I've been watching this on Ebay now for quite a while.
His price keeps coming down. No bites.
Man, if I was anywhere near R.I., I'd have snatched this up by now.
pleat Messages: 1452 Registered: June 2004 Location: Belding, Mi
Senior Member
Really nice looking organ, and well cared for. It is a cool piece of Kustom history but the fact is, it's a 225 pound monster that is more destined for someone who wants old school sounds and won't be moving it. The biggest problem with this model that most people don't think of, is the fact that the speakers face the front so the player has no idea of volume or tone. That model retailed for 1295.00 when new. I know my band used one when I was in high school, same model and our's was black. The keyboard player never could hear what he was playing. Lot of sour notes as I remember. The pre amp panel on the back wasn't much good, really low gain if you tried to plug something else into it. We ended up adding a speaker cabinet in back of the keyboardist so he could judge how loud he was. Most of the power amps inside the keyboard were the left over Frankie and K200A power amps. If it has the grey power cord, it's a good chance it has the Frankie power amp.
pleat
I had a black one and played it in a band for many years.
I had a second cabinet I plugged into the extra speaker jack.
I positioned it so I could hear it.
I mic'd the preamp and played the trombone occasionally.
I'll have to find one of my old recordings with that organ sometime.
sunnhead Messages: 221 Registered: June 2010 Location: Minnesota
Senior Member
I really want one of these organs! That sound clip on you tube was pretty cool. I agree with the one on Ebay, RI I'd snag that pup up if I didn't live so far a way!
pleat Messages: 1452 Registered: June 2004 Location: Belding, Mi
Senior Member
I'm in Michigan and it's still a million miles even if I had the money. Maybe we need to ask the seller to come to Chanute this Sept. Meet Bud and everyone and bring it with him. It would get it a lot closer that where it's at right now.
pleat
pleat Messages: 1452 Registered: June 2004 Location: Belding, Mi
Senior Member
Well, he probably wants cash. The sad part is, a 100.00 Casio will have a hundred or more sounds ava. and may weight 10 pounds, plug it into a amp and you can cover a lot sounds. It is a great piece of kustom history, not only that it was the first to have a built in amp and speakers, but the cool factor was off the charts in it's day. It's just to big to haul around. Two man job for sure. We had a tandem axle trailer in the 60's that held 7 3x15 cabs, the organ, all the heads and a double bass set of drums. Casters made it really simple, roll the cabinets in the trailer, wedge the organ between the rolls of cabinets and off we drove. A wall of black 3x15 cabinets was pretty intimidating along with the keyboard. Those were the days when weight and size was not a problem.
pleat
sunnhead Messages: 221 Registered: June 2010 Location: Minnesota
Senior Member
Well Ill tell you what I haul a Hammond C-3 around to gigs and that is a bastard to haul, Id love to get a Kustom Organ any day. The looks are amazing! lets face it, if im gonna haul a Hammond around, why not a kool Kustom!!
pleat Messages: 1452 Registered: June 2004 Location: Belding, Mi
Senior Member
Van, those are the photos you need to bring to Chanute. I'd like to do a slide show at the convention with old band photos from the 60's. I noticed in the photo what looks like a K200 head on the speaker cabinet behind the guitar player. Is it a PA head and did the handle come standard on the head? The other thing I noticed is the organ, did it have the Kustom logo removed? the photo on link doesn't show the logo, but on the photo on this site it looks like it might be between the lower two speakers.
The handle on the PA is most interesting. Kustom didn't ship any heads that I know of with handles. Maybe it was something that certain dealers requested or installed at the music store. I have a near mint charcoal K200B-1 with matching 2x15 cabinet that has the handle on the head.
pleat
For the life of me I don't remember that head (37 years ago???).
It may have been borrowed for that gig.
It certainly does appear to be a PA head.
The guitarist's Kustom is on the other side of the drummer.
I did a close-up scan of the back of that amp head.
It has the drummer's name on it. R. Ledbetter.
It's all coming back to me now.
I was using the Kustom organ as a key bass and the Vox as the organ.
No bass player
I was running the Vox through it, and pumping it through the column on the left and the cabinet underneath!
The guitarist had a K 250-2 as I recall.
Looks like a 3-12" or 3-15" cabinet.
It doesn't look like Chanute will be possible for me this year.
But hope springs eternal.
pleat Messages: 1452 Registered: June 2004 Location: Belding, Mi
Senior Member
van, it's amazing what old photos can do to the memory bank. I guess I read over the part that you don't think you can make the Chanute event. If things change for you that would be great. Keep us posted.
pleat
pleat Messages: 1452 Registered: June 2004 Location: Belding, Mi
Senior Member
I'm sure the cabinet in the photo has a horn. The 3x15 cabinet would be taller and the port holes would be lower. The Ports on the 2x15+H cabinet are just below the horn. The 3x15 cabinet would be 57" tall and the head on top would add another 8". From the height of the drummer sitting down, his head is close to the same height of the cabinet with amp sitting on top. If it were a 3x15 and amp on top it would be about the same height as the guy leaning on the kustom head.
pleat
Optyk Messages: 125 Registered: August 2006 Location: Texas
Senior Member
(Oops: I missed the message that explains all of this. Please ignore.)
OK, what's the deal with having the Vox Super Continental organ on top of the Kustom organ? That would be a rather expensive way to make a stand for the Vox, I'd think.
My experience would have been the opposite. i owned a Vox Continental and I would have loved to drop a Kustom organ on top of that POS. That thing (the Vox) stayed in the shop more than it stayed at home.
Rod
There's only two kinds of music. . . . blues and zippity doo dah.
rodak Messages: 512 Registered: October 2001 Location: Georgia
Senior Member
A bit late to the discussion - thanks for the eBay link. don't know why my regular searches missed that guy.
Just in case you haven't already, check out my website, www.combo-organ.com. I've got a fair amount of info on the Kustom organs.
The Kombo is indeed a beast, but the coolness does more than make up for it. Mine is gold, with a grey power cord and Frank power amp. It's got the most amazing bass section of pretty much any combo I've ever played (and I own over 20 off them!). The Kombo is also closely related to the Fender Contempo,which I recently acquired a specimen of, so I'll eventually be able to do some side-by-side comparisons (once I finish repairing the Contempo).
I found the preamp panel to be usable - plugged my bass into it, and got good sound out - the Kombo makes a great bass amp! The speaker jack by the volume pedal can also be used to drive an amp - either way, you definitely need a monitor of some kind.
I don't know if I'll make the get-together in Chanute. It's a 2-day drive for me (coming from GA), and I don't know if I have enough vacation time to swing it. If I do come, though, I will definitely bring the Kombo. That organ, more than any other, is what got me interested in combo organs, which has blown up into an entire website and a discussion group with more than 1,000 members.
rodak Messages: 512 Registered: October 2001 Location: Georgia
Senior Member
Glad you liked the website!
A Magnus 3D! I have one myself. Terrible sounding little beast and difficult to play because of the undersize keys, but a pretty sharp looker, especially that chrome volume pedal!