Kramer American Showster Savant III

Turquiose satin finish, Superstrat stlye body, Floyd Rose bridge, narrow, deep C shaped maple neck w/medium small frets, rosewood fingerbroad, and I think the scale is 25.5", made in the late eighties, 22 frets, 3-way selector, original bridge pu was Seymour Duncan JB (now has a Dimarzio Supr Distortion) and the neck pu is a singlecoil Seymour Duncan. The body is maple with an aluminum insert for increased resonance.

My setup is Kramer into an Electro-Harmonix Metal Muff (damn good pedal) into a Peavey Valveing 112 with a Celestion Vintage 30. This axe screams! The tone consists of thick highs with balanced mids and lows. The sustain is awesome too, a lot long than my attention span! I use it mainly for metal which it works briliantly for. Putting in the Dmarzio balanced out the tone, but the JB also sounded awesome until it wore out. This guitar would be more versitile if I replaced the JB with another JB because the Dimarzio is voiced with lows and mids and the neck pu is trebly. With the switch in the middle position the sound is weak and hollow. This isn't a big issue for me because I have other guitars for other uses/styles.

The action was about right for me when I got the guitar,I only had to lower it a little. I like my action as low as it will go without fretbuzz getting in the way of sustain. The only flaws the guitar had were slightly worn frets, a little bit of paint wear on the Floyd Rose, and a few nicks in the body. It was in great condition when I got it (and still is).

This guitar looks to be very well built. It could be called the guitar version of Chuck Norris (if you've heard any Chuck Norris jokes you'll know what I'm talking about: Chuck Norris doesn't do pushups, he pushes down the earth)! It is defenently dependable enough to play live without a backup. The only thing I would add are strap locks, the strap bottns are a ittle small. This doesn't matter for me though because I sit when I play (parapolegic).

I am my own costumer support, the original company went out of business in about 1990.

I've been playing for about 3 and a half years and I'm pretty good for how long I've been playing. My other guitars are a ash bodied Fender Strat and an Ibanez with a SD Distortion in the bridge. I'm glad I got such a good deal on this guitar considering it's rarity. In fact, the Showster models are the rarest guitars Kramer made. If someone stole it, I would find them (it wouldn't be very hard to find someone with this kind of guitar) and put a shock collar on them so they could be trained to not be stupid. It's for sure a keeper.

* Body style (thinline)
* Bridge style (Original Floyd Rose)
* Tuners Locking
* Neck/Scale (Ultra Thin !!!)
* Korean or Japan
* Frets 22
* Which controls are given (volume, tone, 5-way selector,
* Pickup configuration? (H/S/S)
* Pickups Seymour Duncan
* Passive electronics

I play mainly thrash / death / heavy metal music. This guitar is made for styles from heavy metal to thrash for my tastes.I play with The sound is very good for a non usa made guitar and far better than any other non-usa I have personnaly used ( yeah, all Showsters are overseas models, although there is a Neptune NJ USA plate in the back - this was a Kramer policy in order the user to feel comfortable with the korean instrument, feel and believe that it is a USA Guitar and Savant III is the last model that Kramer produced ). It was a bit little noisy but the guitar was, i think, for a decade in a warehouse and no service has been applied to it until now. After the service it has a very clean and bright sound but the two single coil pickups are still a little bit noisy. In my case i use only the humbucker with this guitar and i get the maximum of the sound i want. There is also a very good sustain because of the metal part innovation of Kramer in the body. An original Floyd Rose tremolo in a very good condition makes me feel extra comfortable. It suits almost perfectly for the styles i mentioned before.

As i said before this guitar was in a warehouse for a decade so i didn't expect many things. The pickups ( 1 seymour double coil - 2 seymour single coil ) are terribly adjusted. The hardware is also terrible but i am mainly concerned about the body and the fretboard, which are awesome and EXTRA THIN !!! The 22 frets fretboard especially can be played perfectly from the 1st to the last note without any flaw an has the lowest setting i have ever seen and that gives the speedest fretboard i ve ever used ! Body and fretboard are in perfect condition :)

This guitar is very convenient for live performances. I surely can depend on it. The hardware it wears ( it is not the original hardware ) is not sufficient considering what this guitar can offer from a sound aspect, but won't make a problem from the technical aspect. (i will change it with american parts as soon as possible including the 5-way switch which is very very old and low quality part). I feel comfortable to use it without a backup guitar on a gig

No Warranty, No Customer Support, No Company. Kramer has closed almost 16 years ago. We are on our own :)

I ve been playing guitar for 10 years and i use a Marshall DSL Combo Valve 50 RMS - 100 Watt amplifier and a Korg AX-1000G pedal effect. I Also own a Gibson Rebel (EM-II) USA '93-'94 Model. I really like this Kramer and it has a very special sound, i can't compare it with the cheap guitars of our time, it's far better than anything I have tried and tested. I will give it an overall 10 but with the american parts I will put on it at the next service.

This is a beutifull guitar made by the best company ever. Awsome sound, sustain, and action it's ready for anything. I fell in love with it the first time I played it and I didn't even know what it was.
I picked it up for $370 so obviously they had no idea what it was.

The sound is incredible! I play alot of Dream Theater and Malmsteen and I have to say that this is the guitar for it. It's built for speed but at the same time sounds great.

Amazing action and fit. Like I said before I play alot of dream theater and malmsteen so great action and feel is a must and it's a classic black finish.

This is a 16 year old piece of art and I've never had a problem with it.

Theirs no longer a real Kramer company so theires no support but you don't need it.

A definite 10

This is the Holy Grail of SuperStrats. It was only made for 1 year before the pre-Gibson Kramer Company went out of business. It was designed by Rick Excellente of Showster Guitar which was sold to Kramer.

It is a maple bodied super thin contoured SuperStrat body with aluminum inserts in the body cavity which give it Les Paul type sustain, .02 seconds less sustain time than a Les Paul. I have timed it.

It has a wonderful 22 fret neck with absolute access to last fret, locking nut and Original Floyd Rose Trem.

Gotoh 18:1 tuners.

Seymour Duncan JB Bridge Pup & two Seymour Duncan Single Coils.

5-way selector & volume & tone controls.

Input jack is recessed on the back of the body which is a beautiful design.

Mine is a Cobalt Blue finish that is absolutely beautiful

Kramer had hoped that this guitar would bring them back to glory unfortunately it was too late.

It has better clarity and harmonics than any guitar I have ever heard and I own Gibson Les Pauls, a Gibson 335, and a Gibson SG among others.

The sustain is second only to the Gibson Les Paul which is remarkable for a SuperStrat Bolt-on.

The Showster works for every style of music: Metal, Rock, Country, Blues, Jazz. Everything except classical I guess.

Fabulous Fit & Finish. Kramer was trying to make the best guitar they possibly could to save the company.

It is a 15 year old guitar but it works like it is brand new. You can't beat the Original Floyd Rose and Seymour Duncan pups.

The original Kramer Company no longer exists but there is good support at www.vintageKramer.com

I rate it right up there with my Gibson Les Pauls and my Gibson 335.