Allman Brothers and Sunn

[MikeL]

Came across this site with a bunch of great pix of the original lineup Allmans in action:
http://www.blackstrat.net/Allman-Audubon/Allman-Audubon.htm
Interesting mix of gear...Duane and Dickie with a JBL-loaded Marshall stack each, of course, but what's really  cool is all the Sunn Orion cabinets across the back line, nine total. As far as I can tell most are 2x15's, but there are a few 4x12's as well. Berry can't be using them all...or could he?(Talk about your 'Rig Of Doom').  While he has a little stack of three or four Fender Showmans off to the side on stage left there are plenty of other Marshall heads, plus, behind Gregg(stage right)a single 1000s/1200s/1500s head(it's kinda hard to see)mixed in with three other plexi's. Now, I wonder if the Orions were acquired on the cheap as cabs returned with the on-board power amps blown out. I would find it interesting as to who was using what. Also, in one of the photos focusing on Gregg's side(although, once again, it's a bit hard to see), it seems like the PA is comprised of two horizontal stacked Orion's with a separate horn on top. Does anyone know if Berry used a 2000s rig at any time? It's been stated that he went on to employ a Fender PS400, the monsterous head that was Fullerton's attempt to match the SVT.

[D.M.N.]

Interesting. I've seen photos of them at another show also using the Orion cabs,and assumed they were just a one off thing they rented into their back line, but this implies that they were in fact, part of their permanent backline. Very cool. I wonder how they ended up in the south? Supposedly most of the Orions were returned to Sunn and simply trashed, and that's all the way up in Oregon, so how these Orion cabs ended up down in Georgia would be very interesting to find out.

[ROCKETBRO2]

I bought a used Orion cabinet at a music store on Portland in the late 70's so I know that not all of them were returned.
Excellent Allman Bros. info. by the way.

[mckinnon audio]

   Hi there,if I remember right,on the double album "Live at the Fillmore" there are pics that show Berry using a 2000S and 2  2 x 15" cabs,one of the best live albums of all times,IMHO,Mel.

[D.M.N.]

I know this is an old thread, but I'm on a big Allmans kick right now. I was looking at those pictures again, and I actually don't think the Sunn head is a 1000s series, but rather one of the 60 watt amps. In the one picture where you can see the faceplate, you'll notice there's no big black rectangle on it where the name and model number should be, but rather it's all silver. This makes it seem like it's more likely a 60w amp, maybe a Sentura or Sceptre.

[loudthud]

I agree that is looks like a 60W chassis because it's sitting on an Orion cabinet (26.5 in wide) and a Marshall (about the same width) is sitting on top it. Could have been one of the 120W prototypes or a Coliseum PA though. The Coliseum PA was 10 inches high while 60W amps were 9.5 inches high. I'm not sure about the height of the 120W prototypes.

[D.M.N.]

Found another picture of the Allmans and Sunns today:



Again, looks like a 60w model one of the guitar heads with verb and trem, atop an Orion cabinet. Thus, it would appear this was actually the bands equipment, as it appears to be a different show then the other one.

[D.M.N.]

Here's another! This time you can clearly see two 60w 7 knob Sunns!

[D.M.N.]

I'm just going to continue to throw up pictures of The Allmans and Sunn gear. So here's some more I've found:

St. Paul, 7/24/71


UC Riverside, 1/24/70
The Sunn is really clear in this picture, isn't it? Looks like it actually may be one of the PA heads. And the cab infront of Berry looks to be one of the Orions.


Macon, 4/9/71
You can see one of the heads they used on top of a Orion cab at the far left, then another Orion in the center, and it appears that Berry has a 200s cab with the grille removed on the right there.

[ROCKETBRO2]

I love the fact that that was "state of the art" then.