Any Sunn Model T fans?

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colimofsmoke

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Anyone here have or played a Sunn Model T? Thoughts? How gainy are they without a pedal? Assuming you have to get to head exploding volume levels for gain, like a hiwatt. True?

Cheers
 
I had one that was built in 1976 .... it had a very good crunch sound. With 4x6550 it was very loud and had a lot of bottom. I would not recommend it for bedroom gigs...
 
Yeah I've heard they are quite loud. What could you compare the crunch to?
 
Typical English crunch ~ Hiwatt, Orange, Marshall, etc from the 70's.... not like Fender tweed stuff from the 50's. Medium gain.... but few amps had high gain in the 70's. Was not real tight. The sound was huge ... tons of girth. It was the one with the red knobs. Sold it to a friend over 5 years ago - burned in a fire around Christmas this year. Supposedly belonged to Bruce Kulick of KISS at one time and had his signature in the inside frame. I replaced the tubes with JJ KT88 & preamp tubes. This gave it a lot of punch. The tubes that were in it were a variety of vintage tubes... most of them pretty lifeless & wore.
 
I have a friend who LOVES his Model T and uses it in a doom/post-metal band. It's got a light crunch that needs to be boosted, but it does sound great and is SUPER LOUD. He's had to do regular maintenance on it though, it's gone through a plethora of problems. In fact, I have a few buddies with a fascination with old Sunns and Ampegs, and almost all of them have had problems at some point. I shy away from vintage amps after seeing how unreliable they can be.
 
That's why I'm thinking about it. Seen several doom/sludge/whatever metal bands that use them. Not sure if they boosted, couldn't get close enough to see their pedals. And yeah, I used to have an ampeg vt-22 that sounded amazing but was always in the shop.
 
colimofsmoke":ah94exam said:
That's why I'm thinking about it. Seen several doom/sludge/whatever metal bands that use them. Not sure if they boosted, couldn't get close enough to see their pedals. And yeah, I used to have an ampeg vt-22 that sounded amazing but was always in the shop.

Check out Wino's sound in Vitus, Obsessed, Spirit Caravan etc. That is how a Model T sounds to a tee.

 
Yeah, I'm familiar with Wino's bands. There's heavier bands that use them, too, tho, like Indian and Weekend Nachos. And of course, Sunn O))), who I'm not so into as an inspiration.
 
I sold my Motel T to get a few Fryette amps .... if you want to check out a amp that is kind of similar in power & girth but has more gain & from this era check out a Deliverance 120.

Obviously they are different ... but for my taste I prefer the D120....
 
Finally played a Model T. sounded way different than I thought. really crazy how much gain it has for an early 70's amp. alot brighter than I assumed, considering the bands that use them (Sunn 0)))) and a bunch of sludge metal bands). it was surprisingly easy to get a really raw, ripping rock tone. and HELL THAT THING IS LOUD. sounded best IMO with the input volume around halfway and the master up as loud as I could get it without disintegrating walls. really shines with less pre-amp gain and more poweramp gain, but it actually sounds pretty good at low-ish settings dependent on pre gain. definitely going to have to pick one up when I can. damn all those bands for making them so popular and therefore expensive.
 
colimofsmoke":34ox5wsn said:
Finally played a Model T. sounded way different than I thought. really crazy how much gain it has for an early 70's amp. alot brighter than I assumed, considering the bands that use them (Sunn 0)))) and a bunch of sludge metal bands). it was surprisingly easy to get a really raw, ripping rock tone. and HELL THAT THING IS LOUD. sounded best IMO with the input volume around halfway and the master up as loud as I could get it without disintegrating walls. really shines with less pre-amp gain and more poweramp gain, but it actually sounds pretty good at low-ish settings dependent on pre gain. definitely going to have to pick one up when I can. damn all those bands for making them so popular and therefore expensive.

What was in the power section? My old guitarist had a reissue that ran 6L6's. I loved the way it sounded but it hissed like a mofo. The originals used 6550's as I recall.
 
it had JJ 6550's. no hissing that I heard. if the presence and the brite input volume were set high, and the master set low, it was fizzy, but most amps are at those settings, I think. no fizz at all when the master got turned up a bit.
 
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