| K100 tone [message #22073] |
Sun, 11 January 2015 09:55  |
sikrogh
Messages: 8
Registered: January 2011
Location: Sioux Falls SD
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Junior Member |
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Hey gang,
I want to say first that I am a guitar player, but I don't pretend for a second to be a " perfect tone" expert. I guess I like what I like and I have never been on some quest to find "that tone"....
I bought a near mint Kustom k100-2 head and cab years ago based only on the cool looks! It still looks great in the guitar room. The cab has Jensen speakers. I replaced the chord with a three prong but other then that it is stock.
I hardly ever play the amp. I want to play it, I really do, but every time I plug in and fire it up, I can't take the tone. This amp has an extreme amount of treble. Even with the treble rolled all the way back, it seems to have too much treble.
I was bored the other night and decided to plug a vht special 6 head into the cab. I normally plug that little guy into an old peavey bandit 1x12 cab with a Sheffield speaker and consider it on the dark side but usable.
Anyway, I plug it into the kustom cab and guess what, too much treble!
Is that suppose to be the characteristics of theses cabs? I really expected more low end from the cab with the vht. Does anyone else consider these amps and cabs to be strong on the treble side of things? Is that the tone that should be expected with the Jensens? How would the experts on this board describe the tone characteristics of a K100?
Side note. If I ever find a small Kustom pa in sparkly blue, that sucker is going in the guitar room as well! Love that look.
Thanks everyone
DK
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| Re: K100 tone [message #22077 is a reply to message #22073] |
Sun, 11 January 2015 20:25  |
Iowa Boy
Messages: 767
Registered: June 2014
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Senior Member |
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I think that maybe that is the signature trade mark of Kustom. I had the same issues with all my amp heads as well. Even though I play bass and not guitar anymore, the sound is a little on the brassy side to my liking. Speakers do seem to make a difference. I am not nor ever have been a big fan of Jensen's. Eminence makes some excellent speakers and are reasonably priced. The old JBL's might be a good choice for you as well if your willing to spend the money. The other guys on this site will steer you in the right direction.
Your amp might have some issues as well considering the age and all. Stevem, Pleat of Chicagobill will be able to help you out there.
Just throwing this out there.....when was the last time you changed your guitar strings. I remember back in the old days that my guitar would sound twangy after a while if I put in a lot of playing time. And cheap strings are just that......sound cheap, snap, and your better off springing for the good one's. Definite difference in sound quality. Read on a website somewhere that it was recommended that you change strings before every gig.......to me, I think that is excessive and expensive to say the least.......unless your Eddie Van Halen.
Welcome to the site as well.
[Updated on: Sun, 11 January 2015 20:28] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: K100 tone [message #22078 is a reply to message #22073] |
Mon, 12 January 2015 07:54 |
stevem
Messages: 4744
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY
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Senior Member |
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You could always as a last resort use that good old tone control that most guitars come with to back down on the treble,lol!
Also if you have never had your guitar set up youmight want to try adjusting the pick height as if they are too low the axe will be on the brite side with reduced low end responce, you can look on line and find the suggested height for your type of pickups off of the string!
[Updated on: Mon, 12 January 2015 07:56] Report message to a moderator |
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| Re: K100 tone [message #22079 is a reply to message #22073] |
Mon, 12 January 2015 11:05 |
zedsalt
Messages: 65
Registered: March 2008
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Member |
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Just a quick note on new strings vs. "dead" ones...seeing EVH's name brought it to mind. I used to dread changing strings. There was always that seemingly-interminably-long span of time when the tone was harsh; they wouldn't even hold tune through an entire song (I'm not a particularly gentle player), and if a string was going to break sometime before it had become rusty and pitted, it was during that "breaking in" period (I change tunings constantly, a nerve-wracking experience when one's expecting a string to snap). Then, I read an interview with Eddie Van Halen wherein he said he always boils his strings to assure they're "dead" before installation. I tried it, and it was an epiphany. Six strings (regular or Nashville strung) or twelve for acoustic or electric, mandolin, dulcimer, tenor banjo, banjolele...the only strings I don't boil are bass and, of course, classical (nylon) guitar. The tone's exactly, consistently what I want, and I can crank 'em from several steps below standard tuning to a step and a half above and back, then beat the bejeebers out of 'em without incident.
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| Re: K100 tone [message #22360 is a reply to message #22220] |
Thu, 05 February 2015 01:21 |
BrianBB
Messages: 46
Registered: November 2008
Location: Fayetteville, Ga.
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Member |
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DK,
I have the exact amp, K100-2 with Jensen cabinet and it sounds just as you describe. Here's the problem, as pleat explained it to me. The K200s and K100-1 have both a normal and bright channel. The K100-2 has only a bright channel on the left side and reverb and tremolo controls on the right side, hence the high treble, low bass output. I plugged my K100-2 head into a CTS cabinet and it helped tremendously.
Brian
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