Rick Lee
Well-known member
My '83 Pacer. Pickup is a Jalen Pinnacle with clear bobbins, ala Mighty Mite.
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Geo
Well-known member
Is that some kind of post plate under the floyd trem on the left?Me too.......the closest I got was a 1983 Kramer Imperial bought new at the only Kramer dealer(Ricks guitars) near me, it's been my number one geetar ever since. In the 2000's I set out to get another and after buying and selling a few 83 maple bodied Imperials including a Carrera I finally found another 83 Imperial that matched my oringinal down to the poplar body and close in serial number, so it has become my go to player but my original is still number one after having them both refretted with 6100 jumbos same as the factory frets.
I can't say I loved the Schaller pickups but Seymour Duncan took care of the issues I had with the Schallers!
I hope the new reissues live up to the legacy, I've been through alot of superstrats and nothing has dethrone my ole Kramer! Sometimes you just bond with a certain guitar I guess.........
To the OP...........congrats on the new guitar! Let us know how you like it when you get it. It's exciting when you are about to play your dream guitar!
The guitar on the right is my original and the neck came from the factory with no finish or maybe a really light satin finish, I've never seen another neck unfinished on a Kramer, at the time I thought all Kramers were like this but most had the heavy poly finish. Since the 2000's I've used the EBMM lemon oil and gunstock oil to seal it. The one on the left has a heavy polyurethane finish that I tolerate but have been tempted to sand it off and go unfinished like my original.
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harddriver
Well-known member
For the record I paid $600.00 for mine in 1983 with a case, I still have the receipt. That was alot of money for me at the time, I worked my ass off and saved and saved! Worth every penny though!
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harddriver
Well-known member
No, the trem posts started to rock finally in the original bores in the poplar so my luthier routed a section of poplar out and then glued in a block of maple on both guitars. He used the new style bushings on the one of the left but reused the original screw posts by request on my original.
I love the warmth of the poplar because it offsets the brightness of the floyd rose but it is softer than alder and maple so eventually the Floyd post get wallerd out over the years from the tension, it's a trade off unfortunately.
TotallyRadGuitars
Well-known member
I'm a big Kramer fan too. I really like the earlier stuff, strat head and beak headstock era.
As for the pickup debate, it was always Schallers on wood necked models until the E serial plates, so '86ish, switched to Seymour Duncans. No '83 model, Baretta or otherwise, came with Duncans from factory. I personally like the Schallers myself, they stopped making them in 2017.
The other thing people don't really "get," either because they are used to modern guitar production, or only saw a handful at a time, is that Kramer was constantly innovating and changing stuff, and re-using old parts they found in boxes and all sorts of stuff, and they were terrible at documenting things. That's why a lot of stuff isn't reflected in the catalogs. Some serial numbers used out of order and that kind of thing, but you can still pin down pretty accurately if something is original or has been butchered or turned into a mutt unless the person doing it really knows their stuff. Also why you could play two same-year same-appearance Pacers and one might be R2, the other R5 and with a completely different neck profile etc.
Congrats and looking forward to the review of this 83. I've been a bit cynical about it, I've had a few of the recent Kramers and thought they were good for the money but a let down compared to the vintage stuff, and with the price on vintage Kramers still being fairly reasonable it's hard for me to justify buying anything new they've put out. I did have a 2005 USA Baretta RI which I also sold pretty quickly, it wasn't a bad guitar but I just couldn't get along with the neck, which was not at all like a vintage one. I'm not trying to be a cork sniffer, if they came out with a model right now that matched the 80s specs for a fair price, I'd be all over it. I guess I just don't understand how Ibanez can sell an RG550G that is extremely similar to a real RG550 for $999, made in the same factory as the originals, with matching hardware. But Gibson/Kramer can't seem to put out an accurate reissue, or the price is way higher than expected, not made in USA etc.
Anyway I get that these Barettas and other rare specs (ex. the 08 Pacer RI was based on an oil neck '83 Imperial, which was a rare option, not a common one) are good for grabbing attention, but if they did a USA reissue line of just standard common model Pacer Imperials, Deluxes, Custom I's and Custom II's, and of different years (ex. '83 imperial reissue, '87 imperial reissue), shoot I'd buy a crapload of them. Obviously a Sustainer RI is an impossible ask, but I'd kill for a Proaxe RI.
As for the pickup debate, it was always Schallers on wood necked models until the E serial plates, so '86ish, switched to Seymour Duncans. No '83 model, Baretta or otherwise, came with Duncans from factory. I personally like the Schallers myself, they stopped making them in 2017.
The other thing people don't really "get," either because they are used to modern guitar production, or only saw a handful at a time, is that Kramer was constantly innovating and changing stuff, and re-using old parts they found in boxes and all sorts of stuff, and they were terrible at documenting things. That's why a lot of stuff isn't reflected in the catalogs. Some serial numbers used out of order and that kind of thing, but you can still pin down pretty accurately if something is original or has been butchered or turned into a mutt unless the person doing it really knows their stuff. Also why you could play two same-year same-appearance Pacers and one might be R2, the other R5 and with a completely different neck profile etc.
Congrats and looking forward to the review of this 83. I've been a bit cynical about it, I've had a few of the recent Kramers and thought they were good for the money but a let down compared to the vintage stuff, and with the price on vintage Kramers still being fairly reasonable it's hard for me to justify buying anything new they've put out. I did have a 2005 USA Baretta RI which I also sold pretty quickly, it wasn't a bad guitar but I just couldn't get along with the neck, which was not at all like a vintage one. I'm not trying to be a cork sniffer, if they came out with a model right now that matched the 80s specs for a fair price, I'd be all over it. I guess I just don't understand how Ibanez can sell an RG550G that is extremely similar to a real RG550 for $999, made in the same factory as the originals, with matching hardware. But Gibson/Kramer can't seem to put out an accurate reissue, or the price is way higher than expected, not made in USA etc.
Anyway I get that these Barettas and other rare specs (ex. the 08 Pacer RI was based on an oil neck '83 Imperial, which was a rare option, not a common one) are good for grabbing attention, but if they did a USA reissue line of just standard common model Pacer Imperials, Deluxes, Custom I's and Custom II's, and of different years (ex. '83 imperial reissue, '87 imperial reissue), shoot I'd buy a crapload of them. Obviously a Sustainer RI is an impossible ask, but I'd kill for a Proaxe RI.
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SoooRad
Well-known member
The Proaxe would be a great “picking up where we left off” guitar. It makes sense, so you know it won’t happen. Haha
JohnnyGtar
Well-known member
I wondered what those sounded like. When I got my Kramer with a maple body, it was love at first note! LOL I've got an '87 F-3000 (NOT the cheaper Focus 3000) with a maple body. It's not overly bright, it's very clear and defined sounding no matter what pickup I tried in it. It's got a Suhr Aldrich bridge model now and it will never leave that guitar. The George Lynch Signature Kamikaze guitars had maple bodies when they first hit the market.
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Geo
Well-known member
Really, I probably have a few laying around. I am going to have to give them a try again.
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Geo
Well-known member
Rick Lee
Well-known member
Oh man, I want that. There was a guy who was a senior when I was a freshman in high school who had that exact same guitar, also played through a GK250ML, which was not a cheap amp in those days. I saw in our alumni magazine that he lives near me now and I reached out, but never heard back from him. I will own this guitar one day.
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Geo
Well-known member
It was purchased by a friend of mine from Sam Ash in Paramus NJ in the early 80's He sold it to me within a year because he gave up on taking lessons. This guitar originally had a Rockinger trem. I had the Floyd put on.
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Geo
Well-known member
That guitar has more miles on it than Kamala's knees.
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harddriver
Well-known member
It must be an 82 model year then...
I think 83 was when they started using the Floyd Rose's.! 82-85 were good years for Kramer. I think 1986/87 they moved production to Japan.My Kramer was also my very first GOOD guitar and like you it still is one of my best guitars!
I have had alot of GOOD guitars since then and it still is my favorite.
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harddriver
Well-known member
Yeah........ mine too.....it's on it's second refret and probably the last and I waited so long to refret it the first time all of the frets were worn flat up and down then neck, he said he's never seen so much even wear, usually it's always the Cowboy chord positions.
I probably shouldn't have waited that long to refret it but I had subsituted an EBMM axis and it was adequate but once I had the ole girl re-fretted I remembered why I loved it soo much, it's just a great guitar.
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Geo
Well-known member
You must have a really strong fret hand, just like EVH did.
TotallyRadGuitars
Well-known member
If they released the Proaxe again and continued from there, damn dude, I'd do some nutty things. Like float my credit card and buy one of every color.
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While we're sharing some Kramer porn I just picked this one up recently - technically it was a birthday gift from my lady, I'd been politely bugging the guy who had it to sell it to me for a while and we finally came to terms. I really love the graphic, a little cheesy but very "early 80s" look to me.
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I also have two others with their original Rockingers. I actually don't mind that bridge but I treat them more like regular strat/fulcrum trems, no heavy diving or anything like a Floyd can do.