Looking for first Sunn!

[Sunnson]

Hello all! I am new to the forum and relatively new to sunn amps.
I play both bass and guitar and i try to play all styles of music.
which is the best path to choose when looking to buy a Sunn?
 also how readily are parts available?
thanks,

Ryan

[Oli]

Hi,

I think the best way is eBay or the classified section on this page. The sound is up to you, are you looking for tube or transitoramps? Try to figure out the sound you like, Sunn is used by so many people, from Mountain to Kyuss.

And I wouldn`t worry about parts for repair or replacements, there are so many experts on this page who can help you.

Greetings

Oli

[Sunnson]

Hello,

im definately looking for a tube amp. i currently play through a mesa-boogie subway rocket reverb which is about 20 watts and a fender blues jr. 15 watt. im somewhat familiar with Kyuss and im also familiar with Earth and of course Sunn0))). The problem is that i try to play everything from surf to black metal to ambient music. i have been surfing the bay, and the last sunn i watched was a soraro i think s100 maybe it was fully "restored" and sold for $800.
thanks

Ryan

[biltmore]

also how readily are parts available?

Considering that Sunn isn't even around anymore, and hasn't been for some years now ... original parts parts are kind of hard to come by.

The problem is that i try to play everything from surf to black metal to ambient music.

That's not a problem with Sunn amps really, as most of them are designed to be extremely loud and clean.

What's your budget?

[Sunnson]

Around $800 at the moment but my budget will hopefully ever increasing even though thats usually not the case.
thanks,

Ryan

[stanner]

sorry-i dont get it. the 'types' of music you 'try' to play calls for amps w/ bells and whistles-channel switching-etc. what attracts you to amps that are no longer produced-are one trick ponies and cost a mint?
jus askin...

[biltmore]

sorry-i dont get it. the 'types' of music you 'try' to play calls for amps w/ bells and whistles-channel switching-etc. what attracts you to amps that are no longer produced-are one trick ponies and cost a mint?
jus askin...

sorry-i dont get it. Sunn's are "one trick ponies" and "cost a mint"? You mind explaining that in further detail, or are you just blowing smoke out of your ass?

[Oli]

Hello,

im definately looking for a tube amp. i currently play through a mesa-boogie subway rocket reverb which is about 20 watts and a fender blues jr. 15 watt. im somewhat familiar with Kyuss and im also familiar with Earth and of course Sunn0))). The problem is that i try to play everything from surf to black metal to ambient music. i have been surfing the bay, and the last sunn i watched was a soraro i think s100 maybe it was fully "restored" and sold for $800.
thanks

Ryan

Hi,
the Sorado is a fine amp. It`s the same as the 200S, came with a different box back in the 60s. I like it for small sessions - the sound is greally creamy . With a loud drummer/guitar I prefer the 2000S (=350B) type with the bass.
There is a lot of discussion because of the price of an amp (well depending of it`s condition etc etc.). I think a usual price for a 200S/Sorado/100S/190L is about 400...600$, the 2000S/1000S/1200S about 800....1600$. Anyway, get one, you`ll like it!

Greetings

Oli

   

[djc]

I play both bass and guitar but mainly blues-rock.  darker stuff when I play bass.  I use my 200s with a 215 cab for both.  raw, clean power.  pedal it up after that.
as far as smoke out your a$% (my kids read this too), sunn is really a one trick pony in the aspect that they are raw, clean power.  not many of them came with any options

[stanner]

t h a t was my point-poorly worded-thanks

[biltmore]

as far as smoke out your a$% (my kids read this too), sunn is really a one trick pony in the aspect that they are raw, clean power.  not many of them came with any options

Your kids read the forum huh? That's cool. I'd hardly consider "ass" to be a derogatory word, they even say it on TV, but hey ... that's your prerogative to protect your kids from whatever you like. So getting back to the "one trick pony" subject, things like Reverb, Tremelo, Effects Loops, Mid Boost Switches, Distortion channel, built-in attenuator, options on having SS or tube rectifiers, different ohm options, and such ... those aren't options? You might as well call every other amplifier out there a "one trick pony" if that's the case. I can get either huge cleans, wall of distortion, twangy, or reverb drenched sounds out of my Model A ... and I would hardly consider that be just "one trick". Even the Sceptre and Model T heads are capable of more than just "one" sound.

Sorry to derail your thread Sunnson.

[djc]

sorry.  just trying to keep it clean for everyone involved

many sunn amps were just one channel, 3 control amps.  volume, bass, treble.  clean power.  as the company expanded, many more options became available.  much of that after the Sundholms involvement.  the 200s was probably thier most common amp.  just clean power.  I can get many sounds out of mine by using pedals and adjusting the 3 controls.  I think they are the most versatile amp however I'd still call it a one trick pony because it is just raw clean power.  many sunn amps came with options such as the enforcer, model T, had tremelos, reverbs, distortion, multiple channels and effects loops in later models, etc..

regardless, they are great sounding amps, agreed? after that it's about taste and ability which has as much to do with every other component in your arsenal as your amp.

[Sunnson]

everyone please forgive me for being such a neophyte. im not to well versed in amplifiers and i had no intention on starting an argument. My reason for stating what i try to play was to see if there were any specific types of sunn amps that do something particularly well. for example i wouldnt play surf, or jazz on a marshall jcm2000 full stack, simply because i know that they are a high performance amp that are best used for everything metal or hard rock. sorry if i offended anyone it certainly was not my intention

from what members of the forum tell me, sunn amps are loud and clean. I would enjoy that personally. However do most sunn tube amps have a nice natural distortion? Also how do they sound with pedals, nothing special just say a wah and a big muff pi reissue?

this also brings another question, which amps can be used for guitar and which for bass? can they be used for both? since i play both guitar and bass could i purchase one sunn rig and use it for both bass and guitar? (with all of the adjustments of course)

Thanks,

Ryan

[djc]

first off, you've got nothing to apologize for.  your thread got hijacked and we are sorry for that.

really I've heard of any and all used for both.  I don't think my concert lead sounds particularily good for bass but I've heard of people using that.  I like my 200s (traditionally a bass amp) for guitar because of the bell tones I can get out of it.  kinda SRV-ish.  I use a couple Brian Wampler pedals, a Bad Horsie 2, a TS-808, a CS-2 modified, and a BBE 2timer delay.  I like my sound.  I find my amp takes pedals well.  I've heard some disagree with that.  I think a wah and a big muff or a rat would sound great.

as far as driving my 200s amp into natural tube overdrive I can only do it on bass and it usually starts to break up around 8.  ok with bass as 60watts isn't that much.  it's a nice jack bruce of cream sound.  I like it. guitar at 8 will cause your ears to bleed.

my concert lead has a distortion built in.  it's a nice 70's CCR type sound.  other guys love their CL's distortion and say it's plenty gainy.  mine doesn't seem to have enough gain so I drive it with my tube screamer, just over loads the preamp circuit resulting in a higher gain sound. 

bottom line there isn't many bad or poor sounding Sunn amps.  each one will have it's own mojo or character though.  best thing to do is play before you buy.  even then there is hidden nuances you won't find until much time is logged.


I've always wanted a 212A I think they are called.  it's a combo amp.  also I've always wanted a 2000s which is a bigger 200s.  a model T seems to be a sought after amp although I've never heard one.