Supro Keeley Custom 1970RK guitar amp: The perfect pedal platform?

21 Sep 2018 by Jef | Approximate reading time: 1 Minute

Supro Keeley Custom Amp · Source: Supro/YouTube

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When a ‘revived’ amp manufacturer and a well-known pedal manufacturer work together, it can only mean one thing: they’re attempting to build an amp tailored to people using a lot of pedals. So what’s different about the Supro Keeley 1970RK Custom, and is it worth buying?

Supro Keeley Custom 1970RK

This is a very simple amp, with a single Volume control, a 2-band EQ and a Master output control. The fully tube amp delivers up to 25 Watts using Class A technology. Two Tung-Sol Sol 6V6 provide the output power while one 12AX7 makes up the preamp stage, helping shape the amp’s sound. The speaker is a 10 Supro CR10, which should hopefully be large enough to handle the output from 25 watts.

Supro Keeley Custom amp with simple controls

But what is ‘Keeley’ about the amp?

The special feature is the tuning of the amp’s preamp section, which has been designed to work well with gain pedals, so everything from a boost pedal to overdrive and distortion pedals. It also has a transparent effects loop for your reverbs and delays that shouldn’t interfere with the amps core tone.

This is a simple, 25-Watt all-tube amp with its focus on working well with pedal set-ups. Small amps can be perfect in many situations, including live, recording or just home use. This new Supro Keeley Custom could be great for pedal addicts. It seems a bit underpowered for the price, though, and there’s a lot of competition in the 25-Watt range. Maybe USD 599 would have been closer to the mark?

RRP – USD 799