Supro has launched the Airwave, a 25-watt 1x12 guitar amp combo that is describing as a “new chapter” for the brand – and that’s because it pairs old-school tube amp technology with cutting-edge DynIRs from Two Notes Engineering.
This partnership with Two Notes is a game-changer for Supro. Airwave might give you golden era electric guitar tones, but it has the capability to send the direct signal from your amp to the desk when playing, or to a DAW when recording. You can stick on a set of guitar amp headphones and practise silently – and it will sound good.
Airwave arrives with 12 IR presets, with all of these cabinet emulations easily accessible via a six-way rotary dial and Bank A/B switch, and featuring some of the most classic Supro tones of all time – think Jimmy Page’s hot-rodded 1959 Coronado that he used on Led Zeppelin’s debut album, or a Valco-era Oahu 1×10.
Bon Jovi lead guitarist Phil X’s custom Super 108 is another option, and you can manage and edit all of these presets via the accompanying Two Notes app, which can be accessed via your PC/Mac or mobile device.
And yet, Airwaves looks and sounds like something straight out of the old-school. This is a single-ended Class A tube amp. It has some footswitchable analogue effects including reverb, tremolo and boost, and a straightforward control panel to dial in your sound.
You will find a 3-band EQ, Volume, and Master Volume, Speed and Depth for the tremolo, push buttons for the Boost and Drive channel, Reverb, plus the aforementioned Preset dial.
Cab Sim Level is found around the back of the amp, beside the two XLR outputs with ground lift, the Speaker Mute switch, plus inputs for headphones, USB-C, Verb/Trem and Boost/Drive footswitches and an eight-ohm speaker output.
Under the hood you’ll find a pair of 6V6 power tubes and a pair of 12AX7s in the preamp. They drive a 12” Celestion-designed BD12 speaker.
As for the cabinet itself, well, it’s built of poplar and comes in a classic Supro aesthetic, with Black Taco Tolex covering, cream piping and a hemp grille cloth. All in, the Airwave weighs in at 17kg, and it is priced £1,249/$1,499. Head over to Supro for more pics and details.
This isn't the first time we have seen an amp brand team up with Two Notes to modernise their tube amp designs. In 2019, Revv unveiled the D20, the world's first amp head equipped with Two Notes Torpedo tech, packing both load box and onboard IRS. It will be fascinating to see whether Supro's future designs will feature similar technologies.
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