Really great read for KCBJ subscribers, noobs or those who know how to get around the paywall . . . Check the history of this groundbreaking local musica man:
Inventor of renowned Kustom amplifiers and police radar dies - Kansas City Business Journal
Charles "Bud" Ross came to the Kansas City area on a Greyhound bus. Ross leaves a legacy that included inventing a world-famous guitar amplifier and handheld police radars, and being inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame. Ross, who died Saturday, was self-taught in electronics.
I had a Ross Distortion pedal made in Chanute Kansas I sold for 400'00
ReplyDeleteRoss made good money with his Birdview dishes but his biggest cash cow was his radar guns for law enforcement. Any one who has ever driven down 169 highway around the Chanute KS area has probably had a panic attack of some sorts when coming up on a car sitting alongside the road that you all of a sudden notice has all these radar units on it. Almost every workday they loaded up what ever car they were using and headed out to the highway for testing. They made a radar detector at one time but it never really caught on due to its size. I had one in the mid 70's and the thing looked like a radar gun sitting on the dash. But pressure from the cop shops was what really made them cease building them. CB radios and radar detectors were quite the rage from mid 70's to early 90's
ReplyDeleteThose Kustom Amps and PA Systems were absolutely awesome and could not be touched cosmetically. Buying a restored set up will cost your first born today.
ReplyDeleteYeah I remember the cool pleated blue metallic vinyl that looked like a fiber glass dune buggy covering the amps and speakers.
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