VintageKustom.com: Comment Board » The Call of the Kustoms

Home » VintageKustom.com » Comment Board » The Call of the Kustoms

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

The Call of the Kustoms [message #4741]

Fri, 27 August 2004 02:19

voided3
Messages: 200
Registered: July 2004

Senior Member

Hello. Many of us are here for one reason, to share our obsession of Kustoms with others. I, for one, am no different. I was wondering, just as a general question, what first allured many of you to these sparkly, squishy sonic masters of mayhem and harmony?

As my profile states, I first got hooked when I first used my friend's dad's pair of 2x15 CTS bass cabs. I soon discovered that their looks had a practical purpose after carrying them a little; the foam makes carrying them far more comfy and it doesn't damage walls. I also realized from the first few seconds I had them plugged into my amp that their sheer air moving capability can cool off your feet while they set off seismographs. Now that I have a few Kustoms of my own, I have found that no matter what their size or useage (guitar, bass, keyboard), they all sounds awesome. Now I just need my own pair of 2x15's and I'm set for life.....I think, a few more wouldn't hurt Very Happy

Report message to a moderator

Re: The Call of the Kustoms [message #4742 is a reply to message #4741]

Fri, 27 August 2004 07:23

stevem
Messages: 4733
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY

Senior Member

Well, speaking for my self, what first got me hooked back in the 60s where the looks, nothing like it.Just like the name implys, Custom make looks like you spent big bucks. But then their was the sound. When most other bassist where still playing thru a 40 watt 2-12 fender bassman, or a 1-15 35 watt ampeg, both with shot tubes because they bought the amps second hand, and you had 100 new! watts and 2-15s plus the looks, the game was over. People would come out to see the band just to see the bass amp in black and the PA head in the stand with the 8-12 speakers covered in charcoal sparkle. You where at the top for a 15 year old playinh high school dances and whatching the girls rock out in their hip hugger jeans. GEE I guess things in life are circular!!Whats old is new.

Report message to a moderator

Re: The Call of the Kustoms [message #4751 is a reply to message #4741]

Fri, 27 August 2004 20:55

rodak
Messages: 511
Registered: October 2001
Location: Georgia

Senior Member

I remember seeing a few bands when I had just started playing guitar in 1966 at the age of 10. My dad was always worried about the effect of loud music on my hearing, and when we'd see a band (usually playing outdoors at the local college) with a wall of Kustoms behind them, he told me that the padding was to help absorb the sound so it wouldn't damage the musician's ears. I think I half-believed him. But the look of the amps, with the purple jewel lights and chrome ports - whoa! The local music store carried them, so I got to see a few up close, too. I used to like to turn them on in the store just to hear the "thump". A couple of years later, when some friends and I started putting together a band, we'd drool over the '68 Kustom Kolor Katalog, picking out our rigs without a single thought as to how we were going to pay for them (none of us had a clue what they cost, and by the time we had jobs and real money for gear, Kustom's had long gone out of fashion). We had no idea how they sounded, compared with other amps - we only knew that most of the bands around had a wall of Kustoms, and they sounded great, so they MUST be the way to go, right?. It was in that catalog that I saw the intriguing Kombo Organ which, many years later, I began to believe was never a real production item, because I'd never run across one (an early form of "vaporware", perhaps?). Fast-forward to 1999, I discovered eBay, stumbled onto a fellow who had the '68 Katalog, who graciously sent me a nice color copy of the organ page. Soon after, I started Combo Organ Heaven (www.combo-organ.com), and eventually wound up with a Kombo of my own. I doubt I'll ever have a Kustom collection to match my organ collection, but I certainly plan to add a few choice pieces to the arsenal, as time goes on (actually, I'd love to have 7 Kombo's, one in every Kolor, but I'll have to get a MUCH bigger house, first!)

www.combo-organ.com

Report message to a moderator

Re: The Call of the Kustoms [message #4753 is a reply to message #4751]

Sun, 29 August 2004 11:47

Van
Messages: 134
Registered: April 2004

Senior Member

I remember seeing the huge roll & pleated Kustom organ in the window of Harris Music in downtown W. Palm Beach.
It was massive.
Self contained with 4 12" Jensens. BLACK!
No need for seperate amp and speakers!
Price was $1300.00. OUCH!
Too expensive for me.

About a year later, there it was again with a price tag of $600.
Someone had traded it in.
Dad said "OK".
I was the happiest person in the world that day.

I never had to compete for volume. It had more than enough.

Kept it for 5 years.
Wish I still had it!!

Report message to a moderator

Re: The Call of the Kustoms [message #4754 is a reply to message #4753]

Sun, 29 August 2004 12:24

RoyC
Messages: 97
Registered: April 2000
Location: East Central Illinois

Member

I guess it was the way cool t&r padding and the portholes that I noticed first.

And, the fact that my favorite band at the time, CCR, played Kustoms certainly didn't hurt anything.

So, in 1970, I had just sold some hogs and had the money, Dad took me to Paiges Music Store in Terre Haute, Ind where they had a gorgeous, cherry, slightly used cascade K100 stack for $300, I didn't have to think about it very long.

I was playing in a garage band and thought I was on top of the world with that K100. Cool

Report message to a moderator

Re: The Call of the Kustoms [message #4757 is a reply to message #4741]

Mon, 30 August 2004 13:13

Smoke1
Messages: 107
Registered: September 2003
Location: Southern Maryland Solomon...

Senior Member

Got my one and only K200B Red Sparkle PA with the two 53 inch 4X12 cabs in a Jacksonville, Fl paw shop for $400 on my 21st B/Day in 1977. We played 2 guitars thru it out on the 2nd deck barracks balcony facing the forest in Cecil Field cause it was 2 loud to play inside. I used it for a PA in my first 2 bands in 78-80 and then used it for the drummers monitors. Used it with my buddy Rock in our duo set up for both of us to play into and to sing thru in the early 80's. Made the big mistake of re-covering it with smooth black vinyl in 89' and then had the amp head re-conditioned and tuned up in 94. This amp head has never failed after 35 years(it was made in June 69" SN:39257) I always felt this had alot more balls than any Marshall. I will always have a Kustom as part of my gear. And, Oh, By the Way,It's Not for Sale! Ever!!!
Never Stop Jammin' = Smoke1

Smoke1 Plays Kustom Amps & Old Tube Amps Loud in S. Maryland

Report message to a moderator

Re: The Call of the Kustoms [message #4767 is a reply to message #4757]

Wed, 01 September 2004 11:32

edforgothispassword is currently offline

edforgothispassword
Messages: 202
Registered: July 2004

Senior Member

what a great post... I thought I was the only kid bitten by the tuck n roll bug like that...good to hear I wasn't that wierd.

I was 13 when I came across my first one. I really wasn't that aware of what was out there...fenders were the rule of the day among the older players..and they would use whatever was in their grasp.. one of the older boys in the garage band world had a fender combo and some brand of speaker column..a tall one like a 4x10 or 4x12 that he used as an extension cab for more volume.. all I knew was that all that gear was so cool...when my Dad went christmas present shopping I wasn't involved..he knew a guy as a business acquaintence who owned a music store so when a deal came up he called my Dad. A customer had come in and bought a K25c 1x12 combo...took it out on stage for once job and came back in and traded it for a 4x10SC model needing more volume. Dad got the K25 at cost as a used amp and that's what turned up under my tree with a big red bow on it.
I remember thinking it looked kinda odd at first, but liked it..then as I would visit music stores and see all the other models of kustom I was so hooked...I like shapes that fit together...used to be we would stack fender combos on top of fender cabs and the look of the multiple pieces always cranked me....when I realized my little 1x12 could sit on top of the 2x12 cab I was all over it..wasn't thnking about wattage and ohmage. ..had no clue..just knew the look was as awesome as it got...and nobody else had those chrome ports...the kustom just had it going on when it came to cosmetics..now Idid like the look of the silver face fenders...but I was tracking the kustom path and I never turned back...I went straight to the big 2x15 double cab rigs when it came time to play semi pro bass and the amp never gave me any trouble..even when dropped and even when my Dad fell down the front steps with it, broke his leg, but the amp played on...a young starving player needing every $50 club night.. doesn't need amp repair bills..my kustoms never let me down. it wasn't until the early 90s when my guitar prowess improved that I learned how valuable the design of the kustoms are when using pedals. There is no other amp that handles pedals as well as a kustom...I don't know why...I just know my ears. I have many model fenders and marshalls and others in my pro gear inventory...and they are all nice products...but take a boss comp/sustain pedal, feed it into a boss dual overdrive or metalzone and then into a parametric eq and into your kustom...I can nail any tone I need at any volume consistently...and I like the look 35 years later...I know some folks are saying..well, yeah, but you have to use all those pedals..my point is I use the pedals to get my tone whatever the venue size, volume allowance, etc.. the pedals allow me to adjust to the room quickly and I have virtually every model kustom rig to choose from to address the room..from the little combos all the way to the big 4x12, 3x12, and multi 15 cabs..I find I have the same feelings for those amps at age 47 as I did when I was 14.. I don't know what it is...but its a rare thing and I like it! Play Loud! ET

Report message to a moderator

Previous Topic:	Early Break-Up On Kustom 100-1
Next Topic:	pedal/effect suggetsions?

Goto Forum:

-=] Back to Top [=-

[ Syndicate this forum (XML) ] [

] [

]

Current Time: Wed Apr #d 09:58:19 EDT 2024

.:: Contact :: Home ::.