from forum member RGX7, I wanted to get to know it a bit before posting. I had played one before, several years ago, at a Gretsch Roundup, with my tele. But I can say that my Hot Rod sounds better through this amp than anything I have previously owned. Apparently, I have just never found the right amp for this guitar, all these years.
But I can honestly say, Victoria did this one right- they tweaked it to work especially with Gretsch guitars, and it shows. My only "complaint" (not really) is that they don't have reverb. Yes, I know the Executive does, but that's a different circuit (Deluxe Reverb, whereas the Playboy is a Pro Junior) and I've never gotten on with 15" speakers.
It's not super loud, but the Weber Mini-Mass does a great job of bringing the volume down a bit when cranking the amp up to get the goods. You can see I'm using minimum attenuation. And the Mini-Mass matches! LOL
With the Playboy, Mini-Mass, and RE-202, I'm finally REALLY happy with my Hot Rod's tone now... I thought maybe I just wasn't a Filtertron guy, turns out I just hadn't found the right amp yet. I still want to try one of Tavo's Blondeshells, and the Allen Hot Blond looks very inviting also.... those are both 50-watters, so I wouldn't be able to really use them until I got a better attenuator... a Fryette Power Station 2 is on the watchlist.
For those interested in the circuits, from Mark Baier of Victoria:
Pro Jr. (Playboy), Deluxe Reverb (Executive) and Super Reverb (Variety). each amp was optimized for GRETSCH guitars, not Fender. We prototyped using a Setzer 6120 and Duo Jets ('trons and Dyna sonics).
the most obvious upgrade for these Gretsch amps would be the output trans on the Playboy..use a 28W two leg or a 14 DR trans for mucho tonal upgrade over stock. The Exec and Variety are good to go, the trannys are fine.
While these Victoria made Gretsch amps do not share the same components as a Victoria branded product, they do represent the best we could've done for a behemoth like Fender. I'm very proud of the job we did and confident the history will judge these amps very favorably. At the end of the day, it wasn't substandard components or designs that plagued this project, it was poor communication and corporate lethargy which made the project frustrating.
Obligatory pic:
But I can honestly say, Victoria did this one right- they tweaked it to work especially with Gretsch guitars, and it shows. My only "complaint" (not really) is that they don't have reverb. Yes, I know the Executive does, but that's a different circuit (Deluxe Reverb, whereas the Playboy is a Pro Junior) and I've never gotten on with 15" speakers.
It's not super loud, but the Weber Mini-Mass does a great job of bringing the volume down a bit when cranking the amp up to get the goods. You can see I'm using minimum attenuation. And the Mini-Mass matches! LOL
With the Playboy, Mini-Mass, and RE-202, I'm finally REALLY happy with my Hot Rod's tone now... I thought maybe I just wasn't a Filtertron guy, turns out I just hadn't found the right amp yet. I still want to try one of Tavo's Blondeshells, and the Allen Hot Blond looks very inviting also.... those are both 50-watters, so I wouldn't be able to really use them until I got a better attenuator... a Fryette Power Station 2 is on the watchlist.
For those interested in the circuits, from Mark Baier of Victoria:
Pro Jr. (Playboy), Deluxe Reverb (Executive) and Super Reverb (Variety). each amp was optimized for GRETSCH guitars, not Fender. We prototyped using a Setzer 6120 and Duo Jets ('trons and Dyna sonics).
the most obvious upgrade for these Gretsch amps would be the output trans on the Playboy..use a 28W two leg or a 14 DR trans for mucho tonal upgrade over stock. The Exec and Variety are good to go, the trannys are fine.
While these Victoria made Gretsch amps do not share the same components as a Victoria branded product, they do represent the best we could've done for a behemoth like Fender. I'm very proud of the job we did and confident the history will judge these amps very favorably. At the end of the day, it wasn't substandard components or designs that plagued this project, it was poor communication and corporate lethargy which made the project frustrating.
Obligatory pic:
