Kustom L-1 Combo

I'm writing this review in response to the other reviews on the L-1. I bought it new in 1978. Mine had 10" speaker. I don't know what kind but it had a very small magnet. The reviewers that stated that theirs had 12" speakers had replacements in them. The reason I know this is because the original tens blew real easy. The amp was only 30 watts of solid state power and was not real loud with the original speaker and had to be pushed to get any decent sound out of it. Thus they blew easy. The other reviewers got the rest of the features right. However the "Drive" knob was neither an overdrive or distortion booster. All it did was increase the volume.

I used the amp for practice and some garage/basement jamming playing blues, roots rock no jazz or country. My guitar was a fair 70's strat copy. The amp was very bright with a little mids and no bottom end. In the bedroom it could get somewhat loud especially with a Big Muff P in front. It was a very clean amp and would not overdrive or distort with out pedals. It took to pedals somewhat but watch out because the original speaker could not handle much pushing. Mine blew and I replaced it with a Radio Shack 10" with a silver cap over the voice coil. The guy who said that his L-1 had a silver cap speaker like this in it might have my old amp. If you do, you have a 10" speaker not a 12". This amp could not hang with any type of a rock oriented band. Even with pedals and turned all the way up it would be lost. Forget leads. There simply was not enogh tone or volume. The best part of the amp was the reverb which was fair.

Everything in it was built like a tank except the speakers that blew real easy. Like I said before, they originally came with a cheap 10" speaker. With a good 12" inch speaker, this thing would have been indestructable. Keep in mind that I pushed this little baby. It was definately made for hard rock of any kind.

Did not have to deal with custom because the thing easily out lasted it's warranty. When the speaker blew, it was out of warranty. I replaced the speaker and sold the amp. I upgraded to the Kustom III Lead that had 130 watts and a monster 15" EV speaker.

When I bought the amp in the late seventies I had only been playing about 1 1/2 years. I still play so figure it out math wizzes. I would not buy this amp again because there are so many amps ot there now for that price that sound better but maybe not as loud. It is strictly a personal beginners practice amp. But be aware that the amp lacks tone and could be frustraing for some one that is trying to improve from begginer status. In my opinion, there is no vintage quality to it either because the sound is so sterile.