Kramer Focus VT-111S

I've been playing guitar for 37 years, never professionaly. Use to jam with some guys, garage band, etc., but these days I'm too busy working constantly to support a family. I still play by myself a lot. I keep a guitar and amp handy at work (work alone in a trailer). So I pick it up and hit a lick or two but then got to get back to the computer. Back in the 70's I've had people tell me I was one of the greatest guitar players they had heard, but they weren't music industry pros, just some drunks. But I never been much on learning other peoples stuff, just make it up as I go mostly. Check it out: www.soundclick.com/ronnieguitar

Got it from musicyo.com and got it because I got a family to support and can't exactly spend a lot of money on a guitar. I got it because of the great reviews I read on it. Does this guy Mark Chezney (or something like that) really work for Music Gear Review? Musicyo obviously sent him a guitar that had been set up and gone over carefully, (better tuners added probably) this doesn't sound like the guitar I got. Oh yeah paid $85 and $10 S&H.

Well, the finish looks alright. The neck feels comfortable. So far the electronics seem okay. The pickups that other people complain about sound okay to me. It's a Strat, what do you expect. Single coils hum and sound kind of trebly, nature of the beast. I like the way the bridge pickup screams. This is my first Strat type guitar, and first one with a whammy bar, so It's like a new toy.

I got the sunburst model with the black pickguard because I'm a big SRV fan (poor boy's SRV signature). The guitar did not look like the picture on the musicyo website. The sunburst has a black slash painted across the upper right corner, the beveled armrest part. It kind of makes the sunburst look off balance. But that's no big deal. The bad thing is the neck whick everbody thinks is so great. Yeah, you can set the action real low but you get all kinds of fret buzz, and just dead notes in different places all over the neck. I had too set the action up to 2mm and it still has some bad places. You can't play it clean, you have to crank up a little gain, and use a little advanced picking technique to hide the buzzing notes. Of course, it goes out of tune if you use the vibrato more than very lightly, but the G string goes sharp when I do much bending on the E and B strings, something to do with the tremelo springs I guess. The tuners are real cheap, when I changed strings the posts were all real loose and couldn't be tightened up. Might get some more tuners, but a good set of locking tuners would cost as much as I paid for the guitar!

Pretty well constructed I guess, except for the neck, finish okay except for the black slash. I managed to catch a loose input jack nut and tighten it before it came off. Recommend going over it and tighten everything. Like I said, tuners are crap. I can't believe pro reviewers who said it holds it's tune. It goes out of tune if you look at it wrong.

Musicyo advertises this as a "professional" guitar. Their out of their mind, no professional would use this. Luckily, I'm just an amateur who never gigs or nothing so it's okay for me to mess around on. Would not be good for beginners, takes some advanced playing technique to make it sound decent. Musicyo quotes your Mark Chezney as saying if your willing to spend $300 for a guitar get four of these (year 2000 prices I guess). No, I say get a good $300 guitar, don't even get one of these things.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

My dad bought my guitar off Ebay, for £79 because i was starting guitar lessons at school and research had shown this guitar to be a good buy. It was a good price at £79, (normal price £70 to £80) and the quote was "this guitar if made for rock". For me that sealed the deal. Yes i know what your thinking, "it cant be any good for that price". But wait. You can't judge a book by its cover. Read on...

I like this guitar because it sounds amazing, amplified or un amplified it has a real rock kick to it that so many other guitars fail to achieve. It has two tone nobs so i have more controll over the sound it gives as some amps cant produce the desired sound. The sounds the pick up selector can give are good, they vary from hard crunch to a more mellow deep bassy sound and the sound stays constant when you turn it down and doesnt muffle away.

This guitar is heavy! i mean heavy. My advice to anyone who gets this guitar is to buy a padded strap or wear some thick clothes. Another problem it that it is very easily disturbed by radio waves or electrical appliances and the fact that it is hollow means that any viabrations echo loudly.

The guitar has a standard guitar shape with a relatively long neck. It is well built as far as i can tell and I have had mine a year now and nothing has gone wrong with it. The only two possible flaws are thefact the jack in socket comes loose occasionally and the area around the base of the neck looks slightly rough and hewn.

It is undoubtaly one of the best guitars to buy for beginners or keen rock rhythm guitarists. It is after all "made to rock".

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

i got it off ebay for about £80

it looks nice, i got the red and black version and it looks reaaly cool. It sounds pretty good (especially for the price) and you get a reasonable range of sounds from the pickup selector

i bought this a as first guitar, seeing the low price and the good reviews, however, for me, it doesn't work as a begginers guitar becaus of the neck . The frets are spaced quite away apart (at least, compared to some of the other guitars i've tried) which makes learning chords for the first time hard, also, the strings are high off the neck which is hell on the fingers until you get used to it. Another problem I've found is getting it to stay in tune, epecially when using the whammy bar.

seems fairly well built

a good guitar, but DON'T buy if off the internet, try it out first, especially if you are a beginner. (i personally am thinking about getting a strat)

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I never heard of Kramer Guitars untill today. I was out hitting pawn shops looking for an electric guitar for my 12 year old son(wants to learn). I got him a Peavey Raptor Plus(looks new,Peavey Backstage Plus 35w amp, Crate G10LX 30w amp and the Kramer 111S for $318 out the door. (the Kramer is really for me, don't tell his mom) They sell new on Ebay for about $80 or so, or thats what I found them for there. I cant believe it sells that cheap. The guy sort of threw it in for $50 since I was buying for my son. I just couldn,t resist taking it home to see how it stood up against the Peavey.

I have th sunburst one and it looks very nice and feels like a guitar you like to hold. Some low end guitars, you pick them up and they feel like SH*T and everything about them scream put me down.

This is like a good solid guitar that says try me, then when you do, your glad you did.

Kramers are made in Korea, but it feels like they are made in the U.S., when made in the U.S. meant quality. No Lie.

That's all I can think of, is that I don't like that it's made in korea, I think it is anyways.

1. Neck is solid, no warping.
2. Fretts are large like good quality guitars, not tiny thin crap. They are also filed on the ends so they dont dig into your fingers when you drag them up and down the neck.
3. Neck is solid to the body, no big gaps like other cheap guitars.
4. Body and neck finish is very nice, no color bleeding or dull spots in clear finish.
5.Keys are solid(dont feel like cheap crap)

I have to tell you, this guitar freaked me out (born 1966). I could not believe the quality of it, the construction was like the Peavy guitar. This thing is used and sounds like the new $300 Washburn I played 2 days ago. If I let you play it blind folded and asked you how much you think it costs new, you would say about $300 to $500. The neck feels sweet and solid and it keeps tune like the Peavey Raptor Plus. I feel stupid saying a guitar new on Ebay for $100 is this nice. Oh and they have been making it since at least 1980, so I dont know how I never heard of it.. For a low end guitar I give it a 5 of 5, to compare it to $200-$300 guitars I give it a 4. Keep in mind I got it for $50, how can a guitar even used for $50 be this nice. If I got it for $150 new I would still be this happy.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com