Epidrake Messages: 28 Registered: July 2016 Location: NYC
Junior Member
Just picked up a virtually mint condition K200B-5, (1968-70?) and wanted to know if it can be used as a guitar amp head. The reverb on this is sweet and even though there is a fair amount of hiss, I would love to use it with a guitar cab. Any advice would be very welcome. I'm using the PA towers for vocals in my band with an existing PA amp and they sound amazing 4 x 12" in each cab.
Yeah you can use it pretty much for anything. It doesn't have all the effects like tremolo or vibrato or even fuzz like some of the regular guitar heads, but the basic amplification is there. Look for a cabinet with 2-12's or 2-15's or even a 4-10's cabinet. Lots of them are listed on Ebay right now.
stevem Messages: 4728 Registered: June 2004 Location: NY
Senior Member
Yes, these Amps where made with a lot of gain to work great with the weak single coil pickups of the day ( the reason for the hiss level in part) so if you hit the preamp with too much input level you stand a chance of popping the input transistor.
No big deal but for the 35 cent cost of a new transistor and 50 buck labor charge!
You do not want to over drive the front end of the amp amp anyway as they sound like crap, however the output stage of these amps can provide some good crunch tones , but they are up loud when doing so.
Epidrake Messages: 28 Registered: July 2016 Location: NYC
Junior Member
Thanks again Stevem. Finally had the chance to use the amp last night at band practice. Couldn't believe how clean and loud it was. The band was blown away by the tone. My lead guitarist wouldn't let me use it. He loved it. Just for fun, We were using it through a 4 ohm 15" 1971 Univox bass cab. The guitar sounded so rich and full with his Strat.
stevem Messages: 4728 Registered: June 2004 Location: NY
Senior Member
Good to hear, just do not run the amp up much more than 5 on the volume knob as that 1971 driver was not made to handle the 100 watts RMS into 4 ohms that you have going on there now!
Yes, these Amps where made with a lot of gain to work great with the weak single coil pickups of the day ( the reason for the hiss level in part) so if you hit the preamp with too much input level you stand a chance of popping the input transistor.
No big deal but for the 35 cent cost of a new transistor and 50 buck labor charge!
You do not want to over drive the front end of the amp amp anyway as they sound like crap, however the output stage of these amps can provide some good crunch tones , but they are up loud when doing so.
So Stevem would a reverb pedal cause the same issue? I am not into pedals, and only have a couple. I just recently got a reverb pedal for a couple of my Kustoms that don't have any effects. Do I need to be careful if I am just using a reverb pedal???