Victory's V4 The Kraken crams a 180W high-gain guitar amp into a pedal format

Victory has unveiled the latest addition to its V4 lineup of pedal-format guitar amps – the all-tube V4 Kraken pedal preamp, which comes equipped with a 180-watt power section and onboard Two Notes cab sim technology.

Following on from the brand’s previous V4 offerings of The Copper and The Duchess, The Kraken is described as an “incredibly powerful, lightweight, two-channel guitar amplifier” that seeks to offer up “all the best bits of the Kraken family”.

The compact unit is also dubbed an elegant solution for home and studio players looking for a small cab or desktop amp that provides classic Kraken tones, or for touring guitarists who need a pedalboard-friendly fixture.

In terms of specs, the V4 Kraken boasts two independent footswitchable channels with dedicated gain and volume controls that offer up subtle sonic differences. While the first channel is more tame, the second channel is said to serve up “monster high gain”.

Elsewhere, the unit features a three-band EQ made up of Bass, Middle and Treble knobs, as well as a dedicated Reverb control. Two final controls assigned to Sim Preset and Sim Level let users choose between 10 available Victory Virtual cabinets and dial them in as desired.

Victory V4 The Kraken Guitar Amp – Official Overview Video - YouTube Victory V4 The Kraken Guitar Amp – Official Overview Video - YouTube
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Said presets include six programmable voices created by Rabea Massaad, that are switchable from the V4 Kraken and can be edited and tweaked via Two Notes’ Torpedo Remote software.

A single guitar input is placed alongside a send and return series FX loop, with further Line Out, Footswitch and Speaker outputs also appearing. 

Said Martin Kidd, Victory’s Chief Designer, “After the success of the V4 Duchess Guitar amp, the Victory amps community kept asking: ‘Where is the Kraken version?’

“We wanted the V4 Kraken Guitar amp to have all the best bits of the range in a package that you could take with you everywhere,” he continued. “With the V4 Kraken, we wanted to give Kraken fans the best possible experience we could.

Two Notes Audio Engineering CEO Guillaume Pille added, “We are extremely excited to see the pedal-format Kraken V4 guitar amp be announced to the world.

“It has long been our vision that we work closely with the most exciting and forward thinking companies in our industry, and with Victory, the pedal-format Kraken guitar amp is the perfect way to highlight this.”

The Victory Kraken V4 Guitar amp is available to preorder now ahead of a May 5 release for $999.

For more information, head over to Victory.

Matt Owen
Senior Staff Writer, GuitarWorld.com

Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.