I have been playing bass since 1966 and in my opinion, the old tube Sunn bass heads are still some of, if not the best, sounding bass amps of all time. They are built like a tank with point to point circuits and massive transformers and I have yet to find one that wasn’t repairable. Back in the 60’s, if you owned one of these amps, you were the source of envy of  all the other bass players.

The early Sunn amps were often loaned to the pro’s like Jimi Hendrix and Noel Redding, the Who, Iron Butterfly, Deep Purple and Steppenwolf (and countless others) for evaluation in the mid sixties.

The 190B is a bit more rare, “short-lived” model. It is very conservatively rated at 85 watts RMS, (it sounds and feels more like 100-120 watts) and the design was based on the Dynaco Mark III hi-fi amps. They are hand built and wired with a true point-to point circuit. The 190B is almost the exact same amp as a 200S, but  its my favorite of all of the Sunn amps since it has a diode rectifier which gives it a bit more headroom and a quicker response than the 200S. It’s tone is absolutely incredible, with the smoothest low end and punch that I have ever heard in a bass amp. If you match it with a pair of JBL D140F's,  it will blow your mind for playing live or for recording.

I am a bit reluctant to sell this one, as is the nicest one that I have ever had in my personal collection (and I’ve owned 8 of them!), but I am moving on  Dec. 1st so I need to lighten the load.

The original grillcloth is perfect with no rips, tears or snags, and the tolex is also near mint. The front panel is also the cleanest one that I’ve ever seen, with no dings, dents or scratches. The knobs and the rest of the hardware (i.e. corners and handle are original as well) and is in exceptional condition.

This amp has been tested inside and out, with all of its pots, switches and tube sockets cleaned with Caig DeOxit. Its main filter caps and bias caps have been replaced with exact high quality (Sprague) replacements. It also has the best tubes that can be found on the planet, with a NOS RCA 12AX7A, an NOS Mullard 6AN8, and two matched vintage GE 6550A’s (test as brand new), with the bias set and calibrated. It also has a new 3 prong heavy duty AC cord installed (the original was a two prong). This amp’s tube compliment is easily worth $400 alone, and it is ready to play for another 35 years.

The speaker outputs are 8 (main) and 4 ohms (extension). If you want to run just a single 4 ohm cabinet, you just plug into the main speaker out and put a bare 1/4” plug into the extension jack (there is an internal switch in the ext. jack that switches it to 4 ohms on the main output). The amp comes with a brand new custom-made heavy duty  cordura nylon  $50.00 padded cover to protect it, and it will be very carefully packed (with the large tubes packed separately) for shipping.

These amps are one of the last little known values, but are rapidly getting their due and are going up in price daily. Yes, I am asking for more than some of them that you may have seen, but I believe that it would be impossible to  find one in better condition or one that sounds better than this anywhere. If a boutique company were to make one today, it would easily retail for over $2,000.00! You may want to get buy one before they become “unaffordable’, and if you do, you won’t regret it, as they are ,in my opinion the best sounding bass amps of all time.

Thanks for looking!

1971 SUNN 190B Bass Head

Click on any picture below to enlarge

SOLD!