The Beatles. Whether you dig ’em or not, there’s no denying their influence on music since they came on the scene in the early 1960’s. Today we get to check out a pedal that captures their spirit and sound, complete with artwork by an iconic illustrator and sounds from one of the rarest amps of all time. The Dr. Robert from Aclam is an overdrive preamp that encapsulates the sounds from the Vox UL730 amplifier, a solid-state/tube amp hybrid used on the Beatles’ “Revolver” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” albums. Let’s check it out!
Based on the Normal channel of an actual UL730, the Dr. Robert effect works with the same voltages found in the original amps, using an internal charge pump circuit that converts 9VDC power to 18VDC. It uses components of the finest craftsmanship, including carbon comp resistors, Nichicon Fine Gold and Wima caps, Alpha pots and switches, for an extremely reliable pedal with a superb tone. It also incorporates the Smart Track fastening system, designed to match perfectly with Aclam’s Smart Track pedalboards (more info here).
There’s a FET based circuit that follows the preamp, which emulates the saturation produced by the original amp’s tube power amp section, giving the Gain control a nice bit of growl as it is increased. The Mids knob has a huge range of tones as well, and helps to control both the midrange frequencies and the saturation. There’s also a secondary footswitch, “Mach Schnau!”, which adds in more saturation to your sound via a single, independent volume control. This is perfect for accentuated parts, solo sections or as an always-on for those bands that are always wanting to ROCK. True bypass switching also ensures that your original tone stays in tact when the pedal is bypassed.
Unfortunately, there were only about 100 of the UL730 amps produced, with many of them being returned to Vox and destroyed. Only 25-ish exist in the wild today, but that classic tone and odd hybrid preamp drive are readily available, thanks to this painstaking recreation by Aclam. The Dr. Robert has only a few controls, but so much sound lies inside, waiting to be explored. Plus, it has been designed to work with both guitar AND bass, as the Beatles used it for recording both back in the day. The illustration by “Revolver” cover artist Klaus Voorman really brings that spirit and feel of those classic LPs back to life, and the sounds fit perfectly as well. Not just for Beatles fans, but definitely for Beatles fans, the Dr. Robert is a wonderful amp driver and tone enhancer for anyone and everyone – cheers to the Aclam crew for such hard work and dedication, it has absolutely paid off! Be sure to check out our demo below to hear it in action!
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