Vintage Kustom Amp Serial Numbers

There are some easy ways to find out when your vintage Fender was manufactured. First, to get a general idea,there's the appearance/style of the amp. There are some exceptions and some overlap, but the general idea is this: Tweeds (early 50's to very early 60s), Browns (1960 – 1962), Blondes (1962 – 1963), Blackface (1963 – 1967), and Silverface (1967 – 1981). Up until the end of the blackface era (1967), all amps left the factory with a tube chart that had a two letter date code stamped on it.

1. Used Kustom Amps For Sale
2. Kustom Amp Serial Number Chart

TUBE CHARTS:

The tube chart date code works like this: the first letter indicates the year and the second letter indicates the month. So if your blackface amp has a date code stamp of OB, it was made in 1965/February. If your tweed champ is stamped HH, it was made in 1958/August.

A – 1951 A – January

DATING FENDER TUBE AMPS BY SERIAL NUMBER, PART 1 BY GREG GAGLIANO COPYRIGHT 1997, 20TH CENTURY GUITAR MAGAZINE. And: Your ultimate source for historical guitar amplifier information: THE AMP GUIDE. By Eric Barbour - Former Vacuum Tube Valley senior editor What the tubes do in most Fender tube amps. Get the best deals on vintage kustom amp when you shop the largest online selection at eBay.com. Free shipping on many items Browse your favorite brands affordable prices. DATING EARLY FENDER AMPLIFIERS Dating early Fender amplifiers is sometimes quite challenging. While dating Fender amps made before 1994 by serial number is all but impossible (as records of these numbers were never kept), all hope is not lost—the charts below should prove helpful in dating your Fender amp. First, a foil sticker containing a 4-digit serial number was affixed to the chassis over the A23373. Unfortunately, these often peeled off or were removed by the amp's owner thus revealing the A23373 number. I found a list of serial numbers and dates of manufacture for old Kustom amps. It looks like the Frankenstein era is 1965 - 1967. K200 A and B series with the classic tuck n roll and face plates just after Frenkenstein run from 1967 to 1971.

B – 1952 B – February

C – 1953 C – March

D – 1954 D – April

E – 1955 E – May

F – 1956 F – June

G – 1957 G – July

H – 1958 H – August

I – 1959 I – September

J – 1960 J – October

K – 1961 K – November

L – 1962 L – December

M – 1963

N – 1964

O – 1965

P – 1966

Q – 1967

TRANSFORMER DATE CODES:

D – 1954 D – April

E – 1955 E – May

F – 1956 F – June

G – 1957 G – July

H – 1958 H – August

I – 1959 I – September

J – 1960 J – October

K – 1961 K – November

L – 1962 L – December

M – 1963

N – 1964

O – 1965

P – 1966

Q – 1967

TRANSFORMER DATE CODES:

Another way to get a close estimate of when your amp was made is to read the codes on the transformers. Most post tweed Fenders had trannys manufactured by Schumacher.

They used a code like this: 606 – 645

The date is in the last three digits, after the 606 – . The first of the three digits tells us the last digit of the year (unfortunately not decade specific) and the last two numbers tell us the week. In the above example, the transformer was made in either 1966 or 1976, week 45. Now if it's a blackface amp, it's a safe bet that 6 means 1966. If it's a silverface amp, that 6 indicates 1976.

This code can be found on the power transformer, output transformer, choke, and reverb transformer. They are all usually within a few months of each other. Use the latest one to give you a good idea of when it was made. For example, if your silverface super reverb has transformer codes all from 1974, it was made in 1974! Let's say the weeks are 27, 29, 33, 41. Based on the last number (45), it's safe to say it was made in late 1974.

Many silverface and some blackface amps have the exact week, month and year stamped insie the chassis.

FENDER SERIAL NUMBERS:

Here's a link to a great webpage that has compiled the dating list forFender Serial Numbers.

Probably best known for their unique tuck-and-roll amp covering that was offered in a varietyof sparkly colors, Kustom was one of the first ampmanufacturers to find success with solid-statetechnology in the 1960s.

Hey Zach,
I have one of these really cool Kustomamps (at least I think they're cool),and I've always been curious aboutwhat the '100' on the front and '7'on the back indicate. It seems that notwo Kustom amps are the same. Whyis this and what are these worth today?

Thanks,
Bill in Jacksonville, FL

Hey Bill,
Don't let anyone tell you otherwise—Kustom amps are way cool. Many playersthink these amps sound great, and bandssuch as Jefferson Airplane and CreedenceClearwater Revival used them heavily in the1970s. Kustom amps are important becausethe company really pushed the envelopewith unique cosmetics and offered virtuallyendless options. But more importantly,Kustom, along with Acoustic and Standel,were the first manufacturers to successfullybuild and market solid-state amps when thetechnology was new in the 1960s.

Bob Ross founded Kustom in Chanute,Kansas, in 1965. His amps immediatelystood out because of their 'tuck-and-roll'covering made from a material calledNaugahyde, a vinyl-coated fabric thatfeels like squishy plastic. And Kustomoffered this unusual covering with theoption of seven sparkly colors: black,blue, cascade (blue/green), charcoal, gold,silver, and red.

If you ever have a chance to see a vintageKustom catalog, you'll instantly realizewhy every Kustom amp appears to be different—the company offered nearly everypossible configuration you could think of.Endless options are great, but trying to differentiateand identify Kustom amps can beextremely frustrating because three differentsets of identification numbers were used:series numbers, model numbers, and catalognumbers.

Series numbers are usually found onthe front of the amp—under or behindthe Kustom logo—and consist of valueslike 25, 50, 100, 200, and higher.Generally speaking, these numbersindicate the amount of power multipliedby two. For example, a 200 seriesamp means 100 watts of power. Modelnumbers are normally found on theserial-number plate located on the backof the amp, and they range from 1 to 8.The model number indicates the chassisused—with a higher number denotingmore features—and repairmen relied onthese numbers to know what chassis theywere working on. Lastly, the catalog numberswere used in price lists and catalogsso a customer could order the exactamp he or she wanted.

These catalog numbers typicallyfollowed a number/letterformat of X-XXL-X. The firstnumber indicated the number of speakers[usually 1-4], the next two numbersindicated the size of the speakers [10, 12,15, etc.], while the lone letter representedthe brand of speaker [A for Altec Lansing,C for CTS, J for Jensen, and L for JBL].Finally, the last number in the sequenceindicated the aforementioned model number.Still with me?

So, the '100' on the front of yourKustom tells us it's a 100 series amp andhas an approximate output of 50 watts.The '7' on the back means it has a model7 chassis, which includes reverb, vibrato,and tremolo (the controls on the front alsoconfirm this). Unfortunately, since we don'thave the catalog number (catalog numbersonly appeared in catalogs and not actuallyon the amps), the only way to determinewhat speakers your amp is equipped with isto disassemble it.

Without knowing thecatalog number, the only way to determine this K100's speaker setup
is to remove the back panel.

As mentioned previously, these ampsused early solid-state technology and havea reputation for being built like a tank.But road wear and heavy use was typicallynot kind to the soft, Naugahyde tuck-and-roll covering, and many of the ampsthat survived over the years are in roughshape today.

Cosmetic condition is the number-onefactor in determining the value of theseamps, and cover color follows as a close second.Black seems to be the most commoncolor and the other six are slightly moredesirable, with gold and cascade probablythe most rare. These amps also need to bein working condition, since it's difficult tofind replacement components—especiallythe germanium transistors. Today, your ampis worth between $400 and $500 becauseit still works, has the more desirable bluecovering, and the covering is in good condition.If nothing else, it's a treasure for theliving room!

Used Kustom Amps For Sale

Kustom Amp Serial Number Chart