Merry Christmas everyone [message #16521] |
Mon, 26 December 2011 18:51 |
C4ster
Messages: 686 Registered: June 2001 Location: Mukwonago, WI (Milwaukee...
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This is a bit late, but, Merry Christmas to you all and I hope you have a great New Year.
Well, I now have a pristine K200-A4 in my possession. I found it at a local music store in West Allis, WI (Milwaukee). I told my wife about it and then I had to leave for New Orleans on business. She went to the music store, bought it and stored it in my son's garage until yesterday. She gave me a small wrapped, shoe box to open and in it I found the foot switch. I was speechless. Later that day, my son went home and brought it over. It is black, with 2 cabs. One has 2 JBL D130 speakers and port holes and the other has 1 JBL D130 and a horn. All the speakers are 8 ohm and I am still deciding how I want to approach this issue. The horn cab does not have the aluminum ports but I do have a set looking for a home.
[Updated on: Mon, 26 December 2011 18:53] Report message to a moderator
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Re: Merry Christmas everyone [message #16533 is a reply to message #16531] |
Wed, 28 December 2011 14:20 |
conductortom
Messages: 96 Registered: July 2010 Location: Okla
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Wow Conrad, Santa was good to you. Congrats on your christmas presents. I got my self a Gold B-4 with jbl's. Not pristine, but in real nice shape and loud as all get out!!
Happy Holidays everyone.
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Re: Merry Christmas everyone [message #16543 is a reply to message #16537] |
Thu, 29 December 2011 08:50 |
C4ster
Messages: 686 Registered: June 2001 Location: Mukwonago, WI (Milwaukee...
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I am lucky that I have a wife that not only is supportive of my hobby, but also will involve herself in it. We have travelled to music stores in far away places looking for amps. She just doesn't want them all over the house. A Kustom amp is NOT a piece of furniture! Actually, in my first post, I didn't mention that she even had a story contrived. If was told that the rig was sold to a guy in Madison and that she was sorry I didn't buy it. She also bought a "Paper Jamz" amp for me to unwrap. I think that was a bit cruel. As soon as I saw the footswitch in the Nike shoe box, I just turned to her and said in a low voice, "you bastard"! Merry Christmas.
Conrad
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Re: Merry Christmas everyone [message #16545 is a reply to message #16544] |
Fri, 30 December 2011 09:29 |
C4ster
Messages: 686 Registered: June 2001 Location: Mukwonago, WI (Milwaukee...
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I wish I could. It seems that others can figure out a way to display pictures, but I haven't quite figured it out yet. Tell me how and I will post it.
Conrad
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Re: Merry Christmas everyone [message #16562 is a reply to message #16561] |
Fri, 06 January 2012 12:25 |
solidstate
Messages: 6 Registered: December 2011 Location: Sweden
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Junior Member |
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Thanks for sharing that pic and the full story! Fabulous looking rig!
We're well past Christmas now, but I have something funny to report that really belongs in this thread:
The day after my previous post above, I had a meeting in downtown Stockholm. After the meeting I got a sudden impulse to check out a music store a couple of blocks away. The store in question is kind of a pro shop, specializing in new (often boutique level) gear and studio equipment. They're not a likely candidate for vintage stuff, but I felt, hey, let's look if they have a Kustom (yeah, right...). So I went there, checked all the bass stuff, and of course they didn't. On my way out I took a turn around the guitar section and dang -- a tuck 'n' roll Kustom head is waiting for me!
To put things further into perspective, TnR Kustoms show up in shops like once every three years in our neck of the woods, so this was pretty wild. Ok, so I identified it as a TRT100, i.e. part of the Chinese made line from the early 00:s. As opposed to all other gear, this one had no price tag, and there was quite some dust on it, too. I asked a sales person but he didn't know the price. He then searched a long time in their database, but couldn't find it. Hence he asked a colleague, but he couldn't tell either, so we had to find the store owner.
On the way to the office, I asked whether this was a new trade in or so, but no, it had apparently been around for quite some time. "You know this is an oddball Kustom -- not an old one?", the second salesperson asked (they're very knowledgeable). "Sure! China junk", I said, hoping to bargain a little. "Right! If you're lucky, the boss will let this go for around 500 bucks." That's fair, I thought (remember, they're not common here). Finally we got ahold of the owner, and he said "Ah, that one! Gimme 200 and it's yours!" "Deal! Thank You, Sir!" His two employees lookéd at each other in surprise.
In other words, I'm now the happy owner of my first Kustom! Weeeee! Santa Claus was very nice to me, too! The head certainly has the looks, but I didn't expect much, having read about this (unfortunate) generation of gear. However, I must say that I'm pleasantly surprised! It sounds quite good on bass (I don't play guitar), and the tube distortion on the LEAD channel is much fun to use: For the first time ever I enjoy experimenting a little with distortion.
That said: The poor build quality is evident also in my unit. There's a loud hum when engaging the reverb (which otherwise sounds great), and there's oxide in the jacks (I have to run a cord from pre out to power amp in), and some flutter noise that comes and goes. If anyone has a schematic, it'd be highly appreciated! I don't think it'll be too much work to fix the problems (the power amp is ok, BTW), but a schematic would certainly help.
Fredrik
(still looking for a K200A-3/4, but now it's less urgent)
[Updated on: Fri, 06 January 2012 12:41] Report message to a moderator
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