I’m crying right now. I had this exact model. Only in pepto bismol pink. It had my initials near the 1/4” jack. CD. I am still in search for that Kramer. If anyone has seen it. Please PM me. Serial starts with E This video means so much to me.
I have that exact same guitar. same neck, same color and I'm the original owner. I cannot speak on the 1986 price because it was a gift and I was 10. only thing that has been modified on mine is it has stainless steel frets now because I wore the originals down to nubs. great video man... ☺️🤘🏾
In the late 90's I worked for Parker. The Nite Flys were kind of made like that. We got the bodies from Canada and just slapped them together like a kit. Love Kramers so much. Nice swoop, man.
In the murky and complicated world of Kramer history it's nice to hear from someone who was buying and selling back at the time. I've dived into Vintage Kramer a fair few times but learnt plenty here. Thanks.
Great video Steve. I find most other UA-cam deep dive videos about guitar manufacturing really tedious and boring but I could honestly listen to you talk about "Texas Charvels" etc for hours on end. I love the JICK list of guitars and they are mostly what I collect. Oh, im copyrighting "JICK" right now - it stands for "Jackson, Ibanez, Charvel, Kramer" lol 😁😉
I have an 86 Pacer American in flip flop blue, I bought in new back then. It has the same neck as yours. The body is squared off around the edges, no pick guard, tilted duncan JB bridge pickup and two duncan single coils. One volume knob, three mini toggles for the pickups and the turbo switch to put it into full bridge humbucking mode.
That’s interesting how ESP made necks with a skunk stripe AND glued-on fretboard. I just learned that from this video. My 1987 Nightswan which I’m positive was made by ESP doesn’t actually have a skunk stripe but does have an applied fretboard which I guess now is strange? I am really loving that Pacer Deluxe, it’s incredible! I LOVE vintage Kramers from the 80s but consistency was not a part of their game! 😆 EDIT: got to the 35 minute mark in the video and this neck difference was mentioned lol. Yeah, it was another change Kramer made 🙄These must be some of the hardest guitars to love hahaha!
I hate to say this but Charvels and Jackson's were not built at Fuji Gen. They were built at Chushin Gakki through contract of distribution by Kyowa Shoki who in turn were contracted by IMC for the Texas headquarters of Jackson-Charvel.
25:50 He said he "raised the neck", but he meant that he raised the Floyd, by increasing its height off of the body since he didn't say he removed the shim. These guitars once the Floyd was invented and made commonplace on Kramer's in 1983, there was always some kind of shim installed. Most of the pacers from that era between 1983 and 85, that I own, have some kind of shim in the neck pocket. Underneath the 22nd fret with those two neck screws going through the shim. Four or five guitars have what looks like mesh, so it must have been some kind of mesh sandpaper they were using that didn't clog, much like drywall mesh sandpaper. Two strips of it cut almost as wide as the neck pocket Aunt. They're about a quarter inch wide. On the Facebook forums. We call them tone shims, for a laugh. But that would make it so that the the Floyd would raise up enough off the body so that you had a little up down movement with the trem. So you had true floating performance, and could maybe raise the open G string up to an A, a whole step. Back then the solution to getting more action lifting the bar, and creating Steve Vai type whammying, we would bring our guitars down to 48th Street and have Toshi at 48th Street. Custom guitars upstairs was ESP, and he do a recess route. I had my 1981 strathead Pacer standard converted to a recess there.
That red with black pickguard and HSS pickups reminded me of my '86 Ibanez Roadstar II (RS-440) I have a Kramer Baretta with sustainer and a Kramer Striker that I got from MusicYo years ago. Both have the Neptune, NJ. neck plates.
It's funny when you talk about guitar companies having certain addresses on the neckplates when the guitar itself was built in Japan. I have a Marlin Sidewinder that says 'Marlin, Wales, UK' on the neckplate and I sometimes see on eBay/Reverb sellers saying that the guitar is 'British-made' or 'made in Wales.' They weren't. They were built in Korea. 😂 It's a great guitar and was the UK's best-selling guitar before Yamaha took over with the Pacifica. I got it for next to nothing even though it needed a bit of work so it would function properly and keep up with my playing style.
Love the old Kramer candy red, very warm and nice. Great guitar! Here's why I would lose the shim and lower the bridge. Those wood screw Floyd posts tend to start leaning if the bridge is higher. The lower the better for those!
heyyy!!! i have the same kramer, bought in the late 80's in germany near my home, the frontier is not far away, a pacer deluxe same year as yours but white, I also have an old nightswan, and a Glide B-6, and other olds ibanez 750 or 770. i recently replaced the pots with dimarzios,and put a new 5 way switch CRL. greetings from france 🎸🎸
Nice! That guitar looks great for a 38 year old guitar. I bought a 1985 Kramer Baretta in creme with the hockey headstock. It looks like the one Eddie is holding wearing the "No Bozos" shirt for the Kramer ad.
3 words Steve: "Jackson Jack Butler". Stop buying guitars until you find one of those. You know you want one. That Kramer is beautiful though. I don't usually like red guitars, but I'd make an exception for that (and your Fender "The Strat").
Little jelly here I must say. Not sure I can stay subbed now. Nice snag there SFB I look forward to hanging on a Saturday night listening to this guitar and more stories.
Considering the moving target 'Swatch Watch' aspect to Kramer it's a fun guitar to collect. This looks fresh until you see the closeups, lots of dings and wood details shining through. Pixxy the word 'rare' is one of the most abused words when trying to flog something. Your in depth guitar knowledge is shining bright in this one. Need more of this and less of the new cheap Chinese made rubbish.
I’d guess that switch is meant to bypass the 5-way. My Kramer classic II Tele is also HSS and has the 3 toggle switch setup (on off, one per pickup) but has another switch that bypasses that system and makes it just the bridge humbucker.
I bought one of those a few months back mine is a 87…mine doesn’t have all the switches and knobs just a volume that’s all you need. I upgraded my pickups to a Super 3 in the bridge, a Tone Zone rail in the middle and a Chopper in the neck all cream with a cream volume knob and 5 way switch tip.
My two favorite guitar necks are my old Kramer ZX30H, and the EVH Wolfgang standard. The Kramer has an ebony fret board (I modified the heck out of that guitar..still sounds good even with plywood body). I had jumbo frets installed etc etc. But LOVE that neck! I did change the radius of the frets at the 12th fret to the 22nd so it wouldn't fret out if I pulled up on the trem. I had to level them out and re-crown them. I did all that back in the 90's or early 2000's, just to make it play the way I wanted it to. The EVH has the same neck profile and string spacing...nice neck.
I sold one just like that to fund daycare for my boys in 2005, had owned it since the 80s... was one of my favorite of all time. Hope someday to own one again if I can find one. Congrats!
Epic guitar! Recently picked up a couple of 87’/88’ Pacers. A white Custom 1 with rosewood fretboard and a Black Emperor with maple fretboard. Incredible guitars. Love them!!
I bought a Kramer back in the early 90's for VERY short money, even then. Like an idiot I tried to repaint it myself. It's in pieces now waiting for some love. I've been trying to identify it for years. Thanks to this, I've identified the neck as a lasido banana/hockey stick. The neck plate is smooth and, according to vintagekramer site, either a custom order or a focus. But it is essentially this guitar (HSS). Though mine only has a 2 way (not 3-way) switch between the 5 way and knobs. I thought it cut one of the humbucker coils to make it single coil. The resulting noise would seem to support that. I really need to get off my butt and get it painted and restored to playing condition.
Ohhh yessss Kramer the giant killer. Congrats on that absolutely gorgeous Kramer the 80's will live on forever❤️❤️❤️😎😎😎😎🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘💚🤘💚🤘🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸💪💪🍺🍺🍷🍷🎵🎶🎵🎶💚🎶🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵
I have an 85 Striker 200 st. HH with a 3 way. Almost the same as today's pacer. Oddly enough, my 22 Striker is an HSS like that 86 Pacer. Everything old is new again. I got in on Christmas 1985
Very nice. My first guitar was an 84 or 85 Kramer Pacer Deluxe just like that, but it had a banana headstock and chrome floyd. Mine was red and black with rosewood, just like that. Weighed more than any guitar I've ever had also, including several LP's.
Wasn't part of the constant change with Kramer necks in large part due to what ESP was doing. Also, ESP was importing necks they could send without getting sued by Fender, Jackson, Gibson et al. Then changing the style as the cease and desist notices rolled in. Kramer, from what my old guitar teacher told me was basically finishing the guitars with parts installation and paint. Their calling card was the paint finishes they offered. That's why the bodies and necks had such variances. Not quality issues, they were all made with good quality components, but the consistency from one guitar to another was huge.
Yep, the truss rod has to be right before one can address fret level & crown issues, even a wonky neck pocket. I have a 2005 Squier Bullet Strat that was that way. Frets for a rhythm player that strummed a rarely to never used guitar. Top loader HT that it is, the neck pocket needed a full shim, even with the truss rod & low relief done right. It was a lot of work for trial & error to fabricate a flat shim from scratch to the right thickness, but eventually it finally was properly leveled to play. One of my favorite guitars, a 1st reach to just noodle around with. Hey, for $ 25, it was worth learning how all that relates to each other if it never played well. Something to practice accidental luthier skills on & not worry about screwing up a more expensive guitar. I plays as good as anything after the fixes. And in the end it cost me in terms of man hours to DIY figure it out, as much as most any GC buy for brand new that might have it';s own set of issues for a tighter tolerance of mistakes. When someone sees the shim, the fact it's a Bullet, the guitar will never be worth much for being 19+ years old today. But I play it & am stick with it. And that's not a bad thing. It was a challenge to get to play it at new condition, mission accomplished. I won the day(s) in the end figuring it out. I look at that guitar as my Robert Cray Squier, since they have a Robert Cray Fender MiM & Custom Shop version. $ 25 and it plays & sounds as good as the $ 1k MiM & the $ 4.5K Custom Shop does. I get it though, the ceramic pickups aren't Alnico. The Squier was upgraded to Fender laser etched logo tuners when I bought it, the Fender Robert Cray's have the same tuners, not locking/slotted tuners. The Squier was just not a perfect construction out of the box like the higher MSRP Fender guitars are. Doesn't matter how you get them there though for a shim, just that the measurements & locations for the hardware are virtually identical. Baltic Blue body, he shim is hard black plastic, would have to really look for that shim to spot that it was shimmed as it has been.
Consumers are finicky too. Kramer, I think either Fender (FMIC) or Gibson owns the name now, just checked on line, they are a Gibson brand currently. So if someone has to have a Kramer, they are essentially getting a Gibson branded Ibanez type super strat shredder. You even see consumer's falling in & out of status with the $ 100-500 Chinese guitars for which is the better affordable instrument brand. In the end we all figure it out, that there are middlemen that buy the same guitars that a handful of factories are pumping out that the only difference is the decal for brand names & price tags. Marketing 101. Have a more catchy brand name, headstock shape, logos of bullshit on the same hardware they all have. How many Chinese guitars have had Epiphone branded TOM parts made from the same sand cast molds ? Guitars are nothing more than a function of scale length, math for hardware location of nut to saddles, neck pocket standardization & fret locations. 21, 22, 24 frets all the notes are included if the frets are where they are supposed to be for scale length. They all intonate the same, a note is a tuned string to pitch for scale length that vibrates at the same frequency for every guitar. A pickup is same gauge wiring wound around a bobbin with magnets that are charged. That's why any guitar is always 90% as good as the other, I think it's closer to 99+% as good as any other guitar myself. Wax potted properly done as a process & 99+% is what a Squier is to a Fender and anything else is to one another. Set up properly like this Kramer is and any guitar plays like a guitar is supposed to. Fall in love with a name, hope your friends think it's just as cool, all that gets thrown out the window if one is actually a good guitar player. You would sound as good on this Kramer as you would a Squier HSS Strat with no Floyd Rose just the same, you may or may not like the guitar for lacking a FR trem system ?
I had a Jackson from Amazon I had someone work on because the neck wouldn't stay straight in higher tuning.. It took 6 or 7 years to get that guitar back with a completely straight neck, set in a kind of low tuning. Yeah that was my first Jackson and from Amazon. The next 3 I got other places and they just finally never turned out. Probably cuts the usage of FR's on all of them. My last Jackson though, $800 was picture perfect, that was my 3rd and last Rhoads guitar. But it's my Birthday and I'm considering molding, Sweetwater has this nice select series I can pay for in 6 months. But I get it. The things you own end up owning you.
Knowing how to do fretwork myself has saved me literally thousands of dollars in luthier fees. Everyone who handles a lot of guitars should learn how to do this work. P.S. Practice on squires and junk guitars before you go ham on an expensive instrument, otherwise you will find yourself learning how to refret. Use good quality tools, cheaper tools do not save you money, they cost you more in the end.
Why were they so scattered with their business dealings? I’m curious why they seemed to be by the seat of their pants and always on the brink of falling completely apart. If anyone has an insight on them idk… I have a 83 or 84 striker that I bought in Germany when I was stationed over there. It has a plywood body but the neck has rosewood and a skunk stripe and a smaller hockystick headstock. It’s what sold me on buying it. Later I found out about the first rendition of the Floyd Rose without the locking nut. I replaced it with a fine tuner version and a locking nut no recess on the body just mounted on top but it’s a single humbucker beast. No Kramer branding on it anymore I stripped and repainted it about three or four times over the years. It’s now red rocker red with my initials on the headstock in red as well. Anyway nice axe you got there and it’s red so I love it even more. lol 🎸🤓🗽🙏🥓
SFB, I have wondered if the two holes for putting screws in for the Nut, from the back of the neck. If that would ever Crack like a ummm GIBSON LP. But I guess not... lol cause I'm looking right at yours there.😅. Love watching your Stuff lol Came on board right around the exit of Pixi-lixx era and the STEVE FROM BOSTON era😅
I have black striker made by kramer came with a bannana head stock with one Jackson pickup made in usa with a non tuning Floyd Rose it was made in Germany no locking nut amazing guitar an the pickup is angled black wush you could see it you have an amazing guitar
I have 3 85 pacer deluxes. My candy blue has been my number 1 since 1991. All my trems are blocked and only dive. Break a string during a song and you'll see why people do it. Amazing guitars!! Rock on Steve!!
That's an awesome score! With your recent Jackson score, two greats, congrats. I had a white 1986 Kramer Floyd Rose Signature model. Should not have sold it.
Sweet Kramer. Could you replace the pickguard with a plastic black one from Amazon or Fender? I replaced my Stratocaster Ultra Texas Tea that had a metal pickguard because of that same problem.
Hey Steve, thank you for all the education. So interesting about the where actually these guitars were made. Do you think ESP is making the “Holy Grail” Kramer Barretta reissue?
i have what i belive to be a 1983 focus 2000 with beak headstock mij on back of it and no skunkstripe. Wld like to hear your opinion on this. neck plate has origional kramer logo serial 04010. Pretty sure these focus were early and prolly the best ones. Btw researching this info is how i came to your channel years ago when it was pixxy licks
The thing that is strange about the Kramer you have is that it has a chrome neck plate. The Kramer's with black hardware is custom order and should have a black neck plate. JB and SSL1 Ducan's are correct for the guitar. The neck is supposed to be shimmed. Every Kramer I've owned had shims from the factory due the bridge being too tall. They were like a fiber board. Never had an issue of fretting out. The Floyd should be level with the body. The Krammer with Banna headstocks with the glue separating were replaced under warranty with the later American headstocks.
Steve…sweet guitar…I have an original 82-83 pacer with the beak headstock…it has an esp neck…rosewood board maple neck and NO skunk stripe…so, the plot thickens 😫
The beak headstocks were not made by ESP. The first production of the Kramer's was produced with a Fender cut headstock and was sued by Fender and had to modify the existing stock of Fender cut necks which was cut off the ball the headstock which was called beak headstock.
I’m crying right now. I had this exact model. Only in pepto bismol pink. It had my initials near the 1/4” jack. CD. I am still in search for that Kramer. If anyone has seen it. Please PM me. Serial starts with E This video means so much to me. I really hope Gibson tries to bring this one back.
Steve from Boston, Just get a new pickguard from Warmoth? You can custom make your own guard any way you want $30! The PG on that is a standard H/S/S strat with a floyd cutout.
I have the yellow with black hardware Pacer reissue. Good guitar but like wearing a brick around your neck. It's got the bird beak headstock. The neck is okay .
What a bargain! What's a Japanese ESP worth again ? That's a real Floyd with duncans, so it's an OG ESP vintage when considering where it was manufactured right? Unless that slanted neck pocket side has anything to do with the Origin? Those necks are my favourite on the Kramers. I have a 80's lefty that's in mint condition. Same gold logo minus the American but it's a 3 piece quarter sawn laminated 22 fret neck with rosewood fretboard and pearl inlays. Mine was really cheap, thanks to a point of view I certainly aren't going to complain about.
A lot of those 80s kramers were pretty cool. I bought one new and traded for one in the mid 80s. Now that Gibson owns the. I wouldn't slap a dog in the butt with one just on general principle. Every guitar should have a skunk stripe as well as a spoke wheel truss rod adjustment at the heel. Just my opinion.
Re “Made in USA”, this is legally a very high standard to actually meet. Essentially, all or virtually all the parts have to be from the US. There can be a lot of US work put into the product, but if any part is imported there is a chance that the government would have a problem with the claim.
The filming and undoing the latches and opening up the case with that background music was ff-in' epic.
You rock, Steve!
I’m crying right now. I had this exact model. Only in pepto bismol pink. It had my initials near the 1/4” jack. CD. I am still in search for that Kramer. If anyone has seen it. Please PM me. Serial starts with E
This video means so much to me.
I have that exact same guitar. same neck, same color and I'm the original owner. I cannot speak on the 1986 price because it was a gift and I was 10. only thing that has been modified on mine is it has stainless steel frets now because I wore the originals down to nubs.
great video man... ☺️🤘🏾
In the late 90's I worked for Parker. The Nite Flys were kind of made like that. We got the bodies from Canada and just slapped them together like a kit. Love Kramers so much. Nice swoop, man.
Love my Parker Fly Deluxe
In the murky and complicated world of Kramer history it's nice to hear from someone who was buying and selling back at the time. I've dived into Vintage Kramer a fair few times but learnt plenty here. Thanks.
Great video Steve. I find most other UA-cam deep dive videos about guitar manufacturing really tedious and boring but I could honestly listen to you talk about "Texas Charvels" etc for hours on end. I love the JICK list of guitars and they are mostly what I collect. Oh, im copyrighting "JICK" right now - it stands for "Jackson, Ibanez, Charvel, Kramer" lol 😁😉
I have an 86 Pacer American in flip flop blue, I bought in new back then. It has the same neck as yours. The body is squared off around the edges, no pick guard, tilted duncan JB bridge pickup and two duncan single coils. One volume knob, three mini toggles for the pickups and the turbo switch to put it into full bridge humbucking mode.
That’s interesting how ESP made necks with a skunk stripe AND glued-on fretboard. I just learned that from this video. My 1987 Nightswan which I’m positive was made by ESP doesn’t actually have a skunk stripe but does have an applied fretboard which I guess now is strange? I am really loving that Pacer Deluxe, it’s incredible! I LOVE vintage Kramers from the 80s but consistency was not a part of their game! 😆
EDIT: got to the 35 minute mark in the video and this neck difference was mentioned lol. Yeah, it was another change Kramer made 🙄These must be some of the hardest guitars to love hahaha!
~16:50 it's about fine tuning. that's why some people buys guitars with floyd's and then block them.
Guitars made in the fujigen factory are excellent. I have an evh Wolfgang made there. Love the channel Steve.
I agree👍🏼 I got a FGN lp custom and it’s an amazing guitar, So much attention to detail especially the frets
I love my 86 model 2 charvel. It had a made in Japan sticker on the neck plate.
I hate to say this but Charvels and Jackson's were not built at Fuji Gen. They were built at Chushin Gakki through contract of distribution by Kyowa Shoki who in turn were contracted by IMC for the Texas headquarters of Jackson-Charvel.
25:50 He said he "raised the neck", but he meant that he raised the Floyd, by increasing its height off of the body since he didn't say he removed the shim.
These guitars once the Floyd was invented and made commonplace on Kramer's in 1983, there was always some kind of shim installed. Most of the pacers from that era between 1983 and 85, that I own, have some kind of shim in the neck pocket. Underneath the 22nd fret with those two neck screws going through the shim. Four or five guitars have what looks like mesh, so it must have been some kind of mesh sandpaper they were using that didn't clog, much like drywall mesh sandpaper. Two strips of it cut almost as wide as the neck pocket Aunt. They're about a quarter inch wide. On the Facebook forums. We call them tone shims, for a laugh. But that would make it so that the the Floyd would raise up enough off the body so that you had a little up down movement with the trem. So you had true floating performance, and could maybe raise the open G string up to an A, a whole step. Back then the solution to getting more action lifting the bar, and creating Steve Vai type whammying, we would bring our guitars down to 48th Street and have Toshi at 48th Street. Custom guitars upstairs was ESP, and he do a recess route. I had my 1981 strathead Pacer standard converted to a recess there.
Yo Steve, the wear and tear on this adds to the magic! Keep rocking!
That red with black pickguard and HSS pickups reminded me of my '86 Ibanez Roadstar II (RS-440)
I have a Kramer Baretta with sustainer and a Kramer Striker that I got from MusicYo years ago. Both have the Neptune, NJ. neck plates.
I had a Fernandes NOS 1995 that had a business card in the neck pocket. Factory special shim. lol
That was pretty common on the mij guitars back then
It's funny when you talk about guitar companies having certain addresses on the neckplates when the guitar itself was built in Japan. I have a Marlin Sidewinder that says 'Marlin, Wales, UK' on the neckplate and I sometimes see on eBay/Reverb sellers saying that the guitar is 'British-made' or 'made in Wales.' They weren't. They were built in Korea. 😂 It's a great guitar and was the UK's best-selling guitar before Yamaha took over with the Pacifica. I got it for next to nothing even though it needed a bit of work so it would function properly and keep up with my playing style.
That's a really nice one, Steve... Great find👍
I love your 80s guitar collection.
10:02 MIJ Charvels were made at the Chushin Gakki factory in Japan, back when Itaru Kanno was involved.
Love the old Kramer candy red, very warm and nice. Great guitar! Here's why I would lose the shim and lower the bridge. Those wood screw Floyd posts tend to start leaning if the bridge is higher. The lower the better for those!
That is a GREAT point! 🤘 I'll make the changes at the next restring.
heyyy!!!
i have the same kramer, bought in the late 80's in germany near my home, the frontier is not far away,
a pacer deluxe same year as yours but white, I also have an old nightswan, and a Glide B-6, and other olds ibanez 750 or 770.
i recently replaced the pots with dimarzios,and put a new 5 way switch CRL.
greetings from france 🎸🎸
Nice! That guitar looks great for a 38 year old guitar.
I bought a 1985 Kramer Baretta in creme with the hockey headstock. It looks like the one Eddie is holding wearing the "No Bozos" shirt for the Kramer ad.
3 words Steve: "Jackson Jack Butler". Stop buying guitars until you find one of those. You know you want one.
That Kramer is beautiful though. I don't usually like red guitars, but I'd make an exception for that (and your Fender "The Strat").
Oh Dude…I would love to have a Jack Butler👍
He can just borrow his "Buddy Bobby's" like he did a few years ago
Little jelly here I must say. Not sure I can stay subbed now. Nice snag there SFB I look forward to hanging on a Saturday night listening to this guitar and more stories.
Considering the moving target 'Swatch Watch' aspect to Kramer it's a fun guitar to collect. This looks fresh until you see the closeups, lots of dings and wood details shining through. Pixxy the word 'rare' is one of the most abused words when trying to flog something. Your in depth guitar knowledge is shining bright in this one. Need more of this and less of the new cheap Chinese made rubbish.
I had a pacer Imperial that same color from that same year. Great Guitar
Nice looking Reb Beach guitar 😉
Do you remember the aluminum neck Kramers? I had one of those and the matching bass as well. Those pickups rang like a bell.
I’d guess that switch is meant to bypass the 5-way. My Kramer classic II Tele is also HSS and has the 3 toggle switch setup (on off, one per pickup) but has another switch that bypasses that system and makes it just the bridge humbucker.
Thanks for the Kramer info. I had a Pacer Carrera back in 1985 and always thought it was made in USA. 👍🏾
I bought one of those a few months back mine is a 87…mine doesn’t have all the switches and knobs just a volume that’s all you need. I upgraded my pickups to a Super 3 in the bridge, a Tone Zone rail in the middle and a Chopper in the neck all cream with a cream volume knob and 5 way switch tip.
My two favorite guitar necks are my old Kramer ZX30H, and the EVH Wolfgang standard. The Kramer has an ebony fret board (I modified the heck out of that guitar..still sounds good even with plywood body). I had jumbo frets installed etc etc. But LOVE that neck! I did change the radius of the frets at the 12th fret to the 22nd so it wouldn't fret out if I pulled up on the trem. I had to level them out and re-crown them. I did all that back in the 90's or early 2000's, just to make it play the way I wanted it to. The EVH has the same neck profile and string spacing...nice neck.
I sold one just like that to fund daycare for my boys in 2005, had owned it since the 80s... was one of my favorite of all time. Hope someday to own one again if I can find one. Congrats!
I play an 87 Ibanez Roadstar 2 pro540r radius. It has a few nicks and dings, but I love it none the less.
Epic guitar!
Recently picked up a couple of 87’/88’ Pacers. A white Custom 1 with rosewood fretboard and a Black Emperor with maple fretboard.
Incredible guitars. Love them!!
I bought a Kramer back in the early 90's for VERY short money, even then. Like an idiot I tried to repaint it myself. It's in pieces now waiting for some love. I've been trying to identify it for years. Thanks to this, I've identified the neck as a lasido banana/hockey stick. The neck plate is smooth and, according to vintagekramer site, either a custom order or a focus. But it is essentially this guitar (HSS). Though mine only has a 2 way (not 3-way) switch between the 5 way and knobs. I thought it cut one of the humbucker coils to make it single coil. The resulting noise would seem to support that. I really need to get off my butt and get it painted and restored to playing condition.
Ohhh yessss Kramer the giant killer. Congrats on that absolutely gorgeous Kramer the 80's will live on forever❤️❤️❤️😎😎😎😎🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘💚🤘💚🤘🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸💪💪🍺🍺🍷🍷🎵🎶🎵🎶💚🎶🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵
Love the historical and other details about Kramer you presented. Excellent video!
I have an 85 Striker 200 st. HH with a 3 way. Almost the same as today's pacer. Oddly enough, my 22 Striker is an HSS like that 86 Pacer. Everything old is new again. I got in on Christmas 1985
Good video. What kind of pickups does it have? I have a Kramer American Beretta and it has Seymour Duncan.
Loved the Stanley Kubrick 2001-level intro
I’m so happy you got this guitar!
Very nice. My first guitar was an 84 or 85 Kramer Pacer Deluxe just like that, but it had a banana headstock and chrome floyd. Mine was red and black with rosewood, just like that. Weighed more than any guitar I've ever had also, including several LP's.
Thanks for the history lesson, Steve. Always love hearing what it was actually like back in the day.
I have an ‘86 Focus 3000 that looks just like it except t has the original Kramer headstock. Great guitar for $500. Was my 18th birthday present!
Wasn't part of the constant change with Kramer necks in large part due to what ESP was doing. Also, ESP was importing necks they could send without getting sued by Fender, Jackson, Gibson et al. Then changing the style as the cease and desist notices rolled in.
Kramer, from what my old guitar teacher told me was basically finishing the guitars with parts installation and paint. Their calling card was the paint finishes they offered.
That's why the bodies and necks had such variances. Not quality issues, they were all made with good quality components, but the consistency from one guitar to another was huge.
Yep, the truss rod has to be right before one can address fret level & crown issues, even a wonky neck pocket. I have a 2005 Squier Bullet Strat that was that way. Frets for a rhythm player that strummed a rarely to never used guitar. Top loader HT that it is, the neck pocket needed a full shim, even with the truss rod & low relief done right. It was a lot of work for trial & error to fabricate a flat shim from scratch to the right thickness, but eventually it finally was properly leveled to play. One of my favorite guitars, a 1st reach to just noodle around with. Hey, for $ 25, it was worth learning how all that relates to each other if it never played well. Something to practice accidental luthier skills on & not worry about screwing up a more expensive guitar. I plays as good as anything after the fixes. And in the end it cost me in terms of man hours to DIY figure it out, as much as most any GC buy for brand new that might have it';s own set of issues for a tighter tolerance of mistakes. When someone sees the shim, the fact it's a Bullet, the guitar will never be worth much for being 19+ years old today. But I play it & am stick with it. And that's not a bad thing. It was a challenge to get to play it at new condition, mission accomplished. I won the day(s) in the end figuring it out. I look at that guitar as my Robert Cray Squier, since they have a Robert Cray Fender MiM & Custom Shop version. $ 25 and it plays & sounds as good as the $ 1k MiM & the $ 4.5K Custom Shop does. I get it though, the ceramic pickups aren't Alnico. The Squier was upgraded to Fender laser etched logo tuners when I bought it, the Fender Robert Cray's have the same tuners, not locking/slotted tuners. The Squier was just not a perfect construction out of the box like the higher MSRP Fender guitars are. Doesn't matter how you get them there though for a shim, just that the measurements & locations for the hardware are virtually identical. Baltic Blue body, he shim is hard black plastic, would have to really look for that shim to spot that it was shimmed as it has been.
Consumers are finicky too. Kramer, I think either Fender (FMIC) or Gibson owns the name now, just checked on line, they are a Gibson brand currently. So if someone has to have a Kramer, they are essentially getting a Gibson branded Ibanez type super strat shredder. You even see consumer's falling in & out of status with the $ 100-500 Chinese guitars for which is the better affordable instrument brand. In the end we all figure it out, that there are middlemen that buy the same guitars that a handful of factories are pumping out that the only difference is the decal for brand names & price tags. Marketing 101. Have a more catchy brand name, headstock shape, logos of bullshit on the same hardware they all have. How many Chinese guitars have had Epiphone branded TOM parts made from the same sand cast molds ? Guitars are nothing more than a function of scale length, math for hardware location of nut to saddles, neck pocket standardization & fret locations. 21, 22, 24 frets all the notes are included if the frets are where they are supposed to be for scale length. They all intonate the same, a note is a tuned string to pitch for scale length that vibrates at the same frequency for every guitar. A pickup is same gauge wiring wound around a bobbin with magnets that are charged. That's why any guitar is always 90% as good as the other, I think it's closer to 99+% as good as any other guitar myself. Wax potted properly done as a process & 99+% is what a Squier is to a Fender and anything else is to one another. Set up properly like this Kramer is and any guitar plays like a guitar is supposed to. Fall in love with a name, hope your friends think it's just as cool, all that gets thrown out the window if one is actually a good guitar player. You would sound as good on this Kramer as you would a Squier HSS Strat with no Floyd Rose just the same, you may or may not like the guitar for lacking a FR trem system ?
Best work you ever did IMHO! 🎯
I had a Jackson from Amazon I had someone work on because the neck wouldn't stay straight in higher tuning.. It took 6 or 7 years to get that guitar back with a completely straight neck, set in a kind of low tuning. Yeah that was my first Jackson and from Amazon. The next 3 I got other places and they just finally never turned out. Probably cuts the usage of FR's on all of them. My last Jackson though, $800 was picture perfect, that was my 3rd and last Rhoads guitar. But it's my Birthday and I'm considering molding, Sweetwater has this nice select series I can pay for in 6 months. But I get it. The things you own end up owning you.
This guitar looks amazing, considering it's 38 yrs old! Thanks for the history lesson as usual!
Early 80's Ibanez had a joint on the headstock where they glued a piece of wood on too, on some models.
Knowing how to do fretwork myself has saved me literally thousands of dollars in luthier fees. Everyone who handles a lot of guitars should learn how to do this work. P.S. Practice on squires and junk guitars before you go ham on an expensive instrument, otherwise you will find yourself learning how to refret. Use good quality tools, cheaper tools do not save you money, they cost you more in the end.
Why were they so scattered with their business dealings? I’m curious why they seemed to be by the seat of their pants and always on the brink of falling completely apart. If anyone has an insight on them idk… I have a 83 or 84 striker that I bought in Germany when I was stationed over there. It has a plywood body but the neck has rosewood and a skunk stripe and a smaller hockystick headstock. It’s what sold me on buying it. Later I found out about the first rendition of the Floyd Rose without the locking nut. I replaced it with a fine tuner version and a locking nut no recess on the body just mounted on top but it’s a single humbucker beast. No Kramer branding on it anymore I stripped and repainted it about three or four times over the years. It’s now red rocker red with my initials on the headstock in red as well. Anyway nice axe you got there and it’s red so I love it even more. lol 🎸🤓🗽🙏🥓
SFB, I have wondered if the two holes for putting screws in for the Nut, from the back of the neck. If that would ever Crack like a ummm GIBSON LP. But I guess not... lol cause I'm looking right at yours there.😅.
Love watching your Stuff lol
Came on board right around the exit of Pixi-lixx era and the STEVE FROM BOSTON era😅
From your brother in Methuen looks like you have the real deal. Congrats!
I have black striker made by kramer came with a bannana head stock with one Jackson pickup made in usa with a non tuning Floyd Rose it was made in Germany no locking nut amazing guitar an the pickup is angled black wush you could see it you have an amazing guitar
glad you got it more or less sussed out... it sounds great... rock it!
Wow Steve, that is one great catch, that is a stunning guitar!!
I have 3 85 pacer deluxes. My candy blue has been my number 1 since 1991. All my trems are blocked and only dive. Break a string during a song and you'll see why people do it. Amazing guitars!! Rock on Steve!!
That's an awesome score! With your recent Jackson score, two greats, congrats. I had a white 1986 Kramer Floyd Rose Signature model. Should not have sold it.
So much nostalgia -- the itch that can never be scratched. But still we try.
Sweet Kramer.
Could you replace the pickguard with a plastic black one from Amazon or Fender? I replaced my Stratocaster Ultra Texas Tea that had a metal pickguard because of that same problem.
Great guitar. Always wanted a Kramer. Bought an RG550. So thats my 80s guitar story.
What a great purchase, congratulations!
Yep l had one of these with the same headstock and yes it had that really really wide neck.
Hey Steve, thank you for all the education. So interesting about the where actually these guitars were made. Do you think ESP is making the “Holy Grail” Kramer Barretta reissue?
i have what i belive to be a 1983 focus 2000 with beak headstock mij on back of it and no skunkstripe. Wld like to hear your opinion on this. neck plate has origional kramer logo serial 04010. Pretty sure these focus were early and prolly the best ones. Btw researching this info is how i came to your channel years ago when it was pixxy licks
interesting bit of history there. great looking guitar man
would not change a thing 1986 dude that guitar is sick!
Wow! Looks nice!
Eddie built Kramer, without Eddie Kramer would have never sold as many guitars as they did.
I remember in 1994 that was a $149 used guitar that almost nobody wanted.
That is a awesome Kramer love Kramer guitars🤟🏻
Heavy Duty find Steve. Glad ya found'er. Looks & Sounds Right-on. No --You Rock. Thanks for sharing.
like the Guitar Red Beach use to play ..very cool
Cool guitar! Definitely a trip down memory lane!
did you do a slight fall away on those last 6-8 frets?
Nice vintage Kramer! I can’t say the same for the recent ones made by Gibson…. awful quality control.
Beautiful fiddle!
JB in the Bridge but what is the neck pickup?
Kramer guitars are the business, separate volume controls for each pickup makes so much sense.
Nice Steve!
The thing that is strange about the Kramer you have is that it has a chrome neck plate. The Kramer's with black hardware is custom order and should have a black neck plate. JB and SSL1 Ducan's are correct for the guitar. The neck is supposed to be shimmed. Every Kramer I've owned had shims from the factory due the bridge being too tall. They were like a fiber board. Never had an issue of fretting out. The Floyd should be level with the body. The Krammer with Banna headstocks with the glue separating were replaced under warranty with the later American headstocks.
Very cool guitar, Steve.
are you using Amplitube??
Steve, any chance it's an ebony fingerboard? It has the look from where I stand.
Sweet find
Steve…sweet guitar…I have an original 82-83 pacer with the beak headstock…it has an esp neck…rosewood board maple neck and NO skunk stripe…so, the plot thickens 😫
The beak headstocks were not made by ESP. The first production of the Kramer's was produced with a Fender cut headstock and was sued by Fender and had to modify the existing stock of Fender cut necks which was cut off the ball the headstock which was called beak headstock.
@ …l’m the original owner…I bought the guitar in 82-83…the neck heel is stamped ESP
Wow, what a looker 🔥🥳😄👍
We go the RG much earlier in the uk
I’m crying right now. I had this exact model. Only in pepto bismol pink. It had my initials near the 1/4” jack. CD. I am still in search for that Kramer. If anyone has seen it. Please PM me. Serial starts with E
This video means so much to me. I really hope Gibson tries to bring this one back.
Kramer, reissue these ! please make one with just a normal strat trem tho, and the scarf joint at the neck
Steve from Boston, Just get a new pickguard from Warmoth? You can custom make your own guard any way you want $30! The PG on that is a standard H/S/S strat with a floyd cutout.
I have the yellow with black hardware Pacer reissue. Good guitar but like wearing a brick around your neck. It's got the bird beak headstock. The neck is okay .
What a bargain! What's a Japanese ESP worth again ? That's a real Floyd with duncans, so it's an OG ESP vintage when considering where it was manufactured right? Unless that slanted neck pocket side has anything to do with the Origin?
Those necks are my favourite on the Kramers. I have a 80's lefty that's in mint condition. Same gold logo minus the American but it's a 3 piece quarter sawn laminated 22 fret neck with rosewood fretboard and pearl inlays. Mine was really cheap, thanks to a point of view I certainly aren't going to complain about.
Very nice 🤘
why would jackson or charvel care about hockey stick headstocks? curious
Isn't bridge pup a Schaller
Sweet guitar
That’s badass!
A lot of those 80s kramers were pretty cool. I bought one new and traded for one in the mid 80s. Now that Gibson owns the. I wouldn't slap a dog in the butt with one just on general principle. Every guitar should have a skunk stripe as well as a spoke wheel truss rod adjustment at the heel. Just my opinion.
Re “Made in USA”, this is legally a very high standard to actually meet. Essentially, all or virtually all the parts have to be from the US. There can be a lot of US work put into the product, but if any part is imported there is a chance that the government would have a problem with the claim.