Comments on: Amp Shootout – Kustom Defender VS Laney Cub

By: anders barfod

anders barfod — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 09:59:20 +0000

NO worries about the one preamp tube. The amp has two gain stage, both with a 10µf bypass cap (full range).. The bass selecter pot lets you shave of the bass, which really works well if you want to dime the amp and play rock. Play softer and clean you want that american low end.
The EL84 are in a perculiar arrangement. It is a cathode biased series push pull arrangement that eliminates the need for a phase inverter tube. This work only with tubes like EL84 that has a high transconductance which also makes them usefull for cathode biasing.
The amp is cathode biased with a 91 ohm resistor which seems low considered that a vox AC15c1 has a 120 ohm resistor and they run similar plate voltage (~330V). But the Vox runs it screen voltage higher with a 1K screen drop whereas the kustom has a large 4.7K screen dropper setting the screen voltage down at ~285V. This cool the bias a little and the fact that the kustom has no bypass cap on the cathode bias, the output stage has less gain and will give you negative feedback a little quicker to maintain a healthy bias when driven hard. But the idle dissipation is high on the kustom, so leaving it on for long periods without playing will wear your tubes faster… A pair of sovtek EL84M with a higher power rating will last longer and stay cleaner in the amp than regular EL84 tubes.

By: Anders Barfod

Anders Barfod — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 14:26:58 +0000

I have the Laney cub 12r.. I have changed the speaker to a much louder one,, but the cab is holding it back.. I bought a cheap large empty palmer 1×12 cab and loaded it with a celestion G12H 30 watt.
Wow.. now we are talking. My only problem is that the power transformer gets hot overtime and the sound gets worse after one hour..
Now I am keeping the laney at home and want a small compact head to feed into my palmer cab and the defender 15 looks like a candidate. The only thing i wonder about is the preamp. With only one tube, this is not a long tail PI but a cathodyne PI. One gain stage with a selectable 4 position bass pot (4 different coupling cap values) and a passive tone pot going into a cathodyne.

By: Big G

Big G — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 05:43:34 +0000

I trust your judgement. My goal is balanced sound at all volumes. That may be a bit too much to ask for, but hey, I can try right? HeHe! Oh yeah, don’t count a 10″ speaker out! I’ve owned a Peavey Backstage Chorus 208 amp with two 8″ speakers (stereo) and I’ve never heard 8″ speakers with attitude (like that) until I heard those! It is a solid state amp though. I’ve had folks thinking it was a 12 incher in there. Big magnets and good bottom. Found out they were Eminence. BUT, I have to remember that it’s hard to hit that “sweet spot” at lower volumes with a tube amp, unless you have a master volume (or attenuator) to play with. Solid state, well….. a different story. Take care and play on!

By: Ben

Ben — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 00:01:58 +0000

Let me know how you like it. If you don’t like it don’t blame me 🙂 But I think it’s a good choice for $300!

Also, a disclaimer…. I’m not really a fan of a lot of bass, so I keep the bass response knob higher up… but I think it has enough to satisfy you. But a 10” speaker can only pump so much!

By: Big G

Big G — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 22:41:27 +0000

It’s 7/14/2012! Happy July. Me thinks I’m gonna pull the trigger on that Kustom V15 amplification device! The Laney just ain’t doin’ it for me. No bottom. Maybe a bit at higher volumes, but I need it all across the spectrum. Like my Peavey Express 112, it sounds full at lower AND higher volumes. Yeah, I’m still at it :)!

By: Ben Holt

Ben Holt — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 15:01:10 +0000

It has a bass response knob. It actually works great, with it all the way left it’s almost Fenderish, at the right it’s more chimey.

I leave the tone control at noon and just adjust the bass for whatever room I’m playing in, usually all the way right or one notch left.

I’d say it’s well-balanced. It functions well as a clean amp that you feed pedals into for whatever coloration you need. It’s also plenty loud enough for small gigs with drums (just like the Laney I’d imagine).

I play in a cover band (mostly rock from 80’s and 90’s), on my own I like soloing over stuff like rock, and sometimes classical and even occasionally jazz!

By: Big G

Big G — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 13:46:27 +0000

Thanks for the input! 🙂 I still have the Laney Cub12R. It’s at it’s best on the floor in actual playing situations. That’s with the speaker change I made (Eminence Legend GB128). Back to the Kustom V15….. as well as clean headroom, how is the bass response? I wouldn’t expect Fender cleans, but would you say it’s “well balanced” cleans? I’m still toggling the idea of gettin’ one anyway. BTW, what kinda music you play Ben? I do Blues, Fusion, Lite Jazz and Oldies (of the R&B/Soul variety)

By: Ben Holt

Ben Holt — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 21:05:47 +0000

I’ve had the V15 since I wrote this! For me, that’s a LONG time for ANY piece of gear to stick around.

It’s got a TON of clean headroom and haven’t had any problems yet. I use pedals to do whatever I want to it. It’s very loud and keeps up with a drummer fine. I gigged it a couple times and didn’t have it up even halfway.

For a $300 amp, it does what I need – just makes my guitar louder. You’re right though, if I did resell it it wouldn’t sell for much!

By: Big G

Big G — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 03:45:55 +0000

And so I say (some 8 months later) that the Laney 12R has a 12″ speaker and the Kustom V15 has a 10″. Any-hoo, if you like early breakup, a “boxy” sound, weak bass, and unresponsive tone controls, pick the Laney Cub12R. Even after replacing the gutless Celestion Rocket 50 speaker with an Eminence Legend GB128, it still lacks balls. Haven’t heard a good demo of the Kustom V15 yet, so I can’t say. I’m debating on gettin’ one. I’m scared I tell ya!!! Scared I’ll be stuck with another cheap China “all tube” amp that I couldn’t GIVE away (much less sell), and be stuck with th’ thing. Alot of these amps are geared toward the crunch and high gain crowd. I like my clean headroom and get my dirt from pedals. Guess I’ll save up some more and wait ’till I can get me this amp I’ve had my eye on for awhile. Maybe you’ve heard of these….they’re a company called “Chicago Blues Box” check it out- http://www.customguitargear.com/cblues-kingston18.html I’m already halfway there.
Peace out and keep playin’!!