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Dating Help [message #20982]

Mon, 21 July 2014 11:06

kslawdawg
Messages: 5
Registered: July 2014
Location: NE

Junior Member

New member, and just picked up my Kustom K200B 2 with 2x15 cab about an hour ago from an 85 year old gentleman who says he bought it new in 1967. Can any of y'all help me determine a date for this amp, or better yet a place to dig out the information myself?

K200B 2, serial #39223
Speaker jack on the cab says D-140F

She is a cascade beauty, now I just hope she works when I get home. Any help dating the head and/or cab, or any details and info would be appreciated.

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Re: Dating Help [message #20983 is a reply to message #20982]

Mon, 21 July 2014 17:31

pleat
Messages: 1459
Registered: June 2004
Location: Belding, Mi

Senior Member

Acording to the serial number the amp would date between April-June 1969. Does the speaker cabinet have a white D140F silkscreened on the jack plate? Does the cabinet have the chrome plastic port tubes or alumimun port tubes? Kustom Electronics name badge or Kustom By Ross name badge? These features will help pinpoint if the cab was manufactured around the same time as the amp head.

pleat

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Re: Dating Help [message #20984 is a reply to message #20983]

Mon, 21 July 2014 23:11

kslawdawg
Messages: 5
Registered: July 2014
Location: NE

Junior Member

pleat wrote on Mon, 21 July 2014 17:31

Acording to the serial number the amp would date between April-June 1969. Does the speaker cabinet have a white D140F silkscreened on the jack plate? Does the cabinet have the chrome plastic port tubes or alumimun port tubes? Kustom Electronics name badge or Kustom By Ross name badge? These features will help pinpoint if the cab was manufactured around the same time as the amp head.

pleat

Black jack plate and looks like was white silkscreened printing, but maybe someone colored the D-140F red? Same as the "Kustom" on the amp tag. I'd say chrome plastic tubes, and no Ross anywhere. Bought from an 85 year old guy who said he bought them both new in 1967, but a couple years off ain't bad for his age Smile

. I'm betting the vintage is the same on amp and cab. Thanks for the quick reply pleat, I DID do some searching before I posted, and can see you are the man with this stuff.

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Re: Dating Help [message #20985 is a reply to message #20982]

Tue, 22 July 2014 06:40

stevem
Messages: 4778
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY

Senior Member

Nice find there!
Those speakers will make for a fine sounding Bass amp, has the amp been used much or just stowed away?
If it has not seen much play time you may need to get the two big main power supply filters replaced.
So the Kustom name plate in between the port tubes says kustom electronics on it?

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Re: Dating Help [message #20986 is a reply to message #20985]

Tue, 22 July 2014 13:07

kslawdawg
Messages: 5
Registered: July 2014
Location: NE

Junior Member

Yep, the name plate is directly between the ports and says Kustom Electronics, Inc. It also came with a two button footswitch. Old looking, grey cord, but is a Fender style switch (oval shaped, black plastic bottom) and this one has a sticker between the two buttons that says R/C. Could that be original? I've not seen a Kustom one like that before.

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Re: Dating Help [message #20987 is a reply to message #20986]

Tue, 22 July 2014 14:32

pleat
Messages: 1459
Registered: June 2004
Location: Belding, Mi

Senior Member

I'd say from your description of the jack plate and Kustom logo it would match to around the same time as the amp head. The cabinet should have two 4" diameter aluminum dust caps in the center of each speaker. Even though the jack plate states JBL D140F I'd remove the back to make sure exactly what speakers are in the cabinet. It's also a good time to inspect that all the nuts and washers are still tight holding the speakers in place and you never know what you might find in the bottom of the cabinet as far as items stuffed through the port tubes over the years. I've seen tools, flashlights, golf balls, and one collector found a church envelope with a check that was dated twenty years ago at the time he found it.

Kustom never offered an oval footswitch. The early ones were round with a metal bottom covered in foam rubber. The later models were extruded aluminum and were rectangle in shape.

pleat

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Re: Dating Help [message #20990 is a reply to message #20982]

Wed, 23 July 2014 06:51

stevem
Messages: 4778
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY

Senior Member

Pleat, I guess some Churches pass around a collection basket and others roll around a Kustom port tubed cabinet! lol!

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Re: Dating Help [message #20993 is a reply to message #20990]

Thu, 24 July 2014 00:13

kslawdawg
Messages: 5
Registered: July 2014
Location: NE

Junior Member

Well, I don't really want to take the back off after reading about the gasket material, having to "punch" it loose with a 2x2 through one of the ports, and just loosening those gazillion screws. So, I took someone's tip and peered in there with a small mirror. Good news? Definitely those awesome looking JBL's that are supposed to be, look brand new. Bad news? No valuable treasures. But I did see a Dr. Pepper can, what appears to me to be a red pin cushion (about the size of a baseball, and something down in the corner I can't really identify, looks like a discarded, large wire harness connector or something.. but definitely looks like junk.

CLEAN AS A WHISTLE IN THERE, LOOKS LIKE IT IS BRAND NEW. So.... take off the back, clean out the items, and tighten everything inside? Or leave the factory seal on the back intact (when they say sealed cabinet, they mean it) until I really need to go in there for something?

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Re: Dating Help [message #20994 is a reply to message #20982]

Thu, 24 July 2014 06:39

stevem
Messages: 4778
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY

Senior Member

You really do not want any hard items inside the cab that could get in between the speaker cone and frame, and or the short out the tinsel leads into the voice coil.
I would place a ball of duct tape on the end of a coat hanger and at least pull out the can and what you said looks like a connector!

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Re: Dating Help [message #21001 is a reply to message #20994]

Thu, 24 July 2014 15:01

Kustom_Bart
Messages: 601
Registered: October 2010
Location: Greenville, MichiGUN

Senior Member

It isn't as bad as it sounds taking the back off. Some times they come right off and other times it takes a little time and isn't that big of a deal to get them off and they re-seal when you put them back on. It is worth removing the back. Use a cordless drill and phillips bit and you will have the screws out in a few minutes. It is a piece of cake.

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Re: Dating Help [message #21005 is a reply to message #21001]

Thu, 24 July 2014 22:41

oren hudson
Messages: 274
Registered: March 2008
Location: Gastonia, NC

Senior Member

If the screws have never been out, the slots might be full of krud that you'll need to take a box cutter type blade and scrape them out for removal without reaming/ruining the screws.

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Re: Dating Help [message #21006 is a reply to message #20982]

Fri, 25 July 2014 00:49

kslawdawg
Messages: 5
Registered: July 2014
Location: NE

Junior Member

I got my nerve up and removed the back. You guys weren't kidding, that black stuff is STICKY. Removed the Dr. Pepper can, pin cushion, and a very small toy jeep from the bottom. Also took pleat's suggestion and reversed the JBL speaker wiring to be more conventional, in case I end up running a second cab next to this one. The JBL D140s had white F-6 handwritten on the back of the cone, both cones also ink stamped with 29675. Serial numbers 12120 & 121117. The speakers look as cool as the amp.

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