Kustom defender 5H test - rayc

rayc

rayc

retroreprobate

I took the opportunity to test my xmas gift. I'll have to put it back in the box but needed to ensure it wasn't DOA (as if anyone is likely to believe it but it is, at least, a pragmatic confection).
I used my usual rig:
Bruno Royal Artist semi-acoustic single coil - bridge pickup
Kustom Head
Marshall VS 412 lead cab (not too flash)
57 mic on the edge of the bottom left speaker into Focusrite 8i6o Scarlett & recorded in Reaper.
No pedal, nofx no compression of treatment.
Starts out with the same chord progression I've played on the last few. Amp vol dial (the ONLY dial) set at just above the 1st mark (about 9.30).
I then play a newer progression in 5ths/powerchords increasing the vol each time through. The last time is with the amp at max.
It's all very loud in the room and I needed ear protection for the increasing vol takes.
The tone of the speaker/mic combo is a little dark but that's fine & is consistent with previous tests.
Please excuse my playing - arthritis is an issue today.
I did play around with pedals in front of the amp but at this stage the amp/speaker/mic combo is the most important.
Observations?
 
Hi Ray, I hope all is good with you. Personally I thought that the section starting at 2.40 had the best balance of harmonic tonality which came across as harmonically richer as the distortion peaks reach their ceiling whilst maintaining a better integrity of the note blends. The buzz would annoy the hell out of me, but that's maybe down to cable routing or guitar proximity and I'm sure you know better than I how to kill that. I felt that you might have pushed some strings out of shape early into your sound test which might bias the tonality when compared to subsequent takes but I still like the sound at 2.40 best for the overall delivery and balance of tone with a view to how it might sit in a mix. It's horses for courses and I guess others may have a different opinion, and that's the great thing about getting a number of them.

Regards

Tim
 
I just picked one of these up a few weeks ago myself. I'm happy with the cleans but the drive leaves something to be desired IMO. Swapped out the 12ax7 for a 12at7 which improved the clean headroom (especially on my humbuckers) I'll try to post some clips if I get ar
 
I think they all sound much better than what you were getting with the big ol Marshall. Those mid-gain tones were pretty good. With better mic placement you'll get nice bite and have a good crunch thing going. Well done.
 
I had a brief strum through my new little amp today - still sussing things out. i decided to hook it up to my ETONE 200w 4 ohm cab.
It's a darker sound than through the VS412 cab; well, not as trebly anyway.
Not as loud either - it'd take a fair bit of effort to push that great big single cone I suppose.
Interesting to go BACk to playing through a bass cab which is what i've done for all but the last 6 months of my bass/guitar playing experience, (no, I fib, for a couple of months I played bass through a Coronet 10w 10" combo back in 1977).
I'll post an audio sample on the weekend.
 
Sounds much better - tone #2 was nice for just a touch of bite for rhythm, tone #4 was my favorite overdrive sound. I'd say the amp was a great buy!
 
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