Sunn amps?

[JohnCovach]

I've gotten interested in Sunn amps recently, mostly the tube amps from the late 60s/early 70s. Anybody had or currently using one of these? Any stories?

[111518]

Man, John. Dual Showman, Twin, and now Sunn. You are into BIG and LOUD. That's what I remember about the big Sunn tube amps ... louder even than Marshalls, less temperamental, but also harder to push into distortion. Never owned one myself. (Maybe that's why I can still hear.)

[JohnCovach]

Ah, and don't forget my Hiwatt. Actually, I haven't found the right Twin Reverb yet. This started from the Yes tribute band exploring Chris Squire's set-up in the 70s. He used a Coliseum Lead as one of the two amps in a bi-amped system. As I started looking for info, I found that there's not a lot of it out there. There are a half dozen pretty good sites, but not nearly the kind of info that can be found on other amp lines. And a lot of times these Sunn amps sell for very low prices, though interest has begun to pick up in recent years. So it all gets me wanting to know a bit more, and maybe try out a few of these amps for myself.

 

[212Mavguy]

Ah, and don't forget my Hiwatt. Actually, I haven't found the right Twin Reverb yet. This started from the Yes tribute band exploring Chris Squire's set-up in the 70s. He used a Coliseum Lead as one of the two amps in a bi-amped system. As I started looking for info, I found that there's not a lot of it out there. There are a half dozen pretty good sites, but not nearly the kind of info that can be found on other amp lines. And a lot of times these Sunn amps sell for very low prices, though interest has begun to pick up in recent years. So it all gets me wanting to know a bit more, and maybe try out a few of these amps for myself.

 

 

They come up every now and then on eBay. Even though I have 6-7 amps right now I surf amps there still. My GAS has been vintage tubes and a few great amps for the last 4 years. Those old Sunn amps had pretty big iron. Seen them go 2-3 years ago for like 3-4 hundy if that.

 

Speaking of Hiwatt, I have a one off boutique head from Toad Suck Tones, based on the Hiwatt (think it's the DR503, but not sure) four input preamp going into a SS rectified 50 watt power section running Bendix 6384's, Partridge clone trannys, big iron compared to what you see today in a 50 watter. It has cleans that remind me of a Steinway piano, lots of detail, really pretty harmonics within the clean tones. Came with Telefunken smoothplates in the first two preamp sockets, I subbed a Siemens longplate for V1 and I think I stuck in a Telefunken ribbed plate (think sweet, compressed violin sustain) for V2. Nobody knew about Bendix tubes so I got it for opening bid. The TST amps are the product of a guy that used to work on nuclear ICBM's, those doomsday weapons have Bendix tubes in them. The amp parts, build quality and sound is phenomenal. Best value of all my amps are the two TST's I have.

 

Bet one could use a Sunn as a small to medium club bass amp! Fun to have an old monster dinosaur that rooooooars!

[pressure]

When I saw Jimi Hendrixs on his first tour through Chicago both Jimi and Noel Redding played thru Sunn amps.

8 bottoms and i don't know how many heads EACH.

Mitch Mitchell had a single bass kit and was not amplified. Mitch had no trouble keeping up. I was impressed.

[rjsanders]

Conrad Sundholm has been back & making combo amps for a few years now. i got to gig w/a Blues Jammer when i was up in Portland (OR) a couple summers ago, was very impressed (really dug the old Sonaro, but those are real rare)

[JohnCovach]

Speaking of Conrad, check out the pictures here; what an array of vintage amps!

 

Conrad and Sunn

[smurph1]

Man!! I had completely forgotten about those amps!! They were freakin HUGE weren't they?

[ronalr]

I had a Sunn amp back in 1968 or 69....I played in a 14 piece soul band and toured with it for years...I still have the cab with 2 15" JBL's in it...the head caught fire in a night club around 1982...because I put an automotive fuse in it...and it would not blow the fuse ...so the bass player taps me on the shoulder and the thing is going up in smoke ....killer amp...took all that to blow it up!!!! .....after that I used a Kustom head with the Sunn cab till 1991....now it and me are retired to my basement!!!!!

[blues]

leslie west used sunn pa heads

[golferwave]

I have a Sunn Coliseum PA head. It's a monster, big ole KT-88 power tubes. If I remember correctly it says March 1970 inside the head cabinet.

[JohnCovach]

I have a Sunn Coliseum PA head. It's a monster, big ole KT-88 power tubes. If I remember correctly it says March 1970 inside the head cabinet.

 

If I'm not mistaken, that's the one a lot of guys used as a guitar head (like Leslie West, as mentioned above). Of course, these were the days when the art of mic'ing amps onstage was not what it is today.

 

An aside about stage volume: I was doing a little research on David Gilmour's gear and read that he used three Hiwatt heads. The story is that his stage volume was so loud that his amp mic was off at certain shows--stadium shows!! And then there's the stories about Who bassist John Entwistle, who was apparently--for a while, at least-- the only one who did not go through the PA--all stage volume via Sunn amps.

[tulk1]

If I'm not mistaken, that's the one a lot of guys used as a guitar head (like Leslie West, as mentioned above). Of course, these were the days when the art of mic'ing amps onstage was not what it is today.

 

An aside about stage volume: I was doing a little research on David Gilmour's gear and read that he used three Hiwatt heads. The story is that his stage volume was so loud that his amp mic was off at certain shows--stadium shows!! And then there's the stories about Who bassist John Entwistle, who was apparently--for a while, at least-- the only one who did not go through the PA--all stage volume via Sunn amps.

From what I have read, in a round about way Entwistle is responsible for the rise of Marshall amps. And definitely the "stack". The story goes that John and Keith were so loud that Pete had to keep coming up with something to compete. Hence his foray into Marshall amps. And getting JM to build them louder and bigger. Personally, I'm glad the days of "bigger is better" are gone. I've carried my share of AL VoTs, Fender DS, Twin Stacks and 16 channel boards the size of my car. And even with smaller rigs and mic'ing techniques, we still struggle with stage volume.

 

Oh, and on the Sunn thread, I had a room mate that bought a Sunn Bass rig. He didn't even know how to play. But danged that setup was sweet! Loud, but sweet.

[MacDoggie]

From what I have read, in a round about way Entwistle is responsible for the rise of Marshall amps. And definitely the "stack". The story goes that John and Keith were so loud that Pete had to keep coming up with something to compete. Hence his foray into Marshall amps. And getting JM to build them louder and bigger. Personally, I'm glad the days of "bigger is better" are gone. I've carried my share of AL VoTs, Fender DS, Twin Stacks and 16 channel boards the size of my car. And even with smaller rigs and mic'ing techniques, we still struggle with stage volume.

 

Oh, and on the Sunn thread, I had a room mate that bought a Sunn Bass rig. He didn't even know how to play. But danged that setup was sweet! Loud, but sweet.

 

 

Check out this video of a guy named Bob Heil. About 6-7 minutes in, you'll see how it applies to this thread. Bob lives in my town and is very interesting. He helped create arena rock.

 

[slider313]

I had a Sunn Sorado for a very short time, about 20 years ago. I bought it used for a very fair price. IIRC it was 60 watts, had two 6550 power tubes, a 12au7 and three 12ax7's with a 2x15 bottom. The amp had a very flat frequency response and was very clean sounding; almost like a solid state amp.

[JohnCovach]

Check out this video of a guy named Bob Heil. About 6-7 minutes in, you'll see how it applies to this thread. Bob lives in my town and is very interesting. He helped create arena rock.

 

 

Great video!! I certainly heard a lot about Heil way back in the 70s. I did not know about the connection to Sunn, however. Very interesting!

[MacDoggie]

Great video!! I certainly heard a lot about Heil way back in the 70s. I did not know about the connection to Sunn, however. Very interesting!

 

Yeah, if you ever got to meet him, you'd wonder how he survived touring with the Who. Or that he and Joe Walsh are great friends. Totally straight quiet geek. But very good at what he does...