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Kuston III Head [message #22696]

Mon, 23 March 2015 08:39

Rosscrudos
Messages: 7
Registered: March 2015

Junior Member

Hi, I bought a (late 70's?) Kustom Head. A Kustom III L (?) Could anyone tell me how many Ohms it is? I can't figure out how to insert a picture, so I'll briefly describe it...it has the script Kustom logo, no foam and tuck, 4 inputs, and has tremelo and reverb.

Any help would be appreciated

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22697 is a reply to message #22696]

Mon, 23 March 2015 09:53

stevem
Messages: 4775
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY

Senior Member

Your amp needs a 4 ohm load to get its full 130 watts of clean RMS power and should not be run at a lower impedance like 2 ohms unless played at low home type volumes!
It will be fine driving a 8 or 16 ohm load, but at 8 ohms it will only output some 70 watts of clean power and at 16 ohms half of that 70 watts.
Enjoy your baby!

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22698 is a reply to message #22696]

Mon, 23 March 2015 10:04

Rosscrudos
Messages: 7
Registered: March 2015

Junior Member

Thank you very much.

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22717 is a reply to message #22696]

Fri, 03 April 2015 13:06

Rosscrudos
Messages: 7
Registered: March 2015

Junior Member

by the way, does anyone know much about these heads. I've just hooked it up to a cab and my god the thing is loud. The tone for a guitar is ok, not great. Does anyone know if you can use it for a bass?

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22718 is a reply to message #22717]

Sat, 04 April 2015 00:37

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

Senior Member

Yes you can use it for a Bass, However if you want to use it for guitar, put a multi processor pedal in front of the amp and you will like the sound...Kustom has a LOUD clean sound and they take pedals very very well.

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22719 is a reply to message #22696]

Sat, 04 April 2015 08:26

stevem
Messages: 4775
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY

Senior Member

Yes ,pedals and such work well in front of them but be sure to let the amp provide the volume otherwise if you drive too hot of a signal level into the preamp you stand a chance of popping the input IC chip and or having bad distortion when you hit a hard chord or note!

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22722 is a reply to message #22696]

Mon, 06 April 2015 10:57

Rosscrudos
Messages: 7
Registered: March 2015

Junior Member

That's funny that you mention getting distortion when hitting a hard note or chord, as that's exactly what's been happening! I've just put new speakers into my cab, so I'm now trying to work out what's happening. Thanks for all your comments

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22725 is a reply to message #22722]

Tue, 07 April 2015 01:42

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

Senior Member

For sure sounds like you are over driving the front end of the pre amp. Turn the gain down on the effects and you should be good to go.

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22726 is a reply to message #22696]

Tue, 07 April 2015 06:19

stevem
Messages: 4775
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY

Senior Member

With a solid state preamp your overall / end result volume level should not be much more than when you plug straight in thru no pedals!

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22727 is a reply to message #22696]

Tue, 07 April 2015 14:49

Rosscrudos
Messages: 7
Registered: March 2015

Junior Member

here's the problem. I am getting a distorted sound when hitting a hard chord when plugged directly into the head! I'm wondering if the input ic chip has already previously been damaged?

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22728 is a reply to message #22727]

Tue, 07 April 2015 15:29

mister honey
Messages: 38
Registered: January 2014
Location: eastern blowville heights...

Member

Try this...

My Lead III has a volume control for each channel and a master volume over on the right side of the control panel.

Lower the volume knob to the 9 o'clock position for the channel you're plugged into and adjust the overall volume with the master.

Mike

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22729 is a reply to message #22696]

Tue, 07 April 2015 15:35

stevem
Messages: 4775
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY

Senior Member

Master volumes should always be set to at least 50% of wide open!

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22739 is a reply to message #22729]

Thu, 09 April 2015 07:26

mister honey
Messages: 38
Registered: January 2014
Location: eastern blowville heights...

Member

Why 50%, stevem?

Mike

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22740 is a reply to message #22696]

Thu, 09 April 2015 08:04

stevem
Messages: 4775
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY

Senior Member

To relate it to let's say a V6 motor in your car why would you want to have 3 of the 6 spark plugs unplugged if you had to drive up a big hill ?
Or ask yourself why solid state stereo home or even surround sound units have no master volume?

To me the only use for a master volume on a SS guitar or bass amp is to cut back on the amps wattage if it happens to be driving speakers that can not handle its wattage!

[Updated on: Thu, 09 April 2015 08:09]

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22741 is a reply to message #22696]

Thu, 09 April 2015 13:32

fieldflower
Messages: 71
Registered: July 2004
Location: Sweden

Member

But... different combinations may produce different sound, so there are no right or wrongs, right?
Whatever rocks Your boat is a good way.

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22742 is a reply to message #22696]

Thu, 09 April 2015 17:53

chicagobill
Messages: 2006
Registered: April 2003

Senior Member

Exactly, every amp is different and some sound great when the preamp is really cranked and some don't sound so great.

I think that the amp has two input jacks per channel. One is a lower gain and one is a higher gain. Try both and see if the distortion is better or worse when using one or the other jack.

Also try working with the tone controls, they can make a big difference in the overall tone. They may not work the same way that your other amps tone controls work, so experiment and see what you can do to make the sound better to your ears.

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22743 is a reply to message #22696]

Fri, 10 April 2015 06:06

stevem
Messages: 4775
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY

Senior Member

Yes, there is no right or wrong unless the preamp is opened up so much that it is clipping.

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22744 is a reply to message #22696]

Fri, 10 April 2015 14:59

Rosscrudos
Messages: 7
Registered: March 2015

Junior Member

Yeah, Chicago Bill is right, mt head only has two input jacks per channel. The Problem is the consistency, sometimes it works fine and I get a nice tone, and then it will just start to 'fart out'. Very frustrating. Channel Two seems to work fine, but I don't like the sound without a bit of reverb and tremelo. I'm not sure if it's worth getting it fixed or not. I might have to throw it back into the ebay pond!

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22745 is a reply to message #22696]

Fri, 10 April 2015 16:15

stevem
Messages: 4775
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY

Senior Member

It worth opening up the amp and un-plugging all the white Molex connectors two or three times as I am just thinking that it could be a bad connection making for you issue also

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22746 is a reply to message #22696]

Fri, 10 April 2015 19:25

Rosscrudos
Messages: 7
Registered: March 2015

Junior Member

Right, I gave that ago and I've just played it for 30 mins and no problems. The difference, so far, is that the volume goes up gradually rather than go from zero to blow your head off. I hit the strings really hard and no troubles, but I didn't put the volume past three as I'm at home! The proof is going to be in the pudding of playing with a full band, if the amp keeps going as it is I'm going to try the amp at a gig I'm playing next Friday (with a back up amp near by!)

I find I can get a really nice tone with my strat, but I'm struggling to find a tone I like with my 12 string, will keep trying.

Thank you very much for all the advice Smile

Smile

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22749 is a reply to message #22746]

Sat, 11 April 2015 17:05

Kochens
Messages: 80
Registered: April 2009
Location: Denmark

Member

This amp is a kind of Fender, and I think channel 2 are not worth playing. Awesome with pedals on channel one. Forget channel 2, sound is so bad.

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22750 is a reply to message #22696]

Sun, 12 April 2015 06:55

stevem
Messages: 4775
Registered: June 2004
Location: NY

Senior Member

What do you mean by bad, all mids to the tone?

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Re: Kuston III Head [message #22751 is a reply to message #22750]

Sun, 12 April 2015 07:08

Kochens
Messages: 80
Registered: April 2009
Location: Denmark

Member

Sorry, I mixed it up with a Kustom Studio 2 valve I got, channel 2 was sounding bad. As I recall(dont playing it for years) the Kustom lll Lead only have one issiue, the distortion is bad (clipping)But I love it for the tremolo and the clean

[Updated on: Sun, 12 April 2015 16:25]

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