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V40 The Duchess
Vintage-style American cleans to vintage British break-up. Great with your pedals too
All the elusive, vintage pushed clean and drive sounds you love for anything from blues to roots and rock'n'roll
This single-channel, all-valve amp is all about maximum tone with minimum confusion, housed in the same light and portable chassis as our award-winning V30 The Countess. Voice 1 offers mid-’60-type American warm clean tones. Voice II is subtly stronger and more ’50s in character. As you push the gain and engage the Mid-Kick function, the V40 takes on a more ’60s British voice for timeless blues-rock tones. All the time the V40 responds to your guitar, responds to you: it’s one for the ‘feel’ players.
Guitarist Magazine
Gear of the Year
2015
Guitar & Bass
Gear of the Year
2015
Guitarist Choice Award
March 2013
"A very portable head with stunning low-gain tone that's in a class of its own."
Single Channel & Voice Switch
You can go from clean, ’60s Californian tones with single coils, through to a driven mid-’60s British overdrive all in one channel. Voice II strengthens the midrange subtly at the input for more punch and cut.
Reverb
V40 The Duchess uses a digital reverb section which sits somewhere between a plate and hall-type sound. It's 'smoother' and more 'modern' sounding than a traditional spring reverb. It's hard bypassable too if you want it totally out of the circuit.
Low Power Options
The front panel switch offers a low-power mode for around 7 watts. In addition, you can use the single-ended mode which selects to just one or other of the power valves in Class A operation (use them evenly to keep the wear roughly equal). Low power and single-ended mode together will take the output down below 1 watt RMS.
Mid Kick
This works in conjunction with the Middle pot to boost midrage frequencies in the EQ section. The more you push the Midde pot, the more it pushes overdriven sounds, especially with humbuckers.
Series Effects Loop
The hard-bypassable effects loop enables you to use delays, reverbs etc after the preamp section of the amp to keep them clean sounding. If they aren't as clear as you like, try lowering the mix/output of the pedal, especially as you turn the amp master up.
6L6 or EL34 Power Valves
V40 gives you the option of running either EL34 or 6L6 power valves. They offer subtly different tonal characteristics in terms of power stage overdrive and also overall frequency response. Notice we said subtle! There's a bias range switch to get you in the right ballpark, but precise bias adjustment is also advised whenever you change power valves.
V40 The Duchess key features & specification
Format: Single channel head
Power: 42 Watts,
Low Power: 7 Watts,
High Power Single-Ended: 1.5 Watts,
Low Power Single-Ended: 0.5 Watts
Valves: 3 x 12AX7, 2 x EL34 as standard
Size (mm): 342(w) x 185(h) x 185(d) including handle, feet & controls
Weight: 8.2kg / 18.1lbs
Extra features:
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Two-position Voice switch
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Mid Kick switch
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Footswitchable digital reverb with hard bypass option
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Series effects loop with hard bypass
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Power valves switchable to 6L6
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Single-ended mode
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Skeletonised metal case with rubber handle
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Padded carry bag included
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Single-button footswitch for reverb on/off included
A very portable head with stunning low-gain tone that's in a class of its own.
Guitarist Magazine
Recommended Cabinets
V112-CC
Our open-backed, compact 1x12 uses a Celestion G12M-65 Creamback for the ultimate in portability and tone. We think the M-65 Creamback is a little sweeter at lower volumes than the H-75 version. It's also less efficient and less strident in the upper midrange. We like it in the little cab. 425mm wide.
V112-WC-75
Designed for the V40 Deluxe, this 1x12 wide body, open-backed cab is 600mm across. It also works superbly with The Duchess, should you want an overall 'bigger' sound than the V112-C. The H-75 Creamback is a more efficient, bolder-sounding speaker than the M-65, really suiting louder, cleaner tones if headroom is your thing.
V212-VCD
This open-backed 2x12 uses a pair of Celestion G12M-65 Creamback speakers. People are often amazed when they first hear the sheer 'size' and resonance of our vertical 2x12s, due in part to the solid pine principal construction. It has all the vibe of your favourite vintage cab, but with a stage- and car-friendly footprint, and easy one-hand carry. 485mm wide.
