TUCK &ROLL
 Amplifiers & P.A. Systems
..

The famous "Kustom Kat" mascot that was used to help promote the new line.
These Kats were made from left over scraps of naugahide amplifier covering material.

This chart shows the original colors offered for the first Kustom products.

Black, Blue, Cascade, Gold, Red, White and Charcoal. Some later models were
emerald green, and silver with gold sparkle.

Black is by far the most common color seen today. Gold and Cascade the least common.
Through the years the trough naugahide has stood up well, except when burnt by a cigarette.

Early Kustom Tuck &Roll Models:

Kustom 100 Head with Twin 12" Speaker Cabinet.

This design was and still is considered "radical" by many. It was very well thought out. Instead of being like the competitors twin 12 speakers being side by side, Kustom went vertical. This got the speakers up a bit and eliminated the need for a stand or chair.

As far as the electronics are concerned they were very good for their time. The solid state circuits were reliable but tended to have a marginal signal to noise ratio. These models featured a single channel with two inputs, one high the other low. They have reverb, bass, treble, volume and tremolo.

These 100 models were seen at thousands if not millions of gigs. Today you still see a few of them still gigging, as well as being in private collections.

A good look at a Blue 100 Head

These heads work well and have quite a bit of power.
When adding modern effects pedals or digital rack effects, this head kicks!

1967 Kustom By Ross Amplifier Head

This is a very early head, sometimes refereed to as a "Frankenstein Head" due to the high profile "forehead".
It has two channels, one with reverb, tremolo, bass, treble and volume controls. The other simply has bass, treble and volume. This is the type of unit that started it all.

Kustom 200 Two Channel Amp
The 200 models were upgrades over the 100 models. They have more features, such as a second channel and more power.

Kustom offered a wide variety of amplification products

It is hard to read the prices from the catalog scan above, but if you look real close, you will see that most Kustom amplifiers cost as much as a new economy car or an excellent used luxury car. Kustom sold thousands of amplifiers, so the price didn't scare all of the buyers off.

Also, this was a very different time in history. The Beatles, Elvis, The Stones, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Creedance Clearwater Revival, Blood Sweat and Tears plus many other acts were burning up the world with their great music. This made every kid in the world want to be a musical star. Bands were EVERYWHERE, live music was at its peak. Bands were making a good living and could afford to buy gear.

Unfortunately, those days are long gone.

It is a wonder that the Kustom Guitar is not a Tuck & Roll! Nice Organ!
Notice the two horn speaker enclosure in the catalog picture. These are rearly seen today.
Also notice the cool lighting system, guitar and organ. Kustom was really a progressive company.

Kustom's Small Amplifiers with a Big Sound

Kustom offered some of the most powerful amplifiers of their time, and some of the biggest. The success of the company depended on hitting every price range, size, music style and situation.

Most musicians were working clubs and lounges. This called for a smaller amplifier. Also, many jazz and country players didn't like the big "Rock and Roll Amp Look". This combined with the fact that there were thousands of kids getting into bands made Kustom hit the smaller market.

Also there were hundreds of older players and hobbyists that wanted a portable gig or practice amp. Enter the SC Series. SC stands for Self Contained. Most in the industry refer to this type of amp as a combo amp, meaning the electronics and speaker shared the same cabinet.

This is one of Kustoms smallest offerings.

It has a single 10" speaker, one channel with two inputs. One high, the other low. The little guy came with volume, bass and treble controls.It also has reverb and tremolo.
All in all, a nice little amp.

Kustom 150SC
The 150 is similar to the amp above, but it sports two separate channels, an extra speaker and more power.

Kustom 100 PA Head

The 100 PA head features 4 channels, each having reverb, bass, treble and volume controls. There is no master volume, tone or reverb controls. Today it would be considered primitive, but when designed it was cutting edge.

Kustom marketed the 100 and 200 early on. These were both good for their day and I personally know several bands that are STILL using these models as their main mixer!

These bands bought them new in the 1960's and are still together, and so is their gear. As unbelievable as it seems, they attribute their longevity to their songs, talent and their gear. They are of the mind "if it isn't broken, why fix it?

One great modern application of these models for any band is to use them as an instrument mixer. If you double or triple on instruments, or if the band is willing to all plug into the power head, you will be amazed at how good it is with all stringed instruments and keyboards.

Many a lounge group used Kustom columns.
(The above picture shows an early power head with later model speakers)

Kustom was with the rest of the industry in the 1960's. That is they were chasing Shure and their revolutionary "Vocal Master" PA Systems.

It is hard to believe, but before the Vocal Master everyone either used whatever the club had for a PA or had an old Bogan or similar system they drug around with them.

I guess almost everybody sounded pretty bad. Then came Shure and everyone jumped into the portable PA market. Since Shure used column speakers, so did everyone else.

When these speaker cabinets were designed, the whole concept of the portable P.A. system was still in its infancy. The columns above do what they were designed to do, reproduce mid range, but under modern standards, they are not adequate.

They do not produce highs or lows very well. When used with a modern mixer with all instruments running through the main speakers, you get a muddy sound.

The next generation of speaker columns addressed the problem and greatly improved the performance and sound. They did this by combining different sizes of speakers, each with its own frequency. Horns and piezo tweeters were also added to produce the crisp highs.

Later in the 1970's Kustom produced their ultimate columns. They produced all frequencies very well, but the column design was soon to be replaced with the square speaker box industry wide.

Technical Tip
If your group plans to use the older design columns set up in the same way as the ones
pictured above and below, 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.

All of Kustom's columns have special design P.A. speakers.

The speakers were designed for vocal reproduction, that is midrange.

I personally like columns, but this is how I use them.

If I am using the early type columns, I tri amp using the columns for midrange. Coulpe this with a pair of subwoofers and a pair of horns, and you can slam.

I like columns because you do not need speaker stands, and for lounge work, leave off the subs and bi amp with horns simply sitting on top of tjhe columns work fine.

Of course the late column designs all had piezos or horns mounted in the top of the column so you can just go full range for lounges and clubs.

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