When I contacted MusicYo two weeks ago, I was determined to get a hold of one of
these Kramer Focus VT111S electric guitars for $69 and beat the heck out of it. You know,
really make it fall apart. I knew ( well, I thought I knew ) I would be disappointed.
After all, what kind of guitar can you produce and sell for $69 that could be worth any
more than the pressed cardboard it was made out of? Don't take me wrong, folks, I'm not
one of those people that criticize any instrument that sells for under $1000 just because
it's not a Strat or a Les Paul. However, I can be skeptical at times and seeing the $69
price tag was the trigger that motivated me to challenge these guys to a review.
Well, my friends, the eagle ( err, the Focus ) has landed -
and my opinion metamorphosis has begun. The first thing I noticed was the nice solid heavy
cardboard box ( I expected it wrapped in cellophane for $69 ). Once I got the box down to
my office and opened it, I found inside a nice hard shell case ( this is not included for
$69 ) protecting the contents inside. I was pretty impressed by the case and thought to
myself that the case itself probably approaches the cost of the guitar. As I opened the
case, my eyes lit up. Lake Placid Blue. How purrrty.
Immediately I picked the guitar up and began going over the finish, the neck, and the
hardware. The first thing that amazed me was the action on this guitar. This Focus is set
really low. As you all know that can cause fret buzz problems, but after having played
this guitar hard for a couple days I had absolutely zero problems. I really couldn't find
anything wrong with the finish ( and actually it was quite beautiful ) and the neck was
very solid without any detectable bowing or curvature. I was getting frustrated. As I was
looking over the hardware, I noticed that the volume and tone pots were slightly warped.
Although they had a very solid feel and rotated very smoothly, the axis was off ever so
slightly. You can't tell this exists until you actually turn the knobs while looking from
a side view ( or while standing and changing their position ). I know, this is being very
picky, but hey at least I found something!
The Focus came strung with what feels like XL's and the darn thing was almost in tune
when I got it. The first thing I did was hook a strap to it and plug it into the POD 2.0
we have sitting here from another review. I'm currently running the POD 2.0 through my PA
system and it made the Focus sound like a much, much more expensive guitar. So, you're
wondering, how does it sound clean? Not bad. The Focus VT111S comes with 3 standard single
coil pickups arranged in a similar pattern to a Strat. Coincidentally, the sound I'm
hearing out of them clean resembles the sound quality and tonal characteristics that I've
heard on some of the less expensive Mexican Strats. Intonation and resonation are par, yet
much better than expected. The bridge pickup is a little bright and tinny. My favorite
setup on most electric's with this type of pickup configuration is the 4th
position where the neck and middle pickups are engaged. This holds true for the VT111S.
Although these single coils aren't really designed to be used as pickups for playing any
really heavy rock or metal music, if you've got something decent to run the guitar
through, you can get a nice clean overdriven sound. ( I know I'm dating myself here, but
the sound I'm getting roughly resembles the Strat sound from Dave Murray of Iron Maiden ).
The specs on the Kramer VT111S from MusicYo! Look like this:
Model:
Focus VT111S by Kramer (Single/Single/Single, Standard)
-
Neck: Hard Maple Neck
-
Profile: Slim-Taper
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Construction: Bolt-On
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Body: Laminated Nato / Alder
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Neck Pickup: Single-Coil
-
Middle Pickup: Single-Coil
-
Bridge Pickup: Single-Coil
-
Controls: 5-Way Pickup Selector, One Master Volume Two Tones
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Bridge: Vintage Style Tremolo
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Machine Heads: Covered
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Nut: PVC Nut
-
Width: 1.68"
-
Frets: 21 - Nickel/Steel
-
Headstock: Straight String Pull, Flat - String Tree between "E" and
"B"
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Fingerboard: 21 fret, Rosewood
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F/B Radius: 12"
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Scale Length: 25.5"
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F/B Inlay: PVC Dots
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Finishes: Ebony, Vintage Sunburst, Candy Apple Red, Lake Placid Blue
Bottom Line:
It looks good. It feels good. It sounds good, even with inexpensive body
materials and hardware. The quality with this guitar may not lie so much in its bill of
materials, but rather in the manufacturing process. I believe I read somewhere that these
guitars are manufactured in Korea. They are obviously doing a great job over there. Keep
in mind, this guitar is not designed to compete with your higher-end guitars on the
market, say in the $500+ range. However, the Kramer Focus VT111S can certainly hold its
own in the ranges below. This was one reason why I struggled so much with the rating. I
was in between a 3 out of 5 and a 4 out of 5 for a while. Finally, after reviewing my
notes again and looking at that price I made my decision. There's just too much value here
to overlook.
If you're willing to spend $300 on a guitar, consider buying a few of these. Hell, you
could get 4 of them. One in each color. For the money, there's nothing better available.
Nothing at least that I've seen.
Start playing guitar today for $69.99 at www.MusicYo.com!
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