Kramer Guitars Wikipedia. Kramer Guitars pronounced KRAY mr is an American manufacturer of electric guitars and basses. Fender Frontline 2003 BOOK. Everybody has the magazinestyle soft cover Frontlines, but this was a limited run hardcover edition, fully bound and factory sealed in. Kramer produced aluminum necked electric guitars and basses in the 1. Kramer is currently a division of Gibson Guitar Corporation. FormationeditThere is some dispute over the companys early history, but it begins with Travis Bean, a California luthier who was building guitars with aluminum necks. Bean and Gary Kramer started the Travis Bean guitar company in 1. Sun Valley, and while their guitars did well, Bean lost interest and left most of the business aspects to Kramer the two parted ways. 1Kramer then founded the company that still bears his name, improving on the Bean designBeans necks were heavy and the material felt cold to the touch. Kramers improvement consisted of two wooden inserts in the back of the neck. By 1. 97. 5 he had hooked up with a friend from New York, Dennis Berardi, and the two founded BK International, which engaged luthier Phil Petillo to make prototypes for them. Other involved parties were Henry Vaccaro, a real estate person who invested money in the venture, and Peter La. Placa, who had experience with Norlin, the company that owned Gibson Guitar Corporation from 1. The rest of the account is murky Kramer says he was supposed to increase production but was too inexperienced in that area, and he wanted to move back to the West Coast. He was to sell back his interests and receive royalties, and then represent the company out west, but none of this seems to have happened. 11. Introduced in 1. 97. Ebonolmaterial similar to one used in bowling ball production. Other features of the necks included aluminum dots, and a zero fret. Gary Kramers inserts, set in epoxy, were usually walnut or maple. The bodies were usually made of high grade Walnut or Maple, with the earliest instruments made of exotic tonewoods including Koa, Afromosia, Swietenia, Shedua, and Bubinga. The hardware was also from a known quality brand Schallertuning keys and bridges Schaller and Di. Marziopickups custom made strap pins aluminum cavity covers. Kramers alumi neck line lasted roughly until 1. Generally, the ratio of basses to guitars produced was about 4 1,citation needed primarily because bass players were more willing to experiment. By 1. 98. 1, Kramer had the tools, and the experience, to take guitar mass production to a new level. Switching to wooden necked instruments both held the promise of keeping production costs low as well as being able to appeal to traditionally minded guitar players. 2Wooden neck periodeditKramer first released wooden necked guitars in late 1. Charvels lead on producing instruments that essentially copied the stratocasterheadstock shape from Fender, in violation of Fenders US trademark and design patent. After only a thousand or so instruments were built, in May 1. GUIA DO PRAZER Tudo o que voc precisa saber sobre sexo est aqui Tornese um expert, aprenda com a experincia de outras pessoas. Get the guaranteed best price on 4 String Electric Bass like the Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro ShortScale Bass Guitar at Musicians Friend. Get a low price and free shipping. Kramer received a cease and desist order from Fender to halt the production of strathead guitars. citation needed Instead, Kramer opted for a beak headstock reminiscent of 1. Kent guitar headstocks. The earliest beak guitars were in fact stratheads with a lopped off headstock these can be identified by prominent sanding marks on the curve of the headstock. citation needed Later, and most common beak guitars, were manufactured with a beak headstock from the factory. citation neededWooden necked instruments represented Kramers first foray into offshoring the production of guitar components to Eastern Asia. Tuning keys and vintage fulcrum tremolos were made by Gotoh in Japan, while the necks were made by Japans ESP Guitars and shipped to New Jersey for fretting and finishing. citation neededKramer executives saw that the guitar techniques of the early 1. Kramer partnered with a German inventor named Helmut Rockinger, and installed his bulky tremolos, precursors to Floyd Rose systems, on its instruments. citation neededEarly to mid 1. A chance encounter between Dennis Berardi and Eddie Van Halens managers on an airplane flight set the foundation for Kramers meteoric rise in the 1. Eddie was interested in a tremolo that stayed in tune, which the Rockinger system offered. A meeting between Eddie Van Halen and Kramer execs took place, and Eddie was sold. At the meeting, he reportedly quipped that he would help make Kramer the 1 guitar company in the world. citation neededBy 1. Rockinger tremolo sometimes dubbed The Eddie Van Halen tremolo had been widely replaced by the Floyd Rose system. In addition, Kramer once again offered Schaller tuners on their guitars, tapping Schaller to produce Floyd Rose tremolos as well. Kramer was the only guitar company offering Original Floyd Rose tremolos stock on their production guitars, a competitive advantage of Kramer over other guitar manufacturers of the period. In late 1. 98. 3 Kramer switched from the beak headstock design to the Gibson Explorer like banana headstock design. This distinctive look also helped rank Kramer highly with guitar enthusiasts. One notable Kramer guitar was the Baretta model, which was a single humbucker instrument similar to guitars Eddie Van Halen used on stage. The Kramer Baretta was the flagship of the Kramer line and helped popularize the single pickup 1. By late 1. 98. 5 Kramer began installing Seymour Duncan pickups in its guitars, in preference to the more vintage sounding Schaller pickups. When the sales figures came in, Kramer was the best selling guitar brand of 1. In 1. 98. 6 Kramer switched to the radically drooped pointy headstock design, no doubtcitation needed influenced by the pointy designs of JacksonCharvel and other manufacturers such as Hamer and Washburn. Schaller tuners, Floyd Rose tremolos, Seymour Duncan pickups and exciting graphics by talented factory artists such as Dennis Kline helped propel Kramer to become the best selling guitar brand of 1. Late 1. 98. 0seditKramer continued its success into the late 1. Mtley Cres Mick Mars to Whitesnakes Vivian Campbell as major endorsees. By 1. 98. 7, Kramer was using ESP Guitars exclusively for manufacturing its necks and bodies. The American Series of instruments were ESP parts, assembled in Neptune, New Jersey. The Aerostar series were made completely in Korea, while the Focus series was made and assembled by ESP Guitars. Some early Focus guitars were also made in Japan by the Matsumoku company. During 1. 98. 7, Kramer also commissioned guitarist Rich Excellente, designer of the 1. Chevy Tail fin guitar, to create a series of guitars based on the patented features Excellente developed on his Chevy Tail Fin guitar. Kramer, under license from Excellente, manufactured a line of guitars which were marketed as The Kramer American Showster Series. These guitars were sleeker versions of the more traditional shapes of the day, and utilized Excellentes patented tear drop body taper and metal loading insert feature to increase tone and sustain. U. S. Pat. 4,6. 35,5. Fewer than 1,0. 00 of these guitars were produced between 1. Kramer during that time. In addition, Kramer embraced the excess of the late 1. Similarly, the image of the Kramer brand was being tarnished by an influx of Aerostar guitars, lower in quality and made with cheap parts. By 1. 98. 9, Dennis Berardi had started BerardiThomas Entertainment, Incan artist management company. Seeing promise in a young band out of the Soviet Union, Gorky Park, BTE started managing the group. Superstrat Wikipedia. Ibanez JEM guitar features pointed body shape with deep cutaways, HSH pickups, locking tremolo and 2. Superstrat is a name for an electric guitar design that resembles a Fender Stratocaster but with differences that clearly distinguish it from a standard Stratocaster, usually to cater to a different playing style. Differences typically but not necessarily include more pointed, aggressive looking body and neck shapes, different woods, increased number of frets, usage of humbucking pickups and locking tremolo systems, most commonly the Floyd Rose. 123There is no formal definition of a superstrat 3 the categorisation is still largely left to popular opinion and depends greatly on the artists associated with a particular model and how it is marketed. Superstrats are generally suited for heavy metal music played with high gain distortion. HistoryeditGenesis, custom modificationseditWith the increased popularity in heavy metal music during the early 1. Guitarists such as Ritchie Blackmore, Uli Jon Roth and Dave Murray had used Fender Stratocasters, but each had minor modifications made to his instrument to suit his individual playing style. Eddie Van Halen was one of the first to build a guitar with superstrat characteristics. Dissatisfied with the performance of then available original stock model commercial guitars, Van Halen sought to create a hybrid instrument that would suit his acrobatic playing style. The stock single coil pickups of a Fender Stratocaster were noisy, and lacked the output necessary to drive an amplifier into hard distortion characteristic of the Van Halen sound, but the body shape and wide pitch range of the Fender fulcrum tremolo appealed to him. An avid tinkerer, Van Halen assembled a Boogie Bodies Stratocaster body with a thin, 2. Gibson PAF pickup in the bridge slot. This guitar, known as the Frankenstrat was featured on Van Halens debut album Van Halen, and pictured on the album cover. It was later repainted with a top coat of red, and has had different humbuckers over the years, some of them custom wound. 4While many believe Van Halens 1. Frankenstrat to be the first Superstrat, Michael Hampton of Parliament Funkadelic often used a sunburst Stratocaster with 3 humbucking pickups and a reversed headstock during the bands tours in the mid to late 7. This guitar can be seen on the DVD George Clinton The Mothership Connection, which was filmed in 1. Soon, other guitarists and luthiers would also apply similar custom modifications to their instruments. Many sources cite Grover Jackson as one of the first and most influential guitar makers to have crafted custom shop guitars with all the features of superstrats, doing so as early as 1. Later all these improvements were integrated in the factory produced Jackson Soloist model. Mass productioneditStarting about 1. Kramer,7Jackson,7Charvel,7Yamaha, Aria,7Ibanez,7 and Hamer started mass production of superstrat design guitars due to growing market demand. The rising popularity of heavy metal music led to a new generation of guitarists that employed fast and complex techniques which demanded thinner and more versatile guitar necks and stable tremolo systems. citation needed Some examples of guitars marketed to this specific audience include Kramer Baretta 1. Floyd Rose, one slanted humbucker, but more traditional neck and body contours. Baretta has a close connection to Eddie Van Halens Frankenstratit was designed to be marketed as Van Halens signature model, but Eddie never endorsed the Baretta in terms of playing it on stage. 8Dean Bel Aire 1. HSS guitar dubbed superstrat,9 despite still using bolt on neck construction with 2. Jackson Soloist officially produced starting August 2. HSS guitar with neck through construction, 2. Floyd RoseKahler bridgethe fullest embodiment of Superstrat features to date in a mass produced guitar, considered by many the first definitive superstrat. 1. During the rest of the 1. Makers of superstrat models besides the companies mentioned elsewhere in this article also included Fernandes, Schecter, Carvin and ESP. Fenders responseedit. Fender Contemporary Stratocaster Japan, one of several Fender attempts on superstrat market. Fender responded to the superstrat fashion in the mid 1. Stratocaster. Fender also released several superstrat models, such as Talon, under FenderHeartfield name from 1. Gibsons responseeditGibson also produced some models inspired by the superstrat 6Gibson Victory MVX 1. First models were hand made by the 4. Kalamazoo shop. Check serial numbers for location and date of manufacture. Later models were factory produced using automation in Nashville. Only 2. 00. 0 were ever made. MV stood for multi voice. They were created by the Gibson research and development team in Kalamazoo, MI, with the body work by Chuck Burge, and the multi voice electronics by Tim Shaw. They featured new innovations, including a Kahler Tremolo System, and a series of specially designed pickups, in an unbalanced configuration i. Magna Plus neck humbucker, Magna Plus B bridge humbucker, Super Stack middle humbucker and specifically designed for the role it was assigned. Gibson WRC 1. 98. Wayne Charvel model, a line of guitar manufactured exclusively by Wayne Charvel and branded as Gibson. Gibson US 1 1. 98. Gibson mass manufactured try at the superstrat market1. Gibson U 2 1. 98. Gibsons superstrat, a somewhat stripped down version of US 1, featuring basswood body without a figured top, dot inlays, and regular pickups. 1. Gibson Q series. Gibson M III 1. End of superstrat eraeditIn early and mid 1. The popularity of superstrats also declined, in favor of guitars more suited to these new styles. 3dead link Companies that relied on superstrats as a major part of their target market suffered heavy losses and went out of business or were bought by larger corporations Guild exited the solid body guitar business in 1. Fender in 1. 99. 5. 1. Hamer was acquired by Kaman Music Corporation in 1. Fender in 2. 00. 8. As of 2. 00. 8update, Hamer reduced their superstrat selection to just one model, the Californian. 1. Dean was sold to Tropical Music in 1. Superstrat production was resumed by its new owner in Korea. 3Kramer went bankrupt in 1. Gibson in the early 1. The Jackson and Charvel brands were bought by Fender in 2. Ibanez suffered heavy losses in 1. GR Ghostrider, Blazer, TC Talman, RT Retro guitars, and TR Traditional and ATK basses. The older Iceman model and Gibraltar bridge were resurrected as part of the new vintage theme. This restructuring kept the company afloat, tweaking its image from a metal guitar only company to a more customer appealing one. 1. Nevertheless, extended fretboard superstrats remain popular in the mid 2. Additionally, some Stratocaster modifications which were strongly associated with the superstrat, such as the Floyd Rose tremolo system and especially the inclusion of humbucking pickups, have become widely available from stock on 2. Stratocaster variants rather than superstrats, including several stock models of official Fender Stratocaster. 2. ReferenceseditMarshall, Gary 2. The Cut the Crap Guide to the Guitar. Artemis Music Ltd. ISBN 1 9. 04. 41. Bacon, Tony 2. 00. Years of Fender. Backbeat Books. ISBN 0 8. 79. 30 6. Wright, Michael MarchJuly 2. Stratospheric Variations A History of offset double cut guitars.