GuitarPlayer Verdict
Supro’s Airwave pairs vintage tube design with modern cabinet simulation. The 25-watt 1x12 combo uses 6V6 power tubes, spring reverb and tremolo, but adds onboard Two Notes DynIR processing with stereo XLR outs, headphones and software-editable presets. On its own it delivers gritty, warm Supro cleans and vintage-leaning drive. The built-in IRs — and the ability to load more — make it equally practical for silent practice, recording direct, or running straight to front-of-house in live rigs everywhere too.
Pros
- +
A good-sounding tube combo in its own right
- +
Versatility is greatly expanded by excellent-sounding Two Notes IRs
- +
Ability to add third-party IRs
Cons
- -
Although the tremolo sounds good its speed can be finicky to dial in
- -
A 2x12 and 4x12 cab preset would have been nice
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The Supro name may be synonymous with vintage guitar tone, but the company’s newest amplifier embraces cutting-edge technology. Its new Airwave is a tube-powered 1x12 combo equipped with onboard Two Notes cab-simulation.
Supro’s story stretches back nearly a century. The brand emerged in 1935 as the house line of Chicago manufacturer Valco, whose roots trace to the resonator-guitar pioneers National and Dobro in the 1920s—an era when amplification itself was still in its infancy and electric guitars were a still a few years away.
By the late 1960s, Supro amps were already part of blues-rock lore, heard in the hands of players like Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix, as well as numerous Chicago blues greats. The new Airwave neatly closes that historical loop, pairing Supro’s vintage tube lineage with modern digital cabinet simulation.
Certainly, Supro isn’t the first to embed IRs in an otherwise tube-driven guitar amp. Suhr, Engl, Blackstar and others have all covered this ground in one way or another. But the company’s merging of the retro and modern comes across a bit differently.
The Airwave neatly closes that historical loop, pairing Supro’s vintage tube lineage with modern digital cabinet simulation.”
Outwardly, the Airwave is a straightforward 1x12 combo with two 6V6GT output tubes and two 12AX7s in the preamp, for an output that Supro rates at 25 watts. Reverb and tremolo are both analog, with a genuine spring pan for the former. Controls following the single input include volume, treble, mids, bass, reverb, tremolo speed and depth, and master volume. There are also switches for boost and drive, each of which is foot-switchable, as are the reverb and tremolo.
It’s not until you reach the far-right end of the control panel that anything hints at 21st tech. There beneath a logo that reads “Two Notes DynIR Cab Simulation” sits a six-position rotary preset selector, a pushbutton group A/B switch, and a pushbutton pre/post switch that determines whether you send the amp’s signal to the IR processing before or after the output stage.
Round back is a knob for cab sim level and a USB-C input for connecting to a Mac or Windows computer to access the Two Notes Torpedo software for preset editing and loading (also available over Bluetooth to iOS or Android). Here too are stereo cab sim XLR outputs with a ground-lift switch; 1/4-inch TRS jacks for headphones; foot-switch jacks for reverb, tremolo, boost and drive; a speaker mute/on switch, and an eight-ohm extension-speaker output.
“Although it’s a relatively simple package, the Airwave provides everything you need to record direct to your DAW or run to front-of-house without a microphone.”
Keen readers will deduce that these features tell us the cab sim signal is processed in stereo, and also that it can be used through the XLR outs or headphones with the speaker muted for quite home playing or silent-stage gig situations. And it’s all squeezed into a stylish and portable combo measuring 20.5 by 18.5 by 9 inches and weighing 37 pounds.
Although it’s a relatively simple package, the Airwave provides everything you need to record the direct to your DAW or run the amp to front-of-house without a microphone either in mono or stereo. And you can do it while achieving the tones of almost any conceivable classic or modern speaker cab.
Onboard simulated speaker cabs are presented in two groups: Vintage and Modern. The former includes Super 1x8, Comet 1x10, Oahu 1x10, Modded Coronado 1x12, Dual Tone 1x12, and Thunderbolt 1x15; the latter offers Phil X ’64 Super 1x8, Amulet 1x10, Delegate 1x12, Keeley 1x12, Airwave 1x12, and Reissue Thunderbolt 1x15. Upon completing the product registration, the user can also download six further boutique Supro-based cabs.
As you can see, all of these offerings are IRs of Supro or Valco amp cabs, and all single-speaker cabs at that. I’ve used Two Notes IR technology on and off since the early 2010s and I’ve always felt one of the advantages of running a small combo into cab-sim processor was the ability to ram it through a classic Marshall 4x12 with pre-Rola Greenbacks, a Vox 2x12 with Alnico Blues, a Twin with JBLs, or whatever iconic (and possibly heavy) cab you’d love to be heard through but are unlikely to actually carry with you to the gig.
But that’s where the Torpedo Remote software comes in. Use it to load any other Two Notes or compatible third-party cabs you already own, and you’re there. Still, it might have been cool to have one or two 4x12s and 2x12s among the factory options for easy access.
Tested with a Fender Telecaster and a Gibson ES-335, the Airwave proved itself an able mid-sized combo in stand-alone mode, even before I added the Two Notes IRs. With boost and drive switched off, the amp’s clean and edge-of-breakup settings display that subtle marriage of grit and warmth that many players of Supro (and other vintage Valco) amps will recognize. It holds together surprisingly well in the low frequencies and up to pretty punchy volume level in the room.
With boost and drive switched off, the amp’s clean and edge-of-breakup settings display that subtle marriage of grit and warmth.”
These characteristics suit it beautifully to low-string twang from the Telecaster, which gets just the right be snarly and nasty with the boost engaged and the volume up beyond noon, yet it doesn’t fart out when introduced to the ES-335’s neck pickup, either.
Switch on Drive mode and a certain hairiness reveals itself, when pushed, which does indeed remind me of some snarly granularity of cranked Valco-made amps of the past, particularly those with the 6973 output tubes often used in place of the 6V6GTs found here.
Obviously the drive setting is affected greatly by where you set the amp’s volume control, but it enables a broad range of juicy lead tones, all of which lean vintage rather than modern, yet could easily apply to the latter in more alt- and indie-rock settings.
Boost and drive are handy bonus features, but might be tricky to apply as both are pre-set and the increase in output-level they induce can’t be adjusted.”
While boost and drive are handy bonus features, they might be tricky to apply even with the foot switch, considering both are pre-set and the increase in output-level they induce can’t be adjusted. Even so, they offer further ways to open up this combo and getting it screaming.
Reverb does what most will want from it, with well-balanced depth. The tremolo also sounds good and nails a certain breed of Valco’s off-balance wobble extremely well. The taper on the speed control will take some getting used to since it goes from the slower side of medium to all-out gallop through only about a 10 percent portion of its range around the two-thirty mark, but so it goes.
As it stands, the Supro Airwave offers pretty good value for the price. Add in the Two Notes IRs and the massive preset-editing capabilities of the Torpedo Remote software, however, and the combo’s versatility increases exponentially. The 12 factory presets and six further downloads offer impressive variation in sounds and responses. What’s more, the sound quality through stereo headphones straight into the amp or, for example, or studio monitors via the Universal Audio Apollo interface I also tested it through was excellent.
While the factory presets are set pretty dry, a significant amount of room or ambient reverb and stereo dimension can be dialed in via the Torpedo Remote app.”
While the factory presets are set pretty dry, a significant amount of room or ambient reverb and stereo dimension can be dialed in via the Torpedo Remote app, where mic selections and placement and several other parameters can also be deeply edited. As mentioned above, I really enjoyed patching the Airwave through a couple of my favorite third-part 4x12 and 2x12 IRs from Ownhammer, and the ability to load any such changes into the Airwave’s banks and tap that kind of tone live opens up its potentially immensely.
All in all, Supro did a great job of cobbling the Airwave into a simple and portable package that still offers boatloads of versatility both for recording and live performance, on stages both big and small.
SPECIFICATIONS
CONTACT Suprousa.com
PRICE $1,499 list
CHANNELS 1
CONTROLS Volume, Treb, Mids, Bass, Verb, Speed, Depth, Master, Preset selector; switches for Boost, Drive, Pre/Post, and preset Group A/B
POWER 25 watts
TUBES Three 12AX7s, two 6V6GTs
EXTRAS Cab Sim Level; a USB-C input, L and R Cab Sim XLR outputs with Ground Lift switch; ¼" Headphones jack, Verb/Trem Ftsw jack, Boost/Drive Ftsw jack, Speaker Mute/On switch,8-Ohm extension speaker output
SPEAKERS One 12" Celestion BD12
WEIGHT 37 lbs
MADE IN USA
PRO A good-sounding tube combo in its own right, the Airwave’s versatility is greatly expanded by excellent-sounding Two Notes IRs.
CON Although the tremolo sounds good its speed can be finicky to dial in, and a 2x12 and 4x12 cab preset would have been nice.
