83 Kramer Reissue.

Kidkramer71

Kidkramer71

Well-known member
Well I ordered one in November.
I wanted one my whole life sine the no bozos add !
We shall see ?
I was number 6 on the list and my brother was 2 because I told him about it and he pulled the trigger first.
I'm sure some got tired of waiting and gave up ?
Plus they are like 2100 or close to that I forget exactly.
They told me they will be coming in small batches they have 6 now.
I will let you guys know in a few days what my opinion is ?
 
My guitar teacher got one of the first ones back then. The three bosses at Kramer were personally driving around to all their dealers in NJ and he happened to be teaching the day they got to his store. They wouldn't sell it, but he finally talked them into it for $500, a princely sum for a guitar in those days. I put some hours on that guitar and he offered to sell it to me in 1991 when he needed money for a DUI case. But I was going to Germany for a year the next week and passed. It was later stolen in a burglary. But it was the real deal, a real holy grail. I will be very, very surprised if any reissue ever captures the feel of one of the very early originals.
 
Kidkramer71 said:
So you have an 83 non tilted ?
Or an 84 angled ?
Single pickup baretta?
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Sorry, no. I saved and saved and when I finally had the $650 the Kramer was going to cost I went to Guitar Center in downtown Chicago, the only store I knew of in the area to buy a Kramer. When I got there the salesman had me check out a couple of Kramers. I was pretty stoked and ready to buy one. Then he said have you ever heard of or checked out one of these and handed me a Charvel. I was no longer interested in the Kramer but was going to have to leave empty handed and deliver a lot more pizzas to save up another $250 for a San Dimas era Charvel.

That Charvel I still have. Still though, your mention of the No Bozo's ad and that white Kramer stirred up some great memories for me.
 
paulyc said:
Anybody know for sure what pick up they put in the original no bozo Kramer ?
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According to sweetwater.

Screenshot 2024-07-08 071108.jpg
 
According to what they say the 83 reissue is supposed to made exactly the same as the original from specs
It is maple body original Floyd.
Has a 59 in the bridge.
I am not sure if the original had a Schaller or a JB , or ?
 
I had an '84 Pacer that came with Schallers, but I'm positive the very early Barettas came with SDs and pretty sure the JB model. I now have an '83 Pacer that came with an old SD, can't recall the model, but not JB and not sure if it's original, but it's pretty old.
 
The "83 Reissue" is copying a guitar that would've come with a Schaller Golden 50 pickup. There actual transition time from Schallers to Duncans is foggy at best, but those guitars were definitely Schaller equipped from the factory.
 
There are a few other Kramer models they'd really do well with reissuing IF they made them identical to the originals. Before Kramer got too big for their britches and started outsourcing stuff, they really made some fantastic guitars for reasonable prices. I can't believe it'd be too hard to reissue some of those at similar (though inflation-adjusted) pricing.
 
Chubtone said:
I drooled over that No Bozo's ad while saving every penny from my pizza delivery job to buy one.
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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!:yes::LOL:

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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