Aclam Guitars Windmiller Operator's manual

www.aclamguitars.com
C/ Consell de Cent, 201 - local
08011 Barcelona. Spain
Llevinac S.L.
CIF: B64412406
Thank you for purchasing The Windmiller Preamp!
Push your amp to its raw power!
Disponible en otros idiomas en:
www.aclamguitars.com
Available in other languages at:
www.aclamguitars.com

Overview
Features
Specs & material Included
Power Requirements
Operating Diagram
Controls
Where to put The Windmiller Preamp on the effects chain?
Eq setting suggestions
What impedance is and how it affects The Windmiller Preamp’s tone
Setting up on a pedalboard
Trouble Shooting
Security Instructions
Warranty Terms
Your own settings
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Index

4
Here it is! The Windmiller Preamp: drive your amp even
further with Pete Townshend’s secret weapon!
It all started on a lazy Sunday, surng through YouTube
looking for some old footage of The Who, when we
stumbled on some clips of The Who playing at the
Marquee Club in 1967. Despite the raw energy of those
four young men, what really caught our attention was a
weird device with a ashing light sitting on top of Pete
Townshend’s Marshall amps.
After some research we found out that between ‘66
and ‘67, Pete Townshend had several Grampian 636
Spring Reverb units in his arsenal and he used them as a
saturation tool, cranking his Marshall amps to the limit to
get his groundbreaking tone.
As it is quoted on an interview in 1967:
“I use a Granpiene [sic] reverb unit for distortion; it gives a
kind of clear fuzz dirge. I like a slightly broken guitar sound.”
Even though it was intended as a studio reverb unit, Pete
used the built-in preamp of the 636 to fatten his tone and
boost the guitar signal, bypassing the reverb altogether.
Since Pete used it for a short period of time, it ended up
forgotten and only the erudite of The Who knew the story
of the 636.
With that amazing story on the table, it was clear it could
be something for Aclam’s team to work on! So, we were
really decided to create a pedal version of the 636 preamp
but we had a slight problem, we had never tried one. So,
in order to recreate it to the nest detail we began our
search for an original unit that we could reverse engineer.
After many months we managed to get our hands on
an original Grampian unit! It was in a great shape and
sounded amazing!
As soon as we strummed the rst chords with the original
636, we found the combination of Grampian, old Marshall
stack and single coils to be pure magic. It enhanced the
amp’s natural saturation with a fatter, sweeter tone. This
unique coloring comes out of its primitive technology and
Overview

5
because of the low input impedance of the 636. This is
also quite common on guitar effects of that era, like the
Fuzz Face®, Range Master and many other 60’s effect units.
However, we felt the vintage 636 was less impressive
when used with other types of amps and pickups, specially
humbuckers. Because of that, we challenged ourselves to
make this preamp sound beautiful no matter what amp or
pickup you use, managing to eventually tweak the circuit
to extend its frequency range and include eq controls
while retaining its unique tone. The treble response has
been rened by adding a Hi-Cut control which allows you
to add a sweet sparkle to muddy humbuckers or tame
brighter single coils, as well as a Lo-Cut knob to control
bass content better, so the player can decide the tightness
of the resultant tone.
Another thing we achieved was to rene its background
noise. The vintage Grampian has a remarkable hiss,
especially when the Aux Channel was used (Townshend’s
choice). Chapter two of the Windmiller designing process
was to eliminate that hiss whilst maintaining the character
and behavior of the original Grampian 636 preamp. After
experimenting with a great variety of components and
ne-tuning the circuit to make it as quiet as possible, we
nally succeeded!
And nally, in order to pay tribute to the last detail,
we’ve included the overload indicator lamp found on the
Grampian 636, which is sensitive to your playing and
responsive to your attack, and you may agree with us,
looks really cool!
The result is a versatile pedal that can be used as an
'always on' preamp with a beautiful color, a booster for
solo parts, or a tool to saturate and enhance the amp's
natural overdrive.

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Features
FAITHFUL RECREATION OF OUR OWN GRAMPIAN
REVERBERATION UNIT TYPE 636 S/N: 1138
We’ve been lucky enough to nd an original unit from the
60’s in great shape, so we used it as a reference to make
the most accurate replica of its preamp thus far. We traced
the original circuit and made our own schematic to ensure
you cannot get closer to the real thing!
HEAVILY IMPROVED SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO AND
INCREASED TREBLE RESPONSE:
As part of the circuit’s adaptation to a pedal unit, we have
put an extra effort to make The Windmiller Preamp as quiet
as possible, you almost can’t tell it’s on even at full gain! In
addition, we have made the circuit a bit brighter, so you have
a greater frequency spectrum on higher frequencies.
HI. CUT AND LO. CUT TONE SHAPING CONTROLS:
To make The Windmiller Preamp more versatile we have
included tone cut controls for high and low frequencies,
which are extremely useful when using on different amps
and guitars. Single coils, humbuckers, El84’s, 6l6’s…
It will match any rig!
PREAMP OR CLEAN BOOSTER? IT’S UP TO YOU!:
Due to its low input impedance The Windmiller Preamp
will react in different ways depending on the signal source
you connect it to. Plug it straight to your guitar before
any other device and you will be delighted by its unique
coloring. Put it after a buffer and you will get a super
transparent and linear booster with the addition of the Lo
Cut and Hi Cut controls!
OVERLOAD INDICATOR LAMP:
We couldn’t resist ourselves to put this cool feature of
the original Grampian 636 thus it will be very useful as a
signal monitor!
CIRCUIT TAILORED FOR BOTH BASS AND GUITAR
INSTRUMENTS:
Since the Grampian 636 was designed as a studio tool
you can use The Windmiller Preamp with any kind of
instrument. Guitar, bass, keys... you are the limit!

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TRUE BYPASS RELAY SWITCHING:
We have incorporated a soft touch switch activated relay
switching system so, even in the quietest situation you
won’t bother the audience and band-members with click
or clack noises. And obviously like all our pedals it is true
bypass to ensure signal integrity.
SMART TRACK®FASTENING SYSTEM:
All our pedals use a custom enclosure designed to
perfectly match our Smart Track®pedalboards. Using
the side thumb screws you’ll be able to lock safely the
stompbox into one of our pedalboards.
It was also designed to t the other pedalboard options in
the market.

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DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY:
This product complies with the requirements of
MADE IN SPAIN
MATERIAL INCLUDED
1 x The Windmiller Preamp pedal
1 x Anti-sliding rubber pad
1 x Velcro®pad
THE WINDMILLER PREAMP REF:
AP0030
DIMENSIONS:
13,6 x 8,7 x 5,5cm (5.4” x 3.4” x 2.2”) with knobs
WEIGHT:
450g. (0.99 lbs)
BYPASS:
Relay True Bypass
POWER REQUIREMENTS:
9V DC Center Negative 100mA minimum
CURRENT DRAW:
≈38mA
Specs &
Material included

9
Power requirements
POWER SUPPLY
This unit must be powered with a 9VDC negative tip power
supply with the standard Boss type 2.1mm connector.
Current supply should be a minimum of 100 mA just to
leave a safety margin for the DC adapter.
Make sure you use a good quality power supply and avoid
using generic SMPS type adapters which can induce high
pitched noise to the audio.
CAUTION:
Please note this pedal MUST not be powered with
any voltage above 9VDC. It already has an internal DC/DC
converter to make it work to the adequate tension for it to
work properly and with its max dynamic range. Powering it
up with a 12V or 18V power supply will damage its circuit
and immediately void the warranty.

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Operating Diagram
GUITAR AMP INPUT
OUTPUT INPUT