slavestate Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 Hello there, Recently I found a very clean SUNN Concert Bass amplifier chassis with no wood cabinet box, as well as its matching 200S. It was listed very cheap so I figured I would pick it up and do some moderate restoration on it. What I ended up doing was building a new amplifier head box out of 3/4" plywood as well as pick up all the necessary hardware to get this thing looking as original as possible. I managed to find everything I was looking for including the exact measurements of the missing box. The only issue I still have is picking up a pair of 15" speakers for the cabinet as both the voice coils in the original Eminence 15's were blown. I plugged this into several speaker cabinets to try it out and it sounds great, and for the price I paid, I can't complain. Here's the finished product: Anyone pick up any new gear this week? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twiz Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 That turned out awesome. I really like that cab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl00dsm0k3 Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 great amp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Natural Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 That is professional-looking work. You done good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slavestate Posted June 9, 2013 Author Share Posted June 9, 2013 Thanks! It was my first go at doing tolex, but with a few helpful instructional videos I found online I don't think I could have messed it up too bad after watching I have enough material left over to build a second head cabinet box, which I think I'm going to do so I can compare the two and see which one I'm happier with. Maybe there is someone else out there who is looking for one too? I love projects like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 Wow! What a fantastic piece of work! Well done! I'm sure Hendrix used Sunn amps for a brief spell. I seem to remember reading that he liked the sound but hated their lack of reliability so went back to using Marshall. I think........................ P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slavestate Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 Wow! What a fantastic piece of work! Well done! I'm sure Hendrix used Sunn amps for a brief spell. I seem to remember reading that he liked the sound but hated their lack of reliability so went back to using Marshall. I think........................ P. Thanks man. It was a really awesome project, and I just picked up a Sonaro 1x15 combo that was hacked up a bit locally and I'm going to restore that guy this week too. It's all good fun! I will update this thread with my progress on the next repair. There were a ton of band and artists using SUNN back in the day. Some of which come to mind are The Who, Cream, Mountain, The Stooges, and don't forget the Kingsmen! I heard a story once that Leslie West ordered guitar heads and he was shipped PA heads instead, and with an impending tour moments away and no time to ship them back for what he actually ordered he just plugged into them and the rest is history. I've also heard that story about Hendrix, and that he used to trash the **** out of them and send them back wanting them fixed! If I am remembering correctly there was a cool interview with Conrad Sundholm floading around the web where he was talking about how fast SUNN grew and how many products they were having to yield and he sold the company just as the market and industry was changing and he was able to get out while the going was good. He went into talking about how his brother was the bassist of the Kingsmen and being an electronics engineer and with his brother needing more power to his bass amps, SUNN was born. I'm also pretty sure Conrad is making amps still, check them out: http://www.conradamps.com/www.conradamps.com/Welcome.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slavestate Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 I just finished getting this thing all back together. It's a wicked little guy pushing two EL34 tubes. Most amps I play have 6L6's, so this is a different pace for sure. Here's the finished project: Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassilisk Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 You do some nice work!!! Really nice to find those amps in great condition. A lot of bands used them and they were on the Woodstock stage as well. They were designed as Pro touring gear and were really expensive - it made them out of the reach of average players. All of the early ones were using Dynaco components so they were really loud and very clean. It really took a lot to get these guys to overdrive. Keep an eye out for D130 15" JBL's - they do come around and are what those cabinets were originally loaded with. (Sunn used D15S JBL's which were rebadged D130's). They are not inexpensive, but if you want original...... I have a '69 1000S (4x6550's) and though it's only rated at 120 watts RMS it sure doesn't sound like it!!! I only take it out rarely because it weighs a ton. Still, it's a great piece and I've had it since the 70's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Great work but wait.. Did you restore two Sunn amps because you say here's the finished product with two photos of different amps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jojo68 Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 AWESOME !! I have a first gen SUNN model T :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slavestate Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 Keep an eye out for D130 15" JBL's - they do come around and are what those cabinets were originally loaded with. (Sunn used D15S JBL's which were rebadged D130's). They are not inexpensive, but if you want original...... I have a '69 1000S (4x6550's) and though it's only rated at 120 watts RMS it sure doesn't sound like it!!! I only take it out rarely because it weighs a ton. Still, it's a great piece and I've had it since the 70's. I am actually looking for a few 15" speakers from that era currently. The D130 15's you mentioned I'm keen of, had one in another cabinet and it sounded fantastic! I have an ACC 402 that needs two 15's and if I can't find its original Eminence 15's I'll go the JBL route. It's whether or not I can find them locally, or shipped for a price I can afford... That 1000s is beautiful :). That's a mean machine for sure. Better left at home, where it's safe. Thanks for sharing! Great work but wait.. Did you restore two Sunn amps because you say here's the finished product with two photos of different amps... Yeah, it's crazy but in the past two weeks two different SUNN restoration projects came to me. Both were found in tired states, but now look at 'em! AWESOME !! I have a first gen SUNN model T :) That's on my bucket list for gear. I don't know that I would have much use for it, but I will eventually own one to play around with. Any photos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slavestate Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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