The Victory V1 The Jack is an analog overdrive pedal that puts the gain sounds of a Victory tube amp into a compact stompbox. Specifically, it emulates the V30 Jack Amp, a Victory model designed in conjunction with Guthrie Govan1. GuitarPlayer's Dave Hunter described it as "a distinctly British-stack-voiced overdrive with good medium-gain crunch to lead tones"2.
The Victory V1 The Jack is an overdrive pedal, described by its maker as a distinctly British-stack-voiced overdrive with good medium-gain crunch to lead tones2.
A Victory amp circuit built with Guthrie Govan
The V1 Jack pedal emulates the gain sounds of the V30 Jack Amp, which Victory designed in conjunction with Guthrie Govan1. Hunter's review adds context on why that amp exists: "The Jack emulates an original Victory amp model, designed in collaboration with Guthrie Govan to suit his perfect fly rig"2. In other words, the pedal traces back to an amp built for a touring player's compact setup, then repackaged in pedal form.
The pedal itself was developed as part of the V1 series, a collaboration between Victory and Adrian Thorpe MBE, with Martin Kidd as Chief Designer at Victory1. Guitar Pedal X describes the series as "developed by Adrian Thorpe and Martin Kidd," covering a spread of amp voices from Fender and Vox through Marshall to more modern high-gain territory3.
The five-pedal family gives each Victory amp a pedal counterpart:
| V1 pedal | Amp voice |
|---|---|
| The Duchess | V40 Duchess, versatile and responsive to playing dynamics |
| The Jack | V30 Jack, designed with Guthrie Govan |
| The Sheriff | Victory's Plexi-inspired Sheriff amp |
| The Copper | Copper series, EL84-powered British rock voice |
| The Kraken | VX Kraken, developed with Rabea Massaad |
Darker and warmer than the Duchess
The most direct published comparison of The Jack comes from Dave Hunter's GuitarPlayer review, which covered the Duchess and the Jack side by side. His verdict on where The Jack sits2:
"it sits in that ground between earlier Boogie Mark series and the late-'70s/early '80s Marshall 2204 Master Model"
He found The Jack "a little less balanced and neutral than the Duchess, but that's its nature," describing it as darker and warmer, with more girth and aggression and a pronounced midrange bark2. By contrast, the Duchess is built to be versatile and highly responsive to playing dynamics, and Hunter found it excels with the gain set between 11 o'clock and two o'clock, getting "a little hairy and murky" when maxed2.
For a player choosing between them, the practical difference is voicing: the Duchess leans toward a cleaner, more balanced platform, while The Jack pushes a thicker, mid-forward British crunch. The other V1 pedals cover further ground, with the Sheriff and Copper pairing described by Guitar Pedal X as covering Marshall and Vox territory3.
Power and connections
The Jack runs on a 9V DC center-negative supply6. Victory's own product page lists the current draw as 17.3mA1, while RockBoard's PedalPedia entry lists 15mA6; the two sources disagree, so plan a power supply around the higher figure.
The V1 pedals are external-power-only. Reviews of other pedals in the series note there is no room inside for a battery, and the nine-volt center-negative jack sits on the front face alongside the single input and output jacks2.
The pedal runs on a typical 9V pedalboard supply, so it will work with the same isolated or daisy-chain setup used for other 9V center-negative pedals61.
Availability
As of April 2026, the Jack is listed as unavailable on Victory's own site, with preorder and notify options offered rather than a direct purchase1. Other V1 pedals show similar status on Victory's pages, so a player wanting one may need to watch for restocks or look to the secondhand market.
Videos
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Questions
Is the Victory V1 The Jack analog or digital?
It is an analog pedal. RockBoard's PedalPedia entry for The Jack lists the circuit type as analog, and the wider V1 series was described at launch as Victory doing its amp designs justice in solid state pedal form.
Who designed the Victory V1 The Jack?
The V1 series is a collaboration between Victory and pedal builder Adrian Thorpe MBE of Thorpy FX, with Martin Kidd as Chief Designer at Victory. The amp it emulates, the V30 Jack, was designed in conjunction with Guthrie Govan.
What power supply does the Victory V1 The Jack need?
It runs on a 9V DC center-negative power supply. Victory's product page lists the current draw as 17.3mA, while RockBoard's PedalPedia entry lists 15mA, so the two sources disagree on the exact figure.
Does the Victory V1 The Jack run on a battery?
The V1 pedals are external-power-only designs. Reviews of other pedals in the series note there is no room inside for a battery, and the power jack sits on the front face alongside the input and output jacks.
How does The Jack differ from the Duchess in the V1 series?
GuitarPlayer's Dave Hunter found The Jack darker and warmer than the Duchess, with more girth, aggression and a pronounced midrange bark, and a little less balanced and neutral. The Duchess aims at a more versatile, dynamics-responsive clean-to-crunch voice.
Is the Victory V1 The Jack still in production?
As of April 2026 the Jack is listed as unavailable on Victory's own site, with preorder and notify options offered instead of a direct purchase. The same is true of other pedals in the V1 series on Victory's pages.
Sources (6)
- V1 Jack - Victory Amps, Victory Amps (www.victoryamps.com), 2026-04-21
- Victory V1 the Duchess and the Jack Overdrive Reviews, GuitarPlayer (www.guitarplayer.com), 2022-12-14
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2024-02-27
- Victory teams with Thorpy FX for overdrive pedals based on its most popular guitar amps, MusicRadar, 2022-09-29
- New Pedal Day Victory V1, EQD Special Cranker, Fender Space Delay, Empress Comp MkII, That Pedal Show (YouTube), 2022-11-01
- The Jack V1 by Victory, RockBoard PedalPedia, 2026
