| A Newbie - My Kustom Epiphany [message #5840] |
Thu, 09 June 2005 10:09  |
seadog
Messages: 4
Registered: June 2005
Location: Massachusetts
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Junior Member |
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So, here's what happened:
I'm playing bass in a combo that for now plays mostly "interpretive" versions of cover tunes. We had a gig last night in a local bar and I was on my way there when I got a phone call from the guitar player letting me know that the drummer somehow neglected to load my bass amp in his van when he left his house. With no time to head out to his place and recover the gear, I stumbled into my local guitar shop, thinking I would take advantage of their "5-day no-questions-asked" return policy (OK, slightly unethical but I buy a lot of gear there so I could rationalize this at some level).
Arriving there 10 minutes before closing time, I made a beeline for the back where they keep the used & consignment gear . . . and there, staring me in the face like a visitor from another planet was a blue metal-flake Kustom K200-B1 head sitting on top of a silver Kustom 2X15 ported cabinet. Dust in the grooves, a couple of tears in the naugehyde, but both in outstanding cosmetic shape considering their age. I had seen Kustom amps in pictures but never in person . . . and this thing called to me! Seeing that this was the only used amp in the shop that could serve as a bass rig, I plugged it in, fired it up . . . and 5 minutes and $350 later I was muscling it into the back of my pickup and heading for the bar.
When I wheeled this baby into the room you could almost hear the jaws of the rest of the band hitting the floor. Rolled it up on stage, parked it next to the drum kit, mic'd it up, and away we went (OK, there were some iterations while I futzed around with the ground so I wouldn't get shocked . . . a three-prong cord is next on my to-do list)
Anyway, I don't know if it was the glow of the yellow pilot light in the center of the plexiglass face or the reflection of the stage lights off of the silver and blue metal-flake tuck-&-roll, or what -- but something about that amp fired us up that night and we rocked the house like never before . . . crowd was pumping, groove was flowing, mojo was on the high peg. Needless to say there's no way I'm taking this baby back to the shop. There is nobody else in town with a rig like this.
The funny thing is I can't even really tell you how it sounds as I haven't had time to screw around with it but who the hell cares -- I'm sure there are some solid tones in there somewhere and believe me I will find them.
So, add another convert to the Kustom Kongregation . . . this beast is here to stay!
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