Supersonic vs. Prosonic

[Telemach]

I usually play my 70-ies SF Vibrolux Reverb, but I'm thinking about checking out the Fender Pro Sonic and the Supersonic. I coincidentally run into the Suppersonic 22 combo which I thought was a decent sounding amp. I played it with a Tele for just about 10 minutes, so I'm not going to be too firm about that.
I saw a Pro Sonic in an add and thought that it had some interesting features regarding the rectifier, which is switchable. Very cool, but I have no idea how that amp sounds like.
Anyone can shed some light on it, since the pro sonic is not exactly the amp you find in stores these days.
How does the pro sonic sounds like and how does it compare to the SS 22?

[alberob]

Having had a ProSonic for 5 years and having played with my friends SuperSonic I would go with ProSonic. The Super always sounded lifeless to my ears.The Pro is ultra flexible.There are 3 settings for changing the power supply which changes the class of the amp.It also has a excellent clean channel,and the overdrive channel was very similar to my Mesa Boogie.Mine had 2X10"Celestions. The only negative for was that is very heavy.

[Telemach]

Appreciate your comment. As for weight I would stuff the amp into a homemade head cab just as I'm currently doing w. my Rivera Venus 5.
Heads are good for me. I can use a whole variety of cabs that I have. No need to buy extra speakers once you own a few fav. cabs.
I'm reading my way through a few other discussions that I found here. It seems that there isn't a consensus on how the tone is. I'd love to hear sound samples or s.th. I know it's not accurate but might give a little impression.

[Scott L]

I own both of them. Neither is a typical Fender amp. Neither are simple amps.

Both offer a lot of range, but seat time and experimentation is a must to get the most out of them. Channel Switching, 3 rectifers, Dual Cascading Gains and Effects Loops ain't your Grandfathers Fender.

On the Prosonic think Vox type cleans more so than Fender. The dual gains on both are so not Fender, but very cool.

Keep in mind, there are really 4 Supersonics - the 22 watt, the original 60, the current 60 with the tone stack worked for a better bass response and now there is a 100 watt version recently released.

On the down side - both are heavy.

[Telemach]

........ain't your Grandfathers Fender.

I'm almost a grand father, hmmmm. I'll give it a whirl though ;)

......On the Prosonic think Vox type cleans
Sounds good to me.

.....Keep in mind, there are really 4 Supersonics
Yes, but I wasn't aware that they did some improvement in the tone stack. Good info and good to know for an e-bayer like me.
Thanx bunches

[macmax77]

Get a Prosonic, the Supersonic sound , well, SS to me.
Lifeless.

[Telemach]

Get a Prosonic, the Supersonic sound , well, SS to me.
Lifeless.

Lifeless? Are you including the 22 W too?

[reddog112]

I really liked my Prosonic....

[macmax77]

Lifeless? Are you including the 22 W too?

yes

[TBennetts]

They are both great amps (I'm not sure why everyone is calling the supersonic lifeless.. i've had the 22 watt for years and it's great) and i had the prosonic for 6 years until a few months ago when someone offered me a deal I couldn't refuse on it. (yes, i do regret selling it).

The Pro Sonic beats the Super Sonic to my ears though. I would go PS. Hands down. Amazing amp.

[Sirloin]

I had a prosonic head for years, actually two of them. They are the better amp IMHO. By my very good tech said the Tube/SS/classA thing was a bit misleading. If you bias the power tubes properly, one of the positions will be too hot or too cold. I liked the Tube class A/B position best and had the bias set for that. Differences were subtle anyway. The cool thing was the two gain knob, shared EQ left a bit to be desired on whichever channel you switched to once you set the other. Amp always had a bit a raspiness in the high end but it served me well for along time. I bought a Supersonic 60 watt head when they came out and immediately returned it. I thought the clean channel cranked on that amp was great, but the gain channel blew. Sent it back right away.

[RockinB23]

I've owned both and I prefer the Supersonic. Its more versatile. I really like the 60 watt 112 combo the best. They sound great with my Gretsch guitars and I've been using them exclusively for several years now. I've had Vibro Kings, Tone Masters, and Prosonics as well but for the Supersonic has the sound and versatility I'm looking for and I really like both the bassman and the vibrolux clean settings a lot. I wish the clean channel had a mid knob.

[Strat O Matic]

I can't really help you with your question but for any of you that have tried the super sonic 22 is it super noisy? There has been one at the Sam Ash by me for about a year know and even at low volumes on a clean setting that thing is buzzing away. There has to be something wrong with it right? It sounded pretty good but if they are all that noisy I can't imagine anyone actually using one live.....

[Clifford-D]

I've owned both and I prefer the Supersonic. Its more versatile. I really like the 60 watt 112 combo the best. They sound great with my Gretsch guitars and I've been using them exclusively for several years now. I've had Vibro Kings, Tone Masters, and Prosonics as well but for the Supersonic has the sound and versatility I'm looking for and I really like both the bassman and the vibrolux clean settings a lot. I wish the clean channel had a mid knob.
I agree 100% SS60 1+

I played next to a Prosonic just last week and I prefered my burn tone over the excellent Prosonic and the clean Bassman channel of the SS60 is unchallenged by the Prosonic.

[Telemach]

Meanwhile I have bought a Prosonic head which features the old style Fender logo. Dunno if this has s.th. to do w. the year of built.
Anyway I test ran it over my VOX V212HWX extension cab and was positively surprised of it's fenderish ringing and organic tone in the clean channel. The second channel is serious business. Very nice tone to my ears with all the sustain and agressiveness I allways wished to have in a Fender and that I never could find in a Fender previously.
I already own a few popular vintage amps that are much to my liking as for classic tube sound in diverse variations. The Prosonic fits seamless into this bunch of amps. It's an amp with a subtle sag in the clean channel that s just right to my ears. As it is currently on the bench of a technician friend I didn't had a lot of playing time to really dig deeper into this head but it was satisfieing my ears from the start.
I ran it in class A mode which is probably how I will stick to it. A new set of tubes is on the way.
Only thing is that it appears to be a bit noisy even when in idle. The e-bay seller had mentioned it in the describtion, but I knew that I could get the brick right w. the help of my buddy.
By looking at the schematics he has found a few design flaws that he said he could work around to the better.
I will redesign the head cab and the arrangement so I can run the head w. the tubes pointing up instead downwards as it is originally the case w. all Fender amps.
I will come up w. pics once the job is done. I'm done w. my homemade Rivera Venus 5 head. Will post pics of that one too as soon as I get myself a new cam.
Just a few cognitions on the Prosonic. Thanks for reading.

[gulliver]

I like when people follow up on their threads.

I'm liking mine. I noticed a few things...

Class A mode really changes the dynamics in a way I like, doesn't really change the EQ or grit, which is what most people are listening for.

Can get very close to marshall tones with ol' English type speakers and a hotter PU. Not quite as bright, but close FWIW.

OD channel is best at lower settings (3ish) IMHO. I use both gain controls to adjust brightness (right one adds mids).

Clean channel takes EQ pedal very well to get different fendery flavors of tone.

[JP~)]

There's an older mega thread around here detailing all the mods that one member did to his prosonic. Think it also had links to some of the schematics and suggested mods from Zinky. Personally, I wound up not doing any of the mods to my combo, although one of these days I'll probably swap out the speakers.

There should also be some stuff in that thread about the EQ section. I believe the consensus was to start with everything on zero and dial it up to taste from there.The EQ has a big effect on the overall volume of the amp.

Congrats! and enjoy

[Telemach]

..... Personally, I wound up not doing any of the mods to my combo, although one of these days I'll probably swap out the speakers.

There's some truth in it. Mods are very personal so they please an individuals ears. Many of the mods I've done in the past didn't necessarily please me to date. Quite some that I revised back to original. You need some self therapy sometimes but the cure doesn't taste good for ever.;)

The speakers, I don't know. I had the chance to test a Prosonic combo that was for sale in the neighbourhood. The combo was O.K., the prize too, but for some reason it sounded lifeless compared to my head and Vox cab combination. I might be a little biased on this, so don't take it too serious. Maybe the whole combo wasn't up to fresh specs, tubes etc.

.....There should also be some stuff in that thread about the EQ section. I believe the consensus was to start with everything on zero and dial it up to taste from there.The EQ has a big effect on the overall volume of the amp.

Well, as for the EQ I was surprised how subtle the effect was once you were rotating the knobs
I'll have to get the head fixed and after stuffing in new tubes I'll give it an other close listen.
I suspect that, similar to Marshall amps, the effects are kept subtle and within a small range in order not to have the customer mess up w. the manufacturer's intended overall tone.

Anyway, I'll keep you updated. Still can't believe that this model amp is such a low seller everywhere i was coming across an add. You can steel them for a decent prize these days.

[JP~)]

The speakers, I don't know. I had the chance to test a Prosonic combo that was for sale in the neighbourhood. The combo was O.K., the prize too, but for some reason it sounded lifeless compared to my head and Vox cab combination. I might be a little biased on this, so don't take it too serious. Maybe the whole combo wasn't up to fresh specs, tubes etc.

yeah, i've never been to motivated to do anything to it, but I am a little curious what it would sound like with a pair of greenbacks in it. I've had it for 15 years. It's one of the early seafoam green custom shop ones. It has served me well through the years that I stopped playing and would just pick it up once in awhile. I've never had any fresh glass or any other maintenance work done on it.

Well, as for the EQ I was surprised how subtle the effect was once you were rotating the knobs
I'll have to get the head fixed and after stuffing in new tubes I'll give it an other close listen.
I suspect that, similar to Marshall amps, the effects are kept subtle and within a small range in order not to have the customer mess up w. the manufacturer's intended overall tone.

Hmmm...maybe the head is different, but the EQ section on the combo is very powerful. The slightest turn has an effect on the frequency and the overall volume of the amp. It can be very difficult to dial in. I have pencil marks all over mine with different settings that I like so I don't have to search them out again. I believe it is a para EQ.

Please do keep us updated...you don't see many Prosonic threads around TPG

[Telemach]

............, but I am a little curious what it would sound like with a pair of greenbacks in it.
I own a 1969 4X12 Marshall Super Bass cab w. 4 orig. greenbacks. It is very organic w/o any of the harshness and stiffness associated w. new cabs. I haven't tried it with the Prosonic and I don't gig big events these days, so I can't serve you with video clips at this time. But I will, once I have the chance to use this cab. Meanwhile I will do some video w. the VOX 2X12 Blues cab since this one is what I'm currently playing in clubs. You may wonder how the 30 Watt VoX cab. can handle the 60 Watt Prosonic? Once it is in class A mode it is only 30 Watts.

............, I've had it for 15 years. It's one of the early seafoam green custom shop ones.

I have seen them around. How do the early ones differ from the later one?

............,Hmmm...maybe the head is different, but the EQ section on the combo is very powerful. The slightest turn has an effect on the frequency and the overall volume of the amp. It can be very difficult to dial in. I have pencil marks all over mine with different settings that I like so I don't have to search them out again. I believe it is a para EQ.

The foreowner had marked the EQ w. stickers too. But I had no problems to dial in fast. Maybe, this will be a different story once I plug in new tubes. But who knows. I will see.

............Please do keep us updated...you don't see many Prosonic threads around TPG

Sure will do.

[rocketman223]

I've never played a Super Sonic, but I have played the Pro Sonic and I really liked it. It is a seafoam green one. Early model and I think one of the handwired ones.
Look for the old green ones.

[Miles]

Owned both heads at the same time. Gigged both, a/b comparisons on both.

The prosonic ate the supersonic - no comparison to my ears. Both cleans and dirt were just...way better.

[gulliver]

I tried my prosonice 2x10 with a few different brit 12" speakers in seperate 1x12 open back cabs ... thought the stock speakers held their own with a similar grit, especially similar to the WGS reaper 55s, although not as deep in the bass. They're very balanced, I think I'm going to stick with them and use an EQ for different scoops if I want more Fendery cleans.

[scott]

I had an early prosonic head I bought brand new.
That thing ran so hot you could fry an egg on it!!
I liked class A mode best but I found that the bass was really flubby with humbuckers. I could be muddy if you werent carefull and I found the second gain knob all but useless. It seemed to rob dynamics and edge(for lack of a better term). It loved Teles though, some of my best tones were with single coils.
I like the clean channel on ten, great ACDC. Id use an old micro amp to boost it. I gigged without the footswitch for probably a year on just the clean channel before I sold it to get a dual rec....which I sold sortly after for a Peters....then a marshall....then.......and thennnnn? The prosonic was cool but had more gain than I needed and it came on WAY to fast.

[JP~)]

I had an early prosonic head I bought brand new.
That thing ran so hot you could fry an egg on it!!
I liked class A mode best but I found that the bass was really flubby with humbuckers. I could be muddy if you werent carefull and I found the second gain knob all but useless. It seemed to rob dynamics and edge(for lack of a better term). It loved Teles though, some of my best tones were with single coils.
I like the clean channel on ten, great ACDC. Id use an old micro amp to boost it. I gigged without the footswitch for probably a year on just the clean channel before I sold it to get a dual rec....which I sold sortly after for a Peters....then a marshall....then.......and thennnnn? The prosonic was cool but had more gain than I needed and it came on WAY to fast.

yeah, mine runs hot also..I also found it can get muddy......I think the second gain knob adds compression...I use the clean channel with pedals, never really liked the gain channel but the amp does get nice cleans and is a good platform for pedals...but again found it can get muddy if I didn't get the right balance of bass/mids and treble which were very sensitive to the slightest movement. Never gigged with it, it's a heavy beast and I bet it would be even heavier with greenbacks

I have seen them around. How do the early ones differ from the later one?

I think the custom shop ones were hand wired. Not really sure what else if anything is different

[Brave Ulysses]

I've never played a Super Sonic, but I have played the Pro Sonic and I really liked it. It is a seafoam green one. Early model and I think one of the handwired ones.
Look for the old green ones.

Same here. I have tried my brother's old Pro Sonic though, and am pretty impressed with it. His is black tolex. The master volume and reverb pots are broken, and the amp needs new tubes and maybe a couple of other tune ups. But it sounds to me like a '70's Marshall disguised as a blackface Fender when the gain is turned loose. The tones are pretty wild. Whenever my former band practiced, I always had to adjust the volume of my old Hot Rod Deluxe, or turn up my OCD level, to be heard equally against his Pro Sonic. Great amp.

[Cejay825]

Prosonic, imo, is way better than the super sonic. A few notes; the clean channel reminds me of half VOX and half Fender....not to worry, this amp benifits GREATLY from a speaker change. I was happy with mine and a few years later I changed the speakers to Weber 10F150T's and holy crap, what a change, I'm telling you, its nothing like it was, removed alot of the overbearing mids and sounded bright, chimey, opened up, glassy and what ever other Fendery type description you can think of. It did take away for the gain channel sound a little though but I can live with that. If you want it to sound like a mini Twin....change the speakers....after that its classic Fender amp.Oh one more thing, I run a 5751 in V1 and an 12AT7 in the phase inverter (V6)

[DerekLarsson]

I've owned a Prosonic (briefly), and a Fender Vibro-King.

The Prosonic's clean channel is very fat and warm and great (especially as you drive it) although not quite as spank-y and dynamic as the Vibro-King. But it is a little darker voiced than the typical Fender sound. This means that you need to keep the Treble up a little, and the Bass down a little.

Since the amp has just one set of Tone controls, when you then switch over to the Gain Channel, then the sound is a little too thin and lacks some low-end (so you need to adjust the brightness down, and bump-up the bass a small amount).

So the Prosonic would have been better if it had Independent Tone controls for each Channel.

The SuperSonic series amps do have the Independent Tone controls, but I have never played that series (not in the Stores where I live). The Independent Tone controls would appear to solve the problems that I had with the Prosonic -- but Fender omitted (took away) the Tube Rectifier for the SuperSonics which the Prosonic Amp had -- and which probably gave it a warmer and creamier overall sound.

It would be great if the SuperSonics had the Tube Rectifier too, but I haven't heard these amps so I don't know whether you can still get a nice warm & creamy vintage tone from it, or whether (as some have said) it is "lifeless".

But the new 100-Watt SuperSonic does allow you to switch the bias to "hot", which might automatically warm-up an otherwise "lifeless" amp.

I would love to know what people think about the 100-Watt SuperSonic amps (which have more features).

In addition to the extra Bias-control (described above), it also has a Midrange Notch control for the Gain Channel, and a 100-Watt-25Watt power reduction switch. It also has a speaker damping switch (loose .vs. tight) as well. So these things might really help with the Tone and flexibility for these amps. But I have yet to hear a SuperSonic 100-watt.

Anyone play one of these?

[Cejay825]

Lol, you almost sound like a corporate Fender person roaming the forums looking for feedback...:). Seriously though, I haven't played that particular model, I didn't even know it existed, I don't really follow the SuperSonic line....would like to hear it though.

[MightyGuru]

ProSonic all the way imho.

[ResonantSeptember]

I think the 22w SS was a good idea, I just have to say naming a channel "burn" is a bit cheesy. And claiming the voicings are those of the Vibro and Bassman kind of lame too. The amp will never gain it's own identity like that.I have A/B'd my prosonic against a SS and I dont think they are even close. The prosonics clean/w/reverb is sheer beauty, throw and OD in front of it and it freaking whails. I use an HBE Uno Mos. i love the distortion channel on the prosonic - totally shapable, thick creamy saturated distortion.

I personally feel the supersonic is a cheap attempt at a copy. i dont see why they even bothered trying to improve on something like the Prosonic. Zinky was and is a genius with amps. I have an original CS LO#'s Prosonic, tube swapped V2 for a 5751, and replaced the reverb tank backing with masonite to let it ring a bit more.
In addition I think theProsonic has a bit more cool factor, you can't just go to guitar center and throw down some cash, you've got to find one. Odd's are you arn't going to see to many others with one.

[nl128]

Yeah I've owned both, I couldnt be happier with my prosonic. Every time i buy another amp i allways end up liking the prosonic better. I have mine in a mather cab with a 12in v30 instead of the 2x10s.

If you havent done the mod to quiet down the reverb yet, throw a 12au7 in reverb tube 2 It makes a nice difference

[Nelson89]

I think the 22w SS was a good idea, I just have to say naming a channel "burn" is a bit cheesy. And claiming the voicings are those of the Vibro and Bassman kind of lame too. The amp will never gain it's own identity like that.I have A/B'd my prosonic against a SS and I dont think they are even close. The prosonics clean/w/reverb is sheer beauty, throw and OD in front of it and it freaking whails. I use an HBE Uno Mos. i love the distortion channel on the prosonic - totally shapable, thick creamy saturated distortion.

I personally feel the supersonic is a cheap attempt at a copy. i dont see why they even bothered trying to improve on something like the Prosonic. Zinky was and is a genius with amps. I have an original CS LO#'s Prosonic, tube swapped V2 for a 5751, and replaced the reverb tank backing with masonite to let it ring a bit more.
In addition I think theProsonic has a bit more cool factor, you can't just go to guitar center and throw down some cash, you've got to find one. Odd's are you arn't going to see to many others with one.

I sourced out a prosonic for a mate one day, only problem was that it kept blowing fuses, so he left it with me to try and fix it, turns out it was just a dodgy rectifier valve, so i replaced that and gigged with it a bit. GREAT sounding amp...i then give it back to my mate and he sold it within a couple of weeks saying "i'm looking for more of a mesa sound"...if he knew how to dial in the cascading gain in the first place he might have realized that the amp was easily capable of that...

I sometimes wish i still had the amp here with me, i would've bought it off him if i'd known he was just going to sell it. By far the best gain channel i've heard from a fender amp and the clean channel was just great, i played the amp almost exclusively in the 30watt Class A setting. I certainly don't miss the weight though.

[stratzrus]

The prosonics clean/w/reverb is sheer beauty, throw and OD in front of it and it freaking whails.

Odd's are you arn't going to see to many others with one.:agree

That's how I use mine...clean channel with a Zendrive or BB Preamp in front of it. It does the basics very well indeed. :aok

By far the best gain channel i've heard from a fender amp and the clean channel was just great, i played the amp almost exclusively in the 30watt Class A setting. I certainly don't miss the weight though.I'm sure yours was actually a lightweight compared to mine after I put two EVM-10Ls into it. ;)

I always wished the Prosonic combo had more bottom end and running it with a 2x12 didn't fix it. Eventually I sat it on top of a Rivera Los Lowbottom Sub 1 subwoofer and that made a big difference...now it sounded like a half-stack but adding the sub meant it was no longer compact and was twice as heavy.

The solution was the EVM-10Ls. Now the bottom is solid and tight at volume and it even has more headroom due to the efficiency of the EVMs. More than enough volume to play without sound reinforcement for any venue that's smaller than a theater. The EVM solution restored the compact size but the weight is prodigious...not for the faint of heart or the physically unfit. I would not use it on any gig where more than a half flight of stairs was involved but I'm an old guy with white hair. :D

[ggwwbb]

I've had a Prosonic combo for a couple of months now and LOVE it. I've played the SS22 a couple of times and really like it, but prefer the Prosonic. I like the 50 watt/tube rec mode and feel like I can get really nice, glassy Fender cleans on the clean channel and have been able to get some nice, 70's/80's Marshall-type tones out of the distortion channel. I run the gain 1 at about 5 and the gain 2 about 2. I really like that it has a really quick attack but also sags a bit too.... I don't think its overly heavy. Mine's definitely a keeper.