Aclam Dr. Robert pedal?

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fernieite
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Aclam Dr. Robert pedal?

Post by fernieite »

Hi Guys,
Has anyone here tried the Aclam Dr. Robert pedal?
Sounds like the Aclam guys bought a very rare Vox UL730 amp, and made a replica in pedal form. Pretty expensive though...

https://www.aclamguitars.com/dr-robert
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Dr Tony Balls
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Re: Aclam Dr. Robert pedal?

Post by Dr Tony Balls »

I havent tried it but...

1) I dont get why you would do this and not make it a PROPER replica in pedal form. What gives with the mid control on the outside but the bass and treble are internal trimmers?

2) It would be easy to do a proper one, and in fact Stu Castledine may have already done it as I *think* the Vox Conqueror preamp is quite similar to the UL730
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sciencefriction
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Re: Aclam Dr. Robert pedal?

Post by sciencefriction »

I tried one last year and didn’t care much for it. Stu and I talked about the UL series a few years back, and if you’re chasing that sound you’ll do better with his 7120 Fuzz; or Magical Mystery Box. Probably into an AC30, or if possible I imagine an EL84 power amp? I’ve seen a couple of clones of the amp (one offs).. I wasn’t impressed with their take on it tbh. Amps in a box…
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Dr Tony Balls
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Re: Aclam Dr. Robert pedal?

Post by Dr Tony Balls »

sciencefriction wrote: Wed Aug 25, 2021 5:43 am or if possible I imagine an EL84 power amp?
Yeah that's the brunt of it, imo. You can make a pedal that is an exact clone of a solid state preamp from a known amp, but if you put it in front of your normal amp you're running a preamp into a preamp, effectively stacking drives. Its great if that works for you, but not gonna be the same thing as the original amp it intends to mimic.
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innerflight
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Re: Aclam Dr. Robert pedal?

Post by innerflight »

I’ve never understood ‘amp in a pedal’ pedals. I don’t want my Matamp to sound like a fender or vice versa :hmm:
’brutish in character but not thug like’
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Dr Tony Balls
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Re: Aclam Dr. Robert pedal?

Post by Dr Tony Balls »

I get it to a point, you just just gotta understand what you're dealing with. A friend of mine makes the Tronographic Rusty Box pedals, which are fairly straight up recreations of the preamp from a Traynor TS-50B. They straight up inform you that it can be used as an effect/distortion pedal or as a preamp fed into a power amp of your choosing. If you do the latter*, it sounds exactly like the amp.

Another popular thing to do is basically recreate classic tube preamps with FETs. The "Marshall-in-a-box" type thing. It's not gonna make your amp sound like a Marshall but it's a great approach to making a distortion pedal.


*I did the latter for said friend, using one of the Rusty Box PCBs as the preamp for a Sunn/Dynaco style backend. Sounded RAD!

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tigerdriver
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Re: Aclam Dr. Robert pedal?

Post by tigerdriver »

I just set my $50 ss Vox Pathfinder amp to a kind of shitty trebly sound, and it sounded close enough. Would love to try the Magical Mystery Box someday though... had a Lumpy’s Lemon Drop but that was one of those “Philip’s demo sounded so much better” pedals.
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resynthesis
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Re: Aclam Dr. Robert pedal?

Post by resynthesis »

innerflight wrote: Wed Aug 25, 2021 3:02 pm I’ve never understood ‘amp in a pedal’ pedals. I don’t want my Matamp to sound like a fender or vice versa :hmm:
Bloke I knew used to carry a Bognor La Grange around on tours when backline was variable. If he was given a Twin rather than a Marshall the Bognor would come out.
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Philip
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Re: Aclam Dr. Robert pedal?

Post by Philip »

tigerdriver wrote: Wed Aug 25, 2021 11:43 pm ...had a Lumpy’s Lemon Drop but that was one of those “Philip’s demo sounded so much better” pedals.
:smashed: :badteeth:
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Sauniere
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Re: Aclam Dr. Robert pedal?

Post by Sauniere »

Guess I’m in the minority. I love my Dr. Robert. It’s my second. Had to sell the first to pay some bills.

I like it considerably more than the Lumpy’s ZII. I think it cops a great Zepellin II tone. I use mine with a HX Stomp. Going to try some Altec speaker IRs to see if I can get closer to ZII.
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