Can someone please help identify my Sunn cab?

[soundmasterg]

Was that Eagle Works? I have a 4x12 that uses fairly common Fender speakers but still sounds really good.

Yeah that was it, Pat at Eagle Works. I used to have a Ampeg SVT custom cabinet that he made for me....it had four 10's and one 15, and sounded good. It was a cheaper way to get a working cabinet. I sold it when I sold my MTI SVT head though. I kept the Sunn 2000S head and cab as they sound better. I still have some head boxes that he made for me for amp projects. He was a good guy.

Greg

[glebert]

There used to be another local guy/business who did recones and built custom cabs and what not, but he got out of the business about 10 years ago. I forget his name at the moment but he was very good.

Was that Eagle Works? I have a 4x12 that uses fairly common Fender speakers but still sounds really good.

[soundmasterg]

It was Jamac. Haven't really dealt with him much be he seemed to be on the level.

I agree with your history, but it is funny how much local lore there is about Sunn. I know some people who hate Fender because they "ruined Sunn" or "abandoned the employees." By many accounts Sunn was going down fast anyway after the Bill Hartzell died, and was dying slowly even before that, some say due to the losing the high end market to Marshall.

Yeah I thought it was Jamac you were talking about. There used to be another local guy/business who did recones and built custom cabs and what not, but he got out of the business about 10 years ago. I forget his name at the moment but he was very good. Jamac is fine and the guy knows his stuff and does good work, you just end up dealing with some things with him that could be left aside.

Back in the day I considered trying to get a job at the Sunn/Fender factory, but while I was thinking about it, they ended up closing it and moving it away. Yeah it was probably on its last legs by the time Fender bought them. Conrad Sundholm had moved on when he sold it in the early 70's and once Hartzell died there wasn't anyone taking an interest in it. There is a lot of local legend built up about Sunn for sure! For anything I wanted to know about Sunn I've just asked Conrad as he is a personal friend of mine. He has a REALLY funny story about how he met Keith Moon back in the day. THat said, I like to allow him some privacy as he is getting up there and is trying to retire now.

Greg

[soundmasterg]

That makes sense, Auto mechanic shops don't tend to want to install something you bought off Ebay either.

nosaj

Yes it does make sense, and I understood why he wanted to use the generic kit he was recommending. Unfortunately this was a Celestion Blue that I wanted to recone and I had the original Celestion kit sourced from England and changing to a generic kit would change the sound, which I wasn't willing to do. He finally agreed to recone with my kit, but he couldn't resist putting Celestion's kit quality down as a final comment. Like I said, some weird ideas.

Greg

[glebert]

It was Jamac. Haven't really dealt with him much be he seemed to be on the level.

I agree with your history, but it is funny how much local lore there is about Sunn. I know some people who hate Fender because they "ruined Sunn" or "abandoned the employees." By many accounts Sunn was going down fast anyway after the Bill Hartzell died, and was dying slowly even before that, some say due to the losing the high end market to Marshall.

[nosaj]

Sunn didn't go under...Fender bought them, mainly to use the factory which they eventually moved out of state. At the time CBS sold the new owners the rights to build Fenders and not much else. They had no factory to build amps in until that purchase and the guitars were built in Japan for a year until Fender got things ramped up in the US.

Would the local reconing guru you mentioned be the guy at Jamac? He has some weird opinions about what is good and what is not good in speaker and cone world, and he generally recommends stuff that he can make a profit off of rather that you bringing in a cone from someone like Weber for example. That said, he does do a fine job reconing speakers.

Greg

That makes sense, Auto mechanic shops don't tend to want to install something you bought off Ebay either.

nosaj

[soundmasterg]

FWIW, I had a conversation a while back with the local speaker reconing guru, who bought up a lot of the Sunn speaker components (like cones) when they went under (Sunn was located close to Portland). His opinion on the Sunn stock speakers was that they were generally pretty "weak kneed" and he always preferred to replace with Peavey stuff.

Sunn didn't go under...Fender bought them, mainly to use the factory which they eventually moved out of state. At the time CBS sold the new owners the rights to build Fenders and not much else. They had no factory to build amps in until that purchase and the guitars were built in Japan for a year until Fender got things ramped up in the US.

Would the local reconing guru you mentioned be the guy at Jamac? He has some weird opinions about what is good and what is not good in speaker and cone world, and he generally recommends stuff that he can make a profit off of rather that you bringing in a cone from someone like Weber for example. That said, he does do a fine job reconing speakers.

Greg

[Leo_Gnardo]

FWIW, I had a conversation a while back with the local speaker reconing guru, who bought up a lot of the Sunn speaker components (like cones) when they went under (Sunn was located close to Portland). His opinion on the Sunn stock speakers was that they were generally pretty "weak kneed" and he always preferred to replace with Peavey stuff.

When Sunn was the hot ticket - 70, 71 - and I was just getting into electric bass at high school, my classmate who was already an established player with a good sound recommended "get the JBL's." I guess Sunn, like Kustom & some other brands, offered up-market choices for those with discerning taste & budget to match.

Peavey Black Widows from late 70's on would also be an excellent choice. Eventually I wound up with ElectroVoice. The day I got 'em, kicked myself for not having invested in top grade speakers beforehand.

[glebert]

FWIW, I had a conversation a while back with the local speaker reconing guru, who bought up a lot of the Sunn speaker components (like cones) when they went under (Sunn was located close to Portland). His opinion on the Sunn stock speakers was that they were generally pretty "weak kneed" and he always preferred to replace with Peavey stuff.

[J M Fahey]

That is a 312S cabinet as Glebert mentioned above. The top speaker is probably original, the middle one looks old but probably not original since it doesn't have the silver dust cover Sunn used in the 70's. The bottom one looks like a 10 inch stereo speaker. The drivers should be 16 Ohm all wired in parallel for 5.33 Ohms.

Agree and add, now looking with my glasses on

Top one looks original, cone is somewhat soiled and typical 70īs aluminum dome is wrinkled. "Should" be original 16 ohm.

Middle one looks "too new" to be true, and was reconed with Jensen type components, maybe at Ted Weberīs : seamed cone, small paper or non woven textile dustcap (black of course), visible voice coil wires covered by black coloured "soft" vinyl adhesive which also holds dustcap in place, not too smoothly applied, while Sunn aluminum dustcap is held by hard as glass epoxy and is impossible to remove without destroying it. In a nutshell, not original.
Not too sure reconer (por owner) was aware original speaker is 16 ohm, so quite probably it was reconed 8 ohm.

Bottom one is a cheesy replacement, low efficiency Audio type, most probably 8 ohm, to fake a 12" speaker itīs mounted on a black painted plywood ring which in due course uses original mounting screws.
"Seen through grill cloth" it may look original enough to sell the very used car at Honest Joeīs garage ... sorry, the very used cabinet at some equivalent Music shop (maybe even a pawnshop).
Seller didnīt even care to get a cheap used 12" speaker, ... "any" speaker ... to fill that hole, thatīs why I suspect pawnshop find (or low rating EBay seller) rather than "Music Shop" proper.

My point is that itīs quite a suspect cabinet, impedance will certainly be wrong, and it may even overload or damage the head driving it.

I suggest you open cabinet back, show us wiring, measure *each* speaker DC resistance (unsolder wire leaving one leg free) and post it here.
I fear they are simply all wired in parallel and impedance is weird .. to say it politely.

You will need to get a suitable 12" speaker to replace the bottom one, but letīs wait for wiring and DC resistance measurements first.
Also picture any label or stamp code found on each speaker frame or magnet.

You *can* end with a good cabinet, reasonable impedance, but letīs first confirm what you have.

[tboy]

The original speakers were rated at 60 watts each, so 180 watts total for three of them (unless they're wired funny).

[alabastar_cold]

Thanks for all of the help guys. Maybe it’s a silly question, but any guess on the wattage?

[loudthud]

That is a 312S cabinet as Glebert mentioned above. The top speaker is probably original, the middle one looks old but probably not original since it doesn't have the silver dust cover Sunn used in the 70's. The bottom one looks like a 10 inch stereo speaker. The drivers should be 16 Ohm all wired in parallel for 5.33 Ohms.

[glebert]

The cabinet and grill look very similar to this 610S (https://reverb.com/item/6224863-earl...-angled-baffle), with obviously different speaker makeup. What is that, two 15's and a 12?

edit: if they are 12's then it is probably a 312s. https://reverb.com/item/61005-sunn-3...-s-black-tolex

[J M Fahey]

Your description applies to *any* cabinet.

Pictures are more useful.
Top speaker looks original, middle one might be the same but freshly reconed, bottom one is a bookshelf cabinet hi fi woofer and has no business there, period.

Value? check the "Blue Book" or ask your local Guitar Center.