Kramer Baretta FX404S

made in korea
24 frets
neck thru construction
two quad rail humbuckers,three way selector
one master vol and one master tune control(tap coil)
fixed bridge
gotoh locking machine head
25.5 "scale
kramer's jumbo fret

i give it 10 because it's designed for hard rock, and no any unneccesary parts exist!

i hate the guitars h-s-h pickup series because i seldom use the middle single coil, and it's quite inconvenient to select pickup in gig with a five-way selector

it sounds quite dull in clean sound, tap the coil would be brighter.
With a distortion on,u will love it then any other so call heavy
metal guitars like ibanez,b c rich, esp.

i play mainly alternative musics, some indie rock, some folks and country, some electronica, maybe industrail metal things too,
it is one of most useful guitar for me to play, because this pickup save my money from buying a metal effect. use cheap distortion effect is very ok.

this quad rail bridge pickup is extremely crunchy , extremely quiet! and full of harmonics.

a very useful guitar for rock!

i have bought it about 2 yrs.
i cannot remember how the factory setup is,
but i always set up myself again no matter how good is the factory setting

the flaws appear everywhere,
but electronics still very good

very reliable guitar,
tunes stay well,
the fixed bridge seldom cut the strings,
just stick some stickers on it to cover the flaws
i changed the dunlop locking strap button in all of my guitars

musicyo,
they sent two to me as first of it was seriously damaged

i have played about 4 years
i am not a professional in performing,but in composing
it is a very useful and buyable guitar, and musicyo now is sold out
i will feel very sorry and regret if this guitar was stolen.
compare with jackson's, ibanez, bc rich,'s sounds this baretta kicks all their asses.
but if u are looking for a very good looking, nice finishes guitar
pick ibanez.

This is a direct order guitar from Musicyo.com. Neck-thru construction with a basswood body. It has two "Quadrail" humbuckers which are tappable to get single coil sounds, a fixed hardtail bridge, grover tuners and a nice black metallic paintjob. The headstock is shaped like a hockey stick and mine has a maple fretboard with what looks like a 12" to 16" radius. Knurled control knoba and a nicely carved graphite nut round off this nice guitar. All in all it is a very simple, no-frills rock axe.

The FX 404S produces good, all-around rock tones. The pickups have lots of grunt and sing pretty nicely. I was not that impressed with the neck humbucker in full 'bucker mode: it is a bit muddy. It sounds much better tapped so that only one side of the pickup is active. In this mode it puts out a very nice "woman tone" through a distorted amp with the tone knob rolled back. The bridge pickup has lots of bite and is pretty hot, but it doesn't have much in the way of harmonics. The guitar sound best with the selector switch in the middle and both pickups combined. I play the guitar through a Digitech RP-200 into a 1992 Fender Blues Deluxe amp.

Fit and finish are very good for a $225 guitar. Paint job on the body is as good as anything in the sub-$1,000 guitar class. I don't like paint on my necks, so I taped the neck off at the heel and near the nut and stripped it off with orange remover. Then I sanded it with 800 grit and tung oil. Now it feels slick and fast. (I wouldn't do this on a more expensive guitar. I had to tweak the action to suit my tastes, but the intonation was just about dead-on right out of the box. I like the fixed bridge: it has a much more solid feel and I think the tone is snappier and fuller with it.

It seems to be a tough guitar. The control pots feel quite smooth and stable. The switch is a bit flimsy, but that's an easy fix if it ever dies.

I give this guitar high marks for value. Kramer has done a great job of recreating an '80s era-style rock axe that sounds good and is built well. It is never going to replace my old '76 Les Paul, but I don't worry about schlepping this guitar to hotels or leaving it in my car. If it gets stolen, well hell it only cost me $225. I recommend the FX 404S to anyone looking for a solid little gigging tool that won't break the bank.

Neck Thru construction, 2 Quad-Rail humbuckers, 1 vol, 1 tone w/coil tap, 1 3 way switch, mine had a floyd rose installed and i bought it used.

Fits me perfect, sounds great, screams whenever I want it too, and it has no noise or hum.

The action on my model is so low i thought it should have fret buzz, but its sounds awesome down the whole fretboard, the intonation is perfect to the dot, The finish is in great condition. I still don't know why someone would sell this great guitar, but im not complaining.

very reliable, it is my live guitar, only reason i would use another guitar is because i dont want to use one guitar all the time, very dependable, but one of the strap buttons is loose, but it doesnt really matter

never had to deal with them

I love this guitar, if it was stollen i would hunt the a$$hole down and kill him, and i would buy another one and install a floyd in it. I've been playing for about 1 1/2 years, and i play death metal mainly. and i can get great clean tones out of it too from the coil tapping feature.

This is one of the new Kramers made under Gibson ownership. Three piece maple neck through body design, with alder body wings. Metallic blue finish. Gotoh locking tuners. Two Quad Rail humbuckers. One volume knob, and one tone knob w/coil tapping options. 3-way switch for p/u switching. Overall, pretty versatile, but I have to give it an 8 b/c it has no tremolo.

Believe it or not, despite the fact that Gibson is marketing these new Kramers as strictly "rock" guitars, it has a nice clean sound. With distortion, the neck humbucker is somewhat uninteresting, but when combined with the bridge humbucker, you get a fantastic mean crunch, that's not muddy at all. When the coil tapping option is used, you are treated to another variety of great sounds. The bridge humbucker on its own is pretty high treble-wise. I must also clarify a fact about the Quad Rail humbuckers. Each Quad rail unit actually contains TWO single coil sized humbuckers arranged to appear as if it is a regular humbucker (so in reality there are FOUR humbuckers on this guitar!) As the previous review mentioned, this guitar is DEAD QUIET when plugged in (even w/my horrible solid state practice amp). Sustain is noticeably better than a bolt-on guitar, due to the nature of the guitar's construction. Overall, it sounds excellen, especially for the price.

Guitar was ALMOST perfect out of the box. The only aspect of the action that I had to adjust, was that I lowered the low E string. Intonation was fine. Finish was perfect on my guitar. Fretwork is unbelievable for a guitar in this price range. The nut was perfect. This guitar has a FANTASTIC neck. The neck is extremely thin and there is absolutely no heel, which is fantastic after playing w/horrendous Stratocaster neck joints for years. Pickups were adjusted fine for the most part. The only thing on the guitar that feels a little flimsy is the 3-way switch, but that will be a quick fix.

Neck through construction is the most stable way to build a guitar. This particular guitar feels rock solid. It should last a good while, since I'm not too hard on my equipment. the 3-way will be replaced eventually. Strap buttons are solid and HUGE. Overall, its built to last.

The only way to get any assistance is through MusicYo.com, and they have NO PHONE!! On top of that, they are kinda lazy at answering emails, which stinks. I hope I never have to deal with them for repairs. they might be good for customer service, but since they only communicate by e-mail, I have to give a low score on this.

For the price, it's unreal that you can get a neck-through guitar. The guitar sounds wonderful, and it plays far better than anything in its price class. I would buy another one,but next time I would try a floyd equipped model. I wish the neck was left unfinished, or had a thin clearcoat of some sort. Excellent debut for the new "Kramer."

Korea. Solid Body Neck-thru Constuction. Fixed Bridge. String thru body. Double Cutaway Body. Gotoh Locking Tuners. Hard Maple Neck and Alder wings (make up the rest of the body on the Neck Thru). Thin Profile neck with Meduim Large Frets with Rosewood fingerboard. Equipped with "Quad Rail" humbuckers, Basically two hotrails style humbucker placed in two pairs. Can be spit from quad to dual. H/0/H configuration. 3- Way Switch 1 volume and 1 tone. Reverse classic headstock with 14 degree pitch.

Suit's my style (U2, Dire Straits, AC/DC, Whatever I want to hear). Guitar is made versatile due to the split-able humbuckers. It is very, very, very quiet plugged in. Sound tends to be on the bight side when used only with the bridge p/u. Sound is more full in neck position or with both p/u's on. I am not used to the thin neck yet. Not sure if I will like the neck. I would prefer that the Neck be unfinished or perhaps with a little clear satin finish.

Action is good. Intonation was bad, but was easily fixed. Rear pickup was great, front picup was a little low in my own opinion. Ferrules for the string thru had epoxy residue on them (this was locatd on the back of the body. When the light hits it just right you can tell where the seam is that attaches the neck to the body wings. It is not very noticable but could have been easily avoided. Finish was good and all other aspects of the guitar were good.

This guitar would be sufficiently reliable for gigging and travel.

Have not had to deal with the company. Here is the deal Kramer is now a division of Gibson. Because Kramer is such a small line a company called MusicYo.com has purchased the exclusive resale rights. This creates a situation that is supposed to give you a decent guitar at a ridiculous price. I think they have a good idea. However, don't go there thinking that you are going to walk away with a $1000.00 guitar for $229.00. But you will probably walk away with a $500.00 guitar for $229.00. These guitars are not for pros but for everyone else they are perfectly decent instuments. Remember tone is in your fingers not your gear (well, most of the time anyhow). I think if you are looking for instruments of the Musicians Friend variety you would be well served by this site.

Here is the deal Kramer is now a division of Gibson. Because Kramer is such a small line a company called MusicYo.com has purchased the exclusive resale rights. This creates a situation that is supposed to give you a decent guitar at a ridiculous price. I think they have a good idea. However, don't go there thinking that you are going to walk away with a $1000.00 guitar for $229.00. But you will probably walk away with a $500.00 guitar for $229.00. These guitars are not for pros but for everyone else they are perfectly decent instuments. Remember tone is in your fingers not your gear (well, most of the time anyhow). I think if you are looking for instruments of the Musicians Friend variety you would be well served by this site.