The Special Cranker™ is an all-discrete analog distortion enhancement device designed to give your signal some extra grit and boost without drastically altering your tone and retaining all of the natural nuances and character of your amp. Think of it as sticking an extra preamp tube in your amplifier for more saturation. Single notes will blossom and bloom with rich harmonics and singing sustain with responsive, tube-like sag. Power chords will sound thicker and crunchier, a little more ragged around the edges. Complex chords will remain distinct and complex, as the Special Cranker is designed to preserve your tone’s integrity without muddying up the low-end or smearing the midrange.

The Special Cranker picks up where the beloved Speaker Cranker left off. It has the same spongy, dynamic, and touch-sensitive character of the original but with more gain, double the output volume (now with a user-friendly Level control), an added Tone control to shape your signal, and a diode selector switch featuring the original asymmetrical Silicon diodes as well as a hot, new Germanium diode option.

The More control goes from nearly clean to a medium gain overdrive when at maximum. This control adjusts the bias of the transistor, so you may hear a little noise as you turn the control. Don’t freak out; it’s totally fine. The gain characteristics are dependent on which diodes are chosen. When the Germanium diodes are selected, the Special Cranker delivers a softer, more rounded response with tamed highs and lower output, while the Silicon diodes add a brighter, more modern edge and higher output. Both are exceptionally responsive to playing dynamics and have excellent clarity. The Tone control gives the user full command over treble frequencies, cutting the highs when counterclockwise and adding a slight high frequency boost when turned clockwise. The Level control adjusts the output from nothing to nearly double at maximum.

Each and every Special Cranker is all-analog, true bypass, and built one-at-a-time by some serious experts in Akron, Ohio, USA – home of the best burgers on THIS Earth.

Why To Buy From Rock City!

Established in 2015, Rock City Music Company is an independently owned music store for players by players. Located just outside of Detroit, Michigan, Rock City Music Company is a music mecca that encompasses everything from guitars and lessons, to vinyl records and t-shirts, to posters, accessories, our music-themed pinball machines and more.

Rock City has earned its rank  as one of the top places in the country for in-store events. Rock City has hosted legends such as Geddy Lee (Rush), Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple), Gary Holt (Slayer/Exodus), Blackberry Smoke, Nita Strauss (Alice Cooper) and many many more. Rock ’n’ Roll is our passion, and we strive to provide excellent service, and a great experience, both inside and outside of our store.

Ready to Rock, Right Out Of The Box: All of our guitars are maintained by our FMIC (Fender Musical Instruments Company) Certified in-house guitar technician, to ensure any guitar that leaves our hands is ready to play as soon as you receive it!

Fast Shipping & Communication: Our top priority is making sure that your gear arrives safely to you as soon as possible. Our staff members strive to pack and label your items for shipping within 2 hours of placing your order (During regular business hours). Items never take more than 24 hours to leave our possession.

Guitars, Basses, Amps, Cases and select other items ship via UPS Ground

Pedals & Accessories ship via USPS Priority & First Class Mail

Have a preferred shipping method? Let us know and we will do our best to accommodate

We appreciate your business more than you know and we show it! Our communication is second to none and very important to us.  You will have a dedicated and educated staff member overseeing your order, that can assist with any questions or concerns.

Is My New Guitar Protected During Shipment ? : All items are packed with extreme care and although we do our best to protect items from damage, sometimes it happens. Have no fear, all of our items are shipped fully insured at no additional cost to you.

Rock City Music Company is an official dealer of:

Gretsch, Fender, Charvel, Jackson, Epiphone, ESP/LTD, EVH, Takamine, Rock N Roll Relics, Sterling/MusicMan and Echopark Guitars.

Electro-Harmonix, Earthquaker Devices, Boss, MXR, Dunlop, Pro-Tone, Strymon and Catalinbread Effects Pedals

Orange, Fender, Boss, EVH amplifiers

Any questions? Feel free to contact us during store hours!

Monday - Thursday 11AM-7PM

Friday-Saturday 11AM-6PM

Sunday 11AM - 4PM

(All Times are Eastern Standard Time)