Kramer Guitars 2019

Kramer Guitars - The Legend Lives on in 2019!!!
by Mike Wolverton

January 23, 2019

Kramer Guitars has announced that it is back and fully ready to address the Kramer fans worldwide by a huge display at this years NAMM show. Released are some models that have long been craved by the fans and have also been in the works in Nashville for quite some time. Two of those models that have been widely anticipated are the Kramer Baretta featuring a maple board and the Kramer Nightswan!! Needless to say any activity on the Kramer front gets us VK guys excited, especially when the instruments are throw backs to the vintage years. Click on the image below to see the full brochure for Kramer at NAMM this year.

The Swan History

Many of the guitars available in the brochure for NAMM were widely discussed with Kramer onsite during the historical Kramer Expos between 2003-2008. The members of the Kramer Forum provided instruments and other details to help guide the Kramer guys in the design. The Nightswan prototype was built in 2004 and were extremely close the originals. The neckshape, profile, tonewood and other characteristics were highly imagined to be as close to the original as possible. My personal Nightswan was used for some early CAD work, allowing for the shapes to be accurate. Originally prototypes were built at the Baldwin piano factory, custom made by Richard Akers. One actual prototype was assembled at Kramer which two others have surfaced from parts sold at the infamous employee sales. To see this instrument actually see the lilght of day is astounding and I personally can't wait to get my hands on it! To read more about the original Swan and its history with Buddy Blaze and Kramer, click here.

Feature
Body	Mahogany	Custom cut with upper access to higher frets
Neck	Maple/Ebony	Custom ebony fretboard with ping pong inlays
Pickups	Duncan	At time of writing unknown specifics model
Bridge	Floyd	Black Floyd Rose 1000 with R2 nut
Other	Jack and Tuners	Barrel Jack

More photos of the original Swan Prototype

The Baretta Vintage History

The Baretta Vintage was also imagined in 2004 as a maple board version. The first batch of prototypes (also made at Baldwin) included some maple board models. Maple board barettas during the banana headstock years for vintage Kramers were few and far between. This is a nice addition to the Kramer line and will be widely popular with collectors and younger players looking to get that 80's old school vibe. Kramer, since owned by Gibson has released many Baretta models including USA reissues, Special models for the more frugal player, and the Baretta Vintage which is a more cost effective Baretta than the original USA models. To read more on Baretta History in the vintage years, click here.


2004 Baretta Prototype with Dave Nardelli	w Mike Wolverton

Feature
Body	Maple	Exact dimensions to the original vintage Baretta from the 80s
Neck	Maple/Maple	Hard Rock Maple, Banana headstock with vintage logo
Pickup	Humbucker	Seymour Duncan JB
Bridge	Floyd	Black Floyd Rose 1000 with R2 nut
Other	Jack and Tuners	Barrel Jack and Gotoh style tuners

The Jersey Star Re-release!

The Jersey Star is being re-released due to wide popularity. For years it was only available in Alpine White and it now features the availability of candy apple red as well. The star was a huge hit among collectors due to its fine attention to detail and how close it was to Richie Sambora's actual custom guitar made for him by Schopfner. This is a good addition to have it back again, but we thought we'd show off some old photos from the factory during assembly in Nashville.


Jersey Stars on the Rack		Exclusive Kramer Expo Giveway Black Star

Other Highlights - Baretta Special

I really like seeing the Baretta Special line being expanded to a maple board and candy blue (my favorite color combination). I've owned a couple of specials in the past, and they are an amazing budget minded Baretta. Many collectors have taken these guitars and converted them to Floyd on their own and made very special axes out of them. The Special has been changed from mahogany to a maple body to be more consistent with the Baretta Vintage line. The necks on these guitars are excellent, especially when you sand the finish off the back and convert them to oil. Excellent guitars for sub $300 street!!

Feature
Body	Maple	Exact dimensions to the Baretta Vintage (modeled after an original)
Neck	Maple/Maple	Hard Rock Maple, Banana headstock with vintage logo
Pickup	Humbucker	Alnico V Zebra Humbucker
Bridge	Vintage Trem	Standard style Kramer bridge
Other	Jack and Tuners	Barrel Jack and Gotoh style tuners

SM1

Many Kramer fans were excited about the return of the SM1 several years ago. This one is a near duplicate of the original Kramer Stagemasters that feature a Floyd Rose 1000 and a full set of Seymour Duncan pickups. Also featured is a modeling of that original Kramer sharktooh inlay neck that so many are fond of.

The Assault

The assault gets some nice upgrades with a figured top and burst finishes. Also added is a reverse headstock, like the Nightswan. A very different, but cool instrument to modify and add to the lineup this year!!