Kramer Baretta Special?

Ashurbanipal said:
Nice, it's gonna be ballsy!

I have an Air PAF Pro in my RG - might be too low output for some but I like it.
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Wait, an Air PAF Pro? Did you mod a PAF Pro?

I simply can't grasp these new Gibson owned Kramers. I get that they are reissuing 80's designs as they are iconic with the Kramer brand of the 80's but they're not even close in terms in quality, IMO. The Pacers I picked up were OK but they weren't alive and something was missing. Same with the Barettas. Think of it like this, Van Halen fans loved that they went on tour with DLR again and while it was great, Mikey wasn't there and even though the songs sounded great and all, there was something still missing (Mikey's background vocals). That's the best analogy I can give. If folks want to get these Specials and mod 'em, have at it. There's quite a crowd out there doing it.
 
ErikH said:
Wait, an Air PAF Pro? Did you mod a PAF Pro?
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Yes, I took out all the metal spacers and further isolated the hex screws from the magnet in both coils. I don't know if anyone else has done this to a PAF Pro, people tend to do the air mod on hotter pups.

It has a bit less output, strings ring longer, and midrange is reined in (always found it a tad squawky stock in my setup).
 
Ashurbanipal said:
Yes, I took out all the metal spacers and further isolated the hex screws from the magnet in both coils. I don't know if anyone else has done this to a PAF Pro, people tend to do the air mod on hotter pups.

It has a bit less output, strings ring longer, and midrange is reined in (always found it a tad squawky in my setup).
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Very cool.
 
It's different, for sure. I need to redo the setup on the guitar and go back to using 9s (it has always played a bit stiff with 10s) before making a proper call.

Anyway, the guitar might be a good alternative if a vintage Kramer is out of one's budget. They came in some nice colours too. The stock pickup is a 12k, triple ceramic beast, pretty aggressive and thicc sounding, as the kids say these days.
dc56635f249a5c981224227c406b2be5.png
 
Ashurbanipal said:
It's different, for sure. I need to redo the setup on the guitar and go back to using 9s (it has always played a bit stiff with 10s) before making a proper call.

Anyway, the guitar might be a good alternative if a vintage Kramer is out of one's budget. They came in some nice colours too. The stock pickup is a 12k, triple ceramic beast, pretty aggressive and thicc sounding, as the kids say these days.
dc56635f249a5c981224227c406b2be5.png
Click to expand...

Ibanez Roadstar Series guitars. Brings back memories. What year is that one and the model? I found one at a pawn shop in 93 94? and I think I payed $100 for it then. Back when pawnshops used to have the best deals. Not anymore... Wish I'd kept it, but I traded it for an acoustic long time ago. It wasn't like that one. The one I had was a HSH. Black. Don't remember the model. Matter of fact that was my very first Ibanez.
 
^^ It's an RG410, made 1986-87, part of the Deluxe series. It was actually released partway through 1985 as the RS410, but had a straight mounted pu and the clunky Pro Rock'r bridge. I bought mine as a husk for $150; had been looking for a pink one but had to settle for black.

Yes, those halcyon days of pawnshops! Your former squeeze sounds like an RG450, they came in black or silver, same ceramic pickups (including the single coil). They don't come up too often, fewer seem to have been shipped back in the day than other models in the range. Nice first Ibanez to have :).
 
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The Vintage White was delivered today. Going to do a basic setup and put my strings on. Action is a little high and intonation is off on E, A, and D strings. May have to give the truss rod a quarter turn. Not much. The frets feel gritty and need a good polishing. No buzzing, though. Fret ends are very smooth. Whoever put the volume knob put it on all the way down to the body and it barely turned. Was hard to get off. Ended up scratching the knob up a little. Oh well. Off to set her up, and then shred some. 20210421_164712.jpg
 
Aceman said:
That SCREAMS for a No Bozos sticker....
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Good idea!

Well, I got her setup with good playing action. Low E 1.75 mm and high E 1.5 mm. No frets buzz anywhere. I'm definitely enjoying it! Got to eventually get different saddles. These are digging into my palm. Other than that, 2 thumbs up!
 
I just bought one off eBay for another guitar!

Man - get a locking nut on that and RAWK!
 
^How different was the one Eddie is holding above compared to the most recent models? Maybe it is the angle, but the vintage Eddie one looks a little smaller.
 
That white one in the pic (also known as the No Bozos guitar) was for the photo shoot. Eddie never owned it. Heck, when it was used for the photoshoot, nothing was even wired up in it and it was not even tuned up. It was literally thrown together quickly for it. Heard that from a former employee who was there. It’s a Baretta but earlier (83-84) than the body of the current Gibson offerings. The ones now have the 85-86-ish body with the hockey stick headstock.

The current 84 model is more akin to what Eddie played, which was a Pacer special body, not a Baretta, and the pickup was straight...... his 5150 Kramer that he played for years.
 
Aceman said:
I just bought one off eBay for another guitar!

Man - get a locking nut on that and RAWK!
Click to expand...

It will take more than just a lock nut to keep it in tune during dive bombs. That stock trem doesn’t lock the strings in like a Floyd does. Even the non-fine tuner Floyd had the strings locked in the saddle.

Get a FR 1000 and slap it on there. Will take some routing and drilling but doable.
 
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