Kraken or Stein

[Oyster]

I love playing metal what would be the best to get the Stein or the Kraken?



RM-100KH, bunch of stock modules, Ibanez JS-1000, Gretsch "Brian Setzer", Washburn dime ST-Pro, and so on.

 

[The Rossness]

From what I've heard, the Salvo.

 

[JayDA]

Just get a trilogy and be done with it......covers that tone plus tons more.

 

[The Rossness]

Just get a trilogy and be done with it......covers that tone plus tons more.

yea, but 5150's sound different than Kranks. when I had my 5153, I felt like it was 1/3 Ectasy, 1/3 SLO. and 1/3 Recto. When I had my Rev Jr. Pro, it sounded like a shrill marshall that I had to "crank" to get it to its full potential. It was explosive as far as sound goes and hurt my ears. If I went the Krank route again, I'd look at a K-Stein JR (20 watt) and mic it if I needed more volume. It has more bass response than the shrill Revolution series.

...Just my .02

 

[crankyrayhanky]

True, Krank's sound more mid scooped while 5150s have full mids.
rilogy has a scoop option, but still has more mids than what OP is asking; too bad I never played either Krank or Stein! Listening too clips, it's too much scoopy Dimebag tone for my tastes. Perhaps all those toggles give variety, IDK
A nice modded Recto is similar but with an appropriate level of mids....or Mamba, which is an awesome Metal module. That can give you mid scoop + more mids (DIFF); dead on KSE if that's you're thing.

 

[LunatiBSW]

That's funny I own both a 50w krankenstein and the 20w rev jr. Standard. I find the Kstein to sound more shrill than the rev if your not careful eq'ing it. I dont have the pro though so maybe that's the diff. I dial out the shrillness, but they both slam hard for
Metal. I don't ever turn up the presence on the Kstein over 1/4 up.
Fwiw, I get a great rodded Marshall tone out of my rev, it also has jj 6V6s though.

 

[alowerdeep]

True, Krank's sound more mid scooped while 5150s have full mids.
rilogy has a scoop option, but still has more mids than what OP is asking; too bad I never played either Krank or Stein! Listening too clips, it's too much scoopy Dimebag tone for my tastes. Perhaps all those toggles give variety, IDK
A nice modded Recto is similar but with an appropriate level of mids....or Mamba, which is an awesome Metal module. That can give you mid scoop + more mids (DIFF); dead on KSE if that's you're thing.

This isnt true at all...Ive owned several 5150's and I have a Kstein plus....The Kstein is an extremely versatile amp,the tonal options are endless just using the sweep control and presnce.....These amps are highly under rated,probably because of the limited application with them on the mainstream,which is why i avoided them for so long,believing what I read and what I heard from otehr bands we played with.I got it on a whim and it is a great sounding amp.It can do the more mid scooped tone associated wit alot of modern stuff,but it can do bright,mid heavy and even some classic tones.......HAS great articulation and clarity as well..nice thick tone too....It is actually closer to a Marshall OD than a Boogie,but has the huge chunk associated with the Boogie......If you are looking for athe module that more closely replicated the actual amp,I would say go with the kranken,while it doesnt cover the tonal spectrum of the real amp,what it does cover comes very close for what it does cover..The stein is good as well,and a little cheaper and more accessible.....I had every intention of selling the head when I got the module,but just couldnt do it,just sounds too good,so I sold the module.I tend to want to sell all of my MTS stuff when I do play it,but always hold off because I do like the more extreme flexibilit of the MTS stuff..and some of the mods do come close to the sound quality of the K-stein..I dont know if teh Kt88's in my kstein are the differnce,but the amp just sounds as good as a cd when it is dialed in right.....One of the best amps Ive heard or owned,and Ive owned a ton of them......While it is a different type of tone than the 5150,etc..it does the stuff those amps do better to me and so much more...just kind of pidgeonholed as what it is,probably because that is what they were targeting to get them started and Dime was/is their biggest endorsee......In my opinion,you cant go wrond with the module or the amp.....

 

[crankyrayhanky]

interesting^ my conclusion was based off of clips, which are scoop-City

 

[Mattfig]

interesting^ my conclusion was based off of clips, which are scoop-City

Maybe your computer EQ is set to V?

 

[crankyrayhanky]

correction:
my conclusion was based off my memory of clips, which are scoop-City :lol:

 

[alowerdeep]

not a big deal,like I said,i had that percetion too,based off of what I heard....If I hadnt come across mine,I probably would have never mess with one and discovered it's capability.....

 

[Ulf]

I owned a Krankenstein. While it sounded nice by itself it stood no chance in our band against the other guitarists 5150. I had to pump up the volume and turn in mids to be heard (at the same time I am not a scooped guy).
Conclusion: The great sound was working in that band. I sold it and got pack to my 5150. I guess, this is one reason why often you see both guitarists use Krank amps.
Since I still liked the sound, I got myself a Kraken. The module is a real good metal module. I'll keep it.
Another comment: I find the sweep knob concept of Krank nonsense. It sweeps the whole EQ, so shift Bass, Mid and Treble at the same time. It should be a sweep mid pot.

 

[alowerdeep]

I owned a Krankenstein. While it sounded nice by itself it stood no chance in our band against the other guitarists 5150. I had to pump up the volume and turn in mids to be heard (at the same time I am not a scooped guy).
Conclusion: The great sound was working in that band. I sold it and got pack to my 5150. I guess, this is one reason why often you see both guitarists use Krank amps.
Since I still liked the sound, I got myself a Kraken. The module is a real good metal module. I'll keep it.
Another comment: I find the sweep knob concept of Krank nonsense. It sweeps the whole EQ, so shift Bass, Mid and Treble at the same time. It should be a sweep mid pot.

I would hav to wonder if there was something wrong with that Krank or something....or how you set it.....I keep the overall master at a little above half to get teh power section nice and hot and it blows your head off.....I find the peavey amps like teh 5150's and 6505's to sound very wimpy in comparison to mine...maybeit is the kt88's in mine,dont know...but it kills......

 

[Ulf]

Yeah, I wasn't sure about that, too. It was the older 6L6 model (Krankenstein I). But it stood definitely no chance against the 5150. It had a very cool sound but not within the band.
Never mind... long gone. I have a Kraken now but never made a 1:1 comparision. It is a good tuneable module for metal though.

 

[alowerdeep]

Yeah, I wasn't sure about that, too. It was the older 6L6 model (Krankenstein I). But it stood definitely no chance against the 5150. It had a very cool sound but not within the band.
Never mind... long gone. I have a Kraken now but never made a 1:1 comparision. It is a good tuneable module for metal though.

Never played an early one,but ever since Ive played real amps like Soldano,Boogie and Krank Ive come to despise the 5150and 6505 amps....Used a 5150 fo rthe longest,but finally stepped up and got a Soldano,traded around with other nice amps...now they just sound like crap to me...The Kranken is a cool module....not quite as versatile as the real deal,but what is does do is very close......

 

[crankyrayhanky]

I hated the 6505 head I played- too much of everything on the lead channel, not quite enough on channel2.

However, the S1S0 I have is a thing of beauty! Modded mods rule

 

[Ulf]

Hello,

I am not going to bash the 5150 here. IMO it is one of the greatest amps for hardcore/metal downtuned stuff. It sounds plain brutal and offers an exceptional good value for the price, plus it is reliable.
I haven't had a SLO nor a Bogner but I have had Boogies, VHT and Diezels here. I think in the end it comes to personal taste. As said, I wouldn't call the Krankenstein the better amp. It might be more flexible, quieter, tighter and more transparent. It also depends on the music you play and on what the rest of band uses.
S1S0 and Trilogy are both great modules that this community praises. Of good reason: The originals are just classics.

 

[alowerdeep]

Yeah,I like the S1S0 module,it has al lteh stuff the real amps lack...Ill say it,the Krank is a far superior amp to the 5150 or 6505 in tone and build quality,thouugh I have the Kstein plus.........it does what the 5150 will do and alot more,great cleans too,which the 5150 doesnt have....Ive heard modded 5150's that sound pretty good,but the stock tone just sounds awful to me....