Sunn 300T Help !

[Greg L]

Hey all, i'm new here.
Wanted to hear what you all do with this problem.
I have a Sunn 300T which i love, except for the power. At 300 amps of tube power getting great sound from it requires driving the tubes and drowning the rest of the band out.

Any tricks or suggestions ?

Thanks in advance.

[someparts]

I've not had that experience on that head at all. What cab are you running? Are we talking clean or overdrive tones here?

[scotch]

A less efficient cabinet will help a little. Honestly, if you want power-tube saturation & 300watts is too loud, then you just need less power.

There aren't any reliable 300-watter power soaks available that I'm aware of...

You can try to use the dirty channel & blend it with channel one, but it won' be exactly the same. I think you just need less power. I use a Fender 300pro (same amp) on festival, arena, shed stages as well as hockey rinks, civic centers, etc.. and it really is more power than I need!

[someparts]

You can try and use a boost pedal on the front end like the Phat Phuk B but yeah if you are addicted to power tube drive on a bass amp there's not much that replaces that feel. Those amps eat power tubes running that way from my experience. I'd get a fan on it right away if you haven't already.

[Greg L]

I'm using a Sansamp but really wouldn't need it for tone if i could push the power some.

I am interested in the power soak idea as generally i cant get anything over 2 where and with whom i am playing.

Have had the amp for over 10 years and the tubes have been fine. I wonder as the 6 power tubes are paired if they could be disconnected reducing the amp to a 300/200/100 amp option.

[scotch]

Originally Posted by Greg L

I'm using a Sansamp but really wouldn't need it for tone if i could push the power some.

I am interested in the power soak idea as generally i cant get anything over 2 where and with whom i am playing.

Have had the amp for over 10 years and the tubes have been fine. I wonder as the 6 power tubes are paired if they could be disconnected reducing the amp to a 300/200/100 amp option.

Well,.. there really aren't any 300w power soaks. I haven't seen anything reliable over 100w actually.

Not sure about dropping tube pairs... usually requires some modding in amps this powerful.

[BassmanPaul]

I don't like power soaks on a bass amp. Most of them were not created to handle the sort of power that a 300W tube amp can dish out. Suggestions I don't have. Getting rid of excess power always leads to a lot of heat. I think that the suggestions of a pedal to get the dirt you want is really the only way you can go.

[BassmanPaul]

If you had four output tubes you could remove a pair and halve the output power. You would have to also halve the load. With six outputs, dropping a pair or two would lead you to have to be really creative with the applied load impedances.

My advice would be to replace the amp with something with less power.

[Alex1984]

A V4B would be perfect or those new Fender Bassmans. Inefficient cabs like ACME can help too, and they sound good while doing it.

[insomniac2295]

How about an attenuator like the THD Hotplate?

[scotch]

Originally Posted by insomniac2295

How about an attenuator like the THD Hotplate?

They don't make one that can handle the amount of power the 300t can put out!

[BassmanPaul]

Originally Posted by Alex1984

Inefficient cabs like ACME can help too, and they sound good while doing it.

I've never noticed my Acmes as inefficient. that said I've not tried comparing them with anything else. They do sound good I must agree!

[Alex1984]

Spec-wise their sensitivity is quite a bit lower compared to the competitors.

[OneWayPunk]

Switch to a Sunn 2000s or 350b. Around 150 watts and you can drive it harder without killing your bandmates.
It's a crazy loud head though, most of the Sunn tube amps are louder than others of the same wattage, probably due to their ultra-linear transformers.

[Greg L]

Lost one of my 6 power tubes last year. Didn't even realize for months as each pair is individually fused so she kept going on 2 pair/less power. This is what got me thinking of pulling some pairs out to solve the volume issue.

I thought of buying another but what a shame to not use such a great amp.
At low volume i use the EQ to get great sound,but then i light up the tubes and flatten the EQ out to get the amp to come alive. If i don't flatten the EQ out the cab can't handle it.

[Greg L]

So, with a 100 watt power soak if i kept the volume under 1/3 would i be ok ?

[scotch]

Originally Posted by Greg L

So, with a 100 watt power soak if i kept the volume under 1/3 would i be ok ?

Wouldn't turning down to 1/3 defeat the advantage of driving the power tubes?

[sickest beast]

tell your band mates to up the volume

what are you? afraid?

[johnk_10]

i would NEVER recommend a power soak or a hot plate on a 300W tube amp, since that's a good recipe for disaster (as in frying the output transformer among other things).

[anderbass]

Originally Posted by someparts

What cab are you running?

Yeah tell us what cab your using...