Victory The Sheriff 25 User manual

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VICTORY ‘The Sheriff 25’USER GUIDE
All Valve 25-Watt Guitar Head & Combo

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Thank you, and congratulations on acquiring a Victory Amplification, ‘The Sheriff 25’
amplifier head or combo. These amps are proudly designed and built by our committed
team of engineers and craftsmen in the UK.
Note: The Sheriff 25 head and combo are identical in operation and use the same
electronics. The only difference being the combo has an internal Celestion G12H speaker.
We value simplicity in operation, flexibility in use and absolutely no compromise in tone.
Our aim is simple: to create amplifiers that inspire you ever onwards in your playing and
never let you down.
SAFETY FIRST
We want you to enjoy your amplifier to the best of its potential. So please…
Before you go any further, take a moment to read these SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS
• Read these guidelines & keep them
• Follow all instructions, guidelines & warnings, especially those in RED
• Do not use this amplifier near water or any other liquid
• Do not block any openings
• Do not attempt to clean the amplifier with any fluids: use only a dry cloth
•
Do not attempt to modify or service this product yourself
•
Removing covers could mean you are exposed to dangerous voltages that may result in
severe injury or death
• Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel
• Damage Requiring Service: Unplug this product from the wall outlet and refer servicing
to qualified service personnel under the following conditions:
(a) When the power-supply cord or plug is damaged;
(b) If liquid has been spilled, or objects have fallen into the product;
(c) If the product has been exposed to rain, water, or more likely, beer;
(d) If the product does not operate normally by following the operating instructions.
Adjust only those controls that are covered by the operating instructions. Improper
adjustment of other controls may result in damage and will often require extensive work
by a qualified technician to restore the product to its normal operation;
(e) If the product has been dropped or damaged in any way;
(f) When the product exhibits a distinct change in performance - this indicates a need for
service.
• It is the nature of valve amplifiers to get hot, so please take care when moving the amp
after use.
•Replacement Parts: When replacement parts are required, be sure the service
technician uses replacement parts specified by the manufacturer or have the same
characteristics as the original part. Unauthorized substitutions may result in fire,
electric shock, or other hazards.

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What’s included?
Your new Victory Sheriff 25 comes with the following:
1 x Dual Latching Footswitch for Channel Switching and Master Volume Switching
A mains lead for your country
A padded gigbag/dust cover
This User Guide
FRONT PANEL
INPUT
Plug your guitar in here.
VINTAGE GAIN
This control sets the Gain for the Vintage Channel. The more it is turned up, the more
Gain is added to the input signal control and adds a classic British crunch to the sound.
Use low settings for maximum clean headroom and higher settings when you want to
introduce more natural valve overdrive to your tone.
Balancing this control with the Master control is crucial in delivering the tone and feel
that works best for you.
CHANNEL SWITCH
This switches between the two channel, Vintage & Hot Rod. This function is also foot-
switchable using the supplied 2-Way latching footswitch.
HOT ROD GAIN
This control sets the Gain for the Hot Rod Channel. This has higher gain adding a further
gain stage for more ‘modded’ 70s & 80s classic rock and beyond.
Use low settings for maximum clean headroom and higher settings when you want to
introduce more natural valve overdrive to your tone.
Balancing this control with the Master control is crucial in delivering the tone and feel
that works best for you.
TREBLE
Controls the high frequency content of your sound and is also a powerful tone shaper
when it comes to overdrive character.

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MIDDLE
Controls the midrange frequencies in your sound. Run the middle control higher to help
cut through a band mix, or generally fatten and ‘widen’ your sound. Run it lower for a
lighter, less ‘in-your-face’ kind of sound.
BASS
This controls the low frequency content of your sound. Higher levels of bass can be good
at low volumes, but take care when running the amp louder –you may find you need to
reduce the bass control. As with all the EQ pots, adjust to taste!
MASTER 1 & MASTER 2
The MASTER volumes are independently switchable of the two channels and this is
achieved using the supplied 2-Way footswitch. These controls are used to set the stage or
overall volume for the two channels.
PRESENCE
This controls a different part of the high frequency response of your amplifier than the
treble control. You might like to see it as a ‘master high end’ control that helps you tame,
or perhaps enliven your tone depending on your environment, without having to change
your EQ.
The Presence control is positioned in the negative feedback loop in the power section. It
has a distinct effect on how your guitar feels, so play, listen and set to taste.
PREHEAT –ON Switch
The Sheriff 25 should always be switched to PREHEAT first to allow the valve heaters to
warm up. Once the rear mains switch is turned ON, the amplifier is now in a preheat
mode with just the valve heaters and low voltages on. This allows the valves to heat up
before they get 100s of volts up them, (it’s less of a shock).
Ensure the MASTER volumes are turned down to avoid sudden deafness and after around
60 seconds, the amp can be switch to ON.
Please always leave at least 30 seconds before switching from PREHEAT to OFF. This will
ensure extended valve life and avoid any power-down noise. This is especially relevant if
you are running through a large PA system as any small pop may become amplified to
audience death levels, which may limit your music career.
REAR PANEL

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Voltage Selector
The Voltage Selector is located on the side of the Sheriff 25 amplifier and selects the
correct mains voltage for your territory. Please refer to a qualified technician before even
thinking about moving this switch. If you do find yourself in foreign climes where the
mains voltage is different to home, (and the water tastes funny), it will be necessary to
switch this selector. The mains fuse must always be changed at the same time. Failure to
do this will result in either the mains fuse blowing as soon as the amp is turned on or the
amp running with a fuse that is of too higher value to provide adequate safety protection.
Generally, the fuse value will double if the mains voltage is halved, (i.e. if it’s a 0.5A fuse
in the UK @ 230V, it will needs to be a 1A fuse for the USA @ 115V).
Always use the correct rating and type of fuse. Victory amplifiers exclusively use UL-
approved 20x5mm glass ‘T’ or ‘Timed’ fuses. If you have difficulty acquiring the correct
fuses, please contact Victory using [e-mail].
The voltage selector in the Sheriff 25 combo is inside the amplifier chassis. To change the
voltage in a Combo, the amplifier chassis will need to be removed from the cabinet and
then the rear wooden panel removed to gain access to the inside. Two of the amplifier
fixings are located under the rear information panel, so this will also need to be removed
to release the amp section.
Mains inlet (IEC Socket) and Power ON switch.
The mains fuse is located in a small tray between the IEC inlet and the Power On switch.
Please only use the correct mains cord for your territory!
HT FUSE
The HT or ‘High Tension’ fuse protects the high voltage for the valve supply. If this fuse
blows, the first step is to replace it with an identical T250mA 20x5mm fuse. The HT fuse
may sometimes blow due to ‘flash-over’ inside an output valve. This is where during the
manufacturing process, not all of the gas is removed from the glass envelope and the
‘getter’ inside the valve, usually made from barium or magnesium oxide, will burn or
evaporate these remaining gasses resulting in the common silvered internal surface of the
valve. This process, which is more likely to happen with new equipment, draws high
current momentarily and can blow the HT fuse. It will rarely cause any damage so just
replacing the fuse is sufficient to get the amp running normally again.
However, if the HT FUSE repeatedly blows, it may indicate a serious valve failure where
internal parts of a valve are shorted and in this case the amplifier needs to be checked by
a qualified engineer to assess the problem.
VERY IMPORTANT WARNINGS!!
In certain countries, (specifically, Nordic countries), is it totally forbidden to open up any
electronic equipment or to work on them at all unless you are a fully qualified and