Supro reissues - question

[Cross]

Hello all!

Does anyone have any experience with the new supro reissue guitars?

I'm trying to talk myself out of one. Background - I have 4 guitars and 2 rigs. One is my very quiet/low key/headphone rig at home, and the other is my loud rig that is not at home - 2 tube amps run together, 7-8 pedals, etc.

I like to keep my #1 at home (call it JM1) because I can only occasionally get out to my loud rig - wife and a 1 yr old at home. I like to keep my more novelty-ish guitars out at the loud rig - JM2 (a heavily modded SJMJM) and an old 60s harmony bobkat with ripping dearmond gold foils. The wild card is my tele, but lately I've liked having that at the house as well as a great change of pace. Problem is - I'm having the bobkat refretted (don't ask) and JM2 is out indefinitely due to various electronic and bridge problems. I'd like (but don't really NEED) to have an additional loud/fun (affordable) guitar to keep out at the loud rig while I repair the others. A big locally owned music shop near the house has a bunch of the supro reissues. I must admit I have a weakness for the aesthetics of them and for 60s garbage guitars (hence the bobkat).

[Cross]

Sorry - technical difficulties.

I know the new supros don't really sound like the originals, but I love the look of them. Owner said he'd give me a Martinique (2 'vistatones' + piezo) "for cost"; $742. I played it, got some weird sounds out of it, some decent. Didn't feel as cheap as some of the other supros I played - still felt kinda cheap though. My gut tells me that still too much to pay for a chinese guitar, but my GAS tells me to get it.

TL;DR
Is $742 too much for a new supro reissue, considering it's a secondary guitar?

[Despot]

The different Supro models come from different factories in the Far East.

The result of sourcing the different guitars from different manufacturers is this weird situation where some models are actually pretty nice (well made guitars, decent fret work and nice to play) and some are pretty poor.

I've been able to get my hands on the solid wood models (I believe the Hampton model) - these were pretty nice. On the other hand a friend bought one of the 'res-o-glass' type models and he was very unimpressed - the quality of the fit and finish wasn't great and certainly not up to the level of Chinese made Fenders or Epiphones.

So my advice would be to try before you buy - they're hit and miss. I wouldn't order one online without having a chance to play it first.

[Con-Tiki!]

The different Supro models come from different factories in the Far East.

The result of sourcing the different guitars from different manufacturers is this weird situation where some models are actually pretty nice (well made guitars, decent fret work and nice to play) and some are pretty poor.

I've been able to get my hands on the solid wood models (I believe the Hampton model) - these were pretty nice. On the other hand a friend bought one of the 'res-o-glass' type models and he was very unimpressed - the quality of the fit and finish wasn't great and certainly not up to the level of Chinese made Fenders or Epiphones.

So my advice would be to try before you buy - they're hit and miss. I wouldn't order one online without having a chance to play it first.

no one here carries them, so i don't have any first hand experience.
I have heard that the wood-bodied models are much better. Might be MIK.
Immediately after they hit the market, reverb and ebay were flooded with used Supros. That can't be a good sign.

I've owned a bunch of old Supro/Airline guitars, and i love them. They were budget guitars when they were new, but the good ones are really good. I have three currently that are totally civilized. No weird fret issues, or set-up problems. (i do use strings with a wound G, though).
for the 700 bucks, i'd take a chance on vintage.