New Guitar: Transition-neck Kramer Pacer Imperial

I saw this one on ebay and was surprised when there was very little bidding action - I won it for a price I would consider to be far less than expected in this era of Kramer collecting. It’s an authentic Pacer Imperial with the original case and hardware, and while the body does have some minor dents and scratches it is in overall good condition aesthetically and extremely good condition in terms of playability.

The neck is the unique draw here, with a rosewood skunk stipe unlike most pointy headstock Kramers which had the 3-piece maple. This neck was still made by ESP, of course, but it has a more classic rounded shape and is thicker than later pointy necks. The story goes that these necks were originally banana headstock necks (there are quite a few skunk stripe banana necks out there) but had their headstocks shaved down from the factory (either ESP or on arrival to Neptune NJ) to match the new pointy shape the company was going with moving forward. I think this must be true - holding this headstock up very closely to a later pointy and there is a tiny bit of a shape difference, but other later pointies are all very uniform in shape. I have seen these transitional necks both with and without the “American” script after the Kramer logo - this one does not have the script and instead looks more like a standard banana neck logo job. My best guess is that the ones that have the “American” script were re-logoed for varying reasons in Neptune.

I’m not really a big fan of blocked Floyds, but this one is set up dive only, and with the great feeling neck with good frets, it’s quickly become one of my most played guitars since it allows me to quickly swap tunings or use Drop D tunings, and I absolutely adore this color.

New Guitar: Kramer Condor all the way from the UK

Picked up this very nice, white Kramer Condor from the kramerforumz classifieds. Shipping from the UK was pricey, and the box was a little damp upon arrival, but luckily there was no permanent damage and the guitar arrived in good condition.

Very desirable to me is the banana headstock with an R2 width neck - as opposed to the seemingly more common, wider, R5’s. This neck is well worth the purchase right on its own, I love the feel and playability, the frets are in great shape, and the R2 width fits my hand very comfortably. The body has a good amount of small dings and scratches and is definitely in player’s condition, but after handling this neck I can see why!

One of the more unique things about this particular guitar is that it is a Condor drilled from factory for a wider spaced “E” serial number plate. This was during the transition era where the banana headstock shape was about to be phased out for the pointy shape, but some early E plates like this one still had the old shape. Due to the position of the lettering on the newer style plates, the old method of drilling the strap button hole directly through the plate was not used on this guitar - instead the strap button was added just above it, and it’s a later black Schaller straplock style.

New Guitar: (Project finished) 1985-6 Kramer Condor

I’m a little behind posting this, but I’ve finally finished assembling and setting up my Kramer Condor. A while back, I traded some parts around with a friend over on the kramerforumz. I ended up with a transparent blue Condor body, D-series serial number plate (roughly correct for the body), and a case for it (which is HUGE by the way).

The hard part was finding the correct neck for a guitar like this - it should have an angled banana headstock neck - but those are just so hard to locate. Perhaps someday I’ll find one and swap the neck, but for now I went with an early ‘86 neck I had extra with a pointy headstock. I think the pointy look of the neck works really well with the pointy Condor body and with the black hardware gives it a really awesome look. Here are some pictures of the completed project:

New Guitar: 1988 Carvin DC200 Koa

I am always paying attention to used Carvin listings, specifically hoping to see some from 1988-89 with the “jackson” style pointy headstock, so when this popped up for sale I just had to have it.

It’s a DC200, which means it has the usual DC series features of this era (neck through body construction, ebony fingerboard, mother-of-pearl inlays, Carvin M22 pickups) but with a few special additions like standard block inlays, and a unique control layout. The default configuration has both volume and tone for each pickup (like a Les Paul), a 3-way pickup selector switch, and a separate coil tap switch per pickup. The last switch closest to the input jacks, which are stereo outputs, is a phase switch. The phase switch is only really noticeable when both pickups are in use, but it gives some really unique tones especially when combined with the coil splitting of either one or both pickups.

This particular DC200 Koa was ordered with gold hardware (an additional $40) and with the Kahler Pro tremolo. Since I currently have another DC125 with an Original Floyd Rose, it’s pretty cool to have both of the tremolo bridge options (a fixed bridge was also available). This would’ve been priced at $819 back in ‘88 and the most amazing thing I noticed out of all of this is that the UPS Shipment cost for this guitar, in a case, was $10. Wow!

Of course, the highlight feature is the Koa wood body wings on either side of the one-piece maple neck through design. Even better, the beautiful, glossy clear finish really showcases the fine grain of these woods and the unplugged tone is exceptional. Here are some pictures, and of course many more on this guitar’s page over in the collection gallery here:

New Video: "New Gear Episode 1: Kramer Baretta, Mesa Mark IV, Peavey XXX"

A few things lined up recently and several things I purchased all happened to arrive on the exact same day - so I took this opportunity to start a new series of videos. They will probably be a bit inconsistent since it depends on when/how often I get new gear, but I think it’ll be cool to do a more casual video whenever I get some cool new piece of gear and talk about it briefly before doing a comparison video or deep dive review.

Of course, this is a lot at once this time as I got both a guitar and two amps all at once. Here’s the video, but keep scrolling for some pictures and some other thoughts on the gear.

First item: a 1987 Kramer Baretta. This one sat on Reverb for a long time and had a few price drops, and I have to give the seller a lot of credit for an accurate representation of the guitar. It is playable, but the frets have been leveled and it is probably due for a refret job very soon. The body has some surface scratches made very clear by the black finish but no major damage, and the neck is really sharp. Sadly, the original JB is missing and replaced with a very cheap pickup from Amazon or similar, and the original floyd rose is missing too - but luckily it was just replaced with a more recent German made OFR. The pickup was wired very strangely - sounded like a single coil or like it had a short - so I swapped that out for a black/white SH-10 Full Shred that I’ve had waiting for a guitar just like this for a while now and it sounds fantastic.

Second: Mesa Mark IV… again. I’ve been really missing my Mk IV head, so I’ve been on the prowl for another. This was listed on Guitar Center used as a head, but sadly it is a combo on arrival - I’m a bit disappointed by that but in a rare act of customer service, the person shipping the amp at GC actually called me and let me know that it was a combo in advance and asked if I wanted to cancel the order! I really appreciate that but I went through with it anyway, since it was described to be in excellent condition.

And wow! That was not a lie either - it is in truly impeccable shape with the original cover too. Sadly the footswitch is missing - that’s very disappointing because they are pretty expensive to replace but we’ll see what I can do about that. This is the “short” combo which means some controls are on the rear panel (like the mid gain/harmonic mode switch) and the factory speaker is a Celestion Black Shadow. I’ve heard lots of praise for this speaker but never tried one - my initial impressions are very positive though. This particular amp also has a very high serial number, much newer than the head that I had, and puts the date closer to the 2008 end of things (likely this was made 2006-2007 or so). Mark IV production ended in 2008 so it’s nice to have one that is a full decade newer than the one I had before, as far as component life goes.

Last: I’ve been looking for a Peavey Triple X or JSX for a little while but waiting for the right deal to come up - these amps were regularly available for 250-350 bucks or so for years so I found it hard to justify paying the current prices of 500+ for them. Luckily, I spotted this one online for only $299, which is about as good as it is going to get amp shopping in 2022, especially for a USA made tube amp like this. I’ve only played it a little bit, but it is super gainy and sounds really great so far. Bang for the buck, this is hard to beat, and I’d argue that in the right hands a skilled player with an amp like this could sound just as good as any expensive boutique amp (within the limitations of what the amp is designed to do of course - high gain). The active EQ really broadens the range of the amp as well, and even though it’s super cheesey, the front panel “girls” grille has grown on me in more of an ironic/nostalgia kind of way (these amps were all over the place when I was first learning to play guitar).

New Guitar: 1987 Robin Medley

I picked up this early Robin recently for a great deal. I’ve been on the lookout for some early Robins - I really have the hots for an RH-1 or RH-2 right now (early Tokai made models) but for now, this ESP-made Medley will have to do. The body shape is a bit smaller than USA made Medleys that came later, but this has the same cool reversed-pointy headstock as those, painted black as was the style of the time, with a bold white logo.

Despite the body having a rear trem spring route, these guitars came stock with a Kahler 2700 series tremolo mounted on the top, similar to ‘86 Charvel model series guitars. It’s quite strange to have the trem route and see the underside of that Kahler bridge but it doesn’t get in the way at all - just unique. This is my first 2700 bridge and I like the ease of adjustment to saddle height and even string spacing it allows without too much effort, unlike a double locking bridge.

The pickups sound great, although the bridge humbucker appears to be wired in parallel instead of series - and attached to a push-pull coil tap on the tone pot (probably not factory). After moving around a few wires, it’s back in action and sounding as full as ever. The pickups are Japanese made OEM pickups - not any familiar Dimarzios or Duncans to compare to, but it’s very middy and high output as expected for a more “shred” oriented guitar like this one.

The neck also shares the same 3-piece maple configuration as Kramer necks of the time (also made by ESP) but this one is well worn in and not as glossy - but it’s hard to say if there was any difference since I don’t have any other Robins from this era to compare to. Either way, a great feeling neck with a familiar shape to me as a Kramer collector and a great change of pace with the Kahler bridge. I hope to find a few more to add to the collection!

New Guitar: 83 Kramer Pacer Imperial with bare/oil neck

Finally caved and picked this up on Reverb after seeing the price drop a few times. I definitely splurged on this one a bit, but based on the color and neck, it was just something I had to have.

And I don’t regret it one bit, this is an exceptional instrument. The neck is a bare/oiled finish and in truly incredible shape - not a nick on the back or anything (that always bugs me). The body is a gorgeous color greenish blue, and it kind of changes color a bit in the light which looks really awesome - hard to see in pictures. Overall it’s in great shape and has all of the original parts, bridge, pickups - nothing missing. It’s very rare that I get a guitar and it doesn’t need some kind of setup or restoration but other than a quick adjustment to the neck (due to a bump it took in shipping, not anything with the guitar itself), I was up and playing this guitar as soon as I got it - nothing extra needed.

And wow is that color a looker - and the original case and warranty card too! This is definitely one of my top guitars now, and it more than deserves to be in the top few of anyone’s collection.

This is also the same kind of neck replicated for the 2008 Pacer Imperial reissues made by Gibson in Nashville TN. Originally, they based the neck on those guitars on a sample ‘83 imperial sent to them with a rosewood neck and oil finished back - just like this one. I generally prefer the glossier necks but I have to say, this neck feels very special and it is easy to see why so many guitar players from this era fell in love with this style of neck (whether from Kramer, Charvel, Jackson, or others).

New Guitar: 1987 Ibanez 540P with rare Maple Neck

I saw this pop up for sale on Christmas Eve and even though I’m trying to reduce my spending, I couldn’t help but get myself a little gift. I have really grown to love these early Ibanez 540 series guitars, but I was missing two things - a 540P, or “Power” model, and one with the exceedingly rare maple fretboard. Well, I checked two things off of my list with one purchase with this guitar!

It arrived just before New Year’s and I was thrilled - it’s a great player, sounds good, and in overall pretty good condition. The body shape is very interesting, and it looks much more rounded on the back. It suffers from the same problem as a Tele when playing it seated, it does dig into your chest just a little bit but it does have a cutout so it’s perfectly comfortable when standing. The contouring around the body is truly inspired and unique - this is a model I wish they had continued making.

The maple fretboard is of course, everything I dreamed it would be. The back of the neck is extremely smooth, there is some very pretty quartersawn grain, and the board itself is nice and smooth without being too glossy.

As with any guitar this great though, now I want another one! That will be a tall order though, there can’t be many 540P’s with maple fretboards around!

New Guitar: 1988 Kramer Pacer Custom 2 Holoflash

I know I already have a Holo-Crackle Pacer, but I saw this one and found it particularly enticing. It is an aftermarket holoflash job, as the serial number is slightly too early for this finish, and you can ever so slightly feel the texture of the holoflash film on the top (factory holoflash jobs were under enough clear coat that it feels perfectly smooth). That said, it looks great and is a pro job, so I’m pleased.

Another stand out from this one is the neck - I’ve had 12th fret inlay necks many times, but this one is in really tip top condition and as such the guitar plays beautifully. The factory pickup combination of JB + SSL-5’s also sound great, as expected, which makes this a great guitar to just pick up and rock out while looking really awesome.

New Guitar: 1982 Kramer Pacer Deluxe

Found this one for a really reasonable price, which is getting harder and harder these days as the value of Kramers seems to be finally realized in the market. I expected a good, quality instrument - as I do any Kramer - but upon arrival, I have to say this one really blew my socks off.

The condition is superb, clearly the previous owner really cared about this guitar. It came in the original case, also in great condition, and with the original electronics, pots, and switches inside. The guitar itself has had the pickups swapped out and the coil tap switch removed, I would’ve left it but I have no complaints as I can restore it any time I like.

A few more signs that this was so well taken care of too - the entire control cavity under the pickups is completely shielded with copper tape, and the lower floyd stud (a notorious break point on these Deluxe models) is in perfect condition, the paint isn’t even cracked. Even the fretboard is nicely oiled and one of the healthier looking Rosewood boards I’ve gotten from any used guitar.

It is also equipped with some tasteful mods, like a Trem-Setter and a very interesting pickup arrangement, with a Duncan TB-15 “Alternative 8” and two Fender American single coils. The Alternative 8 is very unique sounding, bright and scooped - a bit different from my usual preference, but I’ve grown to really like this pickup especially with more “congested” sounding amps.