Kustom '36 Coupe 112 Combo

After 1 year of waiting, I finally received my 2005 KUSTOM 36 Coupe all tube combo. Was it worth the wait? It has two channels with individual volume and master volumes, channel switching, effects loop and lo-z direct out. It has a heavy duty three button footswitch that switches channels, activates a lead boost and turns the effects (REAL SPRING REVERB) on and off. As the name would suggest, it's 36 watts of all tube power. The rhythm channel is nice and clean for the jazz player and the lead channel has TONS of gain.

As soon as the amp arrived, I ripped out my 81 Dean and had at it. The DiMarzios SCREAMED through it. It actually made me sound like a better guitar player. I then switched to my G&L S-500 and I fely like Stevie Ray Vaughn was reborn in me. The tone was unbelievable. Today, a buddy of mine stopped by with his "Jazz Box" and it was unreal. The tone was very natural sounding and NOTHING sounds quite like a real spring reverb. It sounds GREAT for all styles of music we played through it, Thrash, blues, jazz, this amp does it all.

The amp was built in the USA by KUSTOM and it was designed by James Brown, designer of many of todays most popular tube amps. I have full confidence in it.

The retailer was very helpful in keeping me updated on the progress of these new amps. It's very new and have had no issues but I'm confident if I should, I will be well taken care of.

I've been playing over 30 years and have tons of gear including guitars from $700-$7000 and amps from $50-$5000. Not only would I replace the amp if I needed to, I plan on buying a second to leave at the studio. This amp compares to my marshall and blows my AC-30 away! NO KIDDING!

2 channel all tube 36 watt combo amp. 1x12" eminence speaker specially designed and voiced for this amplifier. Includes rugged footswitch. Built in effects loop and enough gas to push an external cabinet. Modeling amps rule in this category so a 7 is really a ten by normal amp standards.

Playing a Fender Strat Ultra with EMG's and a 72 reissue Tele with humbucker in bridge. First off the amp just looks solid. The designer of this amp is James Brown. He is the same one who designed the Classic 30, XXX and JSX amps for Peavey and Peavey's are indestructable. The clean tone on this amp is above average. I find it to be punchier than a Peavey Classic 30 and have way more bass response than the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Infact it's hard to believe it is a 1x12 combo it has so much tightness in the low frequencies. Crank the clean channel and you get a pretty harsh sounding overdrive. The Distortion channel is good, not great. It is usable for somethings, but I will definitly use stompboxes with this amp as it lends itself to this very well. The size and power make it a great gigging amp for small clubs where stage realestate is a premium. I currently use a Matchless Clubman 35 and it is no danger of being replaced, however the Kustom will add a very useful tone to my guitar rig. I would defintely recommend this amp over a Fender Hot Rod amplifier. It would be a tossup with the Peavey classics. The Kustom has a better clean tone, but the Peavey clearly outperforms the coupe in the overdrive department. I give it an 8 because the clean channel is just that good. P.S. - The Reverb is excellent on this thing.

This amp is too new to determine reliability, however, it is a Chinese made amplifier. They don't seem to have the same longevity that American made amps have. I know a lot of the folks at Kustom and they are upstanding people. I know they went to a lot of trouble finding a manufacturer who would be consistent with these amps. I would give it good rating based on that.

Kustom is very easy to deal with and I have worked with them for years selling their PA gear where I work. I am satisfied with their products and feel they are a good value for what you pay.

Overall I would say this is a great work horse amplifier that would be perfect for the musician on the go.

Number two amp from the factory.This is part of the new line of American made tube amps from Kustom designed by James Brown. Here are the specs : 36 all tube watts, (2)6l6 power tubes, (4)12ax7 preamp tubes,self-biased power amp, two channels with dual masters,tone controls consist of bass/middle & treble,one of the best reverbs I've heard, xlr out with cabinet emulation, 12 inch KEI speaker designed by Eminence, baltic birch cabinet,direct volume & boost volume on the back cabinet for further tone shaping, & a heavy duty stainless steel footswitch that controls channels,effects & boost for both the clean & lead channel.Overall, very well planned out and great for live applications.

This amp was well thought out and built like a tank. Even the little things like all steel connectors on the footswitch cable & internal speaker cable.I play mostly classic rock & blues styles and this amp is one of the best I've heard. I've been playing over twenty years and have owned Mesa Boogie,Rivera,Peavey,Fender,Crate & Ampeg just to name a few.The clean channel is up there with some of the best Fender designs I have experienced such as a Fender Vibrolux.Yes, it's that good. The amp has a good deal of clean headroom before it clips.The distortion is very musical and great for classic rock & blues. You can set the volume,(gain)all the way up for a liquid sustain & roll off the guitar volume to acheive a nice blues tone.I believe this amp to be well in the league of all the overpriced boutique amps on the market.So far I've used this amp playing out with my Fender 80's Strat Plus and the tone is first rate.

I haven't owned this amp a week yet and I've just used it for this weekend's gigs. As I said before, It's built like a tank and the cosmetics & hardware are all first rate.Even in this short amount of time, I'd rate this amp at a ten for reliability just based on how well the amp seems to be manufactured and well designed. With all tube amps, I always have spare tubes with me rather than have to carry two amps to a gig.

The amp is so new, when I bought it the manuals were still being made up at the printer's shop.Speno Music in Auburn, New York called and one is hot off the press on it's way. The response was given as I was at the music store buying the '36 Coupe.That seems like great customer service form Speno's & Kustom.

I have been playing over twenty years as noted above, and in that amount of time have purchased the standard Strats, Les Pauls & Paul Reed Smith guitars as well as some knock offs & acoustics.I also own three different Traynor tube amps which are also very good units.I can
tell the design team at Kustom put some real thought into this amp and it shows.If you go down to your local Kustom dealer and try one of these '36 Coupes, I think you will be as pleased as I am in so many of the details that we're taken to deliver an outstanding tube amp to the market at a great price.The amp sounds so good, for the first time I can remember, I haven't run any external effects.Both channels, (four with the boost)are outstanding and very musical.