1959 National/Supro Electric Guitar - Rare and Original

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This National guitar is in great shape for a 56 year old. I hope I can say the same about myself when I get to that age in a few scant years. And even better if I'm all original. ( Except the Kluson tuners )

This is a really great example of what Supro was doing in the late 50's. The seller boasts about the pickup and I believe him just based on the look of it.

Currently listed at $700 Canadian.

R.W. Haller




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Supro Normandy S613 - a very cool vintage guitar from Chicago

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It might have not have the snuggest fit of a neck into the neck pocket and perhaps a higher action than many of us are used to, but for me this vintage Supro Normandy guitar is über cool. The eBay seller tells us:

This Supro was toward the end of the National, Valco, Supro, Airline Era. The Chicago factory closed a few years after these were made there, and this model has simpler controls and some Japan hardware on it in a last effort to be compete with the Japanese imports coming in at the time and try to gain some more market share for Valco products, but has the same famed pick-ups under the black covers that give the sound Link Wray made famous with his old Dual Tone Model, and More Recent bands like White Stripes & The Black Keys have adapted that sound for their own music. I personally like the thinner neck profile on these as oppose to the baseball bat profile on their older models...

Did you see what he did there? It's the old "use a Link Wray connection to make it seem ever cooler" ploy.

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of US $599.

Before I sign off today, let me just tell you that I won't be able to post for a couple of days. I've got a big gig to play tomorrow night (well, big for me anyway) that involves some travelling and a very full schedule so I shall be away from the computer for a while.

G L Wilson

© 2014, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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1965 Supro Oahu short-scale guitar with DeArmond pickup

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With a scale length of 22" and a single DeArmond "Pancake" pickup, this Supro Oahu from 1965 currently listed on eBay could be quite a catch for someone. Stylistically you can see the resemblance to the Supro Pocket Bass, another short-scale instrument popular with collectors of the brand. It's a rare guitar from quite a collectable brand; the seller claims that the pickup and neck alone are worth $350. The Buy It Now price is $475.

The only thing that puzzles me is why the Supro legend is upside-down on the headstock.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

1961 Atlas-branded Supro shortscale guitar

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This 1961 Atlas-branded Supro shortscale guitar is quite glorious in its single-pickup slab-bodied simplicity. Shredders will take one look at this beauty and scratch their heads wondering what they are supposed to do with a guitar whose neck meets the body at the 12th fret. With a 22" scale, this Supro would no doubt excel at those retro blues licks and I'd love to crank it up to play some classic garage band rock.

Currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $699.88.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Res-O-Glass Supro Arlington S655

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This beautiful and quasi-mint Supro Arlington S655 may have a a classic (though inevitably elegant) Jaguar-style body - being not as radical as some other Supros and neighbour brands (it's a vast topic)  - but it has two Supro characteristics that make it cool and rare: a fiberglass body (aka Res-O-Glass) and a piezo pickup under the bridge that make it sound like no other guitar. 

This makes it not only a collector's treasure but also a desirably playable instrument! And of course you cannot not love the big faux-tortoise pickguard and the six rectangle switch in line - the guy who will buy this guitar will be a lucky fellow indeed!

Bertram D

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!

Dwight-branded Valco/Supro guitar from 1960

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Valco was a manufacturer of guitars and amplifiers from the 1940s through to 1968. Originally formed in 1930 by the former owners of the National Dobro Company, the name "Valco" comes from the initials of given names of the three business partners - Victor Smith, Al Frost, and Louis Dopyera - plus Co. for company. Valco guitars were sold under various brandnames depending on which retailer they were being sold through, and these names most famously include Supro, National, and Airline.

A lesser-known brandname was Dwight, with a small quantity of guitars being built for Sonny Shields Music stores - owned by a certain Mr. Charles "Dwight" Shield, hence the brandname. Apparently only 18 such examples exist as manufactured by Valco, although Epiphone were also known to have produced a limited number of guitars with the Dwight brandname.

The above pictured Valco/Dwight guitar circa 1960 is currently listed on eBay; it is in fantastic condition for a vintage guitar of its age, which no doubt is reflected in the Buy It Now price of $2,499.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1962 National Studio 66

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I recently bought a GuitarKits USA National Supro Res-O-Glas guitar body on ebay and have been seeking out some suitable parts to go with it. The one thing I didn't want was to end up with was a kit guitar that looked like everyone else's.

That's point of a kit guitar I guess.

So, I've been searching "pickup rings", "vintage pickups", "vintage pickup rings" and a myriad of similar and dissimilar terms on ebay and elsewhere. I bid on a nice 50s Framus pickup and pickup ring combo but it went out of my range. I searched through listings with bewildering amounts of information and listings with little more than a fuzzy picture and a ludicrous BIN price (uploaded with my iPhone).

I searched for Art Deco plastic (and wood and aluminium) handles that I could modify into a bridge base and/or funky pickup rings to take a couple of new/old Ovation Viper pickups or old/old Gibson Marauder pickups that I've had floating around for years. Anyway, still no luck so I'll keep looking. One thing I did unearth with the "Art Deco - Guitar" combination was this beautiful guitar from 1962. The most obvious stand-outs are the scratchplate and Art Deco pickup. Now that would suit me fine!

This is what the sellers are saying:

Description: 1962 National Studio 66 electric guitar finished in Sand Buff.

Cosmetic Condition: Various minor nicks, chips, dents & dings; some scuff marks on the body & light weather checking on the neck.

Neck: Bolt-on maple neck with rosewood fingerboard & pearloid dot inlays. Frets are in great shape with no wear. Original Kluson Deluxe tuners are a little rusty, but are in perfect working condition.

Body: Single cutaway, Res-O-Glas body with nickel trapeze tailpiece & fixed wooden bridge.

Pickup: Art deco bridge pickup with single volume & tone controls. 8.87K ohms.

Set Up: Professionally set up by our guitar tech & strung with brand new Ernie Ball .10-.46 gauge Slinkys.

Playability / Sound: Nice, low action; smooth playing neck; cool vintage tone!

Case: Vintage chipboard case included.

I've always been a big fan of Res-O-Glas guitars since seeing one in a second hand shop in East London when I was a teenager, and have been coveting one ever since. They also had a pale green Microfrets guitar which was the dustiest guitar I've ever seen.

But, coming back to this guitar, I especially like the Art Deco pickup and the eccentric scratchplate and pretty much everything else (except the price. Ouch!). And, that's a good enough reason to post it. Now, if I could find a pickup like that...

STOP PRESS: I just found that we posted one of these a couple of years ago but I hope Gavin doesn't mind if I let it ride as it is a beautiful guitar and the ebay pics are stunning. Well worth checking out.

David in Barcelona

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1964 Res-O-Glas Supro Airline

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After showing the Eastwood wooden reissue and the Res-O-Glas kits, I couldn't not show the original model - a 1964 Supro Airline. The logo on the headstock is not genuine though everything else is - someone strangely wanted to emphasize the authenticity of the guitar by modifying it! The pickups are not humbuckers but large singlecoils and of course, the body is made of glass-fiber.

If you think of it, having only the volume knob under the strings makes sense, that's the only one you want to reach quickly while playing, without risking to mistake it with the other ones, that require more careful use...

bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

50s Supro Dual Tone

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I've been introduced to the Supro Dual Tone by its reissue by Eastwood a few years ago, but at the time I was into their more spectacular guitars, like the Wandre Doris, the Tokai Hummingbird or the Airline 59 Custom... Now my taste gets more refined and I enjoy the original humble Supro with its old gold mock-humbucker - actually big singlecoils -, art deco stop tail, 4 knobs in a line and double pickguard (one would say a scratchplate on top of a pickguard, but that's a lot of vocabulary!)

Supro, like Airline and National, other brands reissued by Eastwood, was a sub-brand of Valco, a US company active in the 50s-60s, that eventually merged with Kay before bankrupting. They are at the core of the vintage guitars hype, with people like David Bowie, Jack White or Robert Smith having taken them out of attics and played them on stage again!

bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!