[Harp-L] Sonny Junior Cruncher

["David Brown" <nonidesign@xxxxxxxxx>]

This is a long post so go to the bathroom before we start driving.

For this brief moment in time I  have the good luck to own a Sonny Jr2, A
Sonny Jr410, and a Sonny Jr Cruncher. I had a chance to gig with
the Cruncher last Friday night and work with it in my basement Saturday. I
thought a more extensive  review might be of benefit, so here goes.....

First off, ANYTHING Gary has done with amps is top notch and that's not just
a harp player's opinion. I'm telling you it's all true and I own three of
these amps and anyone who doubts their quality is an idiot. I read a whole
list of crap about Sonny lately and the minute I read someone calling these
amps junk I knew it was BS from there. Maybe he can come across rough but
but compared to some of the people I grew up around he's a buttercup. In my
experience he is a straight shooter and a stand-up guy and that's what
matters most to me. Anyway, this post is about Gary's amps and I don't know,
or care, what anyone else thinks about him as a person. In any case I bought
three of them and even I am not dumb enough to make that many mistakes.
This is truth. Enough said about all that.

There's plenty about the fine fit, finish, quality of construction, etc. on
these amps elsewhere so I'm not going to go into all that. Don't doubt what
you've heard or read about the tone, either. It's true. It's true.

What I thought I'd do is go into the practical use of the Cruncher during
use at a gig last Friday.

I played a Chicago blues gig with a drummer, bass, and guitar. A second
guitar sat in for most of the show as well. Typical shot n' beer South side
Chicago bar. About 1/2 full to 3/4 full of people. My set up was the
Cruncher fed by a Danecho. I took the opportunity to swap mics out during
the night and tried a 151 crystal, a mid 50's CM, and a Black label CR.

151 crystal: plugged into the #2 Bright channel input which is modded for
those elements. Bumped the bass and dropped the highs and the element sang.
Think of the compressed, honky opening notes of Little Walter's "Mellow Down
Easy". Really liked how that 12" speaker pumped the bass as that mic is a
little thin in the bass department.

CM: This particular CM has the "classic" Cm sound, edgy but smooth and
fuller than the 151 crystal. I ran this mic into the channel #1 input and
bridged channel 1 into channel 2. This mic has strong midrange response. I
gave more volume to channel one and used channel #2 to push the top end. I
added more treble to this than the crystal settings. This is a real muscle
combo and pushed serious tone and cut throughout the whole bar. The 2 hole
draws had a deep gutsy rumble. Love it. This, so far, has been the best mic
for this amp.

CR. This particular CR is really hot. It is one of those CRs that makes you
know what all the fuss is about. I had to back off the treble a bit for this
element as it didn't need it from the amp. In fact, I lowered all the
settings to adjust to this mic. You know how Gary's always talking about how
sensitive the controls are? This is what he means. The amp actually helped
model each mic perfectly and gives so much I actually backed-off some of
what the amp can provide to dial inf this CR perfectly.

The guitar player also plays a little harp so he played through my mic/amp
and I got a chance to check out the sound from the front of the bar. I have
to preface this by saying that the band understands dynamics over volume so
the band volume overall was as sane as grown-ups should play. That said the
amp sounded a too low so I went back to the amp and brought up the mid, not
the volume, and went to the front of the bar again. Perfect levels. The tone
didn't degrade either, it was as clear and full as on stage, but obviously
not as loud as right in front of the bandstand. Well, I thought, any amp
with a tweak or two can work with a sane band's sound levels so during the
break before the last set I hooked-up my AKG wireless mic rig (the one with
the "bug" transmitter). During the last set we did "One Way Out" (Allman
Brothers version) and I walked out to the front of the bar during the song.
I had brought up the volume levels on both bridged channels and had set the
controls for a healthy, but not insane, cut. It worked pefectly. No problem
with drums or both of the loud guitars.

All in all this amp does EXACTLY what I bought it for. I can play medium
size bar gigs with it and it throws out what needs to thrown out. I could
have used the line-out to the PA or mic'd a speaker (my personal preference)
but I didn't need to. The Cruncher has officially replaced the 64' Fender
Deluxe Blackface I used for gigs that need a medium sized amp.

I was a guest player with that band on Friday. In my own band, where I need
all the muscle I can get, I use the SJ410... but our volume levels are
insane. For most blues gigs, and most rock gigs for that matter, the
Cruncher will be the rig.

Back in the lab (ie: basement) on Saturday I tried some mics with dynamic
elements. I have Shure 533s, a "Paul Butterfield" Shure 545 pistol grip, and
big-ass Japanese pistol mic outfit with a Calrad dynamic element. They all
worked fine and even the weakness of the Calrad element was compensated for
by working the amp control a little.

Last, but not least, I used a converter and outfit a typical Shure SM57 mic
(like Jason currently uses). The compression was tight and the tone was
strong. Not worse, but different, than my CMs and CRs (but that's an
individual taste opinion. I just like those old elements better for the tone
I'm looking for).

So that's it. As I mentioned at the beginning, there's a lot of information
about these amps out there on the web so I wont go into how great their tone
is. Plenty of others have.

I will say this is the third SJ amp I've bought. I bought them all without
seeing or testing them first. I didn't need to because of soooo many
positive references from others who owned them. They are ALL great amps. I
have never had a single problem with their performance or reliability. Gary
has never screwed me over nor anyone I've ever heard of. I've tried a lot of
the boutique amps out there for harp and thought they all had redeeming
qualities. I just decided this was what I was looking for. I'm not Kim
Wilson or Jason Ricci, but I have been playing for 30 years and I can hold
some sand. I've tried enough gear over the years to know what I like, and
why. I kind of look at it the way some people look at firearms: Some people
like revolvers, some like pistols, some like rifles. I like Sonny Jrs....so
I guess I like canons.

Obligatory disclaimer: Nobody can pay me enough to lie.