WE HAVE A WINNER! Let's see what I've won!
It's a Kasino!
Okay, here's a little background...
Kasino was a sub-brand of Kustom, without the fancy tuck and roll. Some say it was a way to market amps to players who didn't want the sparkled vinyl of yesteryear, some say it was a way to distribute similar amps in the same market via different dealers. I say it was a little bit of both.
Kustom had three main periods.
1965-1971 - they have the "classic" flat-front look of the Kustoms many of us have seen. Lines were based on power, the "100" (50W) and "200" (100W) series.
1972-1973 - Bud Ross left the company and the amps changed to a slanted-front style with blue light-up push buttons for power and polarity. [EDIT: at this point they changed the circuit with increased power and all the model numbers end in "-50", so "150/250".]
1974 - the company changed hands again, and began what collectors call the "Big K" era of tolex-covered, otherwise kinda generic '70s amps.
Kasino had the same progression. Despite prevailing wisdom, Kasino started in late 1970 or early 1971 according to printing dates on the pricelists and catalogs that have survived. The first line of Kasinos had numbers like 100 and 200 on the grill cloth, and were all giant combos with flat-front chassis, aluminum trim, and pinstripes. I mean up to GIANT. 8x10 combos with built in tilt-back casters. Matching powered extension speakers. This head seems to be a bit of a rarity in that a separate head is not listed in the surviving price lists and literature.
(pic not mine)
Kasino's second line in 1972 had slanted-front heads (just like Kustom's redesign) with pinstripes now encroaching onto the heads themselves, and names like "Snake Eyes" and "Natural".
(pic not mine)
The third and final phase of the Kasino stuff was a parallel to the Kustom "Big K" era, and have more traditional styling, black tolex, and blue faceplates. And a big K.
(pic not mine)
Everybody says that Kasino is just Kustom with a different paint job. But the PCBs are laid out differently and there are some changes like the fact that it's only single channel. The "Selectone" function is also a late addition to the earliest period of Kustom/Kasino, only showing up on the transitional K200B-6 amp previously, but in a different configuration. A couple of the earlier, "silver trim"-era Kasino PA heads, like the Club and Concert, do seem to be 1:1 copies of Kustom's PA heads (The 50W K100B-5 and 100W K200B-5, respectively.)
So, yeah, the schematics are probably the same or collaged versions of other preamp boards in the Kustom Lab, but it's not just a matter of tearing the naugahyde off to convert a Kustom to a Kasino.
Parts codes date this one to probably the second half of 1971, so maybe they were trying standalone heads when nobody wanted to buy a 2x8x10 setup with un-detachable amp tops.
How does it sound? Like an early solid-state amp. That weird, funky character they have. It's got huge bass and treble range, a big full sound. Warm and full, but a little brash and unrefined compared to vintage tube stuff. But I like that, I like amps with personality. Feeding it a Fuzzrite puts me in "cheap funky soundtrack of the '70s" mode, like a Godzilla or low-budget blaxploitation movie score, or if I play well, Isaac Hayes' "Walk On By". Oddly, it's go NO background noise, like every early-era Kustom I've played, no rushing water sound in the background at all. Volume on the amp is super-duper loud at home, looking forward to taking it out for a walk in the next week or two and letting it stretch its legs at the rehearsal room. I'm hoping it's got that same maxed-out fuzz sound that the Kustom 200 does.
The other one has mysterious tracking, may show up on Wednesday? We'll see.
But thank you all for playing, Steadyriot takes home the no-prize, but I have to give some credit to Stevejamsecono -- I WANTED to give you the win with Kustom, but it was a Gibson/Epiphone parent-company situation, so, I'm sorry the judges made that call. We'll still comp you at the seafood bar.
Oh, and if you're the curious type like me, be warned that the story of Gene Snyder from Wichita, KS is not one that ends well.
Feel free to speculate on what type the other incoming amp is. It *IS* a Kasino, and the second one was $70.