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View Full Version : To everyone looking for/considering a new guitar...


PonyOne
02-08-2004, 08:11 PM
NOTE: I am not in any way paid or endorsed by Kramer or its parent company Gibson, so I am not posting this just to try and drum up some extra business. This is strictly guitarist to guitarist.

Everyone here is perpetually posting questions on what new guitar they should get. The excellent Kramer Baretta is on sale for $200 at http://www.musicyo.com. They have on sale the hartail w/maple fretboard and Floyd Rose w/rosewood fretboard models.

For anyone who's into rock I would definitely suggest thinking of one of these guitars. Though they obviously are geared mostly toward the metal side of things, I use mine (a hardtail w/rosewood fretboard) for it all. All of them are NECK THROUGH BODY which can run you well into the upper hundreds and into the thousands in most other cases. Hairband can vouch for the quality of these things; no, they are not an authentic San Dimas Charvel or a full-on custom shop Jackson but in terms of build quality and fit, finish and tone they easily on par with USA Jacksons, higher end Fenders and Gibsons and make Ibanez's look silly by comparison. I am not joking at all, and will echo what Eddie Van Halen said of these things back in the 80's: you simply cannot buy a better guitar in this price range. Personally, I don't think you can buy a better guitar of this sort for at least another $400 or so.

If you have the money for the guitar plus shipping, buy the thing now, you will not regret it. The hardtail model is string through in addition to neck through so we're talking a killer amount of sustain and picking definition here. If you get one of those and drop in a DiMarzio and put some GraphTech saddles & nut on there, you are basically paying $300 for something that sounds like it cost $2000. I haven't played the Floyd model but one of my friends got one and he says that it is really awesome and stays in tune better than most of the tremolo guitars he's ever had.

It's not like this is a once in a life time opportunity (I got mine last year on the same sale for the same price) but it is $100 less than you'd normally pay.

b_hoves
02-08-2004, 09:06 PM
there is also and Kramer Imperial FR-404S (explorer) on sale for the same price, not neck trough but has a nice pair of Quad-Rail Humbuckers, only colour left is a metallic blue.

Hammurabi
02-08-2004, 10:59 PM
If I wasn't saving up for a full trenchcoat right now (if you've ever seen clips of Marilyn Manson summer sonic Tokyo, I look almost exactly like John 5 and the coat I want looks almost exactly like his)I would definitely invest in one of those.

PonyOne
02-09-2004, 11:17 AM
Originally posted by b_hoves
there is also and Kramer Imperial FR-404S (explorer) on sale for the same price, not neck trough but has a nice pair of Quad-Rail Humbuckers, only colour left is a metallic blue.

The Barettas use the same pickups (quad rail=four blade) as the Imperial. They have great output and they are totally silent i.e. no hum, no matter how much gain you feed them. They're great overall but something about them just doesn't really sit 100% right with me; not enough definition, maybe? I don't know.

If anyone wants the bridge QuadRail from my Baretta and lives in the Los Angeles/South Bay area let me know, it can be yours for crazy cheap.

Hammurabi
02-09-2004, 01:03 PM
What neck pickup do you use on that? Is it stock or do you have a tone zone in there as well?