Victory V1 The Kraken Amp Distortion Pedal

Retailing in the region of £149.00

On the menu for January 2026 are the Victory Guitar Pedals, freshly added and carefully selected. These New units are available to order online with fast, secure delivery from trusted UK retailers. Read on for full details, specifications, demos, videos, reviews, and the best places to buy the Victory Guitar Pedals today.


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On the menu for January 2026 are the Victory Guitar Pedals, freshly added and carefully selected. These New units are available to order online with fast, secure delivery from trusted UK retailers. Read on for full details, specifications, demos, videos, reviews, and the best places to buy the Victory Guitar Pedals today.

The Victory V1 Series comprises five compact "amp-in-a-box" drive pedals, with each unit based on one of the British brand's core guitar amp families — from the clean boutique-inspired Duchess, to the monstrous high-gain Kraken!

Designed in collaboration with award-winning pedal maker Adrian Thorpe MBE (of ThorpyFX) and hand-built in the UK, these high-quality effects gloriously capture the essence of Victory's acclaimed amplifiers in incredible detail.

Victory V1 'The Kraken'

This particular V1 pedal is all about gain! Made to emulate the colossal distortion tones of the VX Kraken amp (designed with Rabea Massaad), the V1 Kraken pedal can inject your rig with ferocious drive — turning any modest clean amplifier into a gigantic-sounding beast! Keeping the gain control down will yield the British-style distortion of the VX's first channel. Increase the gain knob to move more towards American territory; replicating channel 2 on the VX amplifier.

Key Features

  • 3-Band EQ — Akin to the tone-shaping controls you'd find on guitar amplifiers, these knobs allow you to precisely adjust the lows, mids and highs; offering more sonic flexibility than most drive pedals.
  • Top-Mounted Jacks — The input and output jacks, along with the power input, are ergonomically placed at the top of the enclosure to help save precious real-estate on your pedalboard.
  • Dependable Design — The robust steel chassis is made to survive even the most demanding of tours, with the solid-state circuitry ensuring years of reliable use.

Martin Kidd & Adrian Thorpe on the V1 Series:

"Being able to make use of Adrian Thorpe's experience, and the various subtleties of his design ethic, enabled us to better appeal to the player who likes a clean amp platform; getting their various sounds from pedals." — Martin Kidd, Chief Designer at Victory

"We were keen to make the V1 pedals sound as close to the full-bore valve amps as possible, in solid-state pedal form. It took a long time and many times we had to go back to the drawing board. Despite this, maintaining an uncompromising nature of what the Victory sound is, means that pedal fiends worldwide can enjoy these; no matter what their flavour preferences." — Adrian Thorpe MBE, ThorpyFX

Specifications

  • Controls: Volume, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble
  • Dimensions: 125 x 43 x 66 mm (incl. feet)
  • Power Requirements: 9V DC
  • Current Draw: 17.4mA
  • Weight: 0.472 Kgs

Additional information

Weight 0.5 kg

Brand

Victory

Victory Amplifiers are hand-built in the UK, designed for players who value tone, versatility, and craftsmanship. Known for their compact yet powerful amp heads and cabs, Victory blends boutique quality with real-world practicality. Models like the Kraken, Sheriff, and V4 series cover everything from crystal-clean tones to roaring high gain, all with exceptional clarity and dynamic response. Built to last and trusted by touring musicians, Victory delivers professional tone in a portable, road-ready format.

Category

Guitar Pedals

Tags

Distortion

Distortion pedals take your clean guitar signal and transform it into something bigger, bolder, and full of attitude. By clipping the waveform, they add sustain, bite, and aggression, creating that thick, compressed tone that’s powered rock music for decades. From the growling crunch of classic hard rock to the tight, saturated roar of modern metal, distortion is all about energy and presence. It gives every note weight and authority, pushing your amp to its limits and beyond.

There are countless flavours of distortion, each with its own texture and edge. Some sound smooth and creamy, others raw and gnarly like tearing fabric. It’s the sonic equivalent of turning up the heat until the sound cooks — rich, sizzling, and perfectly seasoned to taste. Whether used for rhythm muscle or soaring leads, a good distortion pedal doesn’t just add volume; it adds personality, grit, and that unmistakable sense of power under your fingers.

EQ

While Ed Sheeran primarily relies on the natural sound of his acoustic guitar and vocals, he occasionally uses EQ (Equalization) to shape and enhance his tone during live performances or in the studio. EQ pedals or onboard preamps can allow him to adjust the frequency response of his guitar signal to suit the acoustics of different venues or to achieve specific tonal characteristics. Here’s how EQ might be utilized in Ed Sheeran’s setup:

1. **Tonal Shaping**: EQ can be used to adjust the balance of frequencies in the guitar signal, allowing Ed Sheeran to shape his tone to his liking. For example, he might boost the midrange frequencies to bring out the warmth and presence of his acoustic guitar, or cut certain frequencies to reduce any harshness or mud in the sound.

2. **Feedback Control**: In a live setting, EQ can help control feedback by notching out problematic frequencies that might cause the guitar signal to feed back through the amplification system. This can be particularly useful when performing in venues with challenging acoustics or high volume levels.

3. **Room Correction**: In situations where the venue’s acoustics are less than ideal, EQ can be used to compensate for any deficiencies in the sound. By adjusting the EQ settings, Ed Sheeran can tailor the guitar tone to sound more balanced and natural, regardless of the room’s acoustic properties.

4. **Matching Gear**: EQ can also be used to match the tone of Ed Sheeran’s guitar to the sound of other instruments or equipment in his setup. For example, he might adjust the EQ to complement the tonal characteristics of his vocal microphone or to blend seamlessly with backing tracks or other instruments.

Overall, while EQ may not be a central component of Ed Sheeran’s guitar effects setup, it can still play a valuable role in shaping his tone and ensuring that he achieves the desired sound in different performance environments. Whether used subtly for tonal shaping or more aggressively for feedback control, EQ allows Ed Sheeran to tailor his guitar tone to suit his musical vision and performance needs.

New

This is brand new, fresh in, and a UK warranty is included. New Gear always comes from trusted UK music retailers.

Volume

Volume pedals control the output level of a guitar signal using a foot-operated treadle. They allow smooth volume swells, dynamic control during playing, and easy muting between songs. Volume pedals can be placed at different points in the signal chain to either control overall loudness or adjust gain and drive behaviour when positioned before distortion or overdrive pedals.

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