Supro 1968RK Keeley 1x12" 25-watt Tube Combo Amp Reviews

I've spent a few months with this Supro 1968RK and it's exactly what I was looking for. The build quality is fantastic! It's lightweight and cool looking (a friend thought it was denim at first). This is not going to be everyone's go-to combo amp: open back, single channel, lower wattage and minimalist features... but it could be. Think of it as a starting place or a blank canvas: you add your colors with stomp boxes and guitars. The name Keeley should be indicative of this amp's purpose. It has a very Deluxe Reverb-like tone to my ears; without the idle noise and better clean headroom. This is my first time using this particular Celestion and I have nothing but praise. So, use your ears and the right combination of stomp boxes and guitars, it is as versatile as you make it. Just understand what and who this is intended for and maybe you'll find this is in your wheelhouse.

First, let me get out of the way how good this amp looks. The fit/finish and build quality are top notch. Super retro looking, and online pictures don't do it justice. Super clean, super high headroom amp that takes pedals better than any I've tried. It has a midrange that is so cool sounding it's ridiculous. Once dialed in for a balanced clean tone it's ready to take any pedal combinations you can throw at it. It does not get crazy loud, but loud enough for jamming with a band in a smaller setting. If you needed to play a larger venue like a Hard Rock Cafe, for example, then a microphone through a PA is the way to go. On a side note before I forget, the UK made Celestion Creamback 65, is one of the best sounding speakers on the planet. I run both overdrive and modulation pedals in the front of this amp. I don't use the effects loop. More on that in a second. The massive headroom this amp has allows anything to be put in front and it sounds fantastic. Now, the loop. There are complaints about the effects loop. The way it is designed and the levels it works with are more geared towards rack effects I imagine, rather than most pedals. It is very similar to me to the Soldano loops in the SLOs and Hot Rods. People complain about those loops too, with most pedals. Rack effects take care of the problem. Get a pedal that can take a hot signal and you'll be good to go also. I don't use rack effects so I run all my pedals in the front and it works great. I've used many different amps in many different ways and I will say this is hands down one of my favorites of all time. Thumbs up to Supro and the guys reviving this brand. They are designing future classics.

First I will get out of the way how great this amp looks and how the quality of the build is top notch. Next, the UK made Creamback speaker it has, is one of the best sounding speakers on the planet. The amp sounds great on its own without anything added but once you start adding pedals it really comes to life. Beautiful clean sound and when dimed it gets to the edge of breakup nicely. This is where all the pedals come in. Add some reverb or a little delay and the cleans are so nice it's ridiculous. Add a boost or overdrive and it gets fun real quick. The kicker about this amp is the core Supro sound. Then you get to flavor that with pedals of your choice. I run everything into the front of the amp with huge success and do not use the effects loop. Now this is where I've read people have an issue with this amp. The way the loop is designed and the levels it works with will not play well with a lot of pedals. It is more designed to work with rack effect type units. The closest I've encountered personally with a loop like this are the Soldano loops like the SLO and Hot Rods. People complain about those loops too. I do not use rack effects. I tried with a couple Soldano amps and just didn't like them. The great think about this Keeley is that it takes pedals, both overdrive and modulation, in the front better than any other amp I've used. It has massive headroom to make that possible. This amp does not get screaming loud. It is loud enough to jam in a live situation with a band but if you needed to fill a larger venue like a Hard Rock cafe for example, you would need to mic it and get it through the PA. But for the sound, portability, ease of use with pedals, and the looks, this amp is a total winner.

After Almost one year of daily use, I have had no issues with this amp, I purchased this amp as I had to move into an apartment for two years for work, all my amps were too loud (even the MT15 if you know, you know ;), smooth power roll on, cleans are SUPER clean, the FX loop is crystal clear. To address the review that stated the FX loop's output was weird, I have tried, played, and owned ALOT of amps over the years, and their FX loops are all different. A great way to instantly notice the differences is to grab a looper like the ditto+...... when you play back a lick from the pedal in the FX loop, it's going to sound WAY louder in some amps, WAY lower in some amps, and even crunchy in a few..... However, If you take that same looper and RECORD a loop in the FX loop, when you play it back, it will be 'leveled' out no matter what amp you have it in.

Guitar players that do not record always make the mistake of thinking that the Master volume is the MASTER VOLUME. My friend, I would offer that pickup height, string gauge, tone knobs, (guitar) volume knobs, cable length, all-the-knobs-on-your-amp, mic placement, mic gain, preamp settings, etc, etc, etc, matter WAY more with regard to "loudness" than the FX loop on the amp.

This amp provides VERY clean, loud, and bluesy tones. It's tone knobs are perfectly focused on rock-blues tones, that is w/o any effects. I purchased this amp when my job forced me to move to an apartment building temporarily (so initially, it was a volume issue), but after putting it through its paces, I can 'trust' this amp now. As a pedal guy, I need to know that the 'clean' tone is perfect every time (i.e. i tested over 300 pedals in the last 18 months).

This amp is now the guitar equivalent of my trusty studio monitors. it tells the truth.

I have been a guitar player for 20+ years and an avid pedal collector. (Instagram: @eddies_gear)
After owning (currently still own) Marshall JCM 800, JCM 900, Mesa/Boogoie Dual rectifier, PRS MT15, Soldano SLO, Line six, Two notes & all the plug-ins in the world..... This thing is SWEET.

This is the classic "I've played them all" review…

This amp is just a real pleasure, simple controls great clean and overdriven tones (almost jtm45/bluesbreakerish)…the stand out is how well it sounds with pedals…(here it comes!) I have been lucky to try out a lot of different amps, the last two being a Dumble clone and a mark v35, but I just love what this amp does…very satisfying to play without having to think about knobs and foot switches bells and whistles…just get one!

I was looking for a tube combo gig worthy amp. The amp sounds great clean and will produce natural overdrive tweaking the knobs. I use the effects loop with my pedalboard and there is no disturbance in the signal. It cuts through the mix very welll when it is miked. It's not very heavy to tote around either. I highly recommend it!!!

Clean warmth and artisanal design.

I honestly didn't know what my pedals sounded like until I got this amp, apparently. Running everything through a late-80s Crate "tube" amp, I finally got sick of the wall of static created by having more than 3 effects going. If you love messing around with pedals and effects, this is truly for you. It sounds gorgeous with nothing, but your effects shine though in their full glory (especially reverb through the effects loop). Still messing around with the tone settings on the amp, but this appears to be one those rare instances where something not only lives up to the hype, but exceeds it.

Hands down..The best amp I've ever played on. I've been playing guitar for 50+ years and I've had some killer amps in the past( Fender,Marshall,Silvertone,Vox, Univox..even the old padded Kustom). I had been using a Blackstar ht20 which I thought was a really good amp, but was wanting to try something new. I tried out the newer revoiced Blackstar as well as the Marshall DSL. Both amps were disappointing. Very solid state sounding to my ears. Different strokes for different folks. Decided to try the Supro Keeley Custom 12 and there was that pure tube amp sound I was searching for. I can't say enough about how good this amp sounds. If your looking for old school tone, this is it. Plenty of clean headroom and works great with pedals. This amp is LOUD....plenty loud enough to hang with a band and with master it also sounds great at low volumes. Awesome amp for Classic Rock and Roll.

I absolutely love this amp. I use both a Strat (with Fat 50s), and a newer Les Paul Standard, both of which sound great. I was surprised how much quieter my Strat was running through this compared to my other amps.

I specifically use this as a pedal platform, with the effects loop for my modulation pedals. I've not owned something that does this, but I'm very happy with the setup and sound.

I absolutely love this amplifier. I've had my Keeley Custom 12 for just under a year, and have played it every which way: quietly in my basement, cranked at band practice (twice a month), and live at gigs - mic'd. I bought this amp to run my pedalboard through the effects loop. When run quietly in my basement setup (finished basement), it sounds very clean with the tone sounding bright-ish. However, when playing at a band practice level and gig level, this amp is absolutely cranked in the mids, without offering a knob to adjust for personal preference.

Unfortunately, without that option to back off the mids, I am considering selling or trading in my Keeley Custom 12 for another option. I do have a 1999 Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, and that bright tone is simply undeniable, with or without an effects loop.

Supro is a legendary company, and this review is in no way throwing shade at them. I'm not upset with my purchase, and do not feel mislead. The only way to see if an amp truly works for you and your band, is to play them in multiple settings. Watching demos help, but there's nothing like putting your style into it.

If this amp stays with me for the rest of my life, I'd be perfectly okay with that.

I've had this amp for almost two years now. In the context of a live setting the headroom isn't enough when you're not mic's up and even in my three piece band it gets drowned out. My drummer isn't that hard of a player either. The overall tone is very very flat. It really sounds very plain and the treble and bass knobs really don't do much. They claim it's transparent but seems more anemic than anything. I found the amp to be much too warm and bassy. I've also had issues with it screeching horribly and shutting off on me live. Additionally the top plate where the knobs are over heat so badly that the metal has warped and all of the lettering has bled out and is almost illegible. I really did like how well it worked as a pedal platform but it doesn't even do that that much better than other amps within a similar price point. Based on reliability and tone I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending this amp to any serious gigging musician. I will saying looks are striking and do get attention but that's the least of my concerns. I rather stick to using my supro 2x12 black magic cab with different heads, that cab is very lightweight and sounds absolutely killer with great projection.

If you're looking at this amp, I assume you're a person who utilizes pedals -- big same, and I was excited to find a tube amp this size/weight and wattage with an FX loop.

First, be skeptical of the 25w rating here - it is perhaps louder than you'd want in your bedroom with the MV dimed, but I have a hard time believing it's near 25 watts. I did determine by sending the pre-amp signal out into another amp's power stage that the tone controls are POST pre-amp, and they behave kinda like MV rather than what you're used to in a tone stack. You're definitely going to want to use those tone controls too, as this amp is very dark and bassy. I swapped in an Alnico cream thinking I could squeeze some more db out of the amp (~+3db sensitivity), but it was an expensive failure for the most part. On Keeley's own website, he says you can swap 6L6s in for the EHX 6V6s it ships with: "Yes, you can use 6L6 tubes for a couple watts more.", however I'm told Supro says not to do this, and I wasn't about to risk burning up the OT on a gamble like that.

Second, if you're putting pedals in the loop, understand that it's not necessarily sending instrument OR line level, but rather exactly what's coming out of the pre-amp stage. If you're running something in 4CM, you are going to overload your return, and it's going to sound pretty bad. If you're lucky enough to have a device that allows you to adjust the send and return, you might be able to figure out where unity is with a little trial and error, but know that any time you change the input gain on the amp, you will have to change the levels on the send and return as well. I've read myriad issues with Strymon pedals interpreting the level as line level and people having major issues there. If you're running pedals into the front of the amp, perhaps it's a different story. I bought this thing with the assumption that the FX loop was premium -- worthy of the bold text "Transparent effects loop" major selling point everywhere you see it marketed. It is not.

It is a beautiful amp, and the weight is just-right. I tried like hell to make it work in my hardly-complicated setup and 3 piece band that practices at an extremely reasonable volume, but alas, 1+ year into ownership, I'm giving up the ghost. It's a shame (and an expensive one at that!), as the rest of the reviews here seem extremely enthusiastic, and some seem to love this thing. However, I did not.

I bought this amp for gigging, it sounded great.
A day after the first gig, it started cracking and popping, losing volume.
Thought it might be a tube.
But no, it just started humming and smelled like it was burning.
Sweetwater folks, Ryan Thorpe, my sales rep, put me in touch with tech.
When I told him what happened, be immediately sent a return label and sent me a new unit.
Unfortunately it did the same thing.
But the customer service was great!
A new different amp has been sent.
Awesome sweetwater!!!!