Kustom '36 Coupe 112 Combo

I'm rating this amp again primarily for the customer support info. I will add here however, that with further playing I am still very pleased with the clean sound of this amp. I'm sure I'd rate it less if I had experience with some of the greatest amps, but in my ignorance I still get great joy listening to the beautiful sound this amp produces. On the other hand, I also have to say that I can't get distorted sounds using the lead channel that please me to the same degree. There are some good distortion sounds for some songs, but I have heard other cheaper amps sound just as good (distorted). I usually use pedals with this amp, and it's a great platform for that. I like a smoother distortion, so this may all be just my own preference, and not an amp shortcomming. I'd rate this category a solid nonexaggerated 8-9 on the clean channel, and a 6-7 for the lead. Oh, and I agree with another rater that the reverb is worthwhile, but nothing extraordinary or lush. I prefer a good pedal here too, but could get by with the onboard Kustom reverb.

See below for details. My problem may have been a fluke, but who knows.

I had a review earlier. I can now add something that several people put big question marks for, CUSTOMER SUPPORT. My amp did quickly develop a problem which apparently was caused by initial shipping (a broken solder joint in the power supply), but a really good joint would not fail in rough shipping. Though I'm very dissapointed with the problem, I must say emphatically that Kustom was very helpful and quickly fixed the amp (no charge of course). I was also very surprised and pleased at how easy it was to talk to a person in customer support. I called three times and quickly reached a person each time. There was no delay, hold or runaround. They were friendly and genuinly interested in the problem and my satisfaction.

You can read about them in my earlier post and others as well. I will add the fact the the FX loop is tube based according to the store owner, yet I haven't tried it out yet. The tubes are all mounted on the chassis which is better than some of the amps I've seen in this price range, such as the Traynor's I've seen which I almost bought one untill I discovered that little fact (see my Trainor post for more on that). I like the cathode bias on both amps, Fender isn't doing it, why not?. And for some people the volume boost control would be a plus, I don't think I'd use it much, but it's there and works. I got to say I'm still not too impressed with the plastic control panel even though it lights up to tell you which channel your playing, "Nice" but it's gonna get the shit scrached out of it. I think a metal plate with LED's would be a better choice. I haven't tried the line out but it has one.

When I first checked it out I was in a hurry (wife waiting in the car) so I only spent about 10 minutes with the amp. I went back just to give it another try, which I do often with gear before I buy something. This time I had a hardtime getting away from it (no wife this time) I spent almost an hour playing it, I went through several of my set songs at near gig volume and I think it's a pretty good amp. It's got a great OD for older Hard Rock and Blues and I got some good cleans out of it with volume turned up, which is most important to me, switching back and forth between the two is nice and didn't pop. I thought the reverb was better with My Strat than a Les Paul but adjusting the knobs helped it, still not what I call great verb but good enough to gig (most the time I use a verb pedal not the amp's). Still some hiss at playing level but I've seen worse, my old Twin is almost silent.

*** One little note to the guy who claimed 7 ply Burch plywood, big deal! My Twin is made of 5/8" plywood (not sure how many plys or what species)who cares? What's your point? And... thump a Twin? We'll see about that next weekend, if you mean volume then your playing too damn loud. And Twang is not just how bright your amp is, twang with tone is another thing and this amp is okay but lacks the belltone of the Twin. Vintge Twins are not even in the same race and have held their own for years while many new amps have come and gone. Too bad the new Twins are made so crapy.

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????! Still the big question. I hope it's above average. I got to say, the most common problem is tube failure, which isn't the amp's fault. Todays tubes suck, but I think there getting better with the quality control.

???????????????????????????????! I bet better than Fender these days.

It's a good amp and I do like it, kind of a cross between a Peavey and Mesa Boogie, IMO. Both make good amps but priced like the Peavey with more features. I've owned a few Peavey's and liked most of them, used a few Mesa Boogie's which I thought were over ratted. Since I'm still looking at this amp, I may try it for a weekend gig, the Dealer is cool and we have some good history between us. If I like it at the end of a weekend's gig I may just pick this baby up. The gig alone will pay for the amp so why not get it if I like it, beats lugging my 75 lb Twin all over the place all the time. No this won't replace my Twin just save my back. You never know, I may just like it enough to use as my regular gig rig. I hope Kustom can sell this amp to the public and keep them in production for many years.

Brand new...
This amp has all the bells and whistles..Effects loop, Direct out XLR with volume control, Ext speaker jack..Ground Lift..Footswitch included,A volume control for how much boost you want,Pull Bright on both the Rhythm and Lead channels..
Only one set of EQ knobs for both channels but with the pull bright knob you should be able to adjust what you need and both channels seem to blend well..
Of course a Standby...
2-6L6's 4 12AX7's
Removable cord (Computer type) which is a plus if you leave your amp in a club overnight..
Made in USA but does some have some chinese parts..
7 ply birch cab.. your Fender doesn't have that..
Designed by the same man from Peavey that put together the Classic series and the 5150 ..

Sound...mmmm the guy before me, not enough Twang ??? Your kidding me right :) USE the pull bright boost knob...if you want the dogs to howl I've owned Twins and this can thump with the best of them..
I've owned HRD's, Twins etc.., and this amp is fantastic !! build is in VHT quality Level..
You can grind at low bedroom volume or gigging level no problem..
The clean is articulate and sweet(can't wait till the speaker breaks in)has enough jangel that I though my P90 equip Strat was a Rick..
Has that Classic Rock Twang..jangel..spank...Think Gloria...What I like about you....the hollies...Stones..

To new yet...but comes with a 3 year warranty

Looks very sturdy..and well thought out .. I"m not worried about it!
I'm not giving a opinion here because it's too new..

I really think Kustom is trying to be one of the big 3 in the amp builder market..and it shows in this amp!
Dealer has been great!

If your looking for something different...to lead and not follow hte crowd but you don't want to sacrifice your tone or flexiblity ? this is the amp for you...
You'll get more looks with this amp from the tone then the looks..pick a color :)
I've got a couple bouitques...and I'm thinking this amp will be my main gigging amp ..soon

Brand new this year. I own it. This amp is nearly impossible to get a BAD TONE out of. Crank the knobs full one way then the other and this thing just sings.

I am actually gigging with this amp now. Plenty of juice on stage and the DI out (emulated) is awesome as well.

I use a Swampkaster with a Bill Lawerence T1 and T2 pickup in the neck and bridge and a 80s American Fender HB in the middle position. I play what we call Rockabillycountryrockpopandblues. (www.2footsquared.com)

I notice a little hiss when the tone controls are set to bright and when I'm sitting directy in front of it. Back off to normal stage distance and you don't hear a peep other than the wicked tone.

I can play anything from Aaron Tippon to ZZ Top on this amp and the whole gamut of Eagles tunes from Desperado to Life in The Fast Lane.

If you go into the low input the clean channel stays pretty clean. In the high input you can get a bluesy breakup on clean if you run really hot pickups.

The distortion is so versatile, classic rock to Green Day tones are all in this little amp.

Can't say, but I won't give it a bad mark because it hasn't broken and it just keeps on working.

Dunno, I got tired of waiting on the 72 watt 2x12 model to ship... and got the 36 watt single 12. I wish they had gotten on the ball with the long overdue 2x12 Coupe 72s.

I have been play for 30 years. I use the above guitar thru a VS Route 66 compressor and OD, volume pedal, VS H20 chorus and echo, into a Boss tremelo. I would definetly buy it again. I am being serious, I am not a 12 year old with a new toy... I am 45 years old and know what I like. The tone of this little amp is incredibile. It is worthy of it high marks.

Tuck and Roll, with volume control, and tone to the bone, channel switching, more on that later. Think Classic 30 with more features, some not to great extras, volume boost control on the back and XLR output could be usefull, the power cord detaches and may fall out because it hangs upside down in the chassis, it did this when I played it at the store, the music stopped!!! had to re-plug it in. Has a Boost and Reverb foot switch too, I like that.

I didn't have the Twang I was looking for, the clean was good but not as nice as my Twin Reverb, that my standard. A little noisy hiss but not bad, however it's new and may get worse as it ages, those things don't usually go away. Reverb was to dark for my liking.

Nice try

Well it worked when I turned it on.

The big question?

I would not buy this amp, for 2 reasons:

1. Seems kind of over ratted, I think Kustom was on the right track when they built this amp I liked the setup and the options and over all the way it worked, but then they went the wrong direction when it came to looks and tone and some question if the quality is good. They could have left off the Tuck'N'Roll and I don't think it would hurt sales any, heck if I bought this amp and a Pink Stratocaster I could make a good living on the Gay bar circuit, heeheee.

2. With so many other amps out there to choose from and some with a known respect for quality and service I couldn't chance my money on this amp without a long hard test of it's stature playing gigs.

I did like the amp and the looks we're reminiscent of the good ol' days but some of those days wern't so good for Kustom amps, part of the reliability issue. If you want a Vintage looking amp this aint gonna do it, if you just like the amp as it is I'm sure it will sute you fine. If I had money to blow, I would get this amp and take to it's limits just for fun and see what its made of.

Have to give it that, lot's of cool features. No need to rehash, read below if you want all the redundancies. But, does it deliver in tone.....??????? I give it a solid 7 for features though.

Tone....hmmmmmm......the only thing that really matters. Good solid tone, does it blow my mind? No. Is it a serviceable tone? Yes. Does it compare value-for-value against other amps in this price range? Hmmmmm....no. It's Kustom, with a K. Like Kraft Mac-and-Cheese....emphasis on the CHEESE. Folks, you just can't polish a turd. Sorry. It's alright. Average street around $600. Take your hard-earned $600 and go buy a used Victoria Champ on Ebay. Volume and Tone knobs only, but will annihilate this Kustom cheese. Oh yeah, the Victoria is AMERICAN made, point-to-point hand wired. Kustom is CHINESE PCB (circuit board) with that fabulous tuck-and-roll look that put Kustom out of business the first time around. Point made?

Too new, can't fairly say. It's still Velveeta city no matter how you look at it.

Nice folks selling cheesey products. Nice effort here, but again, you can't polish a turd.

Just so much better buys out there for your $600!!! Not just the Victoria I mentioned above, but also check out MANY used amps that pop up on Ebay and other places all the time. You just know this Kustom COUPE will be gone with the wind and worthless within a few years (like other similar "retro-cool" offerings as of the last few years i.e. Peavy WIGGY amps, Line 6 Duoverb, Fender Cyber-Deluxe, heck, even most of the recent VOX offerings (more chinese cheese) as of late. My point (LISTEN!)...spend your $600 on something WAAAAAAY cooler than this! Be smart, use your ears (not your eyes). You'll find it!

THe features on this amp are pretty straight forward. Does have channel switching from rythmn to lead. You can really tweak around with this amp to get different sounds. Has a spring reverb, which is pretty decent. Has effect loops, cabinet simulator, and also a volume boost in the back of the amp.

I'm playing a Les Paul through it, and it sounds great on either channel. The clean channel breaks up pretty early, and I can get a much cleaner tone when I use my strat. The clean channel sounds like a Fender amp to my ears, and the speaker has a very Jenson sound to it.
The lead channel has a great crunch sound, but you can't really get any type of high gain marshall tone here...no heavy metal sound out of this amp......but it's not made for that. But you can get a classic rock tone out of this amp zep or ac/dc, and nice clean tones as well depending on the type of guitar you are using. I have to say I'm very impressed with this amp. You can plug a cheap guitar in this amp and it will sound great. I did pull out the Sovtek tubes in the power stage and replaced them with original black plate RCA tubes and this even gave the amp more of a nice harmonic balance. But even with the Sovtek tubes it still sounded great.

Only have had it for a weak now, but seems to be made very well.

I have been playing for about 25 years, and have owned a versatile collection of guitars and amps. JMI Vox ac30, Korg Vox AC30, Fender bassman, Laney, Marshall. If this amp was stolen or lost, I probably would buy another one, you really can't find any better sounding amp for the price. Kustom is getting ready to release a 2X12 version of this amp at 72 watts, and I may purchase one of those as well.

Let me make it clear up front that I am not an experienced player. I still feel I can offer a few useful comments on this amp.

Certainly an amp's sound is paramount, but features matter too. In this area this amp is an absolute 10. The features alone almost sold me on this amp. I've seen many amps where reviewers say the amp is great but they sure wish it had a standby switch (this one does), or if it only had an external speaker jack (this one does) or if it had an effects loop (this one does) or if it only had a spring reverb (this one does, with reverb depth and tone controls). It seems the designer put almost everything he could think of into this amp. There is even a three position switch for different speaker impedances (4, 8 and 16 ohms). There is a direct line out with speaker emulation, along with a volume control for this and even a ground lift to help eliminate ground loop hum.

A three switch footswitch is included for lead, boost and effect. The effect being for the reverb. The footswitch boost has a volume control on the amp.

Both the lead and rythm channels have separate volume and master volume controls, as well as a bright option by pulling the volume knobs. Of course, there are three tone controls for bass, middle and treble. This may seem a "duh" to some, but I have a nice boutique amp which only has a single tone control. There are also two inputs, one having 6 dB lower gain. I haven't used this yet, but Kustom says this can help provide a cleaner sound, or may help when pedals are used in front of the amp.

I may be leaving something out, but enough said regarding features.

Remember my low experince when reading this category! I play (or try to play) blues, rock (vintage to Alice in Chains), country and clean gospel etc. The amp seams to be well suited to my needs, but nothing will be perfect for everything.

On this amp I have used a strat with fairly hot Texas Special pickups and a Gibson SG with humbuckers. The clean channel stays clean enough for me with both guitars. The distortion in the lead channel sounds smooth enough, but I prefer power amp stage distortion and this amp is too loud for me to drive it in my living room. The lead volume (for distortion) must be carefully adjusted along with the tone controls to avoid mushy chords, but I suppose this is normal with distortion channels. The heaviest distortion may not be brutal enough for shredders, but it's pretty heavy.

There is plenty of tone control. I found the tones swing rather quickly through their wide range. For example, the treble control very quickly swings past what I want, and careful adjustment is necessary to nail a sound. For a given guitar, much of the range isn't useful (for me), but I think the wide range will make the amp suitable for more guitars and pickups.

I think the speaker does a fine job for most styles. I still found myself wanting a tighter, punchier bass response at times. I plugged in a Brown Soun 12 inch hemp cone speaker and the amp gave me a wanderful bass, but this speaker is overall a bit too dark. I think Celestion vintage 30's may work great but haven't had the chance to try it yet. Basically, I think Kustom provided a fine speaker, but that there are better ones out there for this amp and my ears. Of course, my Kustom's speaker isn't broken in yet, so it should definitely only get better.

While idling, my amp is quite quiet. I can barely hear that it's on.

Unfortunately, I have not yet tried any pedals through this amp yet.

My rating on this category is not a put down of the amp. I just want to be realistic, and this amp is definitely not the end of my tone search. The amp sounds great and has many wanderful tones, but it's no 10. I'd like to rate it a 7 or 7.5, but too many people will equate that with a poor rating since ratings have been pretty inflated. With the perfect cabinet I might click it up a notch.

Still too new to rate this, but it looks well built. Externally the quality looks very high all over. I haven't looked at the wiring and internal pc boards yet.

No experience.

I have not mention the "vibe" of the amp yet. Kustom has tried, successfully, to capitalize on the retro look without going campy (except for the campy yet intentionally funny owner's manual introduction page, where you read "Congratulations! You are now a hipper person than before. You look better, you seem smarter and you've probably become more popular").

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I think this amp looks super nice. The blue jewel power light and blue rythm and red lead channel lights couldn't look better, as does the entire control plate. Everything looks very neat in the back. The whole thing looks great and well built.

There are no features I want that this amp doesn't have.

I would want to replace this amp if it were stolen. I think that the features and sound offered on this amp for this price is quite a bargain. I sincerely would like to thank the designer, Kustom's James Brown, for making this amp the way he did.

This is not a Chinese made Amp. It was origionally gonna be. But Kustom said they couls not control quality with the oriental parts and assembly. This amp is designed and built in the U.S.A. With the best components they could find that were suitable for this application.

Mine is still on order... the 72 Coupe 2X12. I can't wait till it gets here.

Update to my earlier review. I spent some more time with this amp and did an A/B against the Peavey classic 30, and I must recend my earlier statement. The Coupe beats the Peavey in all sonic aspects. I haven't gotten to compare to the new AC30's, but this amp is a real contender. I am now considering running a stereo pair of these amps.

Also, The amplifier is made in the USA. I was mistaken earlier when I said it was Chinese. (It does use some Chinese parts though, big deal). The amp does have a litte noise, but I think it is probably just this amp. I am going to have it checked out by Kustom.