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Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2526] Thu, 06 March 2003 11:02 axeman Messages: 25 Registered: March 2003 Location: Overland, MO (near St. L... Junior Member Hello. My name is Tom and I have GAS (gear acquisition syndrome). Ever since Kustoms hit the market I had wanted one. They were in their glory days when I was in high school (coincidentally, also my glory days) and I thought they were the koolest things I'd ever seen. Maybe because they reminded me of the interiors of some of those hot cars I also lusted after. Anyway, nearly 30 years pass and I amass a few dozen guitars and basses and about a dozen amps. Even though from time to time I ran across Kustom rigs they always looked as though their best days were behind them, i.e., ciggy burns, ripped nauga, etc. Then I found my K200 B2 (w/CTS 2x15) sitting in the local Guitar Center in June of 2001. Very nice condition, original knobs, handles, casters, pilot light and covers. I played it just to make sure it worked and that I wasn't dreaming, then gladly plunked down the check on the spot. At the risk of being stoned as a blasphemer, I gotta say my Mesa Blue Angel has better tone, and my SWR/Eden rig handles the low frequencies better. But, nothing - and I mean nothing - comes close to the K200's kool factor. In fact, it actually works very well with my acoustic/electrics. And, after all, it is 30 years old. Anyway, I started lurking in the shadows of this site soon after I bought the K200 and I feel as if I know you guys and gal. Thought it was time I introduced myself. Figured now was a good time since I have two Kustoms in the wild sightings to report. Haven't seen them mentioned yet. Both are in music videos. The first is Rascal Flatts "These Days" and the second is Smash Mouth's "All Star". Yes, my taste in music is pretty broad. I think these rigs are probably reissues, you all are the experts, but to the casual observer a Kustom is a Kustom. Anyway, I've rambled on long enough. Thanks for such a great web site. Long live tuck and roll! Report message to a moderator

Re: Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2527 is a reply to message #2526] Thu, 06 March 2003 13:59 Anonymous Did you find the k200 in Austin TX? Report message to a moderator

Re: Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2529 is a reply to message #2527] Thu, 06 March 2003 14:15 ET Messages: 146 Registered: October 2000 Location: Charlotte NC Senior Member well hey there ya ol lurkin axeman you! welcome to the greatest bunch on the planet!..but you already know that. sure glad you found your amp..as for tone..nobody'll draw blood on you enjoying your other amps..and sounds like you have some nice ones..its usually the other way around for me.. I wind up side by side on stage with other players and they've gone out and spent the bucks for the hi-end rigs and we all crank up and they wind up getting their feelings hurt...here's what I suggest..if you've got the nerve to try it...the magic potion tone chain for the kustoms is guitar > comp/sustain > Boss dual overdrive pedal (lightly driven)> parametric eq. Iuse Boss parametric which allows me to sweep the mids to a sweet spot on the kustoms, add presence and kick up the bottom end at the source..add any wet fx you desire..the result is tone out of your kustom that will absolutely melt the walls..I have some pride n joy vintage fender and marshall and some other odds n ends and I do enjoy them...but I mention these just to add credence to what I'm saying...you won't find another amp that takes as well to your pedals...its magic...anyway...glad to have you with us..and whatever you're playing on... Play Loud! ET Report message to a moderator

Re: Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2531 is a reply to message #2529] Thu, 06 March 2003 15:14 Anonymous To laidback who asked if I found my K200 in Austin, the answer is no. I found it in Bridgeton, MO. To ET, thanks for the words of welcome. I agree with you when you say fx pedals really enhance the tone of a Kustom. My pedal collection, all Boss by the way, is rather limited, and tilted toward bass fx. I do have a Fuzz, a Metal Zone and a Blues Driver. All work especially well with my K200. I also have a few electronic multi-effect pedals but, being a plug and play kind of guy, I don't like to fiddle around with them. And IMHO I don't think they sound as good as the old Boss ones. One of these days I'll try to assemble the combination you suggested but I'll probably wait until the family is out of the house! Oh, by the way my K200 is basic black. Long live tuck and roll! Axeman Report message to a moderator

Re: Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2535 is a reply to message #2531] Thu, 06 March 2003 21:59   pleat Messages: 1452 Registered: June 2004 Location: Belding, Mi Senior Member Welcome Axeman, I have to agree with ET, Kustom amps seem to bring the best people in the world together with the same common goal, T&R forever. I scale back to the smaller K50 single 12 amps and some times the K100 212 combo's for larger stages. I use the old Digitech RP1 processor and add a Ross compressor in front of the pedal. We are trying out a new guitarist for the band. He came in with a Marshall half stack, Les Paul and some kind if processor. I think he was laughing at me, old processor pedal, a black K25 and a strat. He just sat there tring all night to get the same sound and sustain that little amp has. I Still love the look from people who can't believe all that sound comes from a solid state amp that is 30+ years old. One thought with your 2x15 CTS cabinet is change out the speakers with new ones and see how it sounds. Don aka pleat Report message to a moderator

Re: Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2537 is a reply to message #2535] Fri, 07 March 2003 08:04   stevem Messages: 4733 Registered: June 2004 Location: NY Senior Member Hello. glad to talk to another gas head no matter what their amp preference may be.I work for an A/V company and and have access to some great test gear.In the next few months I plan on running frequence responce sweeps of the 100s and 200s I have, and also many of the vintage fender, ampge, prmeire and sunn tube amps I have. My main axe is bass, but I also play guitar.I have tryed all the modling amps and pedals and I have a GNX2 pedal. I must say that many of them can come real close to a great tube sound, but none of them have any where near a real tube feel when you learn how to aprecate that feel.And no push pull output style tube or soild state amp has the sweet 2nd order harmonic content of a single ended class A tube amp. The more I play my little 6 watt fender champ thur a p12n jensen 12 incher, the more I find the 3rd harmonic prevelance of a push pull amp real hard on the ears after a hour or so of playing.So welcome. Report message to a moderator

Re: Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2538 is a reply to message #2537] Fri, 07 March 2003 13:52 axeman Messages: 25 Registered: March 2003 Location: Overland, MO (near St. L... Junior Member Thanks for the words of welcome Pleat and Steven M. Pleat, I understand your fondness for the K50. I was a day late for one that showed up in a local store a few years ago. But for my delay I would probably be bragging about that K50 instead of the K200 I eventually found. Also, you may be onto something about the speakers. So far I haven't had the time or the courage to open up the cabinet. I've heard some strange stories about the kinds of things which have found their way into cabinets via the ports! Also, I tend to try a keep things as orginal as possible. But I know speakers eventually have to be replaced, and 30 years is a long time, so . . Steve M., I'll be interested in learning of your results in the tests you described. To me, there is sound you hear and sound you feel. For many years I only had solid state amps. Lighter, cheaper, more reliable, no tubes to blow, etc. When I got my first tube amp, a Mesa DC-3, I finally understood the appeal. You know you have "it" dialed in when the hair on the back of your neck stands up. The pulsating, throbbing, push back effect really grabbed me. Even the smell of the tubes getting hot was a turn on. But you know what, there are times, when the tremolo is set just right, and so is the guitar, that I could swear my K200 must have some tubes in that big ole head somewhere! All that's missing is that delicious smell. If you could only bottle it. Oh well. . . May you bask in the purple light. Long live tuck and roll. Axeman Report message to a moderator

Re: Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2545 is a reply to message #2535] Sat, 08 March 2003 13:51 BC Messages: 583 Registered: March 2000 Location: Kentucky Senior Member I was thinking about the original post of introduction from Axeman. The Kustom tone is solid...pure and 30 years old. I love the sound of the 2x15 CTS cabinets for bass. BUt I also use some Altecs and JBLs. Foxy modified a 2x15 and turned it into a 1x18 1x12 cabinet for a guy who plays 5 string bass. It really gets deep now! If you love the look and you want to change the speakers....just take a trip for a sheet of plywood and make a new speaker board!BC Report message to a moderator

Re: Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2548 is a reply to message #2526] Sat, 08 March 2003 19:41 KustomBlues Messages: 490 Registered: June 2001 Location: Michigan Senior Member Welcome!!!! :-) Deb a.k.a Kustom Blues Report message to a moderator

Re: Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2553 is a reply to message #2548] Sun, 09 March 2003 13:57   pleat Messages: 1452 Registered: June 2004 Location: Belding, Mi Senior Member Axeman, I was having dinner the other night with a fellow kustom owner. He has two of the 2x15 cabinets and he was saying that one has a weird buzz on a few notes with his bass. The thought crossed my mind to have him check out the mounting nuts on the speakers. After 30+ years, I am sure there are a few that have came loose or even vibrated off. My advice to him before changing out the speakers, is to remove the back and tighten each nut, such as you would on a car tire, opposite nuts until all have been snugged equally. I have seen in the past nuts and washers hanging on the magnets, and everything from beer cans, french fries, toys laying in the bottom of the cabinet. I'll let you all know how his cabinet turns out. Don Report message to a moderator

Re: Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2556 is a reply to message #2553] Sun, 09 March 2003 21:14 BC Messages: 583 Registered: March 2000 Location: Kentucky Senior Member I bought a 2x15 cabinet that had a buzz. We suspected a bad speaker....but it turned out the Kustom badge had loose screws on the front...be sure to check this whenever a mysterious buzz is found. BC Report message to a moderator

Re: Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2557 is a reply to message #2556] Mon, 10 March 2003 07:38   stevem Messages: 4733 Registered: June 2004 Location: NY Senior Member Hi, let me offer a few speaker tips.Bass speaker cones are heavy compared to guitar speaker cones, over time they can develope a condition called cone sag and the voice coil will rub on the pole of the magnet at certain fequences and cone excurtions. the cure for us with tuck and roll stuff is once a year, open up the cab and unbolt and rotate the speakers 180 degrees. traveling pro sound companys flip the bass cabs every other gig inbetween shows.Tip #2 to help get the back off the cab if it has ports, feed your arm in there if your hand is small enough to push and get the back off.prying with a screw driver will as you know rip the tuck and start you cursing. Report message to a moderator

Re: Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2562 is a reply to message #2557] Mon, 10 March 2003 09:31 Anonymous Hey Steven...probably way too late in life...but would rotating my old jenson heavies that are in my 3x15 sirens do me any good...they've been in there forever and if they are buzzing I wouldn't know it since I can't keep my siren horn quiet anyway...but my actual question is if a rotation every 25 years will do me any good?..the speakers didn't have that much play time on them before I got hold of em...my speaker doc checked em out and said they were in great shape so I just kept them in there and have been slamming them hard for the past 7-8 years... I don't hit them with a ton of lows cause I have seperate bass cabs for that...but still...whatcha think? Report message to a moderator

Re: Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2563 is a reply to message #2562] Mon, 10 March 2003 10:44 axeman Messages: 25 Registered: March 2003 Location: Overland, MO (near St. L... Junior Member Great tips! Thanks to all. In the past I had noticed a slight buzz so last night I decided to put your tips to use and check it out. My family regarded me with even more concern than usual as I placed my ear next to the speaker cab, alternately kneeling and getting down on all fours as I checked out each speaker while thumping open strings on the bass which sat nearby on its stand. (I've found that sometimes its actually useful for them to think I'm a little unbalanced.) Anyway, after ruling out the rattling of the mini-blinds, pictures on the wall, hoods of nearby die cast cars, misc. special edition beer cans and the fillings in my teeth, I think I pinned down the source. BC was close. It wasn't the Kustom badge, but the right port. It doesn't seem loose but when I put my hand in it the buzzing decreases. At reasonable volume it's not really too bad, and all the other buzzing I noted above covers it up, so for now I'll let well enought alone. Also, its much less noticeable with guitars and that's what I use my Kustom for most. Thanks again to one and all. Axeman Report message to a moderator

Re: Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2579 is a reply to message #2557] Tue, 11 March 2003 12:40 KustomBlues Messages: 490 Registered: June 2001 Location: Michigan Senior Member EXCELLENT TIP!!!!! I never thought of that!! Thanks! Deb Report message to a moderator

Re: Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2581 is a reply to message #2562] Tue, 11 March 2003 12:46   stevem Messages: 4733 Registered: June 2004 Location: NY Senior Member Hi, it isnt a certain that every bass speaker will develope cone sag, some factors that have an effect are (1) how hard the speakers have been used. (2) how many temperature extreem swings the speakers have seen. It certainly would not hurt to swing them around. Report message to a moderator

Re: Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2587 is a reply to message #2579] Tue, 11 March 2003 23:27   pleat Messages: 1452 Registered: June 2004 Location: Belding, Mi Senior Member Here is another concept to ponder on. The metal frame baskets that the magnet mounts to is thin metal stamped out of flat sheet metal. If a cabinet is dropped hard enough, the weight of the magnet may cause the basket to distort it's shape and cause the gap in the voice coil to close tighter to one side than the other. Maybe far fetched, but I have seen the aluminum dust caps on JBLS crinkled in shipping from being tipped over on the face of the cabinet in the box. Speakers with the magnets laying in the bottom of the cabinet are some of the horrors in selling pro gear years ago. I would say the best way to transport or store speakers is face down so the weight of the magnet is supported evenly. I guess thats my 2cents worth. Don Report message to a moderator

Re: Please allow me to introduce myself [message #2604 is a reply to message #2587] Thu, 13 March 2003 20:44 KustomBlues Messages: 490 Registered: June 2001 Location: Michigan Senior Member That's how I prefer to transport them too Don. Report message to a moderator

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