Vanguard FR440S Review

24 Fret, Elliptical Slim-Taper Neck, Licensed Floyd Rose Tremolo, Designed in the USA Quad-Rail Pickups.

Features:	8.5
Sound:	7.3
Action:	8.5
Reliability:	8.8
Impression:	8.3
Overall rating:	8.3
Users rating:	8.6
Comments:	35

overall: 9.6

Featured review by: enter_rancid, on february 27, 2004

Purchased from: MusicYo.com

Features: This guitar was fairly recently made (don't know the exact year). It has 24 frets and a black metallic solid top. It has a 3 way Switch, coil tapping, a volume and a tone nob. It has an H/H configuration and it has 2 quadrail pickups. Each quadrail is 2 humbuckers so it's 4 total. With the coil tapping it changes, and makes it sound more like a regular humbucker. In the middle it has a M4S and at the bridge it has B4S. Canadian Hard Maple, elliptical, slim taper, bolt-on neck. The body is North american alder. It has a "v" type body but it is more along the lines of a Jackson Randy Rhoads model. It has a licensed Floyd. It has non locking Gotoh SG tuners. Came with a cable, and allen wrenches sets to make adjustments. // 8

Sound: I play mostly like the old Metallica, some Led Zepplin, Pantera, you know the normal rock/metal groups. It suits this great the pickups are amazingly crunchy for beign stock. I use it through and Ibanez TB25R for the time being, and it sounds great. It is not overly noisy, but it has the normal amounts of feedback when close to the amp. I don't often even use that many effects I use a Korg AX1500G or a Korg AX30G and it sounds amazing through both. It has a very ballsy sound. It has a crunch, and lets of great harmonics. It can make some of the oldHendrix sounds but with an acoustic pedal I can make it do country if I would like (I have tried this for the fun of It) I have played blues, rock, heavy metal... It seems to be able to do all of them with a good amount of satisfaction. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: It was set up fairly well, I had to lower the action slightly and fix the intonation but other than that it was good. The pickups were perfect. The bridge was great it is routed into the body for upwardpitch shifting on the Floyd. It all semmed like it was good to me, I didn't see any flaws in the finish the neck was right, the nut-everyhting seemed fine. // 10

Reliability & Durability: I have played this guitar live, and it stands up just fine. The hardware has lasted for a while so far, and hopefully will last for a long time-being that I have had no problems with it. None of the finish has worn off though I have put a couple of marks on it by mistake, but those were my fault. The finish seems very think and appears to last well. The strap buttons are solid but I definitely reccomend strap locks no matter what kind of strap you use. I depend on it, definately, it has never given me any problems. I would never gig without a backup, but I wouldn't think that with this guitar you should need one. // 10

Impression: like I said before I play alot of hard stuff, but I do play some blues and jazzy riffs on it as well, and it works wel for all of them. I have been playing for about 5 years and own many other guitars. I own a Jackson Soloist, a Gibson Les Paul Custom, a Gibson Les Paul Standard along with many others. I also own many amps such as my Ibanez and my Marshall's. I would definately buy it again if it hapenend to get lost or stolen. I love this guitar just because of the variety of sounds you can get out of it. I compared it to other Kramers such as the Baretta line, and I chose this one for not only the looks it just sounded like an overall bette tguitar than most of them. // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on april 14, 2008

Purchased from: Ebay

Features: This guitar was probably made around 2006/2007 in Indonesia. It has 24 medium jumbo frets with pearl Dot inlays. The body is solid alder, the neck is two piece maple and the fret board is Indian rosewood. It has a black metallic finish, but they come in red, yellow and blue as well. The body is a laminated Rhandy Roads style asymmetrical Flying V. The bridge is a Kramer licensed Floyd-rose tremolo. It comes stock with passive quad-rail pickups. It has 1 volume, 1 tone (with coil tap) and 3-way selector switch. It has 1 bridge quad-rail humbucker and 1 middle quad-rail humbucker. It has Gotoh locking tuners. // 9

Sound: I play hardcore, metalcore, grindcore and anything around those genres. These pickups suit these styles beautifully with distortion, but I still decided to replace them with Seymour Duncan 59 Model Humbucker and a JB Model Trembucker. The stock pickups aren't very versatile but the motto 'Made to rock hard' on the neck plate doesn't mean it will play country, blues or even soft rock unless you have a shit load of effects. Surprisingly these pickups have minimal hum even on the highest gain that quality humbuckers would have slight hum. With distortion, the bridge pickup has a sort of thick tin sound. The middle pickup is useless, it's just a really thick, chunky, muddy sound most likely there to produce nothing but noise. Coil tap doesn't really do anything with distortion. In clean, the bridge pickup gives a warm yet still tinny sound. The middle pickup gives a thick warm sound. With coil tap it thins them both down a bit. // 7

Action, Fit & Finish: When it arrived, it was playable. Action was low and there seemed to be minimal fret buzz. It arrived with the cheapest most pathetic strings in history. They broke after about 2 hours of use. Something I like personally is that the strap button is on one of the neck bolts. I think this is an excellent idea. The pickups were cosy and didn't seem to be uneven or loose. The paint was perfect and everything appeared to be routed smoothly. I took off the electronics cavity cover and there was a shit load of wood shavings in it. But it easily came out because it was painted and glossed inside all of the routes. The electronics all seem to be of high quality. This guitar was set up to be tuned with .9 to .54 in drop B to C. It had a helluva lot of fret buzz in the top frets, possibly because the action was so low you could barely fit a birthday card between the strings and the fret board. I had this fixed by a local guitar repairer called Cargills, if you have heard of it then yes it is the same man Who made several beautiful acoustics, and a guitar for jimmy page. for about 150 dollars I had this guitar set up like a dream, and with it's new pickups, could easily outplay a $1200+ guitar. Stock I'd give it a 6, but now I'd easily give it a 10. A big note I'd have to make is that a majority of necks of these guitars seem to get a small crack from the top of the nut to the first fret on the back of the neck, but needless to worry. This small crack wouldn't cause any hassle and if you really were worried I would probably sand it back slightly and fill it with a tiny bit of wood filler and put a small coat of enamel over it. // 6

Reliability & Durability: I've had this guitar for around 6 months now, and apart from the crappy set up I've had no problems what'soever. This guitar would certainly withstand Live playing, and I think it would withstand small drops without even going out of tune. I would go to a gig without a backup because I have played this guitar for hours on end almost everyday and I have not had any problem with it ever. All the finish on the hardware and guitar itself seems to be of good quality, and even after the heavy use I've given this guitar it has not worn off in the slightest. // 10

Impression: I generally play hardcore and metalcore. This guitars sound matches excellent with this sound, but I still replaced the pickups. I have played since I was about 9 and have been playing for 7 years. I own a Kramer ferrington, Kramer Focus, Fender Telecaster, a couple of beautiful matons, Danolectro DANOWAH, Daphon Delay pedal and Compression pedal, Peavey Rage 158 amp, and a cheap Daphon GA160R guitar amp @ 60 watts. Personally, after this guitar has been set up and all, It would have to be my favorite. If it were stolen or lost, I wouldn't buy it again, I would go for a classic Kramer vanguard from the '80s. I love how unique this guitar is and how even more unique about it is the fact I live in Australia, and hardly anyone knows about Kramer guitars. The only thing I hate is that Kramer has been bought out by Gibson and is now mass producing products in korea and indonesia. I could easily compare this product @ stock to medium quality LTD's. Now after it's been set up I would compare it to high end LTDs and Ibanezes. // 8

overall: 9

Reviewed by: stevevai87, on june 01, 2007

Price paid: $ 200

Purchased from: musicyo.com

Features: This is a guitar made with 24 frets of furry. The neck is super slim... meaning it was meant for solo player. Since musicyo.com is limited on how many Kramer guitars they can sell, there aren't a lot of options for color schemes or neck finishes. The neck is rosewood, take it or leave it. The body copies the aysemertical Rhoads 'V' shape. Meaning, one side of the point is longer than the other side, making hard to put on a single guitar stand. The bridge comes with a great Floyd Rose tremelo, which will keep the guitar in-tune for days upon days of using the vibrato bar. The two knobs (volume and tone) come in a stock black color which match the Licensed Floyd Rose. The tone knob is a coil tap, but the only way I will ever use a tone knob is by mistake. Tone knobs aren't needed on guitars, nobody uses a tone knob. The pickups are flat-out "junk". The only way to get a semi-good non trashy sound of out the pickups is by raising or lowering them into the pickup cavity. The Vanguard comes with two humbuckers placed in the bridge and middle cavities of the guitar. The middle pickup should really be lowered into the pickup cavity to take away most of the distorted sound when trying to do a solo. As for the bridge pickup, it should be raised slightly to get away from the wood-sy sound and get a little more distortion to achieve hitting the artificial harmonics and natural harmonics. // 9

Sound: This guitar is meant for one thing, hard rock. Hard rock can go into anything with a blistering solo. I played hard rock/classic rock/80s metal. I use a Line 6 Spider III 150 watt with two 12 inch speakers. Since my Line 6 Spider III has many different settings I can disguise the pickups with how I set my amp. The guitar has a bright sound, but it depends on mostly how you raise or lower your pickups. The Quad Rail pickups, which are both the same model for middle and bridge are basically crap when it comes down to it. // 7

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar comes from Kramer guitars, that is basically all you need to know. Kramer has been supplying guitars for George Lynch, Mick Mars, and Eddie Van Halen (to name a few). Every guitar is great from the day it was made. Kramer puts a polish into every piece they make. There are no defects and nothing was wrong with anything. // 10

Reliability & Durability: With the Floyd Rose tremelo system on this guitar, it is always worth bringing to a Live show. As long as the guitar isn't thrown around on stage, it will survive for years. The electronics within the cavity aren't mangled or in a ball like some of the other guitars I've had from previous companies. This guitar is a dependant of mine for years to come. If all I had was my Vanguard at my house, while my other guitars were getting repaired, I would play it for a long time. // 10

Impression: Kramer prints for their moto: "made to rock hard", well it certainly is. If this guitar was stolen from me then I would be pretty pissed off. This Kramer was the first Kramer I ever bought. The only thing that this guitar needs is a well made humbucker, it doesn't have to be anything expensive, it just has to be something that people recognize as a humbucker. The middle pickup should have been moved to the. // 9

overall: 6.4

Reviewed by: vogi77, on november 15, 2007

Price paid: $ 226.8

Purchased from: musicyo.com

Features: Mine came with a maple neck with rosewood fingerboard and 24 frets. Alder body, licensed Floyd Rose, 2 QuadRail passive pick ups (neck and bridge)with one volume and one tone knob with coil tapping and a 3-way pickup selector, some Gotoh tuners and a case. // 8

Sound: I'm quite an allround player, means that I play from death metal to blues to the sweedest ballads. So I looked for a guitar which can handle both, clean an distorted. My teacher recommended to by a PRS but I didn't have that much money so he told to buy a Kramer. I play it through a Laney amp and a Boss OS-2 and I have to be honest: The distorted tone really sucks. A lot of buzz and fuzz. And this is not a matter of my other equipment. When I play with the Gibson Les Paul of my father, there is no buzz but a real great tone. The other thing is that, when distorted, there is not really a diffrence between bridge and neck pick up. So there is a real lack varity you even can´t adjust with the coil tapping. There is one good thing about this Kramer: the clean tone. with coil tapping, you can get a real thick bluesy tone or a thin funk tone. But, I mean, this guitar is "meant to rock hard" so it would've been better for Kramer to concentrate more on the distortion. // 5

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar came set up quite good with some cheapy strings. The only things I had to do was to change the strings and some minor adjustments like fixing the intonation, raising the pick ups, putting in a extra spring for the floyd (because I use 0.10 strings, so I recommend to buy some extra springs) and so on. The finish was in good condition. // 8

Reliability & Durability: So there was a very huge problem: everytime I did a divebomb my guitar went out of tune because I wasn't able to tighten the locking nut so it wouldn't move. I had to go to a friend to make some kind of neck-through nut which was a little risky. So, in stock it could withstand Live playing only as long as you don't use the Floyd. The other things, like the strap buttons, finish and so on, seem to be of quite high quality. // 5

Impression: Well like I said before, I'm an allround player and if you are kind of the same, don't buy it. Spare your money for a PRS. I bought a month ago the PRS Tremonti SE of about 600 bucks and this is a real allround guitar. So if you don't have the money, spare as long if you can buy anything better. It's not worth it. If you're a beginner I think you can go for it but there I would recommend a Kramer Striker because it's more comfortably. But if you are an intermediate player, don't go for it. // 6

Comments

[Pingis_Or_Death]

how much did it cost and how does it compare to the Jackson JS30RR??

[PLZKLLME0080]

This thing is in Guitar Hero II isnt it?

[Sirwinston89]

^^ yep

[stevevai87]

the jackson JS30rr is way better than the vanguard

[AcDc_1337]

JS30rr is a lot more expensive compared to this as well. this guitar is only about 150 dollars. if that.

[Revolution6661]

It might be the exact TYPE of the guitar, but whether it's the same MODEL I'm not sure..could be..

[Noomz]

I have a vanguard. and it's a beast to play, but you can set it up to get a nice heavy tone. It's not a bad guitar and it would work for shows but if you have the money, get the jackson

[tomrocks]

"This is a guitar made with 24 frets of furry."

Sounds like a ZZ Top guitar.

But seriously now, would you buy a guitar just because someone said that?

[Rizzo!]

NOTE: This guitar is not the actual guitar from guitar hero 2, or indeed the old type. This guitar is a different version, but it plays well enough. The quad-rail and bridge/middle setup, along with the reversed headstock, are all new.

[jo3myster]

I want to get one

[kirby92]

i like that guitar, i would buy one if i had the $$$

[Spirit_Crusher]

will an OFR fit on this guitar?

[jamesdjharrod]

This was my second guitar, and for the money (like $150 in America) it's probably the best. And it's as good as some entry level Jacksons, but you're probably better off spending money on a Jackson or maybe an Epiphone Flying V.

[spiroth10]

no, I hated the cheap, entry level jacksons, I had a king V from the cheap JS30 series, and I thought it sucked balls. Pickups in the jackson were low-output, but good for old rock/blues. Action was higher, and there was more buzz on the neck.

I traded an old amp for my vanguard, and I like it a lot. I've been able to go from blues to metal on it no prob, high output pickups, and the floyd stays in tune.

to everyone who bitches about licensed floyds and pickups:

don't bitch about a licensed floyd so much, they aren't that bad. If you know anything about setting up/properly using a trem system you can use it fine. I have a strat trem that stays in tune great, for me, my LFR stays in tune perfect. and god forbid it go out of tune in such a small semitone only god could tell the difference.

as for pickups, all a good player needs is high output. A good player can play any style on any pickup. You shouldn't be dependent on your equipment for good tone -- equipment matters, but you should rely more on your hands than on a pickup.

[ldnovelo]

since when do 5 year experience players have les paul customs (is it a counterfit guitar???)????

[cunningstunts]

ive played this guitar .... i din like it ..... my warlock is a whole lot better

[bucketbots]

anothers good guitar

[p2fyre]

i love how SteveVai87 thinks tone controls aren't needed on guitars. LOL!!

You can get some good variations by rolling back the tone slightly, or turning the volume down. Try it sometime.. i'm sure your hero Mr Vai uses the tone controls

[metal4ever6328]

Ive got a bright yellow one and it it amazing. Thinking of putting some better pickups in it, like seymore duncans.

[metal4ever6328]

This was my second guitar, and for the money (like $150 in America) it's probably the best. And it's as good as some entry level Jacksons, but you're probably better off spending money on a Jackson or maybe an Epiphone Flying V.

Just say no to Epiphone. PERIOD

[Pingis_Or_Death]

This guitar looks a lot better than the Jackson RR

[blaze2thekings]

epiphone isnt that bad, you just need to tighten every screw, nut, washer, input jack especially, knobs....or to make it simple just tighten everything, then epiphones are ok

[blaze2thekings]

I own a Jackson Soloist, a Gibson Les Paul Custom, a Gibson Les Paul Standard

if you own those.....why do you have this Krappy Kramer?

[SL!!!]

This is a guitar made with 24 frets of furry

Interesting..how does that feel when you play? I think it would bother me.

Man, that is an ugly guitar. Hahah.

[peever]

This is a guitar made with 24 frets of furry

HAHAHAHAHHA
OH MAN

[Dark~Star]

lol
its fury
but thats funny.
FURRRY!!!
a furrry fretboard!!!!!

[arowana1027]

I tried one of these out at my LMS. Gimme a San Dimas Kramer any day. This thing was garbage. If you spend even more money modding it with an OFR, and better pups, it might be ok then.

[SL!!!]

I think it would be, it probably has pretty decent action and you don't get much tone out of any of those guitars anyway.

But in all seriousness, i seriously want a les paul double cut-away. That has absolutely nothing to do with this, i just felt i had to make that known.

[sheppo]

i don't get why you would put a humbucker in the middle but not the neck can anyone please explain why

[VolumeUp1]

Ok I jam on a Dean dime from hell signature series with the dimebuckers trmelo etc.....and i love to jam on a kramer they play great almost as good as my $1200 dean but the point is that this thing rocks for 200 bucks ....anyone that denies it is stupid ..but thats just my opinion....oh and i found the jackson js30rr for $250.00 plus s/h but its not expensive and if its so much better why does it cost the same if you dont beleive me check it out
http://www.themusicdept.com/guitars/electric.shtml

[earl_j13]

How is the fret access on this guitar?

[Carr2120]

i have this guitar aswell, and its an okay guitar.
i would take out the pickups and put better ones in, cuz these ones suck lol, but i wouldnt recommend this guitar at all, not that great of a guitar dosnt stay in tune at all and sounds horrable, but if u do get one take out the picks up and but better ones in!!!!

[Jackolas]

Can't believe anyone would say anything bad about this guitar, it slays.

[98Timberwolf]

I want this in bright yellow right freakin' now!!!

[111111]

The first thing i always do with any guitar, cheap or expensive is to replace the crappy stock pickups.
Of course stock pickups suck. I would be really interested to hear how a cheapo kramer sounds with better pu's.