Will speakers match this head?

[Mike19]

I have the opportunity to buy a 1968 Kustom 200 bass head
(200w, tuck & roll covering) in good condition at a fair price.

I also have the opportunity to buy a pair of used (maybe 2005) JBL PA speakers at a more than fair price. These have 12" woofers w/ hi freq horn; 200 watts RMS; 8 ohms. Frequency Response probably no lower than 60 Hz and Frequency Range probably no lower than 50 Hz.

The head output for 2 cabs is 8 ohms.

I was thinking of driving the JBL speakers with the Kustom head and use the rig for home practice on bass. I realize there won't be much bottom. But, I might also use this gear to supplement the band's PA system.

BTW, I enjoy collecting bass gear and the 60's Kustom amps have a special place in my 63 year old heart.

Does anyone see any technical reason why I shouldn't match this bass head with these PA speakers?

Thanks for reading this post.

[lbwdog]

Depends on which model JBLs they are. If it's the EONs, it probably won't sound all that good, but upper lines should be fine, especially for home use.

What really sounds good (IMO) is a matching Kustom 2x15 with JBL D-140s, or better yet K-140s.

BTW. You sure it's 8 Ohms with two cabs? That would mean they're 16 Ohms each.

[BigOldHarry]

Do I think this rig will catch fire?

No.

Do I think it will actually product sound?

Yes.

Do I think that it will sound *good*?

No.

Old Kustom amps *are* funky and fun, just not very good. I had a buddy who had a blue-sparkle tuck&roll Kustom that was great to look at, nice to sit on but sounded like one, long, big-old mud-fart. So if good sound is what you are after, I say *pass*. If you just want it because you *want it*, then go for it -- just don't pay too much.

[will33]

The old Kustom is a solidstate amp. You can hook whatever you want to up to it as long as you don't take the load too low. As far as sounding good, I would cut the L-pads down on the back of the cabs if they have them, if not, temporarily and reversibly disable one of the HF horns and use the treble control on the amp to adjust to taste. Those old Kustoms look cool and I've got "useable" (with a grain of salt) sounds out of them in the past but never pinned the problem down to amp or speakers, just moved on to other stuff.

Now I would think it quite cool to put a great sounding rig together and just make it look like that, right down to the chrome rings on the port holes.

[Mike19]

Thanks for the replies folks.

According to the labels on the back of the head, the 200 does 4 ohms with a single cab and 8 ohms with two cabs.

Yup, the 60's Kustom rigs sounded like mud - but in 1968 it was the loudest mud money could buy. If you were playing bass in a band that played very large clubs (like The Action House on Long Island) and you were doing Hendrix, Blue Cheer, Deep Purple and Vanilla Fudge, the ability to play as loud as the guitars was the only thing that counted.

Anyways, this is just for home use, not even for band practice.

I'm probably not going to do this . . . 3 Leaf Audio has a sale on thru July 13 or something. And eBay has a rare Warwick J body bass (w dual EMG hummers and green flame top finish) for only $250; and on and on and on . . .