Fender Super Sonic
- Thread starter rgreen11
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shogunlegend
Guest
Re: Fender Super Sonic
i do and i love the heck out of it. there are some characteristics about the amp that some people don't like, but the amp has a lot of character. i've fallen in love with it after only a couple of weeks.
one of the complaints i hear is about hte vibrolux channel. they say it's too thin. it is a little thin, but not in any bad way. to me it's not a problem because the bassman channel (my favorite of either) is fat enough. the vibrolux is very jangly, sparkly, but i don't think it's too bright. it sounds great in the context of other instruments and records very well. the bassman channel isn't as jangly, but still has that fender sparkle. it's fat and juicy and you can play fast jazzy runs on it. it's clam chowder in one bowl, and beef stew in the other.
needless to say, the eq makes or breaks the tone in the clean channels. there is only a treble and bass control for both clean channels and i tend to drop the bass to about 12 o'clock on the bassman channel and raise the treble to 11 o'clock, then on the vibrolux channel i raise the bass to about 1:30 and lower the treble to about 10:00. for me, this is the optimum setting.
now on the plate you have a prime rib that is the gain channel. starting with a flat eq, you have a choice of two gain controls. the first is a more vintage sounding gain. you use the second gain channel to make the first one sound like a little fatter and more modern distortion. you can lower the first one and get a fuzzier type tone with the second gain up.
the amplifier comes with a chart that shows you several basic configurations. if you read this and give them each a try, you will see just how versatile this amp is. fenders website has a little interactive flash control that lets you hear several different tonal configurations with this amp. i would suggest that you give them a try and see how versatile it is for yourself.
now on to the tone. it's a very meaty tone with an unmistakeable fender flavor. oh man you can get some great sounding saturated distortion. with my virtual vintage strat, i get pretty great sounding single-coil crunch, but with my david gilmour emg strat, i get total metal crunch.
there is a certain fluttering kind of quality that you get from fender amps, particularly this one, on fast picked runs. it's something i think you really only get with fender amps and i love it so much. if you run a few patterns up and down a scale form and pick each note, you will easily begin to hear this quality. something very fluid and articulate about it that just sounds so pleasing.
fender has a smooth quality, and this amp is like butter. when you crank it, you get super hot melted butter. at about 12 o'clock on the volume, it's loud enough for a club i think. the gain gets just a tad more aggressive at louder volumes, so this amp can definitely rock.
now at medium and low gain settings, you can get memorable texas blues kind of tones to seriously great classic rock tones. this amp can really do a lot and it sounds good in every way. you would have to be out of your mind to knock this amp in any way.
as for the circuitry, i don't really know. fender makes their amps in mexico now, so i don't know how well they're made. i can say that i've tested this amp extensively, used it for up to 6 hours of practice in a day, and have had no issue whatsoever. not even a little ding or bing here or there. the volume control is something you have to be careful with, but don't listen to people who say you can't play at bedroom levels because it's not that bad at all. it works just fine, but it increases in volume very quickly.
it's a loud 60 watts, and not a heavy amp. compared to the jsx, it's a lightweight. NOW, there are 8 preamp tubes and 2 6L6 power tubes. two are for the clean channels and the other four are for the gain - i think. in any case, it can be quite costly to replace 10 tubes. it's a fair trade-off in terms of tone though because it's a very warm, saturated, and smooth tone.
even at low gain levels, the amp has a great feel to it. as soon as you start playing, it makes you think of all the great players like clapton, beck, eric johnson. by the way, i can get some super eric johnson tones with this amp. i love it and would say that it's my second favorite next to marshall.
i do and i love the heck out of it. there are some characteristics about the amp that some people don't like, but the amp has a lot of character. i've fallen in love with it after only a couple of weeks.
one of the complaints i hear is about hte vibrolux channel. they say it's too thin. it is a little thin, but not in any bad way. to me it's not a problem because the bassman channel (my favorite of either) is fat enough. the vibrolux is very jangly, sparkly, but i don't think it's too bright. it sounds great in the context of other instruments and records very well. the bassman channel isn't as jangly, but still has that fender sparkle. it's fat and juicy and you can play fast jazzy runs on it. it's clam chowder in one bowl, and beef stew in the other.
needless to say, the eq makes or breaks the tone in the clean channels. there is only a treble and bass control for both clean channels and i tend to drop the bass to about 12 o'clock on the bassman channel and raise the treble to 11 o'clock, then on the vibrolux channel i raise the bass to about 1:30 and lower the treble to about 10:00. for me, this is the optimum setting.
now on the plate you have a prime rib that is the gain channel. starting with a flat eq, you have a choice of two gain controls. the first is a more vintage sounding gain. you use the second gain channel to make the first one sound like a little fatter and more modern distortion. you can lower the first one and get a fuzzier type tone with the second gain up.
the amplifier comes with a chart that shows you several basic configurations. if you read this and give them each a try, you will see just how versatile this amp is. fenders website has a little interactive flash control that lets you hear several different tonal configurations with this amp. i would suggest that you give them a try and see how versatile it is for yourself.
now on to the tone. it's a very meaty tone with an unmistakeable fender flavor. oh man you can get some great sounding saturated distortion. with my virtual vintage strat, i get pretty great sounding single-coil crunch, but with my david gilmour emg strat, i get total metal crunch.
there is a certain fluttering kind of quality that you get from fender amps, particularly this one, on fast picked runs. it's something i think you really only get with fender amps and i love it so much. if you run a few patterns up and down a scale form and pick each note, you will easily begin to hear this quality. something very fluid and articulate about it that just sounds so pleasing.
fender has a smooth quality, and this amp is like butter. when you crank it, you get super hot melted butter. at about 12 o'clock on the volume, it's loud enough for a club i think. the gain gets just a tad more aggressive at louder volumes, so this amp can definitely rock.
now at medium and low gain settings, you can get memorable texas blues kind of tones to seriously great classic rock tones. this amp can really do a lot and it sounds good in every way. you would have to be out of your mind to knock this amp in any way.
as for the circuitry, i don't really know. fender makes their amps in mexico now, so i don't know how well they're made. i can say that i've tested this amp extensively, used it for up to 6 hours of practice in a day, and have had no issue whatsoever. not even a little ding or bing here or there. the volume control is something you have to be careful with, but don't listen to people who say you can't play at bedroom levels because it's not that bad at all. it works just fine, but it increases in volume very quickly.
it's a loud 60 watts, and not a heavy amp. compared to the jsx, it's a lightweight. NOW, there are 8 preamp tubes and 2 6L6 power tubes. two are for the clean channels and the other four are for the gain - i think. in any case, it can be quite costly to replace 10 tubes. it's a fair trade-off in terms of tone though because it's a very warm, saturated, and smooth tone.
even at low gain levels, the amp has a great feel to it. as soon as you start playing, it makes you think of all the great players like clapton, beck, eric johnson. by the way, i can get some super eric johnson tones with this amp. i love it and would say that it's my second favorite next to marshall.
Marinblues
New member
Re: Fender Super Sonic
how does it play at low, bedroom volume?
how does it play at low, bedroom volume?
Kosh Naranek
New member
Re: Fender Super Sonic
I have one. It sounds fine at bedroom volume. One of the things that appealed to me about it is it is only 60 watts. I bought mine mainly to record tracks in my home studio.
It's a very versatile amp. I have the head version, and I use it with my closed back 2-12 or an open back 1-12 cabinets with Celestions in both. I posted my thoughts on the amp in another thread here just last week so I won't repeat it all again. I'm very happy with it. Not only does the clean channel yield two very different clean voicings, but the burn channel is capable of two very different overdrive sounds with the dual gain knobs, and they can be mixed to taste. And all the clean and dirty tones are useable and sound good! Very well thought out and executed. The tone controls will not give you a bad tone no matter where they're set.
There are sound clips on Fender's site. You gotta listen to them if you're considering buying this amp. The Texas Tea clip convinced me. The cranked up Bassman clip sounds cool too, although you can only get that sound by actually cranking the volume way up.
shogun, I think one of the tubes in the combo is for the reverb. The head version doesn't have reverb, and has one less preamp tube.
I have one. It sounds fine at bedroom volume. One of the things that appealed to me about it is it is only 60 watts. I bought mine mainly to record tracks in my home studio.
It's a very versatile amp. I have the head version, and I use it with my closed back 2-12 or an open back 1-12 cabinets with Celestions in both. I posted my thoughts on the amp in another thread here just last week so I won't repeat it all again. I'm very happy with it. Not only does the clean channel yield two very different clean voicings, but the burn channel is capable of two very different overdrive sounds with the dual gain knobs, and they can be mixed to taste. And all the clean and dirty tones are useable and sound good! Very well thought out and executed. The tone controls will not give you a bad tone no matter where they're set.
There are sound clips on Fender's site. You gotta listen to them if you're considering buying this amp. The Texas Tea clip convinced me. The cranked up Bassman clip sounds cool too, although you can only get that sound by actually cranking the volume way up.
shogun, I think one of the tubes in the combo is for the reverb. The head version doesn't have reverb, and has one less preamp tube.
Re: Fender Super Sonic
Here you go; I love listening to these clips!
http://www.fender.com/products/supersonic/
Here you go; I love listening to these clips!
http://www.fender.com/products/supersonic/
Marinblues
New member
Re: Fender Super Sonic
would you consider the samples comparable to the real thing?
would you consider the samples comparable to the real thing?
Empty Pockets
BadHairDayologist
Re: Fender Super Sonic
Great amps. I want one bad.
Great amps. I want one bad.
S
shogunlegend
Guest
Re: Fender Super Sonic
the samples are right on except they don't use reverb except for the vibrolux sample. let me tell you that the reverb will add a whole other dimension to the tone. i must say that i've always been impressed with fender reverb, and this one unlike hte marshalls, has more reverb than you need. the reverb sounds more like part of the tone than an added effect.
bedroom levels with the combo, perfectly fine. like i said, people tend to exaggerate the volume sensetivity. it is indeed very sensetive, but you can work with it. i have a mesa 5:50 and that thing is just as volume sensetive as the supersonic.
60 watts in my combo is enough for me. i can't imagine needing more than that until i start playing to large outside audiences. if that day ever comes, i'm going mesa triple rect.
the samples are right on except they don't use reverb except for the vibrolux sample. let me tell you that the reverb will add a whole other dimension to the tone. i must say that i've always been impressed with fender reverb, and this one unlike hte marshalls, has more reverb than you need. the reverb sounds more like part of the tone than an added effect.
bedroom levels with the combo, perfectly fine. like i said, people tend to exaggerate the volume sensetivity. it is indeed very sensetive, but you can work with it. i have a mesa 5:50 and that thing is just as volume sensetive as the supersonic.
60 watts in my combo is enough for me. i can't imagine needing more than that until i start playing to large outside audiences. if that day ever comes, i'm going mesa triple rect.
