Kustom is pretty hot with my friends right now. My bassist bought a massive Kustom combo rig and then this little rig showed up in the basement this week. Kustom's Arrow 16DFX 16 watt solid-state amplifier. Since there's been a little more talk about guitars and amps lately I thought a few people would be interested in hearing about this amp.
First off, for 16 watts this amp is loud enough to cut through the drums during practice. That wasn't the case for my first practice amp (old Fender Squire 15) and so that made me impressed. It has a few effects on it which aren't that good, but face it, you shouldn't be buying an amp for effects. The real beauty of this amp is the tone and the speaker. The rhythm channel gives a shimmery SRV sound with my strat-copy and the lead channel goes anywhere from blues to metal with a turn of the gain knob.
I was most impressed by the feel this amp puts out. Once I had it dialed in, this has been the only amp to get close to what I want. I suspect the solid state portion is what's holding it back--I am ashamed to say I only get to play with tubes when they're around--but for an amp the size of my kitchen sink it was keeping the rhythm and lead together very well. My bassist commented that the amp does have great tone and I think that's thanks to the Celestion speaker they threw in there.
If I had to stamp a number on it I would give the Arrow 16DFX a good 8/10. For $170 bucks I'm impressed. This is a great amp for beginners or players who want something loud, that sounds great, and can easily fit in their closet. When I cranked the dials it almost wiped the floor with the four speaker monster next to it. Almost. I've been impressed with how much quality Kustom has in its products and I'm sure their larger offerings with dual-speakers and tubes are even better. Check it out.
First off, for 16 watts this amp is loud enough to cut through the drums during practice. That wasn't the case for my first practice amp (old Fender Squire 15) and so that made me impressed. It has a few effects on it which aren't that good, but face it, you shouldn't be buying an amp for effects. The real beauty of this amp is the tone and the speaker. The rhythm channel gives a shimmery SRV sound with my strat-copy and the lead channel goes anywhere from blues to metal with a turn of the gain knob.
I was most impressed by the feel this amp puts out. Once I had it dialed in, this has been the only amp to get close to what I want. I suspect the solid state portion is what's holding it back--I am ashamed to say I only get to play with tubes when they're around--but for an amp the size of my kitchen sink it was keeping the rhythm and lead together very well. My bassist commented that the amp does have great tone and I think that's thanks to the Celestion speaker they threw in there.
If I had to stamp a number on it I would give the Arrow 16DFX a good 8/10. For $170 bucks I'm impressed. This is a great amp for beginners or players who want something loud, that sounds great, and can easily fit in their closet. When I cranked the dials it almost wiped the floor with the four speaker monster next to it. Almost. I've been impressed with how much quality Kustom has in its products and I'm sure their larger offerings with dual-speakers and tubes are even better. Check it out.
Favorite bands: Whoah, that's gonna take some time:D Rhapsody Of Fire, Sonata Arctica, Nightwish, Bullet For My Valentine - I like them the most, later maybe I'll list the others.