Victory The Kraken Valve Overdrive / Preamp Pedal 2022
Victory The Kraken Valve Overdrive and preamp pedal, handmade in the UK, 2022. These are a pretty boutique preamp pedal that would happily serve in full-time studio contexts. This is the earlier version of this pedal, so please note there are some differences from the current model. You get two channels with The Kraken, each with an independent master for 2-stage gain. 'Gain 1' grants warm & woolly Marshall-like tones that play nice in many contexts. Jump over to 'Gain 2' and you get something that bears more semblance to an EVH, with higher gain and more bite. All this is thanks to the high-plate voltage EC900s and CV4014s on board, which is mean business. Of course, with a spattering of tubes run at high voltage, you'll get more dynamic depth, percussive attack, warmth and organic breakup. A 3-band EQ with high dB ranges gives you plenty of tone shaping facility. The 'bright' switch dampens the top-end (0 - neutral, -1, -2), which is useful if bypassing an amp's preamp stage. This is intended to be used either as an overdrive pedal OR as a 2-channel upgrade for your amp provided it has an FX loop. Imagine making your Hot Rod Deluxe chug like an EVH with a single stomp. What a Kraken thought.
Lastly, a note on the routing of these for the uninitiated:
Believe it or not, you're going to be running FOUR cables in and out of this guy for full functionality. So, going from left to right:
Guitar -> INPUT
THROUGH -> amp input
Amp FX loop out -> LOOP IN
LOOP OUT -> Amp FX loop return
This way, when you hit bypass, the amp will run normally, but when switched on, the preamp with behave as a new channel on the amp, cutting out the preamp stage of the amp. If you don't have an FX loop on your amp, you just use the input and the 'EFFECT OUT' into your amp and it will work as a standard overdrive pedal.
Model: Victory The Kraken
Made: UK; January, 2022
Tubes: 1 x EC900 and 3 x CV4014
Serial: 01923-0122
Type: valve preamp / overdrive
Power Input: 12VDC (-) 2A. DC adapter supplied
Accessories: non-original box, power supply
Condition notes: used, no major marks. Tested and fully functional.
Overall: excellent condition (9/10)