[Harp-L] Super Sonny review



I've had my Sonny Jr. Four-Ten a long time. It's like an old friend. Its big full sound taught me a lot about how to bring out my own tone, and helped get my first gigs. It was my only amp until I bought the Cruncher as a backup last year. The Cruncher has killer tone - a little edgier than the Four-Ten, and as I've progressed (and don't need to hide behind an overly muddy sound as much as I used to) I've been really enjoying it. So when Sonny Jr announced the new Super Sonny I was very interested to try it. I do some amp rebuilding so I was fortunate that Gary was able to work with me to upgrade my Four- Ten to Super Sonny specs.

I brought it to our pro jam on Wednesday where I was able to both perform through it and hear it from the audience in the hands of other capable harp players. I am absolutely thrilled with the results. It cuts through better, breaks up more smoothly, projects better - more responsive than it was before, and it was already a great amp. It is also louder than it was before - rarely necessary thanks to the new line-out but nice to have - and it was already a loud amp. What impressed me more, though, was how, even when I was comp'ing quietly underneath the guitar player/vocalist, the amp could be heard. Not loud, not grating, just there, with great tone. Many other amps seem to disappear in this situation when you're playing at an acceptable volume, which means IN the mix, not on top of it.

Aki Kumar is a friend, fellow Four-Ten owner and excellent harp player. He was there that night and noticed the difference immediately. After some of my work he came up to me and said "WHAT did you do to that amp - it sounds GREAT!" I'm sure he'll be looking into upgrading his amp now too. I was lucky to hear Aki play through the rig while I was out on the floor - great tone across a wide dynamic range.

Having worked with Gary at Sonny Jr amps for years now, I have come to deeply trust and respect his ears - he really knows harp tone. I tend to take his advice in that regard. The Super Sonny is no exception. I can't wait to play it again.




/Greg


http://www.blowsmeaway.com
http://www.bluestateband.net






This archive was generated by a fusion of Pipermail 0.09 (Mailman edition) and MHonArc 2.6.8.