Not in my neighborhood

[gene]

"Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." George Wallace

Lately I've noticed an infiltration of new Sunn owners. That's Fender Sunns, not real Sunns. These products are made by two different companies. The new Model T, is not the Model T of old. The only thing the new Sunns and the old Sunns share is the name plate. There is nothing wrong with the new "Sunns," but most of us here are pre-Fender guys. Is there someway we could segregate the two, by dates, for example? Give the new Sunn people their own area on the site. It can be confusing to try to figure out which is being discussed at times.  

[Rocketboy]

Good call.  I use "real" Sunn gear indiscriminately with "new" Sunn gear.  I play the bass and I think the new Sunn gear carries on the tradition.  It sounds great, and blows Ampeg right off the stage.  Dunno how that washes for guitar.  Don't care.

[rwp@cdlcorp.com]

Picky, picky.  I also use both new and old Sunns interchangeably.  The only differences I CAN HEAR are 4 x 12 Celestions versus the old JBLS, most of which I replaced with EVM 400 watt Black Shadows a long time ago, and some tone difference between my old Model T----THE REAL ONE----and my new one, which isn't half bad.  True, is it not a non reverb 100s but nothing else ever will be including an old Model T.  The NEW/FAKE/ SUNN/FENDER 300T is top notch, but that is not to say that the best bass head ever made, the Colesium LEAD, (you read right, lead, not bass) is any less than it always has been.  By the way, I have played guitar since 1965 and the best guitar (yes, not bass) rig I have found is a new Sunn 300T head with two Sunn N1200(crossover) bottoms with EMV Black Shadows.  You can destroy buildings with that rig.  The same bottoms with the Colesium Lead plus an ADA preamp or Hughes and Kettner half rack Blues Machine also cranks just fine.

[Rocketboy]

Nobody, to my knowledge, ever accused any marketing department of intelligence.  Jeez that rig must be loud.  My skin tickles just thinking about it!  Didn't Chris Squire use a Colosseum Lead head live with Yes?  I prefer big clean guitar amps with the appropriate speakers for bass; it's becoming difficult to find them anymore.  The 300T is an icon about which anyone hardly knows.  What a pity.  The 4X10 / hybrid bass sound has grown truly stale.  Sunn made the greatest 1X15 and 2X15 cabinets ever.  Only a few companies still make 2X15's.  I've taken to using a Sound City L120 driving a 4X10 in tandem with a 300T driving an old Sunn 2X15.  It rocks.

[RichBriere]

It's important to note that the guys responsible for the NEW/Fender Sunn gear LOVED the entire concept of making Sunn a legend again. Ritchie Fliegler, Richard McDonald and a small but talented group of designers worked hard to make it a success. The gear was great, the reception past the production line was not. There are many theories as to WHY not.........and many of them are probably valid.     I'm confident that the FMIC Sunn gear will go down in history as being great stuff.........that was never given a chance.

Please note........the FMIC Sunn was in no-way trying to "reproduce/reissue" any of the old product and while a 200S remains my all-time favorite amplifier, my 300T will smoke it, hands down.  

Bass-ically Yours,
RB

www.richbriere.com

[c_pardus]

peavey makes some really nice stuff.....for the deaf!  how any one could even speak such a blasfimous name in such hallowed halls as these is beyond belief.  they were big, crappy and , oh yeah, crappy.  SUNN on the other hand.......................

[bm]

laughable.......

this is a messageboard, half the fun of belonging is to read and learn and try to help each other isn't it? Is somebody going to die if they happen to read about a newer Sunn thinking that it's a pre-fender one?

I doubt it.

I have learned a lot about the design / intent of the newer Sunns just by belonging to this board. I don't find that fact offensive.

I also find the fact that people use a mixture of pre and post fender Sunn stuff pretty interesting.

then again, i'm an idiot......but i'm trying to change that by learning something about sunn amps.....of any vintage.

[Larry Jacobs]

I first heard Sunn during a Beach Boys concert at Lagoon Park in Utah back in the sixties. Turns out that was the first time Sunns system was road tried and was set up by Sunn techs when they couldn't find anyone here to do it. (Things have changed a lot these days, you wouldn't believe the systems we put together for the winter Olympics) Anyway, I had the chance to remove sound equipment from the Union Pacific torch car which was used in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Torch Run. The special car was equipped with (6) QSC USA 900 amps, ( Bose 502A mid/high line array speakers (4) Bose 502BE base speakers, and an array of controlers, crossovers, computer audio player, Etc. As the torch runner ran up the ramp to transfer the flame for transport down the tracks, Olympic music would bast out in all dirrections.

To prove the amps and look for damage that may have occured over the last 7 years and 15,000 miles, I hooked them up to a couple Sunn SPL 1226 speakers and cranked them up to max with hot Olympic music. After I backed up about 300 feet  to hear if any defects were present, I noticed the great rich sound that I heard many years ago. I'm still impressed with these speakers. I don't know when they were made,(Seral number - LO 122496) but they do mention that Sunn is a division of Fender on the tag. I don't know if these are new Sunn or old Sunn, but I know what I like to hear.