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Which Sunn cab?
- Thread starter Rumblee
- Start date
I dunno about those, but I used to use a Sunn 412LH cab powered by a Kustom tuck and roll head and it was awesome! Four 12" spkrs in a horn type cabinet (think Perkins PA cab).
The 2000S cab is very rare. With original speakers it's good for about 120W. Could be 8 or 16 ohms, you'll have to remove the back to check speakers and wiring. The 215B is rated at 160W 8 ohms. Probably not as loud as the 2000S cab. As with any cab 25+ years old, they are not really up to the punishment a contemporary amp can deliver. It would be best to replace the speakers with something that can handle 250W each minimum.
Back in the day, I played both of those cabinets. They both sounded good -- and very loud -- but I always preferred the 215b-style cabinet (I don't think they were called that when I got mine). IIRC, it was narrower and a bit deeper. It was really efficient too. I loaded the cabinet with two JBL D140's and it was as loud as you would ever need to be!
- Greg
- Greg
Hey! Glad to meet another bass player from the town that Frank Zappa once immortalized!
- Greg
- Greg
Don't assume that you have to replace the drivers if they are original. I had a SUNN Sorado, 200S and 2000S and the 2000S was an amazing cab for low end fill with the original JBL speakers, way better than any of the others.
The cabinet was actually designed to have the internal volume to support the JBL excursion and resonance needs and sounded amazingly rich and full.
If you have the mids and highs covered with the 410 cab, the 2000S should be a really good supplement.
Just my 2 cents.
The only reason I think I would have to replace the drivers is that my amp puts out like 600 watts per channel...I'm not sure this cab could handle it. It probably could. I guess I'll just get it and find out. If it blows up then I know it will be time for new drivers.
I pretty much agree, but IMO the 410 is overkill. The 2000S, as with most cabinets of that era, were meant to act as a full range cab, and really make a pair of D140F sing for bass guitar.
While that big box will pump some serious air, I think it's best attributes are exploited using it's sonic properties as an musical instrument extention rather than as a sound reinforcement device.
There are plenty of smaller cab/driver combinations that will support just the bottom end better and are certainly far less cumbersome to move.
I don't know that JBL ever actually put a max power rating on the D series, but I'd guess at about 60-75 watts per driver. If you actually ran a 600 watt signal to them they would disembowl themselves real fast, I'm not sure why you would want to do that, D140F's are a valuable commodity.
On the other hand if the drivers are still strong you should be able to get all the SPL you need out of a 2000S cab, you won't need to use more than a third of your power to rattle eyeballs.
A 150 watt amp can produce enough pressure to seriously damage your hearing using a D140 equipped 2000S cab.
Really.
Watts are nice, everybody likes to brag on them and they can be had real cheaply now days, but it's all about the end product which is the sum of the matched components.
For example; I can't imagine anyone needing more than a tube SVT with a pair of 8X10's for stage volume, and that's only 300 watts.
In my misspent youth, I had a 412LH and that cab ROCKED. It was the size of a small refrigerator, but man did it bring da noise. For rock, that was hands down the best cab I have owned. Were I in a touring rock outfit, I'd hunt one down right now.
A related question: Has anyone here owned any modern 12" loaded cabs, like the Epifani 2x12? Just curious if you get that same big mid-range growl that I recall from my 412LH...
No offense intended, I run 650 X 2 in my solid state rig also. The point I was trying to make is that You can buy 1K SS watts for well under a buck a watt now days vs the olden days pricing which was much more expensive relatively speaking. You can read all day posts about mega 1K+ watt SS rigs here on these forums, lots of times these rigs are used for bar gigs; while Entwistle had maybe 300-400 watts at Leeds with minimal PA support. Grand Funk Railroads' Mel Schacher used a couple of 200 watt West Filmores in the early 70's in stadium venues.
The 2000S was from that era, a totally different approach to bass amplification than current rigs. Modern SS rigs are more of a sterile sound reinforcement approach to bass amplification, whereas as I posted earlier (IMO) the vintage tube rigs were more of a part of the overall instrument, influencing the overall tone to a larger degree than modern rigs.
Both have their place in the bass world, but it can be difficult to combine the different era components effectively. I can make my SS rig sound like the Seinfeld theme, or a grand piano being plucked, can't get that to happen with one of my old school rigs. Conversely, again IMO, modeling or not you won't get a SS rig to get that fat, warm, full growl that an all tube rig pushing AlNiCo drivers will pull off.
It's all good, just different.
A watt is a watt, your amp has multiple times the available work energy as a SVT. No time to beat that vacuum tube vs transistor horse here. It does sound as if a modern 1 or 2X15 cab would suit your application better.
Snag that 2000S anyway, they are a rare bird and don't become available very often. I don't know how much you would have to pay, but those old Sunns, particularly the JBL loaded 2000S models, are a valuable commodity in some circles and they aren't making any more of them!
