Is the krankenstein amp any good

[Matman1]

I was thinking about getting a used krank amp but I have heard mixed reviews. I talked to a guitar distributor thats sells Washburn guitars who said dimebag went to krank because he had money invested in one it's parent companies and he was upset at Randall and Washburn when it came time for contract renogotiation. That isn't the question I am trying to get it. Krank was all over magazines circa 2004 in advertisements and so forth. Now I see almost nothing about them and I guess dean released the DIME amp. I am confused on hoe that works if he image and name are used on the krankenstein amp. Anyway I have heard different things from people the majority say its a decent over priced amp. The Washburn guitar dealer said that krank amps and the krankenstein amp are horrible and are completely unreliable. I am not too familiar with the technical aspects of the amps but I think he said one of the components like the transister is notorious for going out and it is absolute junk. Does krank have a bad reputation? Can anyone feel me in on their opinions of the amp. I am going to loom at what they sell for new verses new to get an idea of how much value they hold

[formula73]

Re: Is the krankenstein amp any good

Krank DOES have a pretty bad rep that they appear to be trying to overcome. Everybody who owns some version of a Rev Jr absolutely loves it. Everybody I know who had one of the Krankensteins hated it, and most had problems. One of my buds smoked 2 brand new ones in the studio and went back to Rectos right then and there. I've only ever played through one and it was awful. Being as that it was in the 'artist room' at Dean HQ, you'd figure it would be at 100% but it screeched at ANY volume. Obviously, YMMV. If you can try one out before buying, go for it. I wouldn't get one used, sight unseen. At least if you buy one, mail order, you'll have a warranty.

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Is the krankenstein amp any good

FWIW : i am not a High Gain kinda guy, but this is what i came to know . . .


. . . i actually like the tone from the 1st gen Krankenstein 100W sig head. But i do not like the tones of the 2nd gen Krankenstein+ 120W head.

The 120W head sunds way too tight and compressed for my liking.
According to my ears, the older 100W unit was looser sounding and had its own sound going on. The 120W sounds too generic for me.

YMMV / *YEMTYD




* Your Ears Might Tell You Differantly

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Is the krankenstein amp any good

Oh, and here is the best tone enhancement mod you can do : (and it's cheap)





REMOVE THE NAME PLATE : instant tone improvement

[UberMetalDood]

Re: Is the krankenstein amp any good

Before this thread goes south and a bunch of people without any worthy Krank experience crap all over it some more, I'll tell you what I know of Krank amps. I tried the Krankenstein+ for the first time about a year ago at Guitar Center where a guy was playing it so loud that no one could hear themselves play. It sounded thick, tight and rich. I plugged in soon after he left and it didn't sound nearly as good. That amp isn't much good for home or garage use.

Just recently I had the pleasure of playing the new Rev Jr. 20 and 50 watt heads. I have to say that they were impressive. I wouldn't mind having a 50w Rev Jr for my self. To compare the cleans, I would say they're kind of like the cleans on an Engl, but not as warm. Bluesy tones were great and of course heavy riffing sounded great, but I also liked the lead tone a lot.

You can tell they're great quality amps in their tone. Even though they're not harmonically rich, touch sensitive, blah blah boutique amps, they sound great. I cannot attest to the quality but they seem to be better quality than any Bugera I've tried. I'm not even kidding when I tell you that the first two Bugeras I tried both had problems. No matter how good anyone can get Bugeras to sound, no one could convince me to buy one of those pieces of crap.

Krank on the other hand seems to have a pretty good reputation from the people I know who use them. I haven't heard anyone say that theirs has broken down. In fact, a friend of mine says they have great customer service.

They have these new Nineteen80 Jr's in 20w and 50w versions and I can't wait to try that out. If faced with the decision of buying a Krank, I would buy one, but don't get the 120w head unless you're going on tour because they don't sound good to me at low volume.

[Warheart]

Re: Is the krankenstein amp any good

I have the Krank Revolution One 100W version.

The first thing I've noticed with playing it live:
It sounds kinda harsh, very scooped with a fizz high end that's hard to dial out, if at all.
It can be very bassy or very treblely according to how you set the sweep knob.
The 2nd master volume is a great idea.

The first thing I've noticed about hearing recordings of playing it live.
It sounds ****ing amazing recorded. I couldn't get over it. I remember playing the whole set thinking this is kinda harsh and abrasive, but listening to the recordings after, it comes out pretty d*mn good.
The clean channel is Clean, I don't think you'll get any dirt out of it whatsoever. Its got a nice texture and jangle that is pretty awesome too.

I had some issues with tubes in the past, but once I got a full set of JJ's and biased the amp, it has been pretty good since.

In terms of holding their value, they don't.
I've seen a few of these on ebay go for less that a 5150. Minimum ~$300.

[ALowerDeep]

Re: Is the krankenstein amp any good

great amp for metal.....i have a kstein plus with KT88's in it...very full sounding amp...can be dialed to sound almost like a CD,just takes time with the interaction of the sweep and presence controls.....

[DankStar]

Re: Is the krankenstein amp any good

I played one back to back with the chadwick. chadwick was more my style - natural sounding, not harsh, more like a marshall. they go for cheap too, it's crazy.