Kustom Defender

The Defender's features are adequate for my purposes but I could use a line out or FX loop. Otherwise it has and does everything I need. I do like the easy switching between EL34 and 6L6 tubes. I also use GT substitubes w/EL84's sometimes for smaller gigs. These work well sound-wise in this amp but I have to leave the cage around the tubes off as it's not tall enough to accommodate these.

I've found that this is one if not the best sounding amp I've heard anywhere near it's price range. I use this in conjunction with a JCM 2000 I run them both with the Marshall tuned rather dark and this tuned rather bright. It gives me a very balanced sound and the two compliment each other well. I usually set both at levels just on the edge of breaking up and get od/dist/fuzz from stomp boxes. I couldn't ask for a better sound although it's a little harsh with a stock DS1. When I play out I usually set this amp to one side of the back line and the Marshall to the other so I can some natural depth with a few stereo effects. It also overdrives nicely and I have used alone at gigs. By itself I prefer to use a closed back cabinet also. Overall it reminds me of a Fender Deluxe Reverb with a little more mid range and more power.

This amp has been very dependable. I used to work at store that was a Kustom dealer and I got it "New B-stock" for $210.00USD. It had been shipped out with a faulty power tube Literally all they did was put new tubes in. I did change the tubes because the stock tubes were no-name Chinese tubes. I have been gigging with it for a little over a year now and have no issues with performance or construction. I usually don't like to gig without some usable backup for everything but I would if I had too.

Like I said above I used to work for store that was a Kustom dealer. I bought this amp directly from them as an employee purchase. I dealt with the inside rep and was and always had been as helpful as he could be. Generally though I think it's a bit unfair to ask about the manufacturer's customer service in a place like this. Most manufacturers aren't set up internally to deal with consumer issues. That has historically been the responsibility of the dealer. Buying and getting service for musical instruments is a lot like cars, you don't call Toyota's corporate headquarters to buy or get repairs on a RAV4. There are shady dealers that will push customers off on the manufacturer, but that's because they aren't doing their jobs.

I've been playing for about twenty years. As above i use this beside a Marshall JCM2000 in stereo. I play a wide variety of styles; covers and original. It works well for everything i use it for. If lost or stolen I would definitely buy another. I really like the ability to bypass the master volume. I also like the bright switch. I don't always use or not use it. I generally use it as a tweak to fit the room I'm playing in. An effects loop would be a good addition but after getting for 210 I can't complain too much, I just don't use delay with this amp.

This amp has minimal features, compared to some of the crazy modeling amps coming out these days, but what is has are great, and go a long way. The only fault I find is that there' no line out. Not much of a problem though. Features are listed here and there, no need to go over all of the specifics. But between the master bypass, the bright switch, the EQ section, the presence control, the boost and the reverb, you've got a lot of voices to work with in this amp. It can go all over the place and do pretty much everything, except that you'll need petals for metal. Ability to easily re-bias tubes is great, decent access to be able to change the speaker is good (as I'll elaborate on later), cabinet looks lovely, it's roomy but fairly lightweight. A well designed amp overall.

I think this amp rules! It's very responsive and adjustable. It can be dark, it can be bright. It can get substantial distortion, more than just overdrive. But it does overdrive great because you can either combine the master & volume, or bypass the master and go for all-out tube-ness.

The EQ is somewhat self-adjusting, but manual adjustments to it make a noticeable difference. The presence and bright switch let you control the voice from quite dark to very trebly. So far it seems able to do both of these very well, with a full, thick sound either way. Not always the case with some amps. Any old 1 button footswitch will work with the boost control, which is great. The boost does just what it says, adds up to 10db whenever you want it. The reverb is as nice as everyone says!

Running the volume up with the master off gives you hours worth of tones to mess around with all by itself. I haven't found this amp to be noisy at all, sure if you crank certain things you'll get more noise, but that's standard. Mine is as quiet as it needs to be.

The stock speaker is a 16 ohm Eminence speaker co-designed with Kustom (as the KEI Epic). I haven't been able to find out how many watts the speaker is capable of handling. The KEI speaker looks pretty much un-doped. It has a substantial magnet, and seems solidly made, but I was itching to try out the Eminence Black Powder 75 watt 8 ohm speaker I had lying around. And when I did, whoa! I flicked the switch on the back to 8 ohms to match the new speaker, and the amp was instantly louder, clearer, and less boomy. The KEI speaker had been installed oddly, with the gasket kind of adhered to the back, as if it was supposed to be front-mounted (which it's not). So, there was some weird rattling when I first played the amp, because there was no speaker gasket! Anyways, the sound was great already with the stock speaker, but with the Black Powder, it is just outstanding. The Black Powder is somewhat doped, and heavily focused on mids and highs, with a less boomy lower end. I found the amp much darker before the speaker change, but I like a nice bright amp, myself, so this is all a good thing. The Black Powder is known for being able to handle a lot of high-end without breaking up or squealing, and so far it has been doing just that. This setup sounds better than any combination I've had thus far in my playing life.

Compared to, say, the Carvin MTS212 which I used to own, this amp cuts through the mix much, much better. The Carvin sounded great at bedroom volume levels, but got lost onstage, fighting to be heard at all. The Defender is easy to make heard. If you're having trouble, you can crank the treble and presence, and flick on the bright. If that doesn't get you heard, something is wrong. You can also go for the American voicing with the bright off, up the low and mid, and have a really thumping low end, as well. These controls work with the same dynamic levels whether you're going clean, overdriven, or distorted. It all sounds just great, and it's all super-tweak-able. I'm done amp shopping, for at least a few years. I have gear ADD, but this thing isn't going anywhere. I'm going to run it into the ground!

Seems decently made, except for the speaker issue described above. Yikes! I found it very easy to disassemble and reassemble. I haven't tried any tube switching yet, haven't needed to. The stock tubes are decent enough, and then when I have any problem with any of them I'll get a nice whole bunch of Tung-Sols and JJs. I'm kinda excited to hear what this thing sounds like once I've done all of that! Can't really rate it yet though, haven't had it very long and it hasn't suffered any real abuse.

??? Probably OK, but haven't had to try yet. Sold all over, would be easy to get it looked at. Again, can't really rate, haven't experienced their customer service yet, I got this amp from eBay as a floor model (used, but only in-store), which is why I was able to get it for $350.

I've played for about 20 years now, and have owned many amps. I wanted to get a nice combo, somewhere 30-80 watts or so, and trade in my big, bulky head & cab rig. I still have a head & cab as a backup, which are a louder combo, but they don't sound nearly as good. I will be using this amp either alone or combined with a sealed 1x12 EarCandy cab that I have. I've put the KEI speaker in there for now, but am waiting to replace it. Haven't decided whether to go with another Eminence, or one of the new Jensen Jet Electric Lightnings. Decisions, decisions! Anyway, I'm not sure how I stumbled across the Defender. I guess I had thought that Kustoms kinda sucked for a while, they always seemed like weird solid state trash with lawn furniture glued to the front or whatever. But this amp is bad-***! And now that I've listened to their newer 36 & 72 Coupe combos, I've got to say they are cranking out great amps these days. I would have bought the 36 Coupe just for its clean sound if it had an extension speaker out. But I'm glad I ended up with the Defender. I love it.

As documented below. Two tube section related things: 1) It has a switch to allow you to use EL34 tubes or 6L6 tubes and 2) It has a metal cage that surrounds the power tubes (and one preamp tube, for some reason). I wish the cage was not there and instead they put a perforated metal back on the unit. This would hide the sloppy paint job inside as well (it is an open back with a small lower baffle).

Overall build quality is good. Just a few minor things I wasn't pleased with: The aforementioned sloppy paint inside, tolex had a few scuffs, couple dents on corner protectors, etc.

I use for classic rock like skynyrd. It does this beautifully. I set the volume at 90-100% and the master volume to suit, and it nails this sound. Generally I leave bright switch on and EQ controls near noon (mid closer to 1 o'clock).

The cleans with master volume disabled are great, best I've ever heard. I leave bright switch off for this mode. It starts to break up beautifully 10 o'clock or so. Gets a little loud for me to experience the "dirty" clean, which I'm sure sounds awesome.

As compared to the stock (Ruby?) EL34s, 6L6s appear to give a slightly more distorted sound and better sound overall. The distortion on this amp is deceiving...it really can get pretty heavy.

Factory power tube(s) were messed up when I purchased, probably damaged in transit. One tube rattled and "pinged" a lot when cooling off. May have affected the sound, not sure. Then one day the tube blew. That's when I put 6l6s in it. So far so good, and I'm hoping the tube failure was just an isolated problem having to due with the tube and not the amp.

No opinion yet, we'll see.

They are prompt and helpful for small things. I had an issue with the dealer I purchased it from (I won't go into it here but dealer was dishonest)...Kustom hid their head in the sand about this.

Great sounding amp at a good price. Don't hate anything about it. Value wise this is great sounding alternative, something a bit different. I have always liked Kustoms and this will be my token Kustom for now.

As I mentioned, it needs a perforated metal back (like my B-52 combo) instead of the metal basket that protects the tube. It would greatly facilitate tube changes and look better. If they would paint the inside BEFORE they assemble everything, they would't get black paint all over the tolex flap inside, the speaker, etc. Also, reverb tank was installed crooked, oh well.

This amp is great. I used to have a 15wtt amp from First Act's starter kit. Then I bought 2 ibanez guitars, and a Distortion pedal. My 15wtt amp couldnt take all that distortion in, so I tohught maybe if I got a bigger amp, the pedal would work better. My music store had this amp, so im like, okay, ill buy it, and its great. I use all the stetting on it, besides treble,and prestance[SP]. The greatest feature on this amp is prob. the reverb. good for metal,emo,hardcore,pop,pop punk,jazz, almost every genre ofmusic out there. great acoustics,too.

This amp is great with really heavy metal sounding guitars, like Ibanez. I use humbucking pickups, and they rock. I use an Ibanez DS-7 pedal, and Ibanez Steve Vai Overdrive/Distortion pedal.

This amp is great, would even want a Marshal. It prety much is a marshal, prob. the second best amp in the world.

The only con about this amp (isnt that bad tho) is when you have boost, and reverb up to 10 o'clock, it kinda "humms" not that bad, just put boost on about 7-8, and reverb on about 5.

heavy weighted emp, thats a 50wtt'er! i would bring this amp to a gig, with the help of my dad or someone to carry it, im 14, and skinny, and cant lift the amp if my life depended on it!

dont need any help.

it would have an overall rating over 100! this amp rocks out marshall!

What the previous reviews stated. Can't see anything they missed. For $350.00 it's the perfect amp for me. And the features allow a lot of tweaking to get your own tone, it's not a "1 tone amp".

It's mostly made of pine but there is some particle board used as blocks. Some of the speaker screws were already stripped & the rivetts were turning as the scew would turn. I was planning swapping out the speaker for curiosity but no go, besides the stock speaker sounds good. And there's the abilities to switch the bias via switch if 6L6 tubes are ever used and there's a 4,8 & 16 ohm selector for speakers. All in all, very nice features for the cost & a 1 channel amp.

*I'm currently playing a 2007 Les Paul Standard & another 2006 LP Vintage Mahagony, both w/ Burstbucker Alnico V pups.

*Classic rock, Christian & blues. Suits me just fine. I don't care for ULTRA clean tones because it's always missing something...oh yea, distortion. But then again I'm not a distortion hog but I do like character w/ my clean tones & this amp does it.

I mostly play the amp straight w/ no master volume & rollback the gtr vol to clean up which works VERY NICELY! The high end definition is still there at low gtr volumes but that may be the Burstbuckers. It takes my effects very well, modified DS-1 distortion, mod TS9 & a mod TS7 (all Monte Allums mods) & currently using a Line 6 POD X3 Live in a bypass mode(no amp sims, just effects). Pleased but would like to play the amp straight w/ just a good delay, vol pedal & a good dist pedal for lead...I like to keeps things simple.

The bright switch in combination w/ the tone controls provide a wide variety on tones, the bright switch dosen't just brighten...it actually changes the tone. And the mid range can cause more distortion when turned up. The amp can go from ZZ Top to AC/DC & clean up nicely in btween and reacts to your playing...nice dynamics, definately not flat like some solid state & digital amps. The harder you play, the harder it sounds & vice/versa. And the overall tone is complex & "swirly", you can hear a bell-like attack beneath the darker tone.

*By design of a pure tube amp, it does hiss at high volumes & pops when the strings are touched.

*It will not produce an ULTRA clean tone past 3, which dosen't bother me...I just back off on the gtr volume.

No problems so far. Only had 2 mos & gigged twice but put about 100 hours of play. I'm just very impressed so far.

None needed.

Been playing & gigging on & off for over 20 years now. I've owned other tube amps such as all the Peavey Classic models & Delta Blues & a Pig Nose all tube 40 watt. I've had some Line6 modeling amps & currnetly own & like the POD X3 Live. It's been an evolving process to get were I'am now...pure tube tone, what I've heard all the years & the Defender is the closest yet (& great for the money). With modeling stuff I was always setteling on 1 or 2 presets which were Marshalls & thought why not go for the real thing.

Would buy again if stolen & almost bought a 2nd as a backup.

What I intially loved was the price. It was retailing for $560 but got for a flat $350 new/free shipping on Ebay which is why I may be bias. So it really goes beyond a great value to an almost steal at whole sale price.

No hates. I'm very happy w/ it. I did consider the Crate V50 but to many bad reviews.

Kustom Defender Amp

the features are documented before, so no need to do that again!!!

I play the Defender with Gretsches and Guild Guitars playing mostly Rockabilly,the PU's I#m using are Filtertrons, DeArmond Songle Coils, and P90's and also some highly recomended P94's!

I play mostly Rockabilly, Country, Blues,and Psychobilly,therefore my main Amp is a Fender Bassman,I'm mostly playing smaller Venues(100-300 people)and most of the Time the Bassman is to loud for those Venues, cause he starts to sound good at a Volume that makes my Band want to kill me!!

So I was looking for a Tube Amp that sounds good at lower Volumes,I tried the Fender Blues JUnior, and quite liked it, but it wasn't loud enough playing clean(which I need for some songs),so I checked out the Fender Blues Deluxe.
I was very disapointed, cause a Fender Blues Deluxe to my ears sounds muddy, and is not able to deliver that famous Fender clean sound.
The Blues Deville which is kinda the same Amp sound a lot better(cause of the 10# Speakers),but has the same problem as my Bassman.

The Defender is just right for me, it delivers Fender like clean Tones,and it works really good with my TS9 for Crunch/overdrive sounds!
It sounds really good and you can't get a better Amp for this Price(400,-Euros).

Even for twice the money you find nothing better.

Can't say much ,cause I only have it for a month,till now(knock on wood)it is pretty reliable,I always carry a backup around anyway!!

No need to deal with the company so far, and I hope it stays like that!!!

I play professionally for 20 years,I play Guitar in general for 30 years!!

As I said before I have a Bassman,and I play mostly Gretsches(Filtertron, and Dearmond PU's,some are eqipped with TV Jones PU's)and Guild Guitars equipped with P90's, and P94's!!!

As a backup I use a Session Combo which is nothing special, but damn reliable,this thing works since 1984 without ever letting me down!!

If the defender would get stolen I would get another one, cause it is a great Amp that sound just the way I like,it is definitly a lot better for Rockabilly and country than the Blues Deluxe!!
It really sound good,you get the desired Rockabilly tones pretty easy if you are using the right Guitars!!!

It would be good if it had a send and return input/output,but I#m fine without!!
If you playthat kind of Music and you are looking for an Amp go get a Defender you'll like it!!!!

I give it a 9 because of the missing send/return input/output!!

Simple 1 channel amp, with 50 tube watts. Comes loaded with Electro Harmonix el34's and 12ax7's, Ruby Reverberation unit, Presence, Boost(up to 12 db's), and a Master Volume(with bypass for old school cranking).

An effects loop and headphone out would have been really ideal, but I can't complain too much since it has the power and tone I wanted.

I use this amp for rehearsals and gigging. It has more then enough power to cut through the mix.

I play through a PRS SE Singlecut with humbuckers, and play 60's-current rock. It hits the classic rock perfectly. I use a TS9DX to hit the heavier songs we cover. I was originally using a Boss DS-1 for high gain, but the tube screamer is just right.

I love how the cleans sound with a bit of reverb. The gain is just right, but I did swap out the stock preamp tubes for Tungsol's, and it sounds better all around.

I thought about waiting a good 6 months before reviewing it here. Oh well. I've had the amp for a few months with no issues, and practiced with it and cranked it a few times already. Only time will tell, just like with anything else.

I haven't had issues since delivery so I haven't had to call it in for anything yet.

I've been playing on and off for about 15 years, and really like how this amp sounds! I did sample a Fender HRD, HRDx, Valveking as well. I just liked the tone of this amp, and the price is really nice. I own a Crate SS amp, PRS SE Singlecut, Squire Strat, Ibanez TS9DX, and a Boss DS-1 through it. I'd buy it again if anything happened to it. I can't wait to try the new Kustom Double Cross!

EL 34 based amplifier, single channel with footswitchable lead boost to make your solos stand out of the mix (nice). Single 12 inch eminence speaker, nice spring reverb, master bypass for all out tube ripping.

I like it with humbuckers. I play a Les Paul thru it and use a Greenback Loaded Marshall 4x12 , plenty of old school Marshall plexi vibe..Cleans up nicely with a twist of my volume knob. I'll also run a TS 9 in front of it and the leads will really sing. The stock 1x12 is ok for practice, but it's not my bag. I will however set the Defender atop of the Marshall and will mike the bottom cab and use the 1x12 as a monitor as it is at near ear level.The tone is not groundbreaking, but for sure there is alot of tone in hear for the money.I wouldn't call this amp Fendery by any means, its a one trick rocker. Don't buy it to play clean. Bypass the master and crank it up. Muy settings are all around 12:00.

So far, so good, nice tubes in it stock as well.

I've had Kustom gear before and they are quick to email.

I think its a great value, if old school Mrashall is your thing, this amp does a great job nailing it for pennies compared. Light, portable and toneful.

2008 Kustome Defender. 50 W, one channel with bypassable master volume. Three tone controls, reverb, presence, and a bright switch. All tube (as far as I know): two power tubes (EL34), "input", "pregain" and "phase inverter" (I guess that's the same as a rectifier) (all 12ax7). One 12" speaker.

Ideal power and weight (~40lbs) for practice and playing shows.

I highly doubt it is point-to-point wiring. Made in China, but what isn't that I can afford?

I've played a show with this amp, and the sound guy told me it sounded good (I've never had that happen with my '71 Twin--usually they tell me to turn it down). I think it cuts very well, but it can get a little "barky". The tone adjustment is incredibly sensitive. I don't know if that has to do with the "Duo Mod" circuitry. The master volume works fine, and the master volume bypass with the bright on gives some good mean power-pop chime. I never really play with the saturated sound, but it can do that pretty well.

This amp is not an AC-30 or Deluxe. It does not have the tone quality or reponsiveness of these amps. It's a little midrangey and undefined and harsh sometimes. BUT it does have a little magic, a true tube tone, and some bells and whistles that are actually pretty cool if you tweak the pots. It's great for praticing and playing rock'n'roll/punk clubs, where you want to cut through the drums.

I'll give it an 8--in the grand scheme of things, this might be high, but I'll grade it on a curve.

Can't say yet, just got it. Has a warranty.

See above.

I'll let you know once the honeymoon's over. Again, I've never had a sound guy get stoked about my amp, so, unless he was dryly screwing with me, that seems to be a good omen. Too bad we can't make cheap good stuff like this in the USA anymore.

1 channel amp,no effects loop,no headphone jack.
It has 2 outputs for speakers, the 1st is used for the internal..It also has a switch to select between 4-8-16 Ohms.That means that if you wanna use an external cabinet which operates at 8 Ohms, you have to unplug the internal, which is a 16 Ohm speaker..
But it still is what I was looking for.. A really great tube amp, to use with stomp boxes...

I'm using a fender American strat. with Texas Special pick ups,and a Tele, with high output single coils..I play all kinds of music, mostly funk, blues, rockabilly, but also pop folk and Greek traditional.. This amp has the basic great fenderish clean sound, and a great reverb, and from that point you can do whatever you want by using any kind of stomp box you like.. It is not a noisy amp..I also have a twin reverb, and it's not noisier than that.. I got this one because it weights a lot less...17kgs!! And it's 50watt and really loud!!! The sound is really great especially when you bypass the master volume.But you cannot bypass it all the time, because you're gonna have to use it in low volumes sometimes, and you won't get a decent sound..
One other thing is that the amp's overdrive is beautiful!!! Especially when you use some kind of boost,(for single coils) to push it a little harder..
I believe that this amp has the greatest value for money sound (when bypassed the master volume)..

It came to me with a 12ax7 out of work..And a EL34 a bit noisy.. The problem is that I got it from Germany, and I live in Greece, so I had to send it back to Thomann, to cover me.. I didn't. I found out what's wrong by myself I bought 3 new tubes (EL34's go in pairs)and it's fine!!! Maybe the guys at the courier hit the package somewhere... Shit happens!!!!!
I only have it 3 weeks, but i believe that tube amps are made to be fixed in any situation...

Before I buy it, I e-mailed the kustom guys for a few questions. They replied within a couple of days.. So that's it..
I ordered it from thomann.de and these guys are ok..
But I still had to fix it by myself, instead of sending it back to thomann, and wait for another 3 weeks to get it back.. And there still was a possibility, to get it back damaged in the transportation..
So...like I said before, shit happens...

I'm 25, and I play for almost 10years .. the last 3,5 years, as a semi-professional.. I played through a lot of amps.I owned marshall , fender, and also played on orange and engl. I really love amps and guitars who have character.. and this one really has a lot to offer, especially for 400euros!!!

I took this amp to a medium volume band practice to check it out. I was looking for a 'clean amp with character'to run pedals through. I compared to the Fender Blues Junior, AC 15 and a Mesa 5:25. I had doubts until I checked it with the band.

The amp has 2 basic modes.

Clean with Master volume disengaged, which is like a Fender with Vox low mid flavors. There is a wonderful, present, low to low mid 'knock' that I am enfatuated with right now. It remains present with pedals in front and gives this amp a definite character. More guts than the Fender. More headroom than the Vox.
It gets barkier as you raise the volume in this mode and more ditorted and extremely loud, but it is definitely usable. The distortion reminds me of a Pete Townsend-with-a-fuzzy-halo. I personally would not have a club to play in that is big enough to use the distortion you can acheive in this mode.

The second mode would be clean with master volume in. I wasn't as pleased at first with this mode as the tone gets muddier. But I found that with the bright engaged, the pre volume at 10:00 to 2:00 and the master at 9:00 to 10:00, there is some really cool clean grit to grind. You may sacrifice the 'sweet' clean, but the tones are much more at band practice volume and they have a great mid to late 70's crunch sound that responds well to guitar volume. I have to stress that the secret is to hit the bright switch. Someone in design thought that thing out...it really does a good job of compensating for the dark sound this amp gets at lower volume, especially with distortion. Add a pre boost and cover alot of range. I got through 2 sets of cover material with tweaks to the pre volume and very little else. Impressive.


The tone controls are interesting. Mine are at: Lows 1:30, Mids 2:30, Treble 11:00 and Presence 9:30. The mid in this scheme acts as the 'sharp' control, taking the Hi-mid spike in or out with very small adjustments. I find this EQ with the Bright in or out works well as a starting point for all my settings.

The reverb is a cavern. Not my cup of tea, but cool for Dick Dale and occasional Floyd covers.

The boost is nice but seems to change in apparent volume with different settings.

I'm giving it an 8 because it does not do everything well. It is not a Marshall or a Boogie and I don't think it will do the extremes of those amps. It does what it does very well.

I am using a PRS Standard 22 Satin. 70's to mid 80's rock sounds. This amp works very well for this.

Like all tube amps, it does have a minimum volume before which it's tones are anemic(and distortions buzzy). It starts to sound really good at just above bedroom practice level.

It is quiet. I haven't done an A/B comparison, but it hasn't jumped out as an issue to me.

In my opinion, this can do the job of a Fender, Vox, Hiwatt, Orange or comparable amps...which is pretty good for a $500ish price range.

We'll see...

I haven't read the warranty yet. We'll see....

I've been playing since '79. ( damn I'm old )I've had alot of gear. I've been using an Atomic powered POD...which worked very well for what I've been doing. But it has been getting hard to justify using a simulation of a tube amp into a tube powered amp with a tube distortion to get the sounds I need.
If this amp holds up, I will be using it for a while.