Author Topic: Dumb Amp Question  (Read 306 times)

olieoliver

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Dumb Amp Question
« Reply #15 on: May 22, 2009, 06:26:28 AM »
Very kool Kevin. I think the more you play around with it the more you'll like it.
 
Peter, I used to do that with my old Kustom amps I had back in the 70's. I had 2 100 watt head and 2 2x15 cabs and would daisy them just like that.
I HATED those Kustom amps too. They were ugly, I had a black one and a green one. Sounded terrible but they were cheap.  
 
Sold them both and purchased a Peavy 400 head and a Peavy 2x10 cab in 1977 and played that rig until 1991 when lightning fried it in Muenster TX.  
 
OO

john_judge

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Dumb Amp Question
« Reply #16 on: May 22, 2009, 07:25:34 AM »
Yeah back in the day Jimmy Hendrix use to run his Marshall on thirty five!! and he use to cross channel it with curly cords!...hmmm nice and quiet! and great signal....loss.and lots of noise ...I was there at age 15 Woosely hall, New Haven, Ct outside of Yale, my friend Ronnie was a stage hand and I got to see his rig with the cables and holes in the speaker cab's but it was a high energy loud show.Townsend also did the cross Channeling with his Hiwatt's.
 
Yeah also those Custom amps I had a this hugh Bass cab, I think it had either 3-15's or 3-18's in it, we carried it up a flight of stairs to this studio to do my very first recording session ever when we got to the top we set it down and knocked on the door and my guitarist stepped back and yes knocked it down a flight of stairs and it broke through some paneling, so we brought it back up and into the studio and it worked fine except for the tears in the green padding..very heavy bottom.
By far my heaviest rig was my Hiwatt DR203 with the 4x15 bottom 265lbs but clean and punchy Picture of Jimmy I took while standing on the stage in front of the P.A. getting my ears blown off but it was worth it.. I was in my glory at age 15 but you can see the type of cords he used and holes in the Cab's , photo is 5x7 taken with a old Browning with a side arm flash and top viewfinder (old school rig then) 1968 enjoy John

cozmik_cowboy

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Dumb Amp Question
« Reply #17 on: May 22, 2009, 08:01:17 AM »
Kustom was the amp of choice in SE Ohio in the 70s - Fender or Kustom for guitar, Kustom or Sunn for bass (I always liked the red sparkle).  And they had a life-time warrenty:  you break it, they replace it.  A friend of mine fried his (gold sparkle w/a purple jewel light), and no questions asked.  In the 80s I sometimes did sound for Aaron Burton (and saw him a lot more) - he had a Kustom 250 rig that had been in a bar fire.  The tuck-&-roll was burned off, but it worked just fine.
I also once (and once only) saw a Kustom organ - picture a B-3 with amp & speakers built into the front, in white spakle.  Very pimp.  Sounded OK, too.
 
Peter
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xlrogue6

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Dumb Amp Question
« Reply #18 on: May 22, 2009, 08:57:48 AM »
You can indeed jumper your Fender(or, for that matter, F2B) inputs that way (and yes, use shielded cable, not speaker cable!), but be aware that the channels are out of phase with each other, so some frequency cancellation will occur.  Of course, it's possible you'll like the sound better that way, but you will lose some low end by using them simultaneously.

gtrguy

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« Reply #19 on: May 22, 2009, 09:46:18 AM »
I used to have a mint Kustom 200 with a big 2x15 cab back in the 70's. Poor sound, but loud. My mother was baking cake once and left the house and I cranked the amp up with my guitar. When she got back the cake had fallen in the oven into a crumpled mess! I never told her why....

laytonco

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« Reply #20 on: May 22, 2009, 10:19:08 AM »
...and then run a speaker cable out of the second input...
 
Is this right? I would think you would need to use an instrument cable.
 
Gil

hydrargyrum

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« Reply #21 on: May 22, 2009, 11:54:06 AM »
You are correct Gil, as someone cleared up a couple posts back.  I thought it was weird too, but that was what I had read in the post, so I felt compelled to verify it.
 
Kent, I was wondering if there something like phase cancellation going on.  As I turned up the volume on one channel, there is a point where the volume dips slightly.  I suspect that this was the point where both preamps had nearly equal volume, and consequently, maximum phase cancellation.  From my limited efforts in this vein, I observed that this effect is pretty well masked when the volumes of the two channels vary by a large enough amount.  So even though there was some cancellation, the sound seemed more beefy than either channel on its own (I wouldn't necessarily say more bass, just thicker somehow).

keith_h

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« Reply #22 on: May 22, 2009, 12:32:18 PM »
I played through one of those 3 - 15 Kustoms back in the 70's. They were heavy and tall. I finally settled on Acoustic 301's and 370 heads. However with age comes wisdom so I dumped the heavy stuff. ;-)  
 
Keith

john_judge

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« Reply #23 on: May 22, 2009, 01:34:15 PM »
OOOPPPSS! SORRY DOUBLE POST  
 
 
 
(Message edited by john judge on May 22, 2009)

john_judge

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« Reply #24 on: May 22, 2009, 01:35:42 PM »
Instrument cables are a must! and as short as possible to retain signal..I mean measure from input to input and if you can use a 1 or 2 footer or custom size one then go for it.
 
Yeah on the bass rig I used an acoustic 360 and a 260 Yed together it actually had a great presence because of the horn. My next rig was the Hiwatt DR203 4x15's with the Sunn 880 Coleseum with 2 x 18's and a custom made cab with 2 x10 Gaus speakers Power by a Crown 300A amp and a Bogen preamp it was a statium wall of sound. I also used 1 time 1 day a Marshall that was a complete clone of the  Acoustic 360 we called it the bathtub it had a reversed 18 speaker and sounded like Crap!..not even close to the Acoustic 360. I brought it back the same day.

terryc

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« Reply #25 on: May 22, 2009, 06:20:07 PM »
John_judge..did you need a crane to lift that rig?, or some very Arnie Schwarzanegger type roadies?
God knows what the Thiele-Small calculation is on a 4 x 15 cab. It must have been a huge cab to cope with amount of reverse air push.

hydrargyrum

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« Reply #26 on: May 22, 2009, 07:38:21 PM »
I'm using a patch cord that's about 1 foot long, and it seems to be working great. This has been a cool experience, like owning a new amp.

john_judge

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« Reply #27 on: May 22, 2009, 08:19:12 PM »
Yes Terry, it would blow your pants legs around when set on even Two they wern't very popular because they were so hard to handle but what a great presence of sound.
 I was Told by the Hiwatt Rep in New York City where I purchased it that Keith Emerson used one on stage for his Organ and a 50 watt Hiwatt Bulldog to monitor his organ. I once used a 50 watt Hiwatt bulldog for a guitar amp for recording  and they are well worth the money if you can find one. Cheers John

811952

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« Reply #28 on: May 25, 2009, 08:41:36 AM »
My first real bass amp was a 2x15 Kustom cabinet and an Acoustic 370 head.  That was one of the better sounding setups I think I've ever played through.  My brother had 2 of those cabinets and the Kustom 200 head, which was a killer setup..