Fake Sunn Tags

[Johnny Guitar]

Check out the Sunn Tags I got on ebay.  They look like they were spray painted, there's even a couple of paint globs on the backs.  They ran out of paint on the bottom of one, of course thats Not what was in the picture. 
When I complained here is what I was told:

" First off it is obvious you have zero sunn knowledge.What you have in your posession are the very first prototype logos from the smiley sunn era.I worked with jerry in the tigard and tualitin plants from the eugene garage to the close of the tualitin plant in oregon.Please return them too Madd Hatters music Emporium 1608 main street goodland Kansas 67735 Please enclose
your paypal address and I will gladly refund your money.These really need to go to someone who can appreciate them.You are so wrong on every count .Have a great day
-   ricospitncobra "

Now I have been wrong before  , but these look pretty bad, what do you think??

I can't get this to post with the picture so I'll try sending the picture next.

Johnny G.

[Johnny Guitar]

Can't post picture.  It says " upload folder is full ", the pdf is only 240KB so I don't know what is going on.  I'll try again tomorrow.

Johnny G.

[loudthud]

I couldn't find the auction in the completed listings. Was it under musical instruments? Did they spell Sunn right? I would have seen it unless it was a Buy It Now that ended under 24hr. Who is this Jerry? I've never heard Conrad mention anyone named Jerry.

[tboy]

Can't post picture.  It says " upload folder is full ", the pdf is only 240KB so I don't know what is going on.  I'll try again tomorrow.

I just increased the size of the attachment folder, so it should work if you try again. You guys should tell me when things like this happen, in case I'm asleep at the switch.

[Johnny Guitar]

I did a Buy It Now on both so it wasn't on very long.  Here are the pictures.

Johnny G.

[loudthud]

On page 2 of this thread:

http://sunnforum.ampage.org/sdp/index.php/topic,3818.0.html

There is a picture I posted of various Sunn badges. The glossy paint on yours doesn't look quite right. Also, the printing is too far to the left compared to the production badges. I hope Conrad can enlighten us on this subject.

[Johnny Guitar]

Thanks tboy for taking care of my upload problem!  I really appreciate you taking care of the website, I have learned alot from the members.   How would I contact you when there is a problem?

Thank you loudthud for the pictures of the tags.  I saw them the other day but couldn't find them when I started this post.  I did not know that there was a large tag without the trade mark until I saw your picture.  I told this guy that the tag was missing the trademark , I guess I was wrong about that.  I know these are fakes, the tags aren't really bad, you can just tell they have been freshly painted, its a totally different finish than anything else I have.  Do you know if the screw hole are countersunk on all of the tags?  I thought they were unless they got rounded out by someone.  These are round holes with black paint inside them.

It made me mad when I got his response so I thought I would share it .

Johnny G.

[loudthud]

The badge on my 2nd Gen Model T is plastic (red O))). All the ones below are aluminum. It looks to me like they are not painted but black and clear anodized except the Smiley face badge. They look like they were made in a large sheet with space between each badge and cut out with a sheet metal shear. There is no black on the edge of the badges. The holes on #1 and #3 look drilled but the countersinking goes all the way through which was definately done after plating. The holes on the (R) badge were punched and there is a very shallow countersink. The screw heads are .216 dia. I checked a couple of other (R) badges and all have the oversize holes.

Badge #1 Large no (R)
1.875 x 4.875 thickness .062
Holes ~.125 countersunk
brushed finish (vertical) anodized both sides

Badge #2 Large with (R)
1.870 x 4.870 thickness .062
Holes #8 drill .199 dia shallow countersink
matte finish anodized front only

Badge #3 Small no (R)
1.757 x 4.498 thickness .059
Holes ~.125 countersunk
brushed finish (horizontal) anodized both sides

Badge #4 Smiley face
~2.000 x 8.06 thickness .020
Holes ~.125 Can't tell if drilled or punched
brushed (horizontal) finish anodized with goldish tint.
Black appears to be silkscreen paint.

Edit: Replaced corrupt pic.

[Isaac]

Thje first thought running through my head is, " 'very first prototype logos,' my ass!"

Of course, I could be wrong, and the guy could be completely on the level. But somehow, I doubt it.

[spellcaster]

 Those do look homemade. I'm glad you were able to get your money back.

[HRobert]

Why not send Conrad a pic of the tags and see what he has to say...after all...he's the one who would know.

I'm not sure, but I don't think that the name plates / tags for the late 60 sunn amps were painted or silkscreened, they're much too smooth.  I would surmise that they were done with an anodizing process that blackened the tag except for the part with the lettering - which stayed the silver metal color.

Rob

[Isaac]

That is correct, HRobert, but that doesn't preclude a stenciled and sprayed prototype existing. I'll still be surprised if that's what these are, though.

[HRobert]

Isaac,

If I were a betting man, I would bet that the tags were faked in order to make a quick buck from some unsuspecting person.  It's a good thing that there are people like us that have been around SUnn equipment long enough to know the difference.

There's a guy selling a 2 x 15 cab on eBay and saying that it's a Sunn. I've emailed him and explained why it wasn't a Sunn cab and suggested that he change his aucton description...in all fairness to the perspective buyers.

Bob