THE FEDERAL RESERVE AND THE KUSTOM ARMY

[Desert Surfer]

Greetings from Las Vegas! I am here for the National Hardcore show... Sorry.. typo... Hardware show

I like John Fogerty and CCR a lot, especially their version of "Cottonfield" (next to the original Leadbelly's of course)

I am kind of lost here. What guitar you guys are talking about? I thought John was playing a Ric? Dennis or anyone, please help me out.

[Dennisthe Menace]

Greetings from Las Vegas! I am here for the National Hardcore show... Sorry.. typo... Hardware show

I like John Fogerty and CCR a lot, especially their version of "Cottonfield" (next to the original Leadbelly's of course)

I am kind of lost here. What guitar you guys are talking about? I thought John was playing a Ric? Dennis or anyone, please help me out.

Desert Surfer,
You are absolutely correct. I only wanted to post the youtube vids just to show that John played a RIC in the early part of CCR. And he got a certain midrange driving sound between his RIC and the Kustom Amps. Alot of knowledgable music people (or at least I thought ) that I have spoken to, swear he's always played either his Strat, L.P. or his Tele....

well, that ain't so

[Strat-o-rama]

I remember an old Guitar Player magazine interview with John and he commented that the Ric had a Gibson PAF in the bridge position. He claims this gave him a unique sound, and that RIC (don't recall the model, but it was a hollowbody) with the PAF is what created the unique tone on "Suzie Q".
However, when I saw him on what was probably the last tour of CCR, he was playing a Black Beauty thru Kustom stacks.
Dennis, the live footage in that video of Sweet Hitch Hiker sure captured the vibe I recall from soooo many years ago.

[MWaldorf]

Here's CCR with John playing his Rickenbacker:

Here's the 325 as it exists today. Mind you, I was under the impression that a 325 with "f" holes is an export model 1996?


However, it's possible he had more than one - here he is in the early 70s with with what looks like a stock 325:

[Dennisthe Menace]

Mel, NICE FIND!

Mind you, I was under the impression that a 325 with "f" holes is an export model 1996?

Well, yes and no...what you mentioned is correct. However, the Originals were a product
of RIC back in the mid 60s, and yes the F hole was the exported model even back then.
Now, here's where I get confused, was the original model called a 325 for the exported
versions back in the 60s, or were they marked as a different Model # by RIC??
I thought it might of been the 320, but that could be a different model entirely.
One of us might have to pay a visit to the RIC Forum and get their help .....

[Deke Dickerson]

To answer the question that was never answered about the KUSTOM guitars, they made them briefly in that 1966-1969 window, not sure exactly the dates, but they are really cool guitars! They are sort of a cross between a Rickenbacker and a Mosrite....hollowbody with neck-through construction (very light!), DeArmond pickups, Bigsby vibrato....they are cool and sound really good. The hippest finish they did was the "wineburst" which is fairly obvious in the picture of the Federal Reserve, the guy 2nd from the left has a wineburst one.

I've seen about a dozen of these things over the years, and they always play great and the necks aren't warped....not sure why they haven't gotten any props from the vintage people yet, other than a curiosity. Could be that no famous players have used them yet....

Deke

[Desert Surfer]

To answer the question that was never answered about the KUSTOM guitars, they made them briefly in that 1966-1969 window, not sure exactly the dates, but they are really cool guitars! They are sort of a cross between a Rickenbacker and a Mosrite....hollowbody with neck-through construction (very light!), DeArmond pickups, Bigsby vibrato....they are cool and sound really good. The hippest finish they did was the "wineburst" which is fairly obvious in the picture of the Federal Reserve, the guy 2nd from the left has a wineburst one.

I've seen about a dozen of these things over the years, and they always play great and the necks aren't warped....not sure why they haven't gotten any props from the vintage people yet, other than a curiosity. Could be that no famous players have used them yet....

Deke

Thanks, Deke: I will start looking for these Kustom guitars before the price go way up.

Thanks Mel for the photo. 2 toaster pickups plus a high gain? very interesting.

Thanks, Trent: I will try my Ric 660 to play Susie Q from now on.

[Mr. Bill]

Very Kool thread!

I own one of those Kustom K-200's. What Deke sez is true, but they all (AFAIK) have bolt on necks. They are made just like the Ricks, in that the bodies are hollowed out before the front and back are glued together.

As for the Ricks the models ending with a "5" designated a guitar with a vibrato tail piece. So a model 320 with a vibrato would be a model 325. I think that the two photos show the same guitar. Back then Ricks didn't normally come with factory installed Bigsbys. They had the Accent vibrato and the Kaufmann.

As for the f-holes on the 320's, I own a 70's model that has the f-hole, and most of the 320s that I've seen have the f-hole. Vintage solid top versions like Lennon's are the more unusual versions.

[Desert Surfer]

Here are some info from 2009 Vintage Guitar Price Guitar on Kustom guitars: (P.183)

1968-69
Electric Hollowbody
Hollowed out 2 part bodies, includes the K200A (humbucker, Bigsby), the K200B (Single coils, trapeze tailpiece) and the K200C (less fancy tuners) various colors.

1960's $950-1100

[handbrake]

Kustom K200A listed for north of $1000.