New Amp Day -- Fender Supersonic 22

[Jonesie]

Just got this in a trade for some gear I wasn't loving / using. I have a Marshall Origin 20 with a 2x12 cab, so I decided having a Fender amp as a counterpoint might be fun. I have to say, this does the Fender thing! Big fat cleans, nice reverb. Even the gain channel's pretty fun. There's a rattle on it somewhere on some notes that's going to drive me insane, but goddamnit, I'll hunt it down.

This came with a Celestion Greenback in it too, which is a fun little upgrade.

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

Nice!

I always wondered if a Supersonic 22 would be enough for me - as I had to tame my 60 watt version (first generation) pretty much to be able to turn it past 2... using the fx-loop as a minus-boost helped a lot.

Is it "Deluxe Reverb"-voiced? On the old models they had the Bassman/Vibrolux switch and on the newer 100 it says Showman/Bassman - while yours just says Bright/Fat, right?

Rattle... hmmm. I believe I had a rattle too - which could be provoked playing somewhere in my low register... C or C#. It somehow is gone now... either it was the AX7 (which now is an AY7) or I'm just not playing so menacing loud anymore.

Yes, the Burn Channel is decent but as I run all my effects in front of the amp the outboard Reverb (as the 60 head doesn't come with onboard Reverb) get's terribly splashy... which is way too much unless you're really into shoegaze.

[Jonesie]

Nice!

I always wondered if a Supersonic 22 would be enough for me - as I had to tame my 60 watt version (first generation) pretty much to be able to turn it past 2... using the fx-loop as a minus-boost helped a lot.

Is it "Deluxe Reverb"-voiced? On the old models they had the Bassman/Vibrolux switch and on the newer 100 it says Showman/Bassman - while yours just says Bright/Fat, right?

Rattle... hmmm. I believe I had a rattle too - which could be provoked playing somewhere in my low register... C or C#. It somehow is gone now... either it was the AX7 (which now is an AY7) or I'm just not playing so menacing loud anymore.

Yes, the Burn Channel is decent but as I run all my effects in front of the amp the outboard Reverb (as the 60 head doesn't come with onboard Reverb) get's terribly splashy... which is way too much unless you're really into shoegaze.

It's Deluxe Reverb voiced, correct, and it's the bright/fat switch. It can get pretty loud and stay clean. I was only able to turn it up to about 5, and it only had the littlest bit of an edge to the tone, and that was with a JM.

I'm going to attack the tube covers next, searching for the rattle. I already got rid of the cage around the power tubes and that didn't do anything.

I'll probably never REALLY use the burn channel, I'm a pedal guy, and my Double Hot Cake clone seems to sound great with it. My silicon fuzz face however, not so much. Real splatty and buzzy. I'm hoping to get some more time to play around with it tomorrow. I gotta say though, my Gretsch Duo Jet with Filtertrons sounds fucking fantastic with it. CRISP.

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

It's Deluxe Reverb voiced, correct, and it's the bright/fat switch. It can get pretty loud and stay clean. I was only able to turn it up to about 5, and it only had the littlest bit of an edge to the tone, and that was with a JM.

I'm going to attack the tube covers next, searching for the rattle. I already got rid of the cage around the power tubes and that didn't do anything.

I'll probably never REALLY use the burn channel, I'm a pedal guy, and my Double Hot Cake clone seems to sound great with it. My silicon fuzz face however, not so much. Real splatty and buzzy. I'm hoping to get some more time to play around with it tomorrow. I gotta say though, my Gretsch Duo Jet with Filtertrons sounds fucking fantastic with it. CRISP.

That is great! Have you tried the Fuzz with both settings? On mine I've dialed everything in so that it sounds great with the Bassman setting - and if I'd go to the Vibrolux setting - it really is as if I'd activate the "Bright" switch on my Bandmaster... everything fuzzy get's buzzy... my Tonebender gets real Italowestern vibes with it... but otherwise not really usable. I hope you don't have that nasty volume drop between the two clean modes that mine has.

Enjoy! And hopefully you'll find the rattling soon!

[Jonesie]

It's Deluxe Reverb voiced, correct, and it's the bright/fat switch. It can get pretty loud and stay clean. I was only able to turn it up to about 5, and it only had the littlest bit of an edge to the tone, and that was with a JM.

I'm going to attack the tube covers next, searching for the rattle. I already got rid of the cage around the power tubes and that didn't do anything.

I'll probably never REALLY use the burn channel, I'm a pedal guy, and my Double Hot Cake clone seems to sound great with it. My silicon fuzz face however, not so much. Real splatty and buzzy. I'm hoping to get some more time to play around with it tomorrow. I gotta say though, my Gretsch Duo Jet with Filtertrons sounds fucking fantastic with it. CRISP.

That is great! Have you tried the Fuzz with both settings? On mine I've dialed everything in so that it sounds great with the Bassman setting - and if I'd go to the Vibrolux setting - it really is as if I'd activate the "Bright" switch on my Bandmaster... everything fuzzy get's buzzy... my Tonebender gets real Italowestern vibes with it... but otherwise not really usable. I hope you don't have that nasty volume drop between the two clean modes that mine has.

Enjoy! And hopefully you'll find the rattling soon!

I only tried it on the bright setting, I'm sure it'd sound better with the fat setting. I don't know how much I'm going to use the fat switch though, just because my Marshall kinda covers that territory anyways. I'm excited to try the rig in stereo at some point. Just have to make sure my wife's not home, because while they're each only 20w, I think that'll be VERY loud if I do it right, hah.

Also funny is how perfectly the amp fits in my little amp area. there's maybe 1/2" clearance on other side of the Fender.

[Fiddy]

Had one, didn't like it, might have been because i was playing a bassman at the same time .. So take with a grain of salt.

[Jonesie]

Had one, didn't like it, might have been because i was playing a bassman at the same time .. So take with a grain of salt.

I'm excited to play with it more and turn it up a bit. So far I'm digging it though. I don't gig currently, and haven't in about 15 years, so this is mostly just a for fun / recording amp. I think it'll do the "Fender Thing" just fine, just like how my Origin 20 does the "Marshall Thing". Good enough is close enough for me.

[fuzzjunkie]

Just got this in a trade for some gear I wasn't loving / using. I have a Marshall Origin 20 with a 2x12 cab, so I decided having a Fender amp as a counterpoint might be fun. I have to say, this does the Fender thing! Big fat cleans, nice reverb. Even the gain channel's pretty fun. There's a rattle on it somewhere on some notes that's going to drive me insane, but goddamnit, I'll hunt it down.

This came with a Celestion Greenback in it too, which is a fun little upgrade.

A nice counterpoint to Maggie’s Tiny Amp Town. Mid-Town Amp City.

[Jonesie]

Just got this in a trade for some gear I wasn't loving / using. I have a Marshall Origin 20 with a 2x12 cab, so I decided having a Fender amp as a counterpoint might be fun. I have to say, this does the Fender thing! Big fat cleans, nice reverb. Even the gain channel's pretty fun. There's a rattle on it somewhere on some notes that's going to drive me insane, but goddamnit, I'll hunt it down.

This came with a Celestion Greenback in it too, which is a fun little upgrade.

A nice counterpoint to Maggie’s Tiny Amp Town. Mid-Town Amp City.

And then we can take the weekend trips into i love sharin foo's Gigantic Amp Metropolis for fancy restaurants and shows.

[MrShake]

Just got this in a trade for some gear I wasn't loving / using. I have a Marshall Origin 20 with a 2x12 cab, so I decided having a Fender amp as a counterpoint might be fun. I have to say, this does the Fender thing! Big fat cleans, nice reverb. Even the gain channel's pretty fun. There's a rattle on it somewhere on some notes that's going to drive me insane, but goddamnit, I'll hunt it down.

This came with a Celestion Greenback in it too, which is a fun little upgrade.

A nice counterpoint to Maggie’s Tiny Amp Town. Mid-Town Amp City.

And then we can take the weekend trips into i love sharin foo's Gigantic Amp Metropolis for fancy restaurants and shows.

I'd love to book a weekend getaway, put me on your mailing list.

[Jonesie]

Update on this amp: It's absolutely fantastic. Sounds great with all of my guitars without even having to fiddle with the EQ. Surprisingly usable gain channel too. I'm not using it much, but it sounds really nice. I'm loving having actual spring reverb too. My RV-6 is/was nice, but this is better.

[s_mcsleazy]

weird this thread just came back. i was watching a clip of the trashwomen a few years ago and their guitar player was using a supersonic 22.

[Surfysonic]

Belated congrats, Jonesie! Supersonic 22s are fun. I had one for a time for a potential band project. As usual, it was moved on to fund/pay off other gear. Still, a great amp for sure.

weird this thread just came back. i was watching a clip of the trashwomen a few years ago and their guitar player was using a supersonic 22.

I just watched their 2016 Oakland performance (introduced by John Waters and Tracy Lords) and the guitarist was using a Fender Dual Professional - sounded awesome. The first song they played was the instrumental, Marguya. Unfortunately for me, 76 lbs and 100 watts is too much for me nowadays. I think the Supersonic 22 is a great alternative. I'll keep looking for the live performance with the SS 22 as I'd love to hear it in a live setting.

[Jonesie]

Brought the amp to a tech last week and we found where the rattling problem is.

We thought it was initially one of the power tubes, JJ 6V6s are apparently notorious for rattling in combo amps. Those got replaced which helped slightly, but it was still rattling. Turns out the voice coil of the speaker was dead/dying, which is fantastic. It's being replaced with an Eminence GA64-12, which came highly recommended by the tech for use in Fender amps. Oh, and two preamp tubes were microphonic, so those are being replaced too.

So welp, buyer beware on my part, I guess. I should have this back later this week and it'll hopefully be good to go for a long long long while.

[BoringPostcards]

Yeah, I love these amps. They’re pretty much a DR with a somewhat aggressive drive section added.
I’ve never owned one, but a band mate had one, and I used to try and use it myself pretty often.
Do they still make them? I saw one in a shop a few years back, but it may not have been new.