new member and supro amp identification

e30fan@colby

I'm new to this forum and to vintage gear in general. I've been playing for six years, started in a classical ensemble before moving onto jazz/blues. I've been looking for an amp to give me great warm clean tone and that breaks up well once its turned up. I was looking at a Dirty30 until this opportunity came up and was wondering what ya'll thought.

The amp in question is a mid sixties Supro "Lightning Bolt" as described by the seller. I assume he means Thunderbolt because I dont believe supro made a lightning bolt amp. Pretty standard, 2 12AX7 tubes serial number T90058, speaker # 285533. The seller says it is all original, original powercord, no footswitch and tremolo works perfectly. He wants 300 for the amp, or 375 for the amp with a late 1940s early 1950s Kay F-Hole jazz hollowbody serial number L60225540. Has P90 style original pickup, neck was reset, but pots need cleaning at 9 -10.

Does this sound like an ok deal? What type of work will i expect needs to be done(convert to 3 prong, new tubes etc) and how much more $ will this require? Any more information on the amp and guitar or any resources would be greatly appreciated.
-Zachary Sager

TimC · Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2003 5:27 pm Post subject:

I'd be tempted to go for it if the condition is good, but only if I could play them first. You'll probably need new filter caps if it hasn't been done lately. I don't know how much this is now days. It's easy to run into big money fast when you try to fix up these old amps. Supro is one of the more sought-after amps. I passed on one because it was so beat up. Sounded great though. Wish I had bought it.