Kustom Tube 12 Combo

The KING of the under $100 practice amps. The rating is based on PRICE, and not ultimate versatility.

It will work OK for what it is as long as you get the Czech tube in it. The Chinese tube is high gain but crap for anything except raunched out metalhead tones. The speaker WILL fart out when driven hard at low frequency. The Vintage 8 is no longer produced and almost as expensive as what you can get the whole amp for. A Jensen or Eminence Legend 875 is about the only logical speaker upgrade, and only at a discount price. A JJ, E-H, or Ei tube will give very noticeable improvements to the tone over that piece of crap Chinese tube. A 12AY7 type will give better blues distortion through the gain channel, but may be too low gain through the clean channel only. A 5751 is an intermediate gain tube, and a 7025 is a 12AX7 type with less microphonics and hum. I have tried them all, and the JJ, Ei, and E-H (premium Sovtek, aka selected Reflektor) sound as good as the NOS types I have on hand. The heater supply is AC and can cause hum. A 12AT7 JAN Philips type howled like crazy, as that tube requires DC heater supply. As mentioned below, this amp functions as a good preamp tube tester due to its use of a single tube and high gain when the gain channel is engaged. You WILL hear any nasties the tube exhibits, including any AC heater hum. This makes it a valuable and cost effective test instrument for me for selecting preamp tubes for my premium amp without subjecting that amp to possible damage from a bad tube. It would be a good idea to upgrade the op amp chips per another review if this is your purpose and you require fine reproduction of upper harmonics for testing high quality tubes to be used in clean amps. Do NOT buy this amp with the intent of dumping parts in it (other than another tube) for a better quality practice amp, because as another review stated, you would have been better off getting a used Marshall AVT20, Peavey Classic 20, or Roland Blues Cube 30 in excellent condition for the same amount of money. The stock speaker does OK until you drive it too hard. For low level practice, it sounds as good as any of the upgrade speakers. Running it into a separate cabinet is the real trick if you want to play it loud. To me it is just a test instrument for tubes first, and a backup for my Marshall amp second. I have a Vintage 8 speaker in mine, but only because I had one laying around doing nothing.

I would never depend on this thing for gigging or recording, unless I had another one handy. It's cheap and you will have to tighten screws on a regular basis, I would think, if you drive it hard. The particle board and tolex are really cheap.

Never used them

I have much better amps that I actually play through most of the time. This is my preamp tube tester so that I can have a stash of tested preamp tubes available that are actually tested for microphonics and hum under actual playing conditions. I don't buy selected tubes, but just buy a bunch and do my own testing. My tube tester only checks for shorts, opens, heater (cathode) degradation, and gassiness. For microphonics, hum, and gain tests, you need to put them into an actual amp and listen. Get a used B&K tube tester off of eBay for around $50, and you have your own personal tube testing setup for around $150 or less. Power tubes should be tested in the actual amp they will be used in, after you give them an initial check in a tube tester, so it doesn't matter they are not tested by the Tube 12. I NEVER pay for highly tested NOS preamp tubes anymore, as the Tube 12 will find really good tubes among standard production tubes that I get cheap. For instance, Angela Instruments sells Ei ECC83 tubes at 10 for $60, and once you test and select them they are the same tube that others sell for $15 each. Most of the tubes will pass testing. I am able to supply good tested preamp tubes to other musicians, so the Tube 12 is actually paying for itself, and I had a nice old B&K 667 tube tester given to me for free as part of another deal. It only makes a really good practice amp if you use it on the clean channel and use a pedal for any distortion you may need. The built in distortion sounds like simple diode clipping, which is useless for just about anything but heavy metal music. The other three amps I mentioned make much better practice amps if you can afford them, and you probably can. However, this is a decent little amp to start out on if you can't afford anything better. It allows you to get a really decent pedal with the money you save over those other more expensive amps and is loud enough for bedroom practice. I think that an 8 rating is extremely high for such an amp, and only give it in relation to the very low price.

What do you expect in a low rent practice amp?

It is what it is. It is a small heavy metal practice amp on the gain channel, and a country amp on the clean channel. Depending what tube you have in it at the time. A low gain tube turns it more into a bluesy type of distortion.

The cabinet is not very tough. Things get loose rather quickly.

You want customer support? Buy a customer support jock strap.

I beat the crap out of mine. I like the sound it makes when you play the living crap out of it. It rattles, farts, and gives great buzzsaw distortion. It's a punk rocker's practice amp dream come true. When you play the crap out of it, it SOUNDS like you are playing the crap out of it. I love the sound of an amp screaming in distress.

Cheap little pracrice amp with some useful features. No reverb.

The speaker cone was torn, so I got it dirt cheap. That helped me afford to put a Celestion Vintage 8 speaker in it that cost me a lot more than the amp. With the Vintage 8, it doesn't fart out even with bass guitar. I use it a lot for bass practice at fairly low levels as I live in an apartment. For guitar practice, it really screams for it's mall size. The clean channel is fairly good, but the distortion channel is rather rough and seems to be voiced best for heavy metal styles of distortion. It sounds good through a pedal on the clean channel though. Change out the crappy Chinese tube if it came with one. Unless you like buzzy tone like bees in a jar. I put in Electro-Harmonix 12AX7 because they are tough and sound good.

It's about as reliable as any other dirt cheap imported amp, I suppose.

Huh?

This was bought to have something really small for taking over to friends' houses for jam sessions. My overall rating is with a Celestion Vintage 8 speaker. The speaker cost me more than the amp did. I use a Spector Performer 4 bass with alder body, bolt-on maple neck, and passive EMG-SSD pickups. I use a Hohner G3T guitar with active EMG's. Both sound good through this amp. I plan on upgrading the IC chips in the future. I upgraded the tube to an Electro-Harmonix 12AX7 and that made a big difference over the crappy Chinese tube. These amps are not being pushed as hard as they were a year or two ago, so they are often available at great bargain prices. My friend got one in like new condition with a JJ ECC83S tube for $65 in excellent condition. The only problem is that the Celestion Super 8 speaker will fart out when using a bass guitar or detuned metal guitar played loud. You have to change the speaker if you want loud bass without farting. I'll probably get another used one if I can find one cheap enough. If it came with a better speaker it would be a 10 for the price.

OK for what it is, a cheap practice amp. I only buy cheap gear these days, and this is the leader in under $100 amps.

You can't play heavy styles of music without the speaker fartng out. If you play country and pop, you will probably like the clean channel. Throw a Jensen 8" or Eminence legend 875 in the amp and it will rock out. Don't expect an ultra refined boutique tone, but it is much warmer than what you expect in this price range. If you have a spare high quality 8" speaker laying around, then this is a good buy. Otherwise, I would spend a bit more and get a much better Roland Blues Cube 30 that has a 12" speaker. If you want a really small size amp to kick under the coffee table though, then this amp is a winner. It is also small enough to crank up full blast and slide it on its back under your bed for a cranked tone without disturbing the neighbors too much. There is also the headphone jack that allows late night practice. The distortion channel is a bit rough like most people here mention. If you keep the distortion light and use a lower gain tube like a 12AY7 or 5751, then it isn't so bad. The one distortion it does really well is metal type buzzsaw distortion when a crappy high gain Chinese 12AX7 is used. If that is your style, this is your practice amp. I play mostly through cheap Asian guitars, and this is a really good amp for those types of guitars.

Don't trust anything this cheap too much. Buy two if you actually depend on it for gigging and recording.

Unless you are really poor, a Roland Blues Cube 30 or Marshall AVT20 is a much better practice amp if you can tolerate the extra size, weight, cost, and volume. You can get seriously heavy with those two amps without the speaker farting out. By the time you add the necessary tube, speaker and parts upgrade to get it sounding like either of those amps, you will have paid about as much as one of those and still not sound as good. It's a great buy at the price, but it is NOT a great amp. I don't pay over $300 for amps or guitars these days, and I've heard a lot of the cheapies. Nothing better for $80. Just remember that I am a connoisseur of low line gear. It's really great for a lightweight cheap rig for taking to your friend's house for jam sessions, and thus protecting your better amp. Works great with a $180 Oscar Schmidt OE30 (Gibson ES-335 copy) for playing country, blues, and blues rock. Musician's Friend has the Oscar Schmidts back in stock, and they are my kind of guitar......dirt cheap but still good playing and good looking. You can get a NEW guitar/amp combo for around $250 that is good enough for gigging a small club or serious student practice.

It now no longer has a gain stage. I'm pretty sure everything else is still working...

I finally got hold of the service manual for this baby and it tells you a few interesting things about this amp. As has been mentioned further down the page this isn't a full tube preamp - there is an opamp both before and after the tube stages. Also part of the reason the gain channel sounds so fuzzy and solid-state sounding is that the distortion is exactly that. It's a diode-clipping stage that actually in part bypasses the first tube stage. If you're looking for a overdriven sound out of this amp - this isn't the amp for you. Also no expensive tube is probably going to change much the sound of the distortion. Perhaps you could change the diodes and get a better sound - I don't know enough about that sort of thing to say.
However as mentioned below - you probably didn't buy this amp for the distortion. The clean channel is the true gem of this amp, and after a few simple modifications I'm much happy with the clean tone. With the advice of one of the other reviewers I removed the first half of the opamp and the distortion section so that the guitar now runs direct into the tube. The increase in warmth in the sound of this amp is audible even with the cheap stock tube that came with it. The other reviewer removed the opamp preamp section entirely - but I think this was a more complicated job than the one I did which just involved desoldering a bunch of components and directly linking the input jack through an appropriate resistor to the input pin of the tube. After making the mods I easily rate the clean channel on this amp a 9.

With very little skill I've taken bits out, rewired bits, and even added bits. I've already taken the valve out probably 20 times without any trouble with the socket. I still haven't got around to fixing the buzzing but it's still going. However I don't usually take it much past half volume so I can't comment on the build of the cabinet - no problems so far though.

I finally got a reply from Kustom when I asked for the service manual. Except they sent me the user manual. I had actually got the service manual a day earlier off a fellow owner of this amp. I guess at least they replied this time...

It's a 12 watt practice amp with the cheapest Celestion 8" speaker and an ECC83S tube in the preamp section. The headphone jack is nice and it has a funky retro look. If you need reverb and tremolo, this is not your practice amp unless you add an effects unit. If you're a beginner (even a grown one) on a tight budget, this would be a great first amp.

The clean is OK if you lay off the bass on the tone controls. The speaker has a warm sound, HOWEVER, it does not play loudly in the bass without farting out. The clean tone is warm without the sterility normally associated with cheap solid state. For that alone, it is well worth the price. The gain channel gives a limited range of distortion. It is preamp distortion and sort of buzzy sounding as you would expect. Could be useful when added to the sounds you get from an effects unit. If you want really good overdriven tones, you MUST use an effects unit. I would use one of the smaller SansAmp units, like a Tri-O.D. or Tri-A.C or Bass Driver DI. I already had an RBI I use for bass, and it sounds great, but at $300 it is too much for this thing. Celestion Vintage 8 speakers are no longer produced, and at $60-$80 were too expensive for this cheap little amp. I went with an Eminence Legend 875 for the warm tone and ability to go low without farting out. At $40 it is a way better deal than the Vintage 8. The amp + speaker set me back $120 plus a bit of shipping. There is some hum when the gain is used, but I use the clean channel mostly and get extra gain from my effects unit. A Korg AX-1G complements this amp nicely if you need lots of effects at a cheap price, but for just getting overdriven tube tones a SansAmp unit works better. If you play at low to mid volumes, there is really no need to change out the speaker. I would get something like a SansAmp Tri-O.D. pedal first if my funds were limited. You can get a good used one on eBay for the price of the amp, and you will be out half the price of a Marshall AVT20 with about the same range of tone available, minus the reverb and extra volume that 20 watts and a 10" speaker gives you. The Tube 12 really sounds good for the price, but it is a practice amp. Sounds good in your bedroom or small studio, but it does NOT have the volume for doing gigs unless it was some kind of quiet coffee house setting. It's a little amp for little rooms, PERIOD. There is a need for amps like that, and it's cheap as well.

I would not depend on this thing too heavily. It is OK as far as cheap practice amps go, but the particle board used in the cabinet is very weak and crumbly. The tolex covering is quite thin compared to better quality amps. I installed thru-bolts on the baffle board, per an earlier review. The short wood screws supplied easily strip when you try to tighten the baffle board down to prevent rattling. Just head for the hardware ware store and do it; black bolt heads will not show much against the black grill cloth and chrome bolt heads would give a funky industrial look. TIGHTEN THOSE SCREWS! This is the cause of most of those rattles noted in previous reviews. It ain't a Roland Blues Cube 30. If you need lots of reliability, LOOK ELSEWHERE. It's the most tone for the least scratch, and nothing more. If it stays in your bedroom or under your coffee table, it should work just fine. It's small size and light weight makes it easy to get in and out of the closet. You can easily set in on a top shelf out of the way, like I do. I think it would be great for somebody looking for a cheap travel amp for their camper or RV. No big deal if it gets trashed or stolen.

I seriously doubt that you would be sending something this cheap back and forth between the manufacturer. If you intend on paying a technician to fix your amps, buy something better. I suppose Kustom would replace the amp if it failed. Don't expect much after the warranty expires. I'll never return mine outside of warranty, so it's basically a "throw away" if I can't fix it myself.

I paid $120 not counting postage. That includes a better speaker. You can get used Marshall AVT20 amps in mint condition on eBay for less than $200 if you are patient. It sounds as good as the Tube 12 with the speaker upgrade and a SansAmp pedal added. Either way you spend about $200 and get a solid state practice amp with a tube preamp section. The AVT20 gives you a reverb and better bass, the Tube 12/speaker upgrade/SansAmp pedal route gives you a separate pedal you can use on other amps. If you are into overdriven tones and need the extra volume and don't mind lugging the extra weight, go with a used Marshall AVT20. If you need basically a clean tone and only plan on using it in a home type setting, then at only $80 this basically gets you as good a tone as the AVT20 played clean. Still, I would buy the AVT20 if I had $200 to blow, which I did. The AVT20 simply wipes it out as far as overdriven tones go (hey, it's a Marshall, what did you expect?), unless you spend an equivalent amount of money upgrading it with a better speaker and an overdrive pedal (but you would have the pedal for better amps later on. Decisions, decisions!). For the price you pay, the clean rates a 10 (at sane practice volumes) and the distortion rates a 6 at best. I'm rounding it out to an 8, which at $80 is still a very high rating. I only use this amp for traveling and where not risking my AVT20 or expensive 40 watt tube combo is the issue. If you only have $80 to spend, look no further. If you have more to spend, I would look elsewhere unless, like me, you need a cheap "throw away" amp for traveling and taking into harms way.

Bought new in 2003. It's the model with the tweed grill cloth and the line out/speaker out. I won't bother with the features - everyone else has already listed them. Spring reverb would be nice, but even more than that I'd like the gain to work on the clean setting so I could actually get a subtle overdrive...

I've tried this with a bunch of guitars but 99% of the time I run my unknown brand Les Paul copy into this - though it has two of the hottest humbuckers I have ever used. The Kustom sounds alright - the clean is probably the best feature, though after replacing the stock tube with a JJ ECC83s the distortion sounds better, I'd like to think the clean sounds better too but that's maybe cos I spent NZ$40 on the valve alone... It's still kind of more fuzzy than overdriven though. Sadly I have yet to get this amp to do what I really want - which is a really mild overdrive. It will do sparkling clean, and ultra fuzzy, just don't count on getting anything close to just breaking up out of it.
I even followed some of the advice further down the page and found myself an old Matsushita ECC82 valve to get the mild overdrive I'm after. I'm not sure these guys noticed but you actually get a pretty similar level of distortion. Correct me if I'm wrong but 20% gain just means you're getting 1/5 the output of the tube, not 1/5 the distortion when you push it just as hard.
Because of my super hot pickusp I now run a Boss LMB-3 (yes it's a bass guitar pedal) so that when I turn it on it cuts the volume to the amp - I use this as my 'cleaner' sound. By switching the pedal off the volume returns to normal and the level of distortion increases. It's partway to the sound I want...Still this is only a practice amp. Buy it for the clean channel, not the 'overdrive'.

After two weeks it started buzzing and humming away. Tightened the screws on the transformer and that got rid of some of the buzzing. Going to try moving it to the bottom of the box at some point to try and further cut the humming. Not really impressed - my other practice amp which I've owned for nearly the last 10 years is as quiet a runner as they come...

Emailed the company with a few questions after having owned it for a few days. That was about a month ago now and I still haven't received a reply.

Been playing guitar on and off for the last 8 or 9 years, though I'm still not really getting any better. I've owned a 1970s Jansen 50 watt tube amp which I should not have got rid of, and a bunch of solid state rubbish amps. Got effects pedals coming out my ears, though I've only just come to realise that the only pedal I really need is a volume booster sitting in front of a tube amp pushed to the edge.
I love the look of this amp and even in New Zealand for the price can't be beat new. This isn't a match for the Jansen (or virtually any other tube amp I've played through) in sound, but it sounds better than any other solid state amp the same, and definitely better than any amp new for this price. Rember though - just because it has Tube in the title, and one preamp tube inside, doesn't mean it is going to sound like a full tube amp.

All listed before, there is confusion however on the line out and speaker out features, Kustoms web site and online manual shows these features. I ordered mine from musicians friend in July 2003 and got one without any line or speaker out. Called musicians friend and they were clueless about the missing features on my amp, to be fair their web site listed the features and it did not have the line and speaker out listed and they offered a refund/exchange so I?m gonna have to dig Kustom for this confusion

I expected the sound of an $80 practice amp and that?s what I got. Cleans ok, heavy gain channel is nothing that I will be able to use either, didn?t respond well to playing dynamics etc.. think the tubes a whole lot of hype. (I like hard sounds similar to heavy VH distortion, SRV & Hendrix-ish gain, and clean with a bit of rough low dirt distortion. I played it with an SG Special and Carvin SC90). But it seems well made and gets very loud. I?m going to keep it and use it for my portable ?rack mount? system, basically a sans-amp psa 1, boss vf-1 and the amp, the amp will replace lugging around the mesa 20/20 power amp (tube, I think this is where tubes make the most difference, at least for me) and heavy speaker cabs. So I love what it does for me, reproduces my rack setup sounds very accurately at low volumes, is light weight and can crank very very loud. On it?s own though as a tone generator I would give it a low rating.

Don?t know yet, the ?powered by celestian? sticker fell off right way.

haven't delt w/ them yet

For using it as my portable poweramp and speaker cab practice box this is a great little amp. I really like it so far and would give it a 10 for this. But for tone generation which is average and the confusion over the missing line out and speaker out features I have to lower it.

Not alot of features but very adequate. mine does not have the line out speaker feature which blows. I have a system worked out to wire the amp to different speakers through 1/4 inch jacks. All other features mention in reviews below.

The clean is my fav. channel. The distortion/gain is not the greatest. I have an old Marshall Gov. dist box that really compliments this amp well. I also use a J-station and the Tube 12 sounds great through the J-station. The tube really adds dynamic tone and sound quality over many solid state amps I've heard or owned. The celestion really can't handle high volumes or a really low end with out major vibration and sound problems. I wired my Tube 12 to a 12 inch no name speaker, and it sounded 10 times better. running through the bigger speaker, it handled the lows and volume a whole lot better than the Celestion in that little crappy cabinet. I plugged my bass into the tube 12 and wow,when running through the 12 in. speaker it sounded superb. Nice tight bass sound with a very nice punch, I was very pleased. With the sound diverted out of the tube 12 cabinet and inro am another, the hum and vibrations stop.
I did also replace the stock pretube with a Sovtek 12AX7LP. I did notice a difference between the two. I like the Sovtek better.
One more thing, I hit the mid shift and it is only a fraction of a difference in sound. With both tubes neither of which showed much difference in the mid shift button. Is that normal?? E-mail me with any info about the mid shift, I know what mid shift is suppose to do, butt the amp doesn't seem to respond.

No problems so far other than possibly the mid shift button does not work.

Haven't dealt with them yet butt may about my mid shift button concern.

Great amp, great price. I've been looking around for a hybrid for a long time. I wanted an amp that had tube tonal qualities without having to turn it up to high volume levels to get a good sound like all tube amps. this Tube 12 is perfect. I was looking hard at the Marshall ATV's witch sound great,butt not worth all the dough they are. I've been playing for 22 years and this is a super great amp for home practice and recording purposes.

Has exactly everything I need, which is not much - I admitt. I wanted practice amp with the smooth and warm sound, and without a bunch of half-worthless DSP effects. Has a (half?) tube preamp, with 4558 op amp which I replaced immediatelly with AD OP249 (National LM6172 would be even better), and 12AX7 double triode. LM1875 integrated power amp at the output, rated at 30 watts at 60V Vcc and 8ohm load. With 40V power supply (non-symmetrical), it's rated to be around 17 watts according to National's datasheet (I wonder why is this amp rated as 12W?). Celestion Red 15W/8ohm speaker. Metal caps for pots, nice overall looks.

I am using Ibanez RG270, but I am not doing metal. I play clean sounds mostly, blues, pop, rock. Amp used to rattle and hum at first, but while messing around it and after moving the transformer to the bottom of the box, it's now silent like a grave. Lots of different sounds, clean, warm and cozy. Distortion is nothing to write home about, but I don't think it could be easily beaten by budget pedals like zoom 505 II.

Seems pretty reliable, too early to tell. From the glimpse at the inside, not much can go wrong there. So I would say 10.

Excellent! I sent them an e-mail asking for Service Manual and got it within 24 hours! Now I can really tweak this little buddy!

Amazing practice amp, closest to tube sound you can get under 250 bucks. Very light, nice looking and sounding.