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Forums :: Ask Amp Tech Expert Skip Simmons

Sonny Jr. Cruncher

4 replies [Last post]
Mon, 04/12/2021 - 14:54
Grasshopper
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Many years ago in the quest for a decent amp I finally shelled out some clams and bought a brand new Sonny Jr. Cruncher, with one Weber 10" and two Weber 8" speakers.

What's the consensus opinion of this amp?

I like it but it's kinda big and kinda heavy. Not Bassman big and heavy but still... ooff!

Anything that needs upgrading on these amps?

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Mon, 04/12/2021 - 18:48
#1
David Barrett
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Hello Grasshopper. Skip's not

Hello Grasshopper. Skip's not the best person to ask about this... I'll chime in. Sonny Jr amps are well respected in the harp world as being very well built amps... and sound very good. I don't recommend any changes... whenever I experimented with his amps, I always went back to what Sonny first set up the amp with. Congrats on a great amp.

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Mon, 04/12/2021 - 20:27
#2
Grasshopper
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Cool Beans!

Thanks for the knowledge David!

It sounds pretty fine to me and seems to cut through a fairly loud stage mix. The Cruncher had some pretty good reviews back in the day when I bought it. I just really haven't seen much said about them here on the forums so I thought I'd ask whether it needs some tweaking.

TomE

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Mon, 04/12/2021 - 20:40
#3
David Barrett
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Yeah, they got a lot of

Yeah, they got a lot of attention when they first came out. It's a nice amp to have in your arsenal.

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Mon, 04/12/2021 - 21:26
#4
Grasshopper
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Matched Microphone

I'm not much as far as knowledge of harp amps and mics.

Before I bought this amp I was using an old tweed Princeton and a green bullet mic (wish I still had that Princeton!).

When I bought the Cruncher there was an option to purchase a "matched" microphone along with the amp. I still have the mic, it's a red bullet style shell with a volume knob wired for 1/4" output.

Anybody know anything about these Sonny Jr. mics?

I found this blurb on the old Sonny Jr website and it seems to desribe what my mic looks like, it has a "Turner" sticker on the grill; "I also continue to sell the hot as rockets, custom tweaked CM elements that have the low end of a CR and crispness of a CM, loaded in the nice gripping Turner shells with fin ground down halfway so it’s not obtrusive. With over 25 years of mic sales worldwide these work perfectly with my amps."

Anybody care to translate that for me?

TomE

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