Sunn Alpha 112

One channel, fifty watts, one 12-inch speaker. Tuned/ported cabinet. Volume, drive, tone controls, headphone jack. It's versatile in that it produces the kind of really good overdriven guitar sound that is relevant in just about any style of music. It has a push-pull mid frequency control - very usable range for guitar. This thing is instantly likeable.

For a solid state amp, it sounds killer. It's a loud 50 watts. Drives nicely when cranked; it gets a really nice rock-and-roll type distortion sound. Takes pedals well. This thing is a firecracker. I use it a lot for recording and it gets along great with microphones and tape.

A couple of the pots need to be serviced or replaced. Aside from that, this thing is pretty simple, just plug it in and rock. I've abused it plenty, and don't expect any problems - ever. I don't know what kind of trauma it endured before it wound up in my hands and I don't really care... it looks cool and sounds hella tough and that's enough for me. Made in the USA!

I HATE the sound of Sunn's beta lead, so I was skeptical toward the alpha until I plugged in (at which point any doubts I had took about two seconds to evaporate). I love this thing. I've been playing for over twenty years and I know good tone when I hear it. It has a timeless and unique kind of style that a Fender, Crate, or Peavey solid state combo never will. It's different and cool and well worth what I paid for it. If anything happened to this amp I would rage.

An old amp with one channel, drive, bass, mid, mid freq, treble, and volume knobs. Normal and bright inputs (I choose the norm.) and an effects loop and headphone jack are what you see. No reverb on this weighty, solid state machine.

I use a P-90 pickup Tripp or a humbucker-loaded Artinger. I play noisy punk/hardcore. I usually use a pedal for distortion, but this thing is supposedly hot rodded for crazy gain. It's a loud bugger. Above five drive and clean it can be mean. Drive at 10 is way overloaded sounding. Scary, but it sounds like a Sunn.

The output transistors had to be replaced after starting to sound like a rainstorm. It does seem very dependable. It's been used in tandem with other combo amps for more stage volume and has been very good in that aspect. How it'll keep up with the Mesa/Boogie Simul-Satellite I've recently purchased has yet to be seen.

It was fifty bucks at a clearance sale. The store owner was kicking himself when he heard it. He thinks that it was hot-rodded to sound like it does. I'm not complaining. I'm happy with it because it's compact and has served well when I played shows with it. It will be as nasty as you want it to be. It can be clean, but that will take some testing of sounds. It reminds me of Beta Leads when the drive is all the way up. It has an off-center speaker (1 12", that's it) that make people wonder why it is so. Sunn needed to make them look interesting in some way, right? I have no idea how many watts this is supposed to be, but a really loud 60 would be my guess. YOU try to find an amp so evil at such a low price.