Home » VintageKustom.com » Comment Board » Kustomized full stack

Show: Today's Messages :: Polls :: Message Navigator

Kustomized full stack [message #4933] Fri, 08 October 2004 00:35   voided3 Messages: 200 Registered: July 2004 Senior Member Hello. As some of you may already know, I have a Kustom K200-A5 and a '71 Orange 4x12 cab. I just bought and recieved today from ebay a Crate GE-412s slant cab. It was wired as four ohms, but i converted it to 16 by wiring all of the speakers in series (4 ohm speakers each). I noticed the speakers in it though are a lot brighter than my Orange, which isn't always a good thing in some cases, but with the two cabs together it makes for an awesome stack sound. Any suggestions on how to cut down on the excessive highs? I'm not too keen on the idea of an EQ pedal only because I like how the amp sounds with the orange a lot, but the crate is really bright in contrast. Should I just bi-amp? ; i also have a K200-B6 so i could set the EQs different for each cab. It sounds good now, but it's a little brighter than I like. Maybe I could put some nicer speakers in it, but that costs $$$$$. Anyway, any suggestions? Thanks! P.S.- a blue Kustom head looks freakin' awesome on top of two full width 4x12 cabs! Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustomized full stack [message #4935 is a reply to message #4933] Fri, 08 October 2004 16:05   edforgothispassword Messages: 202 Registered: July 2004 Senior Member congrats on the recent cab acquisition...I've got the image in my mind..and that's gotta be a rig with attitude! As for the brightness..yer just spoiled with that Orange cab...there's probably a cheap in-line resistor you can wire at the cab jack that would take some of the top out..but I'm too dumb about that stuff to help beyond that...and I'd be guessing at the frequency..you might want to try swapping two of the speakes in each cab...it might be that the orange cab is just woody enough that it would tone down a couple of the crate speakers (assuming the ohms would work)..and soften up the crate box...be fun to try...especially in the slant boxes...put your warmer speakers up top and the brittle ones down on the bottom where the highs won't project as much and the larger air space gives the cones less resistance so they'll move a bit more..beyond these feeble suggestions..it'd be time to spend some money....ya know asI'm thinking about it....you can also get a local recone shop to drop a larger dust cap dome on top of your cones..shouldn't charge more than about $10 to do it and that can alter the tone of the speakers too....regardless..proud to see a big blue up there on top of that mighty stack! Play Loud! ET Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustomized full stack [message #4937 is a reply to message #4935] Fri, 08 October 2004 17:56   LesS Messages: 477 Registered: December 2002 Senior Member I wonder if wiring all four speakers in series caused this brightness? I know that series/parallel for four speakers works fine (wiring four 8 ohm speakers to equal 8 ohms), but I have never heard of wiring four in series. What I would do is compare just one (or two) speakers from each cabinet to each other. Then you will know if the Crate speakers really are brighter or it is just caused by the wiring. Just connect one speaker from each cabinet to the Kustom and play it to see if the Crate speakers still sound brighter. If they sound about the same, then I would rewire the Crate series/parallel to 4 ohms if the Orange can be done also. If both cabinets can each be rewired series/parallel to 4 ohms each, then you can use both hooked up in series to your Kustom. No guarantees that this will work, but it won’t cost you anything to try this, and it just might work….. -Les S. Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustomized full stack [message #4938 is a reply to message #4933] Fri, 08 October 2004 18:26   stevem Messages: 4738 Registered: June 2004 Location: NY Senior Member Hi Les.The speaker inductance changes the high end responce as you go from muliple speakers wired in serise parallel, to speakers wired in parallel serise. You have them wired the way that does not attenuate the highs. Also make sure your polarity is the same on all the drivers. Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustomized full stack [message #4939 is a reply to message #4933] Sat, 09 October 2004 03:17   voided3 Messages: 200 Registered: July 2004 Senior Member Hello. I should clarify a few things; first off, when i got the cab, it was wired in series/parallel at four ohms (each speaker is four ohms), and it sounds the same by itself as it did before. Do the different wiring schematics change sound noticeably? I wired it in series to 16 ohms so that i can parallel it with my 15 ohm Orange cab. Yes, I am spoiled with that Orange cab, it's a 1971 model with Eminence speakers in it and it's awesome. The speakers in the Crate cab (it's a GE 412s if anyone cares to know or if it helps) however are "made in Taiwan" 30 watters (but the cab is rated at 80 max... works fine though). It's a full size cabinet like the Orange, the full 30.5" width, so I know it should have good cabinet resonance and what not. The ohm loads work perfectly, equal volume between the cabs, but as always, you hear the top cab more since it's right at your head, but if i back up 20 feet it makes a nice mix of the two. After jamming around with my friends tonight though, i;ve kind of grown to like the brightness when it's use with my SG or Les Paul. With my Strats clean it gives an excellent sparkle, but overdriven it isn't nearly as pleasant (too harsh, except when used with a tubescreamer on the neck pickup), I think when I use Strats i'll disconnect the Crate, with just the Orange they scream. With both cabs, an SG, and a DS-1, I get a great Townshend sound (think Hiwatts at Woodstock, cutting, clear, huge sustain). If I rewire my Orange to all parallel (it has 15 ohms speakers in it), the ohm load will be really low (3.75, give or take since the speakers are old) and the two cabs balance nicely now, and hooking cabs in parallel is easier than making a series cable, as I have found from experience with other amps. So, in conclusion, I may leave it as it is for now, or I'll look into resistors for high frequencies that I could switch on when I use Strats overdriven (any suggestions?). Keep in mind though, I haven't tried the strats with anything other than a Boss DS-1 and a Tubescreamer, I have a fuzz face too that I could try. So i'll keep experimenting around, who knows, maybe an EQ pedal will do the trick after all. Thanks!!! Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustomized full stack [message #4940 is a reply to message #4933] Sat, 09 October 2004 03:19   voided3 Messages: 200 Registered: July 2004 Senior Member Oh, if you want to see it, email me at voided_3@hotmail.com and I can send you a pic if you want. Thanks! Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustomized full stack [message #4948 is a reply to message #4940] Thu, 14 October 2004 23:25   voided3 Messages: 200 Registered: July 2004 Senior Member Hello again. I was thinking, would I get significantly more volume if i ran each cab with its own head? I have two heads (K200-A5, the blue one, and a K200-B6). I might get another K200-A5 or B5 though since i like the reverb a lot, and since i use the B6 for bass. Any thoughts on that? Thanks! Report message to a moderator

Previous Topic:	Buzz blocker?
Next Topic:	Value on black 2-12G-2 head and cab

Goto Forum:

- VintageKustom.com  Comment Board  Replacement Part Suggestions  Repairing Kustom Amps- Classified Ads  For Sale  Wanted- FUDforum Questions & Problems  Questions & Problems about FUDforum