Super-Sonic 22 1x12" 22-watt Tube Combo Amp - Blonde Review

THE upgrade for Supersonic 22's

Get your Sweetwater Rep on the phone and order an Eminence Neo EM-12 for @$150. They are clones of the legendary EV 12L's but with neodymium magnets. EV 12L's weigh about 17 lbs. Eminence EM-12's weigh a little over 4 pounds. They also sound better (I have several of both) than EV 12L's in that their high end/treble is rounder and more pleasing to the ear. They're loud as heck.… read more Yes, I have one in my Supersonic 22 and on the heavy channel, it sounds like a half stack due to the tremendous frequency (low end in this situation) range. Tight and huge. Been playing since 1972, yes, it sounds like a half stack with one of these 4 pound speakers. Buy one from Sweetwater and get ready. The Clean Channel sounds incredible as well with this speaker. NOTE TO KEMPER POWERHEAD USERS: These are your speakers. Put these flat-response 4 pounders in a 2x12 cabinet like I have. They're PERFECT for a Kemper Powerhead gigging player. Lightweight and they DO NOT color your Kemper's tone.

---

Cancel Comment

Best sounding amp I've used, by far

When I was ready to step up to an all tube amp I called Bryan because I knew I'd get great advice. He asked a series of questions to help focus on some options. Separate from the amp review, I love this about Sweetwater. He didn't try to sell me something he wanted to sell, he found out what I wanted and helped me choose. This amp is loud! It goes from super clean Fender sounds… read more to raunchy hitting every note in between. I don't use my OD pedal because I don't need it. The onboard reverb is as good as I've heard. The only other sound I add is a delay through the effects loop. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to discern the quality difference over my very nice and capable Boss Katana-100. I thought maybe I was just chasing the tube sound because that's what the pros use. The Super-Sonic just sounds amazing and makes the Katana sound stale by comparison. I've also played Fender's Blues Jr and Bassbreaker. The Super-Sonic is my favorite. Finally, consider getting an attenuator to turn down the dbs without sacrificing sound if you practice at home. I use a Two Notes Torpedo Captor 8 to cut -20dbs off the amp. It helps but it's still a loud amp.

---

Cancel Comment

It's the best Marshall I've owned

I've been a Marshall player since I started using tube amps. I've tried most of the model types on my tone quest. I eventually found a Fender Tonemaster -- a 100w beast designed by Bruce Zinky. The sound was amazing -- think vintage Aerosmith sounds -- but the only way to get that sound required the amp to be way too loud for home or even small gigs. I reluctantly traded it away… read more and kept on my search. I read somewhere that the SuperSonic 22 tone stack was essentially the same as the Tonemaster but scaled down in power. That was absolutely right. This hits those tones I always thought of as vintage Marshall without needing to be at deafening volumes. I never expected to be a Fender amp player but this amp just hits the beautiful cleans and the amazing growls and grit. I couldn't be happier with this amp!

---

Cancel Comment

Great amp

I'm not sure what I can say that hasn't already been covered in all the reviews. I wasn't sure at first, about the dirty channel but the more I play it the better it sounds. It sounds pretty good at lower volumes but when you get it to 4 and above it's a completely different animal. The sound quality is amazing, clean and dirty with no pedals required. Thanks Sweetwater

---

Cancel Comment

The tone that makes you want to play

Out of the box I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. The clean channel is amazing, even better than what I expected. It breaks up around 4.5 volume and in my small room that's very loud. The gain channel sounded like a tin can at low volumes at first but I kept playing around with different settings. The card on top of the amp list some presets to dial in like Texas Blues,Heavy,Lo-Fi… read more Fuzz and Plays Itself so I tried all of those and I realized how dynamic this little amp really is especially when you run the volume up to 4 or better. It's been a week now and it seems like the more I play it, the better it sounds. The tin can sound has faded and now it's getting this rich full tone that I can't stop thinking about. I'm guessing the speaker is breaking in and now I just want to crank this thing up and jam every chance I get. I could never settle for just one amp but if I had to pick 2... they would be Marshall and this Supersonic.

---

Cancel Comment