Footswitch cable for Kustom 72 Coupe

OnTheRopes

I have a Kustom 72 Coupe but have no footswitch cable. It is a 3 way switch with Lead Boost and Effect. Do I need a particular cable for this?

ICBM

Looking at pics of the amp and footswitch it's almost certain to be a Fender-style switching system with a mono 1/4" cable. Any standard cable should work, although Fender use a speaker-type cable rather than instrument-type.

Try it with a guitar lead - the worst that can happen is that it won't work, it can't do any damage. The only other possibility is a stereo cable, but that's unlikely with a 3-button footswitch.

OnTheRopes

Thanks
Tried a guitar lead and it works on the channel select so at least I can use that. It doesn't operate the Boost or Effect switches though. The manual says; The Footswitch jack on the Coupe is a stereo jack that connects the Coupe footswitch to the amplifier. It uses a special circuit to decode the 3 switches through a simple stereo cable. In an emergency, a mono instrument cable can be used to allow footswitching of the channels only. In this setup, the LEDs will not be visible, but at least the footswitch will select Rhythm or Lead channels.

ICBM

Aha! I was wrong . Stereo cable it is…

That's actually a very well-thought-out system, in that it has an emergency mode which will get you through the gig with any available cable if you lose your stereo one. Not many amp companies think of stuff like that - much respect to Kustom. (I like their amps anyway.)

TheMarlin

Love these amps . I’ve had a few 36’s, and played a 2x10 72.  I’d take it over a Fender Hot Rod any day

OnTheRopes

Cheers, so is that just a standard stereo cable I can get from any guitar shop?
I have been given the amp by a guitarist friend who says it was cluttering up his house, so pretty lucky I guess.
The only thing is it does have a constant crackly or static type noise all the time, should I take it to an amp tech do you think?

ICBM

OnTheRopes said:

Cheers, so is that just a standard stereo cable I can get from any guitar shop?

Yes - although it might be something that not all guitar shops carry. Somewhere like Maplins will though.

OnTheRopes said:

I have been given the amp by a guitarist friend who says it was cluttering up his house, so pretty lucky I guess.

Yes! These are really great-sounding amps, and were pretty expensive new, although they haven't held their value because Kustom is mostly associated with entry-level solid-state amps these days.

OnTheRopes said:

The only thing is it does have a constant crackly or static type noise all the time, should I take it to an amp tech do you think?

It's most likely either a failing valve or a dirty contact in a valve socket, or something simple like that. If you're not familiar with troubleshooting a valve amp it might be a good idea to have it looked at, but if you're happy to have a go yourself it shouldn't be too hard to find out if it's something you can do.

OnTheRopes

Thanks ICBM, I removed the valves and gave the pins a bit of a scrape but made no difference, it could be the sockets but not really sure how to clean those for the best

ICBM

OnTheRopes said:

Thanks ICBM, I removed the valves and gave the pins a bit of a scrape but made no difference, it could be the sockets but not really sure how to clean those for the best

Unlikely, just taking the valves out and putting them back will usually do it. It sounds like you may have a duff valve - did you put them back in the same positions? If so, try swapping them around - if it's a valve fault it may either go away or change, which would confirm that.

Is the noise affected by the controls, and if so which ones? That might help identify where it's coming from.

OnTheRopes

Tried swapping them around and doesn't make any difference. None of the controls affect it it is just there all the time, sometimes quieter and sometimes louder. 

ICBM

Sounds like a power valve, if it's a valve at all. Try removing each power valve one at a time - it's safe to run it on three temporarily - and see if it's related to any particular one.

(Assuming it will run with less than all the valves in - some amps have the filaments in series and won't, but it's fairly rare.)

If not then it probably needs to see a tech.

OnTheRopes

Tried that - no difference. Time to take to the tech then.
Anyway, thanks for your help much appreciated