muttznmongrelz
New member
Heavy Two Piece Center Joined Maple Body with finish checking front and back, a beautiful and comfortable Maple Neck with spotless frets and Schaller Neck Humbucker/DiMarzio Tone Zone F.
1983 Kramer Pacer Imperial - Beautiful Natural Relic 34 year old 1983 Vintage Kramer Pacer Imperial that still looks, sounds and feels awesome to play. USA Made and the First Year for Production Kramers to come equipped with Schaller Tuners and Floyd Rose from the Neptune, NJ Factory - no doubt due to Edward Van Halen's influence as a Kramer Endorsee at the time. Also the last year of production for the Beak Headstock as it changed mid-year to the Hockey Stick Headstock! I dare you to find another MAPLE FRETBOARD/MAPLE BODY IMPERIAL with a BEAUTIFULLY CHECKED 3 COLOR SUNBURST NITROCELLULOSE FINISH - it just doesn't get any better than this one!!!
Specifications:
- Beautiful Vintage Aged Amber Nitrocellulose Finished Beak Headstock "Pacer Series Patent Pending" Maple Board Neck with “C” Neck Plate
- Heavy & Resonant 2 Piece Center Joined Maple Body in a wonderfully checked 3 Color Black/Red/Brown Sunburst Nitrocellulose Finish
- Original 1983 Chrome Made In Germany Schaller Tuners/R2 Nut/String Retainer Bar
- Vintage Neck Humbucker and a DiMarzio Tone Zone F in the Bridge - mounted in Original Schaller Mounting Rings and wired to a 3 Way Selector/Volume/Volume/Tone/Cannon Jack
- Original 1983 Vintage Chrome Floyd Rose Original w/Old School Screw In Arm & Floyd Upgrades 42mm Big Brass Block
A piece of Guitar Design and Rock & Roll History as this guitar was the product of Kramer, Eddie Van Halen and Floyd Rose working together in developing the Floyd Rose and Kramer changing their market through working with EVH to produce off the shelf Hot Rod Guitars built to satisfy the demands of an explosion of guitar players. Say what you will; but EVH was undeniably the next Evolution of Guitar Playing after Jimi Hendrix.
A Bit of Kramer History:
Kramer first released wooden-necked guitars in late 1981, following Charvel's lead on producing instruments that essentially copied the Stratocaster headstock shape from Fender, in violation of Fender's US trademark and design patent. After only a thousand or so instruments were built, in May 1981, Kramer received a cease and desist order from Fender to halt the production of Strat-head guitars.[citation needed] Instead, Kramer opted for a "beak" headstock reminiscent of 1960s Kent guitar headstocks. The earliest beak guitars were in fact Strat-heads with a lobbed off headstock; these can be identified by prominent sanding marks on the curve of the headstock. Later, and most common beak guitars, were manufactured with a beak headstock from the factory.
Wooden-necked instruments represented Kramer's first foray into offshoring the production of guitar components to Eastern Asia. Tuning keys and vintage fulcrum tremolos were made by Gotoh in Japan, while the necks were made by Japan's ESP Guitars and shipped to New Jersey for fretting and finishing.
Kramer executives saw that the guitar techniques of the early 1980s demanded a high-performance tremolo system. Kramer partnered with a German inventor named Helmut Rockinger, and installed his bulky tremolos, precursors to Floyd Rose systems, on its instruments.
A chance encounter between Dennis Berardi and Eddie Van Halen's managers on an airplane flight set the foundation for Kramer's meteoric rise in the 1980s. Eddie was interested in a tremolo that stayed in tune, which the Rockinger system offered. A meeting between Eddie Van Halen and Kramer execs took place, and Eddie was sold. At the meeting, he reportedly quipped that he would help make Kramer the "#1 guitar company in the world."
By 1983 the Rockinger tremolo (sometimes dubbed "The Eddie Van Halen tremolo") had been widely replaced by the Floyd Rose system. In addition, Kramer once again offered Schaller tuners on their guitars, tapping Schaller to produce Floyd Rose tremolos as well. Kramer was the only guitar company offering Original Floyd Rose tremolos stock on their production guitars, a competitive advantage of Kramer over other guitar manufacturers of the period.
In late 1983 Kramer switched from the "beak" headstock design to the Gibson Explorer-like "banana" headstock design. This distinctive look also helped rank Kramer highly with guitar enthusiasts. One notable Kramer guitar was the Baretta model, which was a single-humbucker instrument similar to guitars Eddie Van Halen used on stage. The Kramer Baretta was the flagship of the Kramer line and helped popularize the single-pickup 1980s SuperStrat guitar design.
1983 Kramer Pacer Imperial - Beautiful Natural Relic 34 year old 1983 Vintage Kramer Pacer Imperial that still looks, sounds and feels awesome to play. USA Made and the First Year for Production Kramers to come equipped with Schaller Tuners and Floyd Rose from the Neptune, NJ Factory - no doubt due to Edward Van Halen's influence as a Kramer Endorsee at the time. Also the last year of production for the Beak Headstock as it changed mid-year to the Hockey Stick Headstock! I dare you to find another MAPLE FRETBOARD/MAPLE BODY IMPERIAL with a BEAUTIFULLY CHECKED 3 COLOR SUNBURST NITROCELLULOSE FINISH - it just doesn't get any better than this one!!!
Specifications:
- Beautiful Vintage Aged Amber Nitrocellulose Finished Beak Headstock "Pacer Series Patent Pending" Maple Board Neck with “C” Neck Plate
- Heavy & Resonant 2 Piece Center Joined Maple Body in a wonderfully checked 3 Color Black/Red/Brown Sunburst Nitrocellulose Finish
- Original 1983 Chrome Made In Germany Schaller Tuners/R2 Nut/String Retainer Bar
- Vintage Neck Humbucker and a DiMarzio Tone Zone F in the Bridge - mounted in Original Schaller Mounting Rings and wired to a 3 Way Selector/Volume/Volume/Tone/Cannon Jack
- Original 1983 Vintage Chrome Floyd Rose Original w/Old School Screw In Arm & Floyd Upgrades 42mm Big Brass Block
A piece of Guitar Design and Rock & Roll History as this guitar was the product of Kramer, Eddie Van Halen and Floyd Rose working together in developing the Floyd Rose and Kramer changing their market through working with EVH to produce off the shelf Hot Rod Guitars built to satisfy the demands of an explosion of guitar players. Say what you will; but EVH was undeniably the next Evolution of Guitar Playing after Jimi Hendrix.
A Bit of Kramer History:
Kramer first released wooden-necked guitars in late 1981, following Charvel's lead on producing instruments that essentially copied the Stratocaster headstock shape from Fender, in violation of Fender's US trademark and design patent. After only a thousand or so instruments were built, in May 1981, Kramer received a cease and desist order from Fender to halt the production of Strat-head guitars.[citation needed] Instead, Kramer opted for a "beak" headstock reminiscent of 1960s Kent guitar headstocks. The earliest beak guitars were in fact Strat-heads with a lobbed off headstock; these can be identified by prominent sanding marks on the curve of the headstock. Later, and most common beak guitars, were manufactured with a beak headstock from the factory.
Wooden-necked instruments represented Kramer's first foray into offshoring the production of guitar components to Eastern Asia. Tuning keys and vintage fulcrum tremolos were made by Gotoh in Japan, while the necks were made by Japan's ESP Guitars and shipped to New Jersey for fretting and finishing.
Kramer executives saw that the guitar techniques of the early 1980s demanded a high-performance tremolo system. Kramer partnered with a German inventor named Helmut Rockinger, and installed his bulky tremolos, precursors to Floyd Rose systems, on its instruments.
A chance encounter between Dennis Berardi and Eddie Van Halen's managers on an airplane flight set the foundation for Kramer's meteoric rise in the 1980s. Eddie was interested in a tremolo that stayed in tune, which the Rockinger system offered. A meeting between Eddie Van Halen and Kramer execs took place, and Eddie was sold. At the meeting, he reportedly quipped that he would help make Kramer the "#1 guitar company in the world."
By 1983 the Rockinger tremolo (sometimes dubbed "The Eddie Van Halen tremolo") had been widely replaced by the Floyd Rose system. In addition, Kramer once again offered Schaller tuners on their guitars, tapping Schaller to produce Floyd Rose tremolos as well. Kramer was the only guitar company offering Original Floyd Rose tremolos stock on their production guitars, a competitive advantage of Kramer over other guitar manufacturers of the period.
In late 1983 Kramer switched from the "beak" headstock design to the Gibson Explorer-like "banana" headstock design. This distinctive look also helped rank Kramer highly with guitar enthusiasts. One notable Kramer guitar was the Baretta model, which was a single-humbucker instrument similar to guitars Eddie Van Halen used on stage. The Kramer Baretta was the flagship of the Kramer line and helped popularize the single-pickup 1980s SuperStrat guitar design.
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