![]() ![]() The oldest ones came with a black Plexiglas front plate with the logo in the center and also a power/polarity three was toggle switch on the back and two arms to wrap the power cord around while transporting the amplifier. Kustom amps came with anywhere from 50 to 100 watts. This 1968 model had the usual reverb and tremolo/vibrato and also harmonic clipper and boost controls. John Forgarty of out of Creedence Clearwater Revival is still using a Kustom K200 A-4 (100 watt) amplifier. Many artists of the day used Kustom amplifiers since they created a beautiful looking back line. The success of his amplifiers allowed Ross to diversify into manufacturing radar equipment and car monitors that were used by law enforcement. At the time Altec Lansing and JB Lansing or JBL were THE top of the line speakers providing distortion free sound. Many came with three or four 12” Altec Lansing speakers. Besides that, these were huge impressive amplifiers. They sounded great and that’s all we cared about. Kustom was to be popular until the company folded, because they were different. Eventually when the Vox name was acquired by the Thomas Organ Company, Vox (America) did make large transistorized amplifiers. ![]() Although huge Vox and Marshall amps would be on the scene in a few years, their only similarity was their size. It was unlike anything Fender or Gibson made. ![]() There was nothing similar to a Kustom amplifier. Ross did all of this from a small factory in the small town of Chanute, Kansas. Not only did Ross build amplifiers, but he also built public address systems using the same design. The Naugahyde came in red sparkle, blue sparkle, gold sparkle, teal (which was called cascade sparkle), grey (which was called charcoal sparkle), white (which was called silver sparkle), and flat black. In my opinion Kustom amplifiers/cabinets were works of art. This was similar to what was being used in automobiles from that era. Naugahyde is a trademark of the Uniroyal company which was Kustom’s supplier. All were covered in a vinyl material known as Naugahyde that was applied using a tuck and roll covering design. The Kustom amplifier chassis was made of steel. His amps and speaker cabs were incredibly well constructed and many of his early products are still in use today despite being forty to fifty years old and having little or no maintenance. What we wanted was big, clean and loud.įender came to the transistor/solid-state market in the mid-1960’s and failed miserably, due to their amplifier line which seemed to have acquired a bad reputation for not being dependable. But in 1966 Bud Ross hit the jackpot. Back in the mid 1960's we didn't care if the amp had tubes or transistors. I can recall sometime in the late 1950's when my Dad brought home this amazingly tiny transistor radio.Īnd all of Ross’s amplifiers used only transistors instead of tubes. This was the era when transistorized electronics was new. ![]()
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