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Supro’s 2014 re-launch signaled a welcome return for a most revered amp brand. Players voiced their approval by snatching up both vintage-reissue, re-imagined, and entirely new models to take on tour and into the studio. The new 1685RT Neptune Reverb falls somewhere between the vintage and retro camps. It’s not a re-creation of any specific vintage Supro model (all of which were originally manufactured for the brand by Valco of Chicago). And it was designed—with input from backline rental company SIR—to deliver the same utility as standard-bearing backline amps like the Fender Twin Reverb and blackface Deluxe, and the Vox AC30.
Valco Decoder
Though Supro clearly put the Twin Reverb and AC30 in its sights designing the Neptune, it is easily differentiated from those classics by a lower, 25-watt power rating and the use of 6973 output tubes, which have a very distinctive voice and should help distinguish the Neptune from any rival, British or American. Those two factors should not be deterrents to the curious.
The 6973-driven tone is a big part of what made Supro so well loved in the first place, and 25 watts through two 75-watt, 12" speakers is plenty loud for most sound re-enforced stages these days.
But before you even consider what’s inside or on the control panel, there’s a good chance you’ll fall in love with the scrumptious look of this thing. Supro has sourced gorgeous re-creations of the blue-gray “rhino hide” vinyl covering and silver-and-black grille cloth of old, and up close and in person the Neptune Reverb is just short of stunning. Controls include a single volume with treble and bass pots in the tone stage.
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