Sunn 1200S Head

Nice average responsive Compression.
Tons of Power
Nice tone

This is the best amp for me, I have ever heard. I would describe the
sound to be as brash as a fender and as neat as an ampeg. I have had this amp for 10 years. I have played professionally for 16 years. Over the years I have owned the best of ampeg Fender and Trace Eliott.
Only one amp has survived. My SUNN O)).
I have had to look after it. A good hard case help. Every time I DI the output sound men love it. Frankly I love this thing.
Classic

Only has a few problems. Maqnly the preamp tubes falling out of the
holders after a nasty bump. Easy Fix. Fan packed up one day. Got a shock at the ammount of dust in the thing. The fan in these need to be top notch. The power this thing creates need a reliable cooling fan!!!

Well they don't really exist anymore.

Great for me. I play Heavy rock on a fender P Special Eb tuning. And a roots band with an six string SG6 ibanez. Fantastic sound through good
cabs. I have the original quad for most stuff ,and a huge cab for metal gigs. Heck how many cabs can you plug 4 quads into!!!
I have heard that ampeg cabs work well for these things.
I think this is the best amp on earth. FULLSTOP!

My amp was made in 2002, I bought it for ~860??? (euros, thats the yuropean currency).
As for the features, well, it has a lot. thats why most people have problems with it. It's like a woman. a lot of knobs and switches, literally a minefield. if you dont how to do it right, you'll end up in a nightmare (see some of the other reviews here). but when you know what you're doing you will smile all day long.

I do like the two channels, how you can mix them. the graphic EQ is ok, I'd prefer two parametric ones instead, but it does the job.

I'm not so satisfied with the compressor. I mainly would use it for slap sounds, but only with slight compression. But I don't slap, so...
Theres always a dbx or similar in the FOH siderack so I have no worries about it (my dynamics aint 1 and 0, if you know what I mean).

one thing I also dont like is the factory tubes it comes with. sovtek. I replaced it with electro harmonix 12ax7EH for V2 and teslovak ECC83/12AX7 for the V1.

The floorboard is alright, only the cable sucks. it works, but it's really cheap and will break someday (during a show).

I mainly play rock&roll music, and thats what it is made for (the music, not for DRUNKEN ROCKERS... women dont like drunken rockers ;)). I use the sunn 410H cab or a custom made house of speakers 2*12"+6" cab, sometimes both.

but one thing is missing: SPEAKON. an amp which so much power cant just come with the normal 1/4 inch jacks.... that's stupid.

well, it sounds brutal. I like it.
my "clean" channel really has an edge, not to mention my distortion channel (I replaced the tubes).
you can also get some nice clean sounds out of it, if you want.
I play a Sandberg Basic Ken Taylor 5 string with dual humbuckers.
for the loudness, well yes. it is. my main volume is up between 1.5 and 2.5 on my 212 or the full stack, between 3 and 4 on the 410 (lower efficency than the 212).

built like a tank, nuff said. working for 4 years now.

what I've heard about fender service does sound in a way that I dont want to experience it.

I'd most likely get something with less weight. but I really like it.

I also use a custom made 2 channel tube preamp in a class-d amp module sometimes, but when I need something mighty I use my sunn.

The Sunn 1200s amp has many features, but i do not use them too much.
The 4 outputs inthe back are very nice! Allowing it to 2 ohms for the 1200 watts is great too. Gives you options for speakers!

AWESOME!!!!! The sound on this head has that warm tube tone to it when set right. I used it on a Sunn 4 X 10 cab and it just didnt sound good. But when I hooked it up to a Hartke 2 X 15 cab, I almost dropped to my knees and praised it. I cant turn it up past 3 or I may damage my cab. With this cab its pushing 800 watts and i can still add another cab. I am looking for an 18"c cab to go with it, but the volume with the 2 x 15 cab is great. I would not recommend using a 4 X 10 with this unit...

No problems with this head. Works good even in the Texas heat

web site still up with manuals and Fender owns them so Im sure it wouldnt be too hard to get help if nneeded

God God! The Sunn 1200s Is an amp everyone should have. Ive been playing bass 26 years, and I really enjoy this amp. I have used {and still do on occasion) Fender, Peavey, Trace elliot,Hartke, Galien Krugger, and some others, but the tones I get from this amp is the bestyaet in my opinion. I play a lot of styles of music, (anything that pay) so its usually ecerything from the 30s-90s...country, rock, oldies, etc.... but my favorite is Reggae. This is a reggae bass amp! But remember, with this head, you need more than a 4 x 10 cab. A 4 x 10 is fine for low volumes, but if you like o punch, them use a 2 X 15 cab.... itll do more than punch, it will knock your a$$ out! Its lighter than most of my other amps, and even though I dont like solid state, the pre amp is tube, and you can tell! If you are looking to buy one of these, I reccommend it. The other pople listed above that doesnt like it, are not using the right cabs. They are still selling for $600 or more an ebay, and Fender is selling this exact same head, called the Bassman 1200. This is in their pro-gear section. Its the biggest they make, so you know they still think its good.

Preamp tubes DO NOT WEAR OUT from using them 3-4 times a week for a few years. Good pre-amp tubes last for decades.
I have ALL of the original tubes (except for the 6v6 power tubes, which ARE prone to failure) in my '65 Fender Priceton Reverb. I have owned this amp for twenty years and have used it as my main stage amp the whole time. If I went by what this idiot was saying I would have tossed the finest sounding pre-amp tubes I have ever heard, SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO.
Be careful who you take your advice from. The pre-amp tubes that came in my Sunn were functioning perfectly when I pulled them out and threw them as far as I could.

My amp was built in 1998 (stamped on the pcb inside) Its a really verisital amp, 2 channels, efx loop, tuner out, 4 speaker outs, plenty of power. Compression is cool, but kinda weak, tube preamp, solid state power amp.

When i first hooked this think up, i was stoked because it had tons of power, but i couldnt dial in any kinda tone that was what i wanted to sound like. after switching 3-4 cabs, and playing around i was about ready to give up on it. IT IS VERY TOUCHY, and needs to have a lot of time spent with it to dial in your tone. I found that with my ampeg 8x10 it flat is super mid heavy and honkey. ONE THING I WILL RECOMEND if you pick one up, PUT NEW 12AX7'S IN IT! I opened mine up and it still had the stock fender tubes in it from 1998, and most preamp tubes if used 3-4 times a week will last 3-4 years. The tone improved 1000% after i did that. I play a 4 string srung like a 5 with the low b and no high g and before the new tubes, my B string had NO deffinition and sounded like a fart at best. New tubes and BLAM, clean as you can get. This head can get a little noisy, and mine was a lil beat up when i bought it, but cleaned the pots new tubes and fixed the fan and god damn this thing is rad now.

ONLY complaint is the damn sensitivity on the input, if you use active pickups, you have to set your prevolume at like 1, or lower or it will clip (even with the -6 db pad on)

I have active emg's and I just picked up a MXR m80 DI that rules, and this rig sounds fantastic, even with dead strings.

Never broken down, needed some maintanace when i bought it, the metal shrouding around the fan was bent in and hitting the fan a little so it made a horrid clicking noise until i figured it out, but after that, cleaning the pots, blowing out the rest with compressed air, new tubes, IT should be right on the money. the amp is built extremely well, the transformer in this thing is frigen gargantuin, and large heatsinks right in line with the fan make for a pretty sturdy design. All the solders looked really well done too. I plan on giggin with no back up.

never delt with them, i found a .pdf manual online, and they were manufactured by fender so I doubt support would be a big deal.

I have been playing bass for about 8 years, proffesionally for about 4 years, this head is deffinatly somthing worth looking into, I was attracted to the loads of power, tonal shaping is a little difficult, but you just have to spend time with it and maintain it. I cant stress enough to put new tubes in these becuase if you find one chances are the tubes are 6-8 years old. Adding the mxr m 80 to any rig helps tone ( i like that pedal better than the sansamp)

I got this head from a freind that went to an ampeg head (lower wattage), he sold it to me becuase it kept eating all his cabs for lunch. GOOD CABS ARE A MUST FOR THIS HEAD.

400 bucks was a steal. hehehehe........ bombs away.....

This is the most powerful amp you are likely to use and that is it's best feature, as such it NEEDS a great set up, some great cabs (Sunn 215 and Sunn 410H) If you are not preapared to spend a lot of time with an amp then dont bother.

I play a musicman Stingray and Sterling through this monolith and it can't be beat. It takes time and energy to tweak this amp and it is worth the effort, be prepared to annihilate all.....take the mids out of the EQ (not all the way),never use the mid notch ( the only feature that is useless) set the comp. to your needs and fire away...the master volume rarely needs to go above 3.5, find Sunn 215 and 410H cabs....Sunn amps and cabs cant be beat. Great slap and pop/snap tone, great finger tone provided you boost the treble, I play rock based music (Bob Daisley/Steve Harris style bass lines with some slap Bass)

Had it 1 year solid playing......so far so good, I know Fender have it out also so I dont see servicing being an issue.

Bought mine from the Bass Player in Sydney, wont go anywhere else.

Musicman basses and Sunn amps create headroom, I have played along side of guitarist's using Randall's (pile of shit),Mesa Boogies (great headroom) and Marshall's (won't go there!!!) and it ripped on all occasions, the guitar through Mesa/Bass through Sunn is a killer combo, lots of great compliments from roadies/muso's. Reading all the comments posted I suggest to play one at high volume through YOUR BASS!!!!! Great amps respond to great Basses

It is very versitile, being able to switch between the overdrive, compression and EQ gives you plenty of sounds to dial up. I play in Punk and hardcore bands mainly (but also playing jazz etc...) and the Overdrive and EQ are very usefull. I need quite an edgy sound with a bit of bite from the valves and a scoop in the mids. I havent really got my head around the compression yet but i still use it to tighten up the low end.
Enough power? hahaha! I run it through an SWR 4x10 and hardly ever run the master over 4. I also use it with a custom built 8x10 (built to ampeg specs) and again, no need to push the amp at all.

I use an old Aria Pro II Cardinal series bass (soap bar humbucker) and a Dano DC bass (jazz style lipsticks). In the middle of piecing together a custom built jazz bass. This amp makes any bass sound good.
No extra noise comes from this amp, the dirty channel is even quiet in between phrases. I can go from a heavily scooped crunch overdrive to a warm flat EQ, And then also use the compression as a boost in volume too. You can set the clean channel to push the 12AX7 into overdrive, but it is very crisp normally at high volumes. The valves are getting a bit worn now, but the way the rest of the amp is set up makes for a crunchy overdrive.

I use this amp while touring and find no problems at all, no need for a back up. I have used it at local shows for 4 bands playing 30 mins each and the amp was mildly warm at the end of the night. I think the amps is too heavy and rugged to crap out.

Not sure, havent had to get any repairs done yet. I am looking into replacing the valves though, looking for something with more bite (similar sound to a TECH21 sansamp).

Ive been playing for about 6 years and still have a long way to go (im 20 in a few days). I used to own an Alron Mosfet 1000, my first amp ever. Thing was rugged and basic. pretty loud but started to crap out slowly. I use the SWR 4x10 mainly, i find this the perfect cab for most applications. plenty of low end and great highs. I dont tend to use outboard effects.

I bought this amp in the late summer of 2001. My first impression of it was that it was built like a tank and had a ton of controls. At first I hated this amp and wished I had never bought it. I had just come off playing a G&K 1001 RB. I love the tone but I blew the amp up playing it to hard. So I figured I would try this one out for some more head room. After a few months I had my friend who does pro sound see if he could help me set it up to sound better. Since then and a little more study and playing with it I love it. I think it has great features but it just takes a little time to set it up right. The my only complaint is the compression is a little weak on the low end.

I play through a Music Man Stingray Five and I play a variety of styles ranging from Hardcore to Jazz and Funk. I use a very heavy tone with the mids cut out. The mid cut button does do the trick but maybe a little to well. You really have to be carefull with the distortion channel to get it to sound good. Mix it just enough with the clean to give it a good edge. The only things it, I have to agree with every one on the power issue. YOU MUST HAVE A GOOD CAB! This thing will rip speakers to shreds if you give it the chance. Right now I am in the process of looking to buy some new cabs to replace my blown ones as a result of turning this amp up. If you ever need some good volume you have to make sure your speakers can handle this kind of power. All and all this thing sounds amazing if you take the time to set it up right.

I have not had a single problem with mine. Like I said before, it is built like a tank.

Never delt with any repairs but since sunn is no longer around and I don't really want to deal with Fender I would just take it to a trusted repair man.

Overall I really like this amp. If you have one and are having problems getting the sound you need, don't give up on it just yet. More powere than I need but I don't think you should have to crank your amp to 10 to get a good sound. If you are thinking about this amp I would say make sure you have a strong cab. If so, keep this in mind.

The 1200s has more features than you could possibly need, but it's better to have everything rather than be missing something, so I see the bells and whistles as a big plus - it's all about versatility.
I use a LTD Edition Musicman Stingray bass and I play rock, funk, punk & heavy stuff and with it's many features, this amp can cater for the lot!
My SUNN1200s was built in 2000, and the previous reviewers have explained pretty much all the features, my favorite being the ability to 'mix' the compression threshold into your channel

Well this is the main reason I bought this amp - I originally wasn't interested in the SUNN before I tried it out. I'm very fussy about sound and in the store, I tried out SWR, Gallen, Trace, Ampeg, the lot and nothing really compared to the SUNN. Being a hybrid solid state/tube amp you get the best of both worlds.

I have found sound techs and engineers love this thing - no need to DI your bass while playing live, you can get the tube sound from your amp out the front by connecting a lead to the back of the 1200s to the desk - the sound contunes to amaze everyone I have worked with.

The sheer 'LOUDNESS' of this amp defies belief - You would almost believe it's powered by a nuclear reactor.

My tip to new buyers is to remember that the SUNN 1200s is a far from your average amp - you have to remember that this monster dishes out 1200 watts from 4 separate outputs. I can't stress enought that you need some 'monster' cabinets to be able to handle it's power, and i've also found it's an absolute MUST to use 12 guage (or thicker) cable to hook it up to your cabinets.
The reason why a few of the reviewers on here have had trouble with distortion and bad sound is because they are trying to push well over 700 watts plus into their cabinets that can only handle 600/650 - of course it's going to bottom out and distort and sound awful, it's like trying to run your lawn-mower on aviator gas! - also using a guitar lead to hook up your cabinets is going to cause this too!

It is my only amp and my work horse! it's as tough as nails, though it's as about as heavy as a tonne of nails! (that's understandable)

Five year warranty - I can't really comment on customer support because I haven't had any problems.

A powerhouse of a bass amp. Total bliss if you have powerful cabinets to suit. I use two Classic series AMPEG SVT410HLF cabs and I'm very happy with it

Made in about the year 2000. I play heavy rock/groove in full D tuning. Been playing about 8 years, my favourite recorded bass sound is Timmy C on Rage Against The Machine's Evil Empire, just so you know where i'm coming from.
It is a 2 channel amp, 1 clean, 1 overdrive - 1 12AX7 for each channel. Solid state (not mosfet) power section. 9 band eq with level. 4 parallel speaker outputs, mono only. 1200 watts RMS @ 2 ohms. This is more than enough, even at 4 ohms. Effects loop, tuner out, power amp out. Preamp volume (seems like a gain to me though...) for channel 1 (clean), channel 2: gain, volume and blend (of clean signal). Deep, mid and bright switches. Low and high shelving, split band compression (high and low) and compression blend, post compression gain. Unusual for such a high powered amp not to have bi amp ability, not that it makes a huge difference i suppose. I rarely use the overdrive channel cause it gets too mushy if you crank up the gain. It can be useful if you blend in enough clean signal to keep it defined.
Use this amp without a backup at gigs and rehearsals. 2 rehersals a week and 1 gig on average.

Instrument is a Warwick Thumb 4 Bolt On. (Previously Jazz 4).
I would say that the sunn has an ampeg flavour to the sound, though it won't give you as much of a "clean with a hint of overdrive" as an ampeg will. Overall a more "hi-fi" sound than an ampeg.
Most of the other reviews seem to be polarised - you either love it or hate it. Admittedly, i've managed to get some shocking sounds out of it, and some really good ones. People complain about it clipping out at high channel volumes (gain), i can confirm this. I use the channel volume at about 2, any higher than this and it will give a horrible distortion off (not a nice musical one). Don't know why this is, but the pre-amp tubes just don't like to be pushed for some reason.
The way to get around this is to crank the compression gain up to get a bit more bite and grit out of the amp. However, you need to have the compression engaged for this control to work. Don't stress though, because you need compression on this amplifier. Otherwise it sounds lacklustre.
The graphic is very useful, as long as you take the time to play with it. The deep and bright enhances are excellent too, but i find that the mid notch sucks all the punch and life out of the instrument. Useful though if the mids on the bass are ugly. Low and high shelving are ok but use only in moderation, too much knob-turning sounds unnatural.
I find that as long as the channel volume is kept down, you can turn up the master volume and get as much clean power as your cab will handle. Another warning here though, you'll need some serious cabs to handle it's power. At the minimum i would say a loud 15 and 4x10. I use an SWR workingmans tower 8x10 and the head could really damage the speakers if turned up too loud. The master NEVER goes over 5 otherwise it'd be newcabsville.
All in all, there are some really great sounds in there, but you have to take the time to find them, heaps of versatility in the controls.

Hmmmm. About 4-5 months after i bought it (new), the high compression chip went no-workies. Now, i live in australia, and trying to get fender to send over a new chip took weeks - almost 3 from memory. Once that was fixed it has been fine, though by looking at it the construction is B grade at best.

I didn't deal with them personally. Sunn is (was) owned by fender, they've got a bad rep for reason.
Surprisingly, the warranty is for 5 years. As long as the place you bought it from is cool, you should be fine.

I really like this amp, but frankly if it were stolen i wouldn't rush out and buy another one. So much gear, so little time. There are many amps that will do a similar job to this one. I tried out a trace 400smx (i think - the one with the tube in the preamp), and the sunn left it for dead for the sound i was after (i used to own a trace combo). Also tried a hughes and kettner bassbase, which was not good at all.
The reason i bought it was partly to do with headroom, and it has more than enough of that. This is a very, very loud amp.
Like i said, with tweaking, you can get some great sounds out of it but it may take a fair bit of experimentation.
Overall, i give it the thumbs up.