Trying to remember the name of a weird amp from the 90’s...

Lewy

.... black and silver, v expensive (like £3k even back then), high tech and shaped like a Watkins Dominator.

Ring any bells to anyone? Been bugging me all day!

p90fool

Sonus? 

Lewy

Yes that's it! Thanks

ICBM

Made in Scotland. Not that that's a recommendation...

I don't think they were particularly high-tech, they were just styled very oddly. I've never seen one in person but I've heard reports that they sound pretty ordinary too. I can't imagine they sold any.

p90fool

I thought at the time that if you're making a conventional, traditional sounding amp then making it look like an electric storage heater is probably going to be a marketing disaster. 

The look might've been passable if it was a high tech product. 

pintspiller

ICBM said:

Made in Scotland. Not that that's a recommendation...

I don't think they were particularly high-tech, they were just styled very oddly. I've never seen one in person but I've heard reports that they sound pretty ordinary too. I can't imagine they sold any.

Certainly not to boys addicted to Irn Bru or Buckfast

sm55onl

There was one in the Classifieds, here, a few months back..

Also, i was in CC Music (Glasgow) last month and they had one in...the bloke said that it needed a bit of attention (pots, etc) but was willing to let it go for a good price...sorry, i can’t quite remember the exact price that he quoted (if he did at all) but i remember that it was fairly cheap...probably, 300-400 GBP ?
[Don’t shoot the messenger !]
http://www.ccmusicshop.co.uk/

ICBM

There are a couple for sale on the net currently, so they must have sold at least a couple. They look even worse than I remember too - the cheap grille cloth with the speaker T-nuts showing through really takes the biscuit.



I also found that there appears to have been a 1x12" version, which is less awful-looking (sorry about the upside-down pic, that's how I found it!) -




... and the company also seems to have been responsible for a much more conventional but still awful-looking, apparently not particularly well-made and rather oddly-designed and weak-sounding model that I've never seen either.



http://www.chambonino.com/work/miscguitar/misc7.html

Bizarre!

andy1839

ICBM said:

There are a couple for sale on the net currently, so they must have sold at least a couple. They look even worse than I remember too - the cheap grille cloth with the speaker T-nuts showing through really takes the biscuit.



I also found that there appears to have been a 1x12" version, which is less awful-looking (sorry about the upside-down pic, that's how I found it!) -




... and the company also seems to have been responsible for a much more conventional but still awful-looking, apparently not particularly well-made and rather oddly-designed and weak-sounding model that I've never seen either.



http://www.chambonino.com/work/miscguitar/misc7.html

Bizarre!

That top pic is mine.
I still have it, a Sonus SC50.

Lewy

ICBM said:

.... and the company also seems to have been responsible for a much more conventional but still awful-looking, apparently not particularly well-made and rather oddly-designed and weak-sounding model that I've never seen either.



http://www.chambonino.com/work/miscguitar/misc7.html

Still, at least it was a shit colour! 

ICBM

andy1839 said:

That top pic is mine.

I still have it, a Sonus SC50.

What does it sound like?

Could you take some internal pictures? There’s so little information about these it could be quite useful.

andy1839

ICBM said:

andy1839 said:

That top pic is mine.

I still have it, a Sonus SC50.

What does it sound like?

Could you take some internal pictures? There’s so little information about these it could be quite useful.

I've opened the top, and shiver me timbers its filled with flour and potatoes!

But seriously I've taken mine off sale as I didnt really understand how to use it until recently.
I honestly think it's a good amp, the mid control is central to how it works. All of the controls have preset 'clicks' rather than a smooth taper like a normal amp.
The mid changes the eq curve and gain structure so itll go from big bold clean with high headroom to scooped metal. 
You have to set that depending on the sound you want.  
As a pedal platform its great, no fx loop so everything goes in the front end. 
No noise even with everything maxed out.
I'm using it as a home practice amp with a Tech21 RK FlyRig and JRAD Archer set pretty clean as a solo boost. 

It's very immediate with no sag, punches through the mix well and sounds good on stage with the V front and huge open back.

It has it's own thing going on, and that was probably its problem that it didnt sound like any classic amp, that and its huge price tag.

Over xmas I'll have it apart and send you some internal photos.

57Deluxe

...I want to see how they mount the potatoes.

andy1839

57Deluxe said:

...I want to see how they mount the potatoes.

Just chucked in randomly mate, scattered for the vintaged toanz innit. 
Just Jersey royals for British flavour, Yukon Golds of you fancy American.

The type of flour is just snake oil, it doesn't matter really.

p90fool

andy1839 said:

ICBM said:

andy1839 said:

That top pic is mine.

I still have it, a Sonus SC50.

What does it sound like?

Could you take some internal pictures? There’s so little information about these it could be quite useful.

I've opened the top, and shiver me timbers its filled with flour and potatoes!

But seriously I've taken mine off sale as I didnt really understand how to use it until recently.
I honestly think it's a good amp, the mid control is central to how it works. All of the controls have preset 'clicks' rather than a smooth taper like a normal amp.
The mid changes the eq curve and gain structure so itll go from big bold clean with high headroom to scooped metal. 
You have to set that depending on the sound you want.  
As a pedal platform its great, no fx loop so everything goes in the front end. 
No noise even with everything maxed out.
I'm using it as a home practice amp with a Tech21 RK FlyRig and JRAD Archer set pretty clean as a solo boost. 

It's very immediate with no sag, punches through the mix well and sounds good on stage with the V front and huge open back.

It has it's own thing going on, and that was probably its problem that it didnt sound like any classic amp, that and its huge price tag.

Over xmas I'll have it apart and send you some internal photos.

That actually sounds really interesting, would love to see inside it.

Interesting about it having rotary switches rather than pots though - if you hold down the volume knob and turn it clockwise really quickly does it light the pilot light?

prlgmnr

Can it maintain the studio at a constant 50% humidity throughout the winter?

Neckwringer

Fuckin' ell...….I love this place

Lodious

They had one like the pink one above in Music Inn in Nottingham years ago. I wanted to try it but it I think it was broken or had a fault. It might have had some weird interlock on the back panel? 

Marktigere1

Does anyone else 'desiree' this amp? 

I'll get my coat and never, ever come back.

Sorry to all

failed_astronaut

@ICBM ; I recognise that bedspread, you've managed to find the 2 Sonus amps I had in my possession about 10 years ago! The 2x12 was a f*cking monster! A completely impractical shape, size and weight. I used the 1x12 live a few times but it was always faulty and the circuit board had been glued into the chassis with what looked like silicon sealant! I managed to sell the 2x12 to a guy in the south side and then it ended up in CC Music a couple of years later.

jonnyburgo

They look like they’ve come out of communist Russia