WORKING CONDITION: Very Good. Both pickups, volume and tone controls are operating well. This is a unique sounding guitar due to its composition but also it's original Vista-Tone pickups...! Middle pickup position sounds like pure magic with the supro humbucker sized single coil pickups. These great pups were also used in other Valco brands; Airline, Harmony, National, Silvertone, and Gretsch. 

Note that the 3-Way pickup selector on this model does not work like a traditional Tele-style configuration. 

3-Way in the left position is the neck. (Left-most Volume and Tone for this pickup work in this position)The 
3-way in the middle position is the Bridge Pickup. (Right-most Volume and Tone control work in this position)
3-Way in the right position is also the bridge pickup, but with much less gain. Great for using overdrive in this position. (Volume works in this position, but not the Tone control)

Playability is even across the fretboard with comfortable, low action. Tuning and intonation are solid as it was in use and on call for a consummate studio profes.sionalsional. All four potentiometers function as intended. 

PHYSICAL CONDITION: Good. There is a 3" portion of the laquer missing from the top bout of the guitar and reasonable tarnishing on the brass tailpiece and both pickup covers. The original tuners and serial number plate are intact. Having had a professional refret at some point, the fret wear is extremely minimal.

INVENTORY #57372

BRAND: Supro

MODEL: Dual Tone

FUNCTION: Electric Guitar

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: This listing is for a 1959 Supro Dual Tone Electric guitar from the professional guitar arsenal of studio musician, Corky James. 

"Supro's standard pickup was dubbed the Vista-Tone. It appears to be a humbucking pickup, but it's just an illusion, it's a single-coil dressed as a dual-coil. The Vista-Tone's internal configuration resembles that of the single-coil Gretsch Hilo'Tron, with magnets to one side of a single coil, separated from it by a steel “keeper." Its six pole pieces are height-adjustable screws. Invented by Ralph Keller in 1952, “An object of this invention is to provide a pickup device which establishes a magnetic field extending for a substantial distance along each string, with the magnetic lines of force lying substantially parallel to the strings for the major portion of said distance." The wide magnetic field spans the width of the housing, interacting with approximately two inches of the strings' length.

These pickups have devoted followers. Luthier Paul Rhoney tried to convince Ken Calvet of Roadhouse Pickups to study Vista-Tones. “Paul kept bugging me," recalls Calvet. “I didn't have an original, but Paul found one for sale." Calvet was soon hooked. He reverse-engineered the design and launched a reproduction run within a few months. The Vista-Tone remains the star of the family. When pressed, Calvet describes the tone as a cross between a Strat and a P-90, though he says it breaks up differently when pushed: “There's more fuzz around the edges, though they sound good clean too."

SPECS:

Body: fiberglass with central core (reso-glass)
Bridge: rosewood adjustable (3 plain, 3 wound compensation)
Fretboard: rosewood
Neck shape: semi-chunky C
Board radius: 10-12"
Neck relief: straight
Fret style: medium
Scale length: 24 ¾"
Nut width: 1 - ⅝"
Body width: 15"
Body depth: 1 - ¾"
Serial#: T1410B
Pickups: Neck: Vista-Tone, Bridge Vista-Tone, each with Volume and Tone Controls
Case: black soft gig bag

ACCESSORIES INCLUDED: Includes gig bag

UNPACKAGED WEIGHT: 7.35 lbs.

UNPACKAGED DIMENSIONS: 41" x 5" x 16"