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Kustom K-150 6 -- Loud enough? [message #17991]

Thu, 03 January 2013 06:44

MuscleDad420
Messages: 4
Registered: January 2013
Location: United States

Junior Member

Howdy! Always been interested in those classic Kustom Tuck & Roll amps. As luck would have it there's a Kustom K-150 6 combo for sale in my area at reasonable price.

I'm a younger player who prefers 1x15 combos for bass. However, the 75 watt spec of the K-150 6 pales in comparison on paper to the 220 watts that my Class D Ampeg B200r puts out. I know old transistor amps were VERY modest in their rating (Acoustic amps in particular come to mind) and was wondering if this was the case with the K-150 6.

Simply put: Do y'all think a Kustom K-150 6 would be loud enough to keep up with a heavy handed drummer, a '68 Super Reverb and a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe in small to medium venues? We're a pretty rambunctious garage rock/surf group. I'm not looking for clean volume so cranking it is fine.

Also, is the natural distorted tone of this amp pleasing? From what I've gathered the Kustom bass amps are known for a low-mid bias and tend to fart out. I'm not looking to slap, tap and all that so I'm not expecting a modern hi-fi sound. I just want a nice rock tone with a solid foundation, punchy mids and rounded highs.

Am I barking up the wrong tree here? Thanks in advance. I'm hoping the amp will work for me so I may become a Kustom owner and indulge in the wisdom here.

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Re: Kustom K-150 6 -- Loud enough? [message #17992 is a reply to message #17991]

Thu, 03 January 2013 07:29

MuscleDad420
Messages: 4
Registered: January 2013
Location: United States

Junior Member

Also, judging from the two pictures I've seen of the amp the speaker is not original. I do not see the aluminum dust cap shining through the grill cloth. Would the stock Altec speaker make all the difference in the dB output of the amp? Gonna talk the owner down a bit further based on this. My old man kind of collects JBL speakers. He might just have a JBL D-140F sitting around. Hm... Twisted Evil

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Re: Kustom K-150 6 -- Loud enough? [message #17994 is a reply to message #17991]

Thu, 03 January 2013 15:35

stevem
Messages: 4733
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY

Senior Member

Hello.
Adding speakers, or using speakers with a higher DB rating is a easyer way to make any amp louder, for example.
If you take a amp that is rated for 100 watts of power and want to make it twice as loud by just wattage, you need to step up to a 1000 watt amp, yes ten times the power! after doing that you will have gained 3 db more SPL level, if you just double your amount of speakers your using(1-15" to 2-15s for example) or install a speaker with a 3 DB higher SPL rating then what you started with you will have gained the same 3 DB increase in loudnees as you state!
I play bass also and to me for a live gig the minium is my 4-10" cabinet, or a 2-15 cab.

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Re: Kustom K-150 6 -- Loud enough? [message #17996 is a reply to message #17991]

Thu, 03 January 2013 15:50

MuscleDad420
Messages: 4
Registered: January 2013
Location: United States

Junior Member

Yes, this is certainly true. I told a buddy last night that replacing the 96db rated speaker in his Hot Rod Deluxe with a Celestion V30 at 100db would equal roughly twice the volume to the human ear. I realize the effect speakers have in this way.

What I'm wondering though is whether the K-150 6, or really any SS Tuck & Roll Kustoms are conservatively rated when compared to modern day SS amps.

Thanks.

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Re: Kustom K-150 6 -- Loud enough? [message #18000 is a reply to message #17996]

Thu, 03 January 2013 18:26

pleat
Messages: 1452
Registered: June 2004
Location: Belding, Mi

Senior Member

Kustom offered the K150-6 with two speaker options. CTS or the ALtec 421 bass speaker. The altec would have a 3"dia. aluminum dust cap. The CTS would be paper. If the speaker is original to the amp and the CTS model. You have another issue. Kustom was only using 16 ohm CTS 15" bass speakers. The K150 wants an 8 ohm load for maximum power. So you have mis match from the factory assuming the speaker is a CTS and original. If you do a replacement speaker, get it in 8 ohms.
I know several guys who swear by the Altec 421 K150-6 amp as their go to amp for most gigs.
pleat

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Re: Kustom K-150 6 -- Loud enough? [message #18001 is a reply to message #18000]

Thu, 03 January 2013 21:10

Kustom_Bart
Messages: 601
Registered: October 2010
Location: Greenville, MichiGUN

Senior Member

Mine really rocked, but when I got it, it didn't work as the speaker was blown. I installed a newer JBL E-140 8ohm and it really ripped. I took my short scale 60's Kingston bass and it rattled things off the wall upstairs in my house.

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Re: Kustom K-150 6 -- Loud enough? [message #18002 is a reply to message #18001]

Thu, 03 January 2013 23:28

MuscleDad420
Messages: 4
Registered: January 2013
Location: United States

Junior Member

pleat wrote on Thu, 03 January 2013 18:26

Kustom offered the K150-6 with two speaker options. CTS or the ALtec 421 bass speaker. The altec would have a 3"dia. aluminum dust cap. The CTS would be paper. If the speaker is original to the amp and the CTS model. You have another issue. Kustom was only using 16 ohm CTS 15" bass speakers. The K150 wants an 8 ohm load for maximum power. So you have mis match from the factory assuming the speaker is a CTS and original. If you do a replacement speaker, get it in 8 ohms.
I know several guys who swear by the Altec 421 K150-6 amp as their go to amp for most gigs.
pleat

Interesting! I imagine the speaker is the CTS then. As I mentioned before I can't see the aluminum dust cap in the pictures, just the pitch black void. I'm going to prod the seller for more pictures and find out for sure.

I'm so excited I already cut up a 3 prong cord to splice into the amp!!

Kustom_Bart wrote on Thu, 03 January 2013 21:10

Mine really rocked, but when I got it, it didn't work as the speaker was blown. I installed a newer JBL E-140 8ohm and it really ripped. I took my short scale 60's Kingston bass and it rattled things off the wall upstairs in my house.

That's what I like to hear!! How would you describe the tone?

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Re: Kustom K-150 6 -- Loud enough? [message #18005 is a reply to message #17991]

Fri, 04 January 2013 17:19

stevem
Messages: 4733
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY

Senior Member

Modern SS amps for the most part, and also a large part of modern day tube amps in the guitar world can not hold a candle to the amount of LONG TERM rated power they output when compaired to vintage stuff in regards to stated output and also in regards to build build quality!!

I have fixed electronic gear for over for over 40 years ( HOLY SHIT HOW TIME FLYS!) and when I fix the avaerage new 30 watt Fender SS amp and see that it really only has the power transfomer of a 15 watt amp, its no wonder that they sound the way they do at higher volume levels!

Its been said that tube amps are louder per watt than SS amps, this in regards to atleast vintage stuff is not true. What is different is that a full tube structured amp goes into clipping slower than a transistor amp ( the sweet spot is bigger) and tube distortion has more even order harmonic distortion( more closely related to the fundimental tone) to its output when clipping where as transistors when clipping have more odd order distortion and odd order distortion sounds far more harsh to the ear.

The fact is that most well built SS amps ( like vintage Kustom`s and Acoustic research amps) have far more punch to there bass notes than a tube amp does in terms of clean RMS wattage, but once they go into clipping the term fartting out comes into play, and this farting out sound can also be made by the speakers if there suround and spider part of the assembly are shot and allow too much cone excursion to take place.

Upping the 4500 uf 50 volt filter caps in your amp to 10,000 uf at 50 volts will give you some more clean head room, may be alot more if they are on there way out, which most are after 30 to 40 years as they are only rated for 10 years as most filter manufactures will tell you.

Also its very easy to tap off drive signal from your amp so that you could send it to a let1s say a 300 watt RMS power amp and drive other speakers.

[Updated on: Fri, 04 January 2013 17:25]

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