The upgraded version of the Krankenstein, the Krankenstein +. The amp developed in conjunction with the legendary Dimebag Darrell, the new Krankenstein + has bigger, upgraded transformers and 6550 tubes in the power section. This amp has always been known for it’s “go for the throat” high gain sound, now it’s been taken to the next level, 120W of massive tone! The “Dime” channel features a 3-band eq, volume, two footswitchable masters, gain and parametric sweep control while the “Kleen” channel features a 3-band eq and volume. Also unique to this head is an overall volume control for the entire amp as well as a global presence control. Other features include and active effects loop, ohm and voltage selectors, line out, manual channel switch.
- Two channel, footswitchable 120W head
- Preamp four 12AX7 tubes, power section four Sovtek 6550 tubes
- Separate volume and 3 band eq sections per channel
- Footswitchable Master 1 and Master 2 controls, gain, sweep control on Dime channel
- Global volume and presence controls, active effects loop, worldwide voltage use, ohm selector, footswitch included
- Designed in conjunction with the legendary guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott
Click to listen to samples:
Krankenstein reamped by producer Andy Sneap
Krankenstein 3/4 Gain by producer Chuck Alkazian
Krankenstein Clean by producer Chuck Alkazian
Krankenstein Chunk Full Band By Producer Shawn Grove (Sevendust, Collective Soul)
krankenstein Chunk Gtrs Only By Producer Shawn Grove (Sevendust, Collective Soul)
Krankenstein Solo Tone Full Band By Producer Shawn Grove (Sevendust, Collective Soul)
Krankenstein Solo Tone Gtrs Only By Producer Shawn Grove (Sevendust, Collective Soul)
Krankenstein Strat Flange Full Band By Producer Shawn Grove (Sevendust, Collective Soul)
Krankenstein Strat Flange Gtr Only By Producer Shawn Grove (Sevendust, Collective Soul)
Krankenstein Strat Rhythm Full Band By Producer Shawn Grove (Sevendust, Collective Soul)
Krankenstein Strat Rhythm Gtr Only By Producer Shawn Grove (Sevendust, Collective Soul)
Krankenstein+ Krankubator-Mix by producer Lasse Lammert
Krankenstein+ rhythm guitar tone by producer Lasse Lammert
KRANK GEAR USED: Rev+, Rev Cab, Krankenstein+, Krankenstein Cab, Nineteen80, Nineteen80 Cab, Krankenstein Jr.
Baptized by the music of AC/DC, Van...
Are there going to be new versions of this amp?
Right now we really don’t have any new revisions on it as we just came out with the “+” models last year…now that doesn’t mean we won’t do something in the future, you never know…but nothing for now.
i dont think there should be any changes to the amp it is really good with a nice crunch to it
What’s the weight of this head? Also if I use for example a Randall’s cabinet or a Marshall would I get the same sound as with the Krankenstein + Cab, taking about the a good one. I mean, is there like a lot of difference or the difference of sound is in the head?
The head itself is about 45 lbs. Now as far as using other cabs you really have to realize fundamental tone comes from a combination of guitar/amp/cab and any changes in that chain will deff alter that tone. So basically yes the Krankenstein+ sounds really good with about any cab but thru the Krankenstein cab it sounds even more awesome, that cab is just much better than those you specifically mentioned in my opinion. There are some old Marshall cabs that are great but the amount of tight low end the Krankenstein+ will put out is pretty significant and you need a cab to be able to reproduce that effectively. Having said that getting the Krankenstein+ head will certainly get you on the road to great tone for sure!
Why doesnt the last two sound samples work??
They work on our computer but I’ll check that out on other…thanks for the heads up!
is the lead tone on the krankenstein+ krankubator-Mix by producer Lasse Lammert track without any effects or pedals?
I believe that particular track is actually without effects and deff without pedals in front of the amp…
Yes, those guitars have zero post-processing on them, no EQ, no compressor, no kind of FX.
This is the amp how it sounded recorded with just one sm57.
EDIT: the solo might have a delay on it of course.
but also no EQ or compressor
I have a krankenstein head, (not the plus), and I am having difficulties recording it. Any gain I try to add on sounds sort of fizzy and scratchy, and in order to get rid of this I have to dial back the gain to a point where one might think the guitar was clean. What is the main difference, (tone wise) of the plus, and the previous model? Andy Sneap’s and Lasse Lammert’s tone sounds so smooth and quite the opposite of scratchy. Was a fizzy sounding gain structure on the previous model a common problem or is there something I can do to cut back on this sound?
I think maybe a couple of things could be happening here. The difference between the original and “+” model is really simply upgraded transformers and 6550 tubes in the power section versus the original using 5881s, and in this realm the 5881 is actually a smoother sounding tube fyi… So I would look at a couple different things here…are you cranking up the Master 1 or 2 and dialing the overall volume control down? If so that will cause that problem, the overall volume works directly with the power section and by dialing that back you’re starving the power while throttling the preamp and this can cause scratchiness and some squealing too depending on the levels. A good level for the main volume is start at 7 with the masters down around 2 or 3 and gain around 7 then go from there. On this note in general also remember too much gain will make guitars sound scratchy and smaller regardless of the amp! Getting used to recording guitars with a little lower gain can be a trying thing to learn to do but ultimately the tone will be better. Even the craziest gainiac-sounding players you hear on album don’t use as much as you think but rather use their hands and attack to get tone. I’ve played for years with Marty Friedman and the guy barely seems to get to 5 on the gain on any amp he plays! That sound comes from his technique, that’s always something to keep in mind when trying to record nice fat guitars, and on both Lass and Andy’s samples the gain isn’t super high either fyi…
I’d also check the tubes, if they haven’t been changed in a while fresh ones may be in order. But other things that have to be taken into consideration here is the quality of the preamps Andy and Lasse used, the miking technique, the recording rig itself (I/O quality, bit rate, etc)…all of this has a good deal of impact on the tone. Weaker or cheaper preamps can deff produce that scratchy sound when crushed with signal, same with I/Os, while trying to record guitars. Try backing down the levels there as well and see if some of that scratchiness goes away… Within the next few days the first installment of “The Producer’s Chair” will be up in the KrankLife section where producer Chuck Alkazian is going to be offering tips and fielding q’s on stuff exactly like this. Any inquiries can be sent to the artist relations contact here on the site… Anyway hope this helps a bit!
When I first switched my Stein+ on I thought it was rather scratchy sounding, too.
That was because I started with everything at noon;)….I uickly learned that the sweep knob is a powerful feature, but it takes some time getting used to.
there are many different tones between different combinations of the swepp and the presence knob, just with these two knobs you can dial in very raw and grainy tones, as well as very smooth and creamy tones, try playing with these knobs. try for example presence around 2 combined with sweep around 4-5, or pres around 4-5 with sweep around 3, just those small movements will give you a variety of tones…..
I think in my clips the sweep was around 3.
Guitar was an ESP MIcstm with 18v emg81 on the “guitars only” and an ESP MII with 18v EMG81 on the krankubator mix.
Guitar Preamp was API, but you should get killer recordings with your amp through most preamps, even the cheapest ones
kay so is there a direct line for recording direct?
and lets talk about balls how does this amp stack up against some of your ballsy great marshal peavey and mesa?
There’s a direct out but it’s not like a Line 6 that has speaker emulation, I wouldn’t really use it for direct recording. As far as how it stacks up to the amps you mentioned it has more balls than all of them truth be told. You can’t really compare the Peavey as it’s just not in the same league really price range and sound quality and as far as the Marshall and Mesa heads the Krankenstein is more fierce than a Marshall with more tight low end and more articulate than the common Mesa, especially in the top end where they can get a bit buzzy. If you’re into really heavy sounding guitars (which I’m thinking you are) the Krankenstein+ is deff a better choice than what you mentioned!
hey I am definitely going to buy one of these things within the next 12 months; however, I live in Canada, and this website says it doesn’t ship to Canada. My only other option would to be to buy one off Ebay, but I don’t like dealing with people on ebay, so how would we get around this problem?
PS. Is the sweep knob supposed to supplement my sweep-picking technique? (so turn it up when I want to sweep and turn it down when I’m not sweeping?) I’ve watch both the videos and I’m still not entirely sure what that knob does.
In Canada a company called Intellimix is our distributor and you can certainly get a Krankenstein+ thru one of their dealers, all their contact info is in the “Dealers” section of the site!
As for the Sweep knob it controls a parametric eq hump that you can “sweep” the guitar frequencies, interacting with how you have the eq set up and basically letting you fine tune the tone. More to the left you get down into the lower frequency ranges and it will sweep up as you turn the knob to the right. As far as it making your sweep picking any better I’d place my bets with the Paul Gilbert or Vinnie Moore instructional video for that hahaha! :)
How would you rate this amp as an all around amp, Blues, Rock, Metal and clean. I play anything from Metallica dn Pantera, to Skynyrd and Clapton, Hell even some 80’s hair bands. I love heavy sounds and want quality, but im also looking for some all around capability. Thanks
Hey Jason actually man this a good question as the typical mindset when people think of the Krankenstein is that it’s just a heavy metal amp but really that isn’t true at all as it’s pretty diverse! The truth of the matter is it will do all the styles of music you mentioned, you just need to set it up right for each style. The clean channel is awesome, bright and chimey and if you really spank the guitar it will break up nicely for you. I know for a fact a couple mainstream country records used a Krankenstein clean channel on them! And on the Dime dirty channel you can experiment with the gain and the sweep to hone in on blues tones, rock tones, metal tones…if you have a clue what you’re looking for you can probably get it. Obviously what guitar you use also depends on how well the tone will represent a particular style, and while it’s hard for one amp to be the bomb at every style the Krankenstein does a great job overall!
I am looking for an amp that has a tight low end response and I was wondering which is better for that trait? The Krankenstein or the Rev SST? I can’t decide on which one I want to get but I would be fine getting either one…
Hey Alex actually for tight low end response you can’t go wrong with either of those amps! Both have plenty of it! Really I would say it comes down to budget and style. The Krankenstein+ has a very tight yet wide tube amp sound, really killer, while the SST, being a hybrid tube/solid state, has a more narrow and distinctly focused tone, also a great tone. Obviously with big powerful tube amps the cost is more and the Krankenstein+ comes in at $1699 street price in the U.S. while the SST is $949. I can say you both are great amps and will be tight in the low end, depends on what you’re looking for overall…
Alright thanks a lot man! That really helps me out. I think I’ll go with the Rev SST for a more focused tone. I’ll be joining the Krank family pretty soon so thanks a bunch for helping me on the decision making part.
WANT IT SO FUCKING BAD!!!!!!!!!!!
what are the lead settings for the krankubator mix( sound samples)?
Truthfully I’m not sure! But you can send a message to Lasse who produced the track at his myspace at http://www.myspace.com/lsdtonstudio!
I’m not 100% anymore, but I guess I had the mids between 1:00 and 2:00 , the bass around 1:00, treble around 12:00, Gain around 2:00, sweep around 9:30 (that is for the solos, the rhythms were what Chris posted below)
LOL I don’t have myspace…
Actually juts go an e-mail from Lasse and he put these settings in the e-mail:
Master: max
sweep: 3
pres: 5
bass:6-7
Mid: 2-3
Treb:5
Channelvol:2-3
Gain: 5-6
v30 cab, one sm57 on axis, no post processing
What is a v30 cab?
I think the reference is to a cab loaded with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers…
I play alot of classic thrash. Would this head cover that pretty well. How is the clean tone.
Mason this head would be the bomb for that! It has a ton of gain, and “clean” discernible gain mind you where you can still hear everything you play. And the clean channel is awesome, very sparkly and will break just right if you decided to really spank the guitar…
awsome! thanks.
Hi dudes!
I want to buy a krank amplifier (Krankenstein or Revolution), but Suprovox has stopped selling them in Spain, so where can I buy one? Thanks a lot.
Hey do you guys know which head Dethklok uses? I love they’re tone and I”m buying a Krank no question, but I am trying to figure which head to use. I uses a PRS Custom 24 with passive humbuckers. I need that DETHKLOK METAL tone. Which head should I get?
Krankenstein+!!!! That’s the deal on the Dethklok stuff!!!
I just bought a brand new Krankenstein + 2 days ago. I played it at the store and it sounded sick but when i brought it home and played it through my mesa cab at high volume it sounded crappy. maybe i just got a lemon. Help me out with some settings or something please. i really want this amp to work out since i went through so much trouble to get it!! I’m trying to get that Reinventing the Steel sound!
Well I don’t know what cab you played it thru at the store or which Mesa cab you’re playing thru at home but I’ll bet I can help you out with a simple setup. The big thing to understand on that amp is the master main volume all the way over to the left is linked directly to the power section of the amp and is meant to be up higher than either the master 1 or master 2. What happens if you have it below the two masters is you’re starving the power section and it can get thin. Now you’re totally ok kranking the Main Master volume all the way up which will give you some full-barrell power tube crunch along with your preamp gain but I would say start with it at about 7, put the presence about 6, sweep at 3 or 4, mid 3, treble around 6, gain about 8 and then simply bring up the master 1 or 2 to your desired volume level. Then tweak from there! This will give you a good starting point for the Dime sound, of course the cab, guitar , and hands have to do with the overall tone too! Hope this helps-
hey guys,i am curious to know will this amp be a limited edition? and if so how many more do yous plant to produce? cheers
No plans currently for any limited edition runs and this head sells really well so it will be in production for quite a while I’d say!
Are the Krankenstein+ and the original Krankenstein measurements the same? If so what are the measurements? Thanks!
Yep the measurements are the same on both, 25 9/16″w x 10″h x 8 3/4″ d…
Catero, I’m researching amps I want to build my rig around. It’s either a Krank + matching cab, or a Fryette Sig:X and Vader 412. From the demos on Kranks youtube, I seemed to prefer the low mid of the Krankenstein+, but leaned a little more towards the highs of the Rev+. I was wondering which Krank you’d suggest for someone that plays leads, thrash metal and other techniques/styles Dime would be proud of. At least discuss both tonally in a little more detail. I’m pretty positive they can both do Thrash, but I’m looking for one that’d be in that range with a little more on tap if I wanted to use it for some Death Metal or soemthing more extreme, as well as rolling the guitar volume back a little, 10 to 8, say, and get a slightly more 80s metal tone.
For effects, I’d be amassing these after getting the amp: Dime Crybaby, Digitech DigiDelay, ART 15 band EQ, Krankshaft, and EVH Phase 90 & Flanger, some in front and some in the loop. And lastly, LTD guitars w/ Duncan Dist, Dime, Invader, Jazz and 59 pickups using Spectraflex Fatso cables and Blue Steel strings in various tunings. Thanks very much for your help, and sorry for the long comment.
No sweat bro… I think the Krankenstein+ is the one you want simply because you want to do get a little more extreme at times. Both heads kick ass but the Krankenstein+ can go that extra gain mile for death metal, plus it will “scoop” out nicely without being too devoid of mids. You can also get the same kind of highs out of it as the Rev+ as that looked to be a concern for you. Tonally it will go all over the map if you set it up to do so, from gain-lite classic rock to extreme metal to even country (for real!). Also regarding the cab the matching cab is killer and has a full bore sound as a result of mixing the all poplar shell with the Eminence Texas Heat speakers. Those speakers are more full throttle in nature having glassy highs and boomy lows while still retaining a nice mid bark… Hopefully this helps you!
That helped quite a bit, catero. Thanks. One thing though, how do Krank’s clean up on the volume knob? I don’t like how some amps when pulled back from the guitars volume knob begin to lose their feel [I know you're supposed to lose gain, and volume, but it shouldn't lose it's basic feel]. Also, if I want to use the volume knob at 8 for rhythms, and 10 for leads/extreme stuff, I’d love to be able to do that.
BTW, if I had the extra $1000, I’d get a Rev Jr Pro and 1×12 cab along with a Stein+ w/ cab, and be done with it. Wonder if anyone’s bought a Plus’ and a Jr. 50w Pro in a stereo setup… should sound like Heaven, Hell, and the tense moments in all those horror films, too.
Happy to help bro! The amp will deff clean up nicely too when backing the volume down on the guitar and will keep that “feel” you’re talking about… :)
As far as the dream of running a crazy stereo rig like that with those two heads I don’t know if anyone has but I’m sure it would sound killer! Yeah could deff be Jason vs. Freddy vs. Satan vs. Tiger Woods hahaha…
Haha. Funny you mention Freddy… I was thinkin yesterday Krank is the Freddy Krueger of amplifiers, particularly because the only two amp models are Rev 1 and ‘Stein. And yet again, thanks for the great help. Hope to have my Stein+ by February… will update you then what I think of it.
what is the price for the krankentstien head and cabnet together?
Together street price you’re looking at about $2700…
Catero, I have three questions left. These are the last ones I have about the Stein+.
1.) How are the tubes mounted? PCB, or PCB and Chassis?
2.) How are the pots installed, and what type are they? Do they have play/do they wiggle?
For instance, are they plastic, mounted on a PCB, or are they metal, mounted to the chassis, and using wires from the PCB? [Basically guitar style pots connected to the board like a Mesa].
3.) Lastly, what are the tonal differences with the Stein+ between it’s Stein cab, and the Rev cab? Assuming the amp is using the same settings with both cabs, I’d like to know things like which has more mids, which has better highs for solos, and which has tighter lows.
Also, if you think I’d better achieve my goals mixing speakers, which and how much extra would it be to have Krank load a cabinet up with a customized speaker X pattern? Thanks…
Ah, what the hell… I’ll just throw it out there. I’ve had an idea in my head for the past couple days. The idea: 2 sweeps to go with the 2 volumes. This way you can have a heavy, low mid based rhythm, and a more upper mid based, louder lead guitar part, or a mix of the two. Just a thought.
And again, thanks a BUNCH for your help.
BTW, DethKlok sounds [louder]godawful[regular volume] with ElevenRack’s and Marshall’s. EEYUK!!
Hey man, where can i download the manual for this amp?
It’s in the FAQ section!
This amp is awesome. Just wanted to say that.
hey i jus keep listenin bout this amp on the net n keep droolin over the photos….sadly it isnt available in India…is there any way i can get this amp…??
If it’s not available in India hit us up at sales@krankamps.com and we’ll see if we can take care of you!
I have a simple question What is the Frequance of BASS, Treb and Presance. Dimes randall that I use is Bass 50HZ Treb 3K and Presance between 10k and 15k. This will be my next head to try. Thanks.
Well basically on a Krank that question is a little hard to answer because we have a Sweep knob that is a parametric hump that sweeps across all the useable guitar frequencies…so depending on where you have the Sweep knob at will determine the eq knob’s range. Basically think like you have the ability to move those frequencies around according to your stage/playing situation which is a very handy thing! As far as specific ranges for each know they would be in the same ballpark…
what are the settings for pantera’s reinventing the steel album? dime’s midrange is hard to find cause he used liek 5 equalizers…AND A DOUBLER!
Tomatohead like samples very much. Must have Krankenstien !!!
Catero, two things;
One will be able to get a dual recto like sound out of this, amp, cause it has all the gain i need and seems like the right amp for my sound, but i really like that dual recto sound.
Also, is possible to get a really clean sound out of this amp, even with active pup?
Hey Jared well in my opinion this amp sounds way better than a Dual Rec as it’s more articulate and not as frizzly sounding in the top end providing more clarity, even with tons of gain. But remember – it’s Krank not a Dual Rec nor do we want the Krankenstein+ to be that so I personally don’t think it will sound exactly like a Dual Rec no mater how you set it up…but that would kind of be the point of getting the Krankenstein instead of the Mesa right?! And yeah you can certainly get a nice clean sound…something the Dual Rec deff can’t do hahahaha!
the dual recto is more muffled and dry instead of frizzy! hahahahaha! KRANKENSTEIN is awesome!
can u put down the setting used for the sample tones? plz, thanx!
Most of our sample tones were done by various producers but look down in the comments as I know one producer posted his settings!
Hi
so i just want to know what size is the beast ?
cause i want buy a flight case for my mesa head, i’m plannig on selling it soon and get myself one of those kick ass krank head if i can ASAP so i’d like it to fit in the flight.
i think it would be good to talk about it in the specs ^^.
oh and if i may say something, you really need to do something about your french dealer these guys are dickheads : i tried to get a krankenstein heads for three months, before loosing patience and send away these people that can’t even tell me its price or doesn’t even know if he’ll have the old or + version. when i asked him if he could have the krankenstein cab he told me that he had one i said “the one with dimebag face in the corner” he said “no” and i said “so it’s not this one” and he said “yes it is, i can just put the head on the corner for you and its the same” i said “what about the speaker they’re not the good ones” and then he dare say “well tell me which speakers you want and i’ll put them in for you and you’ll have your krankenstein cab”.
they don’t even know what they’re selling. ASSHOLES. they’re really not good for your buisness in France !
so i had to buy a fucking mesa cause i needed an amp and i didn’t wanna buy anything from these people. but i’m fucking sad now cause it’s a krank i want. i really hope i’ll can have one someday.
cheers
Alex
Sorry man you had a crappy experience with the French distro :( I will look into things there. In the meantime please contact us at sales@krankamps.com and we’ll see what we can do to help you out!
thanks a lot.
what about the size (height, depth, width) of the krankenstein head ?
The dims on the head are 25 9/16″ W x 10″ H x 8 3/4″ D
can u guys find out dime’s signature tone and send me the settings?
Hey Guys,
I play guitar in a progressive black metal band and I use a krankenstien+ through and Krankenstien cab. I use emg 81/85’s. Here my deal, the other guitarist uses a vintage Ampeg SS 100 with the same pick ups and his tone is SUPER tight and gainy but doesn’t have any punch (can’t feel it hit you in the chest) where as mine is SUper punchy (which is Awesome!) but the tone isn’t as tight and gainy as i want it to be. I’ve been using the krankubator settings listed above. Can you give me any dial suggestion to get that SS tone without loosing that nuts punch feeling?
Hey David what you have here is a familiar question for us as many guitarists in extreme metal unecessarily feel they need to use tons of gain to do what they do. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of gain involved but not nearly as much as you think! The reason the Ampeg probably has not guts is that it’s so gained out there’s no room for the frequencies to breath and creates a smaller sounding tone. In your case you can really feel the amp and truthfully the tightness will come from your playing, not the amp. It takes some time to adjust to a good, open sounding tube amp but the practice and effort is worth it! I’d suggest turning the gain up a bit from those Krankubator settings for a while as well as turning down the overall Master Volume all the way to the left to about 7 then boost up the Master1/Master2 to the desired playing volume. What this does is makes the preamp work a little harder and should give you a little more crunch. Remember the Krankubator settings were set up to get the best studio sound and less gain is required for that! So try that and then as you get more comfortable you’ll notice a) your rhythm chops are better and b) you’ll have developed more tone out of your technique…try it!
Where can I buy this thing in holland?
Currently we don’t have an official distributor in Holland to the best of knowledge so if you decided you really wanted to buy one we’d be happy to sell to you direct from the US. Just hit us up at sales@krankamps.com-
i have a problem. i don´t now which amp i should buy. i have the choise between the krankenstein and the krankestein+ (they have the same price)
greetings from germany
If you can get them at the same price for for the +”+ version, it’s the newer upgraded one…!
Could you explain the tonal diffrences between the krankenstein+ and the rev+? I am trying to deside which one that I would rather get and I have only been able to try out a rev+ which I had to drive a few hundred miles just for that. Also, what exactly does having larger transformers do for the sound(just kinda curious)?
Hey bud check down in the comments, I’ve explained that on both the Rev+ product page and on this one!
is the + version louder than the normal version?
Yes it is, 120W versus the original’s 100W!
Love the Krankenstein+. I was wondering about the effects loop. I have never used it before and was thinking about chaining some of pedals in it. Which pedals would work the best in the loop. I have a chorus,phaser, analog delay, tremelo pedal. Thanks again for making this bad ass amp. Now I just need the sponsor ship down the road.
Cool you dig that amp! Yeah actually all of that can work in the loop tho you might want to put the phaser and chorus in front of the amp still depending on your taste, those will sound different depending on where you decide to place them. As far as sponsorships if you band is out playing 150+ dates a year and kicking ass give us a shout!