sunn beta bass quick questions

[tacklebox455]

I bought a beta bass head and have some questions

Is there any difference between the beta bass and beta lead other than the reverb?

As of right now I'm using a jet city 2X12.  8 ohm loaded with a 75 watt eminence and a 60 watt celestion can this cab handle this head?

Any concerns with this amp as in do I need to have it recapped or anything like that I noticed it hums a lot when the drive is past half?

[loudthud]

There are differences between the Beta Bass and Beta Lead in the EQ frequencies, in the Bass they are about an octave lower. The condition of the caps depends on how much the amp was used and how it was stored. If you were going to take the amp on tour, a cap job would be required for the sake of reliability. There are a number of small non-polarized electrolytic caps that usually go bad as well as the main caps in the power supply and power amp. The speakers you mentioned are probably ok for a normally tuned guitar, but if you tune down to C, they'll probably fail.

[Walt-Dogg]

The speakers you mentioned are probably ok for a normally tuned guitar, but if you tune down to C, they'll probably fail.

If he's playing guitar through this setup and talking about a G12T-75 and a Vintage 30, he'll probably do alright down tuned. The cab might not be tuned optimally for playing in a low tuning or the extra low frequencies of the amp. But those speakers are pretty standard in rigs of bands and musicians that use low tunings.

The amp definitely needs service, take it to someone who's arm you don't have to twist to take on the amp and is familiar with Sunn amps. Betas can be tricky to work on and have some parts that just can't be got anymore.