| Kustom 2-15 cab question [message #1202] |
Sat, 29 December 2001 21:22  |
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Hello all,
It's great to see there's a BB for Kustom stuff. I just recently bothered to figure out what my Kustom was. I'm surprised it's one of the original ones. It's a J-595 with the Kustom by Ross logo - charcoal tuck-n-roll.
Anyway, I love the looks of the amp, but the sound is really too weak to use in a band environment. At full volume I'm still not loud enough even at practices. Plus the cab sounds like it's "farting."
I read on here about replacing the original 15s with JBL 140s. Would that make a huge difference? Or should I get the speakers reconed? I've been playing for about 5 years now, but I've never really delved into cabinet constrution or speaker replacement. I need to do something, but I'm not sure if I should try fixing this amp up or save and save.. and save for a new rig.
Thanks,
Tom
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| Re: Kustom 2-15 cab question [message #1205 is a reply to message #1204] |
Sun, 30 December 2001 12:38  |
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Hope this doesn't turn out to be too lengthy, but here's my 2 cents worth...I've got a K250-1 head, cab had the 2 JBL 15's. I bought the rig, along with a Sunn rig, 7 or 8 years ago from the original owner. The cab sounded like you described...kind of a farting sound, and not much volume. I've got tons of other vintage stuff, so getting this rig in order wasn't my highest priority, but eventually I opened up the back of the cab and tested the speakers with my trusty ohmeter. Sure enough, one of the speakers was burned out (infinite resistance=open circuit). And these were 16 ohm speakers. So the head was only seeing a 16 ohm load (hence the lower volume) plus with one non-funtioning speaker flapping away and the other speaker being thirty years old...hence the farting effect. My original intent was to use this cab as part of a bi-amped setup with a Hartke head, so I bought a pair of JBL 2226H drivers (similar to the 140's)and put them in. Big bucks, too, over $500. Frankly, I was disappointed with the sound when driving with the K250 head. I wound up putting them in the Sunn cab and they matched the cab much better. However, I still wanted to get the Kustom rig up again. I too debated the recone versus new question. I called around and local guys wanted over $100 a speaker to recone them. My personal opinion is that spending $100 to recone a 30 year old speaker is not very cost efficient...I believe advances in speaker construction have made modestly priced speakers of today comparable in quality (or even better) than the higher cost speakers of 30 years ago. Deb Hart recommends the Carvin 15 inch driver which sells for around $69. I won a $100 from Parts Express, though, so I bought a pair of Eminence Delta 15's (the plain version, not the 15lf) from them and put them in the Kustom cab a couple of weeks ago. They sound great! And they sell for $66 each, (www.partsexpress.com) Now I've been using the rig at practice...plenty of volume, I may even gig with the rig next week. If you buy new speakers, be sure to get the 8 ohm version, and wire them in parallel so the total will be 4 ohms. Make sure the two speakers both are in the proper phase after you wire them too, see separate posts on this webboard. And don't connect the cab to your amp with a guitar cable, make sure its a speaker cable. Good luck.
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| Re: Kustom 2-15 cab question [message #1207 is a reply to message #1205] |
Sun, 30 December 2001 15:26 |
KustomBlues
Messages: 495
Registered: June 2001
Location: Michigan
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Senior Member |
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Carvin just raised their price to $79.99 on the PS15. I think maybe the reason why the JBL 2226 speakers did not thrill you for bass was because they are not intended to be used for bass guitar. They are linear speakers in design and are meant to be used for sound reproduction or PA use. That comes right from JBL on that. I would suggest getting them reconed if you prfer the originals being prsent, as far as looks. And even JBL 2226's can be reconed as E140's and will sound real good. And, yes, you must present the proper load to the 250-1 heads. It must be 4 ohm load, two 8 oms speakers wired in parallel, + to + and - to -. My 250-1 with the 2-15 250 style cab, loaded with new Carvins, thumps beautifully. It shakes stuff off the walls, etc. My 200B-1 cab, running through this same cabinet sounds awesome, but it does not quite have the bass response within the design of the head. I actually prefer my 100-1 head to the 200B-1, for bass. For guitar, it doesn't matter. I think that the problem here is probably just a speaker cab problem, cuz we all know how these Kustoms play loud.........
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| Re: Kustom 2-15 cab question [message #1208 is a reply to message #1207] |
Sun, 30 December 2001 17:08 |
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Yes, the 2226's are very linear. I bought them in '96 from a music store--those were the pre-internet days when you couldn't research stuff or price things online, you had to accept what the store told you or had in stock. The 140's probably would have been a better choice...however, drive the 2226's with enough power (500 watts) and they sound excellent in the Sunn cab. I guess my real question about the 140's or any other speaker in that price/wattage category...why buy a speaker rated at 300 or 400 watts continuous (and doubling that since it's a 2 driver cabinet) when you're only going to drive it with 130 watts RMS (in the case of the K250) I mean, I like overkill too, but the 140's are close to $300 apiece. The Carvins, even at $79 each, are good speakers for the money. I think you would be satisfied with them or the Eminence Delta's. For a tad more you could get Peavey Scorpions too, I've used them successfully for other bass cabs.
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| Re: Kustom 2-15 cab question [message #1209 is a reply to message #1202] |
Sun, 30 December 2001 22:06 |
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Sounds like all have given really good information. The J595 would be the older wide panel frankie head and the cabinet would have jensens speakers in it, and may not have ports. Jensens are not good speakers for bass guitar. We have been talking ported cabinets vs. non ported cabinets, in some other posts on this site. Are there ports of some kind in the cabinet? You will want a ported cabinet for bass. On the 250 head, the lower input jack of either channel will give a big boost in the volume as compared to the top input of either channel. One big advantage for spending the big bucks on premium speakers, is they will generally produce 3 decibels more than a standard grade speaker. 3 db's is, in effect is the same as doubling the output of the power amp. I would have a final plan in mind before buying any speakers. Is the kustom amp and one cabinet with two speakers the final result you want, or are there thoughts of two cabinets with the one kustom head. That is where you want to be sure you buy the right impedance speakers. 2 speakers in one cabinet, you do want 8 ohm speakers wired in parallel. Using the same head and with two speaker cabinets and each cabinet having two speakers in each cabinet, you would want to load each cabinet with 16 ohm speakers, wired in parallel for a 4 ohm total load. Don
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| Re: Kustom 2-15 cab question [message #1210 is a reply to message #1209] |
Mon, 31 December 2001 13:29 |
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Thanks everyone for the info so far. This is in response to everyone's postings, especially Don's.
The cab is ported, although you can't tell from the outside (or rather couldn't tell after I cleaned the dust off the grill cloth where the ports are). The cabinet says Jensen by the speaker input jack, but the speakers are plain black with numbers on the rims - "P15L,C83153" and "220649"
Although the numbers are different, the speakers look exactly the same as far as design and age.
I tested them with a battery to see if one was not functioning, but the both moved and are in phase.
The cabinet is amazingly pristine inside, it doesn't look like too many people have been messing around in there.
The head is model J-595, but I think its the same as a 200. Its got Volume, Treble, and Bass controls for two channels. There are two inputs per channel, high and low. Its got two fuses on the front, 3A and 5A. The switch is three way and the light still works great. The head is in great condition, too. I think there have been some exterior mods to it, though. Did these amps originally come with Dusi cords? It also has a "cord catcher" thing screwed on the back for the hella-long Dusi cord. And there's a handle on side and rubber feet on the other side so you can carry it and set it down vertically.
The cabinet has original handles on the sides and casters on the bottom. There is an add on handle on the bottom of the cabinet to help carry it down stares.
As far as final plans... I want to use just this head and cab. Adding another cabinet would make it too much to carry around. I'm not worried too much about blowing people out of the water, I have been running my bass direct to the board for the shows I play.
Now, just a few more questions: Are these speakers original? Since both speakers work is there any possibility that the amp may be screwed up? Are car sub woofers suitable for bass guitar or should I look at speakers designed soley for bass guitar?
Thanks again,
Tom
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| Re: Kustom 2-15 cab question [message #1219 is a reply to message #1213] |
Fri, 04 January 2002 17:12 |
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The Sound you are describing is probably coming from perfectly normal Jensens 15L. Not worth a nickel for bass...but nice for guitar.....so see if they are OK for guitar and save or sell them. Even reconed they will not do well for bass! The CTS 15s originally installed in Kustom bass rigs are great speakers if you can locate a pair through this webboard...or else where. I have several originals and recones that I use and I love them. I am also partial to the Altec 421A speaker if you can locate some of these.....they are not as boomy as the JBLs but I like them. JC has a cabinet like yours with JBL 140s and it is very nice! If you find a speaker you really like, you will love the Kustom! I have played bass for many years......my first really good amp was Kustom 200 I bought in 71.....I returned to them in 99...and they are all I use now! BC!
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| Re: Kustom 2-15 cab question [message #1221 is a reply to message #1219] |
Sat, 05 January 2002 18:35 |
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I ended up finding two fairly new Peavey Black Widows on ebay and got them for $150. I'll follow up with how they sound when I put them in (which may be a few months b/c of school).
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| Re: Kustom 2-15 cab question [message #1222 is a reply to message #1221] |
Sat, 05 January 2002 23:39 |
KustomBlues
Messages: 495
Registered: June 2001
Location: Michigan
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Senior Member |
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Black Widows are okay, but I sold mine and put the carvins in my black 250 cab. They sound way better than the black widows. The BW's have a honky midrange and less bottom. They tend to flubber a bit if you like a lot of bass. Just my personal opinion.....
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