Late Kustom Tuck &Roll Models
Kustom "Challenger" combo guitar
amplifier.
This was a good design offered by Kustom to
those guitarists who wanted the famous Kustom sound in a very portable
package. This amp is not a power house, and if your into LOUD music, this
amp will disappoint you.
But.. if you are looking for a great little
club amp with clean, clear sound, this is a winner.
It works well for Jazz and Country as well
as undistorted light Rock. The Tremolo is very good, the reverb is adequate.
Rear view of the Kustom "Challenger" combo guitar amplifier.
The amp is equipped with a single 12" speaker. The back is not the traditional open back type, but is an open back design. This style is very speaker friendly as it really protects it. The casters are nice as is the two prong accessory outlet on the back. There is no effects loop but you can unhook the RCA cable from the spring reverb and hook a digital effects unit in, so you can get the same effect as a true loop. There is no line output so when performing for a large group in an auditorium is would be necessary to mic the amp.
150
150 with horn
Kustom K250 Amp Head - Power Unit #4
The K250 came as three different models. K250-1 or Power Unit #1 was primarily the bass amp head. It has two channels and the Select Tone feature. It had no reverb or Tremolo.
K250-2 is Power Unit #2 and it has everything as Unit #1 with the addition of reverb, tremolo and vibrato.
The K250-4 is the best feature wise. It has reverb, with its own tone control, built in Wah Wah, when using the boost pedal, Tremolo, Vibrato, Fuzz and a special Select Tone feature called "Selective Boost".
Check Out All of the Features!
You can get almost any sound you want from
this amp head.
Considering that it was designed in the late
60's and early 70's, it has to be considered one of the ultimate solid
state amp heads.
.....
....
I only played a Kustom amp once,but it has
been a pleasing memory ever since that day.
In the summer of 1971(I believe) my band played
an outdoor concert .
All the bands combined amps since normally
we had amps too small for outdoors.
I was going to use the lead guitarist from
another band's Sunn
amp,but he was afraid I'd blow his new amp
since he knew I
turned everything up full blast.
So I had to use the keyboard player's Kustom
Red Tuck'n'Roll piggyback amp.
I had my doubts since I was a British Blues
kind of guy,andKustom amps were closer
to Surf/Top 40 type of stuff. I remember the
amp being a nice Red T'n'R,and it was tall with
those port holes. Well,let me tell you when
I cranked it full up with my '58 Les Paul Special(
TV Yellow,double cut away, soap bar pkups-Rhy,pkup
next to fingerboard) that Red devil
sang the Blues! I got a great Blues tone,and
it had NICE
sustain.The amp helped me play the best I'd
ever played!!!
To my surprise today,that Red T'n'R was a transistor
amp!?!
I'm a tube man how can that be? I never thought
you could get the Blues from a transistor.
If I ever see a Red one for sell I am going
to scoop it.
Submitted By Gregg Walker
.
Bass 150
....
Bass 150 - 2 15"
.....
Bass 150 3-15
My son and I both are bass players and our music styles range from contemporary praise music to hardcore punk. We found a 150 3-15 cabinet about a year ago in a used music store. The versatility and reliability of this cabinet is top notch. It puts out great low end, strong mid-range and screamin highs. The cabinet is a little rough around the edges because of years of use and abuse, but it is still going strong with lots of good years of mind numbing decibels left in it.
Submitted by Wesley B. Olson
500 Series
Technical Tip
If you use a Kustom amp head on stage and
use reverb, I am sure you are well familiar with the
"reverb thunder" that happens if thing
get jumping on stage.
There are three easy solutions to lesson the possibility or eliminate this problem all together.
1. Set the amp head on end, this will greatly reduce reverb thunder, I know it doesn't look cool, but it works.
2. Set the amp head or the entire amp off the stage so stage vibration will not effect it.
3. Turn the reverb all the way down and use digital reverb.
The Sound Out Front....
Kustom 150 PA Power Unit
This solid state powered mixer features Master
Volume, Anti- Feedback Controls, Individual Volume, Bass, Treble, Reverb
Controls for each channel. Polarity Switch. Four channels, eight inputs.
Channel Inputs are isolated from each other to act independently. Reverb
lock to keep reverb protected when transporting.
The 150 was a definite upgrade over their earlier
units. The addition of master controls and the anti-feedback feature made
a world of difference.
Model 150 PA
150 Watts of power, twin columns each having
four 8" speakers, and the chrome power unit stand made this PA perfect
for club dates.
Great view of the stand mount plate.
Back View Of Model 150
Kustom put up to 18 ft. power cords on most
of their older gear. Non grounded two prong plug. (Ouch! it hurts to think
back to those "shocking" good times I had with un grounded gear!)
Two speaker outputs, a monitor module output,
reverb footswitch jack and a tape recorder output.
Technical Tip
If your group plans to use the older design
columns that only have speakers but no horns,
it is best to run vocals only through them
as that is what they were designed for.
Do not
over equalize to force these cabinets to produce the ultra highs and lows.
Kustom 300 PA Power Unit
This solid state powered mixer features Master
Volume, Anti- Feedback Controls, Master Reverb Control, Reverb Bass and
Treble Controls, Individual Volume, Bass, Treble, Reverb Controls for each
channel. Polarity Switch. Six channels, twelve inputs. Channel Inputs are
isolated from each other to act independently. Reverb lock to keep reverb
protected when transporting.
Great view of Master Control section
More front panel pictures
Even more front panel pictures
Partial view of back panel
Model 302
300 Watts of power, twin columns each containing
three 8" speakers and two 12" speakers. The speakers are special design
public address speakers. Included the chrome mixer stand.
Model 303
300 Watts of power, twin columns each containing
two heavy duty 15" speakers and one high frequency horn, including
crossover capabilities to direct the highs to the horns. The speakers are
special design public address speakers. Included the chrome mixer stand.
Model 304
Same as above but equipped with Altec Lansing
speakers
Model 305
Same as above but equipped with JBL speakers
300 Watts - Very advanced features for its
time
These 6 channel monsters are quite a marvel
of electronic engineering. They have master volume, master bass, master
treble, and master reverb controls. The reverb has its own tone control
and each channel has its own bass, treble, volume and reverb control.
The anti feedback features on this mixer were
well ahead of their time. They worked well with the columns, but if you
put good quality modern speakers with this head these features are simply
fantastic.
Blue Sparkle Kustom 300 P.A. Head
All 300-400 models came standard with a metal stand but few exist today. The stand screwed directly into the side of the amp head. The screws could be tightened when you got the mixer into the desired position. You could set the mixer to sit at any angle. This was handy, but most users simply sat the amp head on a table.
Technical Tip
If your group plans to use a 300 or 400 head
for your main mixer, make sure you use a balanced ohm load.
Do not drop under 4 ohms. So be sure to use
two or four 16 ohm speaker cabinets, one or two 8 ohm speaker
cabinets or a single 4 ohm cabinet.
Also, for best results with running monitors,
you should run out of the monitor out into a channel input of
another powered mixer., then hook the monitor
speakers to powered mixer #2.
If you run directly into a power amp it will
work, but not as well.
Kustom 600 PA Power Unit
This solid state powered mixer features Master
Volume, Anti- Feedback Controls, Master Reverb Control, Reverb Bass and
Treble Controls, Individual Volume, Bass, Treble, Reverb Controls for each
channel. Polarity Switch. Eight channels, sixteen inputs. Channel Inputs
are isolated from each other to act independently. Reverb lock to keep
reverb protected when transporting.
Model 602
600 Watts of power, four columns each containing
three 8" speakers and two 12" speakers. The speakers are special design
public address speakers. Included the chrome mixer stand.
Model 603
600 Watts of power, four columns each containing
two heavy duty 15" speakers and one high frequency horn, including
crossover capabilities to direct the highs to the horns. The speakers are
special design public address speakers. Included the chrome mixer stand.
This was Kustom's top of the line.
Model 604
Same as above but equipped with Altec Lansing
speakers
Model 605
Same as above but equipped with JBL speakers
Kustom PA Monitor
This little jewel has it's own 100 watt power
module and has three 8" speakers and two 10" speakers. Since it is powered,
you could use any number of these without fear of ohm imbalance. Kustom
was one of the first to offer powered monitors.
Some Top of the Line PA Gear
The above set would most likely not have been
seen when new. The large cabinets have two 15" speakers each. They also
have a radial horn each. Look closely at the picture and you will notice
the horn in the top hole.
Since the cabinets have horns, I doubt if
you would desire the top boxes, which are horns.
Those were designed to be an add on to cabinets
that had no horns.
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