just got a sunn amp

[wixil12]

was on craigslist the other day  and found someone had a few amps in a garage they wanted gone... i responded and they had a old sunn tube amp , old fender baseman 4 x 10 combo type amp , and a accoustic amp and cab.... so i said i would like to see em... got there and the bassman was missing lots of stuff ... accoustic half worked and the cab sounded sweet... hooked the sunn up no sound but lit up .... now i was assuming he would want some reasonable cash for it all originally said 100 for the accoustic... so i said ill give u 50 and since i only had 100 on me i was gonna sadly let the sunn go.... thankfully my dad who knows i wanted the sunn came with, he got the sunn for 20 bucks....

well anyways sunn is out of the shop its a sonic - 1 or sonic -I

i guess my question is i cant find any info bout this amp really wondering if anyone had any background on it .... dont have any pics yet

[EdBass]

Nice old amp, use the search feature on this site and you'll get a lot of good info about it.

[jerryjg]

  Let me get this straight . You got a Sunn tube head for 20 bucks and a vintage 4x10  Fender tweed bassman & acoustic amp w/ cabinet  both for 80.00?
You paid too much.
I hope you don't mind me saying this but im sceptical. Very sceptical.
Those are the kind of deals of yesteryear you just dont find anymore these days. Especially from somsone who has a computer to easlily go to ebay and check the value of an 4x10 bassmanTweed amp.
I can't say for certain, so I won't call bs, but if it looks, tastes and smells like B.s..well, then....

[wixil12]

no i got the sunn amp for 20 it was dead would light up no sound... i got the accoustic with a 1x18 cab for 50 one channel on the amp was dead but its a wierd setup 2 channels the second one works great... i passed on the fender cuz it was in a million pieces and he wanted more money that i didnt really have... the guy had no idea what the stuff was really it was his dads and he had passed away he was just cleanin out the garage ....

[jerryjg]

RUn..dont walk back to that guy and mortgage your house or wahtever you have to do to buy that old 59 tweed basnman then.If its in a miilion pieces thats better than most  at this point in time.

[wixil12]

really im not sure if it was a 59 but i think it prolly sold by now he said his phone was blowin up i was first one there i guess or first to call .... it was a sweet lookin setup though

[Soundmasterg]

The Sonic 1 is exactly the same as a 200S. It originally came with a different cabinet and speaker setup, but the amp itself is exactly the same.

The transformers are most likely the Schumachers instead of the Dynaco and the voltages are a little higher than the earlier ones with the Dynacos. It'll make 70 watts RMS with a good set of KT88's.

I've got a Sonic 1 that I got for $40 several years back. It worked but had some issues due to someone trying to mod it and messing it up. The faceplate was all faded and rubbed off, so I got some vinyl labels made, and made it into a 200S instead, but its the same exact amp. Mine is from 1970 and has the Schumacher transformers.

Thats a nice find you got, and with a little TLC, you should be able to get it up and running well. If you don't know how to work on them yourself, best advice would be to find a good tech locally who can help you get it up to snuff. I work on these amps, but it would be better to find someone local so you don't have to pay shipping costs.

Good luck!

Greg

[wixil12]

got the amp back today needed new tubes a socket for one of the tubes and some capacitors a cord someother things not sure what they were i got a little bag of parts .... anyway amp sounds killer i love the tone .... so i have 140 for repairs and 20 for the amp and its up and rockin ...   

on a side note its missing one foot and the actual knob for the volume been checkin ebay havent seen any any ideas on where i could get something that at least functions and looks close to right?? i mean i can still turn the volume id just like to have a actual knob... and the foot would be sweet as well

[HRobert]

I have a 1967 Sunn amp brochure and I just wanted to add some information regarding the Sunn Sonic I amp.  The 1960's Sunn amp chassis came in two power versions; 40 W and 60 W into 8 ohms.  The Sonic I was a 40 watt amp, and it came with a single JBL D130F in a 24H x 24W x 15D speaker cab.  It also came in a bass version, called the Sonic I-40 that came with a single JBL D140F speaker.  The Sonic II was the 60 watt version that used the same chassis as the 200S.  The only difference between the Sonic II and the 200S - other than the name on the faceplate - was the Sonic II came with 2 JBL D130F speakers in a 42H x 24W x15D ported cab, while the 200S came with 2 JBL D140F bass speakers.  The 200S speaker cab was the same size as the Sonic II, but it was of a bass reflex design.

Sunn made amps that had the same name but were designated either I or II. Ex: Sentura I and Sentura II, Sonic I and Sonic II, Spectrum I and Spectrum II. The amps with the designation of "I" were the 40 watt version that came with one speaker in a cabinet, and the amps with the designation of "II" were the 60 watt version with 2 speakers per cabinet.  The Sunn 100S was a little different as it had the same amp head as the Spectrum II, but the cabinet had 1 JBL D130F speaker and a LE100S horn with a crossover.

In 1967 Sunn also had 2 PA systems - the Coliseum Sound System, and the Studio Sound System. Both used the same PA head, which was 120 watts and had 4 KT88 power tubes.  The PA head had 4 inputs, 4 volume controls - one for each input, one treble and one bass control for the whole system - no separate EQ for each channel in those days-, and a reverb control.   The Coliseum was a three-way speaker system.  Each of the two main cabs ( 42' x 24" x 15") had two 15" JBL 130AS speakers and a JBL 2402 bullet tweeter.  On top of that was a box with a JBL mid-range horn driver combo with diffuser lenses on the horns.  The cost for this system listed in the 1967 price list was $3595.00, a lot of money in 1967.

The Studio Sound System speakers had the same basis components as the Sunn 100S guitar amp, except the speaker was a JBL 130AS and not a D130F, and it had the same LE100S horn and crossover.  The price for his system was $1395.00.

FYI, The list price for a Sonic I amp in 1967 was $665.00.

Robert

[Soundmasterg]

That all may have been true in 1967, but my Sonic 1 is from 1970 and is definitely the 60 watt version and is just like a 200S. It definitely is not a Sonic 2 also. When I got the amp I did a lot of research on it to find out just what it was and there was lots of conflicting info out there. It could be that when they changed from the Dynaco transformers to the Schumacher transformers, the model numbers all changed too. The 40 watt amps had lower plate voltages among other differences.

Greg

[HRobert]

Greg,

Well thats a new one on me.  I'm really surprised that Sunn would use the Sonic I name on a 60 watt head.  WHy didn't they just keep calling it a Sonic II?  Beats the heck out of me.

Does your sonic I have KT88 ore 6550 power tube?  If it has either of the two it definately is the 60 watt version.

Anyway, Sunn amps are great.  In 1980, out of desparation and needing to pay the rent, I sold my original 1967 Sentura II head with two 2 X 15, B-60 cabs ( the shorter cabs with the speakers offset from each other), each with two JBL D130F speakers. I've kicked myself ever since.   

About a month ago I found a Sentura II on eBay and won it.  Now all I have to do is find the cabs, but since they are few and far between, It's more likely that I'll build a pair from some old plans of my original cabs that I drew up back in the 70's.  I don't have the JBL D130's but I do have 4 JBL K130's that I can put in the cabs.  take care,

Bob

[Ryan Phelps]

Bob,
While the Sunn Coliseum head did have 4 KT88's for 120 watts output, the Sunn Studio head had just a pair of KT88's for 60 watts output. I know because I owned a Coliseum several years ago and currently own a Studio PA head AND....the matching speakers with the JBL drivers and crossover! A rare PA indeed.

Regards,

Ryan

[Soundmasterg]

Bob,

When I got the Sonic 1 it wasn't quite working right, and needed caps really bad, but it had GE 6550's in it and the bigger transformers and after I fixed it, it makes 70 RMS into an 8 ohm load. You can tell what the power output of the amp will be by the physical size of the transformers, and by the B+ voltage inside the amp. The 40 watt amps had smaller transformers and were lower voltage. You can put EL34/6550/KT88 tubes in either amp without too many changes and they will all work in either application, so the tube type isn't a reliable way to tell which amp it is. Since mine had the faceplate all rubbed away for the most part, I sanded it smooth and put some new labelling on to make it a quasi 200S, since the circuit is the same. It is signed inside from Nov. 1970 too. Who knows why they weren't consistant, but what company is......parts sources change and they just find another source and keep making the amp. Same thing happens with most production companies.

Greg

[MusicFox]

Let me get this straight . You got a Sunn tube head for 20 bucks and a vintage 4x10  Fender tweed bassman & acoustic amp w/ cabinet  both for 80.00?
You paid too much.
I hope you don't mind me saying this but im sceptical. Very sceptical.
Those are the kind of deals of yesteryear you just dont find anymore these days. Especially from somsone who has a computer to easlily go to ebay and check the value of an 4x10 bassmanTweed amp.
I can't say for certain, so I won't call bs, but if it looks, tastes and smells like B.s..well, then....

It can Happen. I got a 69 Solarus head complete for $50. I'll Recap it first and then we'll see. Nothing exploded or leaky. Sorry to say I had to let the 2X12 cabinet go to someone else. Just was too broke and borrowed the $50 as it was. A free bassman head has been promised to me and yes the Magic smoke was let out 25 years ago. Keep looking....Yahoo freecycle is one source.....