Today, as chance would have it, I saw this mint condition Kramer Focus VT-211S hanging on the wall at a pawn shop. The teal color was very attractive in person. A purple nylon strap was attached that was adjusted very short, which led me to believe it had likely been owned by a kid. Picking it up revealed that it was both very light and well built. The neck was especially nice. I didn't plug it in, didn't play it, just studied it. I walked away, then possessively observed from a distance as a group of young people likewise admired it, then too walked way. I hastily walked back and seized it, having decided that after all these years it was finally time to own a Kramer. I even managed to talk the shop down to $107 out the door.
A couple hours later, after another stop to pick through the castaway detritus of a dying civilization, during which I found a large 19th century carved rosewood Shengxiao statue of a tiger woman and a rabbit for $6, I had the Chinese Kramer on my kitchen counter for a proper inspection and set up.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONs AND SET UP
The finish of the Focus is perfect. The body is about the thickness of my Squier Classic Vibe. Amazingly, there were no dents or scratches, which is remarkable considering it was likely used by a kid to play air guitar. The serial number indicated it was of 2021 manufacture. I'm putting my money on this being a so-called "Covid guitar."
The action was too high, a result of the trem leaning forward slightly and too much bow in the neck. Tuning the guitar to E flat and two full right turns of the truss rod brought the action down exactly where it needed to be. I didn't even need to adjust the saddles at all, it just landed perfectly on the bullseye.
NECK
One of the major highlights on this instrument is the spectacular flat sawn neck. I know that many people adore quarter sawn necks, but I have a couple issues with them. First, they can be too stiff. I typically use .09 gauge strings and tune to E flat. This sometimes doesn't provide sufficient tension to achieve proper neck relief. For this reason I prefer a neck that has some flexibility. Secondly, there's a tonal difference. Go ahead, call me crazy, but I'm one of those guys who can hear the capacitance difference between a 10' and 20' chord. Likewise, a very rigid neck and a flexible neck sound different to me.
The closest thing I can compare the profile of this neck to is a 1999 made in Taiwan Squier Affinity I own which is rounded at the nut and flattens and thins towards the heel. The Focus neck is similar to that, but even better. The frets are level, and despite some of the reviews referring to them as "cheese graters," they are smooth on this example. The nut is perfectly cut, which is a big thing for me. When the strings are coming out of the nut slots too high, you are never going to get a good set up. Many cheap imports have this crippling handicap exiting the factory. It's not difficult to fix if you know what you're doing, but it's refreshing to not have to. It also says something about attention to detail and quality control.
PICKUPS
The other standout feature of this guitar are the HSS ALNiCo pickups. They're really exceptional. When you can buy a $150 guitar (what these go for new), and you don't have to even consider upgrading the pickups, that's a huge bonus. Hands down, these are the best sounding pups I've ever encountered on a guitar in this price range. Any negative reviews of these pickups invariably say the same thing: "Not enough output." Ahem, that’s the part they got right. It's called vintage tone, and it’s rare to find in a sea of cheap imports geared towards younger ears that are biased towards the idea that louder is always better.
The bridge humbucker measures 9.21 K. It has just enough extra output to easily produce the crunch and harmonics required for anything from blues to hard rock music, while still retaining excellent dynamics and clarity. Combined with the mahogany body and maple neck, the bridge humbucker sounds warm, woody, biting, and musical when played through an amp set at breakup.
The single coils are likewise excellent and very complementary to the bridge, sounding very glassy and vintage. The middle single coil measures 7.65 K, and the neck single coil 7.09 K. Their construction is unique in that while I was expecting to see six ALNiCo rods when I viewed the bottom plate, their underside is sealed. Out of curiosity I was temped to take one apart, but I decided I dare not for fear of ruining them. Some research revealed one reviewer who asserted that there’s an ALNiCo bar magnet underneath steel slugs. I’ve never seen single coils like this, being technically ALNiCo, but constructed similar to the typical import ceramics found on cheap Squiers.
The clean tones are wonderful in all five positions.
HARDWARE
The tuners are without a doubt the weakest point on this guitar, though I honestly had no trouble whatsoever keeping the guitar in pitch once tuned up and settled in. Granted, I wasn't using the bar. Cheap tuners are probably a concession the manufacturer had to make in order to deliver this instrument to market at such a ridiculously low price.
The trem block is made from pot metal and I'm sure it's likewise with the saddles.
ELECTRONICS
The other notable "cheap" components on this guitar are the mini pots. They do work fine and have a perfectly usable sweep. For context, I recently bought a Jackson Pro Series Soloist which sells for $1,149.99, and it too has mini pots which function the exact same as those on this Kramer.
FINAL ANALYSIS
To say that I am super impressed with this budget Kramer is an understatement. I doubt that at this price there's a better sounding and playing HSS Strat than the Kramer Focus VT-211S. It's like the present day version of what the Peavey Predator was in the late 80s, except with better stock pickups. The only mod I intend to do is enabling the tone control on the bridge pup. The only actual part I’m thinking about swapping out is the pickguard, as I’m thinking brown tort would really contrast well with the teal and make it uniquely my own.
This guitar has mojo baby! Want proof? Watch as I gig this Kramer Focus this weekend and make it pay for itself.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... uitar-teal
