Aclam Unveils New, Pete Townshend-Inspired Windmiller Preamp Pedal

Aclam Windmiller
(Image credit: Aclam Guitars)

Aclam Guitars has announced the Windmiller preamp pedal.

The pedal is inspired by Pete Townshend, and the Grampian 636 Spring Reverb units he used with The Who in the mid- to late-60s to get more volume and a more saturated tone from his Marshall amps. 

Ignoring the reverb part of the 636 Spring Reverb, Townshend would use the pedal's built-in preamp to give his tone more bite and depth, telling Guitar Player that the combination created a “clear fuzz dirge.”

Having acquired an original 636 Spring Reverb, and tested it with a Marshall stack and a guitar with single-coils, Aclam gave the Windmiller an extended frequency, EQ controls, true bypass switching, a Lo-Cut knob to rein in the bass, and a Hi-Cut knob that lets players add a “sweet sparkle to muddy humbuckers or tame brighter single coils.”

An official price and release date for the Aclam Windmiller preamp pedal have yet to be announced as of press time, though the company has launched a Kickstarter for the pedal.

For more info on the pedal, stop by aclamguitars.com.

Jackson Maxwell
Associate Editor, GuitarWorld.com and GuitarPlayer.com

Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com and GuitarPlayer.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.