Kustom Quad 100DFX 212 Combo

Heaps of features. More than I will use. My amp has 2x 80 watt celestions, whereas most of the amps reviewed here have 65s. Don't know if this makes any difference but they are a cheaper celestion and one day , if they blow, I might upgrade.

Using it witha reissue Hagstom Viking, and the sound is great at normal practise volumes and above. At low practise volumes (think, late at night and everyone is asleep) this amp just doesn't do it, but in all fairness, was never designed to.
Brilliant clean sound. Best I have tried. I bought this amp because I was sick of my overly bright Fender Princeton 65. This is a better amp than the fender.
I rarely use the dirty channel, dirty up the clean channel with a Boss Blues Driver.

First time I carried it by the handle after I had got it home from the shop, the handle broke. It is only supporting this heavy amp by a single screw an each side. The amp took a heavy fall which seasoned the outside a little prematurely but did no damage.
Next day I went to the hardware store and bought 2 x 4mm screws, 32 mm long (the originals are 4x25). I took the original screw with me so I could check the thread.
I replaced these original, inadequate screws with the 32mm long ones (don't worry about hurting the amp, there is plenty of room inside before the screw hits anything crucial).
Now you could swing my amp by the handle; if you were strong enough. :)

no idea

I have owned A peavey 2x12 which was good, but a one trick pony, a Marshall valvestate, a fender princeton 65 and a few others over 35 years of playing guitar professionally, and semi pro.
This is the best amp I have owned. It cost me $500 Aus, but can easily sit side by side with $1200-$1400 amps I tried in my shopping trip.

All the features have been well-described here. 100-watt MOS-FET solid state with twin Celestion 65-watt speakers, effectively 4 channels and 8 built-in digital effects.

I'm really posting this review to give a big plug to the Kustom people for some truly great customer service. See "Customer Support" below.

Using it with a Fender Strat (CIJ '57 reissue), SX Strat (Chinese '57 replica), Harper Telecaster copy (NZ/Chinese), Simon & Patrick acoustic/electric (Fishman-equipped), Cort 12-string (also Fishman-equipped).

Heaps of grunt, great choice of tones, very usable FX, remarkably "tubey" body and punch.

Only recently acquired, in very second-hand condition. Like, beat-up.

I picked up this amp real cheap in a pawnshop. It looked well-used and abused, but worked fine. Among other cosmetic flaws, the elliptical name badge was missing from the top front. I decided to give the box some TLC, and went to the Kustom U.S. and international websites to try and find a New Zealand distributor/dealer. While on the site, I filled in a Question/Comment form, asking about a local connection and mentioning my quest for a [metal} name badge. Next day, I got an email from a "Kustomer" Service guy in Kentucky, asking me to verify that it was actually a Kustom amp by sending a couple of photos and citing the serial number - which I did. I also inquired about cost and postage to NZ. A day later, I received another email advising that the badge was on the way. I had originally thought the missing badge was the die-cut metal version. Eight days after my initial inquiry, a bubble-pack arrived in the mail containing two badges - the big metal one (which was too large for the cavity), and a self-adhesive plastic one (which was perfect), demonstrating real thoughtfulness on the part of the Kustom guys. No charge for anything. This was impressive customer service/support. Major kudos to Kustom.

Playing 40+ years. Other current amps: Roland DAC-80D (112), Roland SuperCube100 (115), Ibanez TA35 "Troubador" Acoustic (110).

I've almost finished restoring the exterior of this amp - with great help from the Kustom team, who clearly take pride in and stand behind their gear.

I believe this amp is about 5 years old because it has a sticker from 2003 from the original store. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it.
The clean channel is quite versatile, having two "preamps"; actually, the "Brilliant" preamp is just the "Normal" one with a +6 dB boost at 3kHz, as outlined by the manual, but I think of it as an extra bit of available EQ, always a positive.
The distortion "preamps" are basically as follows:
BRITISH: general-purpose distortion, fairly thick, rich for an SS amp
US: basically the British with some bass cut, more effective for leads for somewhat better definition, but the "preamps" are not footswitchable
The EQ itself is the most effective passive EQ I've ever used.
The CD input sucks because it is run through a cheap resistor to reduce the volume because it's not run through the channel volumes, but the treble ends up getting majorly cut and whatever you wanted to be played sucks a lot.
The TWO line-outs are wonderful, but only for recording/DI-ing clean sounds, because they are not speaker-simulated so distortion sounds horribly shrill. If you want to use them, though, you can buy a simulator like the Behringer GI-100 for ~$35 and get good tone without mics for sort of cheap.
I have not used the effects loop, but the footswitch jack works, changing channels and turning FX on/off.
By the way, the FX on my amp only mostly work; none of them were very good anyway.

On the distortion channel, the sound is great. I thought I had found the ultimate no-maintenance distortions in my Roland Cube 20x (possibly the best practice amp ever created), but this one outshined all except the metal channels, because (as most people have noted), even with the Boost on, it does not really have enough gain for true metal, although it can do in a pinch with cranked bass/minimum mids, because the Celestion Super 65s are wonderful speakers. I can't stress that enough: the Celestions in this amp are fantastic. However, they cannot change the fact that the amp is pretty noisy at max gain. However, this could be simply because my amp is old (the last guy didn't keep it in perfect condition; it's missing screws!). The distortion basically ranges from nice breakup for blues to serious overdrive for hard-ish rock, but pedals will be needed so the noise isn't overpowering. Basically, it sounds vintage, like a Plexi, but the gain doesn't go that high. Very good for me, because I like mid-gain styles (mainstream rock, punk, etc.).
The clean is nothing to write home about, but it is fairly flexible with the good EQ and "preamp" switching.

I think this amp will last me a long time, because the wood is fairly thick, the speakers are wonderful, and it's solid-state so not much can go wrong unless it was very poorly made. I don't know what the previous owner did, but some screws are missing, as mentioned before, so when I turn it up a lot the back panel housing the electronics (it's a semi open-back cab with a ~3-inch slot) begins to rattle, but it could've actually been something in the room because this amp is crazy-loud. I would gig with this without a backup because A)that's why I bought it and B)I really can't afford any more amps, although I might be able to borrow our bassist's Carvin SX-200 (also a great amp).

Thankfully, I have never needed to deal with the support from Kustom EXCEPT for finding the manual online (the previous owner didn't have it), which was very easy. Kudos, Kustom.

In the last couple years I've been playing, I've amassed/extensively played with:
a Squier HSS Strat
an Epiphone G-400 (with the gorgeous faded cherry finish)
a Roland Cube 20x
a Danelectro Honey-Tone (fun little mini-amp)
this Kustom

If I lost this, I would be amazed first of all because it's a big box with beautiful basket-weave grill, and it's hard to miss my beat-up one. However, I think I would not get another one unless I could find another sweet deal because I have little money and Kustom charges too much brand-new. I love the sound, hate the fact that it's somewhat heavy but really big for a 2x12 (12-1/2" deep!!), and it would be nice if Kustom saw the Vox AC-30 and copied the handles on the sides of the top so you could have more handles, or something. Small things aside, though; this amp is a great amp, ESPECIALLY if you can find it at a price anywhere near where I did.

Not sure when mine was made, but doesn't look very old. This is exactly made for my style of music which is mainly classic rock and blues, bit of sixties and seventies pop, including Stones, Beatles and AC/DC. Feature are fairly well documented in other reviews, but I would add that it would have been good to include a footswitch and a cover. I have bought both of these seperately which cost around ??40 for both.

I use a Yamaha Pacifica 112L, a Yamaha AX6LA and a Fender Telecaster - all left handed. The Pacifica sounds superb through this amp and is a match for my playing colleagues Fender Strat and Fender Blues Deluxe Tube amp combination. It gives enough crunch for my music and the clean channel is incredible, very rich, bassy without being dirty, Much better that I could have hoped for. The effects are interesting but should be used cautiously, the spring and hall reverbs add a 1950's rock n roll style for Wipe Out kind of riffs. Theres plenty of crunch available but defineatly not enough for heavy metal kind of stuff - you would need a pedal. I wanted to get away from pedals and this amp has enabled me to do that - apart from my BOSS acoustic pedal, which i used infrequently.

Bit early to say, its built like a tank and is secondhand and works fine. So can't really comment to accurately. I've replaced the rubber feet with some good castors as it's very heavy, 54lbs/25kg, i figured the castors would save a lot of needles 'picking up and putting down with a thump' when preparing for a gig.

no experience

Also own a Carlsbro 100GLX which is always regarded as having very good valve emulation built in. I've always been happy but it always felt like a poor relation when comparing with my colleagues Fender Blues Deluxe - understandable considering the type and price, however the Kustom feels just a good and I'm delighted. If it were stolen or lost i would definately get another. I love the looks, plain front and controls on top - bit like Fender Hot Rod, I love the two Celestion speakers which i believe are responsible for the quality of sound.

Should have footswitch and cover included.

The Kustom Quad 100DFX 212 Combo was built with 2 channels (rhythm and lead). Each channel features a 3-band EQ, also with a preamp switch. The Rhythm channel features Neutral and Brilliant settings, and the Lead channel features UK and US distortion settings. The lead channel has a gain "boost" button as well to increase the gain on the signal. The best feature of this amp are the 8 built-in effects. These effects only feature one parameter, "Level", which limits the control of each effect you can have, but generally speaking, the presets are nicely done. You can select Spring Reverb, Hall Reverb, Slap Delay, Delay, Chorus, Chorus/Reverb, Flange/Reverb, or Tremolo. The four reverb effects are very nicely done.

This amp excels at clean sounds. The rhythm channel's EQ is very wide and provides a sparkling clean sound. Also is an excellent channel for the use of external effects or amps. The Lead channel has a limited amount of gain, suitable for many types of music, but not for metalheads. Great crunchy sound suitable for AC/DC and other types of (fairly) low-gain genres. As mentioned before, the rhythm channel is an excellent platform for the use of external effects and amp simulators.

I've had this amp for 3 years, and it's taken it's share of abuse from traveling and playing gigs, but I've never had any problems with it.

Never had to contact Kustom.

This amp gives you great bang for your buck. I would highly recommend this amp for virtually anyone, but of course, make sure you play the amp before you buy it.

Features 2 celstion 65 watt speaker's ,along with amp being 100 watts.Has the dfx's like chorus ,delay flange ect.Also offer's gain boost,uk of american speaker cab sound.External speaker jack ,line out ,effects loops,and footswitch jack.Its not tube its a solid state.Amp isnt made for any kind of heavy metal.I will list my over all opinion at end of page.

If your into the overdrive or blues even classic rock sound you would probably love this amp.If you like stuff like Megadeth,Pantera your screwed.The gain on this amp is the biggest disapointment ever if you like to play with lots of distortion.The clean channel sounds fine to me but i mostly use distortion so it really bums me out.Im using a guitar with a duncan distortion humbucker so if you tryed to play heavy with a single coil on this thingi cant even begin to imagine how weak it would sound.Its not really a noisy amp.The effects are also disapointing.There no better than a $50.00 multi effects pedal.

Havent owned it long at all,so i cant be sure.It seems well built,but inside there's no telling.I really like the body design.

n/a

I've been playing for 11 years and mostly play heavy style's of music.I have used many amps and music gear in the past 11 years.This has to be one of the most disapointing amps i have owned basically due to the very weak gain (distortion).If it was lost i would not buy it again,i actually just traded an old crate amp head for it before i even tryed it out.I guess i plan on buying a nice distortion pedal to solve the problem.For my opinion i dont recommend getting this amp unless its a real dirt cheap price or you like playing stuff like ac/dc or always play using clean channel.Metalheads will truly be disapointed i promise

The built in effects are good, but nothing you can't do with free programs like Audacity and the like. The celestion speakers are also nice, much better than the ones I had on my old amp. However neither of these features help this amp from sounding absolutely thin and useless without adding layers of effects on the default tone during post production.

I play a freak form of death/black metal inspired instrumental/experimental stuff, so I was looking for a kind of distortion that would sound great in any tuning. When I first played this amp about 5 months ago, I liked it somewhat, but about a month later I tried it again, and discovered that it was seriously lacking in the gain/dynamics department, regardless of the promises the amp gives you on the fancy stickers. In fact, neither of the "distortion" settings were of any use whatsoever, both sounding about the same; muddy and thin. And the clean settings were absolutely horrid and also had thin and maybe even modelly properties. I ended up taking a chance and buying this amp anyway, and immediately started experimenting with the tone. I discovered that the only way to get a nice, chunky tone out of this amp was to stop fiddling with the amp's low, mid, and high controls. Just turn them to zero. Then you actually need to find a decent distortion pedal, such as the Line 6 ??ber metal pedal (which I already had, fortunately), and just dial in your settings from there. If you want to hear the tone I've gotten out of it, and/or the settings I used, email me. For me, the effort of getting the tone was worth the trouble, but it doesn't excuse the amp for having a crap tone in the first place.

From my experience, the Kustom had never broken down, squealed, or made any kind of death rattle that I should be worried about. Worked perfectly up until I was a dumbass and sold the damn thing. Still regret that decision.

Never dealt with them because their product actually worked.

I've been playing for only what, 3 years, and I've learned a lot along the way. One thing that I was happy to learn is that you don't *need* a $3,000 amp to get a sound you really like. All it really takes is some experimentation, and maybe even a bit of luck.

To anyone curious, I have 5 guitars (3 electric, 1 steel string acoustic and 1 nylon classical acoustic) and 1 bass guitar. The main guitar I use is a set neck bc rich Warlock that I upgraded with Dimarzio X2n (neck), and Seymour Duncan Invader (bridge) pickups. I also use an Ibanez RG370DX w/ seymour duncan jazz (neck) and stock (bridge) pickups. I removed the middle pickup because i never used it.

The only thing I wish this amp had was a good sounding clean channel, so i wouldn't have had to switch from amp to amp just to record something. Otherwise it was probably the best amp I've owned (once you experiment with it enough).

If this amp had been stolen before I sold it (still mad over that decision) I would've probably bought a new one and hoped that I could get the same sound back.

And the last thing I'd like to add, is for people who keep complaining about gear they bought from Guitar Center. All these reviewers seem to be blaming the manufacturers for Guitar Center's inept staff who, apparently, never test equipment before selling it, or at least never keep a fresh inventory instead of the same old rotten amps they had 10 years ago. Just something to keep in mind.

I currently own a Quad 100 DFX 212 and really like the tone and headroom this amp has to offer, It's LOUD! Ther has been a problem with a small circuit board in some units, however, and Kustom has been great about replacing or fixing these amps. I went through 3 seperate amps before I found one that didn't fail, and Kustom was great about replacing them. I encourage anyone that has experienced any problems with the effects or the failure of one channel or any other problem to contact the retailer or Kustom. They seem to be a good company.

Problems but quick solutions.

No problems returning faulty units.

this amp has an unbelievable clean channel and doesnt distort at high volumes. the weird thing is its slightly compressed which makes it have tube sounds. u switch on the brilliance pre amp and its just amazing for country or blues lead licks. the neutral is really good for rhythm. the distortion is taylor made for ac dc style rock but isnt suited for the nu age metal.

owners of this amp will know that its 25kg. which makes it extremely sturdy. i havent had a problem with but it would be safe to say u wouldnt need a back up amp for a gig.

havent dealed with them. but its got a 3 year warranty

ive been playing for about 3-4 years and have just stepped up from a poor 10watt practise amp to this 100wat Kustom so it sounds amazing. if it happened to walk. i would definately buy a nu one (dn worry there will need 2 be atleast 2 to get away quick)
i wish it came with the footswitch cause im sure that would come in handy

This is an update from my review i wrote a year ago. I changed my mind on some point. I said i wasn't happy with the distortion and used my RAT II instead. Well, i recently started playing around with the settings and found my sweet spot there. I bought a footswitch and now use the distortion channel instead of the RAT. On the USA mode it sounds just awesome. It's a unique distortion sound. I use a Digitech Bad Monkey (same as Ibanez Tubescreams) to boost my signal when i'm doing solo's. It gives this mean, old school distortion sound. A perfect sound for in a (hard) rock band. It doesn't sound like a Marshall, it doesn't sound like a Mesa..., it sounds like a Kustom. It's truely it's unique own sound. Please, forget your distortion pedals and just play around with settings and EQ, you won't regret it.

Used it a year, still works fine. I spilled beer on it and it still works like nothing happened.