Universal Audio Dream '65 | Ruby '63 | Woodrow '55

Amp emulator pedals are always a delicate topic of conversation amongst guitar players, and while some of these pedals can be hit or miss, the three we’re checking out today from Universal Audio are completely legit, and more. Drawing inspiration from three classic amps first released many decades ago, the Dream ’65, Ruby ’63 and Woodrow ’55 allow you to easily lose yourself in vintage tone, and save your back during load-in at the gig as well. Lots to explore here, let’s dive right in…

All built on powerful dual-engine processing and UAD audio modeling expertise, these 3 effects pedals allow you to take world-class studio amp sound anywhere, complete with legendary mic/speaker pairings, boosts and amp mods. All three have Stereo In/Out connectivity, a USB-C port for firmware updates and Bluetooth discovery to pair with the UAFX Control mobile app, where you can download artist tones, customize features, explore presets and more. Let’s do a quick run through of each pedal, and you can learn more in our lengthy demo videos for each one as well:

Dream ’65 Reverb Amplifier

The Dream ’65 represents a classic American tube amp, providing bold cleans, sweet breakup and divine spring reverb and vibrato. Perfect for soul to surf, funk to punk, blues to bebop and more, this is the most authentic emulation of a mid-’60s American tube combo ever placed in a stompbox. Dream ’65 gives you the inspiring, album-ready tones of an expertly miked “golden unit” tube amp, within seconds. Take your vintage tone a step further with custom mods and legendary drive sounds made famous by artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Steve Lukather. With two iconic mods and a clean boost built-in, Dream ’65 lays down sounds that put whiz-bang amp modelers under the bunk bed.

Ruby ’63 Top Boost Amplifier

The Ruby ’63 encapsulates the sound of the British Invasion to a T, giving you the quintessential British valve amp sound beloved by artists and producers for over 60 years, from Queen to U2 to Radiohead. Ruby ’63 is the only stompbox that gives you the Normal, Brilliant, and Vibrato channels from the original amp — so you can fly to Ireland, London, or Liverpool with the flip of a switch. From mellow to chime to grind, it’s all here. It also packs classic boosts, right onboard – namely, the legendary ’60s Dallas Rangemaster germanium treble booster and the preamp of a ’70s Maestro EP-3 tape delay. Just flip the Boost switch for searing layered tones that put IR-based amp modelers in the bin.

Woodrow ’55 Instrument Amplifier

The Woodrow ’55 is the one that started it all, producing legendary American tweed tube amp sounds used by artists and producers for decades, from The Eagles to Chuck Berry to Neil Young. You get the best emulation of a mid-’50s American tweed amp ever packed into a pedal, going from dapper to dangerous with classic tube tones. Take your rowdy tweed tones further using tried-and-true British speaker swaps and boosts — including preamps from the iconic KORG SDD-3000 rack unit and Maestro EP-3 tape delay — at the flip of a switch. Only Woodrow ’55 puts authentic tube growl and hot-rod mods under your chucks, docs, or crocs.

For in-depth looks and listens at each of these marvelous creations, be sure to click the links for each demo video and head to our YouTube channel to see what all the buzz is about. We can’t thank Universal Audio enough for sending these over for us to check out, and can’t wait to review and demo more gear from them in the near future. Be sure to visit their website for ALL the info you can handle on each of these pedals, as well as their lineup of plugins, interfaces and more. As always, thanks for your support, cheers!!

Affiliate Links:
Sweetwater – https://bit.ly/3rGiLeA
Perfect Circuit – https://bit.ly/3pHpS6P
Amazon – https://amzn.to/3FN04Mq