Kustom have been kicking out little entry level practice amps for quite some time now. The KBA10 and KGA10 have become the staple diet of beginners across the country, being supplied in Encore Playnow packs and being available for as little as £49.99.

The KBA10 of the Kustom X series is Kustom's entry level bass amplifier and it's a perky little thing. First impressions out of the box are that it's clearly a well made little box, weighing in at just over six kilograms it's a sturdy little thing. When you've been to enough trade shows you'll realise that this is something that Kustom pride themselves in and thankfully have extended right down to their entry level amps.

The controls consist of quite simply; Volume, Bass, Mid and Treble. These are all mounted on a polished chrome control panel, sporting damn shiny knobs.

To give the amp a road test I used a Yahama Bass at around the £200 mark. Plugging in, first impressions are, this amp is very hasty. But after all, it is very small. It's perky to say the least, possibly to make up for not having a gain control (i'm guessing), the amp goes ballistic after the volume is raised above a third. This isn't a problem however as there is plenty of area to play with in this bottom third that any bedroom rocker would find quite satisfying and with some tone control tweaking there's a good variety of clean tones to find. When the volume passes half way the amp enters the dark realms of overdriven, overloaded small amp and you may need to shower afterwards. This sound is pretty filthy and I'm sure there are plenty of leather wearing, safety pin through the eyeball types who would love it.

To sum up, there are practice bass amps out there that are cheaper, but they really can't compete with the Kustom build quality. The amp provides a suprising amount of bass for such a small thing, due to the sturdy box. It provides enough volume for the solo practising mature player and enough volume for the young beginner to get shouted at by their parents (thankfully there is a headphone socket so that's OK).

Click Here to see Full Post