Uraltone TV Reverb amp

Smrtokvitek

Smrtokvitek

Well-known member
I finally finished it today. Overall, it was a great experience. It was a bit frustrating, but that is a part of the journey.

It is a reverb channel from the Deluxe Reverb with a "tweed" pot that ads mids in the way tweed tonestack works and no tremolo circuit. All of this packed in the standard size of Priceton Reverb chassis. It will take some time to learn how to use it, but I am very pleased so far.

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Smrtokvitek said:
I finally finished it today. Overall, it was a great experience. It was a bit frustrating, but that is a part of the journey.

It is a reverb channel from the Deluxe Reverb with a "tweed" pot that ads mids in the way tweed tonestack works and no tremolo circuit. All of this packed in the standard size of Priceton Reverb chassis. It will take some time to learn how to use it, but I am very pleased so far.

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View attachment 93983

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Oh, I’m thinking about the same build. Do you have any more clips maybe? I’m curious how the tweet knob functions.
 
chordball said:
Looks great! Is your mid control the standard "raw" control or something else?

Edit: Sounds great too!
Click to expand...

I am not sure if you mean the "Tweed" knob, but the EQ is a standard Fender tone stack with a middle control pot, and the "Tweed" knob is a simple filter (pot + cap) that is parallel to the tone stack (bypasses it) and pushes more middle frequencies to the next stage.

It is not the "raw" mod that disconnects the tone stack as seen on Rob Robinette's page.

torta said:
Oh, I’m thinking about the same build. Do you have any more clips maybe? I’m curious how the tweet knob functions.
Click to expand...

I have some professional recordings in the process of mixing, but with older speaker. That is a rabbit hole I was diving into a bit. I started with the Jensen C12N, the new Fender one that is in DRRIs from current production. It was good, but it felt a bit bass-heavy. The sound was quite huge, and if I were playing solo jazz guitar with an archtop, I would probably be happy with it. I was not happy about my sound in the band mix with the ES335.
I think the problem is also the 12" speaker in the Princeton cab. That definitely pushes lower mids up, and it is a compromise you have to accept. And the 335 also did not help with that.
Since then, I changed the guitar to 50s wiring and the speaker to Warehouse G12C. Definitely an improvement, but the highs are sometimes a bit too shrill with overdrive. It depends on the venue. It would be nice to try the Eminence GA-SC64.
I also tried G12-65, and I was missing the Fender chime.

The amp is a great mix of useful mods in one package. From that point of view, I would definitely recommend it. There are also some compromises, like the size of the cabinet. I would like to connect it to a larger 2x12" or 1x12" cab someday just to hear the difference. Also, the circuit is basically a stock Deluxe Reverb, but the preamp B+ has a higher-value drop resistor so the voltage there is a bit lower. I don't have the numbers here, but that is something I would like to check and maybe change in the future. The reason is more compression and the feeling of a "vintage Fender amp".
While it is a DR, it "starts to play" when you put the volume up a bit, 3 to 4+. That is sometimes a bit loud in smaller clubs. :D

The quality of the kit was great in general. There were some not-so-obvious steps in the build process, but nothing critical.
I have been playing it for more than a year and gigged with it at least 10 times. So far so good.
 
Smrtokvitek said:
I am not sure if you mean the "Tweed" knob, but the EQ is a standard Fender tone stack with a middle control pot, and the "Tweed" knob is a simple filter (pot + cap) that is parallel to the tone stack (bypasses it) and pushes more middle frequencies to the next stage.

It is not the "raw" mod that disconnects the tone stack as seen on Rob Robinette's page.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the clarification. Sounds interesting! Do you have a schematic of that?
 
chordball said:
Thanks for the clarification. Sounds interesting! Do you have a schematic of that?
Click to expand...
Sadly, no schematic, just a build layout in PDF. I have spent quite a lot of time with it, and it is DR with the mods (Middle pot, Tweed pot, Dwell knob for reverb and lower B+ in the preamp). I can share it somehow in the PM, I guess.

torta said:
Hm, yes, that is my concern. I would go for the Princeton, but I am curious about these mods. Thanks for clarification. Maybe you know the weight of the combo? My back cant handle the stock deluxe reverb anymore.
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Loudness is relative to how you expect to use it. It also depends on the speaker sensitivity and your drummer. :D I think it is usable for gigging, but it is not a "master volume level" type of amp. The Princeton will compress earlier, but I would not expect it to be that much quieter in the band volume level scenario.

It is definitely lighter than a full-size Deluxe Reverb but heavier than a Princeton just because the transformers are larger. How much exactly? I don't know. If you have a pine cabinet, you can shave about 1 kg off if you are lucky (I don't). Also, don't forget speakers can vary in weight depending on construction. I can compare it to a Blues Junior, for example, which is noticeably lighter.
 
For anyone else curious, I did some research and found a schematic of the "tweed" control. It's a mod by Gerald Weber. See C12 and P2 in the attached schematic.
 

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