VintageKustom.com: Comment Board » Kustom Colors

Home » VintageKustom.com » Comment Board » Kustom Colors - Recovering?

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

Kustom Colors - Recovering? [message #8195]

Wed, 07 February 2007 15:08

daveobergoenner@gmail.com is currently offline

daveobergoenner@gmail.com
Messages: 104
Registered: January 2007
Location: Missouri

Senior Member

I have a two part question for the Kustom fans here...

My K200 with 2-15 inch JBL E140s is presently boaring black. The covering is in pretty good condition...not much wear, and no major tears. The hardware is like-new.

My first question is...
Does recovering a Kustom reduce it's value?
(I stupidly had my '64 P-bass refinished in the 80's, only to find out that I had ruined the value of it by doing so)

Second question...
My wife really loves the color purple. As a result, she thinks the "Fuschia ZD-78" naugahyde color looks really cool...
http://www.garysupholstery.com/naugahyde/ngzodiac.html

I don't think this was an available color for any of the K200 series amps. Would recovering it in this color ruin the value of the amp?

My thought is, if I make this amp pretty enough, she might agree to letting me keep it in the familly room...where I could easilly get to it, and play it more often.

Could other colors be custom ordered from Kustom when these amps were in production?

Dave O.

Dave 0 Wall-O-Bass
Webpage - <a href="http://webpages.charter.net/daveobieone/" target="_blank">http://webpages.charter.net/daveobieone/</a >

Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustom Colors - Recovering? [message #8196 is a reply to message #8195]

Wed, 07 February 2007 17:04

BC
Messages: 583
Registered: March 2000
Location: Kentucky

Senior Member

HI Dave.....sounds like the black amp looks pretty good...I would leave it alone. Like you I removed the finish from a ragged ugly 69 Jazz bass and it cost me when I sold it years later. IMHO removing the covering will lessen the value of the amp. I have seen a couple of recover jobs and they are close but do not have the quality of the originals. The padding seems to be a problem because the ones I have seen recovered always look a bit flat in the rolls. On the other hand I do not see Kustom amps achieving the status or value in our lifetime (hope I am wrong) of a vintage Fender bass because the demand is not there. I would suggest you find a RAGGED amp and cabinet in mismatched colors if necessary to recover. Sometimes amps appear on Ebay that have had the covering removed....good candidate! Take such a creature and do with it as you will. Make it original.....change the color....have it done with deliberately oversized rolls to give it a cartoon look. This will do two things.....you can make the wife happy...and save a second vintage Kustom. Kustom amps are like Lay's Chips...nobody can have just one! I have not seen any literature that suggested Kustoms could be ordered in other colors.....but I have seen a few in non advertised colors that were certainly from the factory.BC Cool

Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustom Colors - Recovering? [message #8199 is a reply to message #8195]

Wed, 07 February 2007 21:37

ampaholic
Messages: 7
Registered: January 2007
Location: Northeast Ohio

Junior Member

I gotta agree, don't change the vinyl. Yeah, vintage Kustoms aren't exactly '57 Gibson goldtops, but they're certainly collectable........in original, unmolested condition. Get a beater if you really have to have a go at recovering the amp.

ampaholic

Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustom Colors - Recovering? [message #8201 is a reply to message #8199]

Thu, 08 February 2007 00:10

daveobergoenner@gmail.com
Messages: 104
Registered: January 2007
Location: Missouri

Senior Member

Thanks for the advice guys...guess I'll be on the lookout for some beater cabinets. I can swap the chassis, and the speakers if need be...since we can't get E140's any more.

As I look around, even the new tuck and roll amps Kustom is now selling don't seem to look as good as the Kansas originals. They look flat, like they just used a sheet of foam under the rolls, instead of strips.

Finding an upholstery guy that could pull it off will be the next challenge. Trust me, this is something I could NEVER do.

Whoever used to do these things in Chanute should go into the business of referbishing these amps. They really had the technique down!

Thanks,
Dave O.

Dave 0 Wall-O-Bass
Webpage - <a href="http://webpages.charter.net/daveobieone/" target="_blank">http://webpages.charter.net/daveobieone/</a >

Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustom Colors - Recovering? [message #8202 is a reply to message #8199]

Thu, 08 February 2007 00:15

C4ster
Messages: 686
Registered: June 2001
Location: Mukwonago, WI (Milwaukee...

Senior Member

The only advantage to recovering an amp in "decent" condition, is that you get the underlying padding which is formed in the 2" pleats that give the amp it's distinctive shape. I don't know where the padding could be obtained. The recovering jobs that have been posted here, were not up to Kustom standards. You need the correct tools to do the job. However, an auto upholsterer can do the fabric and you could put it on, it's just stapled. There is nothing in the serial or model number that would give a recovering away. However, purple would. But just to put it in perspective, I have a 1967 Gibson ES335 12 string in sunburst. My understanding is that there were only 400 ever made. That should raise the value quite a bit. I even saw the same guitar on Gruhn Guitars that was owned by Lonnie Mack. They wanted a cool $50,000 for it. Great if I wanted to sell it. If I could find the right buyer, If I were Lonnie Mack. Truth is, until I sell it, it's worth whatever I want to believe. If you did your amp in purple and kept it, who cares.
Conrad

Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustom Colors - Recovering? [message #8203 is a reply to message #8195]

Thu, 08 February 2007 06:50

stevem
Messages: 4733
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY

Senior Member

Hey Dave, why don`t you try for a compromise, and see if she will go for the burgundy/red which will up the value atleast.
I have no problem with upgrading a black or lesser value covered Kustom to something better than it originaly came from the factory covered in.Heck the new stuff doesn`t yellow out like the old covering so its better, unlike refinshing a gold top Les Paul with a urathane finsh.
By the way Les Paul and his trio plays every monday night at iridium club here south of me in NYC, and some friends and myself went to see then and he is still a great player even with his joint stiffness.I`am so glad I did before he passes on to that multi-track studio in the sky!

Report message to a moderator

Re: Kustom Colors - Recovering? [message #8205 is a reply to message #8203]

Thu, 08 February 2007 09:00

daveobergoenner@gmail.com
Messages: 104
Registered: January 2007
Location: Missouri

Senior Member

Well, the red was my second choice. Would match my Mustang. Maybe I'll run that up the flag pole, and see if she salutes.

There's a beater head on ebay right now that matches mine exactly...must be an A5. Really beat to crap however, with lots of mods to the rear...a good candidate for a recover / parts donor.

Wish I could find a deal like I got on my K200 head...$25.

Glad Les is still out there pickin'! Such an innovator. We owe him a lot.

Dave O.

Dave 0 Wall-O-Bass
Webpage - <a href="http://webpages.charter.net/daveobieone/" target="_blank">http://webpages.charter.net/daveobieone/</a >

Report message to a moderator

Previous Topic:	Kustomise is a Kustom owner again
Next Topic:	Tell me something about this amp on the 'bay

Goto Forum:

-=] Back to Top [=-

[ Syndicate this forum (XML) ] [

] [

]

Current Time: Mon Apr #d 13:48:59 EDT 2024

.:: Contact :: Home ::.