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Post subject: SuperSonic - effect of putting in low rated tubes
Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 5:52 pm
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I've got a SuperSonic 60 watt 1-12 combo that has the stock Groove Tube power tubes in it. I love the sound, but I'm wondering if I can improve it. I played a friends Dr. Z Carman Ghia 18 watt class A head through a 1-12 cab cranked and it had such a cool feel and tone. I don't expect to get that, but maybe a little closer.

I'm still learning about tubes and the various "classes" (A or A/B) etc..., so I'm hoping someone with experience can enlighten me. I'm assuming that the stock Groove Tubes that are in the amp are Medium rated. And if I put in two Low Rated power tubes, the amp will break up sooner and be more touch sensitive. I'm not concerned with the clean channel breaking up, I like it crystal clean and I never turn it up beyond a volume of 2. What I'm hoping is that the overdrive (Burn) channel is more touch sensitive like that Dr. Z amp. And also I'm hoping it has some of the cool, sort of random overtones I was hearing. I realize I will have to re-bias the amp. Any thoughts out there from the tube heads?


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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:19 pm
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Hi phonofreq,

Is this the schematic for your amp? If so, a different preamp tube in V3 would do something for the burn channel, while leaving the clean channel as is. Maybe a high gain tube like a Sovtek 12AX7WC, or try a Chinese 12AX7-C for more breakup, or even a Mullard might be nice. Half of V1 is also used for the burn channel, try one there in combination with one in V3, if changing V3 alone isn't enough. Changing V1 will also affect the clean channel. If you change your output tubes, you will affect both the clean and burn channels. :idea:

http://support.fender.com/schematics/guitar_amplifiers/Super-Sonic_Combo.pdf

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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 11:42 pm
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Yes, that is the schematic. I understand that the power tubes will affect both, but isn't it the power tubes what cause that extra sensitive feel and overtones that I'm feeling/hearing?

Thanks for your reply!


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Post subject: Super Sonic Tubes
Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 7:01 am
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The sound/sensitivity that you get from the amp is a combination of several things, among which are; class of operation, preamp tubes, output tubes, bias setting, what type of guitar (single coil/humbucker). Most everybody likes the class A sound, but the SS is class AB so it won't sound like a class A amp. The output tubes are certainly one of the big parts of the sound, and you could use some blue label GTs for earlier breakup than the white label. You can get the driven sound that you want by changing the output tubes, but then your clean channel will also sound different. The preamp tubes, on the other hand, can affect different channels/effects independently of each other. For example V9 would affect the reverb only, V3 would affect the burn channel only, V1 would affect the clean and burn channels. So it is really a combination of preamp and output tubes that will get the sound that you want. And, you can try different preamp tubes much cheaper than output tubes, and the preamp tubes will allow you to tailor your sound more precisely since there are so many of them. You can try changing any tubes that you want, experiment and have fun. :)

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Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 11:45 am
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The Supersonic is not a Class A amp, so it will never sound like one. If that's the sound you want, look at getting a different amp.


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