I want to buy a Sunn amp... but which one?

[Martincore]

I realize this is a complete newbie-question, and a tough one to answer, as it's a matter of taste, etc. But I am at a bit of a loss, here. I've heard one Sunn in real life, a Beta Lead, and it sounded great. Later I found that some of my favorite guitarists plays Sunn too, and, basically, that's why I'm here.

some facts about me:
I play guitar (Main guitar: Fender Jaguar HH Baritone, but also Guild S100 and a Gretsch Jet Baritone)
I play mostly sludgy, bass-driven metal a la Neurosis.
I'm a sucker for tube amps.
Current amp: Peavey 5150.
I need a workhorse amp, that can take rehearsing, recording and gigging.

My own thoughts:
I think the the Beta Lead would be fine for my needs, but now that I'm all about the bass, I've been thinking that maybe a Beta Bass could be worth considering?
Also; Compared to, say, a Marshall (eww..) cabinet, how reliable are the Sunn cabs? Should I go for an Engl cabinet or something, if on tour?
Cabinet-wise, I've been thinking about buying a 1x15" and a 2x12 and just bridge them together... any thoughts on that?

So, yeah, I've been giving this some thought, and though I'm sure I want to own a Sunn, I don't want to use all my savings on it (yet), so obviously, economy is a factor as well, as this is my first. It's like tattoos; you don't start out with a full back-tattoo... you ought to, but you just never do...

I hope you have some input for a complete Sunn n0))0b.

Cheers in advance,
Martin.

[pickinatit]

You said you are a sucker for Tube Amps,  but aren't the Beta Lead & Beta Bass amps SS ?

http://sunn.ampage.org/site/catalogs/1979/1979catp6.jpg

I have three Sunn Bass Heads (4 actually, counting my Solarus which I've used as a Bass Head).
http://sunn.ampage.org/site/catalogs/1968/solarussonaro.jpg

Sunn 2000S (tube bass head) has great tone (they all do really)
 http://sunn.ampage.org/site/catalogs/1968/2000s.jpg

Sunn Concert Bass (Solid State)
http://sunn.ampage.org/site/catalogs/1979/1979catp8.jpg

Sunn 1200S (Sunn/Fender era, tube pre-amp section)
http://www.sunnamps.com/manuals.html (use the link then click open the 1200S manual. It's a PDF file).

The 1200S seems to a great choice to me because of it's versatility.
It sounds great for both bass or guitar IMO and has plenty of power if you need it 1200 watts @ 2 ohms.

I presently switch amoung these three bass heads for rehearsal depending on my mood.  I play them all mostly thru  exactly the cab
set-up you described  (Ampeg SVT 115E,  Avatar B212Neo).  They all sound great.  I also have a 210Neo that I can add into the mix.  I have a Sunn 2 X 15 that I can never quite seem to get around to doing the restoration & speaker replacement it needs.

I'll leave it to those on here with more experience to specifically reccomend something for your personal situation.

[Martincore]

Indeed, the Betas aren't tube-driven, but even though I'm a tube-man by heart, I really like their sound.

Interesting suggestion, the 1200s, I hadn't considered that. I'll be checking it out

[pickinatit]

Understand that I'm refering to the "modern"  Sunn/Fender era 1200S that my link goes to,  not the late 60's all tube guitar amp.  I think it's the last amp produced after Fender took over Sunn that still carried the Sunn Logo.

The two channels that can each be set for varied amounts of gain is a great feature as opposed to a "clean" channel and a "gain" channel.  It's the "old" Sunn sound with all the modern features as far as I'm concerned.  (although nothing quite beats the 2000S  for pure Bass tone IMO).