Kramer
Kramer Guitars is an American manufacturer of electric guitars and basses. Kramer produced aluminum-necked electric guitars and basses in the 1970s and wooden-necked guitars catering to hard rock musicians in the 1980's; Kramer is currently a division of Gibson Guitar Corporation. Kramer was one of the most popular guitar brands of the 1980's and the best-selling brand of 1985 and 1986. At the height of its popularity, Kramer was considered a prestige instrument and was endorsed by many famous musicians of the day, including Eddie Van Halen, Richie Sambora, Mick Mars, Jennifer Batten, Tom Morello, and Vivian Campbell.
A chance encounter between Dennis Berardi and Eddie Van Halen's managers on an airplane flight set the foundation for Kramer's
meteoric rise in the 1980s. 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."
By 1983 the 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 1983 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 1980's guitar design.
Kramer continued its success into the late 1980's, with the majority of hard rock and glam metal artists from Motley Crue's Mick Mars to Whitesnake's Vivian Campbell being major endorsees.
The original Kramer company effectively came to an end in 1990, mostly due to financial problems. The company had been spending huge amounts on advertising and endorsements, and then lost a lawsuit with Floyd D. Rose over royalties.
The Kramer brand was sold out of bankruptcy to Gibson. Gibson's Epiphone division has produced guitars and basses under the Kramer brand since the late 1990's, mostly factory-direct through the now-defunct MusicYo.com wwebsite. Encouraged by the resurgence of interest in the Kramer brand, Epiphone has been reissuing classic Kramer models, including the 1984 Model (an homage to Eddie Van Halen's famous 5150 guitar used from 1984-1991), the Jersey Star (an homage to the Richie Sambora signature 1980's Kramer), and most recently, the 1985 Baretta Reissue (a standard slant-pickup Baretta). These high-end instruments are assembled in the USA from American components. In January of 2009, Gibson shut down the MusicYo.com website, instead promising that Kramers would be available through dealers and in music stores by the end of 2009.
Guitars1984 Reissue110-720 Series 250-G Special 350-G Standard 450-G Deluxe 650-G Artist Baretta Baretta '85 Reissue Baretta II (Soloist) Classic Series Condor DMZ Custom Series Duke Custom / Standard Duke Special Eliot Easton Pro I Eliot Easton Pro II Ferrington Focus series Gene Simmons Axe Gorky Park |
Jersey Star Liberty '86 Series Metalist Series Night Rider Nightswan Pacer Series Paul Dean ProAxe Richie Sambora Ripley Series Savant Series Stagemaster Deluxe Stagemaster Series Striker Series Sustainer Vanguard Series Vanguard (Reissue) Voyager XKG-10 XKG-20 XL Series ZX Aero Star Series |
Bass Guitars250-B Special Bass350-B Standard Bass 450-B Deluxe Bass 650-B Artist Bass 710-720 Series Bass (import) Deluxe 8 Bass DMB 2000 Bass DMZ 4000 Bass DMZ 4001 Bass DMZ 5000 Bass DMZ 6000B Bass Duke Custom or Standard Bass Duke Special Bass Ferrington KFB-1/KFB-2 Acoustic Bass Focus 7000 Bass Focus 8000 Bass Focus K-77 Bass Focus K-88 Bass Forum Series Bass Gene Simmons Axe Bass Pacer Bass Pioneer Bass Ripley 4-String Bass Ripley 5-String Bass Stagemaster Custom Bass Stagemaster Deluxe Bass Striker 700 Bass Vanguard Bass XKB-10 Bass XKB-20 Bass XL Series Bass ZK Aero Star Series Bass |