08/23/2026
Before we tape this box shut, we had to give this one a proper goodbye.
1940 Supro Model 60 lap steel with its matching amp/case combo.
Yep, the tube amp is built right into the case. Carry the whole box in, open the lid, plug in, and you’re in business. For 1940, that is a pretty brilliant little setup.
The whole package sold for $60 new, which works out to roughly $1,430 today.
These were made in Chicago by the Valco folks, introduced in 1938, and disappeared in 1942 when instrument production stopped and that same manufacturing know-how was redirected toward electronics and aircraft parts for the war effort.
So beyond being a killer old lap steel that still sounds fantastic, this is also a neat little snapshot of American manufacturing right before everything changed.
Great idea. Built well enough to survive 86 years. Still working.
We’re packing it up for its new home on the West Coast, and yeah... we’re going to miss this one.
