Dead Ringers

Universal Audio's UAFX range expands with these 'one amp per box' emulators that capture the sounds of the world's greatest vintage guitar amplifiers

-  Trevor Curwen

UNIVERSAL AUDIO UAFX AMP EMULATORS

£339 EACH

CONTACT Universal Audio PHONE [phone] WEB www.uaudio.com

What You Need To Know

1 Doesn't Universal Audio specialise in plug-ins and studio gear?

Correct, but the company branched out into guitar pedals last year with the Golden Reverberator, Starlight Echo Station and Astra Modulation Machine units.

2 Are these more of the same, then?

They may look similar, but these are not effects pedals as such - they provide full-blown amp and speaker simulation. Each pedal represents one particular amp type.

3 Just one amp! There are usually multiple amps in these things....

Yes, but by dedicating all of its DSP to a single amp type, each pedal ought to be able to offer a really detailed and nuanced emulation of that amp and can also reproduce the exact same set of knobs the amp has for some familiar tweaking. So if it means increased sonic accuracy and playability, we'll take it!

Following last year's pedal debuts, Universal Audio's UAFX range continues to grow with these new Amp Emulators, which the company says emulate the best vintage guitar amps of all time. Each pedal represents one particular amp type: Woodrow '55 Instrument Amplifier is based on Fender tweed amps from the 50s; Dream '65 Reverb Amplifier represents the later black-panel Fenders with an emulation of the Deluxe Reverb; and Ruby'63 Top Boost Amplifier channels our homegrown Vox AC30.