Tee1
Tele-Meister
James Brown designed the Defenders too. I emailed him once, about the V15. He said the Defender 15 head was one of his favourite designs and he likes how his pedals sound through it.
James Brown designed the Defenders too. I emailed him once, about the V15. He said the Defender 15 head was one of his favourite designs and he likes how his pedals sound through it.
The Kustom Defenders are made by the same people who make the Bad Cat Cougars. The V15 and Cougar 15, even share some parts. I like the Defender V15 so much, that I've thought about getting a Bad Cat Cougar 15, when thy run sales, reducing it from 999 to 599.
Ross/Kustom went bankrupt around 1980. I think of them as another stencil brand sort of like Hagstrom and all the classic American past piano company names that have been taken over by Chinese builders. The owners I think are from Ohio but the amplifier operation is in China.
They may be fine amps. Uncle Ted was using a Kustom Quad 100 DFX along with 2 Peavey 6505s.
The old stuff was great I had an old tuck and roll 200 head and a Kustom Lead III which was a killer amp.
The would make perfect sense since most reviews on YouTube are Asian videos. The owner of the guitar shop did mention built over seas. An original tuck n roll covered amp sounds cool.
I like their "Coupe" series of combo amps, the single 12 is the Coupe 36 and 2x12 is a Coupe 72....I think. Anyway, I've plugged into both of them and they are impressive.
They are designed by James Brown, same guy that designed the newer Peavey Classic series amps. He went from Peavey over to Kustom. I have no idea if these amps are still made. The have the "boost" switch that the Peavey Classics have except that the Boost switch is also on the foot pedal, which makes a lot of sense. The reverb setup on these Kustoms are better than the Peavey Classic too, IMO.
I know the Coupes aren't what you're looking for Karnac, but when you get settled down from traveling, these would be worth taking a look at, being they'd be good for playing Blues. They're a little price-E-er than the Peavey Classics, IIRC. A little surprising being that the Peavey Classics are still MIA.
Regarding the Kustom amps you're looking at, I've never tried one out.....:neutral:
Yeah, they were amazing when they first came out. I'd been a Fender Amp guy, but these Kustoms with padded tucked and rolled metal flake Naugahide, almost full-stack size, and brass balls to spare, just blew me away. I don't know if the modern stuff has any relation to that generation of amps at all, or not.
So now basically, someone bought the name and are making inexpensive amps. No tuck and roll , no US production, no originality, low to average quality. Just another cheap made over seas amp?
They did have US production on the Coupe series although I think that model was discontinued. They also had a well know designer create the Coupe and Defender lines. My V100 Defender even has a trem circuit from old Kustom patents (if I remember what I read correctly) that is way different than any amp or pedal I've ran across. It also has two knob reverb system (level and tone) that works well and a pedal switchable boost. I definitely don't agree with 'no originality'. The V100 is one of my most unique amps. I don't have any experience with their cheaper line but imagine they hit the market they are priced for...