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K200-4 [message #17099] Wed, 16 May 2012 18:29 Go to next message
Grant is currently offline  Grant
Messages: 7
Registered: April 2012
Junior Member
Hi,
Bidding on a K200-4(has foot switch jack on either side of the front panel,14 knob,no vibrato)Serial & model tag 1/2 gone.
Seller commented reverb/trem OK,normal channel distorted???Is that normal?I doubt he had a foot switch.
On the K200-4 models do the effects reverb/trem and boost/clip work thru both the bright H/L and the normal H/L?
Can the effects be combined thru either channel?
Are there copies of operating manuals available?
What is this lacking that Fogerty's had?
Your Help appreciated...Grant
Re: K200-4 [message #17102 is a reply to message #17099] Wed, 16 May 2012 20:02 Go to previous messageGo to next message
chicagobill
Messages: 2005
Registered: April 2003
Senior Member
No, on the K200B-4 model the reverb and trem work on the left channel and the boost and clipper work on the right channel.

On the K200A-4 all of the FX work on the left channel, none on the right.

Additionally the A series vib/trem had a control that mixed the vibrato and tremolo. The B only has vibrato. And the Harmonic Clipper on the A series has a gain control as well as an output volume control.

That's the easiest way to tell if it's an A or B as the A has two additional knobs where the B has the two footswitch jacks.
Re: K200-4 [message #17104 is a reply to message #17099] Wed, 16 May 2012 21:31 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Grant is currently offline  Grant
Messages: 7
Registered: April 2012
Junior Member
Bill,
Thanks for all the info.The bid got to $505.00 with freight so I passed.He advertised it as a Fogerty rig but was corrected by someone and that's what I was looking for anyway.My question now is WHY two separate channels and no channel switching or mixing?How were you supposed to use all of the effects at once?Also why a bright switch on a bright channel?I have a K200A1 & a Frankie C595 both these designs have 2 channels...WHY?..you can't switch between them and I would think if you plugged in 2 guitars it would overload or sound cancel at the speaker.
How about foot switches..
I've seen black wrinkle paint steel domed both xlr & 1/4 phono in rev/trem & rev and the early finned aluminum rev/trem & boost/fuzz.
What goes with what from early to late?

I have (1) K100-1 (2)K100-2 (2)K150-8 (1)K200A1 (1)K200B1
(1)C595 Frankie & (1)L795 Frankie and some cabs(looking for more) so you and your site is a great help.
Thanks Again..grant

Re: K200-4 [message #17105 is a reply to message #17099] Thu, 17 May 2012 06:39 Go to previous messageGo to next message
stevem is currently offline  stevem
Messages: 4728
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY
Senior Member
Hi!
Back then( circa 1960s) there was no such thing as channel switching,about the most that Kustom had was in the K400 heads where you could go from Mono or Stereo output stages.

The fact is in alot of bands who`s amps/equipment was in tight supply both guitars played through the same amp.

Back than moving your guitars cable over to a different channel for a change in tone or effect was seen as no big deal!

The basic preamp boards are the same on both the normal and brite channels, both having a volume, bass, treble and brite switch.
The brite switch on Kustom preamp boards engauges a active boost circuit unlike other amps of that era and even latter that just use a cap to block some of the lows.
The brite channel and or inputs on Kustoms marked as High uses this cap methode of high pass filtering.

You can use a A/B type foot switch to go from left to right Channels on the head, but if I recall right depending on what effects you have on at the time one channel will be out of phase with the other, hence Kustom never made provision for playing thru both channels at the same time which could have been with a simple linked input jack.

The domed type foot switch is what was provided with these amps.

[Updated on: Thu, 17 May 2012 06:42]

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Re: K200-4 [message #17106 is a reply to message #17099] Thu, 17 May 2012 11:54 Go to previous messageGo to next message
chicagobill
Messages: 2005
Registered: April 2003
Senior Member
In my first band, everybody including the vocals played through one amp!

The Kustom amps went through a fairly simple progression from the original Frankie heads to the metal fronts. With each new series they made design improvements often based upon input from users and dealers.

The original Frankie PA's had reverb on only one of the channels. How tough was that to sell as a feature? Also there was no way to turn on and off the FX other than turning down the depth controls.

The A-series had FX footswitching, but all of the FX were designed to be normally off, so if you didn't have the footswitch (with the xlr plug) you couldn't turn any of them on.

The B-series fixed that so the FX were all on unless you turned them off, but they decided to separate the FX so that some were on the left side and some were on the right. I guess they didn't think that most players would want to use all of the FX at the same time.

The metal fronts actually combined the features of the A and B series in that all of the FX were available to both channels and the vibrato/trem was brought back in the style of the A-series. But remember that by the time that these amps were designed very few people ran multiple instruments through one amp.

Back in the day, we played simple music and used very few FX. We rarely owned more than one guitar and bought an amp based more on how big it was and how cool it looked than how it sounded. It's only as we grew older did we come to appreciate the sound qualities of our purchases.
Re: K200-4 [message #17107 is a reply to message #17105] Thu, 17 May 2012 12:02 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Grant is currently offline  Grant
Messages: 7
Registered: April 2012
Junior Member
Seems like a missed opportunity.
Regardless they are way Cool!Nothing is built like these today!
In what era did the aluminum foot switches begin?
A domed 2 button xlr just sold for $90.00 on e-bay and a 1/4 phono
the same a month ago.I've bought a couple of the aluminum type for around $30.00 they look cool and work. I guess Fender must have copied that style as my 95 Twin's is a dead ringer less the leds.Is $500.00 reasonable for a K200A4 or B4?
Re: K200-4 [message #17108 is a reply to message #17099] Thu, 17 May 2012 12:48 Go to previous messageGo to next message
chicagobill
Messages: 2005
Registered: April 2003
Senior Member
The aluminum extrusion switches are from the later non-tuck and roll amps.

The wrinkle finished domes started with the A's and had xlr plugs. There were different models depending on what FX the amp had. The A-4 switch had 4 buttons and were a little difficult to use because of the layout.

The B's used the same domes, but had only two buttons. The B-4 had two separate pedals with standard 1/4" TRS plugs.

As for price, there are so many factors that cause that to change it's really hard to say. I guess it's worth whatever you are willing to pay for one.

The normal factors are how good the economy is doing, color of the T'n R, condition and finally the Fogerty factor. If there is a lot of spendable cash out there prices generally tend to go up, as there is a lot more competition for the same items. Color and condition will always be a factor in pricing. And lastly John Fogerty's usage of a black K200A-4 has probably made that one version of all Kustom amps the single most sought after model in history.
Re: K200-4 [message #17110 is a reply to message #17108] Thu, 17 May 2012 18:50 Go to previous messageGo to next message
pleat is currently offline  pleat
Messages: 1452
Registered: June 2004
Location: Belding, Mi
Senior Member
The extruded aluminum footswitches were also part of the K200B series in the later amps before the change over to the slant face amps. The logo would be the script Kustom logo, the same extrusion pedal in the tolex covered amps were block Kustom letters for the logo. I've seen these pedals with the XLR and the stereo 1/4" plugs. Some of the K250-2 heads used an XLR and at some point they changed over to the stereo jack for the effects.
Chicago Bill is right, the round 4 button switch for the K200A-4 head, the switches were closely grouped together, pointy toe cowboy boots were the best for that pedal.

pleat
Re: K200-4 [message #17111 is a reply to message #17110] Fri, 18 May 2012 15:14 Go to previous messageGo to next message
C4ster
Messages: 686
Registered: June 2001
Location: Mukwonago, WI (Milwaukee...
Senior Member
I have a couple of Fogerty's 1985 tour song videos and he used the round foot switch and managed very well with pointy boots.
Conrad
Re: K200-4 [message #17114 is a reply to message #17099] Sun, 20 May 2012 02:12 Go to previous messageGo to next message
sunnhead is currently offline  sunnhead
Messages: 221
Registered: June 2010
Location: Minnesota
Senior Member

Yes, I own two A-4 heads with the original four button foot switches. It is hard to read them in a dim light, and is tricky to hit the right button, not too bad though. I would say if you own one and use it out, make a foot switch that is a bit more friendly. But the A-4 is a great amp... hard to find, but if you do... Buy it!
Re: K200-4 [message #20456 is a reply to message #17102] Wed, 09 April 2014 12:21 Go to previous message
kustomhead is currently offline  kustomhead
Messages: 121
Registered: April 2012
Location: Redding, Ca
Senior Member
I have a K200B-4 and use outboard tremelo and reverb pedals to get that CCR sound. I have a K50-2 also and am thinking about running it for the trem-vib and the B-4 for the clipper and boost. Would I just daisy chain the 2 amps? What about mixing hi and low inputs on one of the amps if I do that?
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