NAD! Kustom III

[poorbassist15]

I went to Guitar Center yesterday, with $100, but not really looking to get anything. I did think about bringing something to trade in towards a new amp, as my Acoustic 260 is having serious problems(cuts out so much it's unusable), but I decided not to. We get there, and I walk over to the bass/amp conglomeration at the far end of the store. There was a lot of Acoustic stuff, an Ampeg or two, and some mildly interesting used stuff, but nothing I really wanted. A Mesa D-180 attracted my attention, but I don't even think it was plugged into a cab(a tube amp, plugged into the wall, but not into a cab. Bad idea?). I started to glance over the used stuff after playing through an Acoustic stack with a Jazz Bass(Squier CV, really nice), and I saw, for a measly $50, a Kustom III. I asked someone if I could play through it, I grabbed the CV, and played through it. I was impressed, actually. Seemed to have some volume(got the GK 115 it was plugged into to fart), and it sounded good enough to use for practice with my band, which was the purpose behind the Acoustic. I thought, it's cool and old, and doesn't sound like s***, so for $50, I have nothing to lose. Asked to buy it, and there is a two week waiting period from when they get it to when they can sell it to make sure they can sell it.

They also threw in a warranty(dunno how that works with an amp this old), and it's 130 watts, so for $50, I don't think it was that bad of a deal. I put it on layaway(their suggestion, so they don't sell it), and go to pick it up Sunday. There aren't a lot of reviews about this thing, so I guess I'll have to post one, and pics when I get it.

[sanderic]

I played through one of these briefly in the early 80's through a peavey 18" cab. Very loud and full. For $50, a great amp. I also once demo'd one new in the store (late 70's) through a Kustom 215 cab, but the cabinet rattled so bad it was unuseable.
As for the Guitar Center warranty: GC does not fix any used gear you may purchase but does offer a full refund for 30 days if anything should go wrong with the amp.
As for the waiting period, Guitar Center holds merchandise for 30 days before selling it, just as a pawn shop would, in case the gear turns out to be stolen.

[poorbassist15]

Originally Posted by sanderic

I played through one of these briefly in the early 80's through a peavey 18" cab. Very loud and full. For $50, a great amp. I also once demo'd one new in the store (late 70's) through a Kustom 215 cab, but the cabinet rattled so bad it was unuseable.
As for the Guitar Center warranty: GC does not fix any used gear you may purchase but does offer a full refund for 30 days if anything should go wrong with the amp.
As for the waiting period, Guitar Center holds merchandise for 30 days before selling it, just as a pawn shop would, in case the gear turns out to be stolen.

I know that, but it's just my luck that the end of the 30 day period was the day I tried to buy it...

[poorbassist15]

I got it...it's got some hum, but sounds great through my 1x10. I'll hook my ART tube pre up to it and play through my 2x15 and see how vintage I can get it to sound.