distortion question.

[Ryanx]

upon looking for a new sunn head to grab.  which amp guitarwise has a really good distortion to it?  i've only ever played through bass amps with sunn and am looking to branch out.  anyone have audio samples or anything of just the amp, no pedal?


thanks in advance.

[Robbie Nuke]

When they first came out the sunn beta lead sounded pretty good when crankin the gain knob. My favorite amp for distortion/overdrive is the Fender Super Champ (can be used in a band situation if mic or DI Box is used).

[Ryanx]

hmm can you compare it to anything.


i have no ways of really testing one of these out

[Soundmasterg]

Personally, I've never liked any of the Sunn stuff for guitar. They started as a bass amp that was very similar to a Dynaco Mk3, and even used Dynaco transformers. A couple values were changed in the preamp to make them work for guitar, but they're still kind of a hard and clean distortion. The EL34 amps would be better than the 6550/KT88 amps, but to me, their voltages are all too high to really sound nice for guitar. I've used my 200S bass amp in the studio for guitar on clean stuff, and it gives a different vibe than your typical Fenders, but I don't like it at all for natural amp distortion with a guitar.

[Ryanx]

so basically there is nothing that has a really good base distortion.  not even the model t's?

[Isaac]

He was talking guitar distortion. Are you asking about bass distortion?

[JoeArthur]

so basically there is nothing that has a really good base distortion.  not even the model t's?

Distortion characteristics are certainly subjective.

The model T... meaning the pre-second generation has very good distortion for guitar.  So does the Concert Lead - either early or late models. One is tube and the other is solid state.

And the beta series, has good distortion for those into metal - totally saturated. Great for bedroom practice but not so good full up for band work.

The early sunn models were great for clean sounds.

What's good for you and your playing situation?

[Ryanx]

looking for something very full, a good distortion.  not something super high trebel, i'm getting a mesa boogie to take care of that, i'm looking for a very good full distortion, it's hard to explain i guess.



just havent been able to test out a lot of sunn heads, and am looking for a good sound

[Soundmasterg]

I haven't played the later Sunn stuff like what was mentioned, so I can't comment on them, but if the others say they've got good distortion for guitar then they do I'm sure. All of the earlier Sunn amps from the mid 60's to the early 70's will do clean just fine, and for bass they all sound great too, clean and distorted. Listen to any Rush songs from the 70's and you're hearing a Sunn bass amp on the treble, distorted frequencies. The only famous guitar player I know of that used an older Sunn and got good sound was Leslie West from Mountain. He used a P90 equipped guitar. Listen to their song Mississippi Queen for an example. You can always setup the amp clean and use a pedal too.

[Ryanx]

i'm going to grab a big muff tonight to run through my 73 concert bass.  ill post results later.  i'm running it through a new Les Paul Studio with the burstbucker pickups

[Isaac]

For guitar, I really like the distortion on my Sentura II, but only with the mid boost on. Without it, the distortion is too bright, although it works well for really raunchy stuff like "Jumping Jack Flash".

[TGH]

And the beta series, has good distortion for those into metal - totally saturated. Great for bedroom practice but not so good full up for band work.

Woah. All you need for a Beta is a Rat pedal, and you got the heaviest thing ever.

[rick.heil]

I have a Beta Lead, with the original speakers.


Sounds good with those and a Marshall 1x12" cab I have at home.


If I'm doing anything besides really heavy / death metal, the amp's distortion works fine for me.   I find it especially effective for blues (a good snarl) and punk.

[Ryanx]

And the beta series, has good distortion for those into metal - totally saturated. Great for bedroom practice but not so good full up for band work.

Woah. All you need for a Beta is a Rat pedal, and you got the heaviest thing ever.

i've heard rather good things about those Rat pedals, i know that Trey from Morbid Angel uses one.  they're hard to come by now a days aren't they??


i want to test one out