Welcome to the Kramer Forum

Kramer Maniac touched on many of the points. But I'll chime in with a few from my experience:

-If you are not a tone tweaker, do not go rack system. Especially when it comes to using FX, gain staging also becomes an issue. There are LOTS more settings to go through overall. If you are into tweaking though, have at er! The plus side to this is versatility and presets of course

-Don't be afraid to split it into two rack units. If you're like me and have a tube power amp...things are going to get heavy REAL fast. I have my power amp in one rack case and the rest in the other. Simple hookup and don't always need a second person to help me carry.

My current setup is as follows:

Preamps: Marshall JMP-1 and ADA MP-1 (depending what I'm doing)
FX: Alesis Quadraverb
Power Amp: Peavey Classic 60/60 (6L6's)

Power conditioners are not only great for protecting your gear, but for only needing one outlet!

Yours and Bruce's look relatively simple. I know what 4x12 cab I want. I miss my greenbacks. I like both of my fx pedals. Me-25 and the RP500 has some cool tones as well. I need something that sounds great but ease of setting up. Something that I can break a bit. Bruce's rack is small but damn we know how it sounds!

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1986 Focus 1000 "Spidey"
1984 Pacer Special Custom Paint (Won on the Kramer Forum)
1999 Baretta (Holoflash)
1985 Baretta
1990 Baretta 1 Klein Naked lady reverse bound headstock
Stagemaster Deluxe "Guido"

Another option to think about: if you want it simple and effective, look for a used Line6 Spider Valve amp. It's a good Bogner-designed tube amp with built in multi-FX (Pod 2.0), but you can also skip the Pod section and use your own FX.

I had the 40W combo version and it's DAMN loud, easily competes with any half-stack. The volume never went past 3-4 and I played with a death metal band. All the sounds you could ever need are in there, the Marshall sounds are pretty much spot-on and there are heavier sounds implemented as well. If you want more oomph, there is a 100W head version too - that and a 4x12" will suffice to tear down a mid-sized house.

This is the head: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Line-6-Spider- ... SwTEJZ6fz9

2x12" combo: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bogner-Line-6- ... Sws19Zf0Fn

Mine was 1x12" by the way, already more than enough for any band.


Usually you can find them used for a few 100's, there is just no better bang for the buck. It's also easy to haul around, not much weight and no hassle.

Getting an amp with built in modelling and FX is certainly an option, however, a good rack system will beat it every time (unless your going to Fractal or Kemper Territory). I myself am not a fan of the Spider Valve amp and I've played one a lot (it sat in the store I worked at for awhile).

When it comes to FX I would ditch the floor processors and get a rack unit and have a MIDI controller control both the preamp and the FX.

And just a side note: If you do want to go tube power amp but don't want to use up a ton of space, mesa makes a 1U EL84 stereo power amp. And that reminds me...STEREO! The rack builders dream hahah

With all of this said, when in a band environment I am guitar >TS808 > (a few pedals I don't really need) > JCM800 about 95% of the time.

It's not high end but certainly on par with his ME-25 and RP-500.

I like the prices on the Line 6 Bogner amp head.

_________________
1986 Focus 1000 "Spidey"
1984 Pacer Special Custom Paint (Won on the Kramer Forum)
1999 Baretta (Holoflash)
1985 Baretta
1990 Baretta 1 Klein Naked lady reverse bound headstock
Stagemaster Deluxe "Guido"

I´ve had a Spider Valve MK1 amp from 2008 to 2014. Never let me down. Loud as you wouldn´t believe for its 40 Watts and the sounds were pretty convincing and delivered great tone. Just my opinion, tho.

The Top might be a good platform - but they are as well heavy.

_________________
Practice cures most tone issues.

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Great Deals with MrWhipper, JoeyM, Del Hudson, skydive69 and Kramer Classic I

Im also using a rack setup consisting of;
Engl 620 tube preamp
Rane ME-15 15band eq
Digitech RDS1000 delay
Marshall 9200 poweramp
Furman power conditioner
Marshall 1960B

Built it around 2005 and havent changed anything but tubes over the years. Love it!

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87 Pacer Deluxe Candy Red
88 F3000 Candy Red
87 Imperial Flip/Flop Pink
86 Focus 1000 (project,full scallop neck)
87 ESP M1 (bare wood, originally black)
93 Jackson King V black
87 Ibanez RG550 Road Flare Red
17 Charvel SoCal Black
Charvel Jake mutt

If you want serious gain I have the ISP Theta preamp with the decimator built in, it is very easy to use and tons of gain.

If I ever build a rack.
The ONLY preamp I would ever use is the Bob Bradshaw Custom Audio 3+ SE Guitar Preamp.
I have never in my life heard anything like it. I have owned many.
http://www.customaudioelectronics.com/p ... _id=prod22

Listen to it.



Trying to find good videos.

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Joe in Detroit
85 Striker 100ST Blk (1st E. Guitar)
88 Nightswan Sparkle BL
90 ProAxe Std CR
89 Sustainer Blk
84 Baretta BLK
84 Baretta CR
85 Baretta CR
86 Baretta Cream
86 Focus 1000 Blk