1979 Sunn Alpha 112p Combo Amp

Vintage amp from a classic name, still looks great and in perfect working order

 

The Summer of Amps has spilled over into Fall and the latest find is particularly sweet. The first bass amp that I ever owned was an old Sunn combo with a 15" speaker and I would bet that it was built around the same time as this beast.

I knew nothing of the Alpha series when I saw the ad for this one, but I know that Sunn is highly regarded and jumped on it just about as soon as it was posted. I got it home and plugged the Ibanez Iceman IC-50 into it and was immediately happy. The previous owner showcased the Mid Freq knob, which works like an EQ and the natural overdrive it produces is super dirty.

This amp is popular with the stoner rock and doom metal scenes and its easy to see why. You can get nice, clean overdrive sounds with this amp at most of the dial and when you crank the drive knob, it really starts to break up, especially at higher volumes. The Mid Freq and overdrive combinations makes for the ability of a wide range of sounds. With this and the Ibanez GX-60 that I scored earlier in the year, I have two great options for anything that requires a hard rock/heavy metal sound.

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1980s Fender Eighty-Five Combo Amp

Vintage combo amp, built in the USA and made famous by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood

This amp apparently made its debut in 1988 and the serial number on the back probably means it was made in 1988 or 1989. When I first started playing, the Fender M80 amp was a favorite among my peers and this sounds alot like those boxes to me.

In a bit of a reversal for Fender amps, the cleans on this one don't really sound all that great. Very heavy metal, but the distortion channel is actually better. When I picked this up last weekend and played through it with the Aria Pro II strat, the sounds coming out were a bit like those on the Weezer Blue Album.

That makes sense, as posted in the abstract, Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead made this amp famous when he used it to record one of their most well-known songs, 1994's Creep and those albums came out the same year. This is one of my better finds, as its a great amp and I'm probably going to end up paying around the same amount to find the original footswitch. These can go for as much as $200, thanks in large part to Mr. Greenwood's influence.

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1990s Park G10 Combo Practice Amp

Vintage Marshall-designed box cranks out nice sounds, made in Korea

Another of the cheap finds that were scored during the practice amp kick, I had never heard of this brand before I stumbled upon it (literally) at the Goodwill. After reading some reviews and finding out that it was at least decent, I went back the next day and was lucky enough to find it still sitting there.

Like the Mako Piranha, this amp needs to have the electronics cleaned up. Just about all of the pots are super dirty and the overdrive really only works in a few spots. I was able to get some cool, early Pearl Jam-esque sounds in those spots when I plugged in the Aria Pro II strat and the cleans also sound nice and clear for a cheap practice amp, both the high and low end.

Also, like the Piranha, there are no effects to play with on this amp, but the ability to get those old school overdrive sounds make it worth picking up, if you can find one. Sometimes its nice to be able to just plug in and get a more natural sounding distortion than plugging in a pedal. That's the goal for recording, going forward; the option of different sounds and creating those sounds as organically as possible. Even the effects on the amps recently featured sound cleaner than the pedals that I've accumulated, which are also vintage.

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1979 Peavey Deuce VT Series Guitar Amplifier

Vintage American-made 2x12 combo amp, loaded with CTS speakers

The last few weeks have seen some super sweet vintage pieces added to the arsenal and this one is probably the best combination of quality and condition. This amp was purchased from the original owner and he even gave me the original receipt and manual that he had kept all this time.

Peavey amps have generally been known for volume over the years. I won't be using it for that purpose, but mainly for the on-board effects that are installed. The reverb is very clean and I've had alot of fun with the phase effect, doing some of my best Todd Rundgren impersonations. I haven't really tried to get any overdrive sounds on this amp yet, but some youtube demos I've watched show a wide range.

This is only the 2nd amp that I've ever owned that is powered by tubes, the Carvin X-60B being the top dog among the current lineup. This one is powered by (4) 6L6 tubes and the owner had them replaced just a couple of years ago. Of course, 6L6s are very common tubes and I could possibly find a vintage set to install, just to keep everything vintage.

Thanks for looking, more high-resolution photos here.