Hi all, I recently put my Ibanez RG270DX for sale on craigslist, and was contacted about a trade.

The person wanted to trade his Kramer for my Ibanez, sent pics and I jumped on it.

This guitar looks almost new, he said he bought it new 12 years ago, even the tremolo looks new.

Anyhow, here are some pics:





Now, I usually use tube driven amps / pre-amps but I'm not for now. I got suckered into buying a Full Bore Metal pedal from GC and I think it's the worst distortion pedal ever.

I really hate SS amps but it is what it is. I simply cannot get a good quality distortion sound out of this stinking pedal. I want a pedal that screams when I want it to, but not sound like mush.

I've literally tried a lot of set ups, other pedals, (think EQ, Sonic Maximizer, I've always had these items in rack mount and never had any problems getting my tone).

I use Seymour Duncan pickups almost exclusively, mostly JBs and TB4s and SH-2N, one of my guitars has the new DiMarzio 36th Anniversary PAF pickups in it.

I am also using .22uF Orange Drop caps as well, I'm actually thinking about going to .47uF caps or a different type of cap to see if this is the issue.

The Orange Drops are a new thing for me so I'm not sure if they are the problem or not. I've been playing guitar for a long time and don't recall ever having an issue with this awful sound issue.

My apologies for rambling, I'm just trying to cover everything, if I missed something that may help let me know. Oh yea, I play a lot of MegaDeth, Ozzy, Metallica, that kind of music if that helps any.

You are correct (IMO, at least) that the Full Bore Metal is one of the worst distortion pedals of all time... I sure couldn't find a good sound out of one that I'd borrowed from a friend, that's for sure!

How saturated of distortion are you looking for?  It's labeled as an overdrive pedal, but if you can find one to try, the Big Joe Saturated Tube (the orange one) is an awesome pedal.  It seems to do anything from blues OD to '80s metal grind without any problems at all.  It's a bit pricey, but it's definitely worth a try.

That looks like one of the Kramers from the MusicYo.com store... I had a neck through superstrat I sold like a dumbass a few years ago.

I hated the locking trem and the p-ups were a sloppy mess... But the neck was superb and the action fast.

I should have kept that thing and upgraded the p-ups and blocked the trem permanently.

Ah well... Live and learn.  (sold my dang Traynor YBA-1 and cab in the same period.... WTF was I thinking? )

Look up the Dr Scientist "The Elements" distortion pedal.  Tons of options, tons of sounds.  Bunch of well done demos on Youtube.

Congrats on the new axe.



I can see why some would hate the Fullbore. I like mine, but it's really only good for one thing, and the controls are really touchy. It's kind of like my Mesa Triple Rec, the best tones are found by using some really weird settings.



If you want an amplike sounding pedal, have a look at the Bogner Extasy Red. But it doesn't matter what you get, that solid state Marshall in the background isn't doing you any favors. I know my pedals sound drastically different through solid state (I have a little Peavey Vypyr 15) and some cases sound like outright crap.

Go buy a 6505+ and you'll be able to ditch the pedals.

Yea I really wanted something with tubes but money is always tight. I bought the Marshall because I got a really good deal on it. Tube amps are not in my reach right now, even used ones are expensive, at least for me.

When I got the full bore pedal I really wanted an MXR Distortion + but was told by the sales person that they didn't make those anymore, only to find out some time later that they do in fact still make them.

I really just want something that has gain and volume, I can shape my tone with the other pedals. I guess I just got spoiled with tube sound and I can't get that same tone with this crap I got.

Maybe after the holidays I'll be able to acquire something with tubes. I used to have a Digitech 2120 and ran through a Marshall AVT half stack and it sounded killer. No other effects, just a wireless unit and Furman.

Unfortunately all of that got stolen, then I acquired an older Digitech 2101 Artist and that had some really killer tone, all ran through an EQ and an BBE Sonic Maximizer and the tone was killer.

Tubes do make a difference no matter where they are, at least that has been my experience. With all that I have you would think that I could at least get a tone close to what I want.

It's just the oddest thing, it almost sounds like my Cry Baby is on, maybe I'll do some experimenting later today, take it out of the chain or move it around, maybe it's not truly bypassed when shut off, who knows.

Thanks for the replies everybody, and yea the guitar is a Kramer Imperial and it is from the MusicYo era, apparently at some time Gibson acquired Kramer and that's when that guitar was made.

I'm guessing it was made in the Epiphone factory, as the pickup selector switch has Epiphone stamped on it.

When you get around to finding a new tube amp, let us know. There's quite a few options out there for a guy on a budget.



Of the top of my head, if I were on a budget, I would find a used Blackstar, a used Jet City JCA20 (designed by Soldano), or a used Fender Hot Rod Deluxe if I were planning on using pedals for my distortion.



Most Crybabies are not true bypass. If you Google "Crybaby true bypass mod" there are instructions on how to make it true bypass with a 3PDT switch. https://www.amplifiedparts.com/products/P-H501



And your Kramer was probably made in the Cort Factory. Most, if not all of the Korean built Epiphones were made there. My Epi LP was made there too.



 

If you are looking for a good distortion sound I would pick up a Laney IRT Studio.  They are around $600, but zzounds has the no interest payment plans where you can pay about $150 a month for 4 months.  There is a small fee on the first payment, but it is a good way to pick up nice gear without a lot of cash up front.  

You also don't have to apply for a credit card or anything.   It is sort of like layaway, but you get your gear up front.

Changing Caps on the tone control will only alter the amount of 'high' end you cut from the signal...

I typically use only .47uF, but when playing metal, the tone is wide open....Changing caps will not help your 'distortion' issue.

I haven't used a distortion pedal in years.

The main issue is the distortion pedal sucks.  

The sound issue I'm having actually sounds like the cry baby is still engaged a little, I never had to mod one before so I'm not sure why I need to now, but that's another story.

I was just wondering if changing the caps would alter the sound enough to make a difference, and I usually had .47 caps in my guitars, I was trying the .22 and not really sure I like the results.

I may just end up going back to the .47 caps. I agree on distortion pedals, but as mentioned I don't have anything with tubes for now.

Thanks for the input.

Forgot about that Laney. Great amp for the money and very handy for recording.

 

In my neck of the woods, a used 6505+ 1x12" 60watt combo is 300 to 350. Not sure what you're market is like, but the whole amp would be a little more than some of the distortion pedals listed, including the one I suggested.

Nice guitar glad you like the JB I have one in a Charvel I don't care for it.

What don't you like about the JB?



 

I hopped on over to the SD forums and got quite a few suggestions on a distortion pedal, I took my Charvel to GC and tried some out on the same amp that I have.

It quickly became clear to me that I really liked the Electro Harmonix Metal Muff above all of the others, so now I have killer tone as well as more distortion than I could need, lol.

So now I can get back to re-wiring the Kramer, I put a TB-4 in the bridge and an SH-2 in the neck, changed the pots and pickup selector as well as the wiring.

I have a switch coming tomorrow to do the bypass mod on my crybaby, I'm going to go get an LED and add that in there while I have it all torn apart. Thanks for pointing that out!

\m/ (-_-) \m/

I guess I missed that thread over there. I've heard good things about the Metal Muff, glad it works for you. EHX makes some nice pedals in general.

Glad to hear you are rewiring... Those 'quad-rails' were a hot mess from what I recall, at least for my intended sound.