Kramer Striker FR424S/D Review

History:

Purchase: I purchased this guitar online from musicyo.com for $179.99 + shipping/handling fees. I didn't know what to expect when I ordered the guitar in fact I wasn't sure if I really should trust a guitar this cheap. About 3-4 days after placing the order UPS knocks on my door and leaves a box. I anxiously run out and open it up.

Pros: Inside lays a beautiful metallic blue Kramer Striker FR424S/D I was impressed already from just looks alone.I examine the guitar I couldn't see any flaws in the finish and the neck was as smooth as butta! The pickups are just amazing they have such clarity with a lot of lows and warmth. When I further examined the guitar I noticed the screw for the tremolo bar was loose so I opened the spring cavity and tightened the little allen screw attached to it that fixed the problem.



Cons: Next, this is kinda my fault, but I broke a couple screws that tighten down on the strings to the saddles in the Floyd rose but they were cheap enough to replace. After a few months of use I noticed the middle pickup started to short out on me so being as creative as any musician would be I did surgery. After taking off all the electronics I find that the wires to the middle pickup were spliced by the bridge pickup.I examined the middle pickups wires and found that I actually had to cut resolder and then shrink wrap the wires back together a bit of work but well worth it.I didn't want this to happen again so I drilled a new hole which would put the wires out of harms way. This worked nicely but the drill made some scratches on my finish and this bothered me so I completely stripped the finish of this 3 month old guitar (call me crazy but for the money I paid I can always buy another!) So now I am looking for an airbrush artist to paint the body for me.

Striker FR424S/D Quality: The construction is very good but it needs tweaking and the d-tuna is useless unless you block the trem off. The Floyd is just beautiful and the metal bar that holds the pivot posts for the trem is there for an excellent reason.That metal bar takes a lot pressure off the body and makes me feel a bit safer when I am pulling up on the floyd.I have an Ibanez RG470 and the pivot posts cracked the wood so I have to get that repaired and I don't really want to anymore since the striker seems to be holding up quite nicely.This guitar was well worth every penny although it doesn't have as much sustain as an Ibanez or Jackson it is the closest guitar in the cheap realm.I like to do custom work(even on my amps)and this is an inexpensive way to get started. Musicyo has great customer support I have contacted them several times about Floyd rose parts and have given me timely and informative responses each time.

Kramer Summary: With all my little perks (which were done by choice not by necessity) I believe I found the perfect guitar for my style which really is not defined so I hope the guitar grows with me. For the money you can't beat it period. Although the guitar has a stigma from being so cheap all I can say is I am a very happy guitarist with a very good axe which will be really unique once I get some paint on it!

Rating of this product: 4

This Kramer Electric Guitars Review Submitted By: Greg Hysondis

Date: 2001-06-27

Usefulness Rating: 5 out of 5. 4 reader(s) voted.