a Rickenbacker into a solid state Kustom

yegbert · May 10th, 2008, 10:47 PM

There's no Tele or Fender in this bad dog story.

This other thread about Kustom amps in the Bass place got me thinking about John Fogerty's use of Kustom amps in his CCR era. I found these two clips which show and tell the story of Suzy Q and his Kustom solid state amp. John and this combo were indeed that freight train chooglin' down from New Orleans.

tazzboy · May 10th, 2008, 10:52 PM

Yeah John Fogerty used a Rickenbacker 325 (Same one that John Lennon used when he was in the Beatles) and Kustom K200A-4 with a JBL D-130F (2x15 cabinet) which had select booster, Harmonic Clipper, Tremolo/Vibrato, and Reverb.

TelecasterBlooz · May 10th, 2008, 11:20 PM

John has been quoted (and I agree) that he was the ONLY person to EVER get good sound and tone from those Kustom products he used. I own a Kustom Quad 65 FX and it don't sound nothing like him....this lends "creedence" to his claim as being the only guitarist that ever got good tone from one of those rigs...

tomi · May 11th, 2008, 12:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TelecasterBlooz

John has been quoted (and I agree) that he was the ONLY person to EVER get good sound and tone from those Kustom products he used.

I'll second that. I never owned a Kustom, but I played through many back in the days when the CCR endorsement seemed to be working and people were buying those amps. I could never make them sound like anything but sh*t. I used to suspect that Fogerty had a Twin Reverb hidden behind his wall of Kustoms. Wasn't there a Twin in the picture on the cover of the Cosmo's Factory LP?

yegbert · May 11th, 2008, 12:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomi

Wasn't there a Twin in the picture on the cover of the Cosmo's Factory LP?

There's a silverface Fender combo with three knobs on the first channel and 6 on the second channel.

TELETAMER · May 11th, 2008, 12:40 AM

fwiw,
i've had a bunch of kustoms and love them. if i had the room i'd have one in every color.
here's what the tele and a gold k100 /115 setup sounded like :
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getpl...d=5729203&q=hi

robt57 · May 11th, 2008, 12:47 AM

That was fun listening to those. Thanks!

Hey, was it true Roy Buchanan played the guitar solo on Suzie Q on the album??

tomi · May 11th, 2008, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TELETAMER

fwiw,
i've had a bunch of kustoms and love them. if i had the room i'd have one in every color.
here's what the tele and a gold k100 /115 setup sounded like :
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getpl...d=5729203&q=hi

Nice tune, and I have to say, you're getting a much better sound out of a Kustom than I was ever able to: Hats off to you! What's your secret?

tomi · May 11th, 2008, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robt57

Hey, was it true Roy Buchanan played the guitar solo on Suzie Q on the album??

I always thought Roy played on the Dale Hawkins version some years before Creedence's came out.

RomanS · May 11th, 2008, 05:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomi

I always thought Roy played on the Dale Hawkins version some years before Creedence's came out.

Nope - that was James Burton!

Telarkaster · May 11th, 2008, 07:45 AM

That was amazing, thanks! I love Born on the Bayou and seeing that made my day. It also triggered a Ric GAS attack. Mmmm, toaster pickups...

FirstBassman · May 11th, 2008, 10:06 AM

Quote:

John Fogerty used a Rickenbacker 325 (Same one that John Lennon used when he was in the Beatles) and Kustom K200A-4 with a JBL D-130F (2x15 cabinet)

The RIC guitar in the second clip is a Rose Morris model 1998.

Fogerty has said he quit using the Kustoms about ten years ago or so.

tazzboy · May 11th, 2008, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FirstBassman

The RIC guitar in the second clip is a Rose Morris model 1998.

Fogerty has said he quit using the Kustoms about ten years ago or so.

Yeah Fogerty said the faceplate got crack at last concert he did in Australia in 1998 after that he retired from the road but only used in Studio for Revival

tazzboy · May 11th, 2008, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yegbert

There's a silverface Fender combo with three knobs on the first channel and 6 on the second channel.

Yeah John also had Fender Vibroulxe Reverb that he started to use as well. I think John had it right before recording Green River.

Here is interview he did back in Jan 98.
http://www.psych.mcgill.ca/levitin/p...s/fogerty.html

TELETAMER · May 12th, 2008, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomi

Nice tune, and I have to say, you're getting a much better sound out of a Kustom than I was ever able to: Hats off to you! What's your secret?

thanks man.
the early plexi front kustoms are the best ones for guitar. the slanted metal front models are better for bass and everything after those is just plain bad (the new ones are kustom in name only - different circuits,different company etc.. etc..)
the plexi front models sound better the louder you run them and in my experience sound best with hotter pickups. you have to get em to the point right where they start to distort and then you're in business :)
and just because i'll use any excuse to show em off :) - here's the amp and fiddle in question :

tuuur · May 12th, 2008, 04:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TELETAMER

the slanted metal front models are better for bass...

Would this one be what you call a slanted metal front model?
It's the Kustom 150 with 4 12 cab I currently use as main amp.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TELETAMER

everything after those is just plain bad (the new ones are kustom in name only - different circuits,different company etc.. etc..)

The drummer in my band plays guitar as well and got a chinese made Kustom tube amp. Sounds allright for what he plays (Kinda redneck countryrock). Not that subtle, but he doesn't want subtlety anyway...

RomanS · May 12th, 2008, 05:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuuur

The drummer in my band plays guitar as well and got a chinese made Kustom tube amp. Sounds allright for what he plays (Kinda redneck countryrock). Not that subtle, but he doesn't want subtlety anyway...

tuur,
would that be the Kustom Defender model? A friend of mine is looking for a second amp that he can use when his red-knob twin is too loud & large, and he's interested in that one, since his budget is really low. How's the clean sound on that one?

tuuur · May 12th, 2008, 06:17 AM

RomanS,

it's a Kustom TRT-50 50 watt. There's a 100 watt version as well. Currently he uses it with an extra 2 12 cab.
I never heard that thing clean, so I can't really comment on that...

Oh, and by the way, this one is also LOUD...

dangerine49 · May 12th, 2008, 07:14 AM

I've got a Kustom 150 combo amp. I don't use it much anymore, but I really loved that amp. I used it in a classic rock band a few years ago, and the lead guitarist used to always comment that he wished he could find an amp that sounded like it.

Tony474 · May 12th, 2008, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FirstBassman

The RIC guitar in the second clip is a Rose Morris model 1998.

Indeed it is. Likewise the 325 variant in the first clip is a Rose-Morris model 1996.

FWIW, the late Roy Morris was a family acquaintance back in the early 60s and provided me with a nice little amp at a great low price, but though I would have loved to have a Rickenbacker 1996 I couldn't afford one back then, even at the wholesale price.

FirstBassman · May 12th, 2008, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony474

...though I would have loved to have a Rickenbacker 1996 I couldn't afford one back then, even at the wholesale price.

Sorry, Tony, that's too bad.

TELETAMER · May 12th, 2008, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuuur

Would this one be what you call a slanted metal front model?
It's the Kustom 150 with 4 12 cab I currently use as main amp.

The drummer in my band plays guitar as well and got a chinese made Kustom tube amp. Sounds allright for what he plays (Kinda redneck countryrock). Not that subtle, but he doesn't want subtlety anyway...

yep that's it.i've had a couple of those now and really dig them as well. they made some changes to them later on that stiffened them up so they didn't distort so quickly( and gave them more headroom - hence the bass comment) but, the trem in the 150/250 is one of the best i've heard.

RomanS · May 12th, 2008, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuuur

RomanS,

it's a Kustom TRT-50 50 watt. There's a 100 watt version as well. Currently he uses it with an extra 2 12 cab.
I never heard that thing clean, so I can't really comment on that...

Oh, and by the way, this one is also LOUD...

Never heard about those, I thought the only tube amps they made where the Coupe and Defender models...

May 10th, 2008, 10:47 PM	#1 (permalink)
yegbert Friend of Leo's Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Clinton, Maryland (US) Age: 54 Posts: 4,307 66 Photos	a Rickenbacker into a solid state Kustom There's no Tele or Fender in this bad dog story. This other thread about Kustom amps in the Bass place got me thinking about John Fogerty's use of Kustom amps in his CCR era. I found these two clips which show and tell the story of Suzy Q and his Kustom solid state amp. John and this combo were indeed that freight train chooglin' down from New Orleans.

May 10th, 2008, 10:52 PM	#2 (permalink)
tazzboy Friend of Leo's Join Date: May 2005 Location: Eugene, Oregon Age: 31 Posts: 2,450	Yeah John Fogerty used a Rickenbacker 325 (Same one that John Lennon used when he was in the Beatles) and Kustom K200A-4 with a JBL D-130F (2x15 cabinet) which had select booster, Harmonic Clipper, Tremolo/Vibrato, and Reverb. __________________ tazzboy Guitar: 1982 Gibson Les Paul Standard AMP: 59 Bassman Reissue. EFFECTS: 2 Boss TR-2 Tremolo, Boss CE-2 Chorus, and Boss DM-3 Echo Delay.

May 10th, 2008, 11:20 PM	#3 (permalink)
TelecasterBlooz Tele-Holic Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: New Lisbon, WI Age: 48 Posts: 589	John has been quoted (and I agree) that he was the ONLY person to EVER get good sound and tone from those Kustom products he used. I own a Kustom Quad 65 FX and it don't sound nothing like him....this lends "creedence" to his claim as being the only guitarist that ever got good tone from one of those rigs... __________________ Leo Fender got it right the first time...(Telecaster)

May 11th, 2008, 12:47 AM	#7 (permalink)
robt57 Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Lost Yankee in Nashville Age: 51 Posts: 1,726	That was fun listening to those. Thanks! Hey, was it true Roy Buchanan played the guitar solo on Suzie Q on the album?? __________________

May 12th, 2008, 06:17 AM	#18 (permalink)
tuuur Tele-Holic Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: the Netherlands Age: 39 Posts: 814 7 Photos	RomanS, it's a Kustom TRT-50 50 watt. There's a 100 watt version as well. Currently he uses it with an extra 2 12 cab. I never heard that thing clean, so I can't really comment on that... Oh, and by the way, this one is also LOUD... __________________ If we all take the backseat, who's gonna drive? - Fred Cole http://www.myspace.com/daggermoon Last edited by tuuur : May 12th, 2008 at 07:46 AM.

May 11th, 2008, 12:40 AM	#6 (permalink)
TELETAMER Tele-Meister Join Date: May 2005 Location: Milan,Tennessee Posts: 134	fwiw, i've had a bunch of kustoms and love them. if i had the room i'd have one in every color. here's what the tele and a gold k100 /115 setup sounded like : http://www.soundclick.com/util/getpl...d=5729203&q=hi

May 11th, 2008, 07:45 AM	#11 (permalink)
Telarkaster Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Montreal Quebec Canada Posts: 1,269	That was amazing, thanks! I love Born on the Bayou and seeing that made my day. It also triggered a Ric GAS attack. Mmmm, toaster pickups...

May 12th, 2008, 07:14 AM	#19 (permalink)
dangerine49 Tele-Meister Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 336	I've got a Kustom 150 combo amp. I don't use it much anymore, but I really loved that amp. I used it in a classic rock band a few years ago, and the lead guitarist used to always comment that he wished he could find an amp that sounded like it.