Fender Supersonic 22 Club

[mickeydean]

just got one. love it but i think i am gonna put a celestion vintage 30 in it.

anybody got a fave replacement speaker for these?

mine pops on channel switching but i never use that anyway...

 

[John Randall]

Count me in. I just bought a brand new Supersonic 22 and let me tell you this is an awsome amp i sold my DRRI with the weber 12f150 it was a good amp too but i couldnt push it to the sweet spot because the pa guys would say your too loud. this thing seems to have better low end response at lower volumes takes my pedals well and the burn channel is just what the doctor ordered + i run my boss dd20 in the effects loop i have played 2 gigs so far and let me tell you i own or have owned many great amps this thing retain's your guitar's voice which is a big + for me. Thank you fender

 

[ast370]

I love the sound of my ss22 but I am having all kinds of probs. Now the reverb is making some weird noise that is only effected by rev knob... Amp guy said it was the tube so 2 tubes later I still got a noise lol.... Anyone else having trouble? Or any ideas what the trouble could be???

 

[telemeister74]

Just joined this club....my first tube amplifier after years of solid state and modelling practice amps. Am pretty happy with the sound i get, clean channel sounds great to me and the fat boost is pretty cool. Havent really found the sweet spot in the burn channel, but i am sure its there.

Play a Tele just at verge of breakup on the clean channel is just perfect for me (although an attenuator is in order). Have noticed there is a huge jump in volume when i plug the les paul in, but that isnt unexpected.

Only minor drama is the noise of the reverb at high volumes....not really a problem for me though.

Love the blonde tolex look too.

Cheers

 

[Tommy Biggs]

Just joined this club....my first tube amplifier after years of solid state and modelling practice amps. Am pretty happy with the sound i get, clean channel sounds great to me and the fat boost is pretty cool. Havent really found the sweet spot in the burn channel, but i am sure its there.

Play a Tele just at verge of breakup on the clean channel is just perfect for me (although an attenuator is in order). Have noticed there is a huge jump in volume when i plug the les paul in, but that isnt unexpected.

Only minor drama is the noise of the reverb at high volumes....not really a problem for me though.

Love the blonde tolex look too.

Cheers

Welcome aboard. I tend to ignore the "high gain" marketing on this amp, and am using the drive channel as an edge of breakup channel - and kick in pedals using the clean channel when I need more gain - or just a pure clean. Kind of backwards, but it works for me.

I've mostly played mine with a Tele and a Strat though.

I've had some good results using the Fender Magic 6s settings - although I kind of ride the pre gain down a bit from there, around 4ish.

I haven't gigged with this amp yet - I got it used, it needed service, now it's back in the shop again for a (recently replaced) tube feeding back at low volume and gain settings.
Good luck - it's a great sounding amp.

 

[harleysr]

Scaled back from the SS60

I had gone through 2 of the 60 watters and loved them, but received too much flack from bandmates about the volume. Decided to try the 22 watt version, as I thought it might be more manageable and was interested in the Deluxe clean channel. The amps differ substantially.

I have a Deluxe and feel, based on side-by-side comparisons, that they did a pretty good job of capturing one in the clean channel. The Fat switch is nice, but it turns it into something else, entirely. I really liked the Bassman clean channel in the 60, but had no use for the Vibrolux, or whatever it was.

The Gain channel is nice, too, but I have to say I prefer the one on the 60 watt version. Still, it's a very good channel, and I think the right speaker will probably bring that around.

I hated the stock Jensen speaker and have tried a Weber, Vintage 30, Elite 80, Texas Heat and plan to go with a Cannabis Rex in the near future. The Vintage 30 was the best of the others, IMO, just as I had loved it in the 60 watter. Again, I have high hopes for the Cannabis.

I'm not a fan of Groove Tubes, either, so I will be installing some Electro-Harmonix tubes, instead. Based on tons of experience with their 12AX7s, I expect an improvement. I have Mesas in the power section, which I will probably also replace. Suggestions?

The amps sounds good, but a bit stiff. I feel that it will eventually be something I will really enjoy, once I find the right combination of tubes and a speaker.

The 60 had something about I miss: a substantial, solid feel that I just don't find in the 22. I won't be surprised if I end up getting another 60, too.

An expensive and hard-won lesson I learned was that the volume issue was primarily a function the open-backed combos. These days, I use a closed-backed 2X12 cab with 2 15 watt heads. It’s stereo, tilted back so I can hear it very well and doesn’t blow everyone else off the stage.

 

[Understory]

Considering selling my Excelsior for the 22. Looks like a great amp - with more options! Like an effects loop! Does anyone know if a modeler would work through the effects loop of this amp?

 

[harleysr]

Tube swap w/ great results and a mystery tube

Vi now has this (see pic- what is it?), V2 has a Sovtek 12AX7and V4, an Electro-Harmonix 12Ax7. I left the stock Groove Tubes in the other preamp positions. Output tubes are Mesas, which I will probably replace. Speaker is a Weber 12F150.

The mystery tube in V1 has green lettering that has worn away. I can make out 832, followed by what might be a 6. It was pulled from a used DRRI, so it would appear to be a 12A?7 variant. Any ideas?

In any case, doing this helped smooth the amp out nicely. The Deluxe/clean channel really sounds like a Deluxe now. The spikey, edgy quality has been replaced with one that is smooth, full and even. I think the Sovtek (oddly enough) in V2 was key in the process. It helped darken and mellow the tone. The B side of V4, which affects the gain stage of both channels also impacted the tone. Since I experimented to come up with the the combination, I was able to hear the changes as I progressed.

The Hi-Gain channel is now quite "buttery" and delivers wonderful blues and classic rock tone.

The amp itself sounds noticeably "boxy", which is a function of the enclosure, rather than the speaker. Running through an external cab completely removed the "boxy" quality. I plan to replace the Weber with a Cannabis Rex, realizing it will sound "boxy", too.


The amp is now an entirely different beast and much more to my liking. All in all, it's a very usable and versatile combo.

 

[telemeister74]

Well my Supersonic has been returned for repair. The reverb died and is not coming back. Thinking is that it is a wiring type of problem (maybe) and not a tube problem. It omits a dreadful sound when the reverb is turned on, and gets louder the higher I go, in addition, there is just no reverb. I fiddled with the screws as per a suggestion, and that fixed the problem for about 5 minutes.

Sadly I am without my amp, so relying on my Tonelab ST - fortunately I am not gigging at the moment, so it isn't a drama, but am looking forward to getting it back.

Here is a pic with one of my Teles

(and I have no idea why it is 90 degrees off its axis!)

 

[harleysr]

Cannabis Rex in a SS22= Love!

Full, punchy, warm and plenty loud. Great combo.

I felt the stock speaker, as well as the Weber 12F150, broke up way too easily. Now, with the Cannabis, I can push the amp more without having the speaker limit things so drastically. Great low end.

Try one with your DRRI. too.

 

[ac15er]

I had a problem with my 22 but its ok now.

Turns out some untidy wiring from the factory had worn through on the power transformer and was arcing taking some diodes and the fuse holder out.

Its a sweet amp but very loud for home use, i'm thinking of an attenuator and changing the volume pot for an audio taper so its a little more subtle.

 

[harleysr]

The tube turned out to be a Sylvania. I replaced it with a NOS RCA in V1. Combined with the Cannabis Rex, the amp sounds even better. I have a pair of Tug-Sol 6V6s I will install this week. Should be interesting.

 

[harleysr]

Successfully stage tested

Played the entire night through the optimized (I am reluctant to say modded) SS22 and have to say it was a success. Took a couple of Strats along and fed my POD XT Live into tthe input. I used only the DR channel. Long story short, the Cannabis Rex held up wonderfully, with no premature breakup. Great lows and clear highs, with no icepick component. I was running the volume at 2, if you can believe that. This amp has all the power I need to play just about any club. I can honestly say I now love this amp. Stock, I felt it was not suitable for my live rig. Sure is now, though.

 

[ac15er]

Just replaced the 12ax7s with tungsols and the at7s with NOS JAN Philips as suggested by The Tube Store.

Now I have popping when switching channels whereas before I didnt:?:

Anyhow I really like the tube changes far as tone goes.

 

[mc_deli]

I am in the club... but... reverb howls with feedback on 5 or above. Even with nothing plugged in. Hmmm. It's going back to the shop then. What a pain. Everything else is fine but... oh dear.

 

[qblue]

I am in the club... but... reverb howls with feedback on 5 or above. Even with nothing plugged in. Hmmm. It's going back to the shop then. What a pain. Everything else is fine but... oh dear.

I had the same problem with the one I returned; it was a strange problem. Mine howled when the reverb was above 6 on the gain and clean channels; it gurgled a lot too. So I exchanged it for a new one on the 30 day return plan offered @ GC. The list price had recently increased $100 so my discount was really good! I just plugged it in and now its perfect.

There is hissing, but the guitars are single coils, a Fender Baja and a Gibson LP '60's tribute with P-90s. I have a noise gate on my pedal board which should fix that. Right now it's just the guitar direct into the amp and I got 6 more guitars to try. So far there is nothing but deep clean tone I can get with this amp and the gain is just lush in its effect on me. I am a R&B-gospel-Jazz-blues player and this amp really has no weaknesses I can find. It is really loud and will be great for my purposes.

 

[davesimpson]

I special ordered one from GC and received it about a week ago. I had the reverb problems right out of the box but I was able to fix it by making sure the cables from the reverb tank were pushed all the way in. I also removed the tank and did the same with the other ends of the cable. It worked no more hum and the reverb works great. I did have 2 bad 6v6's and 1 microphonic preamp tube. Guitar Center hooked me up with some replacements so all is well. But I do have a question the box the amp came in is marked/checked Thin MDF and the sticker inside the cab is marked the same way. I thought the amp was made of quality plywood? Anyone else notice this?

 

[ac15er]

But I do have a question the box the amp came in is marked/checked Thin MDF and the sticker inside the cab is marked the same way. I thought the amp was made of quality plywood? Anyone else notice this?

There is a little sticker inside, says something about mdf, not sure what it means though.

Anyone like to take a stab?

 

[Jesseb]

Hey all... Great thread here....Thought I'd share the love. I've had mine for about 8 mos. I bought it immediately after a band mate bought one, and mind you- we're gear freaks. Harris, Tungstens, and RedPlates are in the stable but these 22's are awesome. Quick story, we played a pretty well known bar in Marin Co last Friday that is notorious for getting way too loud- it's just one of those places. The 22 is made for this kinda place. Huge tone that can be dialed down to low volume. Was flirting with selling it, but no more. This is a winner...big time. But hey...y'all know that right?

 

[Jesseb]

I put a scumback h75 in mine....play the hell out of it for like 2 mos, then...sweet as pie