are you using this stuff?

[chris krap]

I do believe that Buzz uses, or at least used to use a beta lead pre-amp.  Probably a 1000watt power amp behind it.

[Tom]

See for yourself:

http://home.swbell.net/atstrs/photos.htm

The 2000S is running through a Peavey 2X15 with BW guitar 15's.
The 1X18 used to be for bass but is now part of the on-stage amplification for the Moog Taurus bass pedals.
This show was at a club that has a 5 Kilowatt PA.
Everything was miked *except* the Sunn.
Didn't need it.

Tommy

[sunn]

ha ha i should turn off the censoring on the phorum script..(look at chris' post)

anyone against it? let me know by emailing me...

thanks

[Tom]

Sorry: correction to above post.
Photos now at:
http://www.brokentoyz.com

Tommy

[Miguel]

I'm 27 years old and i've been using SUNN amps forabout 6 years. i was attracted to them at first because of the intense volume. I was the first of my bass playing peers to be louder thatn the giutars, then he got som SUNN gear and so on.
Currently i play in a heavy acid rock duo just BASS and drums, I run a Coliseum bass w/1x18 cab, Beta Bass w/2x15 cab, and 2000s w/2x15 cab, i use these with an SVT w/2x15. but I really want to replace the SVT with more SUNN.
I have taken them on tour and I gig regularly and other bass players are envious except for my friend with the three 2000s amps. damn.
best amps ever.

[made by hand]

hi sunn sicko's..well here's my 2 cents...played thru my first sunn 200s back in 1968..it was borrowed...my ampeg b-15cn..smoked during a gig...ya...i had a ampeg that they only built between 67 - 68 ..sold it to our piano player..big mistake...it was a 2-15 flip top which they only made a hand full and stupid me sells it for peanuts...but hey ! we were all kids once...well...getting back...that night our lead singers friend brought to the gig for me to use a brand new 200s...plugged it in....blew the balls off the wallpapper...the stage moved...after that night ...bought one for myself...THANKS MOM..and since that day...it's the only amp i've had....i bought used one's after that..now i don't collect sunn amps...i just own them...i have a dozen 200's and 2000's combined..giged them all...bought them all back in the late 60's and early 70's...now..i wasn't rich but at that time , and all you older guys out there , that are, well..still young remember when marshall hit the stages of the world...ya...all those stacks...all the rage...alot of sunn owners wanted to emulate the guy on stage and the marshalls behind them....well...that's when you could buy a 1 or 2 year old sunn for half the money..they just had to have that marshall...well...i just had to have their sunns...so..i really only needed just another 200s to back up the one i was player thru in case ot smoked...now...they key phraze here is smoked...a back up....ya know...i never needed another amp because me 200s never quit...to this day...i have the original tubes in it...never did anything to it...probably because i played it every weekend and none of the stuff inside ever dried out or leaked...my brother tom and i had a 10 piece horn band...and my sunn 200s was the choice amp to flood the stage with pure bass sound...i played a jazz bass, a p-bass and a hofner thru it and and all the others and being the amp that it was...the play back made my bass's sound outstanding..pure hi-fi.....yup..couldn't have stood in front of a better amp...now all you young guys out there that are just coming of age , so to speak, with vintage sunn amps...your on the right path...if you get a 200s or 2000s with cab...it was the best thing you could of spent you money on...i guess now is a good time to thank CONRAD and all the guys that built the best bass amps in the world...this site speaks for it's self...this site is a momument to all the sunn amps ever built and to the guys that played thru them and still play thru them...excuse my type "O" s...i'am typing as fast as i can...there is a deep well of enfo on this site...a lot of knowlege..alot of people that know what having a sunn amp means...these amps we built in the past and still are being played today..what a tribute that is to CONRAD and the SUNN company...smiles to all...Bob from MASS.   

[tabasco]

My son is using my Sunn concert bass rig in his punk band, Plague of dandelions. It can be seen on youtube. He sold 1 of the two 2X15 cabs while out on tour to pay for gas. I had the head serviced about 5 years ago and like that funny bunny it keeps going and going.. I use my Acoustic and Randall bass gear for pleasure playing only. Got hooked on the drums about 20 years ago. (Great Cardio) I was really lucky to have played bass and survived the 70's.

[Oli]

Hi,
got a Sorado and a 350B and I use them up to three time a week. They are build like a tank. Conrad did a great job. There are no bassamps like the Sunns, giving a treble to gain the attack!  I use them with a classic stoner band and a Krautrock band.
I bought a Sunn/Fender 1200S back in 2000 as I liked the sound. This Amp tries to simulate this treble sound and I was quite happy with it (exept: a.) dynamic b.) this amp is far too lound). Luckily I got my hand on a Sorado and the first thing I did was selling the 1200S to get a 350B.... I used both amps live, with a mic or d tad box-no problem and easy going for the mixer.

Rock on

Oli

[JoeArthur]

hi sunn sicko's..well here's my 2 cents...played thru my first sunn 200s back in 1968..it was borrowed...my ampeg b-15cn..smoked during a gig...ya...i had a ampeg that they only built between 67 - 68 ..sold it to our piano player..big mistake...it was a 2-15 flip top which they only made a hand full and stupid me sells it for peanuts...but hey ! we were all kids once...well...getting back...that night our lead singers friend brought to the gig for me to use a brand new 200s...plugged it in....blew the balls off the wallpapper...the stage moved...after that night ...bought one for myself...THANKS MOM..and since that day...it's the only amp i've had....i bought used one's after that..now i don't collect sunn amps...i just own them...i have a dozen 200's and 2000's combined..giged them all...bought them all back in the late 60's and early 70's...now..i wasn't rich but at that time , and all you older guys out there , that are, well..still young remember when marshall hit the stages of the world...ya...all those stacks...all the rage...alot of sunn owners wanted to emulate the guy on stage and the marshalls behind them....well...that's when you could buy a 1 or 2 year old sunn for half the money..they just had to have that marshall...well...i just had to have their sunns...so..i really only needed just another 200s to back up the one i was player thru in case ot smoked...now...they key phraze here is smoked...a back up....ya know...i never needed another amp because me 200s never quit...to this day...i have the original tubes in it...never did anything to it...probably because i played it every weekend and none of the stuff inside ever dried out or leaked...my brother tom and i had a 10 piece horn band...and my sunn 200s was the choice amp to flood the stage with pure bass sound...i played a jazz bass, a p-bass and a hofner thru it and and all the others and being the amp that it was...the play back made my bass's sound outstanding..pure hi-fi.....yup..couldn't have stood in front of a better amp...now all you young guys out there that are just coming of age , so to speak, with vintage sunn amps...your on the right path...if you get a 200s or 2000s with cab...it was the best thing you could of spent you money on...i guess now is a good time to thank CONRAD and all the guys that built the best bass amps in the world...this site speaks for it's self...this site is a momument to all the sunn amps ever built and to the guys that played thru them and still play thru them...excuse my type "O" s...i'am typing as fast as i can...there is a deep well of enfo on this site...a lot of knowlege..alot of people that know what having a sunn amp means...these amps we built in the past and still are being played today..what a tribute that is to CONRAD and the SUNN company...smiles to all...Bob from MASS.   

WOW Bob, you had to go deep to dig this thread up!!

Just as a suggestion, for us older guys, you might want to hit the return key every now and then instead of dot dot dot.  Four or five lines down and I'm too crosseyed to read the rest. 

[imbas]

Hey Folks, New member here. Found this forum while looking for Sunn information. These days I use either a Genz-Benz stack or a Marshall stack, but added to my ever growing list of gear I never should have sold was the ultimate stack I used in the 70s. In the late 70s, Savannah Georgia area, I was using a Solarus, and not 1 but 2 matched 6x12 cabs. Lay them on the side and stack em up, 12x12. This thing would make the Marshall guys feel small! At any rate, I guess these cabs are kinda rare because I search all of Craigs List and Ebay daily, and I've haven't seen one. Kinda like the goldtop les paul I sold in the 80s for 400....

[kineticturtle]

Since we're having a necroposting party anyway, here's my story:

I don't even remember what got me into Sunn gear in the first place, although it might have been SunnO))) that started it.
Anyway, as of yet I've only gotten my hands on a Beta Lead 1x12 combo, but I've used it in a few projects; my j-pop/folk-rap band used it in quite a few places on our album, and my indie/drone rock trio is using it alongside a Zinky tube amp (oh my the contrast! it's beautiful!).

The heaviest use it got, however, is in a 5-piece punk band that I played in for awhile. We had three guitars (I also played keyboards and trombone), bass and drums. The other members were using Marshall halfstacks and/or a twin and a pretty big bass rig. I had to keep my little beauty at about 2.5 on the master and about 1 on the channel volume to keep from drowning the rest of them out!

At our last show, we ran out of mics for amps and I just told the engineer "Eh, don't worry about it. I'll just turn it up to 4 or so."

I'm using an Ampeg rig for my bass in the above mentioned indie/drone band, but I'm hoping to some day replace the head with an old Model T, to keep with my 1x18 and 2x10 cabs.

[djc]

I gotta add to this too, great thread idea!
I searched for about 3 years, went through many purchased amps, kept tradding them in, many friends amps, nothing quit right, and then my buddy said "hey, try this.  its forty years old and I think the tubes are shot, try it out."
sunn sonaro, even though it only opperated at about 40% it was it.
He wouldn't sell and I offered him some big bucks.  found my 200s(complete with a blown power transformer[undisclosed]) on ebay, paid way too much for it I think it was near(actually over) the $500 mark, please stop laughing...
dumped another $300 in capacitors, transformer, tubes, set up
and am now the proud owner of a very well working 200s.  Cost me almost $1000 but I wouldn't sell it for $10,000.  well maybe I would

Me and my Sonaro toting friend are probably the only sunn owners in Saskatchewan, Canada
his is mint (sat in a closet for 40 years with a cover on it.  never played until he bought it in the late 90's)  but mine sounds better

[Isaac]

I may have mentioned before that I gig with my Sunn gear.

Usually I rehearse with my 200S and some homemade cabinets, a 115 with a JBL 2032 (15") and an 8 inch JBL for midrange. I also gig with that setup for small gigs close to the rehearsal studio.

For other gigs, I use my modified second generation Model T (mods to make it more like a first generation. Thanks, Joe!) and a Fender-era Sunn Model 410H. If we have a bigger gig, I'll add in the Model 215 for more bottom.

[Robbie Nuke]

I use a 1st generation sunn concert bass head with one or two (depending on gig) matching sunn 115P cabinets (replaced stock speakers with a JBL D140 and a newer Eminence). Have used this rig at practice and gigs for the past 4 years (among other rigs... I rotate my selection depending on what I feel like playing through when loading up).

Boost and Distortion are nice useable features on occasion too. A few months ago, however, a speaker failed and my amp overheated and shut down (of course it sounded awesome a few minutes before failure). As in another post one side of the heat sink warms up (normal) and the other side stays room temp... probably a blown transistor or something... I'll get around to fixing after income tax time!

I first giged thru a 2nd generation sunn coliseum bass amp w/ 215RH cabinet in late 70's that belong to another local bass player. That amp is still in use today.