Hello Folks!
As promised, here's my review of the Fender Super Sonic. I also checked out the new Kustom Coupe 72, as I was interested in that one also. Before I begin, here's the disclaimer:
Everybody's ears are different. (I have Spock-like ears, but I have long hair that covers them ) So what sounds good to me might not sound great to you. Just keep that in mind as you read on...
First up: The Super Sonic!
I went into the local music store with the direct intention of checking this amp out, and to probably buy it. I've been using a vintage Twin Reverb for years, but she's gettin old, and the repair costs are getting a little high. Plus she can't handle the rigors of the road like she used to. So, I had plenty of time, and didn't rush anything. I took 4 guitars: DiPinto Galaxie, '62 Strat, Reissue Jag and a Dano Hodad. And awaaaaay we go!
The Super Sonic has 2 channels, but "technically" 4 channels: 2 cleans, and 2 gains. In the Clean channel there's a push button to choose "Vibrolux" or "Bassman", and on the Gain side, "Vintage"(distortion) or "Burn" (hi gain distortion).
Without getting into nuances of how each guitar sounded through each channel, etc, I'll give ya the overview. The Vibrolux setting sounded fantastic: lush, crystal clear, almost liquid...everything you'd expect from a Vibro. The Bassman setting, a little deeper and beefier, nice and full.
The gain channels: Channel 1, nice overdrive, especially with the Jag. Gain 2: VERY heavy...there's no need for any pedals in front of it at all. Size-wise, it was almost as wide as my vintage Twin Reverb, but only had one 12" speaker in it. All the channels are footswitchable. Reverb could be dialed in nice and heavy, but surprisingly, no "drip" to be found.
But, here's why I didn't jump on the purchase: Although ALL the channels sounded fantastic, the amp as a whole was lacking some serious low end, even dialed all the way up. It has a Celestion Vintage 30 in it, which is a nice, buttery speaker that should have given it plenty of low end. But, it wasn't there. And the louder I got the amp, the more tinny it got. Sure, you could put an EQ in there, swap the speaker, etc, but for slightly over $1,000 for the combo, I don't want to have to put more money into it. I want it right out of the box.
Now, they did have the head/2x12 cabinet setup there, and that had nice low end, BUT that was clocking in around $1500 plus, and that was more than I wanted to go.
Next up was the Kustom Coupe 72.
Nice cool look, all tube, 72 watts, 4 6L6s, 2 12AX7s, and a 12AXT for the 'verb. 2 12" Eminence speakers. Two channels, "Rhythm" and "Lead", tremolo, vibrato, reverb. EQ-Bass Mid, and Treble. About the width of my Twin, but a little shorter height-wise.
This amp had a lot of features, and useful ones at that. Each channel has it's own Master volume, so I wasn't stuck with just "Clean/Lead" channels..I could dirty it up a bit on the Clean channel if I wanted. Each channel also had a push/pull Bright switch on the Master volume, that I liked: I dialed the treble back to about 12 o'clock, and pulled the bright switch on the Clean channel. The result was a LOT of low end, but still very clear, sparkly and clean. Interesting.
The EQ was VERY touchy..small changes made drastic tone changes. It took me awhile to find a sweet spot, but once I did, I was diggin it.
The Clean channel was nice and sparkly, and not harsh or piercing. It certainly wasn't "Fender" clean, but it was close enough that the difference wasn't tremendous.
The Lead channel could be dialed in for heavy gain which sounded smooth, not fizzy or fuzzy. Not quite as much gain as the SuperSonic on it's "Burn" setting, but still more than I would need for my uses.
The tremolo and vibrato were cool, and the onboard reverb had a "Tone" knob. What the Tone knob seemed to do was down, it was a basic Hall reverb-type sound, and turned up, it added "drip"! It wasn't a Bass/Treble kind of Tone knob...somehow it let me dial in the amount of drip. VERY cool. (doesn't really matter though, as I use a reissue tank. )
Now, here's where the nitty gritty came down for me: Live shows.
I've been playing at least 25 years, (I'm 38 ) and gigging consistently for a good 18 years. So how a piece of gear...guitar, amp, pedal, etc is judged by me is how it will do in a live situation. Both amps had footswitchable channels. Both sounded great to me. The SuperSonic had a nicer clean and more gain, but it got shrill the louder it got. The Kustom had lots of low end sounded better as it got cranked up. Both amps had an effects loop..the Kustom effects loop was tube driven.
But the coup de' grace': The Kustom had a Boost feature, and a Direct Out: On the back, there was a volume knob that allowed you to boost up to 10bd to either channel for a Lead boost, and it was footswitchable. Kick it on for solos and cut through the mix! It had an XLR direct out, which, if you gig alot, is a Godsend. As it stands now, I run my Twin Reverb through a D.I. box...it's a necessity when you're setting up in a different places all the time and want a consistent sound. I ran the Kustom Direct into the store's mackie PA, and it sounded just like the amp..no weird SS bite, no coloration.
So the short version: The Super Sonic had a nicer tone, but got shrill, and was expensive.
The Kustom didn't sound *as* good as the S. Sonic, but it was damn close, had more low end, 2 12"s instead of the one, had more usable features, and was $300 cheaper.
So my opinion would be if you're a home player, or a studio guy, and play at lower volumes, get the Super Sonic. You'll have great Fender tone and you'll be very, very happy with the purchase. But if you're a working musician and need great tone as well as functional features, get the Kustom. I did, and I had every intention of buying the Super Sonic when I walked into the store!
Hope this helps some folks. Thanks for listening!
