Ok here is one. 1-1/2 years ago at the Greater Seattle Vintage Guitar Show another dealer approached my booth because I had a bunch of Sunn gear (of which I sold nada) and asked if I would be interested in purchasing an old Sunn tube head. "Sure, bring it over" I said. So he brings over a 1966 Sunn "Smiley Face" head.....it's all there except no badge, no tubes and un-tested. He said he picked it up at an estate sale. Of course I remembered that in high school one of the "rich kids" had one of these, when the rest of us were playing our Silvertones! Worst case scenario...a blown power or output transformer. Otherwise, it could be easily fixed since it's just a Dynaco Mark III inside a box (essentially). He was asking $150, so I offered $125, explaining that, since it hadn't been tested, it was a gamble on my part (if a trannie was blown) and could cost double that to buy a new trannie or re-wind the old one. He said that was fair and we made the deal. Turns out the trannies were fine. I replaced the main filter caps, the negative bias caps, the heater caps (the heater supply is DC just like and old Dynaco PAS preamp!) and installed new tubes, including Sovtek KT88's power tubes. This thing is so LOUD and has so much BOTTOM end I can't believe it! No wonder Sunn bass amps made such an impact when the only thing close them was a Fender Bassman or Showman. Anyway, it's one of my favorite Sunn amps.....amazing deals do still happen! Oh, if any of you have a "Smiley Face" badge to sell......well, name your price!
Ryan
