2000S, 200S heads, 2x200S Cabs (the 200S was a spare, piled mainly for visuals!).
Circa 1986?
Circa 1986?
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
The SUNN Story
- Thread starter Linnin
- Start date
The Orion was a short lived product. Amplifier mounted inside cabinet akin to the Acoustic 360 "W" bin. 2 x 15" JBL speakers. they were prone to amplifier problems. Allman Brothers used them in pix. LIVE "CREAM" VOLUME I back cover photo has the Orion cabs as well. Since it was a Sunn thread I took the liberty of posting it. The actual Sunn "Golden" years was a short era. Like 1967-73. Some will dispute that because they hated the Sunn Coliseum Bass amp and the Sunn Concert Bass amp. John Entwistle, Rocco Prestia, James Dewar, Rick Laird all used the Coliseum Bass amp. Rumor was the Coliseum was designed for the OX, the 2000S was the Noel Redding amp. Strangely you CAN cop the 2000S tone from a Concert Bass into a 200S cab with a pair of D-140's. and BassBro...it's true. that little P.O.S. one trick pony does sound like my 2000S when we did our Hendrix tunes. and for $129 that's why I bouhgt the "micro-amp" Concert Bass amp. . hate it, use it for a back up, literally threw it in the truck. always bring a back up. Takes a lickin', keeps on tickin'.
rock on, just my opinion.
rock on, just my opinion.
The Orion rigs were introduced around 1969, and turned out to be short-lived. They were among the first of Sunn's forays into solid state amplification, and like the Vox T-60 and Fender's circa-'68 transistor amps plus the circa-'70 'Zodiac' line, they were dismal failures. Similar to the Acoustic Control Corporation's "360" bass amp of that era, the speaker cabinet contained the power amp; the head was merely the pre-amp, with the concept that multiple cabs could be controlled with one head. You can always spot the cabs(as in the Allmans pic)by the graduated-width stripe grille cloth design. The power amps had a tendency to burn out, but some bands would still use the speakers cabs(still built to the usual high Sunn standards)powered by something else. Not many were produced. By '70/'71, Sunn DID get it right(as far as solid state was concerned)with the original Coliseum stacks(featuring the black and silver stripe amp face), and then a year later with the downmarket Concert series, but by then Hartzell was taking over ownership. Also, Sunn did manufacture some wicked(at least for the time period)PA systems early on. The heads were still tube, had minimal inputs and EQ, but the speaker array was very forward thinking. Supposedly the Beach Boys had the first one, but in 1968 Hendrix and also The Buckinghams/Who toured the US with such systems. BTW, the quoted Sunn history in the OP, while containing basic segments of fact, is just a little out-of-synch with itself, at least chronologically. A wee bit of misinterpretation as well.
My first rig was a Sunn Concert Bass head and a Sunn 4x12 LH cab. I could get freaking LOUD with that setup. Ah, the '70s...
Yes.
The holy grail;URL=http://s626.photobucket.com/user/EdBass/media/C4001152000S.jpg.html][/URL]
I've got a pair of 2 cab 2000S rigs, not many stages they reasonably fit on, so in that respect I suppose it's a bit of overkill...
The 400 watt Reeves doesn't "suck", but the big Sunns are butter. 150 watts. I can't help but chuckle when I read threads where posters claim you need a minimum of 500 watts to gig.
See how long you can stay in the same room with that two cab measly 150 watt Sunn dimed.
You're both right!
The folks using sealed enclosures or small inefficient designs need 300/500 watts to be heard. You on the other hand are using a very efficient cab. The cab is designed around efficiency and projection not size or marketing. The JBLs are very efficient requiring very little power to obtain great volume.
The huge Sunn transformers allow for dynamic non compressed transients and wide frequency response. Contemporary amps of different Classes don't succeed in the same way. But they fit in your pocket.
Sunns: Vision distorters and pants flappers!!
Yeah... the 2000S cab may be a beast to lug around, but it can get almost nauseatingly loud.
One thing I actually kinda like about it is that it's only about the depth of guitar cab, and so doesn't actually take up much, if any more floor space than a guitar 4x12 would.
One thing I actually kinda like about it is that it's only about the depth of guitar cab, and so doesn't actually take up much, if any more floor space than a guitar 4x12 would.
Most standard/classic 4x12'' cabs are about 14" deep. The 2000s cab is 15" deep, and 46" high(around 48" including the wheels). So, more or less, the 2000s is 50% larger that a typical 4x12", but I haven't had too much trouble whipping around the ones I've had. The extra height, and different internal placement of the speakers(and extra angled baffling)makes the weight distribution quite a bit different than say, a straight Marshall cab, but it's still mobile. I think SVT's look anemic. Plus, if a fight breaks out in the audience, you can hide behind your rig.
Indeed, they can be nauseatingly loud. One of my favorite stories about sheer volume, and a good memory from one of my bands, was while using a 2000s cab loaded with K140s. My parents are divorced, but only lived about 2 miles apart (nice before I had a drivers license because I could just walk between houses), and my band always practiced at my dad's house. It was a really nice summer day, so we decided to practice outdoors, and ran through our set. Later that evening I was at my mom's house and she tells me that one of her friends had come over and they were sitting on the deck when the friend asks if my mom had left a radio on in the house. My mom replied no, but that someone, possibly next door, must have one on, and quite loudly too, because they could hear it crystal clear. However, after continuing listening for a while, they realized there were no commercials or vocals (we didn't have a PA), and it was not in fact a radio, but our band practice...some 2 miles away. She made a point of describing how clear it was, as she said, like the neighbors had a stereo turned well up. I think she was trying to make the point that we might be too loud (and that we might be annoying anyone within a good radius), but all I got out of it was that we did something awesome. So, lesson is, the 2000s can clearly project the bass up to 2 miles.
As far as cartage, I actually find the 2000s cabs to be easier to move than say a 1x15 or 4x10 cab. It has casters so you can roll it anywhere instead of actually having to carry it, if you DO have to carry it, it's easily manageable with 2 people, and it's the perfect height to where if you have to load it in the back of a truck or van, you can just roll it up to the back of the vehicle, tip it on its back, and it leverages itself right in, all you need to do is push.
True. When there aren't going to be any stairs, I sweat less moving the 2x15 than I do moving the 1x15.
I wanted Sunn 100S and 200S guitar and bass amps BAD back in the early 70s. Those amps were tone-heavy and were built like tanks.The instrument amp market is fickle and tough and having an excellent product is no guarantee of success
This is a wonderful thread...
My favorite tube amp ever was my Sunn 350B, purchased new from Manny's circa 1973. The 350B was the successor to the 2000S, and I believe the major difference was a solid-state rectifier. I used it with an older 200S cabinet. It looked a bit awkward, the head being wider than the speaker cabinet, but it sounded great -- LOUD and CLEAN (I never dared turn it up enough to push it into distortion).
Wish I still had that amplifier.
My favorite tube amp ever was my Sunn 350B, purchased new from Manny's circa 1973. The 350B was the successor to the 2000S, and I believe the major difference was a solid-state rectifier. I used it with an older 200S cabinet. It looked a bit awkward, the head being wider than the speaker cabinet, but it sounded great -- LOUD and CLEAN (I never dared turn it up enough to push it into distortion).
Wish I still had that amplifier.
LOVE this thread!
Who is actually going to write the true history of sunn O)))?
There are obviously some quite wealthy sunn owners here, so who's going to do it or underwrite it?
I'll write it if you'd like.
Who is actually going to write the true history of sunn O)))?
There are obviously some quite wealthy sunn owners here, so who's going to do it or underwrite it?
I'll write it if you'd like.
Does anyone have any idea what that little splitter box at the amp's input is/called? I'd like to get my hands on one for when I'm running two amps with a single output bass.
Also, this is the first time I ever noticed Noel's bass has lollipop tuners on it. As far as I know, it was a 1964, and it doesn't have a bound neck, but I can't find any pictures of it without lollipops, so I wonder what's up with that. Guess he just switched them, or they were switched when he bought it.
Also, this is the first time I ever noticed Noel's bass has lollipop tuners on it. As far as I know, it was a 1964, and it doesn't have a bound neck, but I can't find any pictures of it without lollipops, so I wonder what's up with that. Guess he just switched them, or they were switched when he bought it.
He may have just liked the look of the lollipop style tuners better. I know I do.
The coolest Noel rig though is the three 2000S amps and six matching cabs. It's great because that pic includes Jimi's rig, too, which is three Marshall full stacks, but it looks modest in comparison.
The coolest Noel rig though is the three 2000S amps and six matching cabs. It's great because that pic includes Jimi's rig, too, which is three Marshall full stacks, but it looks modest in comparison.
LOVE this thread!
Who is actually going to write the true history of sunn O)))?
There are obviously some quite wealthy sunn owners here, so who's going to do it or underwrite it?
I'll write it if you'd like.
It was done, more or less, about 15 years ago...
http://richbriere.com/?page_id=18
Based largely on an article in Vintage Guitar in 1999.
Then there is the main site:
Link Removed
This has bounced around on a few different servers thru the years, and unfortunately a great deal of archival info/pix has been lost. There's also this...
http://music-electronics-forum.com/f35/
and some Sunn amp porn:
Invalid Link Removed
if you're patient, there's many Hendrix/Redding/Sunn pix here: http://crosstowntorrents.org/gallery/browseimages.php?c=15
not to mention the 1969 concerts page to see Redding's gear up thru the first half of that year
Agreed on both counts. I really want to track down one of the AVRI 74 rosewood necks to put on my '62AVRI and put on some lollipops. I don't know what it is about them, they just look cool.
And that pic is just...ugh, so much yes.
