On the way to the grocery store this morning I spotted a yard sale with a couple guitars. I did a quick U turn back to see what they were. Two were generic Strat styles , But then I noticed the Supro. I was able to talk the seller down to 40 bucks. Red Reso-glass, single pick up, rosewood bridge. Neck needs to be shimmed and it's not working at the moment, but it looks like it will be a cool project guitar. Anyone with any helpful advice for this guitar I'd appreciate the input. It looks like the back comes off to access the electronics. Thankfully I'm off work this week to play around with it. No pictures yet but I'll try to do some once it's in working order.
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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »
Supro Sahara
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Joined: Sep 06, 2012 Posts: 1300 Lawrenceville , GA 
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Posted on May 25 2013 06:01 PM
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Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle 
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Posted on May 25 2013 06:15 PM
There is no shimming on these guitars, there is a "tilt" thing in the neck pocket. That metal looking plastic cover that pops up.
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Joined: Sep 06, 2012 Posts: 1300 Lawrenceville , GA
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Posted on May 25 2013 06:19 PM
Thank for the tip Jake. Right now the strings are way too high but the neck looks straight and untwisted. I'm probably going to open it up tomorrow to see why it's not working |
Joined: Jul 01, 2006 Posts: 657
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Posted on May 25 2013 06:34 PM
JakeDobner wrote:
I have that exact Supro... it has built in electronic Vibrato that you control with a thing thats sticks through a hole in the pickguard.
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Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle
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Posted on May 25 2013 06:39 PM
Nice! I've owned two Supro Martiniques(the ones with the in-the-bridge pickups) and I currently own a Supro Belmont, one of the original ones. I really like the pickups on Supros. |
Joined: Oct 05, 2012 Posts: 1725 Austin, Texas
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Posted on May 25 2013 06:48 PM
Cool! It looks like the strings/neck/pickups, etc., are really high off the body. How does that feel when you're playing it? Also, I'd love to know more about that vibrato. Is it like a magnatone vibrato, but controlled by your right hand? —IMO. |
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Joined: Jul 01, 2006 Posts: 657
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Posted on May 25 2013 07:02 PM
PrestonRice wrote:
Yes, with your finger you pull up on the lever, and there is a volume drop. This way you'll always be able to be in tempo with the song. Only for held chords, or notes. The action is set a bit high. I used it for the 13 Guitar Rumble last year. The high action lets those Link Wray power chords ring out. Those pickups are single coils with a unique low-cut on the bridge pickup. Tha's one of the secrets to the Link tone of those records. I speculate that that was the inspiration of the Rangemaster to help those British rockers try to get Links' sound. Last edited: May 25, 2013 19:06:47 |
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Joined: Oct 05, 2012 Posts: 1725 Austin, Texas
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Posted on May 25 2013 07:07 PM
That sounds great! If you ever have time for a quick demo video, it would be great to see this guitar in action. Thanks as always, -Preston —IMO. |
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Joined: Jul 01, 2006 Posts: 657
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Posted on May 25 2013 08:27 PM
PrestonRice wrote:
Here you go: |
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Joined: Oct 05, 2012 Posts: 1725 Austin, Texas
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Posted on May 25 2013 08:59 PM
That bass cutting tone control makes that guitar sing! How can I get one of those in my jag? Not that a jag has a lot of bass to begin with, but wow... Thanks for the video, lots of great VINTBAGE TONZ. Thanks, IMO. |
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Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle
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Posted on May 25 2013 09:09 PM
Oh man... that is too much. I love it. It'd be interested to hear application of it in a song. Dave, if you hold it down does it completely drop the volume so there is no sound coming out? Preston, a Jag has a bass cutting switch. |
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Joined: Jul 01, 2006 Posts: 657
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Posted on May 25 2013 09:17 PM
JakeDobner wrote:
Link Wray records are the best example. Compare to what you hear me doing, and you will get a more complete impression of what it's doing to the tone. It takes it way down to very quiet.... can't quite exactly remember. The Jag has a low cut, but it's cool to be able to dial it in with a knob. I'm going to take it apart and figure out the circuit. |
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Joined: Oct 05, 2012 Posts: 1725 Austin, Texas
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Posted on May 25 2013 09:21 PM
I'm aware of the switch, but it was pretty ghastly sounding when I had the jag wired up. Then again, that jag sounded terrible. Still, I'm curious if you could wire the roller pots as tone pots, 1 treble cut, 1 bass cut, individual pup volume on the two solid shaft pots, a killswitch, and a toggle plate? Maybe not... And Dave, when you take it apart, please take lots of pics and let us know whats going on in there. —IMO. |
Joined: Jul 31, 2012 Posts: 4054 Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted on May 25 2013 11:24 PM
Surf Skater, http://www.facebook.com/CrazyAcesMusic |
Joined: Jun 16, 2008 Posts: 597 The Alamo City, TX
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Posted on May 25 2013 11:45 PM
Awesome! Thanks Dave for the demo and congrats Surf_Skater on the Supro. — |
Joined: Sep 07, 2011 Posts: 507 |
Posted on May 26 2013 12:50 AM
Those are the stories you read about but rarely happen anymore due to the Internet making it near impossible to find any good deals. Congrats! 40 bucks is more than a steal |
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Joined: Sep 06, 2012 Posts: 1300 Lawrenceville , GA
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Posted on May 26 2013 05:40 AM
Mine is not quite the same as Dave's , it's only a single bridge pup and two knobs, same body shape though. I'm pretty excited as this is my first vintage guitar. The seller could not understand why I wanted this over the Strats. The pickup looks like a humbucker but I've read that's just the housing and it's more like a P90. Still not sure if I'm going to have to replace anything or not, anyone know what value pots they used? |
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Joined: Sep 06, 2012 Posts: 1300 Lawrenceville , GA
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Posted on May 26 2013 08:00 AM
I believe I may have been mistaken about the model. The 1963 catalog shows it to be a Belmont sans vibrato although some of the Google images were calling it a Sahara. |
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Joined: Sep 06, 2012 Posts: 1300 Lawrenceville , GA
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Posted on May 26 2013 08:15 AM
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Joined: Jul 31, 2012 Posts: 4054 Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted on May 26 2013 09:15 AM
I love that advert. I really like the non-polepiece version of those pickups. —http://www.facebook.com/CrazyAcesMusic |
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