My black Musikraft "5150" sort've replica

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garbeaj
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Re: My black Musikraft "5150" sort've replica

Post by garbeaj » Sat Dec 14, 2013 12:30 am

Well my tech finished the guitar finally today and I must say it came out great! The tuners are straighter, but not perfect. They are straight enough for me.

But...the big deal is that the A2 magnet swap was a resounding success! My tech took out the treble cap and wired the pickup straight to the volume pot, which he changed from the Korean made 500k Bourns/EVH low-friction pot to a CTS made Dimarzio 500k pot which seems to be the same low friction style action as the Bourns/EVH. I get all the "in between" tones throughout the whole sweep of the volume knob and I'm getting a nice overall tone with all the harmonics coming relatively easily, just like I like it. BIG change for the better. I really disliked the tone of this guitar before, but now the Dimarzio pot wired straight to the SD '59/Custom Hybrid with an A2 magnet turned out to be the ticket...at least so far. I'll keep tweaking to try for the Letterman/Farm Aid tones I've been searching for, but right now I can say this has been a major step forward. :champ:

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rdodson
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Re: My black Musikraft "5150" sort've replica

Post by rdodson » Sat Dec 14, 2013 10:53 am

I really love A2 mags. A5 can work (SD '59 is a great pickup) but the Gibson 57 C+, SD Antiquity (both A2s) just seem better.
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garbeaj
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Re: My black Musikraft "5150" sort've replica

Post by garbeaj » Sat Dec 14, 2013 7:41 pm

rdodson wrote:I really love A2 mags. A5 can work (SD '59 is a great pickup) but the Gibson 57 C+, SD Antiquity (both A2s) just seem better.
Ron, as someone who has been doing Franky replicas for years, what is your favorite pickup for a Frankenstein replica? How about for a 5150 replica like mine?

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Re: My black Musikraft "5150" sort've replica

Post by rdodson » Mon Dec 16, 2013 12:46 am

My favorite old-school EVH pickups (before the EBMM era) are SD 59 for the 5150 and either SD Antiquity, Gibson 57 Classic + or Burstbucker 3 for the Frank. All the same idea, just a slightly overwound PAF. I prefer A2 for Frank, and don't be afraid to try a 250ohm pot. He used both 500 & 250s. My Frank has a 57 C+ w/a 250 pot. Best sounding guitar I have.
garbeaj wrote:
rdodson wrote:I really love A2 mags. A5 can work (SD '59 is a great pickup) but the Gibson 57 C+, SD Antiquity (both A2s) just seem better.
Ron, as someone who has been doing Franky replicas for years, what is your favorite pickup for a Frankenstein replica? How about for a 5150 replica like mine?
Ron Dodson
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Romans 9:16

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garbeaj
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Re: My black Musikraft "5150" sort've replica

Post by garbeaj » Mon Dec 16, 2013 7:54 pm

So the magic formula for me (so far) in a 5150 replica ended up being the Seymour Duncan '59/Custom Hybrid pickup with an A2 magnet swapped and the Dimarzio 500k pot...at least through my Mod 5.

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garbeaj
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Re: My black Musikraft "5150" sort've replica

Post by garbeaj » Tue Dec 31, 2013 9:32 pm

Well finally...Here's a clip of me playing some "Panama" riffs including the solo and bridge so you can get an idea of the harmonics, note definition and the clean-up with the volume knob. I love the way this guitar sounds now! This is a one take thing and damn it is hard to play the record version of the "Panama" solo because it is made of three different takes that slightly overlap each other, just as in the "Jump" solo. Also,I played this in standard pitch on this "Kramer 5150" styled Musikraft replica and of course the original recording was played in the 1/2 step down tuning on the original Frankenstein with the Kramer beak neck.

This is far from my definitive take on "Panama", but at least you can hear how this guitar sounds finally!

Last edited by garbeaj on Thu Mar 19, 2015 12:47 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: My black Musikraft "5150" sort've replica

Post by JimiJames » Tue Dec 31, 2013 10:29 pm

garbeaj wrote:"...at least you can hear how this guitar sounds finally!..."
kool. :thumbsup: Are you going for Mark's demo tone. He made that 4104 sing ! :shred:
RIP Mark Abrahamian-rockstah -classmate/roommate
RIP Ben Wise -StuntDouble- comrade-in-arms

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garbeaj
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Re: My black Musikraft "5150" sort've replica

Post by garbeaj » Tue Dec 31, 2013 10:49 pm

No I'm not going for Mark's demo tone at all with this guitar. His demo tone was geared towards the first album sounds. I'll be using my '78 black and white Frankenstein replica with the DSD for the first album tones that Mark copped so well.

This Kramer build is my attempt at getting the Kramer 5150 sounds as represented by the Letterman appearances, Farm Aid, SNL, etc. This is my first meaningful attempt...I have the building blocks of the sound I want, I just need to dial it in a bit. But with that being said, I'm light years away from where I started from!

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Re: My black Musikraft "5150" sort've replica

Post by Tone Slinger » Tue Dec 31, 2013 11:21 pm

Sounded great Allen, loved that solo & tone :thumbsup: . I can tell you had the front panel gain and volume down a bit. 1984 isnt as gainy as Vh1. For those 1st album tones getting the two volumes up to around 8 (or jacked :D ) along with your Franky/DSD should fit the bill nicely.
Rip Ben Wise (StuntDouble) & Mark Abrahamian (Rockstah)

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garbeaj
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Re: My black Musikraft "5150" sort've replica

Post by garbeaj » Wed Jan 01, 2014 12:00 am

Tone Slinger wrote:Sounded great Allen, loved that solo & tone :thumbsup: . I can tell you had the front panel gain and volume down a bit. 1984 isnt as gainy as Vh1. For those 1st album tones getting the two volumes up to around 8 (or jacked :D ) along with your Franky/DSD should fit the bill nicely.
Actually I had the same settings I always use with both the preamp and master volume on 9...but again, this is me going for the 5150 guitar sounds, and not the first album tones. When I get the '78 Frankenstein up and running, then I'll go for the usual first album tones. I'm glad you liked it...anything that sucks about the sound is really from the poor sound quality of the iPhone and my crappy playing:)

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Re: My black Musikraft "5150" sort've replica

Post by JimiJames » Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:07 am

garbeaj wrote:No I'm not going for Mark's demo tone at all with this guitar. His demo tone was geared towards the first album sounds. I'll be using my '78 black and white Frankenstein replica with the DSD for the first album tones that Mark copped so well.

This Kramer build is my attempt at getting the Kramer 5150 sounds as represented by the Letterman appearances, Farm Aid, SNL, etc. This is my first meaningful attempt...I have the building blocks of the sound I want, I just need to dial it in a bit. But with that being said, I'm light years away from where I started from!
...oh ? ...how's that go ?...
♪signs, signs, everywhere a' sign
Blocking up the scenery, breaking my ba♪♪s
Do this, don't do that, I can't read your s i g n?♫



I posted without realizing your topic title :roll: :palm:
Just guessing you were demo-ing; straight through; with your 4104, for an amp... Unintentionally got off track there, sorry.
RIP Mark Abrahamian-rockstah -classmate/roommate
RIP Ben Wise -StuntDouble- comrade-in-arms

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garbeaj
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Re: My black Musikraft "5150" sort've replica

Post by garbeaj » Wed Jan 01, 2014 1:16 am

That's cool man! I'm glad anybody's listening at all:)

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Re: My black Musikraft "5150" sort've replica

Post by Tone Slinger » Wed Jan 01, 2014 7:37 am

Yeah,I guess the cellphone 'masked' the tone a hair, still, it sounded damn good. That guitar looks sweet and it looked like it was playing like butter :hairband:
Rip Ben Wise (StuntDouble) & Mark Abrahamian (Rockstah)

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Re: My black Musikraft "5150" sort've replica

Post by vanhalen5150 » Wed Jan 01, 2014 8:11 am

Has that cool clanky sound. Sounds pretty good.
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Re: My black Musikraft "5150" sort've replica

Post by garbeaj » Wed Jan 01, 2014 10:18 am

vanhalen5150 wrote:Has that cool clanky sound. Sounds pretty good.
It only sounds clanky because the damn iPhone picked up too much of the acoustic sound of my pick hitting the strings...the usual culprit of bad sound on internet clips! In fact, this guitar acts like it's own spring reverb when you play it unplugged! The bell brass claw and the titanium big block and titanium string inserts really transfer the vibrations right to the tremolo springs. The tremolo springs literally continue to vibrate for quite a while after I stop playing, just like in the spring reverb in my old Fender Super Reverb...

I guess I'll have to invest in a proper video camera with a microphone input so I can capture the amp sound along with video of me playing. I used to use my Adobe Audition recording software and record the audio only and then create a montage for the video...maybe I'll try that so y'all can really hear the sound properly.

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