Sunn Solos I 212 Combo

Very few people ever talk about the original Sunn Solos (most discussions concern the Solos II). This is a Solos I, which I bought new back circa 1969/70. It has many, but not all, features of the Solos II: combo amp, two channels (each with a Normal and Bright input and a treble boost switch);one channel with reverb and vibrato; 120/240 watts, sunn transducers, preamp out, and external speaker jack, and footswitch connectors for reverb and vibrato.

I used this amp mostly for keyboards because it sounded so clean and had lots of power, and we were covering all the standard rock bands popular at the time, so power was a must.

I'm not going to get into the solid/tube debate. I've played guitar thru this amp and while its not really a lead guitar amp, it really cuts thru as a solid rhythym guitar amp, with clean hi power sounds. What I remember about the advertisements at the time was that Sunn positioned this as a great pedal steel guitar amp, so clean power was its selling point.

While I've tried putting synths (Alesis QS6) and pianos (Korg SP200) thru this amp, there is just WAY too much top end for modern keyboards, even with the bass turned up and the treble/midrange turned down. I used to use an old Wurlitzer piano back in the '70s(yes, THAT Wurlitzer) and an RMI Rocksichord piano and I remember that sounding pretty good, although my Farfisa Mini-Compact was a bit trebly.

Despite the fact that the guitar players in my band hate how this amp sounds because it doesn't distort like a marshall or fender (hey, its a Sunn, guys), I LOVE the sound of this amp for guitar. I play an '94 SG standard thru it and it sounds BIG. It is powerful and has such a wide range of tone. I especially like the midrange control, which gives a huge penetrating boost to the presence. The bright input (one in each channel) and the bright switch give all the high end anyone would ever need

The low point for this amp is how it sounds once you crank it past BIG, and start getting real distortion. Its actually the only unpleasant sound I get from this amp.

Havin owned this amp for 35 years, just the fact that it still works is testamony to its reliability. It sat in my basement for over 15 of those 35 years gathering dust. Haven't changed the tubes since about 1975.

Its a little cranky (like me) and I get occasional pops and grunts, but mostly it still sounds great.

I would HATE to try to get this fixed, though. The only schematics I can find are for the Solos II, which I'm going to guess are probably close enough for a good tech to use.

I no longer use this in the band - play my keyboards thru the PA - but I still like to annoy the wife and kids periodically with my SG .... also, neighbors have complained

No experience

I started playing keyboards in 1966, and stopped in college around 1976. At a 50th birthday party for my former bass player, the old band started jamming, and we've now been playing classic rock since 2002, and I used this amp for almost a year in that band.

I bought a Crown amp, JBL EONs, and a Mackie mixer for the band pa, and I now play thru that.

If it was lost or stolen, I'd be SOL