Sentura vs Solarus

[tengobotas]

Whats the big difference between these two heads? Im looking for something to pump out some serious fuzz but I dont know much about Sunn amps...

Cheers!

[MusicFox]

From what I've learned here on this site...And I have a 69 Solarus 40 watter (EL34's) being service for new caps right now, (Havent heard it yet) Getting Tube Sunn amps to distort by themselves is an exercise in futility as they were designed to be "Super Clean" HOWEVER if your planning on using some kind of Fuzz pedal in front you may like it very much indeed. I plan on that exact sort of thing as I will be using a VT999 tube overdrive (Behringer) in front of amp. Currently running a Pro Jr. Fender chassis in a 2X12 Cab and it Rocks at 15 watts (a bit dirty clean) I cant imagine 40 watts of Sunn power, super clean. I shall be heard.....

And before you all Poo poo the Behringer pedal I put a vintage Telefunken 12AX7 in it and I like it much better than the Boss OD-3 I was using so what works works I guess, I had 4 of these vintage tubes to choose from so I bought the pedal and as a 36 year gigging veteran I don't regret it.

Sunns are a treasure find but they are not "Marshalls" and sound different.

[pickinatit]

"Getting Tube Sunn amps to distort by themselves is an exercise in futility as they were designed to be "Super Clean"

As a fellow Sunn Solarus 40 watt owner,  I wholeheartedly second this!!  No experience with the Sentura.

[tengobotas]

Well here is a bit of an example of what im talking about as far as sound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RereaNPpk0

Im really just curious what the differences are between some of these heads because at a distance many look very similar.

Thanks for the replies though!

 

[pickinatit]

Well here is a bit of an example of what im talking about as far as sound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RereaNPpk0

Im really just curious what the differences are between some of these heads because at a distance many look very similar.

Thanks for the replies though!

 

At the end of the video it says "played thru a Boss Turbo Distortion".
I've never heard anything even remotely like that sound come out of
my "naked" Solarus.  If it did I would be running it right to the amp tech.!!

[Isaac]

Well here is a bit of an example of what im talking about as far as sound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RereaNPpk0

Im really just curious what the differences are between some of these heads because at a distance many look very similar.

Thanks for the replies though!

 

In that time period, Sunn used only a few different circuits. Essentially, there was a bass preamp, a guitar preamp, and three power amps. So the Sentura I had the guitar preamp and the 40 watt power amp, the Sentura II had the same preamp and the 60 watt power amp, and the 1000S had the same preamp and the 120 watt power amp. The Solarus was originally a combo amp, same preamp and power amp as the Sentura I, in a cabinet with two 12" drivers. Later, it was a 60 watt head, same as the Sentura II.

Short answer: there really is no difference between these heads.

[xsolarusx]

I'm going to go ahead and say that you should invest in a ProCo Rat or EHX Big Muff. The Solarus/Sentura is a beautiful clean amp, and sounds amazing with either pedal in front of it.

If it's a matter of buying one or the other, I'd say buy both.

Whats the big difference between these two heads? Im looking for something to pump out some serious fuzz but I dont know much about Sunn amps...

Cheers!

[tengobotas]

I'm going to go ahead and say that you should invest in a ProCo Rat or EHX Big Muff. The Solarus/Sentura is a beautiful clean amp, and sounds amazing with either pedal in front of it.

If it's a matter of buying one or the other, I'd say buy both.

Whats the big difference between these two heads? Im looking for something to pump out some serious fuzz but I dont know much about Sunn amps...

Cheers!

I actually have every intention of getting a rat, the big muff is a bit trickier though because id like to have an original and theyre quite pricey. Sadly over the years ive had a couple and have ended up trashing them. For the moment im just gettng back into playing because I found some guys to jam with and am probably going to be pretty happy with Sunn + anything.

Cheers and thanks for the advice everyone.

[HRobert]

Whats the big difference between these two heads? Im looking for something to pump out some serious fuzz but I dont know much about Sunn amps...

Cheers!

Same amp chassis, just different speaker configuration that came with the amp.  40W Sentura I came with 1 15" speaker.  I'm not sure, but I think that the Solarus came with 2 12" speakers.  The 67 and 68 model Solarus amps were incorproated into the speaker cab as one piece...not piggyback as the 69.

I know that the 68 Sentura II and 68 Spectrum are bothe the same 60W chassis.  The Sentura II came with 2 15" speakers, while the Septer came with 4 12" speakers in a tall ( not Marshall type ) cab.  The Sentura amps also had reverb and tremelo.

I have a 67 Sentura II...actually the second one that I've owned.  The original came with 2 15" JBL D-130F speakers.  This one has two cabs each with 2 15" JBL K-130 speakers and it kicks butt.

Rob

[pickinatit]

Well here is a bit of an example of what im talking about as far as sound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RereaNPpk0

Im really just curious what the differences are between some of these heads because at a distance many look very similar.

Thanks for the replies though!

 

In that time period, Sunn used only a few different circuits. Essentially, there was a bass preamp, a guitar preamp, and three power amps. So the Sentura I had the guitar preamp and the 40 watt power amp, the Sentura II had the same preamp and the 60 watt power amp, and the 1000S had the same preamp and the 120 watt power amp. The Solarus was originally a combo amp, same preamp and power amp as the Sentura I, in a cabinet with two 12" drivers. Later, it was a 60 watt head, same as the Sentura II.

Short answer: there really is no difference between these heads.

I have a Solarus that is the 40 watt amp (head only not a combo) with a separate 2x12 Sunn speaker cab.

[MusicFox]

Well here is a bit of an example of what im talking about as far as sound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RereaNPpk0

Im really just curious what the differences are between some of these heads because at a distance many look very similar.

Thanks for the replies though!

 

In that time period, Sunn used only a few different circuits. Essentially, there was a bass preamp, a guitar preamp, and three power amps. So the Sentura I had the guitar preamp and the 40 watt power amp, the Sentura II had the same preamp and the 60 watt power amp, and the 1000S had the same preamp and the 120 watt power amp. The Solarus was originally a combo amp, same preamp and power amp as the Sentura I, in a cabinet with two 12" drivers. Later, it was a 60 watt head, same as the Sentura II.

Short answer: there really is no difference between these heads.

There was a short time when the Solarus 40 watt was available as a separate head/cabinet before going to the 60 watt style. I have such a 40 watt head.....10/69 is the date inside. Tech was recapping it yesterday...yippee!

[Isaac]

pickinatit says he has one, too. I've never seen nor heard one. I wonder if they sound significantly different.

[MusicFox]

My 69 Solarus head has the mid-boost switch I think that would make it significantly different than the combo in sound (EL34 version with 7199 PI tube)

I played my first gig after having the amp recapped (I had never heard it) Its awesome. With my telecaster its clean and ballsy with my Epiphone Dot enough humbucker distortion to play "not quite clean" blues solos and kicking on a overdrive pedal well the moons your limit. I had a endless controllable howl available to me with my Epiphone Dot 335. can you say whooooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooooOOO........?