Fender Super-Sonic 22 22W 1x12 Tube Guitar Combo Amp Blonde

Comments about Fender Super-Sonic 22 22W 1x12 Tube Guitar Combo Amp:

Fender Super Sonics are the best amps out there for the money, IMHO. They have a nice Fender clean, crunch and high gain sound. The clean channel has a fat switch that works well; and the reverb is tube driven. Really nice cleans and the most gain of any Fender I have tried (close to a Mesa Boogie in terms of gain).

Tubes are mounted to the chassis, with wires attaching them to the PCB board. Fender and Peavey (Classic series) are the only non-boutique manufacturers I know of that make their amps that way. Both are made in USA. If you like to change tubes; I wouldn't buy anything else.

I did tinker with my amp a little. I get a touch more gain with JJ 12ax7's up front. And I tried an Eminence Private Jack for a little more midrange and less treble (to get an even smoother overdrive tone). But neither mod was necessary (e.g. If you want to "cut through" better; I'd leave the amp the way it is); these amps sound great out of the box.

Much as I like the sound of Marshall distortion, I think even their Made in England combos are poorly designed. I can't get over the way they mount their tubes directly to the PCB board. That makes it hard to change the tubes and easy to crack the board. Once you do that, forget it, you might as well throw the amp in the trash.

I SAY BUY AMERICAN!!!

Comments about Fender Super-Sonic 22 22W 1x12 Tube Guitar Combo Amp:

I will make this short and sweet. The supersonic 22 is a great sounding amp, if you are looking for clean tones and a great tube breakup. Unfortunately the quality is subpar. I own cheap amps that are more reliable. The footswitch lasted about 6 months and after a year the amp started cutting in and out until it was unplayable. I would be very cautious if you are planning on purchasing this amp.

Comments about Fender Super-Sonic 22 22W 1x12 Tube Guitar Combo Amp:

I've had my SS22 for about 2 months now and I have to say I really love it! I started with a Black and Silver that I picked up at the store, but it had some blems from being on the floor and I decided to order the Blonde/Oxblood. I only bring this up because the amps were different. I will elaborate below.

So, here is the negative. The reverb on the my first amp was over the top awesome and deep. Going past 2 o3, the reverb was beyond surf music. I kept it about 1. On the blonde one that was shipped, it was weaker. I use it around 4 to get the same depth. I'm not a heavy reverb guy, so I can live with it.

The other negative, my amp had the dreaded pop noise when changing channels. I tried different tubes and that took care of the issue. The noise floor also dropped a lot. I'm not dogging Groove Tubes, I am just saying some good NOS tubes really made some nice improvements.

So, for the positive... I have read the forums and I see there is not a lot of love for the SS22. I want to let everyone know, this is a really, really good amp. The clean channel is so sweet and simple. My Gibsons and Fenders both sound amazing. I really dig kicking in the FAT boost on the clean when playing my Strats and Teles. With my Gibsons, the boost is a bit overkill.

The overdrive channel is also awesome. I can dial in some tasty crunch or push up both gains and get into the heavy. Honestly, I put my OD and distortion pedals away. Really, most of my pedals are stocked away. I run a term, analog delay, digital delay and phase through the effects loop.

This is a pretty versatile amp. Not too heavy either, so easy to drag around. Be nice if it was a birch cab instead of MDF. But, all in all, I am very happy with this amp.

Comments about Fender Super-Sonic 22 22W 1x12 Tube Guitar Combo Amp:

I've been playing for 33 yrs. and I'm an experienced Blues player. I've owned a few top of the line Fender amps and currently have a few Egnater Tourmaster amps, (full stack and combo version)and a hand made Pierson Tweed Deluxe.
The Super Sonic 22 absolutely blows the other amps away and cost much less.
The vintage channel with fat switch is the ultimate blues tone. Infact, it's so good that I haven't even explored the burn channel.
It's by far the best sounding amp I've ever owned.
I absolutely love this amp.

Comments about Fender Super-Sonic 22 22W 1x12 Tube Guitar Combo Amp:

Caution: Do not purchase this amp as your main source of guitar amplification.

The sound is fine but this amp will stop working at any given moment. My first new SuperSonic lasted 2 weeks before sending it back for a new one. The second one lasted 6 months and then failed. After a 6 week wait for warranty repair, the amp has now failed agian.

This is a very nice (but pricey) bedroom amp at best.

Comments about Fender Super-Sonic 22 22W 1x12 Tube Guitar Combo Amp:

My '73 SG and I love this amp

Comments about Fender Super-Sonic 22 22W 1x12 Tube Guitar Combo Amp:

Being an old guy, I sometimes get confused on which buttons to push. Once I figured that out, I was just ecstatic over this amp. I have an old friend with a pre-CBS Deluxe but I can never wangle it out of him. But this amp fills that bill and has more options to boot. And when I use the external speaker output and feed into my VHT cab with two 12" speakers - oh my. And with only 22 watts. Exactly what I've been looking for in an amplifier. I have other great amps too from the the Marshall JCM800, the Marshall JCM 401 40 watt, a Fender Blues Deluxe. The problem is that I can barely turn the volume on with them and they are instantly too loud for my normal situations. I also have a 1953 Fender Deluxe but who's letting that leave the safety of the house? If you are a bluesrocker like me, this amp will make you smile.

Comments about Fender Super-Sonic 22 22W 1x12 Tube Guitar Combo Amp:

Fender got it right with this one. In fact, they got it very right. Historically, Fender amp distortion/overdrive has been sickly, nasty, and sort of a raw sound. But on this amp the overdrive is superb! It can produce a light crunch all the way to creamy over the top distortion. There is enough tone control on the overdrive section to dial in almost any sound you want. And the tone controls do something when you turn them unlike other amps. Of course it also has that luscious vintage Fender clean that everyone loves but only Fender can achieve. I use this amp exclusively on gigs now. The effects loop is super quiet AND you can switch it on and off, for when you don't want your effects in the mix. The fat feature is great for Strats and Teles to thicken them up without making them into mud. Or you can use it for a slight extra push for solos. I also use this feature for extra warmth on jazz gigs. Overall this amp is the best thing I have seen in years.

Comments about Fender Super-Sonic 22 22W 1x12 Tube Guitar Combo Amp:

Overall, I would recommend this amp to any professional player,,,even the most critical tone snobs. It covers almost any style of music out there,,,,and with the effects loop you can place your effects where they do the most tonal good.
This amp is one of the finest I have ever owned in my 40+ years of playing. Line out, effects loop, burn channel, dual gain, 4 button footswitch, plus spring reverb,,,,,,,,WOW,,,,now those are usable features.
It seems well built , but I had to re-tighten the power transformer that was basically hanging there when I received the amp. Come on Fender, this was such an obvious flaw,,,didn't anyone notice this before the amp came off the line ????!!!!
A bit pricey I thought until I plugged in my Strat and started playing,,,,great Fender tone. BTW, I bought this used from Musicians Friend and got a killer deal !!!!!

Comments about Fender Super-Sonic 22 22W 1x12 Tube Guitar Combo Amp:

I have owned several Fender Amps within the last couple of years. Currently I own a Twin Reverb Reissue, Deluxe Reverb Reissue, Princenton Reverb Reissue, and a Princeton Silverface. I have also owned the Bandmaster VM, Fender Super-Champ, and the Fender Mustang III amp. Compared to all of the amps I have mentioned the sound of this amp is no where close to the traditional fender sound. To my ears, this amp lacks the chime and clarity of your normal Fender amp. I am not your traditional bedroom player musician who plays for 10 minutes and then writes a glowing review. I wanted to give my honest review of this amp compared to other amps that I have played within the Fender lineup. I am a Fender junkie and I love the sound of Fender amps for their clarity and low-end grunt. Nothing give me more pleasure than putting my bass control on 7, mids on 5 or 6, and treble on 5 or 6 depending if I'm using a bright switch or in case of the Deluxe Reverb treble is on 4 due to harshness of the bright cap. This amp will not give you the traditional Fender sound to my ears, and I have A/B this with a Deluxe Reverb and the sound of the Deluxe Reverb blew the Super Sonic out of the water. I would rather play through my Princeton at a gig than through the Super Sonic 22. I'm sure that if your into modding you might be able to hoax a better sound out of this amp (e.g. Jensen 12K, Weber, or WGS speakers and also upgrade the tubes to Tung Sol's or better). If your looking for an amp that sounds good out of the box....RUN THE OTHER WAY!!!! Spend your money on a Deluxe Reverb, Vibrolux, Bassman RI59, or even a Princeton if your looking for something that is easy to carry and that will belt out some good sounds. If you want distortion buy a Deluxe Reverb or a Princeton Reverb and get a overdrive pedal and a distortion pedal. Heck I would even suggest you get a Mustang III before buying this amp. The idea behind this amp is great, but it just lacks big time in sound to my ears. This is coming from someone who has played this amp the last 3 weeks (in a gig enviroment and also in practice enviroment) and has A/B'ed this amp with a Deluxe Reverb and the DR wins by a major decision.
Fender Super Sonic 22 all tube amplifier22 watts all tube amplifier with tube rectifierClean channel features Bass/Treble and also features Vibrolux/Bassman switch to change the voicing of the amp.Drive channel features dual gain knobs to tweak from mild break up to semi high gain settings.Lush Fender Spring Reverb made by Accutronics.10" Custom Eminince Speaker
The features of this amp are great, there is a ton of features that are very useful. Although I will wait to give my input on the sound (which I think is subpar) I find the features are handy if you are the type of musician who doesn't like to use pedals for overdrive or distortion. The reverb can be quite over sensitive at times as I find I never use it past 3, and even then that is too high for my taste. This particular amp has some great thought-out ideas but the sound quality to me is terrible compared to the Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue which is the same price as the Super Sonic 22 and also has the same wattage.
The components seem to be ok, but the speaker to me messes the amp up bad. If you are looking to get the traditional Fender chime and round fat bottom.....RUN THE OTHER WAY!!! I own both the Super Sonic 22 and the Fender Deluxe Reverb (reissue) and I can tell you that if you are wanting to buy this amp so that you can have the best of both worlds you will end up being highly disappointed. Maybe a speaker swap to a Jensen 12K, WGS, or a Weber speaker will bring out that traditional Fender sound, but I can assure you with the bum speaker that is in it now you won't come close. It does ok on the drive channel, but I can get a better sound using a Deluxe Reverb with my Fulltone Plimsoul and my Boss DS1 Monte Allums modded pedal than I can from the Super Sonic 22. Matter of fact I played last night at a gig and got so fed up with the amp that I ended up playing thru a SWR bass amp combo because the Super Sonic 22 sounded like it had a blanket over it....or better yet....the speakers sounded like it was made out of cardboard. This is something that really needs to be fixed because the amp has potental if your into modding amps. I'm sure you could possibly get a better sound out of it, but if your looking to buy an amp that plays and sounds good out of the amp.....get a Deluxe Reerb or even a Princeton Reverb, a good overdrive and distortion pedal and use your money on a better product.
If I were buying this amp and if it were my only amp I would be pissed off!!! Matter fact I am pissed off because I wasted my money on this amp hoping that I could hoax a Deluxe Reverb sound out of this amp. I will say that if you play at bedroom volume then this amp may suffice, but if you gig once or twice a week like I do....RUN THE OTHER WAY!!! I just cannot justifiy paying this much for an amp when I can get a Fender Deluxe Reverb for the same price and the Deluxe Reverb sounds so much better than this amp.