Power and personality in a 50-watt combo optimized for pedals.
A well-thought-out bundle of features in a compact, powerful combo for the pedal-friendly age. Lots of personality.
Tube changes require removing the entire chassis.
$1,499
Supro 1932R Royale
suprousa.com
While some tube-amp makers buck the proliferation of pedal-dominated rigs, others thrive by taking an “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” approach to the pedal platform concept. Supro’s new Model 1932R Royale isn’t the first Supro designed with pedal-centric players in mind. But the high-headroom 50-watt 1x12 combo is a natural for the role. Given this predisposition, the Royale is promoted as Supro’s “first loud, clean amp.” And if your expectations of Supro are still informed by the grungy, midrange-saturated Supros of the 1960s—and the reissues inspired by them—the Royale may surprise.
On the Panel
The Royale’s relatively compact 19"x 20"x 9.5" poplar-ply cabinet is very reminiscent of a vintage Supro Thunderbolt, with a recessed panel for the controls and an upper-rear-mounted chassis. The early ’60s-era textured black-and-white-flecked vinyl, white piping, and contrasting off-white hemp grille cloth dress the amp up with vintage authenticity. A pair of 5881 output tubes (sibling to the 6L6) with three 12AX7s, one 12AT7, and one 12DW7 in the preamp and reverb stages drive a single 75-watt, Eminence-built ceramic BD12 speaker. The amp weighs 49 pounds, which is not bad given the power and features.
Class A mode still works great with drive pedals, but is appealing all by itself.
The Royale’s control complement includes volume, master volume, boost, treble, mid, bass, and level and dwell for the reverb. There are also switches to activate the boost, effects loop, and reverb. The standby switch is a 3-way toggle that enables either the full-power 50-watt mode in class AB (fixed/grid biased) or 35 watts in class A (cathode biased).
The Royale is well-designed and robustly built, though there are some quirks. The tube sockets are located on the front of the chassis closest to the grill, so tube changes will be tricky without removing the entire chassis—unless you have very narrow double-jointed wrists and X-ray vision. Then again, you’ll likely want to pull the chassis to re-bias the class A/B mode after any output-tube changes.
Max Headroom
The Royale is certainly the versatile, pedal-friendly gigging combo that Supro intends it to be. But it also has a lot more personality than those qualifications might imply. The 50-watt class A/B mode, it must be said, is overtly Fender-like. And, with a bold output stage fed by a clear and slightly scooped front end, it feels a lot like half a Twin Reverb. Overall, the voice is bold and punchy. And you shouldn’t have much trouble going up against a drummer un-miked. Pedals, needless to say, are easy to match to the amp in this mode. An Ibanez TS9, Wampler Tumnus+, and JHS Angry Charlie all sounded great, and it’s hard not be enticed by how different gain flavors come through loud and distinctly.
Switching to the 35-watt class A mode doesn’t dramatically drop the Royale’s volume, but it does make the voice and character more Supro-like—with softer attack, thicker mids, and a little more sizzle. Class A mode still works great with drive pedals but is very appealing all by itself. I enjoyed it at the edge of breakup, particularly when using a Les Paul and heavy picking attack, which generates a cool, toothsome crunch. Maxing the volume at low master volume levels is fun for gnarly lead freakouts.
The onboard boost works great in both modes. Though I’d argue it’s a little more delectable and juicier in class A. The adjustable boost gain is a huge plus here, making it highly flexible where some pre-set boosts are a waste of space. The reverb may not be quite Twin Reverb-lush, but it adds depth and atmosphere, and the dwell control extends its range from subtle to splashy, spacey and psychedelic. The buffered effects loop, meanwhile, routed my signal through three outboard delay and modulation pedals without any tone loss. But it also sweetens the amp’s overall sound when there’s nothing in the loop. So, while the ability to switch it on and off is handy, I’d just as likely leave it on.
The Verdict
The Supro 1932R Royale is compact, portable, bold, powerful, and perfect for pedals. It’s not strictly a clean machine, though. And it has loads of personality independent of pedals thanks to its class A mode, an effective master volume, and great-sounding boost. Add a fine spring reverb and effects loop, and the Royale sums up to a lot of amp for the money—especially considering how comfortably it will nestle in your passenger seat.
Supro Royale Demo | First Look
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Stompboxtober is rolling on! Enter below for your chance to WIN today's featured pedal from Peterson Tuners! Come back each day during the month of October for more chances to win!
Peterson StroboStomp Mini Pedal Tuner
The StroboStomp Mini delivers the unmatched 0.1 cent tuning accuracy of all authentic Peterson Strobe Tuners in a mini pedal tuner format. We designed StroboStomp Mini around the most requested features from our customers: a mini form factor, and top mounted jacks. |
A silicon Fuzz Face-inspired scorcher.
Hot silicon Fuzz Face tones with dimension and character. Sturdy build. Better clean tones than many silicon Fuzz Face clones.
Like all silicon Fuzz Faces, lacks dynamic potential relative to germanium versions.
$229
JAM Fuzz Phrase Si
jampedals.com
Everyone has records and artists they indelibly associate with a specific stompbox. But if the subject is the silicon Fuzz Face, my first thought is always of David Gilmour and the Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii film. What you hear in Live at Pompeii is probably shaped by a little studio sweetening. Even still, the fuzz you hear in “Echoes” and “Careful With That Axe, Eugene”—well, that is how a fuzz blaring through a wall of WEM cabinets in an ancient amphitheater should sound, like the sky shredded by the wail of banshees. I don’t go for sounds of such epic scale much lately, but the sound of Gilmour shaking those Roman columns remains my gold standard for hugeness.
JAM’s Fuzz Phrase Fuzz Face homage is well-known to collectors in its now very expensive and discontinued germanium version, but this silicon variation is a ripper. If you love Gilmour’s sustaining, wailing buzzsaw tone in Pompeii, you’ll dig this big time. But its ’66 acid-punk tones are killer, too, especially if you get resourceful with guitar volume and tone. And while it can’t match its germanium-transistor-equipped equivalent for dynamic response to guitar volume and tone settings or picking intensity, it does not have to operate full-tilt to sound cool. There are plenty of overdriven and near-clean tones you can get without ever touching the pedal itself.
Great Grape! It’s Purple JAM, Man!
Like any Fuzz Face-style stomp worth its fizz, the Fuzz Phrase Si is silly simple. The gain knob generally sounds best at maximum, though mellower settings make clean sounds easier to source. The output volume control ranges to speaker-busting zones. But there’s also a cool internal bias trimmer that can summon thicker or thin and raspy variations on the basic voice, which opens up the possibility of exploring more perverse fuzz textures. The Fuzz Phrase Si’s pedal-to-the-metal tones—with guitar volume and pedal gain wide open—bridge the gap between mid-’60s buzz and more contemporary-sounding silicon fuzzes like the Big Muff. And guitar volume attenuation summons many different personalities from the Fuzz Phrase Si—from vintage garage-psych tones with more note articulation and less sustain (great for sharp, punctuated riffs) as well as thick overdrive sounds.
If you’re curious about Fuzz Face-style circuits because of the dynamic response in germanium versions, the Fuzz Phrase Si performs better in this respect than many other silicon variations, though it won’t match the responsiveness of a good germanium incarnation. For starters, the travel you have to cover with a guitar volume knob to get tones approaching “clean” (a very relative term here) is significantly greater than that required by a good germanium Fuzz Face clone, which will clean up with very slight guitar volume adjustments. This makes precise gain management with guitar controls harder. And in situations where you have to move fast, you may be inclined to just switch the pedal off rather than attempt a dirty-to-clean shift with the guitar volume.
“The best clean-ish tones come via humbuckers and a high-headroom amp with not too much midrange, which makes a PAF-and-black-panel-Fender combination a great fit.”
The best clean-ish tones come via humbuckers and a high-headroom amp with not too much midrange, which makes a PAF-and-black-panel-Fender combination a great fit if you’re out to extract maximum dirty-to-clean range. You don’t need to attenuate your guitar volume as much with the PAF/black-panel tandem, and you can get pretty close to bypassed tone if you reduce picking intensity and/or switch from flatpick to fingers and nails. Single-coil pickups make such maneuvers more difficult. They tend to get thin in a less-than-ideal way before they shake the dirt, and they’re less responsive to the touch dynamics that yield so much range with PAFs. If you’re less interested in thick, clean tones, though, single-coils are a killer match for the Fuzz Phrase Si, yielding Yardbirds-y rasp, quirky lo-fi fuzz, and dirty overdrive that illuminates chord detail without sacrificing attitude. Pompeii tones are readily attainable via a Stratocaster and a high-headroom Fender amp, too, when you maximize guitar volume and pedal gain. And with British-style amps those same sounds turn feral and screaming, evoking Jimi’s nastiest.
The Verdict
Like every JAM pedal I’ve ever touched, the JAM Fuzz Phrase Si is built with care that makes the $229 price palatable. Cheaper silicon Fuzz Face clones may be easy to come by, but I’m hard-pressed to think they’ll last as long or as well as the Greece-made Fuzz Phrase Si. Like any silicon Fuzz Face-inspired design, what you gain in heat, you trade in dynamics. But the Si makes the best of this trade, opening a path to near-clean tones and many in-between gain textures, particularly if you put PAFs and a scooped black-panel Fender amp in the mix. And if streamlining is on your agenda, this fuzz’s combination of simplicity, swagger, and style means paring down pedals and controls doesn’t mean less fun.
Constructed with solid flamed Hawaiian koa back and sides, paired with a solid spruce top, this guitar is designed to offer rich, balanced tone with articulate highs and warm lows.
The HG-28 introduces a new approachable body size to the Martin line, best described as a smaller 14-fret sloped-shoulder Dreadnought with the depth of a 000. Anyone who picks up this guitar will instantly notice how comfortable it is. Like a new, old friend. It's ideal for players who cherish the robust Dreadnought sound in a more comfortable size.
At the heart of the HG-28 is its construction from solid flamed Hawaiian koa back and sides paired with a solid spruce top. This choice of tonewoods not only delivers a stunning aesthetic but also ensures a rich, balanced tone with articulate highs and warm lows.
Whether you're strumming chords or picking intricate island melodies, its shorter 24.9” scale length offers a more relaxed string feel and excellent response. The HG-28 plays easily with low action and feels right at home in standard tuning or any one of several slack key open tunings such as open G, which is widely used in Hawaiian-style guitar music.
Adding to its vintage appeal, the HG-28 boasts bold herringbone trim and antique white binding, reminiscent of Martin’s early Hawaiian-style guitars. This guitar is not just a tribute to the past but a testament to Martin's ongoing commitment to musical innovation.
For more information, please visit martinguitar.com.
Blackstar Amplification introduces the JJN 50 and JJN 212 VOC, the lightest 50-watt valve amp in the world, designed in collaboration with blues rock powerhouse Jared James Nichols. Featuring CabRig IR-based speaker simulator technology, Celestion speakers, and a hand-signed certificate of authenticity, this amp delivers Nichols' signature sound with power and versatility.
Blackstar Amplification introduces the next iteration of the Jared James Nichols Signature Amp, the JJN 50 and JJN 212 VOC. Building on the decades-long relationship with Jared James Nichols, the much-revered blues rock powerhouse, the JJN 50 amplifier and JJN 212 VOC speaker enclosure are designed to capture and deliver all of Nichols blues-powered tones. Road-tested across stages in the U.K. and Europe, this amplifier packs a wallop, all in a lightweight package. In fact, this is the lightest 50-watt valve amp in the world.
The JJN 50 amplifier is based on Blackstar’s St. James 50 EL34 and takes it one giant step further by opening the top end and allowing a wide array of frequencies in to suit Nichols’ renowned playing style. It starts with our proprietary CabRig IR-based speaker simulator technology. The JJN 50 comes pre-loaded with 3 custom CabRig patches specifically developed with Nichols to create his most used tones: the ‘JJN Classic Muscle’, the ‘JJN Modern Grit’, and the ‘JJN Nashville Basement’. CabRig is better than earlier IR-based technology as it simulates a speaker cabinet and room with no latency reproducing the sound of a mic’d up guitar cab with incredible detail. Over 250 mic and cab combinations can be saved into one of three onboard slots. Each cab has a choice of room type, mic type and axis, and master EQ. For deeper options, connect to the free Architect software. The JJN 50 also includes a low-to-mid gain pedal platform with a Blues Power boost circuit kicking the amp into overdrive to release Nichols’ signature sound. The amp features built-in reactive load, and a power reduction switch with 50-Watt, SAG and 2-Watt options. Connectivity options include low latency USB for recording and an XLR D.I. for live settings.
The JJN 212 VOC enclosure features Nichols’ speakers of choice, the Celestion G12T-75 in the top position, and the exclusive Celestion Zephyr lightweight speaker on the bottom. Blackstar worked closely with Celestion to create a speaker based on the Vintage 30 that packs a sonic punch at a fraction of a traditional speaker weight. Speaking of lightweight, the JJN 50 & JJN 212 VOC is constructed out of Candlenut plywood. Known for its strength, lightness, and sound, it perfectly suits this signature amp. The amp is then wrapped in Nichols iconic British Racing Green livery and is adorned with our classic St. James illuminated Blackstar logo. Each Jared James Nichols Signature Amp comes with a hand-signed certificate of authenticity and a collectible postcard.
As Nichols himself says, “…Packing all the power, tone, versatility, and inspiration I could ever ask for, this one can truly do it all. I proudly worked closely with the engineers on every single facet of this amp; we put our heart and soul into it. I am absolutely blown away by the final product and I think you will be, too.” High praise coming from one of the modern-day greats. Blackstar continues to work tirelessly with artists to create amplifiers worthy of gracing the world stages night after night.
STJ50ELHJJN (head) $1,399.99
STJ212VOCJJN (Cabinet) $899.99
For more information, please visit blackstaramps.com.