The Enforcer is done!

[doomedfuzz]

Trying liven up this somewhat boring forum, man! Got a call from my tech, he has gone through my Enforcer with a fine tooth comb, found no major problems, re-tubed it, cleaned all the pots, he did change out one of the volume pots for me, no cap issues to be found, and he built me a footswitch for it! I'll pick it up tomorrow at lunch! I am excited as hell! I am picking up my 70s Sunn 4x12 cab to go with it on Sat. - will be a great weekend of heavy ass jamming! I'll include pix also.

[biltmore]

Nice! Pics please.

I think it's quiet around here because we're basically followers of a dead amplifier company that hasn't existed for 20+ years (I like to think that when Fender took over the name, Sunn ceased to exist). 

[doomedfuzz]

Most people I know who are into Sunn amps are excited about them...

[Wicked_Tone]

Awesome dude! It's cool to hear that you have a Sunn head and cab to rip some killer tones through!!!! Make some videos of the Enforcer to post on Youtube if you can. I'd love to see and hear your setup! I just finished putting in an old set of Eminence square magnet 12" speakers for my Stagemaster and it sounds great! I'll probably take my amp to a tech in the near future, as the high gain channel is not as loud as the low gain channel. I may have some components that need to be replaced that have changed in value or are not working to efficency. Overall though, the amp has a cool vibe. I also just purchased a Monsterpiece NPN Fuzz from a forum member on The Gear Page. I can't wait to run it into the Sunn.

[EdBass]

Nice! Pics please.

I think it's quiet around here because we're basically followers of a dead amplifier company that hasn't existed for 20+ years (I like to think that when Fender took over the name, Sunn ceased to exist). 

You certainly don't hear as much about Sunn as you do other still existing companies; Fender, Marshall, Ampeg, etc., but more than the other defunct companies from the era; Standell, Earth, Sound City, etc.
Sunn gets pretty strong, positive play on talkbass.com, and no negative talk except from the class D SS fanboys that harp on the size and weight of all old/tube amps.
I still think the time is ripe for a "phoenix". 

[doomedfuzz]

The difference between Sunn and the other companies you mention is that when they were around Sunn was a big time player for a good chunk of their history, especially in the US and there are still a ton of great examples out there to be discovered (and played). I've been playing for over 30 years, in bands for 26 years and I never even heard of those other brands you mentioned until maybe 7-8 years ago when I got super interested in strange/rare amps. You can add White, Garnett, Sundown and Legend to that list. There is a used gear shop around here that has a few Sunns left, they have a Sound City 120, a Sundown Rebel 50, a Legend Rock and Roll 50 half stack , more Traynors than you can count, and so and so on. Some for sale, some are part of the owners personal collection. I'd love to get get them to part with that Sound City, but its not for sale, just sits there and collects dust.

[doomedfuzz]

Well I picked it up and plugged it on, damn! Sounds heavy as f$*&#k! I can see why these were not popular amps at the time - not the early 80s JCM tone that all rockers wanted at all. It is closer to old Orange/Matamp than the traditional British stuff. Huge, and I mean huge distortion with massive bass response, this is one dark amp. Channel A is brighter and more articulate and I can get a super nice classic heavy rock crunch from it. Channel B, doom metal all the way, just crushing! I have a hard time thinking that Ted Nugent actually played these things. I keep thinking Matamp GT series amps when played. The cleans are almost non-existent, which is cool, I rarely play anything clean. To get something clean at a gigging volume, you really have to crank the drive up and dime the volume. I got a reasonable clean, good enough to use live, but my Orange's clean is the same way, its really gritty, in fact when we recorded, it sounded like I had an OD on my clean channel lol. While many of you wouldn't like this level of fuzzed out, bottom heavy, dark gain - it is exactly the tone I go for with my band and the reason I bought this amp. It kicks all kinds of ass! My GAS for a vintage OR120 is now gone. I got there for next to nothing.

I only had about 15 minutes of playing on it and only got to use my Gibson LP with Burstbucker Pros in it, its one great sounding but dark guitar (again how I like it). I need to try my Flying V and my Moderne through it. My Moderne has Duncan 59s in it and it is super bright, might be a good combination for the amp. I didn't really mess with the EQ on the amp, so I'll spend more time with that tomorrow and see how they will sculpt the tone.

My tech said the amp is really well built, very solid construction and design. He did say it was a little difficult to work on due to the placement of some of the components. There is some strangeness to how they have the speaker outs and OHMs listed on the back (consider the stock cab was 8ohm, it has a 16 ohm out). He really liked the amp (he likes Sunn amps in general and in fact was working on his own little Alpha when I showed up) and thinks I literally stole for the price I paid. He thought I paid 3 times what I did!

[Addam]

I wonder why they're not more popular now-a-days then.

[madaradio]

I wonder why they're not more popular now-a-days then.

because there was so few of them actually made!  I have an enforcer combo amp that I here is even more rare.

[doomedfuzz]

I wonder why they're not more popular now-a-days then.

Depending on the source, between 100 and 150 total were made during their entire production run over a few years. That includes combos and heads, and as mentioned, there are fewer combos made. There are just very few left alive and running 25+ years after the last run.

[doomedfuzz]

I wonder why they're not more popular now-a-days then.

Depending on the source, between 100 and 150 total were made during their entire production run over a few years. That includes combos and heads, and as mentioned, there are fewer combos made. There are just very few left alive and running 25+ years after the last run.

Hey Addan, how do you like yours? Is it dark like I described, does the combo get that really huge distortion also?

[Addam]

I wonder why they're not more popular now-a-days then.

Depending on the source, between 100 and 150 total were made during their entire production run over a few years. That includes combos and heads, and as mentioned, there are fewer combos made. There are just very few left alive and running 25+ years after the last run.

Hey Addan, how do you like yours? Is it dark like I described, does the combo get that really huge distortion also?

That was someone else that owned one, not me. 

What I kind of ment is I wonder why more people aren't "copying" them where as maybe people are "copying" Model Ts and what not.

[madaradio]

I wonder why they're not more popular now-a-days then.

Depending on the source, between 100 and 150 total were made during their entire production run over a few years. That includes combos and heads, and as mentioned, there are fewer combos made. There are just very few left alive and running 25+ years after the last run.

Hey Addan, how do you like yours? Is it dark like I described, does the combo get that really huge distortion also?

ya, that was me who has the combo.  I think dark is a good way to sum it up.  Channel A is slightly more brite, and channel B gets that nice British overdriven sound.  I find that even if you adjust the eq to a more treble heavy setting, it still has that "dark" "heavy" edge to it.  I like it.

The only thing I don't like about mine is that whoever had it before me loaded it with one celestion g12 modern lead 70 and one g12-65.  I read good things about the speakers but I think they sound a little muddy to my ears.

But ya, really cool amp.  I'm glad I have it, even for collection sake.

[doomedfuzz]

I wonder why they're not more popular now-a-days then.

Depending on the source, between 100 and 150 total were made during their entire production run over a few years. That includes combos and heads, and as mentioned, there are fewer combos made. There are just very few left alive and running 25+ years after the last run.

Hey Addan, how do you like yours? Is it dark like I described, does the combo get that really huge distortion also?

ya, that was me who has the combo.  I think dark is a good way to sum it up.  Channel A is slightly more brite, and channel B gets that nice British overdriven sound.  I find that even if you adjust the eq to a more treble heavy setting, it still has that "dark" "heavy" edge to it.  I like it.

The only thing I don't like about mine is that whoever had it before me loaded it with one celestion g12 modern lead 70 and one g12-65.  I read good things about the speakers but I think they sound a little muddy to my ears.

But ya, really cool amp.  I'm glad I have it, even for collection sake.

That's good to know about the speakers. I've played it through my Orange PPC412 w/ Celeston V30s and it sounds great. I also tried through a Hartke guitar cab I have and sounded OK but everything is a little farty through that cab, all of my amps (Marshall, Orange, and my Beta Lead). It sounds great at low but volumes but can't doesn't do well with 100 watt amps. Probably best with 30 watt heads. I found a 70s stock Sunn cab that I should be getting this week, I was going to get it today but ran out of time.