Kramer Baretta FX404SX

2003 Kramer Baretta, made in Korea. I took the "Made in Korea" sticker off the head for obvious reasons.

The guitar has 24 frets, one volume and one tone knob, a three-way selector switch, two quad-rail pickups with a coil tap, Gotoh locking tuners, and neck-through construction.

Unfortunately, I had to get metallic red instead of metallic blue because they were out of stock (for over a year!!) Also, the volume knob is USELESS. It doesn't do anything until it's either all the way up or down, and it makes noise when it's in the middle.

It looks really cool. Mine is metallic red, which isn't as good as metallic blue, but it still looks awesome. It has a Strat-shaped body, but not as round and with no lame pickguard. The headstock is upside-down and pointy. The picture on the website makes the finish look crappy, but it's a lot better when you actually get it.

Overall, it's just about perfect as far as features go.

I use this guitar with a Peavey Blazer practice amp, and a Digitech RP200A effects pedal. It's usually kind of noisy, but not noticeably. It sounds great with the effects I have set up. The guitar gets good distortion with the switch on LEAD and the tone knob all the way up, and a good clean sound can be gotten by switching to RHYTHM and activating the coil tap. It works for everything I need.

Everything worked perfectly. The only problem I've had was that the input came loose. Whoopee!

The action is pretty low, perfect for shredding. I play rock/neoclassical, usually really fast. It's perfect for what I like to do.

This is my main guitar. I'd never play without a backup, but I have no doubt that this thing would do fine. It's very reliable, and the strap buttons are huge! But still, I'm going to get straplocks soon.

I haven't had any problems. It shipped really fast, though.

I've been playing for about seven years, but only seriously for about two years. I'm currently 13, and I can actually play like Yngwie Malmsteen in short bursts. Except I have to use tons of pull-offs and hammer-ons instead of picking every note, although I do use alternate picking.

This guitar has everything I could want, really. Except for better wiring and maybe different pickups. Still, I could have that done if I wanted to. At the moment it doesn't really matter anyway. I haven't done any gigging yet, because no one else around here plays any instruments. And I'm sure they listen to Eminem or some gay crap anyways. But yeah, this guitar is literally the best guitar I've played as far as looks, features, and ease of use. If you got it rewired and put in better pickups, it could quite possibly be the perfect guitar.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd order a new one. And maybe they'd have metallic blue that time!!

2003 Kramer Baretta, made in Korea probably by Samick. Features are like all the others, 22 fret neck-through/string-through, 3-way selector, coil tapping, 2 quadrail pickups(hum/hum config). Metallic red finish looks pretty nice, feels smooth, and is relatively thick. I wanted it to have the midnight purple since 3 of the 4 other guitars I own are also red... but luck would have it that they only had red and metallic red in this model (curses!).

Superstrat body style i.e. it's shaped kinda like a strat, but with no pickguard. It's offset a little bit more than a strat, so you have better access to the higher frets. 1 volume, 1 coil-tapping tone, 1 3-way selector. Gotoh tuners feel tight and firm, not like the sloppy tuners that go out of tune if you blow on them they put on most other guitars in this price range. Fender-style saddled string-through bridge, I'll probably replace the saddles with GraphTech ones for better sustain/tuning, but there's nothing wrong with them, i'm just picky as hell about these things.

Neck is nice and smooth and guitar has low action that begs to be played quick.

I like what that other person put about it being a machine with no soul... that's a pretty accurate description of its pickups. I don't get the bluesy vibe I get out of my Gretsch or Tele out of these. In coil tap mode, the neck p/u is pretty good for jazz or blues, still not the best though. They have loads of output, but their clarity is much more hard rock/prog rock/metal. Not surprising inasmuch as this is a Kramer. No hum and feedback at all.

For solos, hard-distorted leads and rythms, this thing is awesome and would immedeately suit anyone who plays that type of music. Very full, low sound, with sharp highs. I wouldn't use this for punk, and again the stock pickups can do bluesy or jazzy stuff but they aren't ideally suited for it. But from Nirvana to Refused to Iron Maiden to The Deftones, this thing reigns supreme.

The factory setup was excellent, especially considering that the thing got ground shipped from Nashville to Los Angeles. The action is low, but that's how I like it anyway. The pickups are adjusted pretty well, I had to raise the neck p/u a little to get more highs out of it. I figure that they probably set them up like that on purpose since a lot of the people that buy these are going to noob numetal kids who just want low grind.

Everything is mounted well, no defects or anything like that. I noticed up at the headstock where the red finish meets up w/the black that there are a couple strips that are about .5mm at the most where they didn't get the red topcoat on, so you see the silverish metallic sparkle coat instead. Whatever. You have to either be 1 inch away from it to see or be a dork like me to notice it, and even i'm not complaining

This thing could play live at Budokan, Glastonbury or at the gates of hell for that matter. It feels solid, sounds solid, and the hardware feels like it will probably last awhile. The same goes for the finish. It may wear off eventually with enough playing, but to me, that's just part of the instrument, it shows that it's a good one if someone's kept it long enough that it looks like it went through six tours in Vietnam. The strap buttons are better than the strap I put on it.

I'd never gig w/o a backup, if nothing else, just because I need to have a couple other guitars for different styles. But if I had to take one up onstage it'd be this or the Gretsch, which is a more expensive instrument.

No problems yet. They got it to me one day before it was scheduled though... kudos to you, musicyo.

I've been playing about 6 years now, I own a Gretsch Bo Diddley signature, '96 Fender 50th anniversary '52 RI Tele, 1999 Epiphone SG Special w/Seymour Duncan pickups (my first guitar, i rarely use it anymore), and a '67 Aria Diamond 12-string hollowbody. All of my guitars but this and the Tele I've flipped over for left handed use (I play ambidextrous, but better left handed). I play over a Vox Pathfinder routed through a Roland Jazz Chorus JC120 twin combo and a Mesa Boogie F30.

If this guitar was lost or stolen I'd either kick myself in the nads or find him/her and promptly deal them a severe beating (respectively). Then I'd go online and get another, they're cheap enough. I think that I'll probably end up getting another Beretta with a Floyd Rose, I think that they're a great deal for what you're getting.

I've eyeballed the Musicyo Kramers since they came out and wondered about the quality. I played a Focus strat copy and was blown away by the sound that came out of my amp when it connected that the guitar had cost $80, and so when it came time to get me a metal axe, I figured "what the hell, why not." I don't regret it at all.

I had played some Jacksons, esp. a DKMG, which cost about $600, and also a couple higher-end ESP's that I was considering, but the comparable ESP (w/neck through and stop tailpiece) was $400 at the outlet in Hollywood but ugly as hell, and the neck-through Jackson was killer but cost $1000... if this guitar had a Jackson, ESP, or Schecter name on the headstock it'd probably cost $600-$1000.

The guitar I have is a 2003 Kramer Baretta series FX-404SX. The main features of this guitar are neck-thru body construction, a fixed bridge, and coil-tapping (by just pushing and pulling the volume knob; no ugly little switches). There are two passive Kramer USA-made QuadRail humbuckers (2 blades within each coil, it's like 2 Duncan HotRails = 1 QuadRail, basically). Maple neck (through the body) and a 24-fret rosewood fretboard, with alder body wings. It's pretty much a 'super-Strat' shaped guitar. The finish I got it in was metallic red. Also available were: red, metallica purple, metallic black, and white. Gotoh Magnum locking tuners, and black hardware. The neck is very, very thin, and the fretboard is extremely flat. About all the features I'm looking for in a guitar.

I play metal mainly, with some blues and classic rock. This guitar holds up extremely well for tight rhythm playing and scale runs down the neck. The painted neck isn't the smoothest, but that's nothing a polish cloth can't fix. I'm using this guitar with a Carvin SX-200D and a Vox V-847 wah and Ibanez DE-7 delay/echo. We also tune down to C#, so I use GHS Boomers, 11-50. This guitar even made my little Peavey Rage 158 practice amp sound great. Then I realized my guitar's volume was only half way up. After turning it fully up, it sounded incredible.

Pulling the coil-tap out is supposed to active just one of the coils (which is two blades anyway) in which ever humbucker you've selected with the toggle. This definitely thins up the sound, as it should, but in my opinion, it sounds best with the coil-tap pushed in. It such a thick, thick, full sound, but it's definitely bright enough. You can also get a considerable amount of bass response, like alot of other high-output pickups. The bridge pickup sound very bright and thick, while the neck can sound a little more subtle. Plus, Kramer wasn't lying - these pickups give off no noise whatsoever.

This guitar was set up very well. It came with guage 10 strings, tuned to Eb. The pickups were adjusted slightly low, but I haven't even considered raising them yet. Like I said before, this guitar is great for both strong rhythm riffs, and speedy passages down the fretboard. This is because of the thin, flat neck and fretboard. The Gotoh Magnum locking tuners are also nice. 3-way toggle is solid. No complaints, I can't take any points off.

The black chrome hardware seems very tough, as does the rest of the guitar. It's kinda heavy (it is a neck-thru after all), but it definitely seems to hold up well. The strap buttons are very nice and I haven't had a problem with them at all yet. I'm really confident in this guitar, but I wouldn't gig without a backup, my BC Rich NJ Warlock.

Never had to deal with the company, the guitar came in 3 business days.

I was doubtful about the deal I was getting: a neck-thru guitar with coil-tapping and no-noise pickups for $200 (on sale). I'm almost positive that if I wanted all the features this guitar provided, with any other brand name it would cost me up to $1000. If I somehow misplaced it, or it was stolen from me, I would probably buy another in a heartbeat, even at the regular selling price of $300, without thinking twice. This guitar is incredible. I paid $430 for my amp and $200 for my guitar, and my tone is much better than my other guitarist, who spent $800 on a Gibson Les Paul and almost as much as my amp cost on a Line 6 Spider.

I am very happy with this guitar, and most of all impressed.

neck thu body
machine head: gotch magnum lock
24 frets, frets a little bit too thin
reverse heastock
quad tral pickups

nice clean sound in single coil mode,feel like fender sounds
too dark clean sound when use humbucker mode

dirty sound great,it's nearly a perfect metal,hardcore,grunge sound,

i play some dark disco music mix some hardcore guitar sound, it's suit my style
no need to change pickups although there is a bit lack mid range

everything from factory setup is not suitable for me as usual~
but it's easy to fix,
not bad intonation,
the brigde is what i am looking for! thru body, not easy break the strings
neck width can be a bit thicker,but it's very ok already

i think it's very reliable,no need back up if u are a real man
finish is not so good,like china made. who care?!
i will replace the finish by stickers

music yo,
not bad service,

i have played for ten years,i have a broken gibson les paul
i wish i can buy a reliable and a guitar with good sustain by a cheaper price.
this guitar is not perfectly fit,but very ok
i love the sounds,like the headstock, machinehead, bridge,
i have some ibanez too,they all sucks! sustain not good, frets looks pretty but work so poor,
and sounds so cheap...
i may buy some thru neck b c rich if it was stolen

so-called made in korea,but i think it's made in china,
24 frets, alder body, thru neck, 3 way switch, one vol one tone with tap,two quad trail humbucker, fixed thru body bridge,gotch magnum machine head

volume control sucks, from 0 to 1, sound increase, but from 1 to 10 the volume is same level
very bassy, very quiet, nearly no noise
neck pickup is too dark,
brigde pickup is very nice in distortion,very crunchy
both pickup can't sound good clean sound actually.
very good sustain.
not enough mid range
i like the sound,as i like dark things,
my band mostly play dark disco music or some alternative metal,hardcore,punk or grunge...
like the sound! but clean sound and mid range should be improved

factory setup is not for me, action too high, and there are some fret buzz due to neck is not straight enough.
intonation is easily fixed,the 24th fret intonation of low E and A is bad,of another strings are ok.
finish is not perfect, like made in china, i don't care...
the quality of the rose wood fingerboard is not really high,
not beautiful,i don't care...
i will cover the body with stickers

u can perform with it,
it's very soild,
the so called jumbo frets are too thin, frets will not durable,
gotch magnum machine head made the tone stable,
fixed bridge is much better than a floyd rose,easily change strings,and fix the intonation
i think u can use it on a gig without a backup,it's quite stable
it's undoubtedly built for hardrock~

musicyo is quite reliable,

i have played guitar about 10 years, i have a damaged gibson les paul,
if it was stolen, i won't buy it again,i may buy a epiphone archtop
i love the sustain and the crunchy sound of bridge pickup sound of this guitar.
i hate the frets too thin,
this guitar is deadly silent, it's a machine without soul,
i wish it's finish is fire burst
i wish it's frets thicker, and 22 frets are enough for me to play actually
volume control is suck, from 0 to 1, sound increase, but from 1 to 10 the volume is same level

Made in Japan, a 24fret model. I bought it from a shop here in Greece and I loved it from the first time I saw it! The keys are skull-like! Fuckin'posing!2 controls of volume and tone, the tone can be switch so that it turns the pickups from humbuckers to single coil ones.neck thru constructed with a licenced floyd-rose locking system and 2 quad rail humbuckers- Alright,it's not a Maverick but it's ok!

I'm mostly into metal and believe me it suits my style!I think it's bette for an american type of sound... Well I'm not sure about the pickups... The sound is good But I'm planning to replace the bridge one with a screaming demon or a Jeff Beck:I think that the that way the guitar will be able to offer me the best it can do. The sound is reall crunchy and with many treble and mids. The clean sound is MY SOUND! Very cool but maybe much better with other pickups

perfect construction...I think
The bridge was really routed perfectly! swing the tremolo around,kick it,pull it...! No detuning at all! Just perfect! I think that the keys are of the worst quality- Without the locking system the guitar would be useless...

I think that the wood is Very sensitive-
but I really tust it!However my problem is really big! I live really beside the sea and the moisture really affects the guitar, the same goes for the temperature-changes...
I don't know! I love it more than my anything else so...

I Bought from a store so the support is perfect

I;ve been playing for 6 years and it really fits me!
Until I bought it I was using a borrowed IbanezRG so, as being my first guitar I Love it to death! I worked to bye it so...
Don't bye this guitar!!! I want to be the only one that owns this guitar!!!! Just kidding! Although I paid a lot to buy this, through music yo you can have it so cheap! It can compete other guitars by Ibanez,ESPe.t.c which cost the double & more!!! BUY!

Year 2000 Kramer guitar bought from musicyo.com. Metallic blue finish (YES!). Strat/Hamer style body with reverse headstock and locking Gotoh tuners. Rosewood fretboard with jumbo frets. Graphite nut, fixed bridge, neck-thru design. Quad Rail Humbuckers in bridge/neck position. 3 position selector with volume and tone knobs. Tone knob pulls out to tap pickups into single coil mode.

Musicyo.com should be illegal, because they sell amazing quality instruments at rock-bottom prices. Honestly, I don't even know why people complain about these guitars. Guys, you're paying 250 bucks. What's that buy you from Fender? How about Danelectro? Gibson? Epiphone? Now, take the features from all those guitars and see how much you pay for? Makes my wallet cry. Well, read on!

This guitar is the most amazing thing on the market for the price. The locking tuners never go out of tune for me. The thin neck and jumbo frets are a joy to play on. The Quad Rail HB's are DEAD silent, no noise at all and they sound very good! Tapped, you get a very nice clean sound, kind of Strat-like. Go to the bridge for some great rock-metal-punk sounds. The pickups aren't the best you can get, but seriously, for this guitar's price, they are GREAT. Dead quiet, and great clean/distorted sounds. They are a tad bass heavy, which is fine with me. They actually sort of remind me of EMG's or Super Distortions.

The fixed bridge is a godsend to me, as I don't use wammy bars at all. The whole guitar holds in tune greatly. I'm thrilled about the whole thing!

Great! Only thing that needed done was a tuning and intonation job. String height was perfect, and no buzzing on any string.

I've brought this on a couple gigs now, and it's very well made for touring. The wood the body is made of is a bit soft, so watch it. I've got some dings where I've bumped it into a table or amp. Other than that, its great.

All support is apparently done through Gibson. Musicyo.com will also help on returns and such. Never dealt with either for support so I can't grade it here.

I've been playing for about 7 years. I also own a DeArmond Starfire, Fender Stratocaster, Epiphone 12 string, and my amp is a Marshall JCM900 half stack. On price alone, this guitar is amazing. It won't break my wallet to buy one, and if it breaks or if I need another, I'll just go buy one, since I can afford these things! My music styles are mostly punk rock.

Dont think I'm going overboard by giving this a 10. You may say nothing is perfect. Well, in my eyes this is. For the price/performance ratio, I definitely give this a 10. Go check out musicyo.com for some amazing deals! I may just pick up another soon!

Its a brand new Kramer after they were bought out by gibson. Its got two coil tapable quadrail humbuckers and they are pretty damn powerful. there's a volume knob and a tone knob that pulls out to tap the pickups and they sound just like single coils except theres not any hum. the gotoh locking tuners keep it in tune. the neck is nice and thin with jumbo frets the action is low but it buzzes a little, i tried raising it but it still buzzed just as bad. fixed string thru bridge give it good sustain. the finish has a few blemishes but, hey, its a great guitar for $239.

this guitar can handle any style thats not like country. my band likes to play everything from blink 182 to metallica to rage against the machine covers and this guitar sounds good playing either of them. it can even sound like a les paul if you know how to play and set it up. i use everything from a light chorus to all out boss metal zone distortion and whammy and it doesn't get any noise and the sound is still perfect. with the pickups you can have any sound you want, bright as you want. the neck is so easy to play and even though it buzzes it doesn't really come through the amp

like i said, the action is low but it buzzes no matter how high you set the action. the finish isn't that great, its got a few bad spots but they're not really noticable, and the guitar is pretty heavy but it fits to your body well. the frets aren't perfect either but its not really a problem.

this thing takes a beating, i dopped it once and the neck hit the ground so hard, there was a small paint chip on the back of the headstock and thats it, it didn't even go out of tune.

MusicYo.com is a really good site to order from. the guitar came exactly when they said it would, and they responded to any questions within a day

i've been playing about a year and i've had this guitar for about 6 months. i usually play it through my yamaha fifty112 or my crate gfx1200h stack and a boss ME-30 multi-effects, and it sounds really good, especially with the distortion on the crate. the coil tapping is definately a good thing to have. its just a really great guitar for the price. i would expect to pay a few hundred dollars more.

Gotoh locking tuners, graphite nut, fixed bridge, neck thru body with Indian rosewood fingerboard. Dual QUAD rail humbuckers with fixed bridge.

Sounds real nice in dirty situations, and very good in clean mode as well. These pickups sound awesome, no need to upgrade unless you just like to waste money. But I myself don't care for the QUAD setting on these.

The action needed a good setup, but when I was done it rocked hard. The finish did have some flaws. A few of the frets where uneven, and some of the finish on the fretboard was missing. Also the paint on the headstock did not match (not a straight line between the two colors. MusicYo did offer to pay return shipping, but my 11 year old is happy like it is.

Don't really know, but I own a Les Paul and a Carvin DC127, and I don't see any reason that it won't hold up as well as these.

No Kramer support. Gibson has no link on their page for Kramer, as they now own Kramer's namesake. MusicYo has no phone or snail mail address. All sales are through email, and a secure Internet connection. I was skeptical at first, but one of their support people put me at ease. I would buy from them again, but I'll send mine back if the finish is messed up.

I didn't buy a trem because of the bad reviews I've read about these Floyd Rose copies. The fixed bridge is fine. This guitar is worth the money. Would be worth more with a better finish.
In some ways it even sounds better than my LP and DC127. Not bad at all for $239. I'll buy another for myself for sure.