Kramer Striker HSS Quick Look

Quick Look video of my Kramer Striker Flame Top HSS guitar. Thanks for watching!
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Featured track is “Simply Assume (And Refill)” track from the EP “Messy Haired Kid” - written by Eric Jason Brock - ©️2022 EJB Music.
Available at:
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What’s that riff I always play?!? Go here to find out:
• What’s That Riff?!? - ...
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Eric Jason Brock Instagram:
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#KramerStriker #KramerGuitars

[@AljonGo]

Thanks for the overview Eric... and YES, we are listening. 😎

[@EJBGuitar]

Oh, I know you are Aljon! Keep churning out these great affordable Kramer’s!

[@DRDINOMEOW]

I love the fact you played “alone again” by Dokken! I just picked this guitar up for that 80’s hair metal rig everyone wants. George Lynch is one of my favorite guitarists! Great review! Definitely a better sounding electronics then mine came with 😂

[@EJBGuitar]

Thanks! Shouldn’t yours have the same electronics? Maybe it was just the particular Kemper amp profiles I was using. What color did you get?

[@DRDINOMEOW]

@@EJBGuitarI’m sure it’s a lot of things. I have the green version like yours but mine is the FR trem. I still feel like it’s lack luster. Played it through my Evh 5150 and still just wasn’t there. The two singles was the main issue. I feel the double coil would be very lacking if I threw in hotrod pups.

[@MaximusAdonicus]

@@DRDINOMEOWMaybe the pickups are too low? Tried raising them up?

[@DRDINOMEOW]

@MaximusAdonicus yessir, but I won’t lie to you. I don’t have much experience with hss set ups. I forgot to mention that in the op. so I may have it still not the right height. I just hear a lot of reviews saying they need swapped for hotter pups at least the single to keep up with the humbucker. The humbucker sounds good.

[@gwhiz3708]

@@DRDINOMEOW the reason the guitar in this video sounds good is because he’s playing through a solid state fx processor. If he played that guitar through a tube amp it would sound terrible just like yours. People that don’t know watch videos like this and go out and buy the guitar and then learn that the guitar is a mod platform. When you try a guitar out at the music store make sure you use a tube amp. Tube amps don’t lie, if it’s a junk guitar you’ll know with a tube amp. The price should also be an indicator 🫡

[@SouthpawSatch]

This is the first review I've seen on these guitars. Thank you.

[@EJBGuitar]

Thanks for watching! Appreciate it.

[@allenwebster6329]

I just saw this I got a red one with the floyd and maple neck, it was around 400 bucks from american musical supply I get stuff from them all the time and make monthly payments, when I got mine a couple days after I ordered i, when I got it I had to set it up I found 2 frets that needed leveled, I called the service rep. he took 35 bucks off my monthly payment, so with all that being said its not bad for what it is I have several wolfgangs but ive been picking the striker up lately ,anyway cool video, stay safe

[@keithmartin1067]

Excellence review! Thanks!

[@EJBGuitar]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@keithmartin1067]

@@EJBGuitar You're welcome!

[@Pulse2AM]

Thanks for the review. It could stand a good set of pups as you mentioned.

[@EJBGuitar]

Yeah, but cheap enough that new pickups still wouldn’t break the bank!

[@Molotov_Milkshake]

That's a crazy interface you got there. It's good to hear someone demoing a guitar without an amp for a change. A decent amp makes any guitar sound good, so I find most demos are bullshit on here.

[@EJBGuitar]

Appreciate that…Just a wannabe rock star that’s all! LOL

[@smharman72]

whoa! Loudness riff

[@waltergaines1302]

Best review I've seen in a long time. Love your playing too man. I don't think I've ever hit the subscribe button so quickly.

[@EJBGuitar]

Thanks! Appreciate it.

[@haydnmcdonnell2397]

he is the van halen of guitar reviewers lol

[@EJBGuitar]

@@haydnmcdonnell2397 I don't know about that! Maybe Billy Bob Van Halen! LOL

[@haydnmcdonnell2397]

@@EJBGuitar your playing was so refreshing in a guitar review video, im used to them playing the most boring stuff plus poor abilitly to actually play it, you really delivered a pleasent 15 minutes to my life. Thank you

[@EJBGuitar]

Wow! Thank you for the huge compliment…I greatly appreciate it. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@jeffadams2789]

Thanks man I really appreciate your opinion because I am.seriously thinking about getting one of them babies.

[@EJBGuitar]

No problem at all!!

[@CASNY4METAL]

just bought the purple with the blond fretboard

[@timbmusician]

I dig the color of that one!

[@EJBGuitar]

Thanks bro!

[@bici.fender.orlando.7895]

Greetings. I've been watching your videos they are excellent. I hid it because I was looking for references to the kramer guitar. Greetings from Colombia.👍

[@EJBGuitar]

Thank you!

[@connorboi_2009]

Nice video, killer tones bro🤘🤘

[@EJBGuitar]

Thank you - appreciate it.

[@lubieplacki7105]

Amazing sound

[@EJBGuitar]

Thanks!

[@michaelsakells169]

The Kramer Strikers feel like perfect guitars for people who want to try out a floyd rose with spending so much money. I don't know how well they stay in tune, but these could be a good starting point, especially since I'm only used to guitars with a stopbar and tune-o-matic bridge.

[@EJBGuitar]

These have the FR Special which has gotten a bad rap, but they’re not as bad as many think. Definitely not as good as an original FR, but not terrible. Like you said - great for someone wanting to give one a go! If you take care of them and don’t make adjustments while the strings are under normal tension, the Specials will last for awhile. The knife edges are probably the thing you gotta be most careful with.

[@Molotov_Milkshake]

Ordered the FR version and looking forward to playing it. Wanted an HSS for a while, and a Floyd Rose too, so this thing kills two birds with one stone and I found it for a bargain price too. Looking forward to playing with it.

[@EJBGuitar]

I kinda want to get a FR version too, but dang if I don’t need another FR guitar! What color did you go with?

[@Molotov_Milkshake]

@@EJBGuitar 'majestic purple' with the maple fretboard. I've never owned an FR, nor an HSS, so I'm really looking forward to having another weapon in the arsenal. Been watching these guitars for a while looking for price drops and finally yesterday I saw the price drop to a new low (£222 at Bax Music) and I finally gave in.

[@EJBGuitar]

Sweet. I hope yours is “one of the good ones”. Gonna keep it stock? I think these are great “mod-platform” guitars, but you don’t really need to do anything to them. Great value. What genre of music do you tend to play?

[@Molotov_Milkshake]

@@EJBGuitar Well, given the price point of this, I am not expecting spectacular pickups, so I do expect to upgrade them at some point. I'm thinking Seymour Duncans, specifically the SSL4 Quarter Pound pickups for mid+neck slots. I wanted to put those on my Strat a while back but I didn't want to lose the great tones my Strat has, so this guitar will be perfect for that experiment I think! Not sure about what to replace the humbucker yet though. Haven't thought too much about that yet. I mainly play punk and hardcore, and I definitely think this guitar is gonna be a powerhouse for those sounds.

[@EJBGuitar]

You MAY find the humbucker satisfactory for that style…I think the quarter pounders are a great choice though.

[@jgmopar]

I have had my eye on these. My old Kramer Striker is a plywood body so does seem like they use better wood on the modern strikers. Nice review

[@EJBGuitar]

Thanks! For the money, these are insane. Buying one from a place you can play a bunch or at least has a good return policy and they’re hard to beat for the $$.

[@danielgouge4639]

Did the guitarist on the Whitesnake album play Kramers? Sounded like the very guitar used ... as well. I just looked it up....ahh yes Vivian Campbell played them.

[@Szymon-uc3hh]

Awesome guitar for this price!

[@EJBGuitar]

Absolutely

[@dc3763]

Hello, nice review!! :) Could you compare this guitar to Dinky JS22?

[@EJBGuitar]

Sorry but I don’t have a Dinky JS22.

[@timclimo1864]

Hi Eric, I have two of the Beretta specials and you had mentioned that you had changed the tuners to hipshot lockers on those as well in one of your previous videos,did you use the same ones on the striker? I want to do the same to my barretta's and eventually when I get a striker, could you provide the model numbers, thank you so much! Rock on.🤘

[@EJBGuitar]

I use various Hipshot locking tuners depending on the guitar…tilt-back headstocks (like the Striker) don’t necessarily require staggered height, but you can still use them if you want. Check out hipshotproducts.com/collections/guitar-tuning-machines/products/guitar-tuner-upgrade-kits for the ones I use. Look for them in Reverb or eBay for cheaper prices, but those are the ones I use…just choose the color you want and if you want staggered or non-staggered on that page and it’ll give you the proper model # for each set. The exact set I used in the Striker is # 6K1GL0B.

[@jessereyna7408]

Can you share some of the covers you just played besides the obvious white snake and warrant band covers?

[@EJBGuitar]

I had to go back and watch to find out! Besides those you mentioned, there was “You Shook Me” by Loudness, “Alone Again” by Dokken, “Somebody Save Me” by Cinderella, kind of a pseudo-rip off version of “Electric Gypsy” by Andy Timmons, “Unchained” by Van Halen, and “Beth” by Kiss. Other stuff was original material. Were any of those what you were wondering about?!?

[@rickyr6702]

I’m thinking about getting the black one in a hardtail, I’m more of a lead player, like into lynch, demartini, players like that. I think about upgrading the pickups, tuners, the nut, getting the frets plek’d. would this be a pretty gigable guitar?

[@EJBGuitar]

I’d think so. For that genre of music, I’d play the stock pickups first before swapping them out…you might end up liking them for that style. I’d check the frets too before opting for a Plek job…all mine needed were a bit of polishing - they were level from the get-go. I’d probably recommend going ahead and replacing the tuners though…the stock tuners are only average IMO.

[@rickyr6702]

@@EJBGuitar we’re you able to get the action pretty low?

[@EJBGuitar]

Yeah…no problem getting it low.

[@rickyr6702]

@@EJBGuitar I ended up getting it and it plays great. Got it plek’d also, but there’s is still some fret buzz even tho it went through the plek machine. Is that normal?

[@EJBGuitar]

Depends what is causing the buzz. If it was plek’d I doubt it’d be a fret issue so it’s probably just a small truss rod tweak away from being fine…I’d start there.

[@erichorn3414]

I like the sounds your using! What guitar processor are you using?

[@EJBGuitar]

Thanks. I’m using the Kemper over my right shoulder!

[@Evan-Loftus]

I wish this finish had a whammy bar 😭

[@KevinMillard68]

wood never affects the tone of the solid body electric or even the semi holllow body of the guitar but your amp and its speaker sure does strings sure do as well pickups a bit ..

[@EJBGuitar]

Don’t even wanna get into this debate!!

[@razinator100]

What song are u playing @4:14

[@EJBGuitar]

“Alone Again” by Dokken

[@p.r.6220]

what's the model number on those tuners?

[@EJBGuitar]

Just the standard, non-staggered locking Hipshots…6K1GL0B

[@bikerskitchen8179]

So the neck is thinner than a wizard style neck?

[@EJBGuitar]

No, not as thin as any Wizard neck that I’ve played.

[@sourayanbiswas4591]

Dumb question. Are the pickups active or passive? Thanks

[@EJBGuitar]

Passive

[@jesterraj]

fret size??

[@EJBGuitar]

Medium/Medium Jumbo I guess.

[@shaky_lifts]

Is the nut width 43mm?

[@EJBGuitar]

Yeah

[@zerothehero2628]

I popped at You Shook Me

[@EJBGuitar]

Is that good or bad?!?

[@zerothehero2628]

@@EJBGuitar Amazing. I never grew up with this music but luckily i had youtube and found so many 80s rock/metal bands. Almost no one in my generation knows who Loudness is, so to hear it played surprises me

[@EJBGuitar]

@@zerothehero2628 Thanks! Luckily I was around during that era and it was what influenced me the most…My favorite kind of music!

[@buffdaddy2032]

Why would they even make that with a fixed bridge . No no no no

[@EJBGuitar]

Yes yes yes yes! Another option is a good thing. Not every person on the planet wants the same thing you want! I dig a Floyd Rose too, but not everyone does.

[@Goldarlives]

I want one because it’s a fixed bridge. I love the feel of Kramer guitars, but I can’t get used to the locking trems on most of them.

[@musicpawns]

I’ve had a few Floyd roses and not being able to tune them mid gig sucks 😩 I know I can bring multiple guitars in different tunings but I like the freedom of tuning the guitar to whatever I want whenever I want so sometimes having no Floyd rose is nice!

[@Molotov_Milkshake]

Got mine this morning. Got it tuned up pretty quickly and locked (I don't honestly understand why people act like it's so difficult). The neck pickup was so high that it was producing a distorted sound when played clean, so I lowered it a bit and now it's fine. Action is spot-on, the Floyd Rose is insanely fun to use (never had one before) and the overall build is solid with no flaws that I've found. I've been shredding crazy sounds with it all day. Sounds great with fuzz, metal pedals and even clean or with some overdrive. I love that the pickups are easy to switch in and out too, because I'm really looking forward to upgrading the neck and mid pickups. The only downside of this guitar is that it has no arm contour. If it had the contour, it'd be 10/10. As it stands it's a solid 8/10 especially given the low price.

[@EJBGuitar]

Oh man…I’m glad you dig it! I agree, once you get the Floyd dialed in, it’s a blast. Live with it a bit and let me know what upgrades you end up doing.

[@Molotov_Milkshake]

It's time to move on from this daft idea that the wood of the body somehow affects tone. We know for a fact it doesn't because of the simple reality that tone is affected purely by electromagnetic feedback converted by the pickups. Tonewood affects acoustic sounds, not electric signals.

[@EJBGuitar]

Don’t start! Wood absolutely affects tone, and to suggest that it doesn’t IS the daft idea. But people can believe whatever they want. Some people can hear it, some can’t. But more than the wood affects it…bridge, nut, etc. For example a maple capped Les Paul sounds different than an all mahogany Les Paul.

[@Molotov_Milkshake]

@@EJBGuitar The electric tone comes from eletromagnetic feedback converted into a signal by the pickups. Wood is not magnetic and therefore has absolutely no impact whatsoever on electric tone. It can affect things like tuning stability and sustain for sure, but tone itself? Absolutely not. It's anti-science to claim otherwise. If you want evidence, go look at Jim Lill's videos about tonewood. That guy proved it beyond doubt, not that proof is needed when the idea of tonewood affecting electric tone goes against the basic rules of physics and electromagnetism/electronics. Sorry, but you're dead wrong about this. Any affect wood has on an electric signal is so extremely negligible that there's no way to prove or measure it. Might as well believe in flat Earth lol, the evidence is just as strong for that (i.e. non-existant).

[@Molotov_Milkshake]

@@EJBGuitar "For example a maple capped Les Paul sounds different than an all mahogany Les Paul." Show me scientific proof of this. There is none.

[@Molotov_Milkshake]

@@EJBGuitar if your 2 Les Pauls genuinely sound different that will be because the pickups will have slight differences, or be completely different pickup models. No two pickups are exactly the same. The amount of winding guarantees small differences. More likely though, the difference is just in your head because I doubt any human ear can tell the difference. When I first got my Jazzmaster, I could have sworn I was hearing different tones moving the pickup selector, then I realised that the rhythm circuit was engaged. Our brains simply interpret the same sound differently when we have certain expectations. When it comes to psychosomatic auditory disorder, I find guitarist are amongst some of the most deluded people. It pays to always keep that in mind.

[@EJBGuitar]

Whatever dude…like I said you can believe anything you want, but people like you have to try and force your belief on the rest of us…and I don’t give a shit. Those of us that know that wood (and everything else in any particular guitar) affects tone don’t care if other people don’t believe that…we can all play guitar and enjoy our lives. You think whatever you want and I’ll think whatever I want.