Kustom

[Jez]

Kustom are an american brand, who make guitar and bass amps, and guitars and basses.

i have a official dealer close to me, and played through a new KBA 200watt 2x10 bass combo. (the new version)

it sounds great, and is very loud.

please let me know what you think of the amp/brand, and if it is worth getting this amp

my budget doesnt go too far, and im upgrading from a peavey microbass 20watt.

cheers, Jez

[bass_ferret]

Jamerson used an old Kustom. They have been around a long time.

[paul, the]

They're not so popular in the UK. Presumably this is because they were just too heavy to be economically shipped over while marshall/orange etc. were building a brand in the UK.

I have no experience of their modern amplification. If you compare it to other amps in your price range and you prefer it; go for it.

I don't think you'll get a lot of response with the thread subject. If you perhaps change it to an amp search, you'll get more feedback and potentially make a more informed decision.

Best of luck though, and let us know how it goes.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='Jez' post='91756' date='Nov 20 2007, 02:47 PM']Kustom are an american brand, who make guitar and bass amps, and guitars and basses.[/quote]
The only relation between today's Kustom and that which came out of Chanute, Kansas three decades ago is the spelling of the name. It's all Asian now, mostly at the lower midrange of the quality scale. Roughly equivalent to lower end Peavey, for example.

[ashevans09]

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' post='91873' date='Nov 20 2007, 10:27 PM']The only relation between today's Kustom and that which came out of Chanute, Kansas three decades ago is the spelling of the name. It's all Asian now, mostly at the lower midrange of the quality scale. Roughly equivalent to lower end Peavey, for example.[/quote]

Hmm, I'd disagree with you on that - my guitarist uses a Kustom 4x12 with his NYC Tech 21 head and it sounds absolutely awesome. However he did pay fair whack for it. Maybe there's a large difference in quality between lower end and higher end kustom cabs?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='ashevans09' post='91914' date='Nov 20 2007, 06:34 PM']Hmm, I'd disagree with you on that - my guitarist uses a Kustom 4x12 with his NYC Tech 21 head and it sounds absolutely awesome. However he did pay fair whack for it. Maybe there's a large difference in quality between lower end and higher end kustom cabs?[/quote]
One advantage to being a guitar player is that what we generally abhorr, high levels of speaker distortion, sounds very good with guitar. The most desired amp in the world by guitar players, the '59 Fender Bassman 4x10 combo, is also one of the worst bass rigs ever made. How any companies speakers or amps sound with guitar can't be used as a indicator for how they may work with bass.

[DanOwens]

Kustom Amps have (and i'm not too sure here) an exclusive distribution in the UK with John Hornby Skewes, who also distribute 'Dunlop' accessories, 'Vintage' guitars and basses and 'Ovation' Acoustics.

The guitar shops who use JHS as their sole distribution company tend to be the local guitar shop, targetting the lower end of the market. I think this seems to have seriously effected JHS's brand identity, and Kustom's by proxy.

Kustom are signing up quite a lot of the Metal fraternity with their bass amps, but generally I think they're considered a bit too 'lowly' by the type of player with a decent budget.

I'm choosing my words carefully here as I have yet to hear or play a Kustom amp, but I'd like to see how they fair against a Markbass, Thunderfunk, Peavey or Ampeg head.

DaN

PS. I love red wine!!

[Dams]

Hi everybody,

This is my old Kustom IISC bass combo :


I think it is from 1979 or 1980.
But I don't have any other information about it !
Is it 80 watts or 100 watts ?
How many ohms is the speaker ?
...
If anybody knows where I can find a user's manual, I promise I'll drink some pints of good ale for him


As said by Bill, and confirmed by a Kustom employee e-mail, they don't have kept anything from the Chanute, Kansas days

[lemmywinks]

I was looking at a Kustom Groove head a while ago, absolute monster of an amp. I heard so many good things about it but that's their higher end stuff. If it's a cheapy there may be quality control issues, i remember being distinctly unimpressed by a guitar combo of theirs i heard while ago

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

I have a KBA-16 COMBO.
I got it when I part exchanged my old peavey TNT combo (that peavey was so crap)
Anyway this Kusto is good, and loud and handles 5 string ok too.

I think a metal bass player (Trivium??) has an endorsement with Kustom, so they can't be too bad..

[Cat Burrito]

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' post='504230' date='Jun 2 2009, 09:27 PM']I have a KBA-16 COMBO.
I got it when I part exchanged my old peavey TNT combo (that peavey was so crap)
Anyway this Kusto is good, and loud and handles 5 string ok too.

I think a metal bass player (Trivium??) has an endorsement with Kustom, so they can't be too bad.. [/quote]

I too just picked up this amp on EBay for £29. The endosements seem to come from a lot of metal players & a lot of country players too. I don't suppose they are endorsing my £29 bargain but I'm sure it'll be fine

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='533463' date='Jul 6 2009, 12:30 AM']I too just picked up this amp on EBay for £29. The endosements seem to come from a lot of metal players & a lot of country players too. I don't suppose they are endorsing my £29 bargain but I'm sure it'll be fine[/quote]

Nice price...you'll love it

[Cat Burrito]

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' post='534097' date='Jul 6 2009, 08:01 PM']Nice price...you'll love it [/quote]

Arrived today and I think it's a good solid basic tone. For £29 I certainly won't complain!

[Phaedrus]

This KBA210 combo does seem an attractive amp for an amateur/semi-pro on a budget, specially if they DI into a PA live.

Musicstore have it for under €320 including delivery to Ireland (where I am). I don't see it reviewed on Harmony Central or anywhere else. Have any of the magazines had a look at it yet?


Mark

[Lew-Bass]

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' post='504230' date='Jun 2 2009, 09:27 PM']I have a KBA-16 COMBO.
I got it when I part exchanged my old peavey TNT combo (that peavey was so crap)
Anyway this Kusto is good, and loud and handles 5 string ok too.

[b] I think a metal bass player (Trivium??) has an endorsement with Kustom, so they can't be too bad.. [/b][/quote]

The bassist out of As Blood Runs Black is endorsed by them. Good player too.