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Great preamp pedal!
By: Imh00052
Submitted: 11/29/2023
Product Rating
Product Review
This is a heavy OD. I love the tubes and how they imprint that tube tone on your sound. You can get pretty heavy overdrive a this thing. It chugs for sure. If I had to do it again I’d buy the amplifier pedal instead so I can run it straight to a cab!
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Very versatile tube preamp pedal
By: Dave
Submitted: 11/5/2022
5 people found this review helpful.
Product Review
I was interested in the Kraken Amp and decided to give this pedal a tryout. The pedal has very good tones on both channels.
On the higher gain channel, there is a cranked power amp feel and sound to that channel, which although it's a preamp is pretty cool as it feels like you are pushing the power section of a real tube power amp. The tone controls are very useable and give different response and feel based on the type of power amp you run it in to. The nice thing about this pedal, is it can be used as a "second and 3rd" channel to an existing amp when connected in (4 cable mode). This means when the pedals is bypassed, you can use your amps preamp. The lower gain channel can give you dirty clean and dirty blues like tones all the way to crunch tones. The higher gain channel gives you more of the modern tight distortion tones. The only complaint I would have, is the lower gain channel is more of a vintage voiced channel and is very good, but it doesn't seem to go with the higher gain channel, meaning you're not going to have a nice aggressive high gain crunch channel paired with a lead channel. Instead, you would need a boost pedal on the high gain channel to make it more of a high gain crunch/lead setup and the other channel would be more of a vintage channel.
The remote 1/4-inch jack is nice if you want the pedal to be switched by a amp switcher when running as part of a pedalboard setup, which I currently have setup. Overall, a great pedal with great tone and versatility.
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Sound good but no match for the actual amp.
By: MC
Submitted: 7/28/2022
Product Review
Tone stack and the sound is good. However when compared to the VX-100 Kraken amp you can hear it's not the same of course. If money is no issue then I suggest the actual amp.
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Awesome preamp pedal
By: Chauncy
Submitted: 5/14/2021
9 people found this review helpful.
Product Review
I liked the kraken tone so much I sent this preamp back and got the whole amp lol. Can't get enough of the thick tight distortion.
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Release the Kraken!!!! This Monster of a Preamp Pedal breathes life into any amp!!
By: Daniel B.
Submitted: 8/28/2020
4 people found this review helpful.
Product Review
I've had this AWESOMENESS of a Preamp for a few weeks now, and man is it killer. The main standout of this preamp, to me, is the Gain 1 channel. When using it in Amp Through Mode, Gain 1 acts as a Semi Dirty channel with amazing clarity when the gain is at 2...ONLY 2. The tone is pristine. Add any Overdrive and you got a MONSTER that can be seen in water as clear as the Hawaiian shores. No Overdrive is necessary with this Preamp Pedal, that's just how I play. This beast has exceeded all of my expectations. The one thing I recommend when getting The Kraken is a Noise Gate pedal. The Kraken brings a whole new level of gain in both channels. No matter which mode is being used, always place the gate after The Kraken. You'll thank me later. All in all, MONEY WELL INVESTED...RELEASE THE KRAKEN!!
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Such a great pre-amp.
By: Rich
Submitted: 5/18/2020
13 people found this review helpful.
Product Review
Such a great pre-amp. Putting this pedal in your effects loop adds so much versatility to your amp. Sounds awesome. Well worth the money.
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sounds Awesome
By: steven Pierce
Submitted: 4/9/2020
6 people found this review helpful.
Product Review
2 great distinct sounds, very easy to get it sounding great 1st try.
It sounds fantastic,
Ive had it about 5 months
my Band instantly said wow that thing sounds great.
Exceeds all my expectations
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Sounds great.
By: James
Submitted: 9/27/2019
3 people found this review helpful.
Product Review
I just want to say that I rarely review products, so bare with me. After having this thing for 2 weeks I'm ready to review it. All the control are very responsive, and have one of the most useable ranges on any amp or pedal I've used.
I'm running this preamp through my Tweaker 40 amp, and I love it. Ice run it both stand alone, and with a boss eq200 set with a very tube screamer-esk curve. It honestly sounds good at any setting, and has a balls to the wall sound that has the perfect mid range bite.
On a less positive note, I'm not a fan of the gain one. It's the marshal modeled channel. It's alright, it cleans up nicely, but I definitely prefer my Tweaker. However the gain 2 channel is amazing.
And finally to wrap this all up. I find the sound of the Kraken as a more modern sounding 5150/6505 it's definitely thinker than my 6505+ and just has this mid range that is to kill for on high gain. And yes it does djent, and if you use a pre-eq, or the right boost, it can sound like Meshuggah.
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Release the Kraken!
By: Giovanni Rafii
Submitted: 9/24/2019
4 people found this review helpful.
Product Review
This preamp is complete, tonal bliss and easily one of the most versatile around. Whether you’re going for a subtle overdrive or full on modern high gain; this preamp covers it all with remarkable warmth, clarity and articulation.
The tubes really make all the difference. Especially, if you’re running it in front of a digital recording interface. As great as plugins can be, nothing compares to the feel of a good tube amp and with this preamp applied to a digital recording application, you can get the best of both worlds.
I really could not recommend this preamp highly enough and would buy it again without hesitation.
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Classic Rock to Brutality in One Box
By: Michael
Submitted: 9/12/2019
3 people found this review helpful.
Product Review
My favorite overdriven amp sounds are the Marshall JCM900 and the Peavey 5150. This pedal (and the full blown amp) is based on both of those amps in one box. I've owned a lot of amps over the years, and this blows them all out of the water. I absolutely love it, and my bandmates commented on how thick and crushing my tone is. It's a keeper for life!
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Two extra channels of English gain!
By: Jack
Submitted: 7/27/2019
3 people found this review helpful.
Product Review
I just received my Krakken, hooked it up with 4-cable method, and got the exact sounds I wanted out of it in a few minutes! It worked great with front and back end pedals including a looper. This was very easy to use and tweak. The result: absolutely earth shattering! Gain one sounds like a dimed AC30 and gain two moves way into modern crunch in the best way. This is exactly what I was looking for to add to my rig.
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All the tones you need
By: lackhand
Submitted: 7/22/2019
4 people found this review helpful.
Product Review
I added this to my Orange Dark Terror amp and it sounds great. The Dark Terror by itself is amazing, but it only has one channel. This pedal effectively adds two more channels,
But I’m not here to talk about the Orange. This preamp pedal gives you all kinds of options from barely breaking up, to screaming, full metal high gain sounds, and even with the gain cranked, keeps individual note definition for extended chords if that’s your thing. I use mine with the amp through mode (connected through the effects loop) and in my opinion, that’s where it really shines. I’ve tried it between guitar and amp like a regular overdrive pedal and it sounds pretty great that way too. The bright switch seems to help dial in the pedal to the amp, but I’ve only tried it with the one amp. I have no complaints at all. Would buy again for sure.
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Awesome!
By: John
Submitted: 7/20/2019
3 people found this review helpful.
Product Review
Just buy it you will be glad you did. It gives you two additional channels on your amp. It's really like having a completely different amp all together. The tones you can get from the Kraken are incredible from glassy cleans to aggressive overdrives. Victory Amps mission is to inspire you and you will definitely be inspired by the tones you can get out of this pre amp.
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Killer sound
By: ERWebster
Submitted: 5/14/2019
9 people found this review helpful.
Product Review
Got it running as a preamp into the FX Loop of a Katana 100 Head. I love the Katana, but the distortion sounds were never quite right, and I couldn't seem to quite get there with various pedals either. This, this is what I was looking for. This is the sound, the texture, the feel. Amazing piece of equipment, worth every penny.