Another grill cloth question - '70 vs. '71

[CLD]

Yesterday I bought a 200S and cab for a ridiculous price, which I'll post about it in a minute.  First, though, what really mystifies me is the grill cloth, which has a beige thread in it -- not the post-'69 silver/blue I've always seen before.

Here is a photo of the 1970 speaker grill leaning next to a 1971 speaker grill (top). Both are the original fabrics.

I always had thought that sometime in 1969 Sunn went from the old style cloth to what's on my 1971 gear. Anyone able to enlighten me? (And apologies in advance if this same question was answered somewhere else in the Forum.) Thanks.

[EdBass]

Here is a photo of the 1970 speaker grill leaning next to a 1971 speaker grill (top). Both are the original fabrics.

I have/had a bunch of Sunn gear with both pre and post '69 grill cloth, and as far as my experience goes you are correct.
I've never seen a Sunn with beige striped grill cloth. Well, not until I saw the picture you posted anyway! It doesn't look to be original IMO, if it came from the factory like that it's probably an abberation.

This is a '70 Sceptre I bought from the original owner, not a hint of beige.

[CLD]

The original owner, who sold it to me, said the cabinet had never even been cracked open. So I would be surprised if it's not the fabric that came with it.

The head's inspection date is 11-25-70 so he must have bought it at year's end or very early 1971.

[D.M.N.]

I cannot recall where I read it (maybe the Sunn Shack 2?) but I seem to remember mention that ever so briefly, between the old style grill and the fender grill there was another cloth used. But I could be way of base (bass?). That's just what sticks out in my mind.

[EdBass]

The original owner, who sold it to me, said the cabinet had never even been cracked open. So I would be surprised if it's not the fabric that came with it.

The head's inspection date is 11-25-70 so he must have bought it at year's end or very early 1971.

I suppose anything's possible, it certainly wouldn't be the first Sunn "head scratcher" I've run across. Hopefully those factory oddities will add to their value once the vintage gear crowd finally realizes what gem's the old Sunns truly are! 

However, this is why I suspect that the grill on your amp has been changed;
First, as we have established the grill cloth is unlike any that myself, or so far anyone else on this site has seen.
Secondly, in the picture it looks like the grill cloth is crooked; the horizontal lines are wavy relative to the Sunn logo. Especially when you look at the '71 in your pic, or the Sceptre in my pic, or for that matter any factory grill cloths I've seen up close.
I wish I could say the same about my personal recovering efforts.
Third, the frayed corner doesn't look like the corner on a factory job. Even the factory grills I have that have been removed repeatedly stay together in the corners; again my recovers on the other hand often fray like the one you pictured.

Even if it is a recover, that doesn't change the fact that you have got a world class "score" on your hands. $400 for a super clean matching 200S rig? Heck, I'll give you $450 for sight unseen! 

Maybe we'll get lucky and Conrad will chime in and resolve this quandary...

[CLD]

The fraying was my fault, I didn't have a putty knife and used a screwdriver to get the grill out. It was fine until then, and it had been out before many times.

That said, I asked the former owner about this today and, in response to the direct question, said the grill cloth was so filthy and torn by the end of the 1970s that he replaced it with FENDER cloth. So that tells me "all original" means different things to different people ... and that EdBass was right again.

So I'll order some replacement cloth from Conrad and get it back to the way it should be!