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Overview
In 1966, Vox® released the UL 730 amp along with an
entire lineup of wattage options, ranging from 10 to 120w.
back then, they were the leading edge in guitar amps
featuring a mixed a solid-state preamp with a tube power
amp section.
As Vox had a close relationship with The Beatles, just as
they were released, some UL 700 series units were sent to
the Fab Four for live use and recording.
Eventually they ended up being extensively used on the
Revolver album when it was recorded at EMI Studio.
Unfortunately, even though being endorsed by The
Beatles, those amps did not achieve commercial success
and most of them met their fate being returned to Vox for
their disposal.
Only a small number of UL 730 got to escape the
death row (around 20/30 units as some renown Vox
connoisseurs state), attaining an almost unicorn-like
status in the amp world.
Luckily, one of those UL 730 ended in Manchester to be
used on another of the most influential records of all time!
During the recording of Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures,
guitarist and co-founder Bernard Sumner tracked almost
if not every cut through his Vox UL 730 paired with an Altair
PW-5 to tame its raw power and get saturation at reasonable
volumes. Songs like 'Shadowplay' and 'She's Lost Control'
are great examples of the unique tone he attained with his
Gibson and Shergold guitars through the UL.
Seems like it was a happy accident, since that amp was
not very popular in the late '70s, and he probably bought
it for very little money. He really liked it though, since he
used it for both live performances and studio sessions
from the band's early days until today, where you can still
see him using it live with New Order!
The Dr. Robert Unknown Pleasures Ltd. Edition is based
on the Normal channel of our Vox® UL 730 S/N: 3042.
We traced the original tag board circuits and measured
each component's value to make the closest replica of the
amp's soul and character.
One of the keys of its tone is the "Mids" control which is
one of the most interesting mid-range eq ever found on
an amp. By turning it counterclockwise, a great amount
of mid-frequencies will be subtracted creating a scooped
sound. On the other hand, when it's turned clockwise it
will bring out all the mids and the signal will build up in
gain. By tailoring the "Mids" knob you can control both
midrange and saturation.
As the solid-state preamp of the UL 730 doesn't create
much distortion by itself we've coupled it with a custom
FET saturation engine to mimic the attributes of the
tube power amp section. Not happy with that, we've
gone even further creating the "Disorder!" section, which
adds saturation to your main sound and includes an
independent volume control to allow you to have both a
rhythmic and a solo tone.
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