The newest in the amplifier line is the hybrid Rev SST. A new concept in making hybrid tube/solid state amps, the Rev SST is comprised of an all tube high gain preamp and Class D mosfet power amp section (the same type of power used in high end car stereo amps). This beast produces an ultra powerful, clean, and very loud 200W of useable power at 4 ohms with great tones at a more affordable price. This footswitchable two channel head has the same killer features Kranks are known for, with the Krank channel containing two master volumes, 3-band eq, sweep and gain and the Kleen featuring a volume and 3-band eq. Players who love that bouncy, compressed feel will find the Rev SST just downright fun to play while both the high gain and clean sounds remain clear and distinct. Additional features include switch mode power supply for worldwide use, active effects loop and manual channel selector.
- Two channel, footswitchable 200W head
- Preamp three 12AX7 tubes, power section 400W Class D power module
- Separate volume and 3 band eq sections per channel
- Footswitchable Master 1 and Master 2 controls, gain, sweep control on Krank channel
- Active effects loop, ohm selector, worldwide voltage use, footswitch included
Sounds
Band: Legend – SST with Krankshaft Raw Tracks
Band: Death Audio – “Place The Blame” SST Rhythm Guitars
KRANK GEAR USED: Rev+, Rev Cab, Krankenstein+, Krankenstein Cab, Nineteen80, Nineteen80 Cab, Krankenstein Jr.
Baptized by the music of AC/DC, Van...
This amp is a real good piece to my rack it has alot of the same sounds as the rev so i chose this becuz of its price nd plus i dnt hafta change out the pwr tubes every year cuz its digital pwr \m/
http://WWW.MYSPACE.COM/LEGENDHARDCORE
Please advise the measurements to the REV SST, Thank you
The headbox measurements are 25 9/16″ x 10″ x 8 3/4″ and the cab is 29 3/4″ x 31 13/16″ x 14″…
Where did the Swedish Distributors go!? Where to but SST!? Love it!
Our Swedish distributor is called Septon and they can be reached at Tel: +46 31 93 92 76, ask for Johan and he’ll guide you to where you can pick up and SST!!!
Can this amp keep up with the krankenstein?
Yeah the SST in range of volume and gain can most certainly keep up with the Krankenstein! Having the digital power section makes the tone a little more narrow and focused than a tube amp so you may not have quite as “wide” a sound if comparing head to head but you’ll have plenty of punch, power and gain as that Class D power amp is highly efficient! And by far and away this amp blows away the other hybrid heads out there… We’ve had a lot of questions about this amp lately that have turned into purchases by customers who say they were so glad they went with the SST so I think that says a lot for the amp…
What is the low response like? A lot of the clips I’ve heard are a little heavy on the top end, just curious if the overall voice is darker or brighter or if it can do both.
Actually the low end response is killer, very tight and big like the Krankenstein+ and Rev+. And it can certainly be voiced darker or brighter, just depends on how you set it up! Very beasty sounding amp…you can compare the low end tightness actually to Dime’s Pantera sound before he switched to full tube amps if that helps…
Helps a lot, i’ll probably be joining the ranks.
No problem, happy to help ya!
hey does this amp cut through the mix as well as an all tube amp? and i’ve noticed that overdive pedals don’t work very well with solid state amps but since this is a hybrid do they work with this better? like would it react to the overdrive pedal the same way the krank all tube amps do? it says a krankshaft was used in the demo song, for a small gain boost right?
Yeah man the SST cuts well thru the mix! It has a pretty gnarly and focused midrange thing happening with it so you can cut right thru…and yes you deff can use overdrive pedals in front of it. They work the same just as they would with a full tube amp, gives it a little more gain if that’s what you want. I have to say tho the SST has A LOT of gain already so you know!
Yes it does ,OH YEAH IT DOES!!!
RIK
I’m a little worried because my amp on the krank channel is sounding like it has a lot of metallic over ring to it.Like Fieldy’s bass from korn. I don’t tune that low. Kleen channel sounds great. I haven’t played out with this amp or anything. Or very much just at my studio. Had it for a few months. Has any one else comment about this matter?
Hey Cameron sounds like to me you might have a tube going microphonic on you, when a little metallic ring starts happening that’s often an indication of that. First while the amp is cooled down try changing around the placement of the 12AX7 tubes and see if that helps. Also make sure the tube cap is on solidly as it can vibrate and cause a ringing sound. At worst case replace the tubes. If you still have any issues call or e-mail in to our tech department!
Im not a big fan of solid state amps at all but these reviews are really convincing and pushing me to get one of these seeing how you guys say they can keep up with the Krankeenstien +.Do these heads come with a footcontroller? If so what options are on the footswitch and how much switches are on it?
Hey Pedro well the SST isn’t really like most solid state amps in that it has a very open, tube-like harmonic range because it’s a good high gain tube preamp coupled with such clean power source in the class D module. And as you can hear in the sound clips it’s sounds damn good! Yes it does come with a two button footswitch that allows to switch between the masters 1 and 2 on the dirty channel (one master can be boosted higher for leads) as well as between the clean and dirty channel…
I’m looking for the best Krank head for progressive metal. Like between the buried and me or the faceless. Would it be the Krankenstien or the REV SST?
Hey Dave actually either head would work well, it’s matter of what you’re looking for tonally. Both have a ton of gain yet retain clarity for the complex chord voicings in prog metal so the real determination should be whether you’re looking for an all tube sound or a hybrid sound. The Krankenstein+ has a wider tube sound with the 6550 power tubes providing nice growl and note separation while the SST isn’t quite as wide sounding due the the nature of being a hybrid but it’s class D power section does make that amp very focused sounding. The other factor would be your budget as the SST is priced lower….
I d tried many heavy amps like the rectifier from boogie. For the rythm sound it was nice,,,but i had no sustain on the lead part. Can you have a good sustain from the sst???
Yeah you can deff get great sustain from that head as well as having a very clear rhythm tone. The SST has a very bouncy feel to it that is a little compressed due to the nature of the power section yet unlike other hybrid heads it really remains “clean” sounding in it’s articulation…
Well,,thanks for your answer. I d finaly just buy it. I have to say YEAHHH!! Its have a great tone,,you can play blues,,rock and metal just by pulling off or up the gain control without changing all the eq…and yeah, i have a great sustain for solos even with the gain at 12 oclock. Its a great tone,, i also have a bogner and Orange,,and they worth much more $ but this one will probably be on the top of my choice for next gigs. The clean is great too,,,This amp would be perfect if it had a reverb. Thanks again..
You got it, happy to help and glad you like the amp!!!!
I have just opened my RevSST Half stack,My god it is the Rev without have to deal with all the nightmare that can go with tube heads!!!!
Not that I wont be getting the Rev or Krankenstein in the near future,lol.But giging can really mess with a tube head as we all know.I was a Randall freak with my four stacks of RH100s for ten years ,Now one REV SST Krank half stack does the same job and better with a better sound,Which my road crew thanks god for lol.
KRANK is the amp of the future and out of all my gear has moved into front row in a day,Thanks Krank you are the BEST.
Yours truly,
RIK
Hey thank you Rik! Glad you love it man… :)
Is the ohm selector 4ohm 8ohm 16ohm? Can i use sst on stereo peavey cabs ? Thanks
Because it’s a solid state power section you will be fine at whatever ohm rating your cab is!
OMG!!! Finally i get it !! Amazing sound even if i think i need to change tubes. I was so surprised to see that my SST is equipated by three 12ax7 Ruby (russian tubes)! What kind of tubes usually use Krank amps? Electro armonix ??? Can i change tubes by myself? Thanks for your help
Glad you dig it! No we use Ruby preamp tubes (we use the Electro Harmonix power tubes as stock). And yeah you can certainly change the preamp tubes yourself, just be careful to wiggle them out carefully and realign the pins correctly when putting tubes in. BTW if you think you have a microphonic tube that’s causing issues you can also try swapping around the existing tubes and see if that helps!
For over 10 years now I have used Randall 200 watt solid state heads for both gigging and recording. I have owned 2 diffrent heads and have blown both up twice.both amps were bought new and the last one didnt last 6 months. They rebuilt it but it never was the same. I have been told that those high gain amps have a problem with overheating. I am intersested in buying a REV SST but would like to know if it is recomended for heavy gigging and recording or do I have to go with a tube amp. Thanks, Brad from North Carolina.
Hey Brad I think you will really like the SST then! Just so you know when asking about it’s durability since we started shipping those back in 2008 I’ve only seen a couple ever come back fro repair so it’s been a really stable amp. You won’t find it to have overheating problems due to the fact the class D module it uses runs so efficiently and it’s heat-sinked really well…and if you listen to the soundclips and read the comments you’ll see it sounds good recorded as well, deff worth a look!
will the sst create a heavy sound like a peavey 5105 even though the sst is a hybrid
Yes it will AND unlike the Peavey the tone won’t mush out as you get it louder! Way crisper and cleaner sounding while retaining that bouncy feel you might like from the Peavey…good choice for that!
also, will you have to warm up the tubes before play, and how long for roughly
On the SST you don’t have to let the tubes warm up as it’s just preamp tubes and no power tubes in that amp so you won’t do any damage (no standby switch as you might see so you’re ok!). But you will notice the amp will sound a little better a couple mins after turning it on once the preamp tubes really get going…
this is supposed to be a mid-priced amp? still quite a bit of money if you ask me. i understand that kranks are very high quality but the prices are tremendous. what options for a high quality / high wattage do we have? the only really budget friendly amps out there are the Marshall MG series and the Crate Flexwave, and ive had bad experiences with both of these. my band is expanding and not all of us have the funding required for a great sounds, loud amp. oh Krank gods give me your wisdom!
Hey Collin hahaha well let the wisdom flow… Guitar amps deff fit into the old adage “You get what you pay for…” and it’s no coincidence you had bad experiences with those budget friendly amps you mentioned as there’s a reason they’re budget friendly – they’re built cheaply overseas! Obviously all tube amps are going to be more expensive with the solid state type ones being roughly 1/3 to 1/2 the price of those but really you should expect to pay at least $900-$1000 for any respectable amp of the full size over-100W-variety (take a look at various sites on the internet and you’ll see what I mean). The SST is one bad earthshaker and at $949 is more than fairly priced for what it is and if you jam on one you’ll understand I’d think! But another cheaper option would be looking into the Rev Jr. Pro or Krankenstein Jr. 50W heads. The street price on the pro is $699 and the Krankenstein Jr. $769 which are way outstanding prices on 50W all tube heads…and we didn’t skimp on the quality! The 50W versions will push a 4×12 nicely for club gigs just so you know…so you have some options!
I was wondering how good the tone will remain if I play at lower volume levels, because I live in a duplex. I really want this amp bad, but I am not sure what the neighbors would think. I was also wondering about the clean channel.
The tone remains pretty good at lower volumes. Like most amps when you can rev it up the fur really flies! And the clean channel on this amp is really kick ass, very chimey and clean! Deff worth investigating this amp out!
I took your advice and bought the REV SST and let me say to any sceptics or people on the fence THIS SUMBICH IS MASSIVE! I have never owned an amp that was so loud! I plugged it in and had the master on TWO and I ran my family and animals across the house. My old solid state Randall will make a fine addition to my closet.I will tell you, you can trust the guys at KRANK they know what they a doing.The REV SST sounds great right out of the box.I give it a Hellyeah and a two thumbs up gaurandamntee. Brad from North Carolina
THANK YOU TO ALL AT KRANK AMPS! KILLER AMP
Once again to anyone reading this as a way to decide on buying the REV SST or not don’t do like me and settle for a cheaper shittier amp and then spend years buying noise reduction and pedals to make it sound worth a damn. Go on and invest in a real amp.The REV SST is the only option in a solid state amp.All the Chineese stuff with big name badges on them just don’t stand a chance.My ears are still ringing from earlier today.
will a 200watt cab, handle the out put from the head. Or will it become muffled. Its a 8 ohm cab
You can certainly try it out. Depending on the quality of the cab it’s hard to say exactly how it will sound but for example our Rev Jr. cabs will handle one of the big heads but we do make those with very high quality materials…bur give it a shot!
What would active pickups (EMG’s) sound like with this head?
Actually active EMG pickups thru this head sound awesome! Hyper tight gain…
how close does this amp sound to the krankenstien?
This amp is fairly close sounding as it’s very high gain…I kind of liken it to Dime’s Pantera tone…
what is the price for the head and the cab.
and what would be better the kranenstien with cab for price and sound or the revolution?
The Rev SST street price is $949 and the cabs $699. As far as which what would be the better half stack, the Krankenstein or the Rev, I guess it’s kind of asking what’s the better fruit, apples or oranges?! Both are great yet which one is better will vary from different people. I can say the Krankenstein has more gain that is focused in a very extreme metal way at times while the Rev+’s high gain is very much crossing the cooler Recto qualities with the cooler JCM qualities…
what would you recommend for my dean 79 ml the krankenstien or the rev sst
what is the price for the krankenstien and the cab?
Street price for the Krankenstein+ and cab is $1699 and $999 respectively-
I own an krank SST head and i ‘ve the opportunity to get a Krankenstein cab 4 x12. Does it works with the SST?Even the head is 4ohm and cab is 16ohm? Does it works on orange ppc412hp8 cab? Usually i use krank SST with a peavey cab 4×12 stereo8ohm and 16ohm mono , i was so surprised to hear a buzz sound after a few minutes!! I don ‘t know what happen!!Is the power of the cab important ? Please i need your help.
No the Krankenstein cab will work it’s just at 16 ohms it will be less loud essentially. The SST head is a solid date power section so matching up the ohms of the cab isn’t as important (this essential with tube heads tho). But one thing I would suggest which is quite easy is to rewire the Krankenstein to 4 ohms to get the maximum power out of the head. But I think you will like it!
Thanks for reply!! Just one more question how do you rewire cab to 4 ohms?
Actually that cab comes at 4 ohms so you’re good to go!
I am considering picking one of these up in a couple weeks. Every sound clip I have heard the kleen channel sounds really compressed, as advertised. I was wondering if you can get just a good smooth sounding clean tone out of it if adjusted?
Yeah truly you can get what you want out of the clean channel and when recorded it certainly can be setup to be smooth!
Hi, I’m looking for the Rev SST user manual cause it’s not in the faq section … thx
Will be posting shortly!
It completely depends on what kind of sound you’re going for…if you like a more compressed, solid state type sound go for the SST, if you like the full open tube sound the Krankenstein+ is the deal…