What about the other Sunn tube amps?

[gtrplayr1976]

Ok...I know how awesome the Model T is, but what about the other tube amps...Spectrum, Sonaro, 200S ?   What kind of tones do these have ?

[Isaac]

Very clean, very accurate. In my opinion, they take effects well, but some people don't care for their inherent overdrive. They can sound rather harsh. For instance, my Sentura II has a bright, trebly distortion reminiscent of early Rolling Stones. Sounded right on Jumpin' Jack Flash, not so good on most other tunes. However, my MXR Super Distortion + pedal sounds fine through it, and  the amp alone sounds pretty good (to my ear) when the mid boost is on. The reverb is very trebly, very bright. Useful if used in small amounts.

To sum up my opinion: Excellent clean sounds. Take effects well. Reverb is too bright and brittle sounding. Overdrive is good if the amp has a mid boost switch, and it is turned on.

[Soundmasterg]

Personally I don't like Sunn tube amps for guitar. I think they have loads of bass and are too bright and harsh. They may work well for some heavy metal players though for those reasons. I think their bass amps are fabulous though.

Greg

[EdBass]

I think it's the basic Dynaco circuit that imparts the Bass friendly attitude that Greg mentions, and also the cleanliness and articulation that Isaac posts about.
It's a Hi-Fi amplifier, distortion was the enemy, something to be avoided.
As Isaac mentions, the Sundholm era Sunns take pedals very well, something that Reeves era Hiwatts also do well, and for the same reasons IMO. It was a different time. Both used the tube technology of their eras to create an amplifier that, well, just amplified accurately rather than get all nasty fast.
Even Fender had the same approach; I've heard from what I consider reliable sources that the reason Fender went to the "Blackface" amp circuit from the now very sought after "Tweed" amps was because the Tweeds were too "dirty" tonally for the higher powered needs of the 60's.

I agree with Greg; Sunn has always been more identified with Bass, and are still revered in the Bass community among those that have the ability and fortitude to deal with bulky 100lb rigs.
Guitarists not so much. There are some, Sunns cop that Dick Dale surf thing very nicely (although I don't think Dick Dale ever used them himself).
Several years ago I negotiated with the guitarist for "The Lost Patrol" (http://www.thelostpatrol.com/) for my Sceptre, and my price and the logistics were too high to come to terms, but... he did get a Sceptre locally and AFAIK he still uses it. Whatever he uses, the haunting, tremolo laden, surfish tone he gets is pretty indicative of guitar tones Sundholm era Sunns do quite well IMO.

[CLD]

According to the Dick Dale and Fender histories I've read, he used Dual Showmans in his heyday. Until Fender introduced the DS, supposedly Dick blew up everything they gave him.

[D.M.N.]

But then you also had Leslie West using Sunns, though I'm not sure if they had an special tweaking to allow different distortion characteristics. He used Sundholm-era Coliseum P.A. (Tube) heads I believe.

[stanner]

According to the Dick Dale and Fender histories I've read, he used Dual Showmans in his heyday. Until Fender introduced the DS, supposedly Dick blew up everything they gave him.

"heyday"? he still uses them to this day, along w/ the dual cabs w/ 2 D130Fs in them and if anyone has a chance to check him out please do.
i think he is in his late 60s and still brings it and is touring-musta scared the hell out teens back in them early surf music days.

[HRobert]

Personally I don't like Sunn tube amps for guitar. I think they have loads of bass and are too bright and harsh. They may work well for some heavy metal players though for those reasons. I think their bass amps are fabulous though.

Greg

Depends on what kind of speaker you use.  I have a pair of 2 x 15 cabs with JBL K-130's in each for my Sentura II and the amp sounds great.

[CLD]

Hey, I'm glad the King of the Surf Guitar is still using Dual Showmans. Those are cool rigs, and in fact Chuck Berry still uses them, too (at least he has the three times I've seen him play here in St. Louis).

[Isaac]

Depends on what kind of speaker you use.  I have a pair of 2 x 15 cabs with JBL K-130's in each for my Sentura II and the amp sounds great.

Again, really clean, accurate speaker. Not likely to give you that dirty, Marshall sound.

[Soundmasterg]

Personally I don't like Sunn tube amps for guitar. I think they have loads of bass and are too bright and harsh. They may work well for some heavy metal players though for those reasons. I think their bass amps are fabulous though.

Greg

Depends on what kind of speaker you use.  I have a pair of 2 x 15 cabs with JBL K-130's in each for my Sentura II and the amp sounds great.

Yah the speaker changes things of course, but if you notice, I said I personally don't like Sunn tube amps for guitar...but of course other people may like them for that purpose. I have fixed a lot and tried them through different speaker setups, have modded the circuits, got rid of negative feedback, etc., and I just don't like them for guitar. To me they are too bassy and too bright at the same time, and hard sounding and just not very warm or touch responsive amps. The hardness comes from the high voltages in the amp and the use of 6550/KT88's. I will say that I do like the EL34 Sunn amps for guitar better than the bigger Sunns....of course they are using different tubes and have lower voltages.

Greg

[HRobert]

According to the Dick Dale and Fender histories I've read, he used Dual Showmans in his heyday. Until Fender introduced the DS, supposedly Dick blew up everything they gave him.

Showmans are great amps.  Being from Michigan I remember seeing Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes back in the late 60's.  Ted used 2 Dual Showman Bottoms with JBL D-130's and on each cab sat a Fender Twin Reverb with JBL's.  He used a blond Gibson Byrdland.  Great sound....and loud and clean. 

[chev]

All I can say is that I love my 1st era Sunn amps for dirt pedal and fx, and you need 15" to get all their spectrum.

For lower tuning guitar, it's perfect.

their the only one available around here and the most affordable/quality tube amp I've seen. I can afford 2 or 3 of those heads for the price of 1 Model T.

[thehornedone]

I know that a lot of these amps are the same and just had different names based on what cabs they came with, correct?

Solarus = Sceptre,  Sonaro = Sorado?