NGD = Most awesome cheap axe I ever played out of the box!

Phantasmagoria

watch where you point that sabre
I've had my eye of the new Kramer's for a while... Ideally a 1984 or Nightswan (maybe later), but I thought I'd sort of test the water's first since I've never owned one before..

Picked this up on amazon for the equivalent of about $200 :bigthumb:

Random sloppy riffing followed by a loop pedal solo jam w/backing track @ 1:30 mins


Sorry, the rhythm playing at the start is sloppy as **** 'cause I just made up a bunch of crappy stuff as I went along :p and yeah, the tuning was slightly off 'cause I barely tuned it before recording. This was recorded literally a couple of minutes after unboxing it so it was still a bit unfamiliar. Dont get me wrong, after spending a couple of hours with it ...it's an absolutely killer feeling/sounding/playing axe, but it always takes me a bit to get comfortable with new stuff..

Bottom line, I've never seen such a totally perfect fret job on a guitar this cheap (low LOW action, rounded fret ends and smooth polished frets, all totally even/no fretting out/dead spots/buzzing etc)....my AXL 1216 from a few years ago came close but this is just crazy... (I have way more upmarket MIJ Ibby's, Charvel's and Jackson's that all needed some attention first). The pickup height/truss rod/everything ..just perfect out of the box . It reached me 100% ready to shred \m/ ...did'nt have to touch a thing.

Gotta say, it has the epitome of shred tone just as it is ...stock with the stock pickup (very JB-like). I heard that I might have to swap out the pup/bridge etc. But frankly I see no reason to at all....it sounds awesome, plays like butter & keeps absolutely perfect tune (always use some Big Bends Nut Sauce on my guitars....maybe that helped...or maybe it did'nt.)
 
I'd take a chance on a $200 guitar too, especially if it was something I always wanted. It is good that Gibson is paying attention to Kramer now.
 
Yeah, there's nothing quite like a cheap guitar that blows your mind :laugh2:

Seriously...this is probably still the honeymoon period but I can't for the life of me find anything NOT to like about this $200 guitar. I still have'nt found cause to touch anything ...it's exactly the way it was out of the box. In fact the more critically I look at it the more good stuff I discover :lmao:

The neck is really awesome....super comfortable & smooth, I mean it is totally built for speed :D, neck pocket/joint is flawless, the paint-job (and finish in general) is awesome, mahogany body/maple neck, inherent Shrapnel shred tone & it sustains for hours , pickup's absolutely great, the weight's just right ..not too light not too heavy, there's foil shielding on the electronic cavity cover and I still can't get over the beautiful fret job. I could go on & on. Only thing this baby needs is a Floyd.

I'm thinking of getting another one just to mod, maybe with a floating/locking trem of some sort (don't feel like touching this one..it's such a player). Or funds permitting, maybe a Baretta Vintage that comes with a Floyd & a JB in the bridge...

If they're all built like this (and from what I've heard they are ..anyone else have one here?) I could see myself with a stable full of them :D

Make's you wonder how Gibson's have so many QC issue's? :lmao:
 
There's a long thread about these which is some pages back now in this forum section. A couple of people here have bought them and seem to enjoy them, including the HSS Focus model, which is even cheaper.
 
You need to be careful. Or you'll end tip with one!!!!

Played a few of these. They are addictive. Blasted one through a block 5150...good times!!!

No one ever says anything bad about them. There's gonna be a forum room somewhere dedicated to these. Kramer can't keep them in stock.
 
There's a long thread about these which is some pages back now in this forum section. A couple of people here have bought them and seem to enjoy them, including the HSS Focus model, which is even cheaper.

Cool ...I missed that.. will check it out :bigthumb:
 
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You need to be careful. Or you'll end tip with one!!!!

Played a few of these. They are addictive. Blasted one through a block 5150...good times!!!

No one ever says anything bad about them. There's gonna be a forum room somewhere dedicated to these. Kramer can't keep them in stock.

AMEN :D
 
Someone always finds a way to bash Gibson, even if the thread has NOTHING to do with them.

Well Gibson's the parent company now so..
I mean if your cheap Indo-made Kramer's are all this great to play out of the box (?) ...I was legitimately wondering you know...not bashing at all.
 
I was checking these out on guitar centers web site the other day and thought they looked decent for the low price. I kinda like the idea of the single pickup. Buy one sick pickup and be done with it. Cool guitar man. Hope it brings you hours of enjoyment
 
Nice deal, sounds fun!


Thanks, It's been that and more :D

I was checking these out on guitar centers web site the other day and thought they looked decent for the low price. I kinda like the idea of the single pickup. Buy one sick pickup and be done with it. Cool guitar man. Hope it brings you hours of enjoyment

Thanks man, they really are sweet guitar's ..not just for the price either, & yeah I have a BC Rich Ironbird Pro with just one EMG 81 in the bridge ....it's always been a lot of fun :bigthumb:

I play with my bridge pup 99% of the time anyway .. so it makes good sense :p
 
Which is cheaper, locking tuners, or a Floyd? IME with locking tuners, a normal Wilkinson Strat type bridge will return to zero and stay in tune just fine.

Yeah, staying in tune hasn't been a problem with this axe. No tuning issues at all really. It's just that a Floyd would be fun, especially on a shredder like this :D

That said I'm a Floyd/Floating bridge fan. Almost all my guitars have one..

Should be simple enough, especially if I flush-mount it. I doubt any routing would be required apart from at the nut & a couple holes for the posts, I'll probably need to shim the neck 2-3mm as well. But I'll see if I can pick up another guitar for that. This one plays/sounds so good ..really don't want to mess with it :laugh2:

Besides I have a brand new black Floyd Special bridge in my parts drawer...so no extra cost :D
 
...Seems like a bit of a PIA to be honest :laugh2:

The locking nut is way more trouble than I imagined too...

Don't know if I'll attempt it ..or just go with a pickup swap (for a zebra Fokin 'Hot Breeze' I have lying around) & black Wilkinson hardware..

Anyway I pulled the trigger on another one this evening, should be here in less than a week ... all Mincer's talk about Gibson was making me nervous lol. I kinda wanted the vintage white 'cause of the rosewood (granadillo) fingerboard..just for some variety, but in the end I couldn't resist the bubblegum purple ..so that's what I got :lmao:

But If this one plays as well as my first who knows how many I'll end up with :p
 
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