VintageKustom.com: Comment Board » ET's Kustoms got loose in the backyard..! check em out

Re: ET's Kustoms got loose in the backyard..! check em out [message #6311 is a reply to message #6291]

Tue, 15 November 2005 11:18

edforgothispassword
Messages: 202
Registered: July 2004

Senior Member

thanks Smoke... I feel as old as I look (smartass) but its not the years...its the miles
My kustoms have faired much better than I have..and I know they will outlast me...and I have 4 kids that will live on with them...
the little K25 1x12 down front was a combination birthday/christmas (dec 1st baby) back in 68 or 69..can't recall now...came with the original cover...but not the warranty..Dad bought it used for $90..it was actually 1 week old..a pro player had bought it and returned it for the larger 4x10 model as he needed more volume..so the store sold it as used to my Dad. It was my garage band rig at age 13 and suffered abuse through highschool as I plugged it into whatever other speakers I could find to get louder...ohms?...clueless...my Dad hired me on at 15 to play in his weekend wedding band..mostly bass, which started out as a fender bassman10, and quickly traded up to the 200 2x15 rig...the little K25 went off to collge with me where I won the jazz band chair..and for 4 years it rode around in the belly of the tour bus and also did duty in a couple local bands playing school dances etc..it has never stopped being a gig machine.. I still use it from time to time in my current wedding band which is in its 18th year of uninterrupted calendar (www.tabands.com) Taylor'd Arrangements ...
the 200 bass head was retired a number of years ago as I seldom do side man bass work..although I used to play regularly with it..the 2x15 cabs have now been reloaded with Eminence long throw drivers and they serve duty as the subs in my PA system, with the 3x15 sirens as my mains and those little 200 head housings are loaded with PV22T horns and a crossover in each so I can triamp and that's my Pa for 90% of our corporate and wedding biz..drive them with current amps..but keep the kustom look.
The K25 and the 200bass head have never let me down and other than some pot spray..even the filter caps, etc have not been changed.. I'm sure by now some things are leaky and off spec..but the rigs still sound strong, quiet and gutsy and I'd take my K25 out this weekend without hesitation.
The pair of SC2x10 combos actually get the call most of the time as I like to run in stereo...also the 2x12Sc combos if we are on larger stages..but the 2x10s are really just a great size...the 4x10SC has only seen stage time once..and it had low low hours when BC sold it to me..the thing is like new...the K100 head is the european model..has the voltage selector on it..and still had the shop tag on the inside of the chasis..the amp had no play time on it when I got it..and I've never taken it out...the 2x12s are Ross cabs..my favorite..I've been known to frequently stack the K25 on top of a 2x12 cab and run all 3 of the 12s..very full and loud rig..and so cool looking..I have a 16ohm 12 in the K25 and the 2x12 cab is an 8 ohm cab...don't ask me.. all I know is it handles it..its loud and has a ton more low end...and like I said..looks so awesome..the 3x12 I've played once on a large coliseum stage where it had room to stretch out.and it's great...the 4x12 cab I regrilled from that nasty silver threaded stuff...I drive it with a 65 fender showman head and oh my goodness..! the little 1x15SC currently has an Altec in it, but for years it was loaded with a polycone subwoofer and servered regular duty as the bottom end to a small PA in a little country club that we played all the time..the columns were my mains along with special tweeter boxes that I made and the 1x15Sc would be turned to face into the corner where we played..my wife and I and our sax player..a midi backed trio..dance floor for maybe 15 couples..I ran the mix channel into a boss bass eq pedal and then into the kustom and we got plenty of old fart low end...the whole thing actually sounded good...I could leave it set up since we played there a lot and took the other PA for the bigger jobs...it was great..i've hardly ever used the 1x15 as a bass guitar amp..although it sounds great...what's left..ah..the organ..no..I can't play worth crud...but had to have an organ..the epitome of 1960s rock n roll..no other rig comes close to the visual stigma of a tuck n roll organ..she's in good shape..has been serviced...the amp is hissing more than I like..but have just not bothered to tear it apart and find the culprit...not really about playing anyway..more the sheer magnificance of the beast..oh..the 400 head.. its a mono..but I do have the stereo version as well...too cool... i have some sparkly kustoms...and they are all special..but wanted to show the black collection unto itself...and now you know...the rest of this old fart's story..

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