Leslie West/Mountain's Sunn amps.

[Music_Man]

Hello everyone! Interesting site here dedicated to Sunn equipment. Although I played drums many years ago I was in several bands that used Sunn gear. It's my opinion Sunn undoubtedly made some of the finest amps and systems around. I also was fortunate in knowing the late great Felix Pappalardi. Now I know Mountain used Sunn amps I don't remember what Sunn amp Leslie West used while in Mountain. I remember having a few discussions with Felix about what they used in Mountain but I can't seem to remember what amps Leslie West used. Seems to me I remember someone saying he used a PA head as opposed to a lead head.
I do know he didn't use any distortion gimmicks. Their distortion was natural from the Sunn's being cranked up.

Does anyone here know or remember what head Leslie used?

[loudthud]

Most of what I know I got here:

http://www.richbriere.com/Sunn_Shack_2.htm

The interesting thing is that all the pictures I can find that are clear enough, show heads with 4 knobs for both bass and guitar. Everyone says Papalardi used 200S or 2000S amps but I can't find one picture to support that claim. The 200S only has 3 knobs and the 2000S has a large black rectangle on the front panel and is 30 inches wide. The speaker cabinets always look like the 24 inch wide 200S cabinets. It would look silly to stack a 24 inch speaker on top of a 30 inch wide head. If you want to see what 2000S cabinets look like, search for an old pic of Credence Clearwater. They are clearly the 2000S cabinets.

Here's another thing. The chassis used for amps without trem and reverb in those days had holes punched so that it would accept the bass and treble boost switches like the 200S or a fourth pot next to the (2) inputs. You can't fit the switches and the pot at the same time. All the 120W amps had 4 inputs but the 3 and 4 knob 40W and 60W amps only had 2 inputs.

[pickinatit]

Most of what I know I got here:

http://www.richbriere.com/Sunn_Shack_2.htm

The interesting thing is that all the pictures I can find that are clear enough, show heads with 4 knobs for both bass and guitar. Everyone says Papalardi used 200S or 2000S amps but I can't find one picture to support that claim. The 200S only has 3 knobs and the 2000S has a large black rectangle on the front panel and is 30 inches wide. The speaker cabinets always look like the 24 inch wide 200S cabinets. It would look silly to stack a 24 inch speaker on top of a 30 inch wide head. If you want to see what 2000S cabinets look like, search for an old pic of Credence Clearwater. They are clearly the 2000S cabinets.

Here's another thing. The chassis used for amps without trem and reverb in those days had holes punched so that it would accept the bass and treble boost switches like the 200S or a fourth pot next to the (2) inputs. You can't fit the switches and the pot at the same time. All the 120W amps had 4 inputs but the 3 and 4 knob 40W and 60W amps only had 2 inputs.

I might be misunderstanding what you're saying here,  but my Sunn Solarus (40 watt) has 4 inputs....(2 marked Normal and 2 marked Brite)

[loudthud]

The Solarus had trem and reverb. It was built on lets call it the 40/60 7 pot chassis. It has 4 inputs. The 200S and the 4 pot guitar amps like the Spectrum were built on a 40/60 3/4 pot chassis. They have two inputs inline with the pots. There may be exceptions. I have a 190B I should pull apart, The 4 knob amps were all gone by that time IIRC. All the 1000 series amps have 4 inputs as far as I have been able to determine. The holes on the 4 input amps are too close together to squeeze another two holes between them.

[Music_Man]

Interesting info here but I find it a bit strange that Mountain's amps were never clearly defined.
However though I do remember Felix telling me that they (Mountain) got most of their Sunn amps from
Jimi Hendrix in fact giving the amps/speakers to them. Now I don't know what Sunn gave to Hendrix but
Mountain wound up with it and then some along the way later being sponsored by Sunn.
Gee maybe all those amps were custom made at that time considering no particular model can be pinned down to what they used. Custom stuff did go on back then. I wonder.........

[cromag]

ask conrad.  he would be the guy in the know.

[loudthud]

Interesting video to watch here:

http://www.myspace.com/mountainfans

Not about Sunn amps but the ones he's using currently. Mountain is on tour with Joe Satriani. Saw him last night in Dallas at The House of Blues. Look around, there might be a way to email him.

[Music_Man]

Thanks everyone for your participation.

[stanner]

Hi-big time mountain fan here-saw them way back in the day-WOW! what a sound.
surprised no one has referenced this youtube vid-i have the dvd-somewhere in my collection but it shows grand use of the Sunns-amps and cabs-
you have to watch the whole thing tho'.
visions o' yesteryear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqj6XQ65OqU&feature=related
s

[Wally]

Interesting info here but I find it a bit strange that Mountain's amps were never clearly defined.
However though I do remember Felix telling me that they (Mountain) got most of their Sunn amps from
Jimi Hendrix in fact giving the amps/speakers to them. Now I don't know what Sunn gave to Hendrix but
Mountain wound up with it and then some along the way later being sponsored by Sunn.
Gee maybe all those amps were custom made at that time considering no particular model can be pinned down to what they used. Custom stuff did go on back then. I wonder.........

"Sunn gave to HEndrix"....I remember reading that there was some contention that HEndrix left owing a large amount of money to Sunn for equipment? I have read the figure of $70,000.
My 1200S has  'jimi hendrix' written on the back panel in grease pencil. IT doesn' resemble the Hendrix autographs that I have seen. Does anyone know if the factory notated the amps that were bound for JH in this manner?
Mountain....love that sound. Sunn all the way. My 1200S does the sound acceptably well. I have heard the modern cut of Mississippi Queen through thos Marshalls....it just isn't the same to my ear. There is something going on with the Sunn that the Marshall doesn't do.

[Mike B.]

Hi-big time mountain fan here-saw them way back in the day-WOW! what a sound.
surprised no one has referenced this youtube vid-i have the dvd-somewhere in my collection but it shows grand use of the Sunns-amps and cabs-
you have to watch the whole thing tho'.
visions o' yesteryear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqj6XQ65OqU&feature=related
s

Another big Mountain fan here, and I just gotta love all of those Sunn amps! Great link--thanks for posting it!

Mike

[Isaac]

Another big Mountain fan here, and I just gotta love all of those Sunn amps! Great link--thanks for posting it!

Mike

Could be the characteristics of the ultralinear power amps.

[Zulubilly]

Hello everyone, I am new here.  My band was the opening act for a show with Mountain in 1970 or 1971 can't remember, but I recall Leslie West had a stack of Sunn amp heads next to his speaker cabinets.  These were all hooked together and powered the massive wall of cabinets.  They weren't the usual heads but the wider ones maybe a 1500, 1000, 1200 or 2000 (My memory lets me down).  Did Sunn make these models or am I confused.   I played Sunn 200S bass rigs and all I noticed was these amp heads were wider than my 200S. Just thought I would toss that in.
Thanks,
Zulu

[basiklybass]

I have read somewhere that many amps sent to big stars were customized. No reason they wouldn't put a mid or presence control on them for a big star. I also read somewhere that Sunn originally made the 2000S in a 200S cabinet for Noel Redding. They were apparently prototypes and I have seen a few on Ebay and elsewhere that have 4 output tubes as well as huge transformers crammed into a 200S chassis. Always wondered if these were used by Noel.