NGD: Kramer Elliot Easton

Dave L

Dave L

Well-known member
I´m a super strat guy all the way, but after all these years I don't think I ever had a Kramer before. This one popped up the other week and I took a flyer on it, I guess it's really not a typical Kramer and for good reason it's way more like a Tom Anderson instead since he made the prototypes for Elliot. Great functional design, well built, typical Kramer quality of the era with ESP necks and bodies, OFR bridges and Duncan pickups. I think I'll enjoy this one!

You can't say it's pretty, but it has a lot of coolness to it in person.

MJQErzQh.jpg
 
I think those are my favourite Kramers, just because they look so unique. The only thing I don't really care for is the on/off switches for the pickups, but I could get over that.

Great find!
 
Yeah, I'm not a fan of the typical mini toggle set-up either, but I've used an Anderson with the Switcheroo system for well over ten years at this point and I think the main lead/rhythm toggle (as seen on this one too) does a lot of difference. The other Kramers didn't have that, neither did Jackson or most makers doing mini toggles back in the 80s.

It think it was a great find as well, I only paid about 650 dollars for it which doesn't seem to be much for just about anything these days. Pretty good shape too considering it's from 87 or 88.
 
Dave L said:
Yeah, I'm not a fan of the typical mini toggle set-up either, but I've used an Anderson with the Switcheroo system for well over ten years at this point and I think the main lead/rhythm toggle (as seen on this one too) does a lot of difference. The other Kramers didn't have that, neither did Jackson or most makers doing mini toggles back in the 80s.

It think it was a great find as well, I only paid about 650 dollars for it which doesn't seem to be much for just about anything these days. Pretty good shape too considering it's from 87 or 88.
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Stole that thing! Congrats!
 
That is awesome!

Also love the wicker front Boogie and 3 Monkeys (haven’t seen one in awhile) hanging out in the back!
 
So how does the switching work on that? Specifically that extra switch that looks to be either really badly or really well placed?
 
It´s on-off for the singles and on-off-split for the humbucker, the fourth switch is a master that goes between the setting of the other three toggles and just the humbucker in series. Sort of a lead-rhythm switch.
 
kchoe said:
That is awesome!

Also love the wicker front Boogie and 3 Monkeys (haven’t seen one in awhile) hanging out in the back!
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Thanks man! I don´t think 3 Monkeys is around anymore, but that is their Zé head. Basically a José clone they did a little run of maybe ten years ago. The Boogie is a 1985 III+ I got just this winter, best Boogie I ever had and I really dig it.
 
Devin said:
This was always my fave Kramer; they seem pretty rare too....


HNGD; i'm jelly!
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Yeah, they only made it for a bit over a year in 87-88, and I don´t know how well it sold. Could be fairly unusual, I guess, I haven´t seen that many around when compared to the rest of the American line of those years.
 
Dave L said:
I´m a super strat guy all the way, but after all these years I don't think I ever had a Kramer before. This one popped up the other week and I took a flyer on it, I guess it's really not a typical Kramer and for good reason it's way more like a Tom Anderson instead since he made the prototypes for Elliot. Great functional design, well built, typical Kramer quality of the era with ESP necks and bodies, OFR bridges and Duncan pickups. I think I'll enjoy this one!

You can't say it's pretty, but it has a lot of coolness to it in person.

MJQErzQh.jpg
Click to expand...
A left handed buddy of mine had two of those (from Elliot himself), and the word was that Buddy Blaze made the prototypes since he was already working with Kramer on the Nightswan.
 
I reached out to Tom Anderson to see if he remembers anything, and he said he made the ones for Elliot and a few for that first NAMM launch. The rest of them were ESP parts and built by Kramer. But whether Buddy made a few too, who knows, it´s almost 40 years ago and absolutely not much of a stretch.
 
I was told (at the time) that the "tell" was a little wooden dowel stuck into the neck about where your thumb would go in first position, that was "supposed to" be the mark of a Buddy Blaze, both of these guitars I tried had it. Really great necks ! But who knows, could be Anderson...ask him about the dowel thing, see if he remembers that...
 
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