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Kustom tubes in the 60's? [message #3896] Fri, 19 March 2004 14:08 Anonymous Hey check out this ebay ad: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3712411823&category=10171 This proves that Kustom made at least one tube amp in the 1960's. There could be others - maybe we should all take a look at the back of our amps.... Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustom tubes in the 60's? [message #3897 is a reply to message #3896] Fri, 19 March 2004 14:44 QModer Messages: 413 Registered: June 2003 Senior Member I did'nt known that. I had previously thought that only that reissue series that were made in the late eighties or early nineties that were available with a 4x12 or 2x15 were the only ones ever made. I remember seeing them in musicians friend. I seem to remember that were only available in two colors red and charcoal. So old Bud dabbled in tubes though huh. You learn something everyday I suspose. Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustom tubes in the 60's? [message #3899 is a reply to message #3897] Fri, 19 March 2004 15:30 rodak Messages: 512 Registered: October 2001 Location: Georgia Senior Member Am I missing something here, or maybe I just don't get the joke. I didn't see anything in the auction that mentioned tubes. Clue me in - I'm curious. BTW, I think the Kustom reissues were late-90's. I remember seeing them in Musicians Friend only about 3-4 years ago, for only about a year. and afaik, they came in black, blue, red and charcoal. www.combo-organ.com www.combo-organ.com Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustom tubes in the 60's? [message #3900 is a reply to message #3899] Fri, 19 March 2004 19:20 Anonymous the second picture was the back of a tube amp and has now been deleted. was fun while it lasted... Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustom tubes in the 60's? [message #3901 is a reply to message #3900] Fri, 19 March 2004 22:10 QModer Messages: 413 Registered: June 2003 Senior Member Those late eighties early nineties Kustom amps were about the same height and width as the usual Kustom heads but they were very deep. I think one of them was a fifty watt version but I don't know about all of them. I was gonna get one because I did'nt have a red amp. But they had fallen by the wayside before you knew it. Too bad too as they still had the same cool look. I actually saw some of the little ones in a store. Probably about 10 watts with and eight inch speaker. But they still had that same cool sixties classic plexi Kustom front and tuck n roll. Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustom tubes in the 60's? [message #3902 is a reply to message #3896] Fri, 19 March 2004 22:53 rodak Messages: 512 Registered: October 2001 Location: Georgia Senior Member It was '99, or '98 at the very earliest. I was shopping for a small guitar amp in mid-1999, and the little teeny ones had just come out. The full-sized heads and cabs came out shortly after. I remember the www.kustom.com site at the time had some pictures up, but it was still a "coming soon..." thing. For about a year or so afterwards, they showed up in the Musicians Friend catalogs, then disappeared and started showing up on eBay - one seller had pictures of loads of them in the original boxes, selling them one after another, each auction offering a choice of colors. I heard one of the reasons they failed had to do with problems delivering on time, and I think there were reliability issues, and also heard that the Naugahyde was thinner than the old stuff. The Krossroad line came out in the early 90's, and had their own problems, but their Naugahyde is every bit beefy and well-done as the originals ('cept you couldn't get Green in the 60's!) www.combo-organ.com www.combo-organ.com Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustom tubes in the 60's? [message #3903 is a reply to message #3902] Fri, 19 March 2004 23:47 QModer Messages: 413 Registered: June 2003 Senior Member I have heard of those Krossroads amps too. They were said to have one powerful punch. But have seen those nineties ones in person I can say that they are some sharp looking amps. Very vintage looking. Enought to fool my wife who is a old Kustom fanatic. Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustom tubes in the 60's? [message #3915 is a reply to message #3903] Mon, 22 March 2004 08:01   stevem Messages: 4739 Registered: June 2004 Location: NY Senior Member Hi.I have 2 amps from the new so to speak kustom corp. One is a 100 watt all tube(with exception of the reverb curcuit) guitar head and a 4-12 cab. The head has channel swiching and uses all toroidal tranformers. Sounds pretty good for the cheap preamp tubes that come in it. The other head is a bass head 400 watts RMS two channel one having a tube preamp. The amp has chours, compression, effects loop, and a crossover. Just a great head!! Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustom tubes in the 60's? [message #3917 is a reply to message #3915] Mon, 22 March 2004 17:31 ET Messages: 146 Registered: October 2000 Location: Charlotte NC Senior Member the new kustoms were over a year late in coming..and at almost double the original planned cost...the "fabric" was thinner and had some quality control issues on how well they were tuck n rolled...I can't speak to the tone, but many asian made products in that era were coming with really crappy tubes and components so I'm guessing the design really could have sounded better than the manufactured result. Kustom failed tomake any real effort to embrace the heart of the vintage players..in fact they made no real effort to do a damn thing period cept act like the typical suits of a large corporation in the 90s..and so the long awaited, highly hoped for return of tuck n roll died all too quickly and I blame the execs at the new kustom company for every bit of it. the Krossroads line was a Bud Ross creation and as is typical of Bud, about as fast as he created them, he moved on to a next project which was the Edgerton cube amp project..anway.. he passed the krossroads effort on to son Andy and all things quickly went away. the 200 series which included 2x10 and 1x15 combos both in biamp horn and no horn options came with a very solid amp section which I still am abusing to this day..the original 15 models used EVs..the 10s tried, but the EVs needed more airspace and so they went to a lesser brand speaker. the other models offered in cluded a 3 piece rig with a 500 head on top of a 2x10H cab and a 1x15H cab. the 500 head was also offered with a more traditional 2x15 cab. Instead of grill cloth they used a really cool metal grill and some wonderful spring loaded flip handles. the 500 series heads had problems that they never really fixed. The fabric was actually from Goodyear as oppposed to uniroyal on the original stuff. I don't think the uniroyal plant was back in biz at that time...they are now and had just gotten back up prior to our nashville reunion. Andy Ross sold the krossroads name, partially completed inventory, sewing machines etc to a company called Alpha Export (japan owned out of Van Nuys CA.) They were concentrating on a new bass guitar and never spent any more effort on the krossroads which actually sold quite well in Japan. the rigs are all pro and top quality built with the exception of the problems in the 500 amp.. I'd recommend them to any vintage kustom enthusiast as they do represent a Bud Ross legacy effort and a quality product that revisited the kool factor. Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustom tubes in the 60's? [message #3919 is a reply to message #3917] Mon, 22 March 2004 20:56 QModer Messages: 413 Registered: June 2003 Senior Member Well stated good info. there ET. Thanks for putting it up. Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustom tubes in the 60's? [message #3931 is a reply to message #3919] Wed, 24 March 2004 20:47 BC Messages: 583 Registered: March 2000 Location: Kentucky Senior Member I am older and it has been a few years but it seems like Bud Ross told us he never made a tube rig. I also recall him saying that the Krossroads amps were first sold under the name Klassic....but Peavey had a fit so the name was changed. There was a guy from NC at the show in Nashville in 2000 had seen a Klassic and asked about it.BC Report message to a moderator

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