Kustom '72 Coupe 212 Custom

got about 3 weeks ago. This amp has a ton of features. FX loop, boost 2 channel, vibrato, tremolo, reverb, footswitch(included!!), casters pull birghts on both channels. You'de be hard pressed to find another amp in this price range that comes with all of this. But.....it's got a shared EQ for both channels. While I haven't found this to be a problem per se, it would be nice to have eq's for each channel.

Also missing a fan!!! Read reliability.

Great sounds. Does good clean and crunch. The distortion never gets grainy. It's nice and smooth and gets pretty gainy. Maybe not quite metal gain but pretty close. The gain is never muddy and is very articulate. You have the option of a pull bright for a little more bite.

Clean is great. Nice and warm with good base response. Again, pull bright on this channel for added dimension. But it's a 6L6 so it gives you a round warm tone w/o the bright channel.

Trem/Vibrato/Reverb are all excellent. The reverb also has it's own tone knob and gives you the ability to dial in differnet reverb sounds. You go from drippy to hall. The vibrato is a pitch shifting type and sounds cool. The Tem is the rotory speaker type. Very cool stuff.

While the EQ is shared it is very effective. Subtle changes in tone/base/mid will give you drastic changes in tone. So you have lots of sound options available. On some amps the eq's seem to make very little difference. This amp is not one of them. That's a good thing excpet you may find that you have to change settings when you change channels. That's the problem of a shared EQ.

I play mostly strats but have a G&L h/s/s and the amps sounds great with either humbuckers or single coils. Not all amps do.

Seems well built but right out of the box I fired it up and I noticed a smell. A strong smell. Feeling the back of the amp I noticed it was hot. REALY hot. I was concerned and called Customer Service at Kustom and was told this is normal and these amps are biased hot to achieve the sound they get. But still the bost knob on the back was almost too hot to touch and I had a hard time believing that this wouldn't hurt the amp over the long haul. Still CS at Kustom said that this was normal and not to worry.

In the end I mounted to small CPU computer fans to the tube cage. I used plastic zip ties to secure them and now the amp runs cool. The back panel doesn't heat up and I imagine this would help the amp last longer. THIS SHOULD BE A FACTORY part put on all these amps.

But for 15 dollars in parts you can do it yourself. I've included a picture of the setup. It's easy and makes a world of difference. No more burnging vinal smell no matter how hard I push the amp.

But other than this "potential" problem of long term heat to the PCB the amp seems really well made.

Here's a link to a picture of the setup.
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee257/mjaggisan/IMG_0335.jpg

I called CS a couple of times about the overheating issue and they were very good about getting back to me and answering my questions. I would imagine that they would do the same if there was a malfunction in the amp so I'll give them a 9.

Lots of features and great sound which is the main thing. I give it solid 10 if this amp had seperate EQs and a built in cooling fan. Still for the money it's a lot of amp. You can play it relatively quiet or loud and and it sounds good.

Despite the lack of a fan and seperate EQ this thing is loaded with features and is pretty manageable for a 2x12. I paid $799.99 which is a good deal. I'm not sure I would pay over a grand which is what some places want for these. There are a lot of other options for that price.

But for a amp that does Fendery cleans/reverb and great american crunch this one you should really check out. Just do yourself a favore and mount some fans on the tube cage at some point. While I'm told the heat is normal for this amp a little cooling help could only be good for it long term.

Checkout the Guitarworld reveiw at the Kustom site.

The features on this amp are phenomenal! I am sure they have been listed here before, but the direct out, tremolo / vibrato, bright switches, 3 button foot switch, reverb tone control, volume & master controls on each channel, etc. So much thought was put into the design and features of this amp...

Yet...

ONE EQ CONTROL shared between both channels?

Unfortunately, for my style of playing, guitar, and effects, I can't find a single EQ setting that agrees between the clean and dirty channel.

I have to give this 10 a 7 because the EQ situation is just retarded.

The sound is great on the clean side OR the dirty side. See previous. I can't get them to work together. Again, a 7.

I bought this amp on eBay from a Kustom warranty service dealer. His auction said used, still under warranty. What I found out after the auction was completed, was that the amp was a serviced refurb model. Kustom's policy on these is they are sold AS NEW with a 90 day warranty. The speakers rattle slightly and have since I took the amp out of the package it was shipped in.

The tube cages also rattle loudly as has been mentioned here already.

I will give a 7 here because the amp wasn't new and could have been a shipping issue.

Regarding the rattling speakers: I contacted Kustom customer service and was hooked up with a really helpful person there who helped me diagnose the problem. He said he was going to have the guy who sold me the amp send me a single replacement speaker, though they both rattle. I never heard back from the dealer. When I contacted customer service again, he said he would have the dealer contact me. Radio silence for several months now. Silent except for the rattling speakers.

So, I give Kustom customer service a 10 and their warranty service guy a 0.

The amp is great looking, sounds good, has features that blow my mind. I agree with previous reviewers that the speakers leave something to be desired. It is not terribly heavy for a 2x12 all tube 72 watt amp. It is not terribly loud for a 2x12 all tube 72 watt amp, either. My other amp is a Crate VC3112, which is a 1x12 30 watt amp and is about twice as loud as the Kustom.

I don't think I have to repeat all the features but I would like to add this: This is a well thought out amp with all the features I have ever needed.
This amp sounds great at low-bedroom volume and extremely great when cranked.....it does not fart out and only sounds better the louder you turn it up.
I thought I would probably have to change the speakers but after extensive playing around with the tone stack, they sound great and I will not change them.

I have to give it a 10 for the sound because I have never enjoyed an amp that cost 800.00 and have it sound this good on both channels.
First of all, I would like to give you a little background just to validate my review.
I started playing at 16 and I am now 38.
I have played at tons of bars/weddings/parties for years and have owned Marshall jcm800, soldano hot rod 100,old Fender Deluxe, Pro jr, Marshall jcm600, Bi-valve, Cornford Hurricane etc.
I was searching for my dream tone in my head and came very very close but kept searching.
Last year I quit playing and sold all my stuff for financial and bordom reasons and I was looking for a two channel amp mostly for playing around the house but one that I could gig with in case I returned to the scene.
I decided to try the Kustom Coupe 72 and I am glad I did.
The clean channel sounds a little sterile at medium volumes but with the boost engaged at 5 and master full, the sound is just wonderful.
Not quite as good as an old Fender Deluxe but alot more versatile.
I can dial in a very nice Twin sound, a very nice Deluxe sound (not as pretty but very close), basically the just breaking up clean that you hear on billions of recordings (think country rock).....I really love the clean sound.
Oh yeah, the dynamics are not as good as class A amps but Very good, better dynamics and clarity than any other 2 channel amp out there under 1000.00.
The lead channel took a little work but I swapped the tubes for Tung-sol 5881 and thru in a couple of my trusty old preamps I had in the drawer. What a difference, I run the master almost full with the boost on 5 and the gain/volume on about 7.
This is kind of loud but I love it....back off the volume for some heavy blues and roll it up for all the cool stuff.
I love to play a lot of metal god type stuff, Dio, ACDC, Journey, even early Metallica.
The whole secret with this amp is the EQ....It is very touchy but gives you an extremely wide pallet of tone.
I love mids and a lot of mids makes me happy but every now and again I like to cut them a little and boost the highs and lows to get the Zack wylde and heavy mesa boogie sounds and this amp can do them all very well.
I have had a Mesa single rectifier 1st series and this gets very very close.
It will also get very close to Marshall JCM800 just by boosting the mids. Deep down Marshall jcm800 is a little better but marshalls are way too loud and this amp can get that sound at lower and just as high volumes....I don't know how they did it but it is awesome.
Just a note....I personally think Line 6 and Crate and most peaveys (5150 is ok but XXX suck butt bigtime....very stale with no tone)they make fake tinny unresponsive nasty hurt my ears sounds....
but the Kustom has a really good tone..
This is simply the best all in one amp I have heard.....Great clean and great distortion......If it sounded like a Clark and a Heavier Corford it would cost about 3000.00 but for 800.00 this is the deal of the decade......Go get one and make sure you play with the boost on 5 and play around with the tone controls......it's all in there.
I play Gibson and Greco Les Pauls and Schecter all with humbuckers/split coil Seymour Duncans.
Not quite expensive botique but I am really liking this amp.
I like all kinds of music and I can play anything and sound great with this amp.
Remember to change the tubes though, it makes a huge difference when cranked.....not too much dif at low-bedroom volumes though.

should be fine as long as i dont roll it down the stairs.
The handle looks like it was made in china but the rest looks sturdy.

made in usa so you should be able to get any info you need.

If I could afford it, I would buy another Cornford Hurricane (best amp in the world) but I cant right now and am happy with this amp.

This amp has many features that I need an amp to have - FX loop, boost switch, channel switching, reverb, tremolo, and vibrato. Nice intuitive set up on the knob panel, and the controls are very responsive in regards to bass, treble, and mids. It really is a great sounding tube amp. Even comes with wheel casters.

The clean channel sounds very real to me. Not too clean, but not dirty. Just hot tubes driving responsive tone. The dirty channel was really a surprise. This amp really has a nice dirty sound. Not choppy/ honky like a Vox, but Marshall like in many ways. A bit noisy, even with all of my humbucker guitars, but good classic JCM 900-ish type of gain. I do back the gain down, and use a TS808 with this channel for leads. Of course, for 70's sounding chunky (Kustom) rhythm, the clean channel can get that with the pull bright switch on. and the volume way up there. A way more usable sounding dirty channel than the Fender Supersonic. Although the Supersonic can nail the Eric Johnson lead tone easily.

I dropped it a few hours ago after I put the casters on it. Built like a tank. It does run hot though. You need to give it room to breath. On the road, I worry about the funky 70's like tuck and roll material getting damaged.

The guys at Kustom seemed a bit irritated when I called regarding the ETA of my order. Sorry guys, this is my business!

Very versatile. This amp covers a lot of ground, and doesn't try too hard and fail at anything. This amp could get most all working guitarists through a gig with a happy face.

made this yr.---very versatile.this is a two channel amp with a boost button [comes with pedal for this].----some say that the tubes smell as if they are running very hot...'' well,they are...i love that smell,it tells me the amp is ready to be used,,,,yes sir,and it sounds great....the clean channel is just that---lower the master and kick up the volume for some nice tube break-up----kick the vol. all the way up and you have it my friend[[[[[ tube overdrive ]]]]] --just stand back and enjoy it'''''is that nice''''' yes it is/// kick in the overdrive button and your there-- tube overdrive is the greatest and so is this amp./////////////

ah 'the sound'...can you say sweet....i wouldn't say brutal distortion...just enough to kick you in the teeth and let you know your using a very good tube amp.----- some are saying the speakers are good [ not great ]...? what do you want....these speakers [like the tubes] need a break in period ' if your any kind of musician you should know this.i think they sound very good....if you don't like them [change them]-- also,your going to change the tubes [ you know your going to] thats just the way we are----we think we can make a good amp even better[ we give it our own personal touch and say [yes,that sounds better].this is a well thought out amp---i'll not change a thing. ''''' stop your bitching and just enjoy the amp.''''

i think it's well thought out and see no reason why it won't last for a good many years.

very nice people.i wanted a cover--they sent me to the right people.

i have been playing for a good many yrs. and know good equipment.if stolen,i would buy another coupe 72.i have owned many amps. and have two others [[[ they are for sale ]]].some of you out there reading this review '''' no matter what amp. you buy---you will never be happy.this is a very good amp. with very good dollar to dollar value.i simply love the tube saturation you get from this amp.---for my money,this is where i'll stay.

Already described in previous reviews. Amp was made this year to the best of my knowledge.

This amp delivers a great range of sounds from clean jazz to saturated classic rock tones. I play in a band that plays classic rock from Beatles to Van Halen so range of sounds was an important factor in my decision to purchase. The foot switch-able channels + boost for solos, show how well this amp was designed for live performance.

I sold an Marshall AVT 100 to buy this because ??? well, everyone reading this knows the joyous sound of tube induced sustain. This amp really delivers sustain that has such a pure harmonically laden resonance, that you just play better.

The amp has clean headroom and is more than loud enough to be heard through any mix. I am very impressed at how the clean stays clean at high volume. It runs quiet even on distorted settings.

As per previous reviewers recommendations, I tried swapping out the stock 6L6???s for a set of SED SV6L6GC. Contrary to all the reviewers opinions, I didn???t like the sound of the SED???s. Seemed very dry. The amp lost Character. To each his own. It's expensive swapping out tubes like this. Amp sounds great. Don???t think I???ll swap again unless there are problems.

The amp runs hot. Isn???t that to be expected from 8 vacuum tubes?

I will likely replace the speakers with Celestion Vintage 30???s in the near future. I also think Kustom were smart going with the Eminence to keep cost/ price down letting the tweakers upgrade if they want.

I play a US Telecaster with a Gibson 57 classic in the Bridge and a Muy Grande single in the neck position.

Giving a 9 for sound only because I think it really needs speaker upgrades.

Had the amp for a few months now.

It came with casters and I use them as it is real heavy. The reverb recently cut out during a rehearsal, and like any frustrated musician, I kicked the base of the amp and the verb came back. I later took the reverb unit apart and the workmanship seems good and I couldn???t find any loose connections. I???ve been warned about the effect on reverb units that bouncing an amp around on casters can have, so I can???t really find fault in the Kustom workmanship on this one.

Overall very good workmanship including some extras they didn???t have to do like cages around the tubes.

I purchased the amp while visiting in the US, to return it to South America which is where I live. Prior to purchasing, I had a few questions that I sent to Kustom Customer support.

They were very courteous and responded quickly to every doubt/ question I had.

I???ve been playing 30 years. Owned most major brand amps. Took this amp on its first gig last weekend. Went direct out from the XLR rear port. The soundman said it???s the best sounding amp he???s ever heard. I can???t think of anything they didn???t put into this amp that they should have. I chose this amp base on three key points

1. Feature set. I???ve never seen an amp that has every feature I could think of
2. Reviews around the net. Very good overall
3. James Brown reputation

I'm keeping it because the sound makes me want to play more guitar.
I tried my pedals with the amp and can't find one I like. Who needs a compressor (Barber Tone Press is a great compressor!) when you have natural tube sustain!

I highly recommend the amp.

212 Tuck n Roll (cool!) 2 channel, reverb w/tone control, tremelo and vibro circuits. Only 65lbs so it's nice and portable. Footswitch included for channel switching, adjustable boost, and reverb/effects. FX loop, line out. Killer package.

I don't know what to compare this to exactly but suffice to say it's a versatile and very nice sounding rig. Cleans stay clean to up the highest volumes. You can dial in a little dirt on the clean channel as well which is a handy thing to have. The lead channel has plenty of balls for any hard rock application. It's got a voice all it's own. It's not Fender, it's not Marshall. It's Kustom! The Kustom sings like a proper tube amp should. It's responsive, pretty quiet too, even with the gain cranked - although a little noise is to be expected.

This amp sounds great at low volumes too, which is partly why I bought it. I play at home more than I play out currently. This rig has enough volume to hang in a band situation. Great for small clubs, menu-venu's, even large stages although I'd probably mic it in that instance.

I play this rig with a Fender Big Apple Strat (HH), and an Ibanez Jem (HSH) mainly. They both sound rippin' through this rig. I mainly use the amps gain channel and internal boost funtion (which is EXCELLENT) for leads. The boost is clean (and adjustable) and there's no "pop" or delay when engaging any of the footswitchable functions. I've been experimenting with a Tube Screamer in front of the amp as well to vary my tones even more. It's all good.

Had it for about two months. So far it's all good. I swapped out the stock tubes with JJ's. I can't say I can hear a huge difference but I'm happy with it. The 12AX7's for protected by a cage (as are the 6l6's) which can make tube swapping a bit of a chore but at least they're well protected.

They did get back to me pretty quickly when looking for an amp cover but overall I don't really know. I hear good things.

I've been playing guitar/bass since 1983. Played a lot of gear both high and low-end. I think the Kustom stacks up against the competition smartly. I bought a Peavey ValveKing 212 last year thinking it would be my answer for a low-cost tube combo but it was a major disappointment. It sounded like garbage. I tried a Peavey JSX and an Orange AD30TC when shopping around and wound up with the Kustom. Peavey just isn't my flavor. The Orange probably wins in a pure tone war but at $1800 I couldn't justify it. The Kustom blew me away and with a much more wallet friendly price tag. Not to mention the thing come with casters for easy portability. It's light weight and the footswitch is inluded! I bought the amp cover for it, which is very nice looking and very durable.

Update to previous information.

From: Edwards Greg
Sent: Monday, March 19, 2007 8:31 AM
To: James Brown
Subject: RE: Telephone Call from James Brown: 72 Coupe
Importance: High

Good morning. James, I was flattered that you called me at home Friday (March 16) evening to discuss the overall situation with respect to the problems I had encountered with two Kustom '72 Coupe amplifiers.

I accept your statement that the problems with the amplifier are directly related to the general lessening of quality of amplifier tubes, something which is emphasized in an amplifier that applies the self-biasing technique. You observed that self-biased amps simply tend to run too hot for that lessened quality.

You identified in a matter of seconds, the cause of the problems (which you had seen before, especially in the '72 Coupe), based on the symptoms I had previously described to Kustom/KiefMusic, that:
the first amplifier suffered from a power-amp tube (6L6) problem (the fading away of volume) and
the second amplifier suffered from a pre-amp tube (12AX7) problem (the loud hissing noise with no inputs connected, and zero volume settings on the amp).
"Known" problems as "simple" as this should have been readily identified and could and should have been addressed rather immediately and locally, and certainly should NOT have required that the amplifier(s) be returned for service!

For example, Kustom or KiefMusic should have authorized the local replacement of the "stock" tubes with tubes of higher manufacturer quality (example, JJ or Groove Tubes, matched sets), more able to implement the design of the amplifier, to begin with. With respect to the first of the two Coupes, Class Axe informed me that they suspected there might have been a problem with "tubes", but were unable to obtain authorization from KiefMusic to pursue that potential solution locally. Instead, KiefMusic were directing Class Axe to send it back for "factory servicing".

It now sounds like higher quality tubes installed on a timely basis might have solved the problem in the first Coupe, and avoided the entire problem chain.

While it was also interesting to hear that you are taking steps to somehow "correct" the tube-related problems at the Kustom factory level, this does not presently solve the problem of "premature" tube failure, whether pre-or power-amp. Although I have readily stated that I prefer the sound and feature set of the '72 Coupe, I simply could not accept the continuing high probability of repeated failures of the amplifier... that simply does not make sense! Thus I chose the second option offered by KiefMusic, and have selected the Classic 50/410.

And while I understand that you would have preferred that there not be a "negative" review of the '72 Coupe on the Harmony-Central website, that review predominantly reflects the Kustom/KiefMusic response to the problems I outlined, with no embellishment on my part.

This e-mail will be an update to that review.

Greg

-----Original Message-----
From: James Brown
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 5:12 PM
To: Edwards Greg
Subject: FW: Telephone Call from James Brown: 72 Coupe
Importance: High


Sir,
I would like to talk to you, and I'll be happy to call you after work tonight or this weekend. I am the chief engineer here at Kustom, and I'm also the guy who designed your amp (and coincidently the Classic 50-410 you replaced it with), so it's very disturbing to me that you've had so much trouble.....both with the amp and with your customer service throughout this supply chain.

Please let me know when it would be convenient for you and the best number to call.
Thanks,
James

See the "Reliability" section.

I have been using a Kustom Coupe '72 212 for the past 6 or 7 months now. I got it via ebay, from a music store in Indiana. Apparently, it was their store demo amp, so it had some slight use, but nothing major.

I play in several different musical situations with different kinds of bands. Most of my gigs are with a wedding/ event band- we play songs from the 70's through today, so that means disco, classic rock, pop tunes, country and dance club tunes. I play with jazz combos (or solo jazz guitar). I play in a soul/ funk band doing the Meters, James Brown, Blood Sweat and Tears. I also play in a worship band at church. I usually use a G&L strat for the non-jazz gigs, an Ibanez Talman for pseudo- acoustic sounds, and a Hofner Verythin for the jazz things and occasionally for the worship band.

I have been very pleased with this amp in all of those capacities. It has sufficient headroom for the country and jazz styles, and plenty of gain for the rock stuff. The two channels are easy to use- its hard to make them sound bad, and the boost function is great for punching up volume for solos and fills without changing your basic sound. The tremelo and vibrato are rich and deep. Its plenty loud, the tone controls are very effective. It takes pedals well, I have a Morley Wah and a Rocktron compressor in front of the amp. I use a rack processor controlled with a MIDI pedal in the effects loop for chorus, delay and whatever else.

Over the years, I have tried several different processors and setups including the Line 6 POD 2.0 and XT, the Boss GT6, Sansamp preamps, various Roland, Peavey and Fender amps (both solid state and tube). I have run different setups direct into the board for recording and on stage performance, I have run through various amp combinations and tried different guitars. Each setup has had its benefits, but usually they had more flaws that eventually caused me to try something different. I am satisfied with my sounds now, and although I still like to try new things for fun and out of curiosity, I keep returning to this amp.

This amp is great clean or distorted. Fender Twins have more clean headroom, and Boogies and Marshalls may be a bit nicer on the distorted side, but I haven't found anything else that does both of these basic things this nicely. I have heard other people play through PODs and GT6's and sound great and are way more portable and feature great flexibility, but I never like the way I sound through them. A good tube amp sounds different and better then any processor/ modeller that I have ever heard.

I can get a clean sound at painful volume levels- there is no distortion unless I dial it in. There is plenty of gain in the lead channel for everything I play. The direct out on the back of the amp is outstanding- I was pleasantly surprised the first time I used it, and its one less mic for the soundman to worry about.

A particularly nice thing about a good tube amp is that you can "play" the amp with your guitars pickup selector, and volume and tone knobs. I can set the clean channel a little dirty and back off the guitar's volume a bit for the clean stuff. I can then use the boost button for clean leads. If I increase the guitar's volume I can get a little dirt in my rhythm playing. Likewise on the lead channel, controlling the volume and which pickup I am using lets me have a lot of versatility in rhythm and lead sounds.

This amp runs quiet (just the normal amount of noise if you have the elad channel cranked fairly loud). You can of course use the ground switch to attenuate hums and buzzes.

I haven't had any issues with this amp... except for power tubes. There is a switch on the underside of the tube chassis that allows you to change the impedance for use with various extension cabinets. Either it was set wrong and I never noticed or I at some point switched it, but it was in the wrong position. As a result (as the manual warns) I went through a couple tubes faster then I should have. I always keep a couple on hand, and I have found in a pinch, you can run the amp on 2 (instead of the 4) and have sufficient stage volume. On one hand, it would be nice to have solid state- reliability- on the other, its all about the sound...

Once, I played an outdoor festival (thankfully on a very low stage), and my ampstand broke and the amp fell off the stage upside down in the middle of a song...the amp never stopped working- aside from a ding, you would never know it happened.

No experience, because I have had no problems.

I have been playing guitar for about 20 years. I own several guitars and amps, some effects gear mics and that sort of thing.

If this amp were lost or stolen, I would get another ASAP.

I love the way it sounds and its versatility on different kinds of gigs. I get compliments on my sound, I also get compliments on the way it looks.

In a perfect world, it would weigh half as much- I am thinking about getting the Coupe 36 so I have a more portable amp when I don't need that power and volume. I have compared it with many different setups, and this works the best for me, hands down.

Features are well described on the Kustom website, and by other reviewers here at H-C.

The sound and the feature set are what prompted me to buy a '72 Coupe in the first place!

I am, however, a profoundly disappointed and frustrated purchaser of a '72 Kustom Coupe amplifier, as the '72 Coupe is the very sound and feature set I was looking for. I have had two of these units, both of them very problematic.

When it works, I like the sounds for oldies R&R and bluesy stuff...

The first unit was operating at an uncomfortably high temperature, to the point that:
??? one could smell a very unpleasant and strong melting-plastic odour from a distance, and
??? one could not touch for more than several seconds without concern of being burned, the chassis panel at the point of the logo on the back of the amp. This seems a clear fire hazard, since the surface in question is the exterior of the device, where the heat is clearly generated internally to the device, and thus the actual temperature levels on the inside of the unit must be much much higher.
??? it would play for a while and then the sound would simply fade away; after turning off the power momentarily, sound would return.

After reporting these problems to Class Axe (VERY supportive and helpful throughout this process), I was informed by Bob Beshara that that particular Coupe had in fact already been returned by Class Axe for service once BEFORE I purchased it! I indicated I expected a brand new Coupe to be provided to me, as the original clearly was undependable. The second unit was also operating at an uncomfortably high temperature, exactly as the first one:
??? one could smell a very unpleasant and strong melting-plastic odour from a distance, and
??? one could not touch for more than several seconds without concern of being burned, the chassis panel at the point of the logo on the back of the amp.

Even if this level of heat is normal in the '72 Coupe (incredible, if so), this second unit exhibited yet another, different problem: the unit started to "hiss" very loudly, after approximately only 1 hour of play, and continued to do so even with no guitar plugged in, and all volume controls set at zero.

I reported all this to Kustom and to Kief Music on Feb 26, and their response to the problem is summarized in the 2 messages below.

#1
From: Mike Camele [mailto:mcamele@hhimusic.com]
Sent: Monday, February 26, 2007 2:05 PM

Dear Mr. Edwards,

First I wish to apologize for the inconveniences and frustration you are experiencing. As a long time customer of Kustom, I am sure you are aware that we stand behind the products we offer and we work to resolve matters in a timely fashion.

I am copying our brand manager, Mr. Robert Imhoff, and I am also copying Mr. Karl Kief to this email, both of whom I have already contacted about your situation.

We are working on a resolution to solve this problem. Please allow us a day or so to make any necessary arrangements and we will get back with you in regards to a manner of resolving this.

Thank you for your understanding and continuing patience.

Michael A. Camele - Export Coordinator
Hanser Music Group

#2
From: info@kiefmusic.com [mailto:info@kiefmusic.com]
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 6:43 PM

Dear Greg,

Sorry that you have not heard back from Class Axe on this situation. We had checked our stock of COUPE 72's before we shipped the second one to Class Axe for you. In consultation with Kustom they determined the heat issue you were concerned about falls into the normal operating range of the amp. It was designed to run hot. The amps received ETL electrical approval and are safe. Please contact Class Axe Music to resolve the situation. Again, we apologize for your inconvenience.

Sincerely,
Kief Music Ltd.

Although a non-professional musician, music is a very serious hobby for me, one for which I have spent a quite substantial amount of money on musical equipment, including upgrading several Kustom amps (guitar and keyboard) and PA systems over the last several years.

I now have a Peavey Classic 50/410, selected in part because of the wealth of positive reviews on H-C, with which I am VERY pleased!

This is not a review, just some usefull information for those of you who have an interest in the ???72 Coupe. A lot of people think that the 212 combo has 8ohm speakers, which it does. They are wired in series to make the speakers as a whole 16ohms. If you check the owner's manual on the Kustom website (http://www.kustom.com/support/ownersmanuals.asp) you will find on pg19 item 4 that the internal speaker is 16ohms. It would have been better to call it Internal Speakers. It also states that the Internal Speaker + an external 16ohm cabinet would equal 8ohms. Sorry for the confusion.

Celestion's website has very good diagrams on speaker wiring that should help explain things (http://professional.celestion.com/guitar/features/drdecibel/index.asp). Just select "Speaker Wiring Diagrams" under "Dr. Decibel Secrets" and you'll learn how to do wiring on a lot of speaker cabinet configurations. The ???72 Coupe 212 combo is the same as the 2X12" SERIES with 2 X 8 Ohm Speaker = 16 Ohm Load.

Bought the amp new via mail-order at the end of 2005. The features, oh the features! After playing it four 4 months I'm continually impressed with the features of this amp, particularly how practical the feature set is. What I mean is that this is aimed at the classic rock/blues player, people who are into Fenders and Marshalls (not the Line 6 crowd). The 72 Coupe is loaded with the kind of features that are really useful from a practical standpoint. For example, the boost button on the footswitch; you can set the amout of loudness boost with a knob on the back. Kick the boost button, your sound gets louder, your single-note leads jump out of the mix in just the way you want them to. Compared with the so-called "third channel" on the Fender Hot Rod series, the 72 Coupe's boost is function at it's finest. There is a "bright" switch on each channel (the rhythm and lead channels). This makes it unnecessary to have separate EQ for each channel. The EQ is 3-band, but what makes it such a useful feature is that small twists of the knobs make DRASTIC changes in tone. It takes some getting used to, but you can easily get some wildly different tones from song to song on stage. There is a cabinet-voiced direct out, of which I was skeptical at first. I have a small recording studio, and can crank amps up just as loud as needed, so I didn't think a fakey-sounding direct out would be at all useful, but... It sounds great! Not like miking the amp with a nice ribbon mic, but a very useful sound. I find myself using it when I want to really quickly get an idea down on tape. Just plugging into the line-out is quicker than setting up mics and getting levels, without a tremendous compromise in tone. The cord for the footswitch is thick and sturdy. They even included casters! It really seems like they listened to input from real players when designing the features of this amp. It has two inputs, one has a pad. If you have high-output pickups you can maximize your clean headroom by plugging into the input with the pad. This is another extremely useful feature for me on stage, because I use one guitar with a very low-output single coil pickup, and another with much hotter P-90s. I just plug the single-coil guitar into the high input jack, and the sound is just right. Next song, I plug the P-90 guitar into the padded input and the sound is just right. No need to tweek the knobs when switching between guitars with vastly different sounds. The one thing I don't like is the removable power cord. I was worried about this, and sure enough, the first time I gigged with it I forgot the power cord! Luckily, it's a standard modular power cord so if you do forget it, you can easily find a replacement (like pulling one off the back of a computer). Oh, also like another reviewer said, the Coupe is set up in an odd way if you want to use an extension cabinet. While it has an impedance switch, it is equipped with 8-ohm speakers, and will be hard to get an impedance match with a 2x12 extension cabinet. The manual says to not worry too much about impedance mismatches. Granted, it's not nearly the issue it is in solid state amps, but I would guess most players who would want to add an extension cabinet would use a 2x12. I'd rather not deal with impedance mismatches even in a tube amp, especially when it wouldn't have been hard for them to just use 16-ohm speakers to begin with.

I primarly use a '82 Epiphone Spirit with Harmonic Designs P-90s. Also gig with an old Kalamazo SG with a tapped old Gibson T-top (one of the coils started coming unwound, but it sounds great as a low-output single coil), and a Yamaha AE-11 jazzbox. My band plays highly dynamic indie pop/rock, for which I use minimal outboard effects, creating different sounds with varying degrees of amp distortion and dynamics. The '72 Coupe is perfect for me, because you can coax so many different tones from it just with the EQ knobs alone. I worked with this amp in the studio side by side with a new reissue Fender Twin (the anniverary model with the blonde tolex). Obviously, the Coupe has many more features. The tone of the Coupe stands up very well against the Twin. Of course, the Twin has more clean headroom (that's what a Twin is for, right?), but the Coupe holds it's own on stage, even without PA support. The tone of the Coupe is a lot more versatile than the Twin, with the ability to get a lot of crunch out of the clean channel if you want it, plus the warm and fuzzy distortion channel. Even when totally clean, you can nail the sound of a Twin, then change it up with subltle adjustments of the tone knobs. I haven't worked with the overdrive (or "Lead") channel all that much, since I can get a good drive out of the clean channel, which cleans right up with a lighter touch on the guitar, or by rolling off the volume on your guitar. My Boss orange distortion pedal sounds fantastic in front of the clean channel, so I just haven't had much need to explore the Lead channel much. It does have a very creamy sound. But with the EQ knobs and the bright switch you can really get some variety out of the creamy lead sound.

I've only had it for four months, but have tracked all my guitar parts for a new album, as wells as many gigs and rehearsals. So far no problems. My old blackface Fender Bandmaster was in the shop every couple of months, cost me a fortune in repairs. Even with printed circuit boards, I feel like the Coupe is way more reliable than my old point-to-point amp. It seems to be made of sturdy materials, especially compared with the new Fender Twin reissue, which seems kind of flimsy in comparison.

Never had to deal with support. It just works.

I have been playing guitar on a semi-pro basis (meaning I play all the time, but only sometimes get paid!) for 22 years. I have a analog-based recording studio and a lot of instruments and recording gear. Right now, the 72 Coupe and a new Vox Pacemaker are my only guitar amps. If the Coupe were lost or stolen, I'd definitely get another one. I've been through a lot of amps in the last 10 years (Fender Hot Rod DeVille (ugh!), Fender 59 Bassman (great amp, but not real versatile), Tech 21 Trademark 60 (cool little amp), blackface Fender Bandmaster, and the '72 Coupe is by far the best combination of tone, versatility and real-world useful features. There are not a lot of good combo amps in this price range. There are all the cheap ones in the less-than-$600 range, and those wonderful boutique amps in the $1500+ range. Even the Fender vintage reissues, which I like, start at $1000+ (save for the the little '65 Deluxe Reverb). I can't think of any new amp than can compare with the Coupe for less than $1000. I had a really bad experience with my last vintage amp, so I wanted to go with something new. The Kustom '72 Coupe is awesome for the price!

Owned amp for two months and had to mess with it a little. Features are good. Has a wide range of tones and they are different tones than the Fender Deluxe and Dean Markley CD-120 that I own. Two channels and they are both pretty good. I wish the clean channel distorted a little more with the volume turned up but with a Seymore Duncan Pickup Booster it sounds great.

The boost switch is nicer than others I have used because it doesn't change the sound. It is just louder.

I play classic and modern rock, blues and country in a two piece duo ,a five piece band, and in a church contemporary group. The sounds are thick and smooth.The notes are still distinctive. It is quieter than my other amps and very adjustible. The reverb is nice. Has a very usable range. The tone on the reverb is also a plus. This amp absolutely kills when using a slide. It is never harsh even when the slide pressure is too light and the string slaps up against it.

I must add that I had to get rid of the original Eminence speakers. The metal caps just souded.. well... metallic. I put in Celestion Vintage 30's. A much warmer, organic tone.

It has a stinging clean tone that I especially like for pseudo country
riffs like Steve Earl, Warren Bros, Eagles.

The only bad thing so far has been the handle. It bent as I was maneuvering it past some gear. I emailed Kustom and they shipped a new one to me, no questions asked.

Extremely helpful. I emailed to ask about tube replacement. Also, I asked about the handle mentioned above. Both times I got prompt replies.

Been playing 25 years, pro and semipro now.Own four other amps including Fender Deluxe, Dean Markley CD-120 (which is my personal favorite, but noisy), Traynor CV20, and a small tube Marshall (don't remember the model, it's not here with me). This amp is different than any of these and that's was part of the point in buying it. I will use it on and off as I tend to use one of the amps for awhile and then switch. They all have their inspiring tones.

You already know the basics........
I'm baffled as to why they went with 8ohm series speakers....nothing wrong with this as a concept, but it makes matching ext. cabs difficult. The amp has an ohm selector swithch....Most ext 2x12 cabs will be 8 ohms, the internal speakers are 16(together)...Neither the 16,8, or 4 settings on the swithch match this. The owners manual as well as tech support say that you can mismatch resistance with speakers, but will result in shorter tube life. Why not just use parallel 16 ohm speakers from the start?!!! Everybody knows 8ohm speakers are for 1x combos, and 16's for 2x and 4x cabs ect. This is standard. Tech support told me I'd void my warranty if I replaced the inboard speakers. For this reason I'm knocking off 2 pts for this otherwise excellent amp.

USA telecaster w/ dimarzio tone zone, and dimarzio strat Cruiser P/U's. Yamaha AES620..basically a les paul tone wise.
I play Blues, and Rock, try to play Jazz 17 years experience and sometimes working pro. This amp has Decent cleans, as good as my HR Deluxe, plus you can warm up your clean channel with extra gain....up to about a Keith Richards level. Plenty of sustain, and is very touch sensitive. In other words you can lightly pick and have chiming cleans, and strum hard with a satisfying slightly distorted KARRANG! Plenty of headroom if you keep the Master knob high, and the volume knob low. Using the boost feature with the volume all the way up on the clean channel gives an excellent Malcolm Young kind of tone using Duncan JB p/u.
The Distortion channel was described in Guitar Player as buttery..I'd go with that, but it was a tiny bit more aggressive than I anticipated. This is not a bad thing. Very thick and fuzzy and rich in harmonics with tons and tons of sustain. This is a unique flavor. It has the feel of a hard pushed blackface amp, but wearing a thick fuzzy sweater. I was put off by the fuzzy thing at first, as this was not a characteristic I've ever really liked alone. But I've tried it with my band, and laid down a couple goof off tracks and it comes through like a super muscular sizzling half melted chunk of butter.
In other words, it seems like it sizzled too much when I played by myself, but in the context of a band and on tape sounded good. The tube sag/swell thing might seem exaggerated to some players, but if you're in a 1 guitar band this thing really fills out the sound well.
The shared EQ is interesting. It is DRASTIC. Slight tweaks yeild big results. All knobs at about 1 oclock is where I like it the best. Cleans like SRV on 1 and dirt like EVH on 2.
The speakers are pretty good, but different. I'm ear trained to Celestion V30's and Eminence Private jacks(greenback copy), and Red Ryders(classic lead copy). The Turbo 12's dont sound good combined with the private jacks in an ext. cab at all. Combined with the Red Ryders is WAY better, but you're hearing more of the red ryders. I think they chose the lower-fi turbo 12's for it's handling of the clean channel....very good.But for distortion it sounds just a tad boxy at certain settings...I don't mean boxy like a peavey bandit....just a vague reminder of a bad aftertaste. I'd have gone with a more british flavor speaker, but Kustom is billing this as an American original (with imported parts)...oh well, you can always void your warranty and use whatever speakers you want.
The reverb is good, but not super saturating like a fender. I like this because the whole range of the reverb knob is in that "useable" zone. Fenders seem to totally saturate by 9 o clock or so. The reverb tone control is bareley noticible. The Trem effect is good, but not a leslie simulator...more of a bonus feature. I use it on "Born on the Bayou" and it's good enough, but if you're a serious wobbletone guy I'd still go with a univibe or something comparable. The Vibrato effect is funky....still playing with it, it's sort of like trem with a volume swell, it's drastic and not the most musical feature of this amp, but who knows...maybe it will fit the bill for somehing....I was able to simulate that effect on "The Immagrant Song" where the guitar seems to be cutting in and out really fast using the vibrato effect.
Price vs. features vs. tone for this amp would get it a 10....its just those speakers.

Had it a week....can't say. The jewel light flickered at first, but I pushed it back in and it stopped.

I emailed the company with questions about the amp, and it took 5 days to get back to me....over the weekend in all fairness.

Been playing since late 80's. Fender and peavey amps in the past. Superb performance to dollar value..this would have been unheard of 10 years ago. Looks cool, my only #$^& is that the speakers(which are pretty good) aren't super versatile with common ext. cab setups both tone wise and in impedance.
I played a 36 coupe before I bought this off ebay, and they are pretty damn similar. So except for the noticible power difference and lack of trem effect a 36 coupe can be used to judge what the 72 will sound like. It's a different kind of amp, it's not a marshall or fender knockoff, but it does have balls and many usefull and intuitive features.

Just out! I got like one of the first 8 to leave the factory. 72 watts, class AB, 2X12 Kustom Eminence speakers. Very versatile tone. A boost circuit fot switchable to boost your solos. A cabinet voice emulated Di out with a level control. Two channels. The clean is very good. Fender-ish not quite as shimmery. But cool tone. Channel 2 lots of chunk and classic tube tone. It sounds terrific and it is unique sounding. It's not a Fender or a Marshall. It is a classic sounding Kustom

I play country, rock and roll, pop and blues. I play my accoustic and my fiddle through this beast.

Don't know only had it a week.

See above.

I love it. I had a 36 Kustom Coupe before this. This one is a keeper so far. But I'm still in the honeymoon phase. I'll post again in a few weeks. Did I mention it has tremelo/vibrato and reverb built in. I have been playing guitar for 20 years.

BTW, the roll pleated red vinyl is cool.

JUST GOT IT TODAY!!! been waiting since January.
72 watt tube, 2x12, 2 channel, volume w/pull bright switch on each channel, 3 band eq, reverb, termolo/vibrato, footswitch. Footswitch has channel select, boost, effects, effects switch is assignable to either reverb or trem/vib. Back panel has footswitch assignment, footswitch input, ground lift,emulated XLR direct out, direct volume, boost volume, and effects loop (tube driven), AND WHEELS! you'll need'em it's heavy.

This will be used for everything, practice & gigging. I play most any style of music and this amp can cover it easily.

The '72 has plenty of power it's unbelivably LOUD!! It will wake up any bass player, and blow the slober off your drummers chin!

Currently playing a PRS CE mahogany, stock pup's, a G&L Legacy, S.D. Everything Axe pup's, a Strat w/ Lace Holy Grails, 1-1500,1-1000, and a S.D. Hotrails in the bridge.

Initially I think this will suit anything we play, Rockabilly, Country,Rock,Pop,& Blues.

This amp has a very good clean, not Fender clean, but very, very useable.

The distortion is WAY better than Fender, lots of chunk. If you play metal you'll probably want to add a pedal.

Both channels have plenty of tone. Haven't gotten anything bad yet, I really don't expect to with what I've heard from the '36.

Don't know yet too early to tell, I do however think it will perform well.

The fit and finish are top notch. All hardware seems to be of high quality, not flimsy at all, switches and buttons have a tight and smooth feel. The footswitch is built for stompin'.

Been playin around 20 yrs. Guitars listed above plus several others. Effects are Magicstomp, V.S. H2O, Wah, may add a distortion pedal for an extra boost.
I would buy it again seems like a good all around workhorse, and has plenty of tonal range, that's what I like most about it.
Not much to dislike right now except it's heavy, but it comes with wheels so that helps alot.

Over all I really like it just need some quality time with it. I will post an update in a couple of weeks.........