The head doesn't have the cool padding, or whatever that is, that I'm seeing on image searches for Kustom amps when I try to find some info on it. I've also not been able to find an image of this same item anywhere online by searching for it. If I could figure out how to attach an image from my phone on here I would.
Anyway, as I said I'm not gear savvy at all and to start I'd just like to know what this is exactly. Is this a head for a guitar amp? or something you'd use for vocals? If someone can point me to info on this specific item I'd appreciate it!
Your amp is a Kustom V (Roman numeral for 5) PA (Public Address) amplifier. It was made after Kustom stopped doing the tuck and roll coverings.
It was originally meant to be used as a vocal amp, but can be used to amplify anything that you want to use it for, guitar, bass or recorded music, etc.
There are 4 preamp channels each with two 1/4" inputs and a single power amp that is rated at 130 watts RMS into a 4 ohm speaker load.
My friend who owns this offered it to me as a guitar amp, but I suspected it was for vocals. If it wouldn't be too huge an investment, I might still be interested it using this for vocals. Can anyone give me the quick-and-dirty scoop on how to go about selecting a cab for this? Sadly, "watts RMS" and "ohm speaker load" mean little to me.
Also, it'd be nice to know what kind of quality should I expect out of this, if I did want to buy it off my friend? And what's it likely worth?
EDIT: if there's any good resources online to answer my questions, feel free to point me in that direction. I don't mean to burden folks here with my questions if the answers can be easily found somewhere else - I just don't quite know where to start.
Where do we start? You should pick a speaker to match the style or sound that you want to get. If you play metal, then 12" Celestions will probably sound best. Blues and rock 10" or 12" speakers will work and if you play traditional country maybe a single 15" JBL cabinet will sound best for you.
What I'm trying to say is that the amp does not need a specific cabinet or type of speaker to work correctly. But the speaker does need to meet specific technical requirements to work safely and not cause damage to the amp or the speaker. Technically any speaker that is rated for 130 watts and has an impedance rating of no less than 4 ohms is fine.
Even though the amp was marketed as a vocal amp, it will work fine for a guitar. The basic internal elements of any amp are basically the same, it doesn't matter if it is a "guitar" amp or a "vocal" amp. In general Kustoms work well with FX pedals and have a great basic uncolored clean tone.
As for value, that's hard for me to judge, because I don't follow that series of amps very much. I like the older Tuck and Roll amps, as do most others here. I guess that it's worth what you want to give for it.