K-200A [message #10283] |
Fri, 16 January 2009 02:36 |
zebrostripe
Messages: 5 Registered: January 2009
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Junior Member |
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Wonderful site! I just found it the other day while trying to find out some info on my K-200A-2. I was hoping some of you could help me out. The S/N is 22051. The cabinet is a 2X15. Both the head and the cab are a matching blue sparkle. Both logos have Kustom by Ross on them.
I was hoping someone out there had a schematic to this that they'd be willing to share, as well as some good tips for internal parts replacements. My amp works fine except for the tremolo and the reverb, and I'd like to see what I can do to try to remedy these issues.
This was my dad's amp that he had given it to me about ten years ago and other than some light touring at that time, it has sat in my basement waiting for the day that I could really appreciate it for what it is.
Any other info that anyone could fill me in on would also be greatly appreciated, such as an estimeate on the year of manufacture, scarcity, ect...
Thanks in advance.
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Re: K-200A [message #10286 is a reply to message #10283] |
Fri, 16 January 2009 10:49 |
chicagobill
Messages: 2006 Registered: April 2003
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Senior Member |
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Welcome to the board ZS.
Steve is right, the FX on all of the A series heads need to be turned on with a foot switch.
On the back of your amp you'll probably have a jack that looks like an xlr mike connector. As a test, take a paper clip or a short length of wire and jumper the pins of the jack to the metal frame of the jack. This will turn on the reverb and or the trem/vibrato. Don't worry, you won't do any damage to the amp or yourself doing this. If the reverb and trem work with the jumper installed, then you know that the amp is ok and you only need a footswitch to turn them on. If they don't work, it may mean that you'll need to have the amp serviced.
The A-series was only made for a fairly short time, so I feel that they are less plentiful than either the earlier Wide Panels or the latter B-series. Back in the 60's CCR used an all A-series backline. The mixable vibrato/tremolo is what John Fogerty used to get that sound.
Again welcome, and let us know what you find out about your FX.
[Updated on: Fri, 16 January 2009 10:49] Report message to a moderator
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Re: K-200A [message #10297 is a reply to message #10296] |
Mon, 19 January 2009 12:37 |
chicagobill
Messages: 2006 Registered: April 2003
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Senior Member |
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The sound that your reverb tank is making is typical of one that has a broken wire on the output transducer.
If you look inside the metal tank where the RCA jacks are, you'll see two small wires that attach the RCA jacks to each of the two coils. Typically these wires are green and black. Check to see if either one has broken off the jack or broken somewhere in the middle. They flex a lot and then will break from metal fatigue.
If the tank wires are ok, be sure that the cables that connect the tank to the pc board are plugged in and the connectors are clean and tight.
If all the wiring checks out ok, then you will either need an ohm meter or another reverb tank to check out the amp. If you have an ohm meter set it to read low ohms and read the value across the input and output jacks. The input jack will read somewhere between 50 and 200 ohms. The output should read somewhere around 200 ohms. If either of these readings are wrong, either you have an open or otherwise bad transducer coil.
If you have access to another Kustom amp with a reverb tank, you could try substituting that tank and see if it works. If you try a known working tank from another amp, it may or may not work perfectly, but it will let you test the basic circuitry of your amp.
Hope this helps. Bill
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Re: K-200A [message #10302 is a reply to message #10283] |
Mon, 19 January 2009 21:19 |
zebrostripe
Messages: 5 Registered: January 2009
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Junior Member |
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ChicagoBill--
Reverb is operational! It was in fact the green wire broken off the RCA connector. Once I soldiered it back on it was as good as new. Thanks for the info, once again.
Stevem, Pleat--
Thanks for the additional info on speakers. I'll definitely look at the Webers as an alternative. Although the ones I have sound fine, I'd like to get this as close to original equipment as much as feasible.
To all--
Thanks to this site, I now have a 100% operational amplifier. It's good to know that there are other people out there that are so willing to help out. Hopefully I can return the favor someday.
Thanks again,
-z
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