Supro has announced an all-new high-end guitar amp series with the launch of two very smart combo amps, the Delegate Custom and the Ambassador Custom. Both hand-built in the USA from “ultra-premium” components and replete with vintage mojo, they aim to “serve to redefine the pinnacle of Supro tube amp tone”.
One look at this pair and there is no mistaking the brand behind them. You’ve got the Valco-inspired wraparound cabinets, fashioned from poplar and finished in black or burgundy custom Scandia Tolex, flecked with gold.
Then you’ve got those hemp grille clothes… And the Supro badge in black. Woof! These nail that vintage Supro tube amp aesthetic.
And by all rights, they should nail the tones, too. Supro has dug out the good stuff for this run; under the hoods of both of these, you’ll find top-shelf Mercury Magnetics transformers, vintage-correct Mallory capacitors, and precision-matched EHX tubes. Both have tube-driven spring reverb.
The Delegate Custom is the smaller of the two. A 1x12 tube combo, running 25-watts of Class A power, it has a single Celestion Greenback speaker in the back, and a gloriously simple front panel, with gold-embossed dials on a gold metal panel, and controls for Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, Verb and Master Volume.
Its preamp section is occupied by a trio of 12AX7s and a single 12AT7. There are a pair of 6V6 tubes in the power amp. All this serves to give the Delegate Custom a “wide-open, immediate sound”.
Supro’s tasting notes should whet the appetite: “Gushing overdrive and a hearth of warm mids allow the Delegate to sing at any volume. Every element within the amplifier has been selected to provide a broadband sound rich in even harmonic color and deeply responsive to your instrument.”
If Supro is as good as its word, there will be a Michelin Star incoming for those gourmet tones. The Ambassador Custom is similarly rarefied. It has 50 watts of Class AB power that’s switchable down to a single-ended 35-watt output.
That lower-wattage output gives you the classic Supro Class A tone, a little like its sibling, the Delegate Custom, while the full-throated Class AB mode has a more scooped ‘California grid-biased’ vibe, with a rock-solid low-end and “faster transient response”.
“Perfect for players looking for loud, colorful cleans and a hefty bottom end, the Supro Ambassador Custom offers iconic tone both onstage and in-studio,” says Supro. Nice.
Here, the front panel shares a similar aesthetic and complement of controls to the Delegate, the only difference being a toggle switch for Class A/Class AB operation. It is kitted out with a pair of Supro BD10 drivers, manufactured under license by Celestion. Both amps take a footswitch for turning the reverb on and off.
The Supro Delegate Custom is priced $3,299. The Ambassador Custom is priced $3,499. And you can pick both of them up now. See Supro for more details.
