Kustom Tube 12 Combo

First of all a little background story. I was buying myself a practice amp , a little one for home use , and this Kustom came across my path , i did my research , kinda knew what i wanted so it was this or a couple of others like marshal , laney and so on. So,too cut the story short i didn't get this amp for myself i bought it for my cousin who was just starting to play.

I bought IT and an ordinary Zoom II pedal and some Behringer Eq all for 100 bucks. Now, read on . On its own 8 with a ordinary Zoom pedal 10 ( no need for EQ but it was only 15 $) , so lets say a solid 9.

So we got IT home , set it up. First i drove it through my cousins Washburn with emg 81 / 85 , *****ing LITTLE (maybe little but don't sound like it ) thing was amazing , growled like a big boy volume at 1/3 , so i said ok volume at 1/3 anything sounds good then I crancked it up and IT stills sounds *****ing amazing. So with emg 81/85 through a Zoom I'd give it yet again a solid 9.

Then i drove it trough my Washburn with Duncan's '59 and Custom Custom ,Zoom also, and the LITTLE thingy song with joy and kept saying play me , sounds even better with Duncan's . If you want clean you got it if you want gain you got it , what ever you want you got with this LITTLE amp.

Had it for some time no problems . Sometimes i play 5 hours straight and IT doesn't get warm or squeak or anything . IT just sits there and does what IT knows best .

Bought it used.

Overall , amazing LITTLE amp , wont disappoint you no matter what you play if you buy just an ordinary pedal nothing fancy or expensive
, combined, all the sound you want and LOUD LITTLE (when you want it to be ) bastard it is , i adore it and trying to convince my cousin to sell it to me , i'd buy him anything else in that price range for it.

If somebody stole it i'd hunt him down and beat him with what ever is at hand and then beat him some more just for making me hunt him and i would hunt him no question .

If you need small amp to practice you can't go wrong with this one .

One-channel with 2-stage gain minicombo (really mini, especially for it's 12W output). 2007 year of production. Only four knobs (gain, bass, treble, volume) and 3 switches (power on/off, gain circuit on/off, mid boost on/off). Communications include input, phone output, line output, external speaker output. Lovely simple. 8" Celestion Super-8 loudspeaker. 1-valve (12ax7 type) preamp stage (gain switch activates the solid-state booster before valve to overdrive it? as I understand). Solid-state (with discrete scheme) power amp. Compact (but, unfortunately, cheap and boomy) cabinet.

Incredibly nice clean sound (as for paid price and taking in account, that it's just a simple chineese gibrid practice combo for home use only). Overdrive is adjustable with gain knob, when the gain switch is "on". Not the best overdrive in the world, but can be improved with the valve replacing (i've just replaced crappy chineese tube with old-stock ECC 803, and as the result is the much clearer, louder tone with good-sounding bass as well). Also overdrive sub-channel was noisy at high gain settings (and near powerful electrical equipment), but I've discovered, that the rear panel of amp isn't electrically shielded, so I've done it by myself with a significant decrease of noise level. Also I've damped the combo from inside with a layer of soft material to decrease "boomyness" of a thin-wall cabinet. So now it sounds much better - I suppose, this is only tube combo with such a serious sound in the world, that anyone can by for price of a cheap "for-novices-only" crap.
BTW, gain sub-channel is some balanced in a volume with clean sub-channel (it means, that volume of "clean" is equal to 15% of "overdrive" with a different tonal palete). So it could be used as 2-channel combo (and plus mid-boost for soloing), but there no foot switch option for it.
I'm using it with my Fender SE Mahogany Strat at home, and it gives nice clean and soft cranchy overdrive with the passive pickups, and nice lead hard-rock sounds with the EMG 81. But, to be objective, for really nice distorted sounds I use my tube stomp-box in front of this combo. It may sound incredibly, but, mixing the distortion of stompbox with light overdrive of combo, I've made very realistic sound of big high-gain amp in a such a small box. So, in this metter combo is very versatile. OK, there is still some lack of bass, but this 8" speaker just unable to give more. Anyway, this combo has sound of a real tube amp.

Of course, I'd never use it on stage instead of big (100W for example) full-tube amp with an adequate cabinet (4*12" for example). but this thing could save me in some situations (when there no guitar combo for me at all), also it could serve as warm-up combo or additional stage guitar monitor.

I don't know.

I've plaing for 15 years, using only amplification effects such as above-mentioned stompbox. I prefere to use big tube amps on stage. But there's no use for 100W stack at home, so this Kustom is a real steal for me (indeed, I cranked it up to max volume only several times - it's really as loud as Frontman 15). Also I can easily take it to anywere I want due to it's little dimentions and weight.
If it were stolen or lost - I would by just anothe one Kustom tube 12A and tune it as I've discribed above. In a couple of words: it sounds three-four times more expensive than costs. Good reason to re-buy another one, isn't it?

Bought it new for practice and studio (believe it or not!) work. See previous reviews for "the features".
Also see the discussion regarding the little 8" speaker. In my opinion, the 8" speaker in this amp is remarkable compared to the other amps with 8" speakers I've played through and/or owned, but the REAL surprise has not been discussed here yet.
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And that surprise is this: While I was demo-ing this little guy the shop owner ran it through a new 4x12 cabinet. HOLY CRAP! 12 watts! I could easily play club dates at the decibel level he was getting, no kidding. Lucky for me I have an old Randall RG80 extension cab with a 75 watt Celestion in it. You owe it to yourself to run this amp through an extension cabinet.
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Previous reviewers gave low marks because it doesn't have channel switching or reverb. I'm giving this amp a 9 because it is what it is. The features it DOES have work well. Now, if it did have reverb, but a crappy reverb, I'd mark it down for that, sure.

I have not fiddled with changing the 12AX7A yet because I think it sounds fine. I'm sure I'll experiment at some point because I have a bunch of tubes laying around.
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The clean sound is quite nice, not brittle at all. The distortion sound needs a lot of attention to get it sounding acceptable, but truthfully, it reminds me of solid state Marshalls. Not great, but generally sufficient for hard rock. I like to set the volume and gain so I can clean it up by rolling off the guitar volume and lauch into a grinding lead but turning up. It does this well. Mind you, this is just my practice amp.
I think it desrves at least an 8.

Don't know. It's brand new.

No idea.

This is my 45th year on stage. You can just imagine how many different amps and guitars I've owned. I play lead, mostly rock.
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If it turned up missing I'd get another one.
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Now I'm going to preach a little:
Folks that brag about being tone freaks crack me up. When they talk about "blackface tone" and things like that is when they confirm that they really don't have the slightest idea what they're talking about. They insist that the only amps that get "real tone" are all-tube. Bullcrap! I have made at least a dozen good solid state amps sound good with careful tweaking and the right accessories. I have played solid state amps for years on end that sounded just devine, and, conversely, several tube amps (most of them Fenders) that sounded rough and lifeless, like what most people think of when they think about solid state. There is no substitute for real experience.
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Right now my stage rig is a Line 6 Flextone III 1x12 Plus running via XLR to the consol, a 71 LP Deluxe Gold top, and a Line 6 Variax 500. I have tweaked the amp for at least 10 hours and about five hours of modelling the Variax. It takes that kind of time. I have other gear, but this is what goes on dates. I gave up on tube amps (the last was a Mesa) last spring and don't regret it one bit. I'll put my rig up against anybody's.
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All that to say what I love about this Kustom amp: This amp is a very honest little guy. It only claims to be a small hot rod.....no reverb, no channel switching, and it is definitely a little hot rod. For $100 new, I don't see how it can be beat!
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I wish the baffle board was better attached to the cabinet. I can fix that.
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I was sold on this amp by the demo. The tones are better than my current practice amp (Line 6 Spider II 75). The Kustom will be it's replacement. I highly recommend this amp to anyone looking for a truly portable, toneful, and loud little amp. Our other guitar player (a real GOOD player too) likes to bring his 1982 Super Champ to band dates, and it really howls! This little Kustom amp makes me think of it......and that's a pretty good recomendation.

There are already 61 reviews of this amp so I just want to add a few comments. I got it mainly as a practise amp. I changed the crappy 12AX7 with a GT 12AX7M (their Mullard reissue) which was a big improvement. I then put in an Eminence Beta-8A bass speaker (rated at 225 watts!) and I've been bringing it to small gigs where it hangs with the band just fine. I never use the boosted channel, but will goose the signal up with a stomp box for some of my solos. I find it to be more versatile than the Epiphone Valve Junior, which is a nice little amp, too.

I've mainly been using humbuckers, minihuckers and P-90's and it gets a good sound with all of them- in the Clean channel, which is all that I use. Being mostly solid state it is fairly quiet. And the Clean channel stays clean even when dimed.

It has taken a kickin' and kept on tickin'

I have no idea what kind of customer service Kustom provides. They have been around a long time (or at least the name has) so they must be doing something right...

The only reason I'm adding my review here is to mention the Eminence Beta-8A speaker. I play a mix of blues, soul and some rock so having a full bottom end is very important to me. Someone more into rock might prefer a nice Celestion speaker. And Weber's usually have a great sound although I don't think that the bass response would compare to the Beta-8A (which sells for about $55 over at MF).

I'm giving it an overall rating of 8 because for what it is and what it does, it is really great. And I would definitely replace it if my dog ate it.

Well, as we all know, this little guy has only one 12AX7 tube, in the clean channel preamp, and the rest is all solid-state. So, basically the clean channel is a hybrid, and the dirt channel is solid-state diode clipping. Did this stop me from purchasing it? Nah. After spotting the Tube 12 in a pawn shop amongst a bunch of other little amps (primarily the TransTube Peavey stuff), I read all the reviews here on the Tube 12, went back to the store and tried it out. I was actually a bit surprised by the clean tone, and walked out with it for 40 bucks.

Originally I thought that this might make a nice little home practice amp and be another amp to bring to studio dates, since I still don't (sob) have a Valve Junior. I played with it at home first, and I do agree with many other reviewers that the clean tone is very good, notes sing wonderfully at loud volumes with the tube nice and warm. I also agree that the dirty tone is lacking; in fact it is not that great at all. I was able to dial in a decent sound for practicing at home, but certainly no distortion tone I would use live or in the studio. I got a wild hair and brought it to a gig to use in conjunction with my '65 Bandmaster and I was pleasantly surprised at how good the little bugger sounded with my live pedals and effects going through it. Definately couldn't be used on it's own live, but it did sound very, very good. Gotta give the little Celestion Super 8 some credit, it didn't fart out and, while a bit boxy (duh-it's an 8" speaker in a tiny cabinet!), it gave out very good guitar tone. I kind of regretted not bringing the little sucker with me to a studio date the previous day after hearing it live with my effects. Running good dirt pedals throught the clean channel at a loud volume sounds quite good. It may be a little beginner practice amp, but the clean channel shines.

I got it for 40 bucks, I think it can take what I can give.

I've been playing almost 25 years now, been gigging a long time. I play mainly strats through my Bandmaster and a 4-10 Peavey cab with some effects. I've had some little practice amps before, and I am fairly impressed with the Tube 12. No, it's not a '60's Champ. Heck, it's not even a Valve Junior, but I like it. Certainly not an amp to give a 10 to, as it has it's limitations and the dirt channel sounds are pretty uglynastygrossickypoopy for the most part, but after blasting it live in the clean channel with a Bad Monkey and occasionally an old Shredmaster, at the same time as my Bandmaster, I was shaking my head, grabbing musicians on break going, "Hey, you have to hear this little bastard, come here!" "BRANNNNGGG!!!" Yep, crank up the clean channel, hit it hard with a good overdrive or distortion pedal and this thing is more than just acceptable.

Not too much to speak of. I really can't tell you what the 'SHIFT' switch does..but who cares the amp sounds great without it. It would be close to the perfect little practice amp if it had a reverb tank on ot, and 2 foot-switchable channels. But hey it is a bedroom blaster!!!

I use a Epi Les Paul Standard, Fender Strat H/S/S(Dimarzio Tone Zone, and Duncan Stacks for SC's), Fender Tele (Lil' 59 / 1/4 Pounder) and a few others...but that is besides the point. It is a nice sounding little practice amp. I did swap out the tube for a JJ/Tesla ECC 803S and that made a WORLD of difference, nice warm PHAT tone. I tried the JJ/Tesla ECC83S and it sucked (might have got a bad tube or something). But the 803 ROCKS...can't recommend this combo enough. The amp is easy to swap the tube out in 4 screws and your done (UNPLUG IT FIRST!!!) Kind of want to try a Tung-Sol in it. ANYWAYS for what this amp is meant for it sounds amazing!! I haven't tried it lined out or anything fancy like that, I have a Marshall AVT50 and a 66 Super Reverb (the real thing baby) for shaking my eardrums into sonic orgasms. This thing sits in my living room for me to noodle on while I watch TV. But it does that very well.

Good so far...like I said I have other amps I jam and gig with...but you know this thing does have some decent headroom...I might take it along one night, just to see if it can keep up with the whole crew...it would be close...definitly wouldn't gig with it though.

Never used it....

For a little practice amp at this price I would give it a 9, only because my brother has a VOX AD30VT, a little bigger and more expensive, but a nicer amp...I would like to try the VOX AD15VT...more "bells and whistles", but twice the price...This little Kustom is definitly allright. Makes me want to try out some of their bigger amps. I think amp manufacturers should put a little more time and R&D into their little practice amps...having a good small beginner amp will lead to brand loyalty. My first amp was a little Peavey (can't even remeber what kind), I hated it and have never owned one since, never even tried one. My first "real" amp was my 66 Fender Super Reverb (had it for over 20 years now...still going STRONG) but I have tried countless little fender amps and think they have all sucked (although the little G-Dec has intrigued me). Same with low watt Marshall's. Come on boys do a little R&D this is a HUGE market...under $200 tube pre-amp, real reverb tank, 2 channels (footswitchable), external speaker jack, maybe some effects...is that too much to ask for???

Bought this amp new last year to supplement my other amps (newer Traynor YCV40, 1964 Gibson Falcon) as a quiet home practice amp. I use the headphone out into an Alesis mixer for home studio playing/recording.

Good features for the price. OK sounds. Even though it's got a 12AX7 in the preamp section, make no mistake, this is a solid state amp. Not a bad one - IMO, better than other SS Traynors and Fenders I have owned over the years.

I wish it had built-in reverb.

I'm playing: a Fender Strat (3xsinglecoil), an Epiphone Les Paul '56 Goldtop RI (2xP90's), a Fender Deluxe Active Jazz Bass. I play classic rock and blues mostly with a bit of funk and R&B in there...

My guitar signal chain is guitar > Boss TU-2 tuner > Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive > Voodoo Labs Microvibe > Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man > amp. Bass > TU-2 > amp.

Stock with no effects in front, the Tube 12 sounds sterile and weak on either the clean or dirty channels, 12AX7 preamp tube or not. What do you want with a small solid state box and an 8" speaker? It can get loud, but that's when I killed the speaker.

Decent clean sound with my Sparkle Drive (using clean boost), but not what I'd call tube warm. I have been running the headphone out into my Alesis mixer to "warmify" the sound and to add reverb using the headphone out of the mixer. I have plugged this baby into a crappy old 1x15 bass cab that I have sitting around and can get a rich Marshall-like gainy sound with the gain channel kicked in. Nice. I could probably bring this amp, cab and effects setup to a gig and sound not too bad. But why? I've got a nice portable 40W combo to do that...

Here's a crazy thing: I plugged my BASS into this thing and sent it through the 1x15 cab via the speaker out (bypassing the internal speaker) Not only did I get a nice warm, thick "vintagy" bass tone, it got loud. LOUD, I say! I brought this setup to band practice and, believe it or not, it was powerful enough to hang with a loud blues/rock band playing at volume. I have half a mind to bring this to a gig and see how it works out. It's probably a function of the active electronics on my bass, but wow!

I'm giving this a 6 based on the fact that this is a budget practice combo amp and what do you really expect....except, it absolutely NEEDS a better speaker/cab setup to really rock. And rock it does - for guitar OR bass. Who'da thunk?

I blew the speaker in less than a week. But since I mostly play it via the headphone or speaker out, no loss. It's dead simple to find and install another beter quality speaker, if I really wanted to.

Otherwise, it seems pretty indestructible...

Never bothered to call....

Been playing 25 years as a hobby. Gigged my fair share over the years in rock, blues and rockabilly bands as a guitarist and bassist. Owned a crapload of gear over the years, lots of it cheap and crappy. Finally have some decent gig-worthy gear yet not overstating my level of talent.

I have thought of just outright replacing this with a little Marshall practice combo, but I've got it working the way I want it right now, so not necessary. I am really intrigued by this bass thing - why is it so loud and decent sounding??

I still wish it had reverb.

No need to get into all the specs here, see other reviews. Mine is a 2002 model with no line out or external speaker jacks. It would have been nice to have them, but I agree with others that adding a reverb unit to this amp would not make much sense. The tone controls are sensitive. I rarely use the midrange button for either clean or overdriven sounds, but it is nice to have when a particular guitar needs a little mid-boost.

I bought this amp 3 1/2 years ago just to have a decent practice amp. I do mostly recording and was using a POD at the time. Around the same time I also bought an Orange Crush 15R for a bandmate. I A/B'd them and the Kustom had a much warmer sound although the Orange's reverb did not sound too bad. I used it off and on mostly for practicing by myself. About a year ago I purchased a Kustom WAV 212 amp for gigging (also a very good and underrated amp!) but found that it was bit too loud for recording and I had begun to do a lot more amp miking in my studio. So I pulled out the Tube 12 to use in that application and found that it was sounding pretty noisy. Only recently I decided to do some mods to improve the amp. I had no idea so many others were doing so and it is quite a kick to read all these reviews. I find it interesting that so many reviewers want to compare it to the Marshall AVT20 (not a great sounding amp anyway IMHO) or a Blues Jr. The Tube 12 is a $100 practice amp after all. I knew the noise was probably due to the tube and went about replacing it. The tube in my amp had no print on it so I assume it was the crappy high gain Chinese tube and not the Ruby. I never was very impressed with the Gain mode but always loved the clean sound of this amp. I have a friend who is heavily into NOS tubes and he is going to send me some of his picks to try. But I wanted to get some new production tubes and I ended up with two Russian tubes, the Tung-Sol 12AX7 and the Svetlana 12AX7SP (supposed to be ultra low noise). I broke both of them in a little and found that the Svetlana had a slightly more interesting clean tone but the Tung-Sol had a much smoother overdrive tone, still with a much-improved sound on the clean setting. I settled on the Tung-Sol for now. But they are both very nice sounding. I always felt that the stock Celestion sounded decent but did break up early with higher volume and bassy tones. So I set about looking for a replacement speaker even though I knew it would probably not make a huge difference. I looked at the new Jensen MOD and the Eminence Legend 875, both of which seemed like decent speakers. But I had heard so many great things about Weber speakers that I went to their website and saw that they make many models of 8? speakers. In fact it was a little overwhelming to have so many choices so I emailed them and received a response the same day from Ted Weber who recommended the Signature Series Alnico 8 ?S?. I could have gone with one of the Vintage series speakers but I was concerned that the depth of the magnet would not fit properly or might be too tight a fit against the electronics chassis of the amp. I could have also gone with the Signature Ceramic speaker but I?m happy I chose the Alnico. It was on sale for $25 (+$12 s/h), which is a damn good deal for such a high quality product. The results are a more open sound and the ability to handle louder bass. It sounds warm and full and the clean tones are way beyond what you would expect from this amp. The overdriven sounds with the Tung-Sol tube are tight and rich in harmonics. I am able to get some pretty fair mild OD tones from rolling off the guitar volume. I should point out that this speaker needs about 4 or 5 hours of break-in to get the best sound, don?t judge it right away. My Tube 12 sounds excellent with effects pedals, and I use tons of them. Unfortunately my Electro Harmonics Holy Grail Reverb pedal, which should be a great accessory for this amp, sounds a little noisy for my tastes. There may be some other reverb pedals that are quieter, but I?m not about to dump $300 on something like a Van Amps Reverbmate unless I had other applications for it. This has not been a problem for me though because since I am using this amp for recording I am able to add some nice post-reverb to my tracks using my rackmount TC Electronics unit.

Compared to some of the other reviewers here (some of whom I?m wondering if they?re comparing this to a Bad Cat Mini!) I think the build quality is fine. Perhaps I got a good one, but my unit never had any noticeable rattles or loose screws, etc. As a budget, Chinese made PRACTICE amp this is decent quality for sure. I did tighten all the screws just as a matter of practice. When removing the baffle to mount the speaker, I decided to simply replace the existing baffle screws with a slightly wider #8 ?? wood screw and carefully tightened them by hand. I?m sure you could strip the originals in the particleboard if you aren?t careful. But I was able to get a very tight fit with no rattles whatsoever. Worst case scenario I think the idea of drilling through and bolting the baffle to the frame is ok, but I had no need to do this. I also used some electrical tape to secure the tube cover just as a precaution as per the other reviewers? suggestions. My amp is now tight as a drum and there are no rattles of any kind. Also, the new tube and improved speaker seem to have solved all the noise problems. The amp is dead quiet on the clean settings, even at high volumes and the Gain mode is only marginally noisy at high levels, obviously better with humbuckers than single coils.

Only contacted them once regarding my other Kustom amp (WAV 212)and they responded in a reasonable time frame.

I have been playing for 20+ years and have more than a dozen guitars and a very extensive collection of high quality pedals. For what I paid this amp is a tremendous little bargain, even with upgrades. I would put it up against an older Fender Champ any day. And as I?ve stated before I don?t consider the Marshall AVT20 to be anything special. Same for the Blues Jr. Until I find something like a mint Trace Elliot Velocette to reign as my recording amp of choice, this will do very nicely. For less than $150 total I have a toneful, responsive recording and practice amp that suits all of my needs. Highly recommended.

This is just a simple tube amp. No footswitch for turning the gain off and on, just a button on the amp. It has a midrange boost button as well. This is a basic 12w amp. No frills, all tone.

I play a G&L Legacy with single coil pickups. I do very blues based stuff, and this amp fits that bill perfectly. If you crank the gain up, you still get a fairly ringing sound from full chords. This amp is not muddy. The clean channel rings like a bell.

Many people who have reveiwed this amp suggest you change the tubes. I see no need to do that. The gain is very sensitive, but if you just make subtle changes slowly, you'll get the kind of break up you need. I turned this thing all the way up with the gain cranked, and the speaker took it well. Not bad for an 8 inch Celestion. This amp is so loud, I doubt you'll need to crank it that high unless you play with Keith Moon at practice!

The clean channel is pretty clean even when you turn it all the way up. The distortion will get you heavy blues sounds at the most. Using a fuzzface or an overdrive pedal with this amp will give you a great Cream or Hendrix sound, just at lower volume.

Still pretty new to me, so I don't know yet. There is one tube, so it won't cost you an arm and a leg to have some back-up tubes handy.

I bought this to record with, and for practice. I never tried Kustom amps before, and this amp has made me a convert. The sound is pure warm tube. If you play the blues, this amp will set you right. Many people talk about how many watts they have when bragging about their amps, but if a blues amp is what you're looking for, the watts don't mean a thing. Don't be fooled, this amp is loud. I got it for cheap used, but even the new ones are only 100 bucks, and worth every penny. The people who complain about no reverb on the amp are just being silly. This amp is a steal for what you get out of it, pure killer tone.

This is a recent K12 tube 12 , I bought it new in July 2005 in UK.
I had been looking for an amp that would supply me with a sound that had `more life/feel` for home practice. I like a blues sound but nothing too distorted. I was never really happy with my Roland Cube 30. Then a friend bought round an Ashdown Peacemaker20. The impact on the sound of my Parker P38 HSS was massive. It gave the sounds I was looking for but it was ?399 !!and is no longer made. So I looked around and came up with 2 choices in my price range - FenderPro Jnr or a Laney LC15r. But i really wanted to use it at home & people say they are quite loud & they have no headphone option - all valve amps. By chance I heard a Tube 12 in a guitar shop , tried it and for ?75 decide i coudnt really go wrong ...i was really pleased with it seemed to meet all my needs , a reverb would be nice though.

I use a Parker P38 HSS & my daughter has EPI LP custom. Both sounded good through the amp giving my desired Blues sound but I decided I would like a lillte less distortion & more control of the gain knob & a little more mellow sound. The postings below suggested I could change the valve from the original 12AX7 ( Ecc83). But I am new to valve amps & was a confused by AX, AU , AT , AY etc notes . So I searched the net -
3 sites ,http://thetubestore.com/gainfactor.html , watford valves & www.guitaramplifierblueprinting.com each explained a lot to me .
But I was a worried by a posting below that suggested an AT valve had screamed `like a banshee`. In the end I decided to buy 2 valves a Ruby 12AX7A-c ( ECC83 better quality chinese ) and a 70 % gain factor Groove 12AT7 ( Ecc81) from guitarworlduk - good service they arrived within 36 hrs.
I tried the new valves (just take out the 4 screws to drop the amp section down). Compared to the original valve , the Ruby AX was a little more mellow/ cleaner when the mid range button was on, it was also a little lower on volume - But the best sound for me was with Groove AT. Both Clean and gain sounds were great and I got the control over the gain control . Volume decrease was not really noticeable & this valve didnt scream.
I now have the sound I want for an outlay of ?80.I plugged in my daughters Korg ampworks effects unit,added a little reverb & reacehd the end of my sound journey (for now..speaker change next ?)Best of all I still had over ?100 in my pocket.

Dont really know - its new , but my original Kustom 10 that came with my first guitar is still going strong after 3 years & for ?70 who`s really that bothered.

3 year warranty in UK - good by Uk standards

Ive been playing for 3 years (Parker P38 HSS). Fro only ?70 this amp has finally given me the sound i wanted - i think i need just that valve !!. My Roland Cube 30 now sounds dead by comparison at low volumes in home use & I cant seem me ever looking at solid state again. There is no other valve amp in UK for this money - nearest is a Laney LC15 ?200. Its fitted with headphone,line out and extrenal speaker outputs.So when the family moans i can shut them out. It is easy to adjust/ modify the sound with a valve change for about ?10.What more do i need for home use at this price ?? If it had Reverd I would give it 10

I have dozens of amps ranging from over 40 years old to boutique new stuff. I only need the overdrive sound for recording slide guitar. Cheap is good when it comes to the sound I want and use. I'm not concerned with much else, except switchability would be good for rehearsals.

I use anything from old single coils to humbuckers and hotrails. This amp sounds very sweet on semi acoustics [Epiphones and 335s great] with the top rolled back a bit and is particularly effective on tele's - again with the top rolled back and the drive up. Great valve compression.Work at it a bit and there's a sweet spot there.

Too early to say. I tried 3 identical amps in the store and one was faulty.

Again, too early to say yet. We'll see. It's not going to get hard use. Studio mostly.

I've been playing for [christ, really that long?] 40 years in just about every situation and type of venue imaginable. I tend to blend amps to get the sounds I need, for example, even for festival gigs I'll use a 4w [yes four watt!] 40 year old Jennings Domino valve bass amp for slide guitar, through am Electrovoice 15 inch cab, with an Ashdown Peacemaker 60w combo on top for the gain button control over solos, and some top back up in the overall mix. But I have a selection of anything from rare Gallien Kruger to old Selmer, basic Peavey and oddball Trace Elliot. I had a 60s Fenton Weill 7watt amp from almost new that I used to use for everything. Recording, even miked in a chair for big gigs. It got stolen, along with the car it was in, over 20 years ago. I have now found the perfect replacement in the form of the Kustom. In fact I bought two to use them in stereo - cheaper than a crappy effects pedal! I may yet use them live, miked into P.A.

I like the fact that it's simple, without a lot of effects and complicated stuff. Being a beginner, I just want something simple.

I just want a clean, undistorted sound. As others have said, the warm, soft sound of tube amp is great. I bought a Kustom KGA30 as my first amp (solid state) from a pawn shop, and then I saw this Tube12 at another pawn shop and had to have it. I'm now selling the KGA30, the Tube12 is better.

I don't know anything about amps, but I could tell the difference between these two. I found some old NOS tubes in a box that I got with a tube stereo receiver I once bought, and I replaced the stock 12AX7 tube with an NOS Sylvania 12AX7 made in the USA, and it definitely made the sound cleaner and clearer. I have a Japan made 12AX7 that I might try too, but I'm happy with the USA Sylvania.

The gain dial(distortion) isn't great, but with the new tube it's much better cleaner and more distinct.

Seems to come on when I want it to and hasn't given me any trouble so far. All the dials are smooth and the cabinet seems very solid.

N/A

I've only been playing for 2 months maybe, and this is only my second amp. I think I'll stick with tube amps from now on as I like the sound better than my solid state amp. I like the small compact portable size and the solid feel the unit has. Nice and inexpensive and gets the job done. Actually seem to have quite a bit of volume to it....sounds like more than 12 watts.

12 watt practice amp with tube preamp and Celestion Super 8 speaker. This amp is really small and handy to carry around.

I disagree with previous posts that this amp needs a different speaker. I liked the warmer tone of the Celestion Super 8. I controlled the farting by adding a 200 uF nonpolarized electrolytic cap in series with the speaker. It rolls off the lows in the bass guitar and extreme lower guitar range without affecting the higher frequencies and protects the voice coil from over excursion and jumping out of the magnet gap, which is what farting really is. You can also just back off the volume or at least the treble. Adding the cap allows more lower midrange while still preventing ultra low frequencies from getting to the speaker. The Super 8 can't handle much power, but it sounds so good and is rather efficient. It goes as loud as I want to play in a small room. There is some hum when you turn the amp up loud, just like in an old tube amp. This isn't boutique quality sound, but for $100 it is very good.

Reliability should be about average because of the tube preamp and cheap crumbly particle cabinet and thin tolex covering. Adding the cap protects the speaker. You are protecting yourself by not carrying around an expensive amp that can get stolen. I have two of them, so I'm covered in case of breakdown or theft. I generally keep one in my truck.

No breakdowns yet.

I needed a couple of amps cheap enough that I didn't need to worry about them and without the hassles of a full tube amp. These are cheap and light. You will have to tighten and secure some screws and chase down a rattle or two, but very good sound when you tweak it a bit. The baffle board is weakly held in place by 4 very shallow driven screws, so I glued my baffle board in place on both my amps. I like the fact that changiong tubes affects the sound, so it's cheap to experiment there. I feel the stock speaker is very good for such a cheap amp. I can't give it a 10 because it still needs a reverb and better QC on the cheap particle board cabinet. Your effects unit will probably cost more than this practice amp, so it's a winner for the price. It takes the place of an old Fender Champ rather well and can actually play louder than most Champs.

I quit seeing these on eBay, so you might have to cough up the $105 or so that is now being charged for a new one. I think it would be worth building a nice plywood cab for the power head and speaker, and I might just do that. If I do, I will add another Super 8 speaker for a 2x8 combo, and also add an Accutronics reverb unit.

I also tried a Marshall AVT20 combo. If you have the money and don't mind the extra weight, go that route before dumping a lot of extra money into the Tube 12. It has a reverb and 10" speaker with better bass and true Marshall tone. A used AVT20 at $200 is a better buy than a new Tube 12 at $105. It's just that the Tube 12 is so small and handy to pick up and head to a friend's house for some practice. I don't think the Tube 12 could ever equal the AVT20 no matter how much you modded it. Problem is, the AVT20 not only costs 3 times as much, it weighs 3 times as much as well. The AVT20 circuitry is much more complex and it has a DI jack, so it can actually be gigged at a fairly large venue through the PA system.

Bottom line: nothing else this small and light at anywhere near the price has ever sounded as good to me. Just don't think you can get it all from such a package. Compromises had to be made.

It's a little practice amp. Really the basic stuff. No reverb or tremolo. If you need more, plug in some effects. The best feature is the portability, low price, and decent sound.

The stock Celestion red label speaker has a warm tone, but it's not for extreme styles or it will fart and break up. At low practice sound levels there will be no problems. It sounds best if you run it through a good 12" speaker cab, and it mates well with a 15 or 20 watt alnico speaker like those sold by Eminence. I use mainly the clean channel, as the distortion comes on suddenly and there is very little adjustment in the low end of the gain knob. It is best for roughly distorted gain, and the adjustment range is large enough for more extreme styles of rock. A low gain tube like a 12AY7 is what you need if slight amounts of distortion is what you are after. An Electro-Harmonix 12AX7 will work well for high gain styles. An Ei tube works the best on the clean channel for sparkle and high end. The JJ tube gives the most versatility on both channels for a well rounded sound, but the differences were not greatly noticeable between the tubes. Except for a high gain Chinese 12AX7, which is what you want for extreme metal styles, but everyone else will probably hate it. The roughest preamp tube I ever heard with extremely high gain.

The particle board cabinet is of low grade material that's soft and breaks easily. My baffle board was falling out when I got it, and there was very little material to sink a screw into, so I drilled through and bolted it all together. It developed the tube cover rattles which some tape took care of. Electrically, it has worked well and I installed a JJ tube that sounds great in it. You will have to put a bit of work into it when you first get it to make it bug free.

If you get a used one, you can't go wrong for the price. The 8" speaker is what upsets me, as the amp can cause it to break up too much. My favorite speakers are 10" or 12" speakers, so I have decided to look for a speaker cab with a good low wattage alnico speaker. I'm going to cut off the lower portion of the cab and make a little amp head out of it, or just switch the electronics box over to a good speaker cabinet and create a 1x12" combo amp out of it. Don't buy one of these new and pay close to retail when you can get a really clean Roland Blues Cube amp for around the same price in used condition. You'll like the Roland better for the money, but this Tube 12 is very small and that makes it extremely easy to carry to a practice session. The REAL value of the tube is that it allows the electronically challenged a cheap and no-brainer way to alter their sound. You can try any tube in the 12AX7 and 12AY7 families as long as they are compatible with AC heaters. Switching over to DC on the tube heater will get rid of some buzz at high gain settings. I tried a 12AT7A that was only made for DC heaters, and the amp howled like a banshee. 12AT7 tubes can work, but they are made for higher currents than the other two tubes, so they will have a current starved sound. Whatever that turns out to be. 12AY7 tubes will probably have too little gain on the clean channel only, but the 12AY7 tube works great for bluesy distortion when the gain is used. Basically a good amp, but it needs to be fitted to the player to get the most out of it. The latest amp I saw had a JJ tube in it as standard, and it is light years ahead of the Chinese tube for my tastes. Would make a great first amp for a beginner.

The features are covered elsewhere but it seems to have enough given what its real selling point: it's an amp with a TUBE that sounds like it has a tube. If you're looking for other features then you might be disappointed. Some of the reviewers sound like they weren't primarily after the tube tone and so didn't get what they wanted. I don't think that's the fault of the amp or the manufacturer. Don't buy a lawnmower if you want to use it as a rototiller.
I see the amp as having responsive, effective eq, with the added benefits of a line out, a headphone jack, a distortion option, and a filter switch that gives the amp an out-of-phase effect. I'm quite satisfied that I got more than I expected.

This amp responds best to hot pickups with plenty of sizzle. My Les Paul Custom is fine through it but my '68 Tele' with hot humbuckers is far better. If you want to get a sense of the sound, listen the Fender Champ sound Clapton had in the "Let It Rain" period, or what you hear on "Layla": bite, some grit, with spunk and crisp top end. Blues, country, pop, and any rock that doesn't beg for heavily distorted power chords:it's a great little amp. I've played through and owned a number of Fender Champs. I like the sound of this better.

I haven't had it for a long time. Common sense tells me a $100 amp might not last forever. With sound this good, it's worth the risk.

I haven't needed to find out.

I've been playing for 38 years. I own a Fender Vibrolux and Super Reverb, a Vox Cambridge, a new Traynor 2-12' (fine amp!),etc. I have a variety of electrics, the Paul and Tele are most often used.
It has a great small amp tube sound and though the distortion button doesn't give me a sound I want, it's not a bad sound.
I'd definitely buy another one and feel like I got a GREAT deal getting it used but nearly new.

The features are versatile enough, it has two channels; no footswitch, with a gain boost on the overdrive that adds more highs. I never use the boost because it sounds too bright but the preboost overdrive gets a remarkable vintage brit-rock sound. The clean channel is superb, it's very warm and bell like in tone and perfect for jazz or blues. The single tube in the preamp section really warms up the sound. It would be great if it had reverb but i understand why it doesnt; it's a practice amp and a great one at that, but most practice amps don't have reverb because this would drive the price up. Besides the digital reverb that is put in practice amps leaves much to be desired anyway. The thing's got plenty of power for what it was made for, 12 watts is quite enough, plenty of power without having to buy a 15 watt or settling for a 10 or 8 watt. The headphone jack is very efficient, nice and clear without breaking up through headphones.

I play a Gibson SG special and a Danelectro Danoblaster for brighter more surfy stuff. Several people have complained about the overall sound of the amp on here but if you actually take some time tweaking the amp and run a spring reverb pedal through it to compensate for no reverb, I've found that it sounds great. Remember guys it's a pracice amp not a gig rig and it works great as such. A good amp relies on good playing not the other way around. If you play heavy metal don't buy this amp, if you play punkrock don't buy this amp, but if you play jazz, blues, surf or good old rock-n-roll then pick one up because this thing is a steal.

I've had it awhile and so far so good, if you're someone who takes care of your belongings then you shouldn't have a problem.

Phenominal, my sis lives in Cinncinatti so when i was there i stopped in HHI headquarters which owns Kustom(and B.C.Rich by the way) and is also the location of the main Kustom warehouse. I was trying to locate some Kustom products that i couldn't find anywhere. The executive I talked to was great, he called all the Kustom dealers in the area until he found what i was looking for and even wrote out detailed directions for me and gave me his phone number in case i had any problem; it's a super company.

I have been playing for awhile and i have procured a great deal of Kustom equipment along the way, including the KPM8420 PA-system which is awesome and the smaller KPM480 PA. The new Kustom company is as good as the old and their products are top shelf and you can't beat the price. I use the tube 12 for what i bought it for; working out songs, quiet practice and recording and it stands up for all of those. It looks retro, it sounds retro, small enough to take anywhere, it's a workhorse and an all around great little amp as well as a fantastic value.

See the website.

Unless you are playing metal or some extreme style, leave the standard speaker in. It doesn't fart out unless shoving it hard in the bass. The standard speaker has a very warm midrange tone. That Chinese tube in mine was CRAP. I changed it out with an Ei tube I bought cheap at Angela Instruments, and the sound was immensely better. That Chinese tube is for high gain heavy metal styles, and has very raspy overdrive tone. A 8 with the original tube. For the price, it's a 10 with a decent tube because NOTHING else for $100 sounds as good.

I don't think I would gig it unless I had a spare. The particle board cabinet does NOT inspire confidence. This is something small for the bedroom that you can kick under the bed.

$100 for the amp and $10 for a better tube. That's chump change these days. Comes with a real Celestion red label speaker. Sure, it's a $15 speaker, but that's a lot of money to put into a $100 amp. If I was doing some high gain extreme styles, I would have probably kept the Chinese tube in the amp. The amp is so incredibly light and handy. It goes really well with a small 20-50 watt bass amp for practice sessions.

Good for a little practice amp.

This is the amp that some day will be bought by a lot of poor kids on the used market and they will learn to play rock, blues, or country guitar through it. There will be all kinds of mods listed for it because it is such a widely sold beginners amp. The distortion is a bit rough unless you are into heavy metal and such, but the clean channel is great for the price. The distortion can be smoothed quite a bit by using a lower gain tube. Haven't tried changing out the op amps yet, but I imagine that would improve the tone as well. No need to change out the speaker unless you play really bass heavy style, in which case it will fart out. Putting filtered DC to the tube heater would take out a lot of the hum. In short, this is a great amp for the price that can be made a lot better sounding with a few tweaks that aren't hard to do.

There are probably some pure solid state amps at this price that are more dependable, but they almost certainly sound like crap in comparison. The particle board used in construction is really weak, so you can't kick it around too much or let it get wet.

I think you had better plan on being your own customer support. This amp is available at too low a price to justify shipping back and forth for service.

I own three better amps: one cost me $350, one cost $425, and the other cost $550, so I guess I can't complain. For the price, it was a pleasant surprise.

Bought two of them, brand new at a local guitar dealership. Nothing to write home about but get good tones in stereo from a POD XT connected to them.

I use a Les Paul copy (dillion extreme) through a PODXT. Good tones through these little amps. As others have noted however, at higher volumes the 8" Celestions get a little farty.

I don't think I would use these to gig with permanantly without backup, after reading the existing reviews. I bought these mostly to experiment with, may put them in a rackmount config and power a small cab with them. Those are my plans anyway.

na

Amps sound ok. Fit right behind the seat of my 2003 Ranger extend cab. Also, had a buddy of mine come over and play my drumset with these set up right next to it and we were able to jam in the living room, no hearing problems whatsoever. Loud little boogers. If they were stolen, it would be much less heartburn than if I lost my Marshall 9200 and cabs.

This amp has 12 solid state watts and a lonely 12AX7 tube in the preamp all through an 8" speaker. 2 channels; headphone, line out and speaker out outputs; bass and treble EQ and a tone shift switch to scoop out the mids. Oh yeah, it has a jewel power light and slick metal control knobs. First impression - NICE! I can live without reverb on a practice amp, but I think it's ridiculous not to include a dedicated mid frequency control on a tube amp, even if it's a wanna-be.

The clean sound is great even with the stock tube and speaker. Very warm, ringing and all around very tube-like. You really start to hear the tube working when you turn the volume up past halfway. Great dynamics, good harmonics - I'm surprised this is all done with one preamp tube. The distortion, on the other hand is terrible beyond belief. What happened, Kustom?! Luckily, I have a bunch of distortion pedals or I would have been mad. This amp works great with all of them, from the Tubescreamer to DOD Death Metal. It also makes my Digitech RP200 sound like it's not just a crappy toy. Must be the tube. All these pedals can make the speaker fart out if you try, but if you don't exceed the volume that you get when you plug straight into the amp, it's fine. It's a nice speaker, people. If you want more volume, use the speaker out jack and plug it into something else. Even if you decide to upgrade the speaker it's still not going to be loud enough to play with a drummer, so why bother? This is a practice/bedroom amp for the tube-tone connosieur, nothing more.

I've only had it for a couple of months.

E-mailed them for the schematics and received them the next day.

Bought this amp because I didnt want to fire up my vintage Ampeg head without a good reason (like other people listening) and wanted more out of a practice amp. Since nobody around here sells them, I ordered one from Music123 based on the reviews below without ever playing it first. Thanks guys! This is a nice sounding, cool looking little amp and it's cheap. It does have its quirks though. It pops loud when you turn it on, it also hums about as loud as if you were playing with single coils in a bad environment, it even picks up a faint radio signal when volume and gain are all the way up. In short, it acts like an old tube amp in need of a little service, which is pretty cool in itself if you consider the price. I would definitely buy it again because of its clean sound, it is that good. You won't get real power tube overdrive out of it, but a TS9 will get you amazingly close. Any good distortion pedal will also sound good through it as long as you keep the pedal volume down to what the amp was designed to handle. If you want a cheap, small amp that you will actually ENJOY playing through, this is it.

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...