Kustom KLA-10

Tiny practice amp, made in the far east. Pretty basic features, just three knobs a jack input and a button for distortion. Theres also a headphone output jack that cuts the speaker. Just plug-in and play. Not the best sounding amp but OK considering the price range. I paid a fiver for this second-hand, got it along with a Fender. I figured that five pounds was worth it in spare parts at least, handles and corner pieces which are pricey in the UK. I think these amps retail at about 40 pounds, or sometimes they are given away with a guitar as a starter pack. Enough to say there are a lot of them around.
The amp is pretty solid, there isn't much that can go wrong with it. It is tiny at about 11 inches square. If you take the amp part out of the box you can see just how small it really is, 9 inches wide, 2 high and 4.5 inches deep, ie just about the size of some foot pedals. It is possible to drill a hole in the back and fit a jack socket for the speaker, and if you did that and made a lid for it you would have a tiny amp you could pull out in emergencies, when all else has failed.

There are tree knobs on it for gain, voice and volume. Volume works as expected but with only a six inch speaker the thing doesn't sound too good at higher levels. The amp sounds a lot better powering a proper cab. You need to disconnect the existing speaker and attach a new lead to reach the other cab. The amp takes a 4 ohm load. Driving a 2x12 the thing can get pretty damn loud.

The voice control works a bit like the tone control on very old valve amps. Instead of having just one capacitor to filter the high end though, there is a different cap on either end of the potentiometer, and you find a balance between the two. It seems to work a bit like a notch filter, you can twiddle it and hear the notch sweeping across the frequency range. It is quite a clever idea for extending the range of sounds possible from so few knobs, but I don't know, I was beginning to think everything sounds kind of hollow or scooped.

Without the distortion button the gain knob doesn't seem to do anything. With the distortion on, the gain provides a slight boost to the volume but mainly introduces a nasty type of diode clip sound. More gain, the more distortion you get. Sometimes it works pretty well - you have to strike a balance between the setting on the voice knob and how much distortion you want. Some of them sound terrible and with the voice control turned clockwise the distortion tone is real gritty and nasty.

On clean the amp works reasonably well. It is let-down by the cheapo speaker. Through a proper speaker I was surprised at how quiet it was and what clear sound quality it had. Looking inside, it has one JRC 4558 opamp and one TDA chip output device. There are no transistors inside this one. Other reviewers talk about the transistors but this one has none, so I guess there has been a re-design at some stage. I was curious and drew the circuit while I had it outside the box, and it is pretty unusual the way these chips have been hooked-up to the power rails, certainly not text-book stuff.

On the whole its pretty average, nothing to get too excited about. Again you have to consider the price range. It is Ok for what it does, nothing exceptional, but better than many.

Quite a solid amp. The case is chipboard, but it is so small and compact and lightweight that I would think you would need to be very determined to be able to do it some serious damage. The amp part is cased in a steel chassis thats a decent solid guage, which is rare in amps like these.

don't know. I'd be embarrassed to chase after service for a cheap amp like this.

I played around with this for one evening. It worked OK, it was worth saving after I trashed the case for parts. A bit later I cut out holes in the back of it and installed a jack socket for the speaker and two holes for RCA plugs for an effects loop. I reckoned I could find a use for it as a testing device, when I pull other amps to pieces and need something to plug their pre-amp or power amp into. It is quite well suited for this purpose, considering that if I manage to toast it during an experiment, then its cost me just a fiver and I can easily get another one.

Features have pretty much been talked about by other reviewers.. not much to say, 2 channels clean/dist, Gain, voice, volume pots.... headphones output... It's pretty much a crappy little thing but really suits what I want.

This is actually the very first amp I bought, and at the time I really didn't care what sound I could get, I just wanted anything I could plug my guitar in to get started, so I did. I bought this for less than 30 canadian dollars which is pretty much nothing. Myself and all my friends would laugh at it for the one or two years I've been using it, talking how it has done war and had left parts on battle ground.. everybody agreeing to say this was the worst sounding amp ever. So when I started having more serious bands I bought some better amp and just threw it in the bottom of a wardrobe not to use it ever again. Today, I've been playing guitar for about 7 years, and I just got it out of and old box due to some problems I experienced with my current amp and just wanted to get plugged into something. Actually, I've been very, very surprised. This things really had a kind of sound I've been looking for for a long time. I mean, I was really tired of hi-tech amps and these clean and too perfect sound (it's highly personal, I agree) and wanted to find something real lo-fi, noisy, but with a dist that got some guts... that's really what I found with this. You can really get some good variety of dist sound with the two control pots, which all sound crappy and cheap, but gutsy and tearing at the time. I repeat.. this is highly a personal concern, but I rediscovered this amp, being a really great lo-fi and "special" sounding little bit of crap. I love it. Was at least worth my 30 bucks, ahah.

Well... when I bought it it was already very old, I couldn't say how old but it was all wore out.. and I've been playing it with the volume cranked all way up for like 2 years, and it sounds just like new... very reliable I would say.

Never had to deal with them... anyway... if it stopped working, I would just get it repared from a friend for cheap.. anyway, who would call the company for this kind of crap.

I play with a Ibanez NDM which I changed the pickups for seymour duncan... play mainly rock, metal, indie, lo-fi stuff with this thing.. but I play a lot of jazz, funk, blues and different kind of groove... old rock... well... you see. I also use a load of effects for different situations which I will save you the listing...
Well.. in definitive this really is the better piece of crap I ever played on and would definitely use it to record some very particular stuff of mine... Love it.

Very basic small ss amp. Single input with V/T/Gain HP jack, front panel swithch changes to "drive" channel. 6 inch speaker about 5 watts (the "10" in the name has got to be peak rating)

The Cleans are OK.. fairly bright , chords ring out well..the distortin is very buzzy, rolling back the tone knob on your guitar helps, but it's pretty poor.

Bought 2nd hand from original owner who never used it! (apparently it was included with a Buy a guitar and get a amp free! deal) seems sturdy, works ok for me ;had it for a month or so.

OK web site. Down loaded a manual as mine was missing /never included

Playing for a number of years..had gone acoustic (Seagull), but over the summer the local mall music store began closing out its instrument department, and selling of it's stock of Dean EVO xm's for $49.95! I bought one , playing it thru a Vox AC-1 min combo that I was using for a paper weight..I saw this on Craigs new in box (oh yea this is great the box has this flash logo on it that says "The Combo That Thinks it's a Stack!"..uh OK) So I walked over to the guys house and bought it..for $10 bucks! With my $50 guitar I'm pleased.

If I had paid real $$ I would not be..

If you need a amp and have only 15-20 bucks OK but there are pleanty of cool amps for the 50-60 bucks alot of shops ask for these used. Beter than a battery amp, but nothing to get excited about.

No idea what year it is. I had bought a guitar, but didnt yet have an amp, so i was talkin to a buddy of mine who said he had an old little amp laying around. He told me i could have it if i bought him a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger and a pack of cigarettes, so i did.

Voice and gain, volume, headphone jack (which is nice). Nothing special, but would expect it to be loaded?

See the other descriptions. Overall it has everything i need, but reverb would be nice.

Loud enough for the bedroom or a small jam with a buddy, but wont get up to drum volume (and honestly i hope you werent expecting it to).

For what i paid id rate it a 10, but im rating it as if id actually bought it new.

I play a MIM Strat with vintage noiseless pickups installed.

It suits my style fine, the clean is "meh", so as long as you have the right pedals you can build on that. I play anything from really mellow ambient type stuff to fast-paced and funky to brutal and heavy. The distortion is pretty much horrible, but if you turn it up just a tad, it gives a nice grit. I use a EHX double muff which makes a much better dist then the gain control ever will. My favorite and best sounding setting is volume about midway, light distortion, voice rolled back towards the lower end a bit, kneck pickup active with tone rolled down to 1, and using a light picking technique to coax a soft mellow sound out of it.
Its dead quiet unless something else in your setup is making noise, but thats mostly just because its only 10watts anyway so its pretty quiet.

The voice knob makes the sounds quite versatile, unfortunately most of them sound like crap.

Now to the bad news. The speaker sounds like CRAP. Its okay around half volume, but anything past that you start gettin unwanted distortion (and not in a good way). But if you turn it too low it sounds weak and tinny. A better speaker would be nice, but its just not worth it.

Obviously its too weak to use it at a gig, but if i was stuck using it to perform at a cafe or something i wouldnt be too worried about it breaking.

Havent had any problems in a year, and its older then that. Everthing is built solidly, the pots and jacks seem very sturdy and reliable.

Never dealt with it.

ive been playing about a year or so. this is my only amp but ill be buying a new one soon. i would never buy one again, but if i could get it for a pack of cigarettes and a cheeseburger again i would.

for what i need its functional. definitely nothing very impressive or special, its a typical low end, low wattage amp.

i like it because its small and portable. Ill probably use it in the future when i go on vacations, or when im just having a quick impromptu jam session with a buddy. In fact, i might just throw it in my trunk with my old Squire so itll be on hand wherever i go.

Not sure when made, looks brand new, solid state says 10 on the front, but reading the back tells you it punches out 40watts. Believable, its got too much for its shitty lil speaker. Single channel, drive switch, gain, voice(?) and volume knobs plus a headphone jack are what you get feature wise. I bought it 2nd hand to play around with.

Ok sounds. Very impressive, tho I've hooked mine into a 2/12 box, with
thomas organ speakers in it. And yeah, i'm mightily impressed with the sounds you can get outta this thing! I back the distortion off a lil, full volume, bout a 1/4 of voice, and shit yeh, she'll peal with the best of em!

Its a lil box made in china for yanks. You'd have to be an idiot thinkn bout giggn with it. It'll go forever, i doubt if the speaker will tho.

Been playin 30 years, giggin the last 6, home recording and teaching guitar the last 4 years. My main amps a musicman rd112 fifty, a beatiful piece of gear. Guitar wise i like my BC rich warlock rave2 for metal, i just got a essex strat copy, comparable to my mates fender. But my fave all rounder is a Marina Concorde series, has kahler trem, like a jackson, maybe better.

The amp is small 8/12w transistor combo, with one tiny little piece of an element, 3 knobs; the distortion can be switched on. Very light, easy to transfer from home living room to the training camp of my band.

It's a very spicy amp for its size and the lack of features, however, the sound is better on clean channel, with single-coil pick-ups and volume knob turned down low, unless you're looking for the Pirusuo trademark sound which means distortion turned on, gain at max and no voice at all. Such a smashing sound, in a very very unprofessional way.

The amp is fireproof and ironhard, nothing can go wrong with it. I have gigged with it dozens of times and it has never let me down. Its durability seemed endless, until I lent it to my bassist friend who ruined the speaker by taking his Bantam bass and playing at full-blast with maximum distortion... Oh, well.

Never dealt with any company or anyone else.

I've played for several years, I own quite a few guitars and other amps. This amp has served me well during our 3 years of friendship. It's good for living room jams, jazz bar sessions, small gigs and practicing at home. However, if it got stolen I'd look for something else...

No idea when it was made, but I got it bought for me by an old girlfriend in 97.
I play punk/rock/blues (never had enough money for a "proper" tube amp) and it doesn't do a very good job of any of them. I suppose it sounds okay for basic punks stuff, but I'd prefer the tone to be a little warmer (still what do I expect for a 15W amp?)

I use a Telecaster with a Blues Driver pedal, or if I'm feeling particularly lazy (which is most of the time), I just use the overdrive on the amp, which sounds horrible as it just blurrs the sound together - and not in a good way - it's just sounds "jangly".
It suffers from a little bit of background noise, but this was helped when I shielded by Telecaster.

Don't gig this amp unless your only other backing is aguy playing the bongos or something!
For the price it's like a tank! I've dropped it more times than I can remember, I've lent it out to mates who havn't respected it and I even locked in a damp garage for a year where it got soaked - and it's still going!

No idea!

For a practice amp for a learner guitarist I suppose it's quite good, although if it was lost or stolen I wouldn't care.

I don't know what year this amp was made, probably in the early 90's. It has pretty basic features, gain, voice (tone), volume, headphone jack, two channels, twelve watts. I wish it had effects, but hell it's a practice amp. I also wish it had more watts because I like it's sound. You can't perform with this unless it is mic'd.

I've used a '57 Fender strat, a gibson flying v, and an Ibanez gax70 on this amp. It didn't like the strat, but you couldget good sounds with the gibson and ibanez. It's very good for rock and alternative. The clean channel is great, it doesn't distort at all. Somedays the clean channel sounds better than others, maybe humidity. The distortion channel is pretty good, especially considering this is a practice amp. This amp sounds great with my proco rat dist. pedal.

I can depend on this amp to work whenever I want. It has never let me down, and you can keep playing even on the highest volume for hours without any problem. Like I said, not good for gigs, just for practice.

Never had to deal with them, this thing is built very well.

This is an excellent amp for the money. It's perfect for practice or late night jamming. reccommended for beginners or veterans who want an amp around for practice. If it was lost or stolen i would be sad, but I would probably buy a nicer amp, probably a crate gfx 212 or something.

one channel plus "Harmonic Clipper" (distortion) switch, volume/gain control, primitive EQ

hey, you don't buy this amp for the features!!!

The clean channel on this little guy is very generic and has zero headroom, but I never use it anyway.

what this amp does have, however, is a jaw-dropping secret weapon in the "harmonic clipper!" Only has one sound, a bright, super saturated high gain sound, plenty of sustain and phenomenal pinch harmonics.

Great. Haven't had a problem yet.

Never had to deal with them due to the quality of the construction.

I've been playing guitar for a good while now, I play custom Ibanez gutiars and own a variety of high end amps. As long as you own quality equipment and don't have to use this amp for EVERYTHING, this little guy give you some great surprises in a studio setting.

I like this amp. I got it when I first started playing, sure it isn't loud enough to gig with, for that matter it can't keep up with drums. It has one channel that can be distorted, a lot of people claim the distortion on this amp sucks, but personally I like it. I always play with my guitar volume on 10 so it helps out the distortion, I think. You'll never use this amp for anything but practise so it's not bad.

I play an El Degas Strat with 3 single coil pickups. Together they make a great beginers package. I play death metal and industrial. It works well for death metal, it's kinda fuzzy and warm for industrial. It gets noisy at times, like if a TV or computer monitor is on, otherwise it is nice and clear. This amp can for from clean and twangy to quite brutal. It makes my guitar sound really good for death metal and turns my drum machine's tones into gabber at full gain.

This amp is durable, I threw it down the stairs cuz I was pissed and went, got it and played some more, no difference in sound. I wouldn't gig with this amp at all, unless I was in a very small room with just my PC as a backup band. My amp has never broken down, and that's cool for me. I'll stick with my Bandit 65 for gigging tho.

Never dealt with them

I've been playing 3 years. I don't own much other than my El Degas. If it were stolen, I find them guy and beat him down with it, then slam a toilet seat on his equipment *yeah, that's what I mean*. I love it's sound, I just wish it was way louder, then again, practice amps aren't loud.