# NAD another Univox !



## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Well I'm starting to think that Friday nights late nights are the best for amazing amp deals !!! 

Came home last Friday after jamming all evening and the wife was asleep, was about 11:30 PM only so decided to mess around on the laptop and eventually got to the for sale adds...  Go figure...  

And Bang ! land on this new posting that just came on. Im the first person on the add... so called the guy right away and told him Im coming over right away !!!  

The seller sz… you serious ? its midnight ! … 

Yep... I went and got it right away at midnight... at this price I know someone else would have...

I did not get to save the sellers pictures but here is what I came back home with at 1:30 in the morning Friday night !


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Just to clarify... This is the Univox U-1011 Guitar Lead head at 105 watts with 4 6L6 in the power section and 6 pre amp tubes from 1971...

This baby comes from the original owner, he never really took care of it and for the last 20 years has been used once a year only... got real dirty and damaged since he stored it in his shop all the time...

So Saturday being so nice out with 38 as the temp... took it out back for a wash and inspection...


The cab is the Univox U1205 which is a 212 cab but usually was sold with the smaller guitar head.. not powerful enough and is a 16 ohms cab... the head has 2,4 and 8 ohms settings... hummm... bad match...


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

The seller told me everything works except the reverb and he never bothered to get it fixed...

So started to pull everything apart...

Decent construction on the cab...

Right away, got my first surprise... its not a 212 cab ! 

Got me a 15 and a 12 in there... plus only the 15 is connected ! 
The 12 is the original Rola speaker which are really liked...
The added 15 is a Jensen...

a Jensen LMI-152 bass speaker 8 ohms 100 watts... I think bassmans used these in the 60s ?


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

here is the 12

so pulled the head apart...

PT

OT


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

This U-1011 is not like my other one which is like brand new...this baby was left in damp areas for a very long time... some rust as you can see started to form on the transformers and reverb tank... plus... a weird surprise... have a look at the next picture, in front of the power tubes is the remains of a mouse that dried out after eating mouse poison and left overs of mouse poison !!! 


Death by amp !!! 

This baby is real dirty..

After removing the reverb tank, found out why it was not working... one of the wire is broken off...

So started the cleaning process... all pre amp tubes are original.


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

All 6 pre amps tubes are UK Mullards


Power tubes are a mix...


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Gut shot...

Cleaned and scrubbed to try to get all the S%??& off...

Wonder if I can spray paint some of the chassis ?!?


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Will go and pick up some of that Rust Check Rust Converter for the transformers...

But after a small clean up, looks better...


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Quick clean up of the cab and head... put everything back together since had a party to go to yesterday night... this is what it looks like now...


Now I'm off to another party !!! 

Happy C day !!! HNG^%$


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Congratulations! (yet again)

Wonderful thread! Thanks for all the great pics.

You certainly are skilled at cleaning amps.

If I was buying that much gear, my wife might seal me into a 4 x 12" closed back cab!


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Now thats dedication. Congrats.


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

greco said:


> If I was buying that much gear, my wife might seal me into a 4 x 12" closed back cab!


She's been contemplating it for years now !!!


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

One of the reasons why I like these Univox`s is that they are dirt cheap... great line, powerful and very underrated…

These are basically the same as a Marshall Super Lead/Bass. 

Here is some info on them:

The "Blue" or 2 tone series of amps were designed in America by Kenny and the late Tony Frank, the team of brothers who were in charge of service and amp mods for Unicord's OTHER amp line.....Marshall.

For many years Unicord was the US importer of Marshall Amps and Korg synth/keyboards. Up until Korg bought them.

Unicord designed transformers were used in the imported Marshall amps, because the company didn't think the Marshall transformers could handle the full 100 watts from the 6550 tubes (British Marshalls at the time used KT-88s which were lower wattage). Marshall of England eventually adopted Unicord's transformer design.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

Question is, does the rock out still?


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

sambonee said:


> Question is, does the rock out still?


It works !!! …

Its been party mode at my place since Friday with people coming and going ever since … so did not get proper chance to rock it out. Cleaning it was a priority to be able to bring it inside the house , that was the main goal. 

Plus 2 of the power caps are bulging galore... a cap job is on the list as well as a full maintenance once over. New power tubes is also on the list...

This baby is not done...


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

Great score! Not only are those Rola 12s well regarded (I had contemporary Rola hifi woofers I used to make a bass 8x10, now sold), but those Jensen Concert 15s are also pretty nice (and wroth some money on ebay IIRC).

The amp itself looks almost as dirty as that Sessionman Vocal I picked up a while back. Remember about that Rust converter stuff for the trannies if you care.

Nice that the reverb looks like an easy fix.


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Granny Gremlin said:


> Great score! Not only are those Rola 12s well regarded (I had contemporary Rola hifi woofers I used to make a bass 8x10, now sold), but those Jensen Concert 15s are also pretty nice (and wroth some money on ebay IIRC).


Thanks on the info !



Granny Gremlin said:


> The amp itself looks almost as dirty as that Sessionman Vocal I picked up a while back. Remember about that Rust converter stuff for the trannies if you care.


I was thinking of your Session man vocal when I pulled the chassis out !  I went this morning to Walmart to get some Rust Converter $6 there for a can.



Granny Gremlin said:


> Nice that the reverb looks like an easy fix.


Yep, just a small solder job !


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

With the weather only being 42 to 44 degrees here !  Decided to take the amp out once more for more work ! 

Between guests, pool, beer... was putting 10 minutes here and there on the amp... 

First thing, contact cement was pulled out to glue the tolex back on the cab.


After reading on GG thread for the Session Man Vocal, went and got this for the rust on the transformers.

Pulled the chassis out again, here you see it before the treatment.


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

First coat ! I used newspaper to mask off parts that I didn't want any product sprayed on.

Pool break and another beer ! 

I then decided to use my Tire Care products on the tolex to rejuvenate it a bit... a face lift of kind ! 



Back to the pool ...


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

a few more coats...


I actually put on 5 coats total... you have to let it dry between coats and it takes some time to dry... This stuff is toxic and smells real strong... I would really avoid using it inside a house or garage... the fumes are real bad !

So after about 50 trips in the pool, 5 beers... this is what I got when I put everything back together.


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

It doesn't look anything like the amp that I arrived with at 1:30 am Friday night !


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

AMAZING!! Hard to imagine it is the same amp!

You aren't in the automotive detailing business, by chance?

Did you have play through it? 

Did you get the reverb repaired?

Cheers

Dave


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

greco said:


> You aren't in the automotive detailing business, by chance?


Nope, renovation and home automation.



greco said:


> Did you have play through it?


Not today, did on Saturday for a brief moment. 
Would like to pull a cap job on it before playing more...



greco said:


> Did you get the reverb repaired?


not yet, its sitting on my bench. Guest left after super... nice to be alone after so many parties this weekend... Im burnt!


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

@Frenchy99 Thanks for all of the answers above.

Just wanted you to know how much I enjoy your threads. The amount of time and energy you put into them, including the posting of so many pics, is very impressive and much appreciated.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

Frenchy99 said:


> a few more coats...
> I actually put on 5 coats total... you have to let it dry between coats and it takes some time to dry... This stuff is toxic and smells real strong... I would really avoid using it inside a house or garage... the fumes are real bad !


That's why I did not want the spray - Crappy Tire had the brush on stuff, which is fine to use indoors. Also I only needed 1, maybe 2 coats and after that the iron was black not red anymore. You can also soak screws and hardware in it - I did the corners and strap anchors, as well as all the set screws for the knobs which I was worried were done (had to drill the odd one out) and they came out completely rust free. The corners and anchors were splotched with black; didn't hurt the chrome that remained.


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

greco said:


> Just wanted you to know how much I enjoy your threads.


Happy you like them ! I used to do the same thing with instruments on the Matsumoku.org forum in the past. Had a blast discovering and fixing up instruments. I learned a lot by others that did the exact same thing.

I'm now expending on amps...

I took the 2 minutes this morning to strip the end of the wire in the reverb tank and resolder it... Plugged everything and had a blast for half an hr jamming on this thing... great sound !!!  Powerful !!! Holy F.... this thing is loud ! 

Can just imagine once this thing is re capped and biased properly with new power tubes in ! 

Wonder if Michael Michael R/T the guy that mods all the Marshall`s ever took a look at these ??? Would love his opinion on these and suggestions for mods !


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## Blind Dog (Mar 4, 2016)

Congrat's, and thanks for a *great* thread! (like your detailing -- a cut above  )


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## Steve_F (Feb 15, 2008)

Nice score


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Since I had a few hrs , decided to take out my other U-1011 Lead head that I got a couple of months ago...


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

This head also had only one owner and is in perfect condition but just dirty...

So this is just the first step in the maintenance process...

All 6 pre amp tubes are the original Mullards,

Yep! dirty...

PT

OT


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Gut shot...

After a general chassis cleaning, pots cleaned , all sockets and inputs cleaned...


Put everything back together for now...


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Cleaned the cabinet also and did my thing to make it all nice and looking new 

Here she is with her twin sister U-1011 

Sexy twins...

Sexy backside !!! 

Im gonna have one hell of a night with the twins !!! HNG^%$


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

LOL. With those handles they don't stack too well, eh.


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Granny Gremlin said:


> LOL. With those handles they don't stack too well, eh.


It takes more room to stack up but there are sturdy and secure ! just looks weird at first...

The handles are very handy and useful for the transport, these heads are real heavy. Just a new take on handles... Just as weird at first as my Acoustic head that only has one handle on the side to carry the head... It was weird at first but got use to it real fast since it was like carrying a bass case … so the bass in one hand and the amp head in the other to balance the trip !


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Found this info on the net... 

Real interesting...

-Unicord had begun as a manufacturer of electrical transformers. When the original Marshalls came to the U.S., Unicord's engineers were concerned that the output transformers could not reliably handle the full output. Unicord redesigned the output transformers and told Marshall to use the Unicord design in all units shipped to the U.S., and Marshall could use the design outside the U.S. if they wanted to. Marshall did adopt the Unicord design for all their tube amps.

Tony Frank, the design engineer at Unicord, created the dual-volume-control two-stage pre-amp that Marshall introduced with their 4140 and 2150 amplifiers, which allowed a "super-dirty" fuzz even at extremely low volumes.


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