Vintage Kramers

[Musician78]

Were Kramers good guitars back in the day? I mean obviously they must have been, but were they on par with Jackson? I knew a guy with one once, but it was when I first started playing and really didn't know anything about guitars.

[Fender]

Were Kramers good guitars back in the day? I mean obviously they must have been, but were they on par with Jackson? I knew a guy with one once, but it was when I first started playing and really didn't know anything about guitars.

Eddie played them, he sure had good taste. I think they are very good guitars, but i guess they don't get the attention they deserve any more. Gibson bought out what was left of the bankrupt post-esp corp and it's not like it used to be. I guess Kramer guitars only had 15 minutes of fame because somewhere in the mid 80's they were sold to ESP, where i understand the quality decreased quite a bit and there were less USA made models available if any. From then on it's unclear to me, but i think if you search on google theres a nice website with a lot of info. So they're real glory days were shortlived, but luckily there are a lot of nice examples available online for sale and they are definitely worth the money. Since there isn't an incredible demand for them, they are relatively affordable. Generally, the Baretta's are the best examples. They are cheaper than say the pacers or the vanguards (flying vee) and the voyagers (dimebag darell dean style). I wish Gibson could do Kramer the same respect and enthusiasm that Fender did. Although Jackson wasn't in a bad shape to start off with, Gibson could definitely up production and create more interest. Instead of wasting efforts making the guitar of the month crap they make. Or look at this. They made Joan Jett a signature Gibson. It's also 1500$ MSRP . What a crock of shit. She wasn't that great a guitar player to start off with. I thought it was dumb they made a Fender signature for Kurt Cobain, but at least he wrote more than a few popular songs.

[Musician78]

Wow. Thanks for the history!

[Fender]

If you want more accurate details go to this website. http://www.vintagekramer.com/

I am hardly the guy to talk about this, but it's from what i heard and knew from recent years. All i know, is that i really want a nice baretta :P

[cvansickle]

I had one of these, a Floyd Rose Signature. Mine was hunter green. I wish I still had it.

[BRADSTANG]

Were Kramers good guitars back in the day? I mean obviously they must have been, but were they on par with Jackson? I knew a guy with one once, but it was when I first started playing and really didn't know anything about guitars.

yes they were , at least mine that i had bought brand new in 86 was an american pacer, limited edition color that only 50 had been made and still to this day never have seen that color again(gold pearl over white) but it played better than my buddy's leopard print custom shop jackson, he even admitted it. i got hard up on my 1st marriage and had to sell it to my drunk neighbors punk ass kid, its probably no more.

[PowerTube]

My 1986 Focus 1000, which I still have, with my Jackson DX10X, which I don't:

[KramerBassFan]

Well ESP never owned Kramer.... just made ALL of American series parts for Kramer from 1985-1990...

And for two years, in the mid 80's, Kramer outsold Gibson AND Fender put together. Two years in a row. So i'd say they were big.

[Fender]

yes they were , at least mine that i had bought brand new in 86 was an american pacer, limited edition color that only 50 had been made and still to this day never have seen that color again(gold pearl over white) but it played better than my buddy's leopard print custom shop jackson, he even admitted it. i got hard up on my 1st marriage and had to sell it to my drunk neighbors punk ass kid, its probably no more.

That's gotta be the saddest story I've ever heard man. Holy fuck. That's like letting another guy bang your wife in exchange for your life. Well not exactly, but you know where i am getting at. That's too bad man!

[bcrich1975]

One of my all time favorite guitars. (Got this from Luke aka: xbolt 1/2 year ago).
If these weren't so hard to find in great/100% working condition, I'd have another.
I can not say enough good things about this guitar. I will never sell it (this or my lightning Gunslinger), and I tend to rotate gear quite often

[K.Dee]

Yeah i love those Sustainers..

I love most vintage Kramers

Some are still in the herd some are not

[ulijdavid]

Nightswans are incredible guitars - and the holoflash just makes it all the more better.

[bsteff666]

My 87 Baretta.


In my formative rock n roll years...I was a huge Motley Crue fan...so I was OK with Vince, Nikki, & Mick signing it.

[Chief_CrazyTalk]

Kramers are cool IMO. They seemed to be the shit back when I was in high school, late 80s...good times!

[Frigo89]

The thing with Kramer, is you saw a lot of Plywood, on the Strikers, Aerostars etc.

The Focus's and US Made and American Series were all good quality.

When Kramer started to have their parts MANUFACTURED by ESP, they didn't sell to ESP, The guitars became the most consistent quality they ever were, Equal to any high end ESP you'd play.

Kramer was a VERY Dangerous player in the guitar market, and they pretty much owned the place in 86/87, Outselling every other company going those 2 years.

They also had at very least, and Excellent guitar on paper, Floyd Rose and Duncans, stock (for American series, the Import Focus series guitars had OFRs and some random pickups).

The thing with Kramer, is there is a SHITLOAD of different neck profiles, and finding the right neck profile on the right body for you may be one hell of a task.

The also had a couple models in the 24 3/4 inch scale, which not many companys had going as far as Superstrats are concerned, with the Nighswan and the Proaxe.

Kramer also had terrible management, and was run into the ground.

Also, Kramer was much more of a "hair band" brand of guitar, so they may have been seen as "pussy" guitars where Jackson and BC Rich were, atleast for a time, more "Metal" guitars.

Unfortunately, Kramer was left in the dust of the 80s, pretty much forgotten, though they were arguably one of the most innovative guitar companies since Fender, Gibson, and Steinberger.