The Super Cruncher Harp Amp Reviews
Pierre Lacocque – Evanston, IL
I have now (March 2011) had a chance to play around with the Super Cruncher . The tones out of that amp are phenomenal! The volume presence is definitely stronger than its cousin, the Cruncher. It roars, to use your term, and the harp sounds are sweet, even at low volumes. I am a convert, and I look forward to using it at my gigs! The bottom notes are so powerful! The high ends are also amazingly clean and warm. Would be curious to see how it sounds in the studio! I am converting my second Cruncher this week.
Mack Vaksman – Pittsburg, PA
SONNY!!! Amp arrived at 5:30 in excellent condition AND IT IS BEAUTIFUL!!! Sound is POWERFUL & RICH!!! I am DELIGHTED. Delay effect is OUTSTANDING; vocal mic works VERY well in N-1; my vocals are just backup for the most part, so not too much a purist there. All my minor concerns regarding my gear are satisfied–all’s well. Bear in mind that I consider this my first “real” amp, as the little Fender Vibro-Champ, although very simple to operate, has nowhere NEAR the controls and versatility of the Super Cruncher. Just know that I’m completely satisfied and appreciate the follow up customer service.
Your words the other night about having responsibility to many, many harp players all over the world struck me in a profound way! I actually understand a little about the way you feel. I take a certain amount of responsibility in different ways, not in regards to the world’s harp players, but towards my friends, family and how I carry myself in this world. We all serve, though some are particularly good at serving only themselves, others have a deeper understanding of the word “service”. You seem to be one of these special people in the latter category.
I went back to the amp for another mini-session and cannot believe the power and tone! There’s so much rich, deep tone along with the Big Walter bark that fills the club with no problem. Your description of the settings allows me to easily dial it in and works with my playing style to coax the right tones out of the amp. It’s really a work of art–both in manufacture and sound. The 6L6′s are so much bigger than the power tubes in my Vibro-Champ. Also glad to see the updated “copper can” in place (which from WeberVST’s description will last a lifetime) which has the tube sag we want. I tested a tube GZ34 just to see if I can hear any difference and there was none. I’m really in awe of the quality of build, right down to the wrapping technique used to run the various wires, the circuit board used so as not to get that old Fender “wave”. I’m REALLY proud, as I imagined I would be! The finish of the tweed is as you described, I can feel this will last my lifetime and can pass is along for my next generation to enjoy.
Obviously, I could go on and on (as I already seem to have done….) Nevertheless, Sonny, abounding admiration for you, your amp, your sense of quality, responsibility, & service. Please allow me to help others in making their decision towards your product!
————–
UPDATE: A quick note to report a GREAT Open Mic Night at my regular place last night. Full band setting- THREE guitars–two electrics, one amp’d acoustic–bass, drums & keyboard AND HARP!!! I was sittin’ pretty, keeping up (power & volume-wise) with PLENTY TO SPARE…mic pot only two-clicks open!!!
I’m finally SET!!! Thanks for taking care of me so well!!
Richie Lewis - Eastover, NC
I am very happy with my Super Cruncher! Did a show last Saturday night and didn’t have to mic the amp up once. Great volume and when bridged, it just filled the room nicely. Sounds great on a live recording clip our drummer set up. I used a Colorsound booster on a couple of songs and it reacted incredibly well with the booster. There’s nothing this amp can’t give you, except some serious blues! I’ve been finding tones that I have only heard on CDs by the pros. My band mates love the tones too.
Keep on keepin, brother!
Aaron Gillett – Melbourne, Australia
Hey Sonny, the amp arrived today!!!! I wasn’t expecting it till the 15th, GREAT…. just in time for a big gig up north this weekend! Played it today and sounds AMAZING!! Even my girlfriend noticed a big difference! Many thanks, brother.
Howard Young - St. Louis, MO
Sonny Jr. asked me to send you an email because you are considering buying one of his amps and I have been using his amps for years. My name is Howard Young and I’m a performing harp player in St. Louis, MO. I’ve been playing through Sonny Jr. amps since 1997. I’m not getting any pay or special consideration for sending you my recommendation on his amps, just doing it because of my love for the amps he makes. I can’t say enough about the quality, dependability and tone of his amps and the way he treats the average customers like me.
I don’t know if you ever get to the St. Louis area, but if you do and want to test out the Super Cruncher, I’d be more than happy to arrange time for that here in St. Louis. I have my amp set up for harp players every Tuesday night at an open mic jam session here. My amp was originally a Cruncher, the ninth one built by Sonny Jr, and I did the upgrade to the Super Cruncher recently. I have had no problems with the amp in three years of playing in a wide range of venues here in St. Louis. I’ve never had to mic the amp to the PA system to get enough volume unless it was an outdoor gig. It has plenty of volume. It has great tone and is very versatile in being able to set it up for small, medium and large playing situations. Players who have used my amp and their own mic at the jam sessions have always been able to dial in the amp to suit their mic and playing style.
I got my first “Sonny Jr. One” amplifier in 1997 and played 4 to 8 gigs a month on that amp for ten years. Several thousand hours and I never had a single problem with that amp. The dependability was perfect. I bought my Sonny Jr. Cruncher about three years ago. I bought the ninth one he made, sight unseen, based on my experience with the Sonny Jr. One and based on Sonny’s integrity. I’ve played the Cruncher for three years with the same results. NO issues. Superb quality. Great tone. Sonny has great service and follow-up if there are any questions. If he finds a way to make the amp better, he lets you know and offers the upgrade at a reasonable price.
It may seem like a lot for an amplifier, but you can spend about the same amount of money buying several lesser amps and not be satisfied (I already proved that to myself early-on with four other amps). If you are serious about your playing and plan to stick with it over the years, go for it.
Again, if you can get to St. Louis, you are more than welcome to try out my Super Cruncher.
Mike Sheehan, Boston, MA
Hey, Sonny—I used it at a gig for the first time last week and I am really enjoying the full sound and lack of feedback. The mic is great and easy to handle and works well with the wireless. I am really glad I got the amp and I am not just trying to sound like a customer but a harp player, and it makes my life a lot easier to get the sound I need to express myself on the harp, you know what I mean.
Glad I found out about you and your amps. Finally—a harp amp for harp! Not a guitar amp for harp! Thanks….Can’t wait to use it at this new place Saturday night!
Philip Dabney – Springville, AL
The amp is beyond what I imagined. It is incredible. I don’t know what else to say…………I practiced tonight with my guitar player and we both just looked at each other and went “oh, my gosh”. It sounds like horns, french horns, sax, trumpet, and killer harmonica all at the same time depending on how I play.
You need to be interviewed on CBS Sunday Morning show. I don’t know if you have watched it but it is one of the few great shows. It comes on Sunday at 8:30 am CST. They had a segment not long ago about harmonica manufacturing. I think it was the Hohner Plant. As Forest Gump said………….” that’s all I gotta’ say about that”.
Rich Rittenhouse – Shawsville, VA
Fired up the amp with the Super Cruncher kit installed, speaker relocated, settings as you recommended. Wow…that’s some power! Especially with it bridged. Yes I can see why you say we don’t need to bridge now….but bridged might be handy for a situation where we needed even more power….no harm, right? Thanks!!!
Jesse Boden – Orange County, CA
Sonny Jr. and company went way out of their way to get a new Super Cruncher to me in time for an important gig. There was an intense snowstorm on the East Coast, one of the worst in memory. It shut down services, halted shipping and made it hard for people to leave their homes. Yet Sonny moved heaven and earth to get the amp to me in California in less than a week after I ordered it. The packing was first rate and the amp arrived in perfect condition, absolutely beautiful. But the proof was when I took it to the gig.
This was a bigger venue than we were used to playing and I needed a bigger gun to be heard. I was smiling all night. Here’s what I experienced–right out of the box, using the recommended settings: the amp can reach amazing volumes with tones that frankly just make you play better….truly inspiring. Dynamically, it is unbelievable. At full volume the deep growls of bent lower notes are a thing of beauty, the highs are sweet and cutting without piercing. When it came time to play soft passages, I couldn’t believe my ears. Soft, expressive notes came through crystal clear with a subtlety and nuance I’ve never heard before. Seriously, it would take a poet to describe how good this amp sounds in a live situation.
One thing that is important to me as an older musician–although the amp is not exactly light–it felt easier to carry than my other amp which is almost 10 pounds lighter. Something about the balance makes it easy to lift, carry upstairs, get in and out of clubs. Plus, at the large and oddly shaped venue that I used it for on its maiden voyage, there was no need to mic it or use the line out. That solved a big problem for me as we like to let the vocalist have the PA to herself when there is no house sound man to dial things in, which is most of the time. Gigging musicians understand that there are lots of times when you just don’t have time to do much more than plug in and play, and this amp makes that possible, with confidence.
As far as being heard, I got complements from people sitting right next to the stage and people 30 yards away. I will never need to mic this amp unless it is for a stadium or huge outdoor gig. Makes life easier.
Some people say that Sonny Jr. amps are not “pedal friendly”. Hogwash! I used a hint of reverb from a Boss Fender reverb pedal and a touch of delay from a Lone Wolf harp delay and the amp responded beautifully….just making a great thing better. Maybe if you are using a long chain of pedals, things could get dicey, but personally I like to use and carry the fewest amount of “things” I need to sound as good as I can. I prefer a thick, pure Chicago tone with a lot of presence, but without a lot of frills. I’ve got that now. Stood three feet in front of the amp and blasted away with zero feedback.
There are many fine amps out there, but most of us can only afford one or two and need to chose wisely. Listen to the reviews from top pros who endorse Sonny Jr. amps. They are not jiving, man. The craftsmanship, the tonal qualities, the personal service…….you can’t do better than this!
Greg Heumann – Geyserville, CA
I’ve known Sonny Jr. since I bought my original Four-Ten amp from him five years ago or so, after meeting and hearing him at one of Dave Barrett’s Harmonica Masterclass events. He taught an amp clinic at that session and I was impressed by how well he knew his stuff. I had bought a few amps before that, not knowing what I was doing–a waste of money. THIS amp was The One. It made me sound better, got me my first gigs, and taught me a lot about how to get great tone.
A few years later he told me he had come up with a wonderful mid-size amp called the Cruncher. Around that time I was starting to gig a lot, and I wanted a backup amp- so I bought it. Sonny was right–it was an a system, and it was the house amp for our San Francisco area pro jam for a few years, and no harp player ever complained about “having” to play through it.
Fast forward another year or more – Sonny told me he figured out how to make the Sonny Jr Four-Ten even better. How could that be possible? But I took his word for it and upgraded that amp to the Super Sonny. Damn if he wasn’t right again. The amp was even better than before – more cut and projection and still room-filling, jammer-guitar-crushing volume- I LOVED that amp (still do). Fast forward again – he came out with the Avenger – his best work yet, he said. How could anything be better than my Super Sonny? And after agonizing about parting with my Super Sonny to fund the Avenger purchase, I went for it. Right again – just a killer amp. Sonny just can’t help himself. He is BEYOND obsessive when he comes to continually improving his designs.
As much as I loved the Cruncher I found I was only using it for gigs with my own band, or where I knew I could count on sound reinforcement – because in other situations it might not be loud enough. Evidently other people mentioned this too. Knowing Sonny, he probably lost sleep over it, and then spent countless hours tryin’ stuff like he always does – and came out with the Super Cruncher – an upgrade that can be applied to any Cruncher. Well I installed the upgrade this week, a significant part of which is a MONSTER output transformer. And I got to play through it last night, and listen to several other accomplished players play through it too. It sounded friggin’ great and all the players were impressed. All I can say is WOW! It sounds much bigger than it is. Louder than it was, better projection, great bass, easily approachable and soft feedback threshold, stunning tone and crunch when you want it. All the players (and even a few guitar players) went out of their way to tell me how great it was.
So I’ve learned through many experiences to trust that when Sonny says something is better, it simply is. He doesn’t blow smoke. And I want to thank him publicly for his outstanding support over the years. In all these transactions and various emails and phone calls in between, he has never failed to answer a call or an email within 24 hours – usually less. EVER. He has earned my 100% confidence and trust. He knows harp tone like nobody’s business. I LOVE his amps. I know there are other good amps out there – I know and respect many of the builders. Wish I could play all of them. All I know is that with a track record like this I have no reason to switch. These are simply outstanding amps.
If you own a Cruncher, DO the Super Cruncher upgrade. You will lose nothing and gain a lot. If you don’t, and are in the market for an amp, know that you don’t have to mess around chasing amp after amp, spending more after the purchase to “upgrade” it trying to make it right – save your time and money and just get one of these. If you can’t get good tone out of one of Sonny’s amps, you will KNOW that it ain’t the amp – which is a wonderful motivator to teach you how to improve your own technique. Of course, a BlowsMeAway mic can help you sound your best… 
Sonny didn’t know I was going to write this. He certainly didn’t ask me to, nor do we have any commercial relationship. Just wanted to spread the word about the man, his amps and the Super Cruncher.
http://www.blowsmeaway.com
http://www.bluestateband.net
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/duracool/id343874731
Laurent Mouflier - London, England, U.K.
Sonny ….you’re the man!!!!!
I have just seen the light! I tried something with the amp that wasn’t quite right at first. Then I read your manual about the Super Cruncher…….it was as straight forward as possible. I plugged it in and my walls and windows nearly collapsed!!!!
After all these years of looking for an amp, I have finally found the one with balls!!! It’s just incredible! Its like it is spitting venom! Thank you so much!!!
Rob Van Horn – Boulder Creek, CA
Hey Sonny, finally got the Cruncher-to-Super Cruncher upgrade completed and got a chance to play through it. I set it up using the basic settings you suggested and I was blown away!
MUCH more volume than I used to get out of the Normal one side of things. I’d previously been bridging one and two to get more juice –don’t need to anymore although I’m sure I’ll spend some time experimenting with different bridging options.
Thanks for making a great amp even better!!
Pierre LaCocque – Evanston, IL
I tried the Super Cruncher yesterday at a small venue (narrow and very long) and I was impressed with the sounds. I used the line out and I was able to control the EQs as I used my own PA. As you know, even with the Cruncher I could get tones/sounds I like, yet the Super Cruncher gave me an additional volume “push” which was so pleasing.
I kept the AU7-AU7-AT7 setting and it worked amazingly well. Next week I will try the AY7 and see if I can tell a difference. YES, it is louder and the tones are overwhelmingly strong and delightful. I will convert my other Cruncher into the Super Cruncher too.
Tomorrow will be a big test as we are playing at the House of Blues in Chicago. That venue is huge and I know it well as we play there practically every month. I trust that I shall also be pleased. (I am raising the amp on an amp stand and am bridging channels Normal 2 with Bright 1. I like pushing the Normal 1 channel at 7-9 and the Bright channel at 3-4.) I am also using reverb+delay which brings me to the exciting Little Walter sounds of the Chess era.
John “Cisco” Francisco – Tucson, Arizona
Currently I own a Super Sonny 410 and a Cruncher, two different amps sounds with the Cruncher being somewhat naturally raunchier. I got my Sonny Jr Cruncher upgrade kit yesterday and immediately arranged for my favorite amp tech to do the job. I thought I would drop it off to him today and probably pick it up Monday because he is always so swamped with many amp jobs to do. Well he took one look at the amp and said he wanted to do it now because he thought he would enjoy doing the upgrade and take a break from the normal amp fixing business. He had it completed within an hour and only charged me $45 rather than his normal $65 an hour rate.
Tonight I got a chance to try it out for a half hour and what a difference the upgrade kit made to this amp! Of course it can get much louder now that it’s a 50 watt amp rather than a 35 watt amp. But, the tone control settings changed quite a bit with this new power. Now I can crank the bass just like my Super Sonny up to 10 without the power being reduced and get a much fuller tone. The mid and treble controls are more sensitive and require less adjustment to get the same tone as before. Although Sonny said that using the jumper cable between channels was unnecessary I found that it was still useful when playing at lower volumes for a much crunchier tone. When turning the amp up to loud gig levels it was not necessary to use the jumper because the amp developed that same great crunchy raunchy sound on its own at normal gig levels. The upgrade was money very well spent and I encourage current Cruncher owners to go for the upgrade!!
I’m primarily a bass player who fiddles with guitar and a little on harp and collect point to point classic amps, but I know good tone and the Super Cruncher is the best harp amp for my tastes.