[phodent]

Does anyone have any information on this fender Amp as to reliability?

[starsailor]

Hi Phodent, no first hand experience but here are some reviews hope
it's the one you're talking about.

SurfGuitar101 - Amp Review: Fender Super Sonic & Kustom Coupe 72

Fender Supersonic 112 Combo: Harmony Central User Reviews

[phodent]

Thanks for the info on that Sailor. As I suspected there seems to be a reliability problem as well as overheating on this amp.

[Noodler]

Ha. Interested to read that. That would be my dream amp. It's Fender's highest gain amp (more than Hotrod Deluxe). Makes me feel better since I can't afford it. Thanks.

[phodent]

Hi Noodler I also had great hopes for this amp thinking that they had got there act together ( Fender) it appears it is not a hand wired amp in fact just modern day circuit board with transistor switching but with valve pre and valve power and overheating into the bargain which is disasterous for modern printed circuit boards.

[Noodler]

Doesn't Brian Setzer use the half-stack Supersonic?

Did you know you can get a Fender Deluxe Reverb reissue pretty cheap at the moment? About A$1811 (down from about $2,300) Not as much gain, but the perfect clean. I am drooling over them at the moment. The Supersonic 112 combo goes for about A$3K, which is too much for me, but I could almost stretch to the DRRI.

[phodent]

I thought Brian Setzer had a number of Bandmaster and Bassmans I did not realize that he was now using the Supersonics. I am positive that the Supersonics have a magical tone, its just the reliability problem has me bothered having had some disasterous breakdowns with a Cybertwin .

[Noodler]

I could be wrong. I'm just going off when I've tried to have a look at what he's using on stage. Could be a Bandmaster I've seen, but with Blonde tolex and Oxblood cloth.

[phodent]

I will also have to check out his latest video. Dont get me wrong I am a huge Fender fan, amps and guitars included, check out the bio.
Swingin Alley Catz Online

[Stratrat]

Originally Posted by Noodler

...Did you know you can get a Fender Deluxe Reverb reissue pretty cheap at the moment? About A$1811 (down from about $2,300) Not as much gain, but the perfect clean. I am drooling over them at the moment....

Want something to really drool over? Here's an unbelievable sweet clean, beautiful "surf" reverb, along with some very nice crunch when you crank it up (no effects pedals used in the demo):

YouTube - Dr Z EZG-50 Video Demo


FWIW, I have a Deluxe Reverb.....the cleans are very clean and sparkly at low volumes, but once you get the volume past about 5 on the dial (which, incidentally, is quite loud), your cleans start getting some hair on them...still nice-sounding, but not that "pristine" clean. IMO, the ultimate clean (other than the amp demo'ed above!) is a Fender Twin Reverb.....but they're big, very heavy, and L-O-U-D-D-D!!!

[Noodler]

Originally Posted by phodent

I will also have to check out his latest video. Dont get me wrong I am a huge Fender fan, amps and guitars included, check out the bio.
Swingin Alley Catz Online

Are you Gordon?
Very professional looking and sounding outfit! I've only just discovered "jump blues" as it's own style. At firsy I tried by looking everywhere trying to find another song like "Zoot Suit Riot", but my guitar teacher got me onto it in the end. I had somehow never heard of that entire type of music. The DVD I've been watching is the Brian Setzer Orchestra live in Japan one. Let me know if you can see what he's using out of interest. I just tried to match what I saw with the catalogue.

I've added you as a myspace friend so I can check out if/ when you guys come to Brizzy. Love guitars (of course) but also love swing, horns. My wife will love it too. As would her parents.

[Noodler]

Hi Stratrat,

A lot of that demo actually sounds like the H & K I bought, except for the rediculous amount of reverb. I'm going to buy a pedal for that. I so want to be able to do the Merle Travis R'Billy picking from about 1:30. Getting there. Enjoyed the vid, thanks.

Still a fan of the Dr Z 38 you posted before, but this is what I'm drooling over:

YouTube - Buddy Whittington Playing a Lentz Guitar and Dr. Z Mini Z
No-one stocks them here though.

Sorry to hijack, but Stratrat, Dr Z was quoted as calling the Mini Z an Overdrive pedal with a speaker attached. Which OD pedal would be closest to that tone? Or which one would you put before an EL84 amp to get close to that?

[phodent]

Hi Noodler .Yes thats Me G.S. Been playing for ever but still learning after all these years. if you like R'billy have a listen to anything by Cliff Gallup or if you can track it down, a tribute album by Jeff Beck to Cliff Gallup. Not forgetting the mighty Danny Gatton.
re Brian in Japan I have seen the video and I am pretty sure it's a Blonde Bandmaster. (souped up)

[Noodler]

Cliff Gallup comes up pretty dry on iTunes. Only a Gene Vincent song called Cliff's Gallop, which sounds exactly like the leads I am being taught/playing at the moment. Maybe the guy who teaches me will have that Jeff Beck album and I'll keep an eye out too. I love to find new bands to listen to. I found the Hillbilly Hellcats on myspace and they're my favourite.

I'll stand corrected on the Bandmaster thing. It's interesting to know for sure.

It goes without saying that you would have read Harmony Central reviews of the Supersonic, right? They can be pretty brutal, but if something's got a fault, it's usually listed on that site. Just have to sort out who plays at your (professional) level, and how long they've owned it. Some people write reviews after owning an amp for a week.

[phodent]

Sorry I should have mentioned Cliff was Genes guitarist. Also check out early James Burton with Rick Nelson, any old videos of Louisiana Hayride and even older videos of Town Hall Party with The Collins Kids.