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Published by dow207

Supro brand lap steels were manufactured by Valco for the parent company National from the mid thirties through the mid sixties. Their hand wound pickups when used to over drive a tube amp can produce down and dirty blues tones. Traditional steel styles such as Hawaiian , western swing, jazz, or old time clean country blues do not work so well on the Supros. Supro was National Dobro’s budget brand, low end, and collectors today generally have a rather low regard for most of the Valco made Supro lap steels, and the various sister, and brother Valco made lap steels. ( More on the related, near identical Valco produced lap steels later) Some of us do like the Supro lap steels specifically because they have a raunchy, dirty, dark and rather nasty sound that works well on blues, and some rock styles.
I often see unrealistic prices being asked for Supros on the used market. Just go to the completed listings for Ebay in the site map. Enter and search for Supro lap steel, and related lap steels, and see what did not sell outlined in red, and what did sell outlined in green. Four hundred is high, and average in very good to excellent condition is $250-$300, as of mid 2010. Yes, on rare occasion you’ll see one that sold for a slightly higher price in super all original condition, with original case, but Supro lap steels rarely if ever sell for the high prices I see being asked. The actual sell price hasn’t changed much over the last few years, and the trend does not seem to me to be going higher. The exact Supro lap steel model doesn't matter much regards price, except those with legs, the Supro 60 with amp in case, or the twin with two necks. Those exceptions are going for as much as double the a fore mentioned prices. The Clipper and the Irene models date back to the forties, but do not fetch any higher prices.
Some of the Supro models include: Airline, Silvertone, Clipper, standard Comet ( no legs), Irene, Professional, Special, Student Deluxe, Studio, and the Supreme. They all sell for about the same price, and sound similar, nasty. Even cheaper is the Supro Jet Airliner, and the Spectator, which sell generally for under two hundred. The student Deluxe often also sells for under two hundred.
Check out the Vintage Guitar price guide, and then realize that the price they are showing is for excellent all original condition, with original case. Even then, most of us expect to pay less than the book price, not more. There just are not that many of us who actually play, or collect vintage lap steels to fetch the over five hundred prices I see sellers asking. Perhaps you’ll get lucky, but I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for the market in old Valco made laps to surge. ( As of spring 2011 I have seen the prices of Supro lap steels, as well as most of it's various clones under other names, go up on average by $50.+ )
There are several almost identical (clone/ or sister, brother) lap steels that were made by Valco under various house names other than Supro, that have the exact same pick up, and electronics. Oahu used various manufacturers to produce their branded lap steels over the years, and Valco was one. The Airline brand was Montgomery Wards house label, and they often used Valco. Silvertone was Sears house name, and again they used Valco to produce their lap steels. You can see all of these names with the exact same pickup. That doesn't mean these various names always have the Supro pickup, rather that they can be found with them. For example, I've seen Oahus with Valco pickups, with Rickenbacker pickups, and Regal pickups. All branded Oahu. Depends on who the parent company jobbed the particular batch out to. Most of the Gretch lap steels were made by Valco.
I’ve found several obscure house names over the years that also used Valco, with the same pickup, and electronics with slight variations. Bronson for example can be found with the Valco pickup, though more frequently they have the Magnatone pickups. McKinney all used the Valco/ Supro pickup. Most of the National lap steels use a different pick up that is cleaner sounding, but does not work as well for blues in my opinion. They can be visually identified as not having the strings through the pick up. The Nationals generally sound much better for traditional lap steel western swing, or Hawaiian styles. Nationals are more highly regarded by collectors. I personally like the National Dynamic model quite a bit, and they can still be obtained for a reasonable price.
Valco put serial numbers on a small metal plate nailed onto the back of the neck of the lap steels, and their other guitars starting in 1947. Before that numbers are found stamped into the body either by the end pin, or back of neck. All of the Valco made Supros, and various clones (Slvertone, Airline, Gretch, Oahu, etc.) from late forties on are numbered in a single series. That is, the Valco production line would make X amount of one house name to order, then stop, re tool, and continue production with another house name using the exact same electronics, and then proceed in the same continuous series of serial number tags. Here is a partial list of serial numbers, and the alphabetical prefixes used to date your own Supro, or other Valco made lap steel. I haven't seen too many Supros from the thirties myself, I have bought and resold a boat load of them though from the late forties, fifties to the mid sixties. For much more complete lists of Valco serial numbers, and many, many other brands, including the acoustics, tricones, etc. please refer to George Gruhn's Guide to Vintage Guitars. I believe a new updated version of the Guide has recently been released, and I'll certainly be getting myself a copy.
V for Valco serial numbers on back of lap steels neck:
V100-V7500___1947
V7500-V15000___1948
V15000-V25000___1949
V25000-V35000___1950
V35000-V38000___1951
X7000-X17000___1952
X30000-X43000___1954
X43000-X57000___1955
X57000-X57000___1956
X71000-X85000___1957
X85000-X99000___1958
T5000-T25000___1959
T25000-5000___1960
T5000-T75000___1962
T9000-T99000___1963
G15000-G38000___1964
G39000-G39999___1965
Above is a general guide to dating some of the Supros. There may well be discrepancies within the above list, and again, I refer you to George Gruhn's book for other methods of code dating from tone and vol pots, and much more complete lists of serial numbers for a wide variety of vintage stringed instruments. Bob Brozman is also an absolute expert on the dating of vintage Hawaiian style instruments, and I certainly recommend any materiel/ books he may have available, as well as his fine recordings.
For an example of the Valco pickup sound just copy paste the following to your browser, and go to my site with examples from several of my recordings. On my version of “Drunken Hearted Woman” I am using a Valco made Silvertone:
Below is the Valco made Silvertone I used on my recording of Drunken Hearted Woman. Examine the pickup, and look for that same pickup in other models, brands mentioned. The pickup, cove plate, and surrounding assembly can be chrome, gold, or even blackened, but otherwise looks the same.
The Valco pickup is usually described as having strings pass through the pickup, and does have that appearance, though really it’s a removable cover plate. You can identify the pickup with the six holes on the top of the cover plate, three in two rows, off set. These can be used to adjust the height of the individual poles, a most convenient feature, as I find the balance in volume high to low register often needs adjustment. Please remember to always make sure individual poles in a pickup are adjustable before you attempt to adjust them, or you may damage the the pickup by tearing the windings. This cover does make a convenient hand rest. The pick up design does have separate coils for the bass, and treble strings, so I suppose you’d call it a dual coil design. None the less, it sounds dirty at best, and will disappoint if you plan to use it for traditional old timey steel sounds.
Some of the old Supros still have a screw on style output jack for a cord. If you do not have one, or if one is not provided by the seller, you will have no way to even test the lap steel out for function. Some have a cord attached to the lap steel, and as long as it still woks without cutting out, it should be fine. Some also though have a detachable RCA jack the end of the cord, with a screw on style female jack underneath. Make sure the RCA male end is included.
Check out my other guides to Vintage lap steels for general information that may apply to the Valco made Supro lap steel. If you are interested in learning how to play blues on the lap steel, please check out my ebay listings for the instructional book/ CDs I have available. ( The last printing of my books/CDs on blues are selling out, expected to be out of completely by fall of 2011, and no future printing is expected due to increased printing costs, and the various fees associated with presenting them for sale. I hope my guides to vintage lap steel live on after my sales on E Bay of my educational series lap steel instruction are over, and someone finds my work useful.)
I didn't set out to denigrate the value, or usefulness of the old Supros when I pointed out earlier in this guide that the prices I have often seen asked seem unrealistic to me. Perhaps the market in time will prove me wrong, and the Supros will end up being a valuable asset to your collection. They certainly work well for blues, and blues is timeless. My point is that so far, collectible value has not gone up much on them. It sure won't cost you as much as a pre-war Rickenbacher, or as much as an old Fender, to try out a cool old Supro lap steel, or one of the other Valco made Supro clones. I recommend getting one for sure if you love the blues, just compare prices, condition, and use my guide's recommendations to snag one for a reasonable price, that's all.

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