The Victory V1 The Sheriff is a compact overdrive pedal that packs Victory's Plexi-inspired Sheriff amp into a stompbox. It is part of the V1 series, Victory's first line of compact pedals, launched in September 2022 alongside the Duchess, Jack, Kraken and Copper models, each based on one of the company's flagship amps1. The Sheriff takes its cues from the Sheriff 22 and 44 amplifiers, which themselves draw on the sound of the Marshall Plexi line, aiming to cover everything from '60s British blues rock to '80s metal23.
Unlike the amps it emulates, the pedal contains no tubes: it is a solid-state design, hand-wired and built in Britain4. Victory's product page currently lists the V1 Sheriff as unavailable, so players looking for one are searching remaining dealer stock and the used market2.
A Plexi-inspired amp in a pedal
Victory says the V1 Sheriff is based on the Sheriff 22 and 44 amps and aims to give a wide variety of tones from '60s British blues rock onward2. Reviewers place its lineage more specifically: Guitar.com's Matt McCracken described it as "based on Victory's Plexi-inspired amp that does everything from 60s Blues to 80s hair metal"6, and Delicious Audio called it "inspired by the sound of the Marshall Plexi line of amps"3. In Sweetwater's demo video, Nick Bowcott introduced it as an amp-in-a-box pedal inspired by "a classic British amp synonymous with the groundbreaking blues-rock tones of the '60s"4.
The pedal is one of five V1 models, each a stompbox version of a Victory amp: the Copper (a Vox AC30-style voice), the Duchess, the Jack, the Kraken and the Sheriff1. Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson reviewed the Sheriff alongside the V1 The Copper as a preamp pairing, treating them as his Marshall JTM45 and Plexi and Vox AC30 slots for Brian May and Eddie Van Halen style tones7.
The controls
The control set is straightforward: five knobs plus a bypass footswitch64.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Gain | Victory says it is designed to make it easy to go from low-gain vintage-style sounds all the way through to classic '80s metal sounds2 |
| Volume | Sets the output level4 |
| Bass | Low-end shaping, part of the three-band EQ2 |
| Middle | Midrange shaping, part of the three-band EQ2 |
| Treble | Top-end shaping, part of the three-band EQ2 |
| Footswitch | True bypass on/off4 |
Victory describes the three-band EQ as "powerful" and suited to sculpting the sound to work with any amp and setup2. Delicious Audio's Plexi-pedal roundup noted that the pedal "nails the classic Plexi overdriven and distorted tones and also includes a 3-way EQ section to sculpt the sound as needed"8. Guitar.com also praised a small practical detail: the large blue LED is not set to "burn your eyes out" when you lean in close to tweak settings6.
The enclosure itself is distinctive: Guitar.com described it as a substantial gold-colored unit with ornate black patterning and a barbary-inspired lion, in keeping with the Sheriff amp's styling6.
Power: 9V, 17.4mA
The Sheriff runs on 9V DC, center negative, drawing 17.4mA24. There is no battery option: as Nick Bowcott put it in Sweetwater's demo, "as it's so full of electronics, there's no darn room in it for a battery"4.
External power only. The Sheriff needs a 9V center-negative DC adapter, so plan for a pedalboard power supply rather than a battery, and check that your supply's polarity matches4.
At 17.4mA it is an easy load for any isolated power brick, and its 125mm x 43mm x 66mm footprint (including feet) and 0.472kg weight make it a genuinely compact board option2.
Made with ThorpyFX
The V1 series is a collaboration between Victory and pedal builder Adrian Thorpe MBE of Thorpy FX2. Thorpe worked with Martin Kidd, Victory's chief designer and the man behind the original amps, to capture the voice of each valve counterpart24. Victory says the pair were keen to make the V1 pedals sound as close to the full-bore valve amps as possible2.
The Sheriff is designed and built in Britain, which Victory calls "a true collaboration between two British companies"29. Sweetwater's demo adds that each unit is hand-built in Surrey, England, with hand-wired construction4. Gearnews reported at launch that all five V1 pedals use true-bypass switching and are made in the UK10.
What reviewers said
Guitar.com's Matt McCracken rated the Sheriff 8 out of 10, concluding:
"Easy to use and eminently versatile, this distortion pedal will find a spot on even the most cluttered pedalboard6."
He listed its true bypass, three-band EQ and UK build among its features, at a price of £1996.
On That Pedal Show, Mick focused on how the pedal handles the Plexi's signature midrange, saying the Sheriff "has just enough of that really super aggressive upper mid-range that you would associate with something like" a Plexi, dialed in to give the flavor without the unusable full amount, and describing it broadly as "the EL34 Marshall kind of tonality"11.
Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson compared it directly with the V1 The Copper, finding that the Copper has slightly more volume and gain range than the Sheriff, with a more harmonic and richly textured breakup7. Delicious Audio added the Sheriff to its roundup of the best Plexi-style overdrives3.
Sweetwater's Nick Bowcott demoed the full control set and the range of tones from low-gain vintage sounds through '80s metal in his video walkthrough26.
Videos
Victory Amplifiers
Pedal Empire
Questions
Is the Victory V1 The Sheriff true bypass?
Yes. The Sheriff uses true bypass switching, so with the pedal disengaged your signal passes through without coloring it. The bypass is handled by a single footswitch, and a large blue LED shows the effect status without being overly bright when you lean in to adjust settings.
Can the Victory V1 The Sheriff run on a battery?
No. The pedal runs on external 9V DC power only, center negative, drawing 17.4mA. There is no room inside the enclosure for a battery, so you will need a 9V power supply or a pedalboard power brick with a center-negative output.
Is the Victory V1 The Sheriff a preamp or a distortion pedal?
It sits between the two. Victory describes it as an overdrive pedal that captures its Sheriff amp in stompbox form, while Guitar.com reviewed it as a distortion pedal and Guitar Pedal X treated it as a preamp pedal paired with the V1 The Copper. In practice it is an amp-in-a-box pedal with a full three-band EQ.
Is the Victory V1 The Sheriff still in production?
Victory's product page currently lists the V1 Sheriff as unavailable, so new units are not being sold directly by the maker. It was one of five V1 pedals launched in September 2022 alongside the Duchess, Jack, Kraken and Copper models.
Where is the Victory V1 The Sheriff made?
The Sheriff is designed and built in Britain. Victory describes it as a collaboration between two British companies, and Sweetwater's demo notes that each unit is hand-built in Surrey, England, with hand-wired construction.
How big is the Victory V1 The Sheriff?
It measures 125mm x 43mm x 66mm including the feet and weighs 0.472kg, roughly 1.1 pound. That is a compact single-footswitch enclosure, similar in size to the rest of the V1 series, so it fits easily on a crowded pedalboard.
Sources (11)
- Victory teams with Thorpy FX for overdrive pedals based on its most popular guitar amps, MusicRadar, 2022-09-29
- V1 Sheriff, Victory Amps (www.victoryamps.com), 2026-04-21
- Victory V1 The Sheriff Overdrive, Delicious Audio, 2022-12-11
- Victory Amplification V1 The Sheriff Pedal Demo, Sweetwater (YouTube), 2022-12-11
- Watch Thorpy FX pedals get blown to smithereens, Guitar.com, 2022-10-19
- Victory Amps V1 The Sheriff Overdrive Pedal review, Guitar.com, 2022-12-13
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2024-02-27
- 2024 Best Plexi Pedals & Marshall-Style Distortions: A Buyer's Guide, Delicious Audio, 2024-09-16
- V1 Sheriff by Victory, RockBoard PedalPedia, 2026
- Victory V1 Pedals launch with a little help from ThorpyFX, gearnews.com, 2022-09-29
- New Pedal Day Victory V1, EQD Special Cranker, Fender Space Delay, Empress Comp MkII, That Pedal Show (YouTube), 2022-11-01
