Kustom HV65

all the features have been discussed here...two channels, celesion speaker, 65 watts of hybrid power etc. Nothing new to add.

Well folks, this is an amazing amplifier for the price... in fact, it's amazing for any price. The clean channel gives you warm clean tone throughout the volume range available and the drive channel can go from a slight crunch to major distortion with a tweak of the drive control. This amp will not satisfy metal heads and I'm sure tube snobs would look down their nose at it BUT......I have been so impressed with this amp that I would buy another in a second. The lead player in my band always remarks on how great the amp sounds and he has a collection of amps that he lugs around from practice to gig. This hybrid has lots of tube tone and smooth overdrive when needed.

Well, I have had a slight problem with the amp. The volume pot on the drive channel went and I needed to have it replaced. It is an electronic pot so it couldn't be replaced with anything other than OEM
parts. This being said, it's on its third year and this is the first sniff of a problem and Kustom fixed it right away under warranty. Other than that, it has been a tireless workhouse night after night.

problem fixed right away, no questions asked. I give them the highest marks.

I've been playing since 1969 and I am an average rhythm guitar player. It's important for me that gear is reliable and easy to use and this amplifier makes it easy to get the sounds I'm looking for. I play a 59 stratocaster and Hagstrom super swede through this amp and they both sound terrific and you can't say that about every amp. I have recently used a VOX amp that blew up on stage and a Fender hybrid that did the same thing so finding this amp has really been terrific. It's not terribly heavy and comes equipped with a celestion speaker, emulated direct out, digital fx, and an fx loop. I'm not sure I'd add anything that might make the amp better. I'd buy another in a second!

It seems that the features has been told you allready.

I??m using a "Vintage-SG" with two Humpuckers. I play in a rock??n roll band and our style is very 70??s hard rock. This amp in FINALLY THE AMP what I have been searching for. It has that sound from the 70??s and I don??t need any distortion or overdrive pedals with this. Huh, the sound is amazing and it is very LOUD!(if you want it).

Dont really know, Have been using just couble times with my band and just to check the sound. I have heard good things about Kustom thaugh..
It seems to be very reliabillity amp.

nop..

This amp rocks!!! the price is so low that it makes me laugh. I have played about 20 years guitar and this is THE BEST AMP that I have ever played. Period. If you want to sound like M.Knoppfler= ok
If you want to sound like T.Iommi=Ok!
This beast got it! Thank you KUSTOM!!!

Well you couldn't ask for too many more features in an amp at this price point. I would have given it a 10 but the footswitch is not included and costs an extra $40.00.

Two channels - lead and rhythm with separate bass, mid and treble, gain and master. It's unusual to see a gain/master in the rhythm channel - perfect for going into Keef-land tone-wise.

There is no reverb tank, but there is a slew of digital effects. This part I kinda don't get get. None of them have enough control that would let you sell your pedals - they're just kinda there. Delay, flange, chorus, and a bunch of different reverbs. The reverbs are good enough for you to forgo a reverb tank - the rest are just a bonus.

I bought this model over their 30 watt version for the volume. I plan to use it as a basement amp and a backup for a the tube combo I gig with. You need the extra watts in solid state to for clean headroom. You won't need the headroom on the lead channel unless you want to get evicted.

I use it with humbuckers and single coils. To me it is unusual to find an amp that will produce great tones with both across both dirty and clean settings.

My tastes run from clean stuff (think Sultans of swing) to classic crunch rock.

The distortion is via a 12AX7A tube. It gives smooth gradations of raunch. I don't like the way solid state distortions go flabby when you back off the volume - this doesn't. It is a very organic tube amp feel. Very usable tone with the volume backed off, crank it for your leads.

I have always found cleans on solid stare amps to be wanting - so this comment is relative to other solid state amps. It is as good as it gets. A test I use is to see whether the clean channel can "handle" a distortion pedal without getting all fizzy. This can. It doesn't have the "roundness" of a Twin, but is very full sounding cmpared to other SS amps.

Seems solid enough, no problems so far. I would gig it without a backup.

I had a previous issue with a Kustom amp. I ended up upgrading through the dealer to the HV65. I was personally contacted by a technician on more than one occasion who went above and beyond the call of duty (as did my dealer). You get the sense that they take service issues and customer satisfaction very seriously.

I have been playing for 25 years and have owned many many amps. I finally came to the conclusion that for basement playing, I cannot get tones I want out of a tube amp without dislodging drywall.

In subsequent versions I would suggest they voice the crunch differently for the lead and rhythm channels. As it is, it is basically the same tone to my ears, just less gain in the rhythm.

I love the fact that I do not have to lug a pedal around with this thing - it is light enough and loud enough to go jamming with friends and to be heard over the drummer! If you like just a touch of chorus or delay, these are readily accessible and useable - again no pedal lugging

I find this amp very versatile.
When practicing, I play a wide variety of styles.
It has two channels, a clean a overdriven. Given the titles rhythm and lead. Which is a little misleading as I find clean lead lines alot better.

It has a lot of digital effects, around three or four different types of reverb, all which are to good quality. I don't use any of the effects, apart from reverb and phaser however.

It is a 65 watt amplifier, and is plenty loud enough for practice, with a full band. And for gigs, it has a speaker emulated direct out using and XLR jack. The same one to plug in the microphone that would have mic'd up the amp, conveniently enough.

With this amp, I use a gibson SG special with seymour duncan pickups.
I love the clean sound that I get out the amp, I spent a reasonable amount of time getting the equalisation right for the clean channel and the only thing I can complain about it is that it has a gain control that is difficult to adjust to get a completely clean, yet loud, sound out of.

On the distorted channel, it is a lot quieter than I expected, I background noise I got out of it was a lot less compared to the volume that I get.
I find the distortion to be plenty powerful enough, even for metal.
And there is a veryy good bass responce, which makes it good for palm muted 'chug chugga chug' type playing.
The valve gives the distortion a very nice sound, even if it is cranked up to unecessary amounts of gain to create a sound most people despise

It isn't enough for pinched harmonics really, but I don't like the sound of that myself.
I don't think it would be too great for metal-style solos or lead lines, but considering that I more or less cannot stand solos in metal songs, I would not use this amp for anything of the sort.

But there is nothing stopping you from getting a distorion pedal.

I would definately not bring another amp as backup. Mostly because I can't afford another one
I have a fair amount of stuff sitting atop this amp, and it holds up well, I suppose it would trust it enough to gig with. It has not broken, but I've only had it for around four months.

The vavles have never needed replacing. But as I said, I haven't had it for long.

I haven't dealt with them, nor do I know anyone who has had to.

I've been playing for around four or five years. The only other amps I have had are practice amps.
I have used plenty of other amps though. And this, I think, is the best in it's price range.

If it was lost, I would probably buy another one, if I couldn't gather the money to buy a kustom coupe or WAV, as I have played those and the sound extremely good. But it still is a VERY good amp, very versatile.

I compared this to line 6 amps, as I had a few people recommend me one.
I found them to have a dull and lifeless sound though, so I opted for this one instead.

I would recommend this amp to anyone, unless you're a fan of pinched harmonics, then you should get a line 6 -_-

New tube/SS hybrid model from Kustom that operates the tubes at very high voltage to emulate the responsiveness of all tube gain stages. Very versatile as it has two channels, each with three band EQ (with two switchable modes...fender and marshall?), gain knobs, and a separate boost function. Effects are global and there is a tap switch available for setting the tempo of certain effects and to choose between options on a few others (type of reverb circuit, ramp speeds for rotating speaker sims, etc.) There is an effects loop, an external speaker output, and a cabinet simulated XLR line out for live gigs or recording and an input for ipods and the like. The amp is plenty loud. There is a single 12" Celestion G12P-80, which I'm told is the same as the Seventy-Eighty. Not a bad speaker at all.

This amp has a very versatile palette of tones. Everything from very clean all the way to too overdriven and everything in between. The cleans aren't quite as sparkly as fender cleans, but they are very good and the natural overdrives that can be achieved by switching on the 'overdrive' switch on the clean channel are very inspiring--I found myself hooking up the old overdrive pedal and was very happy with the cranked tweed amp styled results.

I would also not at all recommend this amp for metal players. It seems to have a tone that is reminiscent of classic tube amps and fits the classic rock tonality the best. It would probably work for all styles of blues and roots rock all the way up to seventies hard rock. It might also do well as a jazz amp if one were inclined to do so.

The amp is not overly noisy and responds differently to different preamp tubes. I've tried a range of 12AX7s and a couple of lower gained tubes and the highest gain tubes get a bit fizzy in the most distorted settings, but everything smooths way out when you use a 12AU7. You get a buttery overdrive sound that you'll love.

The effects are serviceable. Nothing to write home about but they'll do in lieu of lugging around 12 different pedals and having the ability to ramp the leslie speed up and down is freaking cool. I didn't like the tremolos very much, but it's probably a subjective kind of thing. The delays were predictably average, but not bad. I did like several of the reverb settings and the flange/chorus/phase settings are of the kind that will get heard very well on a stage. Not at all timid. Decent effects all around.

The rating reflects the modest price of an amp with these features at this price range. It really is hard to beat.

The amp seems to be very well built. Much better so than a H&K Edition Blue 60R that I used to own. This one's got much more wood holding it together and doesn't buzz at modestly high volumes like the H&K did. I have owned modern era Kustom stuff before and it all held up great. No worries here. I've had the back off of mine and have swapped the tubes out at least 20 times and no problems whatsoever.

N/A

I've been playing for over 20 years and I've owned everything from very high powered tube half stacks down to SS 15 watt practice amps and everything in between. I am mostly a strat guy and I like modestly distorted tube tones the most. I love the flexibility of the amp the most and probably hate that Kustom didn't go that extra mile and put an even better effects module in it and maybe even charge a bit more for it.

Otherwise it's a fine amp. I might benefit from a second line out letting you slave the stereo effects signal to another amp, but that's getting awfully nit-picky for an amp in this price range and I wouldn't hold not fulfilling my every dream against Kustom on this one.

Overall very nice amp!