Kramer Focus VT-211S

[avengers63]

I grew up in the age of Heir Metal. As a result of EVH's initial endorsement, Kramer quickly became one of the major players in the field. As others came in, Kramer lost it's mystique, but never it's quality.  Then the age of Hair Metal died. Kramer was bought by Gibson and immediately shelved, never to be heard from again. They did the same thing to Steinberger.

Recently, Kramer has been allowed to be a thing again. They have -no- marketing backing or production push from Gibson. Big G is offering no infusion of cash to help make their investment pay off. Yet somehow, they're really trying to get it going. One of the things they've done is make budget guitars in China. This brings us to my latest waste of disposable income: the Kramer Focus VT-211S.

I really appreciate that Sweetwater put that warning label on the box.

So here's the scoop with this thing: mahogany body, maple neck & f/b, AlNiCo V pickups, hair metal purple paint. Every single thing thing else about this is garbage. Unsealed tuners that turn like crap, dime pots, cheap switch that came broken, pot-metal trem block, and a nearly transparent pickguard & backplate. BUT...... it's only $150 for a painted mahogany body & maple neck with alnico V pups. The body & neck make it a fantastic modding platform. 

So we're off to the races.

[avengers63]

SOME DISASSEMBLY REQUIRED

So before I do anything to it, I have to take it all apart.

A pic of the p/g assembly is in order. It's exactly what you'd expect from a Chinese $150 guitar.  Cheap crap all the way through. I'll be re-purposing the pups as they actually sound good. A little generic, but better than some I've had. Everything else went into the trash.

Good thing there's a sticker telling me not to throw it away! I was just about to toss the neck when I saw it.

So they took the time to make sure the neck is flat sawn. This is not the normal Q/C you get from China. I'm hoping it's Kramer's influence, and that all of the necks in this budget line are flat sawn.  It doesn't bother me in the slightest that the neck & f/b are 2 pieces. 

So there you go.

I have a lot of guitars I just don't play for one reason or another. The doner for what's going into the Kramer should make some of y'all happy. It kinda makes me sad. But I just never played it, so it gets torn apart.

[avengers63]

One big fear was immediately quelled. I won't have to modify the body at all. The pickups are old 70's Peavey Super Ferrite singles. They're bogger than a Strat single, so I was concerned that I'd have to hog out some of the body to accommodate their footprint. Were that the case, I'd have given it a swimming pool route. Thankfully, this wasn't the case.

That's obviously the p/g from the Corvus, just to test fit things. I used it as a template for the placement on the replacement p/g. In otder to do so, I had to get it all lined up, clamp it down, and re-shape the pocket on the Corvus p/g so it all lined up perfectly on the replacement.

And what is the replacement? WHITE BEARL, BABY!!!! Gotta bling this thing up a little.

To no surprise whatsoever, the shape of the replacement is a little off from the original. And none of the holes line up. This is what you get in these sorts of things.

The Kramer had -zero- shielding on the body. Another thing typical of a $150 Chinese guitar.

And we always have to do the preview...

[avengers63]

This is the only thing that really went sideways. I wanted to upgrade the trem block to brass. It was only $22, and SHOULD have made a tremendous tone difference. Or maybe not. I'm still vulnerable to some voodoo now and then. Regardless, it would have been a significant upgrade over the crap pot-metal. Unfortunately, not a single damn hole lined up. NOT ONE. Upgrading the entire bridge isn't in the cards right now, so we'll just have to stick with the garbage for now.

Later, I might trade the chrome hardware for gold. That would bling it up even further. 

[avengers63]

So here' the end result. 

Wilkindon EZ lock tuners, Peavey Super Ferrite singles, pearl white p/g & back plate, upgraded pots & switch, 2nd tone replaced with phase switch.

I can't find my tuner right now, so setting the intonation isn't possible. 

It actually plays extremely well. Even before the upgrades, it outperformed it's price point. The neck is comfortable, and the fretwork is comparable with a mid-grade guitar. Were this to have had better tuners, electronics, and p/g material, this could easily have been a $400 guitar. I spent an additional $50 and made it into one.

[Bizman62]

34 minutes ago, avengers63 said:

I can't find my tuner right now, so setting the intonation isn't possible. 

Don't you have a smart phone? There's tons of tuners in the PlayStore. Most likely in AppStore as well.

[avengers63]

41 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

Don't you have a smart phone? There's tons of tuners in the PlayStore. Most likely in AppStore as well.

Yea....... I'm not sure I'd trust them for the fine tuning that intonation needs. That, and it's kinda making me mad that I can't find my good tuner. It's almost the principle of it now.

[Bizman62]

6 minutes ago, avengers63 said:

I'm not sure I'd trust them for the fine tuning that intonation needs

That's a valid point. I've actually not paid attention to that as I've only used them for basic tuning. Although some of them seem to have very fine long scales which should improve accuracy you never can be sure about the quality of the microphone. After all the microphone is meant to catch a human speaking voice instead of the sound of a guitar, acoustic or amplified.

And of course if you own a top quality tuner you'd want to use that.

[nakedzen]

App version of the Peterson strobe tuner probably your best bet.

[Roar]

Is the neck pocket the same as the modern squire/fender neck pockets? 

[Dbusick77]

I have the pewter colored one and I want to modify it with a Seymour Duncan jb and two DiMarzio hs-3's a new tremolo and locking tuners. I also want to change up the pickguard color and make all the hardware black. Awesome build man!! 

[gstyle]

On 3/19/2022 at 12:48 PM, avengers63 said:

So here' the end result. 

Wilkindon EZ lock tuners, Peavey Super Ferrite singles, pearl white p/g & back plate, upgraded pots & switch, 2nd tone replaced with phase switch.

I can't find my tuner right now, so setting the intonation isn't possible. 

It actually plays extremely well. Even before the upgrades, it outperformed it's price point. The neck is comfortable, and the fretwork is comparable with a mid-grade guitar. Were this to have had better tuners, electronics, and p/g material, this could easily have been a $400 guitar. I spent an additional $50 and made it into one.

Can you tell me if you had to modify the headstock for the tuners or did they drop right in? Could you please provide a link? I just acquired a 2022 Focus and I’m going to mod it out. As far as an after-market trem system, I’m going all out and getting a Vega-Trem. If you’re still looking for one, that would be my recommendation. I’m dumping WAY too much green into mine but with the mahogany body and the maple neck-it’s a great platform for mods. Nice work on your Focus!

[avengers63]

The painted mahogany body and finished maple neck for $150 are all the reason needed to get it for a mod platform. The A5 pups are actually good enough to keep and re-use somewhere else.

We have an Amazon Prime account, so I get a crapload of stuff there, including any & all Wilkinson hardware. This is their retailer there: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Musiclily/page/E34E6491-7C65-4FB2-B789-3E556918C09D?ref_=ast_bln

The only headstock mod needed for the tuners I used were new screw holes on the back. There MIGHT be some out there that will use the same holes, but I can't testify to it.

[ScottJ]

Great to see a whole project laid out like this! 

I really like my VT-211S.  I'd like to replace the nut. 

Have you replaced the nut on yours?  Would you know what exact size is required?  Or share a bit of advice in terms of what to order, please?  Would be much appreciated.  

Cheers!

-Scott

https://gopilot.bandcamp.com/ 

 

[avengers63]

I most certainly did NOT replace the nut. While the whole thing was an upgrade project, you still don't fix what ain't broke. I can almost guarantee that the product listing on Sweetwater will have the nut size.

THAT BEING SAID..... I have my own thoughts on the nut. A whole pile of voodoo and marketing is focused on the nut. I think it's entirely un-necessary. Once you fret the string, the nut material, along with whatever supposed tonal characteristics it may or may nor possess, are no longer part of the equation. Tonally, the nut ONLY matters on an open string, period. Now, there may be some benefits of a graphite nut if you are heavy on the whammy and don't lock the strings. But as I almost exclusively play without a trem, it has no bearing on me at all. These reasons are why I make all of my necks with a zero fret. My nuts are nothing more than a string alignment guide. Take this all for what it's worth.

[ScottJ]

Thank you for the considered reply!  Much appreciated!

[Bizman62]

11 hours ago, avengers63 said:

I have my own thoughts on the nut.

You're not alone with that opinion. That said, unless you're using a zero fret the gliding properties of the nut matter some even if you don't use a trem. Bending a string makes the string glide past the nut and I guess there's no guitar player who doesn't ever bend. No one wants to hear a squeak or snap when bending! But that's not a material issue, it's about how well the fret slots are filed and polished.

Hollow plastic is the one material I'm not too fond of. Even that works if the height is right from the start but it's too easy to file through if the action needs to be lowered.