Absara Audio revives classic Supro guitar amp

Been a long time since it rock and rolled.

The distinctive sound of Su pro guitar amplifiers was made famous by Led Zeppelin. But the amps became rarities coveted by musicians after their manufacturer went out of business.

Now Absara Audio LLC, a Port Jefferson Station company, has found a growing market for its modern reproductions of the classic Supro amplifier.

Absara bought the Supro trademark, originally owned by Valco Manufacturing of Chi cago, and began selling the amplifiers in 2014.

The original Supro amps used vacuum tubes instead of more modern transistor technology. Music aficionados say such “tube” amps generate a better sound and more distinctive tone than other types.

Absara used reverse engineering to capture that sound in its own tube amps. But it updated the manufacturing process, such as using circuit boards instead of hand-wired construction.

Today, Absara’s roughly 20 full-time employees — many of them musicians — assemble about 400 amplifiers a month at the company’s 15,000-square-foot assembly plant, warehouse and corporate headquarters, housed in a former New York Sports Club. Absara also began selling Supro brand guitars and basses last year.

“We didn’t just reissue a product, we reissued the whole company,” said David Koltai, co-owner and president of privately owned Absara Audio and its two brands, Pigtronix, a maker of guitar effects pedals, and Supro.

Absara was founded in 2004 by Koltai and his college friend Brian Bethke, with the new Pigtronix brand as its flagship offering. Pigtronix assembles thousands of guitar pedals each month with revenue of “well over $1 million,” Koltai said.

He declined to provide more revenue numbers but said Supro is four times larger than Pigtronix, and growing. The products are sold overseas as well as in the United States.

Absara makes more than 60 models of amps, guitars and effects pedals. Its amps cost $699 to $1,649, guitars go for $599 to $1,199, and pedals range from $89 to $499.

The introduction of amps in 2014 and guitars in 2017 has been “a very big deal” for the small company, Koltai said.

Today, newly minted Supro amps and guitars — marked with the brand’s retro lightning bolt flourish, and with old model names such as Thunderbolt and Comet — are used by music greats including Paul Simon, Joe Perry of Aerosmith and Lenny Kravitz. Supro also has licensing agreements with the likes of Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and the late David Bowie.

Long Island has several companies in the world of music, including instrument and equipment retailer Sam Ash Music in Hicksville, guitar-string maker D’Addario & Co. in Farmingdale and Melville-based Korg USA, the American subsidiary of the Japan-based maker of keyboards and other electronics.

Sales of musical instruments and equipment have been relatively flat in recent years, limited by competition from sales of used instruments and equipment, and by advances in technology that have driven down the prices consumers pay, experts said.

National sales of musical instruments and equipment were $7.1 billion in 2016, the latest data available, unchanged from 2015, and only marginally higher than 2014, according to the Music Industry Census produced by industry publication Music Trades.

At the same time, an influx of smaller companies such as Absara, selling niche or boutique products, has created a more competitive marketplace.

“For someone to really get any attention, you really have to have phenomenal product development chops and great marketing savvy,” said Paul Majeski, publisher of Music Trades, which has tracked products since 1891.

Diversification tactic

John D’Addario III, president of his family-owned business, the world’s largest manufacturer of guitar strings, said diversification into premium products is a key tactic in growing the company amid a “stagnant” market. The 45-year-old company has $175 million in annual revenue, D’Addario said.

Interest in boutique and higher-end guitar and equipment offerings has helped shape D’Addario & Co.’s focus on accessories.

“Today what we’re seeing in terms of our premium focus is definitely a resurgence of interest in these boutique manufacturers” such as Supro. “Our premium-accessory strategy is really following the coattails of that trend.”

Korg USA said consumer trends have favored recreations of older brands and models.

Musical instruments and equipment represent “a niche industry” where demand is cyclical, said Joe Castronovo, president of Korg USA. In recent years many consumers have moved away from digital sound production equipment in favor of older-style analog equipment.

“One of the reasons for this is it’s different from what’s out there,” said Castronovo, whose parent company owns Vox, a brand of guitar amps made famous by the Beatles. “The old things come back again.”

Koltai said one of Supro’s biggest challenges is “capturing the spirit of a vintage brand.” With that spirit comes a corporate history tied to some of the biggest names in rock music.

Supro amplifiers first appeared in 1935 as the in-house brand of Valco Manufacturing, which was formed from the merger of National Stringed Instrument Corp. and the Dobro Co. during the Great Depression.

Valco designed and made amps and guitars under other brand names as well as its in-house brand, Supro.

Over time, the company’s Supro catalog would grow to include dozens of amp and guitar designs, and the company developed technological advancements that would help shape the roots of modern music.

“It was the sound of the Chicago blues,” Koltai said.

As the company grew in prominence, so, too, did the profile of its consumers.

A young Jimi Hendrix used a Supro Thunderbolt tube amplifier while on tour with the Isley Brothers, Little Richard and Ike Turner on the Chitlin’ Circuit, a name given to venues deemed safe for African-American performers during the era of racial segregation.

Supro’s biggest endorsement, however, came when guitarist Jimmy Page used a Supro amp on Led Zeppelin’s eponymous 1969 album, arguably the first heavy metal record.

“Page had a guitar sound that no one had really ever heard before,” said Koltai, a professional guitarist. “It was absolutely revolutionary.”

But Valco never got to capitalize on its role in the making of the album. The same year the album was recorded, Valco acquired Kay Guitar Co., “an insolvent entity,” and the combined company went bust, Koltai said.

“The moment that Jimmy Page made Supro famous, it was gone,” he said.

Supro amp and guitars became coveted collector’s items, however, making appearances in recording studios and stage performances over the next 50 years. “It became the stuff of legend,” Koltai said.

In 2013, Supro and its related product trademarks were owned by Bruce Zinky, a lauded amp designer who previously worked for the Fender Custom Shop, a division of instrument manufacturing giant Fender Musical Instruments Corp.

Zinky had initially asked Koltai and Bethke to find a buyer for the brand.

“We had shared a trade show booth with him for years, and he was looking to sell the brand,” said Bethke, Absara chief executive and co-owner. “As friends, we said we would help.”

Seizing opportunity

In talking about potential buyers, Koltai and Bethke realized relaunching the brand themselves “may be an opportunity too good to give to other people,” said Bethke. So in 2013 the business partners acquired Supro for an undisclosed amount.

Before the company’s launch, Koltai said, one of the biggest shots in the arm the company received was from Sammy Ash, the third-generation chief operating officer of Sam Ash Music.

Ash, whose business has 45 stores in 16 states, said that if the new Supro could produce an amp faithful to the original designs for $1,000 retail, the company would sell them in its stores.

The Ash family’s “blessing” at the outset of the brand’s revival was “a huge deal,” Koltai said. “To get the visibility to put the product in front of people is the hardest thing.”

Ash said the local company’s proposed timing was a key factor in generating interest in the market.

“Essentially, it’s a boutique line of guitars and amplifiers in an industry right now that’s embracing boutique brands,” Ash said.

“The guy who’s a collector who thought Supro was cool but couldn’t find one” can now buy one. “They are very authentic,” Ash said.

The company launched the revived Supro in 2014 at the National Association of Music Merchants trade show, displaying prototypes for three 1964- era Supro amps. The company sold $1 million in preorders and delivered the products six months later. Absara also said that since launching the Supro guitar line last year, it has sold thousands.

Eyeing new growth

Still, Supro is looking to navigate consumer trends and continue its growth.

Last year, amid the launch of its guitars, the company began a push to place greater focus on its big sellers, the classic models originally produced by the brand. For a time, the company launched a series of amps that weren’t recreations, but it didn’t do as well. The company also offered a larger selection of colors for its guitars and basses, Koltai said.

“We came out with a whole ton of guitars and we sold out of some of them, but we didn’t necessarily remake all of them.” Koltai said. “Same thing with some of the amps.”

At the same time, the company is working on its presence in emerging markets such as China and Brazil, and is going after more license agreements with big-name artists to bring attention to the brand.

“We are built to scale up, and we have a plan to do so,” he said. “We don’t have any major concerns about not filling demand.”