Guitar of the week #94 - Supro Island Series Westbury

If you wanted something really good that's not just another Strat or a Les Paul, you need to play a Supro.

Supro's "Island Series" has 3 models. The Jamesport (1 pickup), the Westbury (2 pickups as seen above), and the Hampton (3 pickups). The Westbury is the best of the three because it's the easiest to get along with. A one-pickup guitar is not something too many people like, and a three-pickup guitar usually results in the middle pickup getting whacked a lot when playing and causing discomfort, so the two-pickup is the best way to go.

This guitar has what's described by Supro as an Ozark shape, which I'm assuming refers to the Ozark mountains (a highland region mainly in the US states Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma). It also has Gold Foil pickups that are designed to sound like the ones developed in the 1950s.

And in case you're wondering, yes, Supro is an old guitar brand. Not new. A very quick history is that Supro was part of a larger company Valco that also included Airline guitars among other brands that made all sorts of different guitars from solid-body to lap steels and pretty much everything in between. Valco existed from the 1940s through the late 1960s. A merger with Kay Musical in 1967 is what ultimately did them in...

...but Supro is back and exists loud and proud today, both for their guitars and their amps. They make pedals too. Yes, this means if you wanted to "go all in" with just one brand that is not Fender where you can get everything you need to rock out, Supro definitely has you covered with some seriously good high-quality stuff.

The Westbury is a 25.5" scale with an alder body and a set neck with 12" fingerboard radius. It is designed to be very ergonomically friendly.

What does it sound like?

Frickin' gorgeous is what it sounds like:

Yeah, this guitar will set you back 4 figures, but my God, does it deliver it fine style.

You can see the turquoise model as well as other colors along with prices right here. Check the links at top for the other Island Series models.

Published 2017 Jan 25