On Everything We Carry
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On Everything We Carry |
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About Kustom |
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In the mid 1960's, a young, small-town entrepreneur named Bud Ross battled the odds to
combine America's love of music with it's passion for high speed hot rods. Imagining the
future wrapped in sparkling car upholstery, Ross experimented with covering speaker
cabinets with the same colorful Naugahyde material. Musicians resonded with an enthusiastic
"Outa Sight" and an icon of the modern music industry was born.
Kustom started out with a bang, offering several models of guitar amplifiers as well as Bass rigs and P.A. systems. The designs were fresh, the ideas hot and the technology was cutting edge for its time. Within the first two years of its existence, Kustom had grown to be one of the major manufacturers in the world. They expanded their product line to include guitars, bass guitars and organs. They also started building concert quality pro sound gear for sound companies. The first products had badges that said Kustom By Ross, Inc. The next year the logo was slightly changed to say Kustom Electronics Inc. These fine products, everything from amplifiers, sound reinforcement, stage lighting, organs, electric pianos to guitars, were built in Chanute, KS. U.S.A. Although famous worldwide for their "Tuck & Roll" design, Kustom did their best to keep up with the times, introducing newer black vinyl designs in the mid 1970's. The new products included an ever expanding line of high end pro sound gear as well as a new product line geared for the weekend player and beginner. By this time in the history, the Kustom company was bought and sold several times. This was a common practice in the 1960's and 1970's for several big conglomerates to acquire and then sell any company they could buy. The 1970's saw Kustom having much success in getting a large dealer network in North America. Kustom changed their logo in the late 70's to the famous big white "K". Most of these designs were covered in heavy duty black "Tolex". 1975 - 1983 Era Logo The late 1970's saw Kustom developing designs aimed at church installations and other designs for Disco installations. The products produced at this time were rugged and reliable, just like all of the earlier models. The Tolex is almost indestructible and the heavy construction of the cabinets made Kustom gear perfect for heavy touring. This era also saw an upgrade in technology. Better sounding products with a much improved signal to noise ratio. Some late 1983 through end of the line models sported a "reverse" logo. Black "K" with white lining. Kustom was sold several times in the late 70's and early 80's. It was owned by the folks who owned Baldwin for a while and it was also owned by Gretsch. The original Chanute, KS plant ceased operation in the mid 1980's and for a couple of years the name was part of history. It has been said a few Kustom amps were built in Nashville TN in the mid 80's. In the late 1980's, a new company bought the rights to Kustom and started producing products. The new company, based in Cincinnati, OH whole heartedly embraced the Chanute products and history. They do not have schematics and parts though. They worked hard to keep the Kustom name associated with quality. The new logo was used on all of their early products. In the mid 1990's the new Kustom company slightly altered the big K logo and started using it on most of their products. 2000 - Present Logo In the early years of the new Millennium Kustom began phasing out the "K" logo and now currently uses the "KUSTOM" Logo on almost everything it produces. Kustom is currently owned by HHI Hanser Holdings Incorporated. |
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