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Topic: Sunn 100s for pedal steel |
Dan Tyack
From:
Olympia, WA USA
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Posted 15 Feb 2008 11:06 am |
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I just played a gig with a friend's 1968 Sunn 100s bass head, and I've got to say it was one of the best sounding clean pedal steel amps I've ever heard. It's ballsy, smooth, and sweet all at once. This thing is bonehead simple, it has one preamp tube (12ax7), two KT90s (stock was 2 6550s), volume, treble, bass, contour (kind of an mid shift thing), and that's it. I think it's about 60 watts, but it's very clean. Supposedly the power section is from the Dynaco home stereo power amp.
It killed my 66 Showman, which is the nicest fender I've ever played through. |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 15 Feb 2008 5:31 pm
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Most tube...and SS...bass rigs make great steel amps, if you play clean. When I want squeaky clean steel (which is rare, but it happens) I run one of my SWR bass rigs. They're made for headroom and have far more top-end response than many players think.
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No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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Dan Tyack
From:
Olympia, WA USA
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Posted 15 Feb 2008 11:34 pm
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| Jim, this amp sounds *nothing* like an SWR. It's more like a sweet, smooth Hiwatt. Very tubey, not especially 'clinical'. It's something like 60 watts out of a pair of KT 88s, so the circuit isn't designed for maximum headroom. |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 16 Feb 2008 2:23 am
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| I was just thinking Hiwatt. They don't break up till way, way late, might be perfect for steel. Those Ampeg V4s and V2s are beastly enough, too.... Hendrix had a deal with Sunn for a while but they wouldn't get nasty enough - sounds like a steel amp to me! |
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Scott Swartz
From:
St. Louis, MO
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Posted 16 Feb 2008 8:51 am
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Some of the Sunn amps were the "ultralinear" type power amp setup, where the power tubes are operating sort of halfway between pentode and triode operation (a massive simplification I know). This is accomplished by a special output transformer that feeds back signal the the screen grids of the power tubes.
So the distortion and damping factor of the power amp also falls between pentode and triode. If you have or have played an amp with a triode/pentode switch and like the triode setting, you will like the way an ultralinear responds.
I will have to look this one up in my schematic references.
The Route 66 from Dr. Z uses this design.
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Scott Swartz
Steeltronics - Steel Guitar Pickups
www.steeltronics.com |
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Stu Schulman
From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
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Posted 16 Feb 2008 10:18 am
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Dan,I bought one of those at a Salvation Army last year for $12.50 and gave it to a friend up here who plays bass for his birthday,I don't think that he's ever used it?I can ask him...he probably put it in his storage shed.
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Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952. |
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Dan Tyack
From:
Olympia, WA USA
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Posted 19 Feb 2008 7:49 am
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Hey Stu,
Tell your friend I'll give him $15 for it! 
Seriously, I love this thing and am not looking forward to giving it back. I'll post some samples. |
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Pete Burak
From:
Portland, OR USA
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Posted 19 Feb 2008 9:08 am
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I do some studio stuff here in Portland for Steve Sundholm, whose dad started the Sunn brand.
I see a fair amount of sunn gear in used gear shops around Portland. I'll have to keep an eye out for one of these heads.
'Found this online:
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Michael Brebes
From:
Northridge CA
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Posted 19 Feb 2008 1:17 pm
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I have a Sunn Sentura 2 which is the same thing but with tremolo and reverb. Excellent amp for a real clean tone. The tremelo is one of the best I've ever heard. Because they are using 6550 tubes instead of 6L6 or EL34, they get power similar two a 4-tube output configuration. It also has a switch to go from squeaky clean tone to a more standard Fender type tone. This was in response to people like Hendrix that wanted a more standard tone and the ability to overdrive the amp easier.
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Michael Brebes
Instrument/amp/ pickup repair
MSA D10 Classic/Rickenbacher B6/
Dickerson MOTS/Dobro D32 Hawaiian/
Goldtone Paul Beard Reso
Mesa Boogie Studio Pre/Hafler 3000
RP1/MPX100 |
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James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 19 Feb 2008 2:40 pm
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Just so you know ....Sunn also made high powered versions of the same amp (120 watts RMS ) ...The guitar amp head was the Sunn 1000S and the Bass amp was a Sunn 2000S ...These amps had some serious knock down power back in the day ...They were not terribly sought after for guitar as the Marshalls were ruleing at the time ...Bass players LOVED the 2000S ...I had one for my son when he was playing bass, and that amp pushed some serious air !!...Jim
PS...Wish I had it now for pedal steel ... |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 19 Feb 2008 7:04 pm
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I had one, about 30 years ago, but I couldn't play well enough to know whether it sounded good or not. So I sold it and bought a pa setup that didn't sound very good either.
My current favorite band is, SUNN O))) |
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