If you do not know who UA is they pride themselves in making State of the Art analog equipment. They have done so for over 60 years. Bill Putnam was the genius and creator of the company. His son Bill Jr. is running it now. Like his father his knowledge of tech is unreal. He is absolute manic about the perfect sound. The pedal is being pre ordered now for the spring. The accountants are in terror. If he finds one piece of lint it will not be ready!
UA start with zero compromise on anything. Nothing they do is cheap most is unaffordable to 95% of us.
That 5% that buy who only need to know what a particular product they offer is made for. If they need that kind of product they buy!
NOTHING they make if put beside a competitor does not win on sound alone.
Any digital tech needs analog to get into the box and back out to your ear. If that is perfect ...then it is all about nailing those old classic plates and vintage spring reverbs with
endless tweaks of the algorithms. I think no one is more qualified than UA.
So what do you basically get?
Surprise!!!
...Basically 3 sounds ...Yes you read that right!
3 sounds.
Plate, Spring and 70's classics effects.
It is aimed at the artists and virtuoso players who sees a reverb as great frame to put around their canvas where they have created what most agree is a masterpiece in their gendre. This is not the pedal for use on the next Super Heros blockbuster soundtrack. Great players do not want a pedal that is part of the sound but one that indeed frames it.
CONCLUSION
I can get stupidly anal about even tiny flaws in a pedals sound. I love and hate reverbs. They can make your sound totally grandiose yet throw mountains of mud on your guitars tone. They can kill punch and balz and melt any edge you have with your sound.
BUT... can you remove the EMT plate reverb from David Gilmour's sound on
Comfortably Numb without tearing the canvas that this Mona Lisa sound is painted on. WTF ...the plate alone on this pedal is worth $400.00.
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The old tech required above all else an 'ear' Frank Sinatra loved the sounds he got so much he invested in the Bill Putnam Sr.'s company. in the 50's It was later changed to UREI in the end a group of investors under Sinatra bought the company right out. Bill Jr. saw the need for great analog gear to add some serious tone and richness back into a digital world and carried on under the family owned name of Universal Audio aka ...UA |
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