1956 Supro (Valco/National) Dual Tone Electric Guitar

Overview: I've worked on a number of old Supro Dual Tones but this is the first one where I've felt the neck and bridge pickups were properly-balanced in output and "feel." It's a little earlier than most of the ones I've worked-on and the overall build seems slightly nicer-quality to me than the later ones and it's held-up better, too.

Tone: It's a balanced, single-coil vibe that's relaxed and sort-of mellow when played clean. The sweet spot is when you hit it with drive and it comes very much alive in a radial airplane engine sort-of roar and snarl. It's great for big, washed-out chords and, of course, blues-rock and "garage"stuff.

Feel: The neck is a bigger C shape with a respectable 12" board radius. It's comfortable to get around on, unlike many of National/Valco's slightly-cheaper guitars that feel like you're playing the fat end of a baseball bat.

Interesting features: The gold-plated hardware has all aged beautifully. The original pickup selector switch was damaged and so I fit a new 3-way selector with a custom switch tip and -- frankly -- I can't tell you how nice it is to have a switch that works correctly on one of these. They're usually really funky and I've resisted replacing them due to the "cool factor" of all-original. In this case, practicality wins-out.

Repairs included: Both Gurion and Jose worked on this -- giving it a level/dress of the frets and setup work. I then fixed-up the wiring. It's good to go and playing spot-on.

• Weight: 7 lbs 6 oz
• Scale length: 24 5/8"
• Nut width: 1 5/8"
• Neck shape: medium-full C
• Board radius: 12"
• Body width: 11 3/4"
• Body depth: 1 3/4"
• Body wood: unsure -- poplar?
• Bridge: archtop-style adjustable (comp'd for wound G)
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: poplar
• Pickups: 2x single coil
• Action height at 12th fret: 1/16” overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 50w-11 with a wound G
• Truss rod: adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: lower/smaller

Condition notes: It's overall in good shape and all-original except for the 3-way switch. It's missing its second "tiny pickguard" which would normally be elevated and next to the pickups. The original bridge saddle is compensated for a wound G stringing and so I would not suggest using normal 3-plain, 3-wound string sets on here without swapping the bridge top out for one compensated for it. It currently has 11s with a wound G on it and sounds great and balanced. We can do the swapping-out if desired, for free. Note that there's the usual mild usewear/finish wear here and there throughout with some chips off the finish at the lower bout edges and the hardware has all gotten an "aged" patina in its plating. The neck pickup housing is broken/repaired at the treble side but stable.

It comes with: It has a gigbag.

Consignor tag: SKW