Kustom

For any guitar amp user you cannot get any easier than this amp. Kustom has given us a 5 watt amps that has only one control knob and that being a volume knob. You don't have a bunch of bells and whistles and multiple channels or anything like that but just a good solid small watt rock tone head. This amp uses one preamp tube of a 12ax7 and one power tube which is a El84. Kustom tells you to slowly turn the volume up to hear how clean this amp is and how it naturally goes in to since low volume goodness. This is smaller voltage power tube so it doesn't need a lot of wattage to get it to break up or distort. UTILIZATION Features Volume control 1/4" input Power button One 12AX7 preamp tube One EL84 power tube Three speaker outputs (4, 8, and 16 Ohm) RMS Wattage: 5 watts Channels: One Tube Preamp: 12AX7 Power Tubes: x1 EL84 Master Control: Volume Dimensions: 5"H x 12-1/2"W x 7-1/4"D Weight: 7lb. SOUNDS You have three speaker outputs consisting of 4, 8, and 16 ohms an the one volume control knob. So there isn't a lot to get confused with. I would say this is a great little practice amp that can get a good solid moderate rock tone. this is not a gigging amp because at 5 watts you won't be able to blow a candle out with that low of volume. This amp works well with a good guitar with a humbucker pickup installed. I like a moderately high out put pickup with this amp such as a standard Seymour Duncan JB. That kind of a pickup will get you a little more dirt and get this amp to give you a little more in the sonic range of distortion. This amp sounds best with a good 4x12 speaker cabinet pushing those small but thick low watt distortion sounds. OVERALL OPINION These amps come in new right at around $99. That is the cheapest all tube vale amp that I have ever seen. This could be the simplest most convenient practice tube amp in the world. It is cheap and sounds good for home use. I would recommend this amp to anyone who needs a good tube sound at low volumes and doesn't want to spend $100...it is 1 cent less.

Bought the amp of eBay, from Oasis Music shop for £199, which was a good deal for a brand new amp. For a lower end of the market amp, the unit has excellent sound quality. The output is 100 watt from a 12 inch Celeston speaker - The amp carries 6 on board effects (slap, echo, 2 flange and 2 chorus) which all add to some of the great tones this amp can produce. There's not alot not to like really, this amp has done me proud.... Good quality construction, solid, its actually bloody big heavy for a 100watt amp! The only thing I would say is that it could do with a metal grill over the front not the plastic speaker covering it does have, i've punctured mine... doh! All in all this is a top amp that would do anyone who plays small gigs (100 ish people) as I do! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

We have used several Kuston KPA-100's for rock n roll summer camp rental. They are almost perfectly suited for this. Unfortunately, the price went up over $100 in the last year. Should not have happened, and it moved the PA from a great value to only okay. This little PA sounds quite good for what it is. Use this for vocals, only- you won't get chest-thumping bass from 10" PA speakers, but in a rehearsal, the bass should not be going through the PA, anyway, and use a keyboard amp for the keys. 4 input channels are usually more than enough for most bands. You could even use it for the PA for a house party, but don't bring it to a mall, club or outside performance- it just does not have the power to be heard there. Eventually, this or any other entry-level PA will let you down- either because it does not have the power you need for larger spaces, or because it breaks down. If it breaks down, toss the mixer/amp unit, get a bigger PA, and hack off the back edge of the speakers, making them into floor wedge monitors!

Beginner, play when I can, modern rock/metal. Bought it on e-bay used for I think $50. It's small, looks decent. It has overdrive. It can actually get pretty loud for its size. At first I thought this amp sounded great, until I tried playing on other amps. The sound is decent, so if you're a beginner don't worry. The construction was ok. I did notice over time it seemed like the amp console itself came loose from the case, but easily taken care of with tightening of screws. This is a nice amp for a beginner to learn on. It's ok for practice, but if you have the money get a Marshall or higher end name in this category. This unit won't give you amazing sound but is a little fun too, has a little vintage tone. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I purchased this as a refurb unit from a Kustom dealer on Ebay for $152. I wanted an economical PA combo amp that I could use for a worship band to play my acoustic guitar, electric guitar (with a digitech RP100 processor) and vocals. This is a very good amp for the price. This factory refurb is in like new condition. It has three channels which allows me to play my guitar plus plug in a mic or two for vocals. It has 65 watts of power which seems very adequate for my application. It has some nice effects for which the levels can be adjusted for each channel. It would be nice to have a second balanced input. Its cube shape makes it a little cumbersome to carry. It does what I want for the right price so I don't have much to complain about. The cabinet appears to be built very solid and and the covering seems like it will hold up well. The control knobs are of solid alloy and work smoothly. The push button switches for the main power and the effect on/off for each channel seem a little cheap and one of them already sticks a little. It has a very nice 12" celestion speaker. The tweeter seems adequate but probably could be of better quality. I get occasional crackling noises out of the amp; I don't know what is causing this but it is infrequent and not very noticable. An excellent amp for the musician on a budget who needs a multi-purpose portable amp. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Musician's Friend, ~ $90 I was looking for an inexpensive, small CLEAN amp suitable for practice and living room jams - and it delivered! Construction is very solid - they made this amp inexpensive by making it simple, not cheap. Lack of output connection is probably its biggest fault - you would have to mic it for recording or gigging. (it clearly wasn't intend for that, but the tone is that good!) Unit pops when turned on. this sounds minor, but after the 100th time... The tube pre-amp was way too brown as delivered (I'm more interested in light shades of distortion) I swapped out the original 12AX7 with a "FENDER" 12AT7EH (labeled "Electro-Harmonix" "made in Russia")for 40% gain reduction (per www.thetubestore.com - they have great info on this stuff). That helped alot, but I think I need more sophisticated pre-amp circuitry to get the distortion tones I like (I'll undoubtedly go digital w next amp) see above. OUtstanding bang for the buck. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought the Kustom Solo 16R from Earcraft Music in Dover, New Hampshire, for $80. I wanted a cheap basic amp for practicing and I knew the Kustom Rehearsal series was the best for this. First of all I love the simplicity of the amp. It's got two channels, lead (distortion), and rythm (clean), both of which can get very loud. The analog reverb is a nice tough too. Along with the 3-band EQ you can create a wide variety of sounds. There are countless possibilities, and this makes for a versatile practicing tool. The Solo 16R is also very small, and weighs about 16 pounds. You can put it just about anywhere and it'll stay there (plus it looks nice). Finally the instructions that came with it are simple, but more importantly they come with four suggested settings to get the tone you want: clean rythm/country, blues lead/mellow crunch, alternative/hard rock, and heavy metal/maximum crunch. VERY helpful for the player who doesn't understand or doesn't want to learn too much about the EQ and reverb settings. There are two big flaws with this amp. One is that it doesn't handle highs too well. Turning up the Treble all the way up produces a lot of static on both channels. Even turning it up to about 80% produces a good deal of static. Same thing goes with the volume (again, on both channels). You'll rarely ever want to have your volume turned all the way up, but if you're a tone nazi like me and want to get that specific sound you've always wanted, the treble EQ will give you problems with the static it produces. Second, this thing gets a lot of feedback (along with static) from the lead channel. Worst thing is, most of the time it gets so loud it sounds as if you're running your guitar through a 100 watt amp at maximum volume. The feedback only occurs if you turn your gain up more than 50% and if you leave your guitar alone (although the static is always there unless your gain is at zero). I've found that you can get a nice crunch by turning your gain at 40% or so and this setting won't cause you trouble. But if you want a really heavy sound for metal and even for hard rock, you better keep playing or else you'll get feedback within 10 seconds after you stop (or you could just turn your volume all the way down). Built like a rock. As with most amps, it's very durable and won't break easily. The knobs are tight and CD/Tape Input, headphone and guitar jacks are solid too. The only techincal difficulties I had was with the power. Sometimes (and this didn't happen often), the amp wouldn't turn on. The power button would go down but not stay down, or it simply wouldn't go down at all. This happened to me three times in the month that I've had this amp, and talking to other people, they've rarely if ever had this problem, so I wouldn't worry about it. This is by far the best low-end practice amp I've ever played or tried. It's solid, simple, and has few problems. Keep in mind this IS a practice amp and just that. Don't expect the sound of an 80W Marshall. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I got the Amp as a gift for my birthday, i don't how much it was and i needed it for practising the guitar I like the low, medium and high options so you can have rhythm blues or even lead blues. You can use the equlaizer button to turn it into a heavy metal guitar. The model can save money on FX Pedals. I wish it had more effects on it so you can do really good solo's. (but not a problem) It is a strong, almost unbreakable little Amp which is powerful and flawess. The best affordable AMP of the year. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

i bought this amp from my friend when i started playing guitar/bass. i payed $30 for the amp and $100 for a bass. they were both quite used. i didnt know anything about guitars or amps. wow, this unit has been very useful for me. when i first got it, i ran a bass guitar through it absolutely CRANKED and there it didnt blow out, nor was it unable to keep up with a friend's fender 25 watt guitar amp. it has 3 band EQ for decent tone shaping, reverb, and overdrive, and i like them all. but what prompted me to write this review was when we were playing a gig last friday, about a year after i bought this amp, we were able to run vocals through this amp! I had brought this amp along for a warmup amp. My guitarist's Crate 65 watt MX-65R was not working; for some reason, it wasnt getting power. so we took the 120 watt amp we were planning to run the vocals through and put the guitar into that and ran the vocals through my Kustom KLA20R. Unbelievably, the vocals could be clearly heard through the tiny amp, even with a 120 watt Crate guitar amp, an Ibanez 65 watt bass amp, and a Yamaha acoustic drum set! The volume was not even all the way up on the clear channel. I cant believe the versatility and the durability of this amp. The amp is kind of heavy for such a small amp, but that's not such a bad thing. the speaker is not very good quality either--run something like a CD through it and you can it's very grainy (this is not the case with other amps-some amps cds sound crystal clear) also, with a guitar the clear channel is not very loud. On overdrive it makes a fine practice amp. i believe i addressed that above, but overall the amp seems to be built like a rock. i wouldnt drop it out a five story window or chuck it out of a car on the freeway, but it is built fairly strong. Also, it is built of material that does not scratch easily. i like that alot. Fine amp for a cheap practice amp or if you are just starting out. Very versatile as well. It is far from the best out there, but for the price, it may be the best deal for the money. 3.5 stars, not quite 4 stars. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this at Mt Music in Tucson with my first electric guitar, a Washburn Lyon Superstrat. I wanted an amp to grow into. I thought that I got a deal at $150...found out it was full price. The dealer is a car salesman, but the amp is great! The versatility: Gain, rhythm, equalizer, effects (reverb,chorus), jacks for headphone, cd/tape input. The gain and effects have on/off switches so they act like a pedal. The cd input lets me play with. The Celestion speakers give me tube sound without the weight or fragility or price. It rocks with a big sound. The effects don't seem to kick in until the volume is cranked up a bit (mid range). This is a drag for a quiet practice session, even with headphones. At 18x15x9, it's portable, but I like to play in different rooms...so, I'm looking for a mini to solve that issue. It's textured black w/silver mesh front, silver control panel and logos, black knobs. Classic lines. Really well made. Solid construction. Knobs, buttons and jacks are all quality and easily accessible. Nothing cheesy here. A solid value. When I think of what a comparable Fender, Crate or Marshall amp would cost...man, I bought the right rig. I can play clean, smokey (with my Fender 72 Tele's humbuckers), crunchy and everything in between. I'm not all that...yet..but this amp can help you sound like you are. This is a damned good deal. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The Coupe 36 is a 36 watt tube amp. Each channel can be switched between two modes each. The first channel can be set to clean or crunch, and the second and third channels can both be set to vintage or modern. The amplifier has spring reverb. Each channel has its own EQ settings, and the reverb can be dialed up to different values across the three channels. There is also a solo setting across all of the channels that can be kicked on via the footswitch. The footswitch has buttons for each of the three channels, reverb, and the solo boost. There is also an effects loop. The speaker can be unplugged from the amplifier, such as for use with a talkbox in between, and additional speakers can be attached to the amplifier. UTILIZATION Within the power tube section, the amplifier can use either 6L6's, which is what it is designed for, or it can be set to use a pair of EL34's. Within the pre-amp section it uses 5 12AX7 tubes. I can't think of more features that one would really want on a tube combo amp, with the exception of built in effects, but that would probably not be implemented well and would definitely increase the cost, especially when the use of effects is so subjective anyway. I don't own the manual and never needed it, it's very easy to use. The only thing that's a little clunky on this amp is using the floorboard. It should be longer than it is, because it's easy to hit the wrong button or two switches at once. SOUNDS This is a great gigging amp. My only complaint is the small size of the footswitch. Having three channels make it very possible for a guitarist to get by without having to use a POD or other pre-amp distortion. The only issue I've had with it in the seven years I've owned it is the power bulb burnt out. OVERALL OPINION If it went bad on me, I probably wouldn't replace it because I hardly play live anymore, but when I did, it was great having this amp and a Mesa Boogie Single Rectifier half/fullstack to go between, depending on the gig.

The Kustom Kasino 100 is a guitar combo amplifier that I have used in a variety of situations. The amp delivers 100 watts of power and has 1/4 inch inputs for high and low as well as one for a foot switch. The amp has four speakers, but I'm not sure if they are size 10" or 12". UTILIZATION The configuration of the Kustom Kasino 100 is pretty easy to decipher. The amp simply has a number of parameters in a row including from left to right for volume, bright, treble, bass, selectone (which goes from fixed to fixed settings), selective boost, and boost volume. While some of these parameters aren't often seen, after playing with the amp for a bit I got a pretty good idea of what everything did. Getting a good sounding isn't too hard, and there is a lot of room for getting different types of sounds between the parameters. Since this is a pretty old amp, I've never had access to a manual but I also never felt that I needed one. SOUNDS I've used the Kustom Kasino 100 for both guitar and bass guitar, each with good results. I've never really used the amp with effects as I like the clean sound that this gets. I usually use the amp with a Fender Strat or Jazzmaster and find that this combination gets me a clean sound that is pretty bright. Depending on the guitar that you are using, it is also possible to get some slightly over driven sounds that sound pretty cool as well. I also like using this amp for bass guitar, as even though it doesn't necessary have all of the thump that you would look for in a bass amp, it still gets you a pretty full tone. Having all of these unique parameters at first put me off a bit from the amp, but after a few years of using the amp I've grown to like them a lot as they offer a unique perspective on tone. OVERALL OPINION The Kustom Kasino 100 is quite a rare amp, as the only one that I've ever seen is one that I own. This being said, if you ever come across one of these I would imagine that they wouldn't cost all that much. While it wouldn't be my first choice for either bass or guitar, it is a nice amp that will get you a pretty good tone with a lot of room for messing around. Kustom is an interesting brand as it seems a lot of their models have seem to fallen through the cracks through the years, including the Kasino 100, which is definitely worth a second glance.