Home » VintageKustom.com » Comment Board » K200B-5 PA head, suitable for guitar?
K200B-5 PA head, suitable for guitar? [message #25168] Wed, 06 July 2016 21:42 Go to next message
Epidrake is currently offline  Epidrake
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Registered: July 2016
Location: NYC
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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.

THANKS!
Re: K200B-5 PA head, suitable for guitar? [message #25169 is a reply to message #25168] Wed, 06 July 2016 23:18 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Iowa Boy is currently offline  Iowa Boy
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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.
Re: K200B-5 PA head, suitable for guitar? [message #25170 is a reply to message #25168] Thu, 07 July 2016 06:30 Go to previous messageGo to next message
stevem is currently offline  stevem
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Just note that the amp wants a 4 ohm load for kicking out its max wattage, where as most guitar cabs are 8 ohm.
Re: K200B-5 PA head, suitable for guitar? [message #25171 is a reply to message #25170] Thu, 07 July 2016 10:33 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Epidrake is currently offline  Epidrake
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Thank you so much for your responses. I'm using pedals, so I'm not worried about effects on the amp. That big tank reverb can't be beat.
Re: K200B-5 PA head, suitable for guitar? [message #25181 is a reply to message #25168] Fri, 08 July 2016 11:42 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Iowa Boy is currently offline  Iowa Boy
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Go easy with the pedals since if you crank them up too full you can fry your amp with too hot of a signal. Stevem can tell you about that.
Re: K200B-5 PA head, suitable for guitar? [message #25184 is a reply to message #25181] Fri, 08 July 2016 13:19 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Epidrake is currently offline  Epidrake
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Thanks, that's good to know. I had no idea. I'll be careful. Thanks again.
Re: K200B-5 PA head, suitable for guitar? [message #25188 is a reply to message #25168] Sat, 09 July 2016 06:53 Go to previous messageGo to next message
stevem is currently offline  stevem
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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.
Re: K200B-5 PA head, suitable for guitar? [message #25190 is a reply to message #25188] Sat, 09 July 2016 10:54 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Epidrake is currently offline  Epidrake
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Registered: July 2016
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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.
Re: K200B-5 PA head, suitable for guitar? [message #25194 is a reply to message #25168] Sun, 10 July 2016 06:27 Go to previous messageGo to next message
stevem is currently offline  stevem
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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!
Re: K200B-5 PA head, suitable for guitar? [message #25199 is a reply to message #25194] Sun, 10 July 2016 22:52 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Epidrake is currently offline  Epidrake
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Thanks. Turning it up that loud would be painful in my studio anyway.
Re: K200B-5 PA head, suitable for guitar? [message #25221 is a reply to message #25188] Thu, 14 July 2016 10:21 Go to previous messageGo to next message
slk854 is currently offline  slk854
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stevem wrote on Sat, 09 July 2016 06:53
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???

Thanks
Steve
Re: K200B-5 PA head, suitable for guitar? [message #25229 is a reply to message #25168] Fri, 15 July 2016 01:20 Go to previous message
BrianBB is currently offline  BrianBB
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Registered: November 2008
Location: Fayetteville, Ga.
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I just bought a beautiful cascade K100B-5 for guitar. The tone is beautiful and rich, and can get up into crunch territory without being overly loud.
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