Of all the Sunn amps out there, the Sceptre is the last one I would use for a bass as it has the effects and mid-boost. That said, all Sunns are much the same under the hood, so I suspect that you will love it.
Actually, the mid-boost is quite pleasing to my bass.. treble=4.5 bass=10 contour=1.5 w/mid-boost on is where it has settled. I also play some guitar... so it'll work out fine
-- I run JJ KT-88's in mine. Like them better than the original RCA 6550's or Svetlana 6550's. To me they sound "warmer."
good to hear! I've read that @ a few places. I'm assuming the JJ stuff is the best bang for buck these days.
-- The metal lever hanging down from the reverb tank is a travel lock. Slide it up to get the reverb to work. (Does the tremolo work? - it is solid state and some just die.)
Just like the label stated
both work fine but the reverb is noisy.
-- If the beast is distorting at "2" something is wrong. Find a tube amp guru, most recommend replacing all capacitors on principle.
In my plan... I want everything that would be replaced, replaced. Problem is waiting for the budget to allow
With my Strat, it barely broke up past 6 or 7... with my bass, it distorts @ 2
As I stated, I got a name of a tube guy that my local store sends stuff to (I don't play the "we'll send it out game!")
-- For bass you may want to replace the first 12AX7 with an AT to get a little less gain. Question of taste.
Really?!? I thought it was the other way.... lower gain rated tube, reaches overdrive earlier. Forgive my ignorance, I've been a solidstate guy since I replaced my 70's fliptop Ampeg in 82... I'm still learning this tube stuff.