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Kramer Striker FR424S/D
by Chris Bereznay
Reposted with permission from Music Gear Review
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| About 17 years ago, when I was roughly 13 years old, I bought my first guitar rig. I spotted a white Kramer Striker with a black pick-guard and a Dean Markley 30 Watt Practice Amp. I got the whole package for around $275 if memory serves me correctly. It was a great little guitar and I can remember how exciting it made trips to the grocery store to get my new copy of Guitar For The Practicing Musician. I lived for practicing all of the new songs in tablature with each issue and would even sometimes stick my amp in my bedroom window - facing out - so the whole neighborhood could hear my rendition of the Scorpions' No One Like You and other favorite Heavy Metal tunes. Mother never understood and my wife still doesn't, but ahhhh, the memories..
A few years later, while growing up, Eddie Van Halen became the rage of the guitar publicity world. Kramer's popularity likewise skyrocketed and Kramer guitars began to become a little more expensive and somewhat out of reach for young kids like myself. I then ventured into several bad relationships with cheap guitars and swore I'd never purchase another guitar unless it was a Strat, Tele or Les Paul. It always seemed like you got what you paid for and more often than not it was true.
Here we are in the new millennium, though, and after what I would consider as having pretty much fallen off the face of the earth, Kramer is back with a vengeance. After being purchased by Gibson, things have started to turn around for this brand and Kramer now features a whole line up of value priced guitars that are unbelievably well manufactured and feature laden.
The specific model we are reviewing is the Kramer Striker FR424S/D. Ours came in Nuclear Yellow, which for starters looks incredibly cool. Upon receipt, we carefully scanned the whole guitar for anomalies and could not find one crack, scrape, nick or blemish - anywhere. The guitar comes standard with a Canadian Hard Maple neck and an Indian Rosewood fretboard. The neck is a bolt-on elliptical slim-taper model with 24 frets and pearl dot inlays. The body is carved from North American Alder and exhibits some nice detail that makes it stand out in the strat-style body crowd. This guitar has a very aggressive look and stance.
The Kramer Striker FR424S/D, though, is not an average "value" guitar. If you were buying a car you would refer to this baby as being "loaded". For instance: the Striker comes with a licensed Floyd Rose double locking tremolo system, the Eddie Van Halen D-Tuna device and some very hot Quad Rail pickups. These Quad-Rails have a double tap mode where you can push or pull the tone knob to engage or disengage coils from quad to dual and back in the pickups. I found this pickup arrangement extremely flexible. With the 5 position switch, you effectively get almost 10 different sounds out of this guitar! The other amazing thing is that whether the extra coils are engaged or disengaged, there is no noticeable hum! Imagine that! Add the D-Tuna and you'll never have to switch between differently tuned guitars to play your favorite songs again!
Editors note: for those of you who are not familiar with the D-Tuna: The D-Tuna designed by Eddie Van Halen is a nifty little device that sits on the saddle screw of your low E string. Once installed, switching from a standard to a drop D tuning is as simple as pushing in the little rod or pulling it out. The guitar will stay in tune through this procedure and it makes for switching between songs that utilize both types of tunings extremely easy!!
Even with all the goodies, which are sometimes added to cover up imperfections, the Kramer Striker FR424S/D still delivers in the quality category. Construction wise the unit is first rate. I really think that this is one of the better quality models that Kramer puts out right now. There are some nice little enhancements and special features as well as the set of two allen wrenches mounted behind the headstock. Nice touch. Oh, and guess what you get to tune your strings with? Nothing other than Gotoh Tuners! Plus, the action is set very low and there is absolutely no noticeable fret buzz. Incredible. It looks and plays great.
Sound quality from this guitar is way above par. With the double tap system you can get a very hot signal with lots of punch for playing your favorite hard rock or heavy metal and then switch down to fewer coils for those bluesy or country tunes. Keep in mind that with the double tap system you have roughly 10 different and unique sounds! Combine this unit with a decent effects board and you'll never run out of combinations! Visually, the exterior of this guitar screams hard rock or heavy metal, but with some of the coils disengaged and running the signal through an all tube amplifier you'd be amazed at the tone I'm getting. Clean and warm is definitely a possibility with this axe.
Bottom Line:
Here's the real kicker, folks. The last time I checked, the Kramer Striker FR424S/D was available at MusicYo! for under $200! This is simply unreal for a guitar with these features and this quality of construction. It's a super value if you ask me. If I had paid $500 for this guitar, I probably would have given it a 4 out of 5 for the overall score. But at less than $200, this is a stellar product and worthy of awards for achievement in value. This guitar truly deserves a 5 out of 5 rating in my opinion.
In addition, the Kramer Striker FR424S/D plays as nice as my Ibanez RG570, which ran me $650 when it was new. Plus with all the little special features and the double tap mode for switching coils I'm finding that I pick this puppy up before my Ibanez on any given day. Don't believe me? Get one for yourself. Save yourself $500 to put towards that powerful amp or effects unit you want and get a guitar that plays and feels like something way more expensive. Trust me.
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