Dream ’65 Reverb-Amp

On all three pedals, the controls follow the standard UAFX format of six knobs and three mini toggle switches. However, they perform different functions depending on the model. Starting out with the Dream ’65 Reverb-Amp there’s volume, reverb, output, bass, treble and boost, the latter two doubling as speed and intensity when tremolo is active.

The three toggle switches perform several functions: The speaker switch selects the mic’s speaker cabinets — GB25, Oxford and EV12 — and pressing the switch down cycles though all six cabinets, plus bypass, which may be prefereable when running into your own amp/speaker rig.

The middle switch has Alt, Amp and Store functions. When Alt is selected, the tremolo speed and intensity controls (a.k.a. treble and boost) are active. In Amp mode, the standard amp controls are available. To store a preset, hold the switch in the down position until the green LED blinks rapidly.

The right-hand mod switch selects Lead (OD Special mod), Stock (standard Fender circuit) and D-Tex (SRV mod).

With pedal set clean in the Stock position, it was easy to get very realistic Deluxe Reverb tones that sounded excellent, with lush reverb adding a beautiful wash of airiness. Now you have the convenience of grinding things up via the boost knob, which can deliver up to 10dB of clean level to the front end. For heavier grind the Lead setting (which cuts out the bright cap) sounds formidable when boost is turned up to 10 o’clock and higher, where midrange from the tone stack is added to yield increasing amounts of fat, juicy distortion.

Lastly, D-Tex (the aforementioned SRV mod) has both more gain and midrange. It’s a sweet setting that has a mildly compressed response at low boost numbers and a good deal of gain as the boost is turned up — which also reduces the effect of the tone stack (down to zero effect at maximum boost) — yielding a richly detailed and vocally inflected distortion tone that’s really satisfying for lead. As per the original circuit mod, vibrato is only available when the boost knob is off.

Ruby ’63 Top Boost Amplifier

Based on a Vox AC30 platform, the Ruby ’63 Top Boost has a control layout consisting of volume, cut, output, bass, treble and boost. The left-hand speaker switch has Silver, Blue and Green settings, and here too you can cycle though all six mic’d cabinets (or bypass) by holding down the switch.

The middle switch’s Alt position selects room amount (ambience), vibrato intensity and speed, which are available, respectively, on the bass, treble and boost knobs. The Amp position activates the standard control complement for an AC30, while the Preset position is used to store custom sounds.

The channel switch on the right side selects the following: Brilliant, based on the Brilliant channel of a ’63 top-boost amplifier (the boost knob adds gain from the preamp of an EP-III tape echo); Normal, based on a ’61 non-top-boost amplifier (the boost knob adds gain from a germanium treble booster circuit); and Vibrato, based on the vibrato