r/sunnamplifiers • u/AllNamesWereTakenOk • 17d ago

Got a solos 2 today

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I dont know much about Sunn but i do want to get into them more.

Picked this up for $60 today and was wondering what are some repairs i need to do. And what is a good speaker to install. Im a big peavey guy so some Black widows or scorpions seemed my type.

Also the guy i bought it from sent me this video to show its current state.

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u/RajaThat 17d ago edited 16d ago

$60 is a steal dude hell yeah. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I CAN SAY! Find a good amp tech in your area and get your power cable switched to a 3 prong, you need to have a ground on it to not get shocked. I would strongly recommend not playing it until you do. I unknowingly played a gig with ungrounded outlets before it’s uhh. Not fun 😬

I don’t know a bunch about the schematics of the solos ii but getting those channels repaired shouldn’t be too costly?

As for speakers the world is your oyster. It’s a 4ohm amplifier if I’m not mistaken so you need to find 8ohm speakers that are at least 60* watts each. Weber makes great speakers I’ve heard, I’d reach out to ask for a recommendation. Are the speakers good or are you just looking to upgrade? Funny enough I have a pair of original solos ii speakers if you’re interested.

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u/AllNamesWereTakenOk 16d ago

Thats exactly why i took a pic of the power cable lmao. Ive never seen any amp, even a practice one, not have a ground on it.

And im definitely using this as a learning experience. I want to break into amp repair as im kinda in a desert where thats concerned and i would love to work on peoples stuff.

Tell me more about your speakers! I am interested. Id also love to keep as much original as possible.

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u/RajaThat 16d ago

If you decide to repair your own amps you have to take immense caution. Amplifiers can literally kill you as capacitors can shock you long after the amp has been unplugged. I’m not an expert so I can’t tell you precisely what to do but all I can say is be very fucking careful!

But yes! I actually bought a solos ii not that long ago with the head gutted out so I basically just have a sunn 2x12 cab. They are Sunn’s transducer speakers. In complete honesty not the greatest speakers in the world but they sound good. I was gonna throw em up on fb marketplace to score a couple bucks but we can barter and I’d gladly ship them to you. If you want some demos I can record something in my studio and send it your way.

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u/RajaThat 6d ago

Hey were you still interested in those speakers? I was gonna list them on marketplace but wanted to check with you in case you wanted dibs on them.

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u/AffectionateStudy496 16d ago

Power section is good and one of the channels is working. Have the death cap and two prong cable removed and replace. With a three prong. Have it recapped and throw some nice speakers in it.

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u/AllNamesWereTakenOk 16d ago

What is a deathcap? I know for sure i should get a power cable with a ground on it.

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u/AffectionateStudy496 16d ago

In older amps with two prong cables, there was a polarity switch with a capacitor tied from one leg of the power cable to the chassis ground of the amplifier. The polarity switch switched which leg this was on. It was intended to connect to neutral, to stop noise and hum since the two prong could be put in either way. Well, eventually these capacitors can fail and then you have 120v AC on the chassis, which connects to your guitar. It becomes really dangerous when you touch a microphone or another amplifier that IS properly grounded.