Kustom Quad 100DFX Head

manufactured - probably 2007-2008.
versatile- yes. outstanding clean and very good overdrive channels with good eq flexibility and a workable fx loop.
channels - 2 with an a/b variation in each channel, channel switch via front panel or garden variety TRS 2-button footswitch
have used in home and a couple of gigs - including outdoor. works great at variety of volume levels. plenty of volume unless you're deaf.
solid state design with a MOSFET output module... the secret sauce IMO.

Use with SSS, SSH and HH strat-style guitars and a hollowbody with tv jones pups. Play blues, some jazz, instro surf, and originals melded out of all those, works well for all.
very quiet operation, a little hiss on the gain channel cranked but perfectly acceptable.
clean channel stays pretty clean all the way up, slight overdrive edge when max'd out, but that's really too loud for any practical purpose.
distortion is suitable for old rock, classic rock, would need a pedal to get the right sound for metal, but can do it with a pedal and the right cabinet(s).
here's the deal kids - the clean is AWESOME. With the volume up you can coax different tone out by diggin in or lightening up on your pick attack. I haven't found many solidstate amps that could do that like this one does. I have a Fuchs-modified Bandmaster that has been my holy grail for clean. Yes, it is better than the Quad BUT NOT BY MUCH!!! I like to use both amps with a AB switch and when they are both on clean it is SO NICE. I use a touch of the built-in effect reverb+chorus. Seems to really polish the clean tone. There are two preamp contours, basically thiner/cleaner and phatter. Both are useable, and selectable by front panel switch. The bass, treble, and mid EQs really work.

The gain channel (hey, do you want 'balls' or 'bigger balls'!) is pretty flexible and if you have a compressor in the FX loop can really come alive and snarl. I like it about as much as the right mix of pedals in front of the clean channel, the advantage is just one footswitch button to turn on/off. The gain channel isn't quite as thick/lush as my Fuchs, but it is totally usable and cuts through well, which is often sadly not true of solidstate amps. The slight transistory-ness of the gain channel is about the only thing keeping my sound rating from a near-ten. settle for 9, big grin! EQs work very well, yay.

The effects loop is very good. Besides putting your delay in there, I found that a compressor in the loop really expands the tone palette especially on the gain channel. Don't let the TRS style jack put you off, it actually winds up working well because you just have one cable coming to your pedal or board.

Built-in effects are digital but pretty usable. I like the spring reverb and the reverb+chorus best. You can't set delay time, only depth. Same with tremolo and chorus, no speed control. But if you want to travel light to a gig, there's enough here that you can leave all your pedals behind. That is a really good thing to be able to do.

Handles two speakers and of course the sound varies a lot depending on your cab and drivers. I like it with a 410 and a 112 - easy to carry and really full/wide sound.

I've had to do a minor fix to the amp - sometimes the onboard digital fx wouldn't wake up when turning the amp on. I took a look inside and sure enough, the digital FX is a little computer on its own circuit board. Since it's a computer, I figured forcing it to reset (boot) with amp power on might fix the problem. It did. So I mounted a little momentary pushbutton switch on the back panel to force a reset if necessary. minor solder and drill job, and now the amp is 100%. Csn't give a super high rating here but the overall build quality of the amp looks very good. I think it will stand up.

I don't have an authorized service anywhere near me and Kustom did offer to sell me a new daughterboard at a pretty reasonable price.

long time semi-pro player. have used and traded A LOT of gear. this is one of the best solidstate heads I've tried. I keep a marshall mosfet lead 100 for fun and maybe I like this quad because it has a mosfet output stage as well. For those of you like me who are not kids anymore... understand that the real working part of this amp is TINY and can't weigh more than 10 pounds! Kustom, please lose the gigantic, for-photo-appearance-in-a-full-stack particle board box! The box is most of the amp's weight and ridiculously empty inside. The clean channel is so great that even jazz and country players should really like this head. Give the rest of us an ultralight verson! I get a kick out of going to a gig with a good 1x12 and this little 10 pound monster and just RIPPING! Overall, Kustom deserves huge credit for the design and execution of this amp. And if you can find one used, the value is just hilariously great. Winner!!!

Bought in '04.Plenty versatile for anything from Punk,Alternative,Hard and Classic Rock.Plenty of features descriptions in other reviews.I use all the features at one time or another rehearsing and small venues.Plenty of power.Have the matching cab w/Celestions.

I play a '66 Fender Mustang with original pickups,Jagstang w/humbuckers,Squier Strat w/vintage style single coils,and a very old Hondo Flying V with a 70's Dimarzio Super Distortion humbucker.They all sound great through this amp,especially the V with Dimarzio!

This is the reason for this review.The amp has been very reliable but started squealing.See below.

Contrary to some other reviews the customer support guy e-mailed and called me the next day!He hooked me up with a repair location 20 miles from my house and I had the amp back in a week.Best of all they picked up the tab for the repair even though the warranty was expired!That's what I call Customer Service.

I've been playing since the '70s and I love this amp.It would be nice if it had a standard effects loop with 2 jacks instead of one and the effects were more tweakable but I have plenty of stomp boxes.I'd definitely buy it again it's so affordable.

Basically two channels with two preamp voicings per channel, which gives you two distorted, two clean settings. Footswitch not included. Footswitching between clean/distorted, effects on/off. Kustom footswitch isn't the cheapest one around for sure. Digital effects - not tweakable, just level setting. XLR line out - useful. AUX input/no gain control. Effects loop - just one stereo jack for send/return, stupid idea to me. Played many gigs on this thing - it's very, very, very loud. Far more than enough power for instrumental rock played in pubs... It's a hybrid - there's a tube in the preamp section.

Fantastic cleans, no doubt about that. Never played clean at high volumes, 'case this amp is incredibly loud to my playing/band situations.

Distortion - not brutal. Kustom says it's a modern hi-gain. Well, it's not that hot. It's nice. Punch & grind settings. With hot pickups it gets hot and even brutal, with standard ones it's a good, modern, well, hi-gain, rock sound. Sounds tubey on a few settings. It's just okay. Quite quiet.

I use a basswood/rosewood guitar with DiMarzio Fred/Paf Pro. I play instrumental rock. For more gain a tube screamer in front helps, though I've played a long time without any effects - it works fine.

I read somewhere, these models have some common flaws. If the effects don't work, switch it off and on again. It helps. Sometimes it doesn't power on properly and plays quietly at max volume. Switching off, again, and on again helps. Besides that it works okay. Once it stopped playing in the middle of a gig. Swithing off, and on...

I've been playing for 10 years by now. I wouldn't but it again. I love it because of it's look, extraordinary size, power and cleans. I wish it was more reliable and did have a proper effects loop. It's cheap - quite a value, though you can't forgive unreliability. I owned a Behringer GMX212 combo - it was reliable, had more features and sounded fine.

this amp was made in 2006,so as you can see i have had it awhile now and can honestly review it.two channels,effect loop,solid state mosfet mono amp with plenty of power..100 watt,s.wish it had a headphone jack for private playing..that,s why i rated this section a 9.

now channel 2 which they label as rhythm channel is the best clean solid state amp i ever played thru,this is why i purchased this amp.the low,s are tight,the mid,s are there and the high,s are right not pierce.you can play any type of music you want,take,s pedal,s very well...quiet at any volume.now the 1,st channel which they label as lead channel and ball,s more ball,s i just do not care for.i can't seem to get a good grind sound out of this channel,but...that rhythm channel stunning...

i have had this amp for a year now..my son use,s it for his band now sound,s killer with a ds-1 boss and a 4x12 celestion bottom,really sound,s good and i watch his band alot..no problem,s..

never needed to use the cust support...

overall you cannot beat the clean sound,and the pedal use in frount of this amp,i have a 65 showman fender amp i used side by side with this kustom amp,i think it sopund,s that good.....

This amp was made in 2007. I play pretty much hard rock/blues rock and this amp serves those genres well if it works which I will address later.

This amp has a muddy clean sound definitely not like a good fender amp but then again it is an hybrid. The clean channel tends to distort at high volumes but is a pretty much quiet amp. The effects are okay doesn't beat having separate pedals though.

This amp SUCKSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! I bought it brand new and played one show with it last Sunday and after the fourth song of my set the amp BLEW UP AND DIED!!! I called the place where I bought it from and Kustom is going to fix it then I'm gonna sell it for $200 cause I only paid $240 for this piece of junk.

Didn't deal with Kustom but the company I bought this from called Kustom and got back to me within two days.

Do yourself a favor and don't bad this amp!!!! If you pay for junk your gonna get junk.

I bought this amp in 2005, and since I've used all eight built-in digital effects (Hall Reverb, Spring Reverb, Slap Back, Delay, Chorus, Chorus/Reverb, Flange/Reverb, Tremolo) to some level. Generally, I use a multi-effects processor, but even without it I get sweet tones from both channels for all styles. This amp responds incredibly well to all styles of music I can think of, and between the dual 3-Band EQ and the switchable preamp models the amp offers tons of tweakability. This MOSFET solid-state amp holds 2 12-inch Celestion Super 65 speakers and can roar out 100W RMS power. Conveniences include a CD/Tape input, an XLR output, a footswitch, an effects loop, an external speaker output, and a line output.

Champagne tones! On the clean channel, the "Brilliant" preamp model provides tubey-like and clean, shimmering tones. The neutral setting provides a bulkier feel for playing music that's a little 'less soft'. Adding a little Chorus/Reverb enhances the sound incredibly. The gain channel's "UK" setting is my personal preference, as the tone is more complete. The "US" tone is slightly thinner, but these settings can be easily manipulated by the EQ. The Gain control is quite dynamic. Again, tweaking the EQ will create the sound you want. From blues to metal, this amp does it so well. I usually keep a touch of Hall Reverb or Spring Reverb on. Sounds so good!

This amp is so rugged, I have and will continue to gig without the need of a backup. No problems to date, and reading other reviews, I should be in good hands for a while. The good thing is that the amp doesn't need to work so hard to be loud.

This amp is pure quality. I've never played a better amp (this includes an array of everything from Marshall to Mesa Boogie to Hughes & Kettner) because it is built well, sounds awesome, is LOUD, and has a ton of handy features. If it gets stolen (or breaks) I would buy the same model because it fits everything I do perfectly. A real bargain, at almost any price. I would highly recommend buying one.

Just bought in January.
I play lots of styles although my favorite is Fender and Marshall 70's and 80's rock/metal and this amp is perfect for those and of course blues/rock
Great features but the head itself is almost too big when compaired to most cabs, it hangs over about 1 1/2 inches off both sides of my 4x12 cab.

I use a Gibson Les Paul with Burstbucker pros.
not very noisy unless it is turned up real loud, about the same noise as any TUBE amp is.
This amp far exceeded my expectations. I had a Kustom tuck and roll back in the early 80's and remembered it to sound pretty good so I took a chance on this one because I have no way to test the amp as I live in BFE
I started off on the clean channel and immediately it reminds me of a Fender Bassman. It is a wonderful warm or sparkly clean and it even responds very much like a tube amp as far as sounds and dynamics go....very nice, even crunches nicely when strummed hard.
I have read a lot of iffy comments on the lead channel, it seems like everyone says there is not near enough gain.....let me tell you what, this lead channel sounds awesome, it is full, very clear and reminds me of a plexi Marshall with a little Randall/Mesa thrown in. I think most peoples problem with this channel is they do not play through good speakers and do not know how to use an eq properly. It only took me about 2 minutes and I had this channel sounding amazing. At a very low volume this channel is a bit thin but when turned up past 5 which is very loud and a perfect volume for gigging, I have my bass only on 4- mids on 8- treble on 4 and the punch switch on, bigger balls engaged and the balls knob all the way up. It sounds like almost anything you want as far as rock and heavy metal goes ( Judas Priest, Motley Crue, Dokken, Ratt, Poison, Journey, Alice in Chains, STP, Van Halen type of sound.
I can even make this sound like a friends Randall Dimebag Darrel stuff, Just do what all the kids do, turn the mids off, and bass and treble way up. This sounds pretty cool when playing by yourself guys but you really have to have some mids in there if you want to be heard when playing in a band situation... I also new how to play Megadeath and Metallica and Motorhead before some of these reviewers were even born so please don't pluck on an amp in the store for 5 minutes and come here and post a review....you really should be spending some more time practicing playing and learning about eq's and yes, bass players also need to be playing with mids just a different frequency.....The young guys might get mad when they read this but sometimes the truth can hurt and make you a better player/person at the same time.
I also really like the sound of my Mesa Boogie single rectifier amp but I don't crank the bass and drop all the mids.
I also use a Boss sd-1 with not much gain to help on some heavier songs and it sounds great.
Some of the eq knobs are very sensative so take your time....it will be worth it.

It's only been a month and it was made in China so I hope for the best.....If it quits I'll buy another cause they are CHEEEEEP

I have been playing for 20 years and played/owned a ton of high end gear and this amp really surprised me. I play through a 4x12 cab with Celestion g30h speakers with the 50 ounce magnets and will only use these speakers until I hear something better....I personally don't know how the Vintage 30's got to be so popular, I think they have way too much treble and midrange and are capable of hurting your ears.
If your not sure about buying this or a Line 6 thing....just get this, it will make you a better player.

This is a Hybrid-Amp with 100 Watts of Power. I bought it in 2005 and it was also made this year. I mostly play AC/DC and Led Zeppelin @ home but I also play in a Band with HEPUROTAL ( Heavy-Punk-Rock-Metal ) and this Amp suits my Gibson SG Standard very well. It has got 2 Channels with two different Preamps on each Channel: Rhythm (Clean) with Lean and Fat Preamp and Lead (Distorted) with Punch and Grind. There is a XLR Output which serves as a built-in D.I.-Box, a Aux Input for plugging in CD-Players etc. and of Course a Guitar Input, all three are located on the front panel. On the Back Panel there are the Speaker Outputs (8Ohm),a Line Output, an Effects Loop Insert, which is a bit difficult to use because the Tip of the Stereo Connector has to be the Signal Send and Ring the Signal Return. There's also a Footswitch Jack which allows to switch the Channels and to turn on/off the Effects Section. There is NO Headphone Jack, but who is buying a Stack to use it with Headphones. It also has got an 24-Bit Digital Effects Section which offers 8 Different Effects that are sounding good but i am hardly using these, because there is no Possibilty Tap in the Speed only a Level Poti. I use this Amp for practicing as well as for gigging. I use it with the Kustom 4*12 Box which can get HELL LOUD.

I'm using this Amp with a Gibson SG Standard with 496/498 Pickups. I'm playing AC/DC and Led Zeppelin-Style but also ordinary Classic Rock as Well as Punk... In my Opinion it has enough Gain, but if you're playing Metal or other High-Gain-Stuff this Amp is definitely not the best choice as it comes out-of-the-box. But with some Overdrive or Distortion Effect Devices jacked into the Effects Loop it can really be a Sound-Monster! When the Bigger Balls Option is switched off it ain't noisy @ all, with this switched on it's a bit but not really disturbing. A very funny thing i experienced is that I can use it as a Radio when the Guitar is not plugged in and the Volume is really High. I can tune in some kind of an English Radio Station...Quite Funny... The Amp is not really versatile but a Marshall JCM 800 ain't, too. Who cares? If you're playin' Crunchy this Amp has got the balls! The Clean Channel offers a broad variety of shimmering tones and does not distort even @ high volumes, very good for Jazz and/or Rock Ballads. But, like said before, the Distortion is moderate @ best.

This Amp is built like a Tank, I WOULD gig without a backup!!! Never had any problems with it.. Very reliable

Never dealt with them

I've been playin'for five years now, and in cause of the fact that I'm 15 years old, it's the best Stack i could ever dream of ( Ok, except for a Marshall PLexi ). I decided to buy this amp because i need to get a good tone @ low volumes, too and this is sth. a tube can't deliver in most cases.. I like the Distortion which is a bit own, but is definitely very good-sounding... I wish it had a Tap Tempo. I would buy it again if it were stolen. I can really suggest this amp to anyone, who wants to play moderate-distorted Sounds. F***in`Great Amp

I've palyed my Marshall JCM800 with Suod City cabinett for over 20 years. I've have been playing it with some old analog effects fr?n Ibanez, DOD and Electro-Harmonix. They worked well together.
Some years ago I went over to digital pedals, Zoom 2020 and 3000. Them didn't my Marshall like...
...so I bought an used Kustom Quad100 with a 4*12 cabinett. Playing is easier now, digital pedals like my Kustom!
To compare these two amplifiers is unnecessary. The effects Kustom has included are ridicilous. They sound OK but having only "level" as adjustment kills the fun soon. The overdrive section is totally unused by me. But with help of Zoom does Kustom sound GOOD!

Overdrive sounds corny. But the clear channel sounds really good. I like most the thick bottom in the sound.

Works fine. The adjustment aren't noisy (compare with Marshall, even a new one!).
It stands for a shower of beer, I have tested (by accident).

I live nearby Linkoping in Sweden. Is there a support, too?

I'm happy with my Kustom, so happy that my old friend since over 20 years, Marshall, is more or less retired.
Kustom has become the everyday tool for me.

For this price it is loaded. No headphone, but who buys a stack to listen through headphones?

Hard to beleive this thing cranks out some of the coolest metal and rock on the planet for only $250 US. I play mostly metal but classic rock as well. Perfect for both with some slight adjustments.

So far so good. I don't think I'll have a problem with it.

This is where Kustom is lacking. They do not reply to emails regardless of what it is for. I've been emailing them for weeks even from different addresses. I've even emailed them in the past before buying with questions and received NO reply. I only hope the amp doesn't die because there is no authorized repairman anywhere near me. They do have a warranty but what good is it if you can't get the work done?

I would give this amp a 10 except for the piss poor support. I've owned Mesa's, Marshalls, Fenders, Peavey's and a few others. This amp even pulls off tube tones if you know what your doing, but then again I think tube amps suck for the type of sound I'm after.