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Combo amp speaker replacement

ElectraPhoenix

ElectraPhoenix

Jan 10, 2010
407
4
Houston, TX
#1
Hi -

I have a Kustom KBA 16 combo amp. After a few years of use (and a while of being left at a friend's house) it has developed a problem where any sound that comes out of it is quiet, thin, and kind of "farty." There is no discernable damage to the original speaker but that doesn't mean there's nothing wrong (it was used at higher volumes during some practices and may very well have blown at some point).

My first thought was to replace the speaker. Without knowing much about amps, I went ahead and purchased this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-8-Subwo..._Speaker_Parts_Components&hash=item2569a44705 which unfortunately did not do the trick. I get the same bad sound. Now, it may just be that I'm an idiot and purchased the wrong sort of speaker. Is that probably the case here?

The other likely possibility is that there is a wiring issue within the amp. Being a combo amp that may or may not have been mistreated while in my friend's possession, it's not unthinkable that some of the solder joints aren't what they used to be, and that is what is causing the bad sound. How can I properly diagnose this problem?
 
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#2
That sounds more like an amp problem to me. But it also sounds like you may need batteries in your pickups, too. Are they active? Do you know you've got a good battery if they are? Is your cable good? Just trying to eliminate things that can cause these symptoms.
 
#5
I'm not expecting terrific sound, but the output is too thin and quiet, more so than it should be. I tested my equipment with other amps so I know the issue is within the amp/speaker somewhere. When I can get to it, I'll poke around and see if there's any obvious wiring issues.

Otherwise, I don't plan on spending more money on it. I'll pick up a new amp if I really need to.
 
#6
Disconnect the speaker in the combo and rig the amp portion only to a different, known to be good, speaker cabinet. Borrow a friends if you don't have one. Could even use a guitar cab or PA cab for this.

If it's still thin and quiet, the problem is in the amp, not the speaker, or you have an active bass and the battery is dead/dying.
 

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