The Supro Westbury is a 21st-century update of the Supro electric solidbody guitar. The elegant comfort of the 1960’s-era beveled-edge Ozark body shape and the mighty sound of the original field-coil pickups have been enhanced with an ultra-fast satin neck, Tune-o-matic bridge and updated wave tailpiece. The Supro Delay is a premium analog echo pedal that delivers up to 600ms of buttery vintage delay. Using a pair of new-production, MN3005 “bucket brigade” IC chips, the Supro Delay achieves the most headroom available from any analog echo pedal, new or vintage.
more... Gear • How-Tos • Will Ray's Bottom Feeder • Guitars • Solidbody • Single-coil-equipped • Solidbody • March 2012 • SuproI love old vintage guitars,but they’re so dang expensivethese days. So insteadof shelling out big bucks fora vintage Gibson or Fender,many bottom feeders like meturn to the secondary brandslike Silvertone, Harmony, andKay. But in recent years, eventhese have skyrocketed in price.What’s a tight-fisted picker todo? Get creative, of course!
I was at a vintage guitar showin Los Angeles about 15 yearsago when I spotted an old Suprocase hiding underneath a dealer’stable. Whoa—inside was a ’50Supro Dual Tone. The guitarwas in parts, so I had to be carefulnot to get burned. Almostall the parts seemed to be thereexcept for the original bridgeand part of the lower pickguard,which was missing in action.The dealer wanted $125, butI talked him down to $90 andtook it home, happy I had somethingto show after spending aday at a high-priced guitar show.
I took the parts to my favoriteL.A. repairman, John Wescott,who shook his head when he sawwhat I had, mumbling somethinglike “Oh man, here we goagain.” He told me to take twoaspirin and call him in a week.
When the guitar was ready, Iwas blown away at the restorationjob John had done. Forthe missing wooden bridge, heinstalled a used, gold-platedTune-o-matic. This was a realimprovement as it allowed moreprecise intonation than thefixed saddle that originally camewith the instrument.
To replace the missing sectionof the pickguard, John masterfullyfabricated a new piece fromanother pickguard, carefullycutting the plastic to match theunique swooping design. Theonly thing he said he didn’t wantto do was extend the white racingstripe from the existing pickguardto the newly fabricatedsection. He said that would costme way more anyway.
His bill was a bargain at $75,so for a total of $165, I got acool ’50s guitar. At the time,Supro Dual Tones were pricedat $400–$500. Nowadays, thesego for $1,200–$1,800. I feltgreat about saving money, but Ifelt even better that I’d broughtan otherwise unusable instrumentback to life.
Bottom Feeder tip #344:Always make friends with askilled repairman who has reasonablerates. A pro with the workbenchcan really save the day.
So how do I like it? OldSupros have fat necks, and forthe uninitiated this can takesome getting used to, but I findit’s actually really fun to play. Ijust love the guitar’s looks, andthe graduated tailpiece on thesemodels is especially cool. Butthe pickups are the real prizehere, and they just ooze vintagetone. It’s definitely a keeper.
1. My 1957 Supro Dual Tone after being rebuilt. Notice the retrofitted Tune-omatic bridge. 2. The lower portion of the pickguard was missing when I bought the guitar. Here’s a close-up of the repaired pickguard with its new control section.
3. Link Wray—a pioneer of electric guitar distortion and instrumental mayhem— with his Supro Dual Tone. 4. Supro outfitted the Dual Tone with a carved, compensated wooden bridge similar to a vintage archtop. Photo courtesy of justgreatguitars.com.
I love old vintage guitars,but they’re so dang expensivethese days. So insteadof shelling out big bucks fora vintage Gibson or Fender,many bottom feeders like meturn to the secondary brandslike Silvertone, Harmony, andKay. But in recent years, eventhese have skyrocketed in price.What’s a tight-fisted picker todo? Get creative, of course!
![Supro guitars Supro guitars](/uploads/1/2/5/8/125845607/697620848.jpg)
I was at a vintage guitar showin Los Angeles about 15 yearsago when I spotted an old Suprocase hiding underneath a dealer’stable. Whoa—inside was a ’50Supro Dual Tone. The guitarwas in parts, so I had to be carefulnot to get burned. Almostall the parts seemed to be thereexcept for the original bridgeand part of the lower pickguard,which was missing in action.The dealer wanted $125, butI talked him down to $90 andtook it home, happy I had somethingto show after spending aday at a high-priced guitar show.
I took the parts to my favoriteL.A. repairman, John Wescott,who shook his head when he sawwhat I had, mumbling somethinglike “Oh man, here we goagain.” He told me to take twoaspirin and call him in a week.
When the guitar was ready, Iwas blown away at the restorationjob John had done. Forthe missing wooden bridge, heinstalled a used, gold-platedTune-o-matic. This was a realimprovement as it allowed moreprecise intonation than thefixed saddle that originally camewith the instrument.
To replace the missing sectionof the pickguard, John masterfullyfabricated a new piece fromanother pickguard, carefullycutting the plastic to match theunique swooping design. Theonly thing he said he didn’t wantto do was extend the white racingstripe from the existing pickguardto the newly fabricatedsection. He said that would costme way more anyway.
His bill was a bargain at $75,so for a total of $165, I got acool ’50s guitar. At the time,Supro Dual Tones were pricedat $400–$500. Nowadays, thesego for $1,200–$1,800. I feltgreat about saving money, but Ifelt even better that I’d broughtan otherwise unusable instrumentback to life.
Bottom Feeder tip #344:Always make friends with askilled repairman who has reasonablerates. A pro with the workbenchcan really save the day.
So how do I like it? OldSupros have fat necks, and forthe uninitiated this can takesome getting used to, but I findit’s actually really fun to play. Ijust love the guitar’s looks, andthe graduated tailpiece on thesemodels is especially cool. Butthe pickups are the real prizehere, and they just ooze vintagetone. It’s definitely a keeper.
1. My 1957 Supro Dual Tone after being rebuilt. Notice the retrofitted Tune-omatic bridge. 2. The lower portion of the pickguard was missing when I bought the guitar. Here’s a close-up of the repaired pickguard with its new control section.
3. Link Wray—a pioneer of electric guitar distortion and instrumental mayhem— with his Supro Dual Tone. 4. Supro outfitted the Dual Tone with a carved, compensated wooden bridge similar to a vintage archtop. Photo courtesy of justgreatguitars.com.
![Supro guitars Supro guitars](/uploads/1/2/5/8/125845607/430554275.jpg)