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Supro reissues - anyone any experience?

Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 12:36 am
by Despot
Morning folks.

I had a chance to play some of the solid body Supro reissues recently - they're quite good. Made in Indonesia. Nice fret dressing/finishing and good QC at least on the ones I tried.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the resoglass style reissues like the Coronado II or Holiday. I've long lusted after getting an old Supro/National/Airline (I love the Coronado shape in particular) but I've never taken a chance on any I've seen online given how the seem to be hit and miss in terms whether or not they're playable.

These reissues sound pretty good on the youtube videos I've heard ... so I'm thinking for not a huge amount of money I could get one of these and be pretty much guaranteed that it'll be playable/decent, rather than engaging in a crap shoot on an old one.

Anyone have any hands on experience with these?

Re: Supro reissues - anyone any experience?

Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 8:11 am
by Jazzbastard89
I had the Royal Reverb about a year ago. First, it was a real head-turner as far as looks go. I thought the tone was amazing and the reverb especially was unique and absolutely huge. Only down side was the weight. These amps are EXTREMELY heavy.

Re: Supro reissues - anyone any experience?

Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 9:32 am
by Con-Tiki!
The amps are good, but he's looking for opinions on the reissue guitars.
No one nearby carries them, although i'd be interested to see one in person.
A friend in Seattle has played a bunch of them, and thought they were "cool but pricey" for what they are, epecially the single pickup models.
He, like me, is a huge fan of the old ones, so he might have been overly critical.
The originals i've owned have been pretty good, which might be luck. I'm 9 for 9 though.
Anyway, there are a ton on the used market already, which would make it less painful to try one of the reissues.
It does make me wonder why there are a ton on the used market already...

Re: Supro reissues - anyone any experience?

Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 10:38 am
by DrQuasar
I played a Sahara at our local GC for a minute or two. It felt like a flimsy toy to me so I put it down pretty quickly. The body panels felt pretty thin. Never played an original so maybe that's just what the res-o-glass body feels like. Looked cool though.

Re: Supro reissues - anyone any experience?

Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 2:31 pm
by Kestrel-
I also tried a Supro Sahara at a guitar shop. Looks quite nice from a distance, but it was absolutely rubbish. The guitar was in serious need of a setup. Most guitars can use a setup to adjust for climate changes etc., but this one was bad. Really bad. The fret ends were very sharp and the tuning machines were of poor quality. In fact, the tuner for the G string was broken. Also the tone knob was loose, and there were some rough spots on the body and the neck that had been painted over. It simply looked like it was pieced together in a hurry and thrown in a box for shipping. This particular Supro is made in China, not Indonesia like the higher priced solid body models. Anyway, I'm not knocking the fact that it's of Chinese manufacture. Epiphone and Squier can put out affordable China made instruments of decent quality these days, but this particular Supro was way overpriced and regrettably poorly made.

Re: Supro reissues - anyone any experience?

Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 5:37 pm
by Con-Tiki!
this isnt really what you asked, but have you considered building one?
GuitarKits USA is moving shop, so their inventory is really low , but is supposed to be back to normal this summer.

I've built two, and they are really good. My homebrew "jetsons'' guitar is the very last guitar i would sell.
It does require a little effort to put one together..

I've used original Airline/Supro necks on mine, but if you want something a little more normal, there's the Eastwood necks.

Re: Supro reissues - anyone any experience?

Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 5:46 pm
by Gavanti
I played one of the Coronados at a local shop. While I didn't much like the feel of the guitar itself, and I'd agree with Kestrel that the fretwork could have been much better, I loved the pickups.

Re: Supro reissues - anyone any experience?

Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 11:36 pm
by Despot
Thanks folks - that was what I was interested to hear.

Surprised to hear that the resoglass models haven't been that great for those who tried them ... the solid body/Indonesia made guitars are actually about 100 euro cheaper here in Ireland, and I'd assumed that meant that they were all made in the same factory or of the same level of quality ... and the two solid body models I've played were pretty decent (and I was actually impressed with the fret work on them). But then they're around 900 euro, so they're not exactly cheap guitars, so you'd expect a bit of work to have been done on them.

I might hold off on this so ... it could be a better idea to wait around for a vintage one to pop up here in Dublin (it's bound to happen eventually - every other thing has appeared in the last few years).

Re: Supro reissues - anyone any experience?

Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:29 am
by borntohang
I played one of the Dualtones in my local shop last month and was pleasantly surprised. Really nice feeling neck and a very smooth heel, quite light, GREAT pickups.

I had a play through a Blues Junior and it sounded fantastic - so much clarity and detail in those pickups. I actually got a little crowd of staff all wanting to have a try; they'd been convinced it was too quirky and would sit on the wall for years before anyone bought it, but it got snapped up within a few days.

Re: Supro reissues - anyone any experience?

Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 12:41 am
by Shadoweclipse13
Con-Tiki! wrote:this isnt really what you asked, but have you considered building one?
GuitarKits USA is moving shop, so their inventory is really low , but is supposed to be back to normal this summer.

I've built two, and they are really good. My homebrew "jetsons'' guitar is the very last guitar i would sell.
It does require a little effort.

I've used original Airline/Supro necks on mine, but if you want something a little more normal, there's the Eastwood necks.
Dude! That's awesome! I knew the site existed (and that they make lefty models!!), but didn't know anyone who'd actually built one. Is the neck pocket the same size as a Fender where you could get any compatible neck for it?

I'd really love to make one with some McNelly or Mojo goldfoils.

Re: Supro reissues - anyone any experience?

Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 2:25 am
by Con-Tiki!
Shadoweclipse13 wrote:
Con-Tiki! wrote:this isnt really what you asked, but have you considered building one?
GuitarKits USA is moving shop, so their inventory is really low , but is supposed to be back to normal this summer.

I've built two, and they are really good. My homebrew "jetsons'' guitar is the very last guitar i would sell.
It does require a little effort.

I've used original Airline/Supro necks on mine, but if you want something a little more normal, there's the Eastwood necks.
Dude! That's awesome! I knew the site existed (and that they make lefty models!!), but didn't know anyone who'd actually built one. Is the neck pocket the same size as a Fender where you could get any compatible neck for it?

I'd really love to make one with some McNelly or Mojo goldfoils.
Yep.
Normally, they have them with strat, tele, or the original skinny valco pocket available. I have an original Airline (the red Jack White guitar) and the new shell is a perfect copy.

Re: Supro reissues - anyone any experience?

Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 7:15 am
by Shadoweclipse13
Con-Tiki! wrote:
Shadoweclipse13 wrote:
Con-Tiki! wrote:this isnt really what you asked, but have you considered building one?
GuitarKits USA is moving shop, so their inventory is really low , but is supposed to be back to normal this summer.

I've built two, and they are really good. My homebrew "jetsons'' guitar is the very last guitar i would sell.
It does require a little effort.

I've used original Airline/Supro necks on mine, but if you want something a little more normal, there's the Eastwood necks.
Dude! That's awesome! I knew the site existed (and that they make lefty models!!), but didn't know anyone who'd actually built one. Is the neck pocket the same size as a Fender where you could get any compatible neck for it?

I'd really love to make one with some McNelly or Mojo goldfoils.
Yep.
Normally, they have them with strat, tele, or the original skinny valco pocket available. I have an original Airline (the red Jack White guitar) and the new shell is a perfect copy.
I need to make one now. I seem to remember the kits were pretty reasonably priced too :whistle:

Re: Supro reissues - anyone any experience?

Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 1:05 pm
by dug
I don't post here very often at all these days but a friend sent me this thread because of my experience with the new Supro Sahara.

I love the amps. I have a Supro 1600 Supreme reissue and its pretty dang neat. I saw the reissue guitars and totally fell head over heels.
I was a bit weary of the prices, seeing that the res o glass reissues are made in China. I thought, well the amps are great and surely to goodness they wouldn't put out crappy guitars just to ruin the reputation they are gaining. I live out in the middle of nowhere, no big box stores or the like to check them out so I ordered a Supro Sahara from musicians friend.

I was completely disappointed. It looked great when I opened the box. When I picked it up and started looking at it, disappointment set in. It was pretty rough. The finish was terrible. Lots of sanding marks, cloudy spots, a few dings that were painted over, the binding was coming off, terrible fret job, the truss rod cover didn't fit, the pickguard looked as if it were cut by hand very poorly. It didn't play too bad right out of the box. The fretboard was super dry, and the tuners were junky.

It did sound great though. I'll try to post some pictures I took.

I sent an email to Supro and Dave Koliak wrote me back offering to replace my guitar. He said the chinese ones were rough but the Indonesian ones turned out great.
It kind of bothered me that he knew how rough the guitars were and had them shipped out anyway. You can go to sweetwater and see they have a ton of "demo" models. These are crappily finished guitars like mine. I decided to send it back and replace it with something else.

Image

Image

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0LEbrdcKJg Youtube video full of bad doodles and some more pictures and words about this turd.

Re: Supro reissues - anyone any experience?

Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 1:38 pm
by mediocreplayer
I played the one with three pickups in The Guitar Store in Seattle yesterday. It looked fine, played OK, and sounded...really amazing. I was surprised and for some inexplicable reason, slightly dismayed?

Re: Supro reissues - anyone any experience?

Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 5:58 pm
by Con-Tiki!
good firsthand photos.
sanding marks boo. The color should be in the gel coat, and the surface should be shiny and perfect out of the mold. Even in the 60's, they had this down.

the binding looks wonky, but that is a perfect reproduction of the originals. There are always gaps and high spots. The flange that's pinched between the body halves has to be snipped and relieved in the turns to get it to fit at all. Whole thing was done by hand, and may still be. I spent hours on mine, and it still doesn't fit exactly.

no excuse for shoddy fretwork at that price.

they're just too expensive to have all that "character".
bummer.