For some, the contemporary amp landscape is split into two categories – you’re either a keeper of the tube amp faith or an advocate for digital tech and amp modelers. But it needn’t be so black and white, and Supro is the latest to make the case for that.
The Airwave is an all-new tube-powered combo amp with Two Notes’ acclaimed cab sim technology built in, which stars alongside a slew of analog effects on a portable amp that leaves no stone unturned.
Supro has carved made its name with gourmet, all-tube tones, with the Delegate and Ambassador Custom combos to the supercharged Tyler Bryant Black Magick three examples of how they’ve shone with their air-pushing builds. Now Supro is embracing impulse responses, harnessing modern versatility for the best of both worlds.
Arriving in a studio and back-friendly 25W, 1×12 format, the Airwave’s suite of analog effects includes Boost, Drive, Tremolo, and Reverb. They sit alongside a three-band EQ and a Master Volume that sets the level of the signal sent to the amp’s Class-A 6V6 output, making for a fairly comprehensive suite of tone-shaping tools.
But it’s when such knob-fiddling is finished and players turn towards the cabinet sounds that the Airwave reveals its trump card. Its speaker sim tech packs 12 onboard presets featuring both Supro and third-party speaker combinations alike, giving you options on how you want to present the amp’s tube-driven tones.
Presets include an emulation of Led Zeppelin I’s modded 1959 Supro Coronado, an original Valco-era Oahu 1×10, and Phil X’s own custom Super 108.
The choice is all yours. Make the most of the Airwave’s Celestion-made BD12 speaker, or tap into an array of amp emulations. Switching between simulations is easy. Turn the six-way rotary switch on the front panel of the amp; the 1×8 combo is the smallest, then we rise through the ranks of 1×10, 1×12, 2×12, and 1×15 models.
Each cab sim has been captured in “meticulous detail with a selection of eight different microphones”.
Taking the tech’s tonal possibilities further, Supro’s custom Group A / Group B illuminated touch switch empowers players to switch between vintage and modern takes of those cabs so there’s always a sound to suit the song.
The microphones used for the cab sims, their position, the EQ, reverb, and room emulation are all tweakable, and stereo twin-tracking effects are also on tap via Supro’s accompanying phone/computer software.
“Our vision for the Airwave was to bring together the analog elements that have defined the Supro sound since the 1950s with a state-of-the-art cabinet emulation, allowing guitar players to perform and record without having to rely on physical microphones to capture the sound of their amp,” says David Koltai, CTO at Bond Audio, who owns Supro.
“This hybrid approach of integrating a software controllable stereo DI with an onboard guitar speaker that can be muted creates a best-of-all-worlds solution for both live performance and studio recording.”
The Supro Airwave is available now for $1,499.
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