Sunn Concert Lead

My Concert Lead was a Silver Face. I KEPT the foot switch, and this amp is a Silver Face. Some folks think they're better, I do. For a 1972 MOSFET SOLID STATE CASCADING CHIP AMP IT HAS a killer Distortion sound to it I was truly astonished. IT SOUNDS BETTER THAN MODERN AMPS. I SOLD RON BUSH IN ST.LOUIS, MO. ALL MY SOLID STATE SUNN AMPS ( EXCEPT THE SUNN COLISEUM LEAD.320 WATTS RMS INTO 2 OHMS.I KEPT 2 BRAND NEW LOOKING AND PERFORMING. 1 1970 SUNN 1000S(KT88S) ON 1.5 YOU CAN'THEAR THE PERSON NEXT TO YOU, 1 1972 OR 1973 350L WITH 6550S( HAS SOLID STATE RECTIFIERS, WILL CHANGE TO 2 GZ34 LIKE 1000S. THE PUNCH OUT HOLES ARE THERE. 350 L IS .44 MAGNUM THE 1000S IS A CANNON..THEY ARE THE EXACT SAME SIZE AND HAVE THE GIGANTIC ORIGINAL NEW LOOKING TRANSFORMERS IN THEM. 1000S AND 350L LOOK LIKE THEY CAM OFF THE LINE 2 WEEKS AGO. I HAVE A SUNN 19OL THAT LOOKS BRAND NEW ALSO, IT HAS TWO AUDIO CLASSIC EL34S MADE IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA IN THE TESLA FACTORY. TUBES ARE VINTAGE.SOU D GTEAT.ALMOST 50 YEARS OLD FROM LOOKS. 190L CAME OUT IN 1971.I USE AYEAR 2000 NOS Fender Sunn T50C. Have the NOS 120 4 GT SVETLANA 6L6, MODEL T. I HAVE 2. 4 × 12 STACKS. ONE IS 50 YEARS OLD THE OTHER IS SUNN YEAR 2000. HAVE A PAIR OF RECTANGULAR SUNN SPEAKERS WITH 4 10S EACH FOR THE 190L.I KEEP MOST OF MY AMPS AND CABS AT A BUDDIES HOUSE IN A LOW CRIME NEIGHBORHOOD. THAT SILVER FACE CONCERT LEAD (1972) was one of my favorite amps. I really miss it. That one just has a kick ass sound too it.Concert Leads are definitely solid state and I heard nothing but compliments on it when it was cranked.

I bought this amp thru a local shopper ad for $60.00, along with two old CTS 12" speakers. I have been playing for over 35 years and my first really good amp was the Sunn Concert Lead. I bought that one from Bob Hiel of talk box fame at his shop in Marissa, Illinois. I remember it being really loud, which is what i was after at the time. The one i have now is in pristine condition and the sound is very good indeed. I have owned countless amps over the years and have developed a good ear for tone as a result. I know it is not cool to use a solid state amp these days, but i must say as an owner of many vintage tube amps, this thing holds it's own. I am not the least bit ashamed to use it on gigs. It has a very sweet clean sound on the reverb channel that suits my style. I run it thru a Jenkins Highway 61 cab. What can i say, it brings back fond memories, it was dirt cheap, and it sounds good!!! These amps are very underated and can be had for cheap. I believe them to be one of the best deals out there for a high quality amp that is obviously built like a tank.



This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I PURCHASED THIS AMP TOP FROM A FRIEND BACK IN 1988 AND I THINK I GAVE HIM $200 FOR IT. AT THE TIME I NEEDED SOMETHING REALLY QUICK THAT WAS FAIRLY LOUD.

I LIKE IT BECAUSE IT IS VERY LIGHTWEIGHT. IT HAS TWO CHANNELS, WITH A HIGH AND NORMAL JACK FOR EACH. iT ALSO HAS A NORMAL AND BRIGHT SWITCH FOR EACH CHANNEL. THE REVERB I THINK IS SPRING REVERB AND REALLY HAS A NICE SOUND. IT HAS QUITE A BIT OF POWER, I THINK ITS 100 WATTS.

IT DOES'NT HAVE MUCH BOTTEM END, THE TREBLE WILL KILL YOU IF YOUR NOT CAREFULL!

THIS UNIT I THINK IS A 1971 VINTAGE, IT IS ALL SOLID STATE,AND I USED IT AS A KEYBOARD TOP FOR AWHILE. ITS STILL WORKING OVER THIRTY YEARS SO IT CANT BE THAT BAD AS FAR AS CONSTRUCTION.

IF YOU LIKE A TOP THAT GIVES A GOOD CLEAN SOUND, THIS WILL DO JUST FINE. I PLAYED A 1967 VOX SEMI-HOLLOW BODY THRU IT WITH ONLY A 12" ELECTROVOICE SPEAKER MOUNTED IN A 15" PEAVY BASS CABENIT AND IT WAS PLENTY LOUD ENOUGH FOR ME,AND IT WAS ONLY TURNED UP TO ABOUT THREE. AT THE TIME IT WAS MADE,BASED ON THAT TECHNOLOGY BACK THEN, I WOULD HAVE RATED IT A FIVE. BY TODAYS STANDARDS, I WOULD ONLY SAY THAT IT IS LOUD, AND WOULD MAKE A GOOD LEAD TOP, IF YOU HAD SOME GOOD EFFECTS HOOKED UP TO IT. BESIDES, ITS NICE TO PLAY THRU DIFFERENT STUFF THAT NO ONE ELSE IS USING, THATS WHAT MAKES YOUR SOUND DIFFERENT AND INTERESTING!!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The Sunn Concert Lead is a tube based guitar amplifier head that has two separate channels.  I'm not sure exactly what the wattage on this head is (I think it is 100 watts), but rest assured that this thing can absolutely crank loud.  Each of the channels has two has 1/4 inch inputs and there is a also a 1/4 inch speaker cable output in the back to send this to a speaker cabinet.  The head is also pretty small and has a handle, which is nice because it makes it easy to carry around.

UTILIZATION

The make up of the Sunn Concert Lead is extremely easy to follow and both of the two channels has the same exact parameters as they are the same in configuration.  They each have knobs for volume, bass, mid, treble, but since there are a few different versions the rest of the parameters usually vary.  I know that there are some that have built in distortion, but the one I have used doesn't have any effects.  A manual for this would be hard to find, but I don't think that one is needed anyway as it is easy enough to use on its own.


SOUNDS

The clean tones that I get with the Sunn Concert Lead are pretty great as I love how loud that I can get this amp.  I usually use the amp for recording with either a Gibson SG or a Fender Stratocaster.  I haven't generally used this amp with any effects other than maybe a distortion or an overdrive pedal.  I've never gigged with this head and usually used it with a huge speaker cabinet, so it is definitely something that I use for recording rather than for gigging, but I don't see why you couldn't use it for both.


OVERALL OPINION

While this is definitely a good sounding amp, the Sunn Concert Lead isn't really an amp that you can seek out because they are pretty hard to find.  It is more of an amp that you kind of stumble upon if you get lucky, but even if you don't you're not missing out on all that much because there are definitely a lot of different amps that I would rather use than this one even though I do like the sounds that I get with this amp.  If you are looking for a vintage amp of this nature, I would definitely recommend checking out this amp if you can find it or anything by Sunn, but there are plenty of other modern and vintage amps out there that sound better and are more easily accessible.