Where's The Kramer Love?

LLL

LLL

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Kramer (now owned by Gibson) has a whole lineup of 80s revisited sleaze and shred... not a peep from around here.

Anyone try one of these?

Or were most of you born after the decade when guitar playing reached its pinnacle?

Pacer, Baretta... even the Nightswan!

Reverse headstocks, custom graphics, cool paintjobs...

Check em out:

https://www.kramerguitars.com/en-US/
 
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I dig that metallic blue with flames one, but of course, they don't have it in lefty.

Maybe there's a Nightswan in my future? Maybe.
 
Back in n the day, and when I was a kid, they were THE GUITAR- Edward Van Halen, Reb Beach, Jeff LaBar, Sambora….

even as they went down and eventually out of business, I still liked them better than Hamer, Ibanez, etc.
the last couple decades I’ve just been more into Les Pauls, sg’s, strats/teles.
 
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This is all me

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I looked at the Pacer and SM-1 when I was shopping. I need more versatility than an '84. I went with a Jackson SL3X on specs, value. If the Kramer line expands and prices are competitive, I could look at them again. The only other one I was interested in was the Pacer Tiger. There was a Satchel version for awhile, can't find one now. Couple Lynch types around still.
 
I have an ‘88 Baretta from back in the day. I got it in ‘95 for a great deal because nobody wanted them. I love my old Baretta. I don’t have much interest in the current stuff. All they share from those of old is the name.
 
Surely these have been discussed a good deal on the forum? I love that the company is back, and the one high-end model I've tried, a Jersey Star (i.e. Sambora) was a great-sounding guitar even if the maple used for the neck was not terribly appealing (dark spots as in many cheaper guitars). All in all you could tell that they weren't as high-end as the originals, but they still do the trick. Through a Marshall SC20C it definitely had the sound!

My biggest gripe with the new ones is visual. More often than not the colours chosen aren't really representative of the Kramer era, but instead either look like a subdued (now there is a word with Freudian connotations!) take for dads with minivans (grays and plum colours) or a millennial misjudgment of what the eighties looked like, rather than the real deal. Most of the graphic finishes in particular are awful, and I fair to see the appeal of gray Kramers, The exceptions are, of course, the guitars that they have brought over looking almost exactly as they did. I suspect that they will be releasing these in small drips to keep collectors buying: they could definitely make money reissuing holoflash finishes, for instance, but they haven't.

I'll probably get a snakeskin Baretta as a dedicated drop-d guitar at some point.
 
I've actually considered getting one of the budget line Kramers :)... love the 80's style. And I'd love a humbucker superstrat, with a good tremolo :cool:
 
Sirion said:
Surely these have been discussed a good deal on the forum? I love that the company is back, and the one high-end model I've tried, a Jersey Star (i.e. Sambora) was a great-sounding guitar even if the maple used for the neck was not terribly appealing (dark spots as in many cheaper guitars). All in all you could tell that they weren't as high-end as the originals, but they still do the trick. Through a Marshall SC20C it definitely had the sound!

My biggest gripe with the new ones is visual. More often than not the colours chosen aren't really representative of the Kramer era, but instead either look like a subdued (now there is a word with Freudian connotations!) take for dads with minivans (grays and plum colours) or a millennial misjudgment of what the eighties looked like, rather than the real deal. Most of the graphic finishes in particular are awful, and I fair to see the appeal of gray Kramers, The exceptions are, of course, the guitars that they have brought over looking almost exactly as they did. I suspect that they will be releasing these in small drips to keep collectors buying: they could definitely make money reissuing holoflash finishes, for instance, but they haven't.

I'll probably get a snakeskin Baretta as a dedicated drop-d guitar at some point.
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They probably looked around the factory to see what colors were available. I doubt much more went into it than that.
 
Mincer said:
They probably looked around the factory to see what colors were available. I doubt much more went into it than that.
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Exactly. Look at the Epiphone Prophecy line and you'll see those same grays and blacks and reds. Even the Candy Blue has made it to the "Modern" line of Les Pauls. There is definitely some shared resources there. I'm not a fan of the graphics. They look too "perfect". I think part of the appeal of the old ones was they were not perfect. The Hot Rod graphic that LLL mentioned reminds me of a Charvel San Dimas straight out of the Custom Shop. About the only model out of the current offerings that I would be remotely interested in is the Pacer Classic. But I would have to play one first to see how it feels. I had an '83-'84 Focus 2000 which was pretty much a Pacer and it was amazing. That's one I wish I had back.
 
Mincer said:
They probably looked around the factory to see what colors were available. I doubt much more went into it than that.
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This is very possible. too bad, because they are able to get it right when they are apeing a classic model. My impression from the whole endeavour is that the guy who is running the thing for Gibson has his heart in the right place, but probably doesn't have much freedom in developing the brand.
 
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I’ve got an ’86 Focus 2000 with the transitional headstock. It’s a killer guitar. Made in the ESP factory from what I understand.
 
Sirion said:
This is very possible. too bad, because they are able to get it right when they are apeing a classic model. My impression from the whole endeavour is that the guy who is running the thing for Gibson has his heart in the right place, but probably doesn't have much freedom in developing the brand.
Click to expand...

I doubt he was given a big budget to bring these back to market. He probably had to make due with what was around.
 
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