Not another home amp thread!!! Now a NAD

grungebob

Doesn’t matter now. Went a different route. 

Lebarque

Grumpyrocker said:

I'd suggest a Boss Katana, which I think are brilliant.

But several people will be along in a moment to tell you why one of the best reviewed/selling amps of recent times is rubbish. 

They sound shite compared to a half-decent valve amp. That what you were expecting? Only popular because cheap.

grungebob

So..... this isn’t the pinnacle of boutique tones but , it’s my favourite tones of the past few years. 

A very humble aria into a stupidly cheap (but cool looking) kustom 36 coupe. 

Crazy tones and whisper quiet if needed for £480 all in!! (That’s guitar and amp by the way)

Now to start my journey down the rabbit hole of effects and pedals. Wish me luck. 

YellowLedBetterMan

Awesome! I have/had one of those for sale in the classifieds but am withdrawing it. People don't seem to realise that they're WAY better than their pricetag, hence why I'm not selling mine any more (there's nothing you can get better for for the price imo). 

I got mine for £150 and it's easily as good as a HRD or any other Fenderish amp under £1000 that I've used, and unlike many of those amps it actually has a good drive channel.

Did you get the footswitch with it? And is it stock speaker/valves?

EDIT: I suppose if you're looking for pedals now, all I can do is recommend what I like using with this amp. Visualsound VSXO for the drive section, some sort of Marshally Distortion and some slapback delay are pretty much my go-to.

ICBM

Those are amazing amps. I played through one at an open mic years ago without having any idea what it was when I first saw it - until then I'd only seen their low-end solid-state amps (which still sound much better than they should at their prices). I didn't even realise it was valve until I saw the owner carrying it, but it was obvious when I heard it. Even then I was amazed to find out how much they cost new - they go for stupidly little money now. I would have probably gone and bought one if I hadn't already had my Mesa.

grungebob

Cheers chaps.  Technically I guess I over paid at  £240 delivered, but it’s still next to nothing for what this is, hence why I went for it. 

Yeah it’s crazy good for the price you can get them for. Looks very well built and it sounds great. 

I think it’s all stock, speaker etc and yes does have the foot switch which again is very well built also. 

The pull bright feature works well when switching from singlecoil guitars to humbuckers. 

I thought it the best option for 1) a clean pedal platform amp and 2) the cheapest way to get a valve power amp to use with a multi effects/ modeller if I choose. 

Voxman

grungebob said:

Cheers chaps.  Technically I guess I over paid at  £240 delivered, but it’s still next to nothing for what this is, hence why I went for it. 

Yeah it’s crazy good for the price you can get them for. Looks very well built and it sounds great. 

I think it’s all stock, speaker etc and yes does have the foot switch which again is very well built also. 

The pull bright feature works well when switching from singlecoil guitars to humbuckers. 

I thought it the best option for 1) a clean pedal platform amp and 2) the cheapest way to get a valve power amp to use with a multi effects/ modeller if I choose. 

So what did you go for in the end?

grungebob

@Voxman ;I’m leaning towards going the individual pedal route but...... if I go for say the pod go or the headrush gigboard I also give myself the ability to try out loads more stuff.  Argh the choices available these days is insane!!!

dazzajl

The 36 Coupe is an absolutely incredible amp. It’s a little too sparkly and hifi for my tastes but I’ve not heard anything that sounds as good or is as well built for 3 or 4 times what they sell for. 

A fine choice indeed 

Anacharsis

Can't go wrong with a James Brown (5150, Amptweaker) design. If I had more space in my place, I would have already bought the 72 Coupe combo I've seen listed not too far from me. Cool amps. Enjoy.

personalnadir

grungebob said:

Cheers chaps.  Technically I guess I over paid at  £240 delivered, but it’s still next to nothing for what this is, hence why I went for it. 

Yeah it’s crazy good for the price you can get them for. Looks very well built and it sounds great. 

I think it’s all stock, speaker etc and yes does have the foot switch which again is very well built also. 

The pull bright feature works well when switching from singlecoil guitars to humbuckers. 

I thought it the best option for 1) a clean pedal platform amp and 2) the cheapest way to get a valve power amp to use with a multi effects/ modeller if I choose. 

What's the volume like? I always assumed anything over a watt or two would be too loud for home with a valve amp. Or is it just like my 100 watt solid state which I just turn down?

ICBM

personalnadir said:

I always assumed anything over a watt or two would be too loud for home with a valve amp. Or is it just like my 100 watt solid state which I just turn down?

It depends on how good the master volume is, but if it's designed properly it's just like your 100W solid-state amp.

grungebob

Yep as above. Just like solid state set the volume to where you want it. 

personalnadir

I'm amazed at the price those Kustoms are going for. I'm sorely tempted to buy one, they seem like real no brainers. Surely at some point a big influencer is going to sing their praises and they'll double in price? It's got to just be a question of fashion and brand recognition. Makes me despair of ever moving my Yamaha DG 100-212 on if a good valve amp can't be shifted.

At the moment my own long term amp plan has always been: Effectrode Blackbird into a power amp into a Honeyboy 2 x 8 cab. Small, portable, good looking and 5 times more expensive than the Kustom. Am really tempted to change course and look into a Kustom now, but as someone without a car and in a small flat a pedalboard based amp stands more chance of making it to a jam session whenever those start up.

YellowLedBetterMan

grungebob said:

Cheers chaps.  Technically I guess I over paid at  £240 delivered, but it’s still next to nothing for what this is, hence why I went for it. 

Yeah it’s crazy good for the price you can get them for. Looks very well built and it sounds great. 

I think it’s all stock, speaker etc and yes does have the foot switch which again is very well built also. 

The pull bright feature works well when switching from singlecoil guitars to humbuckers. 

I thought it the best option for 1) a clean pedal platform amp and 2) the cheapest way to get a valve power amp to use with a multi effects/ modeller if I choose. 

I wouldn't say you overpaid - I know I was very lucky to get mine for as little as I did, and only got it for that little because the power indicator LED was blown and the bloke was moving house the same weekend as I picked it up from him.

grungebob

personalnadir said:

I'm amazed at the price those Kustoms are going for. I'm sorely tempted to buy one, they seem like real no brainers. Surely at some point a big influencer is going to sing their praises and they'll double in price? It's got to just be a question of fashion and brand recognition. Makes me despair of ever moving my Yamaha DG 100-212 on if a good valve amp can't be shifted.

At the moment my own long term amp plan has always been: Effectrode Blackbird into a power amp into a Honeyboy 2 x 8 cab. Small, portable, good looking and 5 times more expensive than the Kustom. Am really tempted to change course and look into a Kustom now, but as someone without a car and in a small flat a pedalboard based amp stands more chance of making it to a jam session whenever those start up.

If portability is a concern for you then any combo amp period would be questionable. 

If limited space and portable are your needs I’d be looking at likes of Orange terror stamp or the Blug amp 1. 

The kustom does everything I need it to for a bedroom player like myself. It sounds good,looks good and seems to be very controllable at most volume levels. 

personalnadir

grungebob said:

personalnadir said:

I'm amazed at the price those Kustoms are going for. I'm sorely tempted to buy one, they seem like real no brainers. Surely at some point a big influencer is going to sing their praises and they'll double in price? It's got to just be a question of fashion and brand recognition. Makes me despair of ever moving my Yamaha DG 100-212 on if a good valve amp can't be shifted.

At the moment my own long term amp plan has always been: Effectrode Blackbird into a power amp into a Honeyboy 2 x 8 cab. Small, portable, good looking and 5 times more expensive than the Kustom. Am really tempted to change course and look into a Kustom now, but as someone without a car and in a small flat a pedalboard based amp stands more chance of making it to a jam session whenever those start up.

If portability is a concern for you then any combo amp period would be questionable. 

If limited space and portable are your needs I’d be looking at likes of Orange terror stamp or the Blug amp 1. 

The kustom does everything I need it to for a bedroom player like myself. It sounds good,looks good and seems to be very controllable at most volume levels. 

I was really close to grabbing a Blu Amp 1, but it seems to really divide opinion - saw lots of negativity with people struggling to get what they wanted out of it and some build quality issues. The other option would be a Vox Superbeetle, which looks fantastic. £199 new from Vox for the Union Jack styled one (out of stock).

I think you've done fantastically with the Kustom; as said sorely tempted to follow suit.