5 Music Equipment Appreciation 102: Chapter 1 - Sunn Concert Lead

Welcome to the first installment of an ongoing journalistic project known as Music Equipment Appreciation 102. This project hopes to inform and enlighten, as well as provide insight into the loud, gritty, wonderful, and sometimes-hellish world of musical amplifiers, effects, stringed instruments, synthesizers, recording devices, and maybe even some brass and woodwinds, if we feel so bold. It is here you will learn what it means to wield one of these tonal tools, and perhaps walk away with a more refined perspective of what goes on onstage, as well as in the studio. If you are curious as to how you managed to pass M.E.A. 101 without showing up for class, consider this: if you are reading this, you’re already in school via the glory that is Seattle Rock Guy; and if you’ve gone that far, then it’s already too late. The rock and roll demon has struck you with his heritage cherry axe, and there’s no turning back, motherfucker.

We’ll dig right in with our first piece of equipment: the Sunn Concert Lead. Ever wonder why that band from Seattle call themselves SUNN O)))? Because this amplifier company was just that damn good, and the Concert Lead is the perfect amp to introduce yourself to their unequalled products of attenuation. We won’t go into the history of this company since anybody with the Internet can find out for themselves, but people probably know these amps best via John Entwhistle of The Who. His mountain of Sunn amps onstage helped make The Who the loudest band in the world for a time. Nowadays, the aforementioned band SUNN O))) could perhaps hold that title with their wall of Sunn Model T amps.
The Concert Lead was produced from the early 1970’s to the mid-1980’s as a mid-level solid-state stage amplifier; it developed 200 watts and came in a head-only package, meaning it was not built with speakers (as in a combo amp). Speakers were sold separately as individual cabinets with speakers built in. It featured basic controls such as reverb, distortion, equalization, and of course, volume. Early models featured a black front panel with a wide silver stripe while later ones were all black with red pinstriping. This amp was also available without reverb, known as the Concert Bass. The step up from the Concert series was the Coliseum series, which boasted more controls and more power - not for the faint of heart.

Never underestimate the greatness of solid state. In the 1970’s, this technology was arguably at its finest, equaling the tonal quality of tube amplifiers, and in some musical genres such as jazz, surpassing them. Tube amps are fantastic in almost every application and can achieve some sounds solid-state amps cannot, but reliability and affordability are usually sacrificed. Sunn was and still is known as one of the most reliable and highest-quality amps money can buy, and up until very recently, a little money could buy a lot of Sunn amp. In the past five years or so Sunn amps have become a favorite of many musicians, primarily within the stoner rock and metal genres due to their ability to produce enormous volume and their unique “darker” tone, making them fairly difficult to come by for a low price, although they are still much more affordable than most amps of similar quality.

In the author’s humble opinion, louder is better as long as it’s got clarity, and Sunn amps sound cleaner than an autoclave, and are as loud as outer space is silent. This is important, because definition at high volume is everything. Should you choose to play a Sunn, we recommend you invest in some heavy-duty speakers – you are going to shred those paper cones you’ve got now to bits in no time. Unless you happen to own a smaller Sunn combo amp, these are not for the apartment or bedroom.

Overall, a Sunn amp is a wise investment, and the Concert series is a great place to start; the author proudly owns one and will continue to play Sunn amps until his eardrums fall out or the universe explodes, whichever comes first.

In our next installment of Musical Equipment Appreciation: the Gibson Flying V.

Words by Paul J. Lyon