100S Cabinet

[Johnny Guitar]

In 1969 when I was 16 my drummer worked at the local music store in the evenings.  That summer he got a job painting houses which paid quite a bit more money.  I used to hang out and as a hobby knew the prices and specs on the Sunn amps, which the owner seemed to never remember when waiting on someone.  I was asked to fill in for my drummer for the summer.  I remember all of the 100S cabinets comming back because they were piercingly bright.  They pulled the horns and cut in for another 15" JBL.  There must have been a dozen LE100s hanging on the wall.

I bought my first good guitar there, a 1967 Gibson ES 335-12 string in Burgandy Mist.  It was brand new sitting up on display out of reach with a Black Les Paul and a Red Trini Lopez, all three guitars were tagged at $500 each.  Later that same year I bought my first Sunn, a used Spectrum 1 to which I promptly added another D130 so I would have a 2-15 cab.  That was alot of money considering my day job was at a restaurant making $1.40 an hour.

I just picked up a 100S cab and the horn has been removed and the baffle has been cut for another 15.  You can see the square corners on the round cut out for the 15 where the horn used to be.  This cabinet is a 200S cab except the angled piece of wood that horn loads the top speaker was never put in at the factory.  It might have gotten in the way of the horn I guess.  The cab has Altec 15s with 1969 date codes.

Were all 100S cabs actually 200S cabinets?  Does anyone have a picture of an original cab with the horn?  Did Sunn ever use Altecs or maybe these were put in when the horn came out.

Conrad do you remember Vic Zinn Music in Noblesville Indiana? 

Johnny G.

[Johnny Guitar]

Come on guys!  No one owns a 100S cabinet or knows if they normally were 200S cabs?

Johnny G.

[Isaac]

I don't know.

I do know that Sunn was very frugal, and used the same basic cabinet for several different speakers. For instance, the Sceptre cabinet was the same as a 200S cabinet, with a different baffle and neither of the "folded horn" pieces inside. However, the cabinet walls were routed for them. Whether or not you want to call that a 200S cabinet is up to you.

Given that, I'd say it's likely that all of the 200S sized cabinets were built, routed for the internal baffles, then finished as whatever cabinet they needed at the time.

[Johnny Guitar]

From a production standpoint that makes a lot of sense.  Thanks for responding Isaac! 

Johnny G.

[mckinnon audio]

  Hi there,Isaac is right about the cabs I believe.I've got a Sonaro 1 x 15" and a Solarus 2 x 12" cab that are the same size,just a different baffle board and either a full back or a "half open" back.I've got a 200S cab.,but don't have anything to compare it to,good luck,Mel.