Uladine
New member
This thread isn't meant to urge anyone to buy a Krankenstein or say that it's better than any other amp, but merely an attempt to shed some light on the Krankenstein as I know some of you here are curious about it. The following opinions are all just opinions, so don't hate me for liking this amp. Basically, I purchased a Krankenstein a couple weeks ago and I am thoroughly happy with it.
First of all, a bit of background. I'm no tone expert, I haven't test driven all forms of high gain amps, but I have tried/owned many of the amps that the Krankenstein is usually compared to. I play heavy music (At The Gates, In Flames, Meshuggah, Chimaira, Killswitch Engage, Soilwork, Dark Tranquillity, etc.). I didn't buy this amp because I'm a Dimebag Darrel Fanatic. In fact I was actually not interested in the Krankenstein at first because I didn't want my tone to sound like tone from the Pantera/Damageplan albums. I thought the Krankenstein would be a tube amp that sounded like a solid state for some reason. I just tried it out to try to eliminate it from my options for a new amp.
The main guitar I play through the amp is a Gibson SG standard with EMG 85's. I know some of you may think "why 85's? You're supposed to put an 81 in the bridge position". I used to use the classic 81 & 85 configuration until Joel from Killswitch urged me to try the 85 in the bridge. I switched them around one day and haven't looked back since. 81's have more output, but they sound too thin to me now. 85's have more punch and just sound warmer to me.
Anyway, back to the amp. I first tried it out at the store with my SG before I put my EMG's in it. I can't remember the pickup models, but theyre the chrome covered humbuckers that come in the SG standard. I initially didn't like the sound. I couldn't blame the cab I thought, because it was the krankenstein cab that was designed for the head. I tweaked the controls a bit but it sounded a bit harsh and brittle for some reason. As I was about to give up, a friend of mine came in looking to buy an ESP. I got up and let him play the ESP through the Krankenstein. Fuck if it didn't sound loads better than my SG. Of course the ESP had EMG 81's which kind of got my interest in the amp renewed. Perhaps it just doesn't play well with the SG pickups I thought.
My friend was actually pretty impressed with the Krankenstein as well at that point (He owns a Krank Revolution). I was already planning to order a Revolution from the store, so I had the money for an amp, so I figured I'd buy the Krankenstein, take it home and compare it to my friends Revolution. If I ended up not liking it, I could return it and get a revolution for less money.
I took it home, put some EMG 85's in my SG, and the next day I took my new amp out to my band's rehearsal space to give it a real test drive. At first I played it through a Basson 4x12 cab. It had a lot of low end, but lacked the mids neccesary to really make it cut through over drums and what not. I then switched to my "little" Marshall 1960 straight cab and there it was. Basically it's the tone I've always been looking for. My Marshall JCM 2000 TSL came close, but was too noisy, My Peavey XXX just sounds like a toy to me now, and my friends Mesa Boogie Triple Rec sounds good but is a little too finicky for my taste.
I'm thinking about buying the Krankenstein cab, but I'll have to A/B it with my Marshall cab first. There's just something about the midrange bark of the marshall that I love. It might not have the low end of a Basson or Mesa cab, but I'll leave the low end to the Bass player. I want clarity, which the krankenstein provides. It's actually pretty impressive for such a gain monster.
One of my favorite aspects is how quiet it is. I don't know if it has some sort of internal noise gate circuitry or something, but you can have the volume up really loud, have the volume on your guitar all the way up and be on the distoron channel without any external noise suppressors and this thing is dead quiet. I used to have to switch to the clean channel on my marshall between songs because it was so noisy. Granted, if I put a few stomp boxes before the krank theres a bit of noise, but I'll have to see if my Hush pedal can fix that next time I'm out at the rehearsal space. I'm currently running my guitar into a boss tuner pedal, then a boss noise suppressor (to clean up handling noise when I'm swinging my guitar around), then straight to the amps input.
I like that the footswitch jack is the classic trs connection. I actually bought a long insert cable that I run to a boss dual switch that I got for about $40. I like the boss buttons better than the metal "clicky" buttons on the krank footwsitch. The Krank footswitch is basically the same switch as the marshall two button footswitch, but instead of controlling channel switching and reverb (which the krankenstein doesnt have), it controls channel switching and switching between the two volume controls on the distortion channel (for lead boosts, etc).
Negative sides to the amp that I have encountered so far are that the clean channel isn't all that great, but I rarely use it so I'm not too concerned, and using the FX loop sacrifices the tone a little bit. Theres a level/boost control fot the loop that helps a bit, but I decided I'd rather keep the tone intact and sacrifice some effects. Putting the FX before the amp adds noise, which I could live with, but I'd prefer to have dead silence when I'm not playing, so my hush pedal will determine if I end up using any effects or not. I don't really need them.
I actually preffer the Krankenstein over the revolution at this point. The Krankenstein has more gain, but I don't really turn it up that high. It's nice to know it's there if I want to do some Cannibal Corpse stuff I suppose. The sweep control adds a ton of versatility to the amp. I'm not exactly sure what the control does scientifically, but basically it sounds like a parametric sweep that moves all three of the EQ controls simultaneously. Scooped death metal tones are easy, but I preffer more clarity, which is also easily achievable with this amp. I really like the addition of the Master Volume control, which the Revolution lacks, as did my Marshall. The Master presence control is nice too. The two "master volume" controls on the "dime channel" are very useful, giving you that little boost for leads when you need it. Why they call them master volumes is beyond me, basically its like having two volume controls on the distortion channel that you can switch between with the footswitch.
I think thats about it. I just wanted to shed some light on this amp for some of the people here that may be curious. If you have any questions let me know.
First of all, a bit of background. I'm no tone expert, I haven't test driven all forms of high gain amps, but I have tried/owned many of the amps that the Krankenstein is usually compared to. I play heavy music (At The Gates, In Flames, Meshuggah, Chimaira, Killswitch Engage, Soilwork, Dark Tranquillity, etc.). I didn't buy this amp because I'm a Dimebag Darrel Fanatic. In fact I was actually not interested in the Krankenstein at first because I didn't want my tone to sound like tone from the Pantera/Damageplan albums. I thought the Krankenstein would be a tube amp that sounded like a solid state for some reason. I just tried it out to try to eliminate it from my options for a new amp.
The main guitar I play through the amp is a Gibson SG standard with EMG 85's. I know some of you may think "why 85's? You're supposed to put an 81 in the bridge position". I used to use the classic 81 & 85 configuration until Joel from Killswitch urged me to try the 85 in the bridge. I switched them around one day and haven't looked back since. 81's have more output, but they sound too thin to me now. 85's have more punch and just sound warmer to me.
Anyway, back to the amp. I first tried it out at the store with my SG before I put my EMG's in it. I can't remember the pickup models, but theyre the chrome covered humbuckers that come in the SG standard. I initially didn't like the sound. I couldn't blame the cab I thought, because it was the krankenstein cab that was designed for the head. I tweaked the controls a bit but it sounded a bit harsh and brittle for some reason. As I was about to give up, a friend of mine came in looking to buy an ESP. I got up and let him play the ESP through the Krankenstein. Fuck if it didn't sound loads better than my SG. Of course the ESP had EMG 81's which kind of got my interest in the amp renewed. Perhaps it just doesn't play well with the SG pickups I thought.
My friend was actually pretty impressed with the Krankenstein as well at that point (He owns a Krank Revolution). I was already planning to order a Revolution from the store, so I had the money for an amp, so I figured I'd buy the Krankenstein, take it home and compare it to my friends Revolution. If I ended up not liking it, I could return it and get a revolution for less money.
I took it home, put some EMG 85's in my SG, and the next day I took my new amp out to my band's rehearsal space to give it a real test drive. At first I played it through a Basson 4x12 cab. It had a lot of low end, but lacked the mids neccesary to really make it cut through over drums and what not. I then switched to my "little" Marshall 1960 straight cab and there it was. Basically it's the tone I've always been looking for. My Marshall JCM 2000 TSL came close, but was too noisy, My Peavey XXX just sounds like a toy to me now, and my friends Mesa Boogie Triple Rec sounds good but is a little too finicky for my taste.
I'm thinking about buying the Krankenstein cab, but I'll have to A/B it with my Marshall cab first. There's just something about the midrange bark of the marshall that I love. It might not have the low end of a Basson or Mesa cab, but I'll leave the low end to the Bass player. I want clarity, which the krankenstein provides. It's actually pretty impressive for such a gain monster.
One of my favorite aspects is how quiet it is. I don't know if it has some sort of internal noise gate circuitry or something, but you can have the volume up really loud, have the volume on your guitar all the way up and be on the distoron channel without any external noise suppressors and this thing is dead quiet. I used to have to switch to the clean channel on my marshall between songs because it was so noisy. Granted, if I put a few stomp boxes before the krank theres a bit of noise, but I'll have to see if my Hush pedal can fix that next time I'm out at the rehearsal space. I'm currently running my guitar into a boss tuner pedal, then a boss noise suppressor (to clean up handling noise when I'm swinging my guitar around), then straight to the amps input.
I like that the footswitch jack is the classic trs connection. I actually bought a long insert cable that I run to a boss dual switch that I got for about $40. I like the boss buttons better than the metal "clicky" buttons on the krank footwsitch. The Krank footswitch is basically the same switch as the marshall two button footswitch, but instead of controlling channel switching and reverb (which the krankenstein doesnt have), it controls channel switching and switching between the two volume controls on the distortion channel (for lead boosts, etc).
Negative sides to the amp that I have encountered so far are that the clean channel isn't all that great, but I rarely use it so I'm not too concerned, and using the FX loop sacrifices the tone a little bit. Theres a level/boost control fot the loop that helps a bit, but I decided I'd rather keep the tone intact and sacrifice some effects. Putting the FX before the amp adds noise, which I could live with, but I'd prefer to have dead silence when I'm not playing, so my hush pedal will determine if I end up using any effects or not. I don't really need them.
I actually preffer the Krankenstein over the revolution at this point. The Krankenstein has more gain, but I don't really turn it up that high. It's nice to know it's there if I want to do some Cannibal Corpse stuff I suppose. The sweep control adds a ton of versatility to the amp. I'm not exactly sure what the control does scientifically, but basically it sounds like a parametric sweep that moves all three of the EQ controls simultaneously. Scooped death metal tones are easy, but I preffer more clarity, which is also easily achievable with this amp. I really like the addition of the Master Volume control, which the Revolution lacks, as did my Marshall. The Master presence control is nice too. The two "master volume" controls on the "dime channel" are very useful, giving you that little boost for leads when you need it. Why they call them master volumes is beyond me, basically its like having two volume controls on the distortion channel that you can switch between with the footswitch.
I think thats about it. I just wanted to shed some light on this amp for some of the people here that may be curious. If you have any questions let me know.