Concert Bass Head

[Jim]

Hi all,

I found a Sunn Concert Bass head at a local store, and was wondering if it would be a good Bass head to use. I've heard good things about Sunn Bass heads, and this one is pretty cheap. Right now I just use a combo amp (125W, one 12'), and was wondering if the Sunn would be a step up (along with a small cabinet of some sort).

Does anyone know what the Concert Bass was rated for (power?). Are they loud at all? I've heard they have a good tone. I need some more punch to my low E and D than my combo gives me.

Thanks for your advice,

Jimmie

[Tom]

: Hi all,

: I found a Sunn Concert Bass head at a local store, and was wondering if it would be a good Bass head to use. I've heard good things about Sunn Bass heads, and this one is pretty cheap. Right now I just use a combo amp (125W, one 12'), and was wondering if the Sunn would be a step up (along with a small cabinet of some sort).

: Does anyone know what the Concert Bass was rated for (power?). Are they loud at all? I've heard they have a good tone. I need some more punch to my low E and D than my combo gives me.

: Thanks for your advice,

: Jimmie

Hi Jimmie,

I bought a used Concert Bass head a few years ago for $100.  I loved it, but when I opened it up some hack repairman had messed with it pretty bad.  I did what I could to fix it and it gave me some pretty good bass, I gigged with it for about 2 years without any more trouble.  

They are pretty simple inside, and can put out 200 Watts, so they can crank.  I had an EV 15" for a cabinet, and I bet a good 2x10 would be a good match too.

I've got schematics, if you end up with it and want a copy let me know.

Tom

[Brian Comnes]

Sunn schematics are available from Fender. Call Fender guitar Consumer Relations Department at  1-(800) 488-1818 ext-7195 or ext-7191 and they will give you the snailmail address.. They want $5 and don't take credit cards but they turn your request around real fast. The schematics are very thorough with a parts list,  full schematic and breakdown schematics of preamp and power sections.

They no longer have the owners manual, but a former Sunn dealer at Smart Parts (whose home page is (http://partssmart.com/index.html) said don't take the amp below 4 Ohms. Also keep in mind that the 2 speaker jacks are in parallel when you calculate the speaker impedance. The schematics also state the amp is 200 Watts into 4 Ohm load.

[Jim]

In case anybody cares -

Welp, I ended up getting the Concert Bass head. I only got to mess with it some at the store, and a little after I got home (don't need the neighbors calling). My initial reaction - a pretty good, pretty clean sound for an amp of it's age. Fortunately, it sounded better when I got home than it did at the store! I haven't gotten to play with my band with it yet, but it already seems a bit louder than my Laney Combo amp (125W, one 12").

Not so sure about that "distort" knob...kinda gave the amp the same kinda sound that a cheap guitar parctice amp has when you turn it up more than halfway. Maybe I haven't figured out how to use it effectively, yet.

At the store I found out that the amp has a pretty realistic sound - if you plug a crappy bass into it, you'll get a crappy sound. I tried a cheaper Ibanez, and the sound was fuzzy around the edges. Picked up a Spector next, and it was quite clear. Foutunately I have a cheap bass with EMGs (similar to the spector in sound) and a Ric 4001, so the amp should play nice and clean (unless, of course, I got into that distort knob).

My overall initial reaction is a pretty good one, and the amp appears to be a really good value.

Z ya,
J.
.

[J.]

One more thing for anybody with exp. with the Concert head:

I tried it out with my Ric, and it sounded pretty good. I cranked it up a bit, to about 6 or 7 on tha main volume of the amp, and the sound really started to fill out and open up. Then I tried my cheapo bass wit hthe EMG's - woah! I had to turn the amp down to like 3, and I was still rattling the walls!

I know that the EMG's are hotter than the non-active Ric pickups, but on my Laney, the difference in output is minimal (mainly, there is just a difference in tone).

Should the difference between the two be that big? Is there a way I can bring up the level on my Ric (it's the Bass I prefer to play)? Maybe I just need to pre-amp the Ric (the laney has a direct out, a good preamp, and a compressor/limiter, but it would be such a hassle to carry the cab, the Sunn, AND the Laney to gigs).

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

T.J.

.

[Steve]

: : Hi all,

: : I found a Sunn Concert Bass head at a local store, and was wondering if it would be a good Bass head to use. I've heard good things about Sunn Bass heads, and this one is pretty cheap. Right now I just use a combo amp (125W, one 12'), and was wondering if the Sunn would be a step up (along with a small cabinet of some sort).

: : Does anyone know what the Concert Bass was rated for (power?). Are they loud at all? I've heard they have a good tone. I need some more punch to my low E and D than my combo gives me.

: : Thanks for your advice,

: : Jimmie

HI...
I have one of these...right now without and power transistors and they all blew ...
I'd love a copy of the schematic, if you don't mind......

It's a nice warm sounding amp for SS.... I'd love to get it running again

: Hi Jimmie,

: I bought a used Concert Bass head a few years ago for $100.  I loved it, but when I opened it up some hack repairman had messed with it pretty bad.  I did what I could to fix it and it gave me some pretty good bass, I gigged with it for about 2 years without any more trouble.  

: They are pretty simple inside, and can put out 200 Watts, so they can crank.  I had an EV 15" for a cabinet, and I bet a good 2x10 would be a good match too.

: I've got schematics, if you end up with it and want a copy let me know.

: Tom

[Jim]

: I've got schematics, if you end up with it and want a copy let me know.

: Tom

Hey Tom,

got the amp. If it's not too much trouble to get teh schematics from you, that would be great. If it's too much trouble, then I can go to fender.

Amp really wails with my active pickups - Have to crank it with passives... Good tone, I think I'm hearing a little fuzz around the edges, but it could just be me....

Anyway, the schematics would be great - I can check everything over - to make sure nobody did to mine what they did to yours.

Thanks for your help,

J.
.

[c pardus]

I've had my concert bass now for about 10 years.  I really like the cleaness with lower end tones and the punchiness when you crank the high end.  Mainly i crank the lows and highs and cut the mids altogether,depending on which pickup selections I use on my bass I can go from low rumlbling blues/country sounds to bright edgie highs (kind of Chris Squire/Geddy Lee tones) without touching the amp.  And yes, IT IS LOUD ENOUGH.  I currently play it through a SUNN 215B cab but would really like to add a SUNN 610 to it in the future.  I traded an old 50w fender tube head that was whooped for it, best trade i ever made.