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Kramer Baretta

Summary
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Manufacturer URL http://www.musicyo.com/
Features 7.8 (25 responses)
Sound 9.5 (27 responses)
Action, Fit, & Finish 8.7 (26 responses)
Reliability/Durability 9.3 (26 responses)
Customer Support 1.0 (3 responses)
Overall Rating 9.5 (26 responses)
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Product: Kramer Baretta
Price Paid: US $350 used
Submitted 09/16/2002 at 04:06am by Fred K. Aron
Email: inluvwithsara at yahoo<dot>com

Features : 9
1985-1986 New Jersey, USA
22 Fret, very fast neck!
One slanted humbucker, one volume knob(the pot is so smooth, much better than I have seen...)
Humbuckers brand and model are unknown...but they are so sweet!
Passive
Neck is smooth and sweet, a little wider than my FlameKat, but not quite as thick.
Body...very classic strat, but a little more contor
Finish, it was born White...now its cream due to age...
Original Floyd Rose, (all hardware is black)older style, takes a wilkinson arm...stays in tune perfect!
Tuners are original West Germans...Grovers I believe...
nothing included...not even the trem arm...but a $3 arm and some flat black spraypaint, and it looks perfect...
Oh, it has the coolest thing...an alen wrench holder on the back of its headstock...
10 in my mind, I hate switches and knobs...
9 since most people like them...

Sound : 10
So so so Glam rock, Playing Stryper,Crue and Poison all night...it is so perfect for metal and Glam rock...and a little Aerosmith bluesy sound...The sound...Is very sweet...my brother came over and played metalica all afternoon and just loves it!
I am using a 60watt solid state amp with a 12 inch speaker, and a Digatech rp 300...no noise...the sound is just what I wanted...between it and my FlameKat, I can cover all the bases I need...lots of variety in sound...very surprising...

Action, Fit, & Finish : 9
The action had been set perfect...tune it once and divebomb all night, and never have to tune, never seen one so solid...pickup is set perfect, no flaws...Guitar center set this up sweet before I found it...
It is heavyer than a strat, but isn't a brick...
Finish wise, there are two nicks, but aren't visable...

Reliability/Durability : 10
this thing survived the 80's and the 90's, so I think its going to be fine in my care...The hardware will totaly last, The finish shows no sign of wear, strap buttons were odd, but nice, till I put straplocks on it 5 minutes after I got home...now, no problems...
See my FlameKat review on this...I'd say this thing is Tele strong, no problems here...

Customer Support : No Opinion
The Kramer Company is now dead, and somebody is running around in its clothes...never delt with the musicyo, and hope never to unless they expand the usa line on their stienbergers...

Overall Rating : 10
I suck as guitarists go, but rock as a bassist...
Carvin Bass, Zeta Bass, Yamaha '86 bass, SWR Super Redhead bass amp, Martin D15, Epi FlameKat, Kramer 85-86 Baretta, Zeta Amp, Digetech rp300, two djembes, one dij,and the hotest roadie on the planet...(I am marrying her next year!)
If it were stolen, I'd send my team of highly trained ninjas after them, if that didn't work, I'll send my mom (then you are in some serious trouble)...Lost it? who looses a guitar, its like looseing a kid?...I'd say you left the guitar at the grand canyon, and hauled your nunamaker butt back to Louisana...
I love this thing...I have wanted to be Oz Fox since I heard stryper in the 6th grade...it just needs a stryper paint job!
I compared it to most jacksons/ESPs/BCRich/ and this just rocked too hard not to get it!!!
I MISS THE 80's!!!!


Product: Kramer Baretta
Price Paid: US Found it + $350+ in parts and assembly
Submitted 06/06/2002 at 11:44pm by Anonymous

Features : No Opinion
Funny story! In the summer of 1985, I went to the local dump with my grandpa. He used to let me dig around and see what I could find. After finding a bunch of screwdrivers, forks, spoons and knives, I came accross a box. Knowing what I know now, it was the same kind of box a guitar would come in. I was 14 at the time. I grabbed the box and found it to be filled with what else? A disassembled electric guitar! It has a non tilt banna headstock with maple board, 22 frets and the Floyd locking nut, the body was your basic Baretta body routed for a non slanted humbucker and routed for a Floyd and one volume. All the paint was sanded off of the body and the neck was untouched. Absolutely no hardware was to be found anywhere in the box. I took it home with me needles to say.

Sound : 10
After being assembled it sounded excellent! What more could you say about a Kramer Baretta.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 10
After the parts were inspected by our local guitar shop, it was determined that the neck and body went together. With a little help from some birthday cash, my dad and my grandpa, this junkyard Baretta was turned into one of the greatest guitars a young headbanger could ever ask for. I had a black Floyd Rose installed, Seymour Duncan Distortion pickup and a 500K volume pot as well as some black tuners. Schaller I think. The local luthier/repair guy found a Kramer neck plate and screws and set this baby up just right. It cost a grand total of $350 plus some change. After all was said and done, this catagory is and was a 10.

Reliability/Durability : 10
Still have it and it's still going strong.

Customer Support : No Opinion
No comment

Overall Rating : 10
In 1985, every kid on the block wanted a Baretta. The list of pros playing them was growing, Mick Mars, George Lynch, EVH....ect. I didn't have the cash to buy one and my dad didn't realy take my playing seriously. I knew how to play when I found these parts at the dump, but all I had to play on was a cheap spanish acoustic. No I wasn't a poor Mexican kid scrounging around at the dump. I was a poor little rich Mexican kid dumping shit we didn't need anymore. I come from a long line of guitar players. I'm the first to go electric and play something besides Mexican music. This guitar changed my life and scored me a kick ass Marshall half stack in the process. I left my Baretta in the natural sanded finish for a while, but my cousin painted a killer skull graphic on it with an airbrush. He painted the rest black and dipped it in urethane. It kicks ass to this day. The headstock says Kramer on it, but does not say where it was made. The guitar shop guy said it was a Baretta so thats what I have called it ever since. The headstock is black with Kramer in gold.


Product: Kramer Baretta
Price Paid: US $650.00
Submitted 05/21/2002 at 06:54pm by Doug Bryan

Features : 8
I purchased mine junior year of high school in 1987 with every penny I saved cutting peoples lawns and working part time jobs. I wanted this guitar so bad I stayed home for two whole summers while my friends partied down the shore just to save the money. It was well worth it but trying to get it how I wanted, I had to wait if I remember what was to be almost a year and it took me to have to call the store I bought it from almost two times a week to check on its status and I was a real pain to those people but they had my money in full and I thought a year was just really absurd. When I got no satisfaction from them after 6 months they gave me Kramers number down in Neptune NJ ( I luckily only lived 45 minutes from them) and I hounded them constantly to get my guitar. The reason why it took so long was because the dealer I ordered it from told me that I could get it in Candy Apple Red with Chrome Hardware and a Maple Neck and fingerboard and Kramer then tried to tell me at the time that this guitar was not offered that way which pissed me off to no end so much so that I threatened to call the better business bureau on them and the dealer. I still got no satisfaction until 6 mos. later when I put my foot down and told them they had 30 days to complete it or I was to go to the dealer and get every penny back. The dealer kept telling me at the time I could only get Black or White and low and behold 30 days passed and the guitar showed up like I wanted it. So needless to say mine is (was...read on) a 1987 model just like I wanted it, Candy Apple Red Body, Chrome Hardware(Schaller Tuners/Original Floyd Rose) a Seymour Duncan JB Humbucker, 1 Volume knob, maple neck and fingerboard and the pointed black angled back headstock with the gold lettering and the word American in gold script after the Kramer logo. It was in its time premier and one of a kind.

Sound : 10
At the time I ran it through a Marshall JCM 800 Stack with a Yamaha SPX 90 II for effects. I used the preamp out of the Marshall and went into a Speaker simulator came out of that with two wet cabs left and right and a center dry cabinet. The whole thing was powered by a Carvin Mosfet 1000 Power Amp and it sounded just so huge. This guitar was a big part of it. But I grew tired of the JB Humbucker and down the road started messing between a Di Marzio Super 3 and a Gibson Open Coil 500T Hunbucker. I also pulled the volume knob and put in one that was of a 500K status.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 7
The factory setup was just plain out awful. A lot of buzz was noticed and so I took it to the local guy in the area and had it professionally setup. At the time I was not too fond of the satin finish on the neck and fingerboard and this guy stripped it down to bare wood for me. Now I was really happy.

Reliability/Durability : 6
This guitar held its own for about 300 live gigs plus recording and practice over the next five or six years. I would never do anything without a backup but I hardly remember needing to use my backup.
NOW FOR THE CRAZY PART: I think it was around 1995 I was in my basement and bored with the Baretta so after a few too many beers, went down the ol' basement and tore it apart. Man I took everything you could off of it then tried to strip off the Candy Aplle Red what I THOUGHT was paint and after getting off the clear I founfd that UH OH, it was a vinyl like laminate. My younger brother came home, laughed his ass off then Mr. Fixit tells me not to worry as he hooks up a wire stripping head to the end of a high speed drill and rips the color off the body. When he was done it looked like it went through a warzone and it took a lot of sanding to bring it back. So then I painted it exactly like Eddie Van Halens 5150 Guitar and slapped it back together and used it like that for the next year or so. I never messed with the headstock though. Well time passed and once again I ripped it apart and stripped the paint and resanded then went to work painting it Pearl white with extra pearl coat. I never put it back together and it just sat in pieces until about 4 months ago when I decided to take everything out of the case and bring it back to life. I started to familiarize myself with my ol gem and as I picked up the neck it slipped out of my hands and the point of the headstock dropped less than 8 inches to the floor and the whole headstock broke in two. I was bummed cause I loved the neck more than anything on the Baretta. So now I researched my options and low and behold I ordered a new neck from Warmoth Guitar Products in Paullyup Washington. This neck is exactly the same circumference as the Peavey Wolfgang as Warmoth had it digitally scopped and reproduced it. I am waiting on the neckbut opted for the regular strat headstock. I bought two so I always have a backup. Both are Birdseye Maple Necks but one is a Birdseye Fingerboard and the other is Rosewood. Being the neck broke I can only give it a 6 and I think thats going overboard.

Customer Support : 1
As I said earlier, customer support at the time was awful, and with the lack of satisfaction they gave me it's no wonder they went belly up.

Overall Rating : 10
Overall I loved this guitar, and I can't wait to put it all back together once the necks arrive. It has become my experimental frankenstein of sorts as now I am primarily using just the Line 6 Vetta Combo with 2/12 Vetta Extention Cabinet and Floor Controller and my main axe has been of all things now a Peavey Custom Shop Wolfgang Deluxe as Peavey likes to call it, as well as a PRS Mark Tremonti Signature Singlecut and a Parker Nitefly M. But I bet when I bring the ol Baretta back to life its gonna scream like old times and if I could find another one, once I find what I've missed all these years I'd probably search for another and keep it original. Heck at the time where could you find a nicely built American Made Guitar for $650 bucks. Nowhere!! If I can figure out how to send pics of it in pieces and what happened to the neck over this computer just e mail me with a return address and I'll do my best. And oh yeah one last thing. Try putting the DiMarzio Super 3 in it with a 500K volume knob. It absolutely screams!!!


Product: Kramer Baretta
Price Paid: US $480 in 1985 used
Submitted 05/18/2002 at 01:10am by Godmachine
Email: robvan<at>attbi dot com

Features : 3
I had a black hockey stick Baretta. Serial number Dxxxxx made it a 83 or 84 I believe. I replaced the stock Schaller with a Seymore Duncan Distortion pick up. The guitar of course had just a volume knob and the original Floyd Rose Tremelo System on it that was not free floating. The rosewood neck was wide and thin and the frets were spaced like a Stratocaster. It was also a bolt on neck using 4 bolts. The back of the neck was naked maple without a stripe. The Floyd locking nut was poorly installed and required a lot of readjustment. The hex wrench holder on the back of the headstock was cool. Schaller tuner. Thick epoxy like paint that was tough. I think the wood was body was ash. A medium weight guitar.

Sound : No Opinion
The intonation was a problem but remedied by reworking the locking nuts placement. The stock Schaller pick up was brittle sounding and the Seymore Duncun Distortion pick up was a significant upgrade. The unfloating Floyd made tuning quick and easy. The tone never emulated the van Halen thing to well but it did have a very round tone that had a tendency to emulate Ingwie Malmsteens sound very closely. Not a whole lot of bottom end chunk like a Les Paul but it was ok.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 5
Again the locking nut was not the best install. I had to move the nut a little toward the bridge to intonate the guitar and shim the nut higher because the strings would rattle on the first fret. Everything else was good but it never felt like a high quality instrument such as a Les Paul does.

Reliability/Durability : 10
The guitar was strong. I played it everyday for hours for 6 years and the frets help up good. It never failed me. Much stronger than a Les Paul!

Customer Support : No Opinion
No idea

Overall Rating : 7
Having short fingers the large scale and wide width was not too great for me. I prefere the Les Paul scale. Most people bought these to play in a van Halen style and the guitar allowed for that. I really did get some amazing solos out of that guitar. It really had a big sound. Hard to discribe. Not really like van Halen even though I was using old Marshalls. It was more like Malmsteen or Richie Blackmoore. Maybe early Black Sabbath too. Maybe had more to do with the old Marshalls. Yet the guitar was amazingly expensive for it's time. I recently sold it for $600. There seems to be a cult following on these early hockey stick head models. I wish I hadn't sold it now. I feel like I lost a good old friend.


Product: Kramer Baretta
Price Paid: US $300 used
Submitted 02/05/2002 at 11:29pm by Anonymous

Features : 7
Mfg in 1986 not in ths U.S. 22 frets, solid black in color, wood type-unknown. 1 Volumne pot. I got it off ebay for $300. Came equipped with a seymour duncan "JB" humbucker. Orig. floyd rose. The works. Also came with a EVH d-tuna (works quite well)

Sound : 10
Great for hard Rock/ metal sounds. or a REALLY fat clean tone. I haven't had to much trouble with feedback or any noise even at high-gain settings. What this guitar does, it does it well.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 8
The guy I got it from professionally set it up with super slinkys (9-42) Great action playability, for being 16 years old looks SURPRISINGLY good. Black... my favorite color :)

Reliability/Durability : 8
Seems sturdy enough for my use.. but I also don't play 12 hourse a day either... I have kahler straplocks installed, those are highly suggested.

Customer Support : No Opinion
N/A

Overall Rating : 9
It works great for my uses. I won't tell you what it can't do, cause I do not really know. I like a lot better than the new kramers, and ibanez guitars (just my preference).
If it was stolen or broke in half I would try to replace it.


Product: Kramer Baretta
Price Paid: US $900
Submitted 12/25/2001 at 12:21pm by Anonymous

Features : 7
this is a mid 80's model, ser#E3500 made in Neptune, creme with black pointy headstock(they used to have the "hockey stick" style headstocks, but this is after that. Black Floyd. came with a JB pickup which was great, but i swapped it for a Duncan Distortion- i'll put the JB back in one of these days.
other than that, not alot of features as this is a one-knob axe. for a little tone variation, i wired in a resistor on the vol pot to brighten the tone when vol is turned down. i also installed a 3way mini toggle for Series/Split/Parallel use.

Sound : 8
i'll never forget that summer in '85 when, armed with hard earned lawn mowing money, i strolled into the music store to buy that fender strat i had my eye on. lo and behold, i plugged in this baretta and fell in love with it. I couldnt believe how the guitar wouldn't feedback at loud volumes...at all! cool! It had alot of scream and was very playable. Plus, the Floyd blows away any old Fender tremolo.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 8
I have seen better paint finishes. you can see the woodgrain texture through the paint and some orangepeel. i may try to color sand the thing one day if i feel like it. after all these years of gigging and traveling with this instrument, it only has one tiny scratch on it and no dings or paint chips. The action is excellent and the fretboard is even throughout its length.

Reliability/Durability : 9
heck ya. this is a tough guitar. since there aren't alot of electronics in there, you really dont worry about a solder joint breaking or something coming loose. some of the floyd parts a little rusted, but im not complaining.

Customer Support : No Opinion
never tried.

Overall Rating : 9
i like the simplicity of it. one p/u, one knob, just dots on the fretboard, no binding, etc...just a no nonsense rocking axe.

Kramer couldve done much better with the case, however. it is the crappiest HSC i have seen. I would never fly with this guitar unless i got a metal flight case.


Product: Kramer Baretta
Price Paid: 450 (DM) used
Submitted 10/18/2001 at 03:05am by Robert
Email: depuit<at>depra dot de

Features : 8
Kramer american baretta I, 1986, SN# E7074, black. Standard baretta I, pointy headstock, block style logo. Read the other reviews for a discription. the only modification is an EMG 81 active humbucker with push/pull volume control. There is not much on this guitar in terms of features, but what is there is of the best possible quality.

Sound : 8
With the EMG, this guitar only delivers a 80ies Rock/Metal sound, but it does this very convincingly.

Action, Fit, & Finish : 10
80ies schredder machine, no complaints here. top quality hardware, very low action, great neck.

Reliability/Durability : 8
Very solid construction, except for the headstock which has already been broken once (a comon problem with these guitars). Hardware and electronics are still in excellent condition.

Customer Support : No Opinion
The old Kramer company went belly-up in 1990, the new Kramer by Gibson people are not very helpful/interested. No rating here.

Overall Rating : 8
Great rock guitar, but not very versatile (ahum!).


Product: Kramer Baretta
Price Paid: 3000 (SEK) used
Submitted 09/20/2001 at 02:26am by Per Kristoffersson
Email: per<dot>kristoffersson at utb<dot>ing<dot>hb<dot>se

Features : 7
This guitar was made in 1986 or 87, back when kramer was THE guitar company for heavy metal guitars.

I bought this guitar used, so it wasn't exactly stock (sadly enough).
22 frets, maple neck w rosewood fretboard, strat-style body with one rear-loaded humbucker at the bridge position. Original Floyd Rose.

As I said, this guitar wasn't stock. One of the previous owners had switched the Duncan JB for a EMG 89 and modified the coil-split volume-knob to on/off switching.

The neck isn't really thin, but it's not fat either. It's somewhat fatter than my FR-422 neck but thinner than my MIJ strat neck.

Basically, this guitar had everything I was looking for. Too bad about the pickup though.

Sound : 10
Unplugged, this guitar sounds amazing. This is probably due to the way the Floyd is mounted. The trem rests against the body of the guitar and doesn't pull back. this means that the vibrations transferred from the strings to the bridge are transferred from the trem to the body. GREAT sound unplugged.

Some people say that EMG pickups will give a sterile tone. I don't agree, yet. The tone I get from this one is clearer than that of my fr-422, which sounds a little muddy. much clearer.

Obviously, this guitar was made for lead playing primarily. But it's also good for rhythm. As long as you're not into a more soft sound that is...

Action, Fit, & Finish : 7
Never bought a used guitar before, so I didn't know what to expect. The guitar was set-up alright, and it wasn't too bruised. The rear cover for the trem springs was gone though and there were small wear marks there.

Of course, what would you expect? A used guitar can never get as good a finish as a new one.

Reliability/Durability : 6
This guitar would definitely stand up to live playing. The only thing I'd be worried about is the wiring (which wasn't impressive) and strings breaking. But on the other hand, I would like to think this is only normal standard.

Customer Support : No Opinion
the old company is gone and the new gibson-owned kramer company isn't very helpful.

Overall Rating : No Opinion
I've been playing since I was 9. I have 3 guitars, 1 kramer FR-422S/D, 1 kramer Baretta and 1 MIJ Fender contemporary stratocaster.

This guitar has the best sound for lead-playing of all of my guitars. Mainly because of the better pickup.
If it was stolen, I'd definitely get a new one. Well, first I'd get a gibson to beat over the head of the bastard who stole my guitar....

I love how simple this guitar is. No fancy pickup configuration, no fancy cut-out for the floyd. Why make it more difficult than that? rather 1 great pickup than 3 mediocre ones.

I only wish that the original Duncan JB was still in it...


Product: Kramer Baretta
Price Paid: US 300 used
Submitted 08/14/2001 at 07:54am by Anonymous

Features : 6
I believe it was made in 1998, this of course being after gibson usa bought out the kramer name.the id sticker said GIBSON USA, but i have been told recently that the new kramers are being made by SAMICK, an oriental outfit that makes economy guitars. pickups are H-H duncan quad-rails w/ a master volume, push/pull tone-tap,and 3-way switch.its a 22-fret FAST action neck-through the radius is amazingly flat... perfect for my style of playing1...Gotoh locking tuners. string-through body bridge, paired w/ the neck through... incredible sustain. reverse headstock... triple black finish

Sound : 8
i play contemporary christian music so versatility is vital to me. however this guitar only has one good sound, but WOW is it ever good. i play through all LINE 6 stuff... but even that wont clean up this sound... its a little rough even on the cleanest silvery bell effects, so i had to go get another strat to play on the soft stuff. the pickups have been soaked in adhesive... this keeps them from being microphonic, while still letting the actual signal feedback without pickup whistle. this guitar was made for feedback.the bridge pickup puts out a great meaty, yet refined sound

Action, Fit, & Finish : No Opinion

Reliability/Durability : 7
i play live with this guitar all the time and it can take a beating. as for the durability of the hardware its great... of course i've replaced it all... just because i wanted gold hardware and not black.if i only needed one sound... i would use it w/ out a backup, actually i use to. but lately ive been needing some glassier tones... so i usually bring along either my tele or one of my strats and a danelectro. the finish is very thick... but britle, its got a few chips in it, from where ive bumped it on stuff.

Customer Support : No Opinion
i'm my own tech... so i do all repairs/customizing myself. its been pretty easy to work on. as for having things done professionally, that may be a different story

Overall Rating : 9
being 16 i havent had a lot of time as a competent musician to experiment w/ different guitars. ive been playing for about 4 years... and i have devoted all of that time exploring the deepest realms of music theory and guitar repair. to my credit i have put together a small recording studio, i run sound for my school's chorus, i hold an apprenticship as an assistant to the repairman at a local music store. i own fender strats(2) telecaster, tele copy by samick, yamaha acoustic electric, washburn acoustics(2) a kramer 'duke' bass and a carvin bass


Product: Kramer Baretta
Price Paid: N/A used
Submitted 07/05/2001 at 12:35pm by Mariano P. Limongi
Email: mlimongi at mailexcite<dot>com

Features : 9
This is a mid' 80's Kramer Baretta. Relatively low numbered at serial E 8749, my Baretta was proudly made in Neptune, New Jersey, United States of America in the 14th day of February, 1986, 4 years after Kramer decided to switch from aluminum to all wooden guitars.

Construction follows certain "in-yer-face" approach : Offset double cutaway alder body, premium maple neck, "pointy" headstock, 22 fret rosewood fingerboard with mother of pearl dot inlays, all black hardware, including six on a side German Schaller tuners and German original Floyd Rose tremolo mounted on the body (recessed cavity was not an option at the time, so the unit is top mounted) and just one volume pot controlling an unbelievable Seymour Duncan "zebra" passive pickup (probably an early '59, a JB or a cross in between, since resonant characteristics are roughly similar to either the former or the latter) which was mounted "angled" in order to profit from an ideal canceling/picking frequency ratio. Originally priced above $ 2,000, this is a guitar to thrive for, no matter what collectors a nowadays feeling or believing. This instrument pertains to the "Baretta Custom Graphics" collection, which usually depicted brand logos, babes, Armageddon scenes or landscapes. My babe features one of the most beautiful art work graphics I've ever seen on a guitar top. Some sort of an "outerspace" landscape. Look for pictures at my web site below to appreciate.

When it comes to discuss features on this one, the issue gets tricky. For sure, a guitar that doesn?t have more than one pickup, one volume and a tremolo unit should not qualify as "something with tons of features" but who needs that you nailed the real thing. I?m afraid that this review is not coming out the way I always try to present my guitars to you, but I?m just too subjective, in particular seeing this great axe and cheap stupid little things with the "Kramer" logo under the same category here. Do not get me wrong, those guitars might be an amazing contribution to marketing, industrial strategy, tax planning and branding, but they?re just not a Kramer Baretta. No xenophobia! I usually welcome Japanese and even Korean guitars, which could many times rival American quality standards, but this is a different story. Just get the full story at http://electricguitar.50megs.com (my personal page) if you care.

Let's bargain for a "9" in order to be consistent with Harmony Centra''s regulations. For a classic, only "10" is deserved, but the Baretta is a bread-and-butter guitar. Hope you'll agree.

Sound : 10
Answering to how does this guitar suit 1980's rock sound should be, to say the least, an understatement. This guitar IS 1980's rock sound itself.

Be advised beforehand: I'm an 80's guitar freak and a hardcore collector of guitars from that era. In my opinion, HM (from glam to shred) is the correct, educated way to play and Eddie's tone is THE tone. From said standpoint, is obvious that this is a "one sound" guitar, so reviewing that sole sound is the appropriate way to do it. This is not just one of the most true metal sounds around, this is the real thing!. No one will be coming close (and trust me on this one, I should know). Plug this and you?ll be holding an icon from the 80's, the epitome of the "Super Strat". Along with Charvel and Jacksons, the Baretta was good enough for Edward Van Halen, Warren De Martini, Jake E. Lee, George Lynch, so chances are it will be good enough for you too. Hi gain is the natural way to go with this piece, and all the load HAS to be handled by the Seymour Duncan itself. Afraid? Don't be, because that little zebra pickup delivers BIG TIME. If you love this tone, you are all set... but stop right there, because there?s nothing more than that. The Baretta's clean tone is just too aggressive for most players, with a marked tendency to exaggerate chorused or flanged lines. Bottom end is explosive and high end is ear piercing. For enhanced results, I decided to add an EVH D-Tuna to the original Floyd tremolo unit and was able to exploit the widest possible tonal spectrum out of this guitar. I?m still shocked.

I tried this out with several rigs, from a Marshall 1981 full stack to a Korg Pandora and results were identical. If this is your cup of tea, poison yourself with a Baretta (profit from other?s uneducated opinions or just plain stupidity while they're cheap!).

Action, Fit, & Finish : 10
Of course I did get the guitar used, (there's no any other way nowadays) but plays better than most brand new ones. Since I acquired it for my collection, everything is original and 100% mint, exception made by -almost invisible- normal wear and tear. There's not much to break here, so you can expect the same for you. The only minor problem (exceptions to this rule) is that lots of Barettas became Heavy Metal casualties through the years. Be wide-awake for refinished ones today and counterfeits in the future.

Reliability/Durability : 10
This guitar rock solid. Period. It might become your axe of choice in no time, but still you'll definitively need other guitars if you play a variety of styles live. If reliability is the key, there's nothing more solid than a Baretta.

Customer Support : 1
Everybody knows this: Kramer (the real deal) sunk ages ago (in 1989). In 1997 the Gibson corporation acquired the Kramer trademark, along with a handful of others (including the equally prestigious Steinberger) in order to kick start their "internet" global niche project, Music Yo, moving all "Kramer" production to Korea. The corporate strategy of Music Yo was the exact opposite than the one that fueled KBL: low profile, complete separation from high end production and affordability. Unfortunately, customer care was left out of the equation. Music Yo neither offers any background or whatsoever information on real Kramers (I can understand that) -with a few exceptions here and there-, neither pay any attention to customers outside EU or USA (that?s harder to swallow). Everything they sell is so cheap, that no one seems to care. Even while Music Yo's market achievements are impressive, and for sure their products will provide a bunch of kids with an absolute beginner's fine alternative, I'm damn sure that these days should be remembered as sad days in guitar history.

Anyway, there's nothing much behind Music Yo than a mere commercial website. Since KBL is now defunct, I'm regarding Music Yo as permitted assigns. Not helpful, not friendly, no nothing (just send 'em you're check and wait at home for something to arrive, then eat it yourself).

Overall Rating : 10
My Baretta is, boldly put, irreplaceable. I?m the proud owner of more than 30 guitars, which might be visited at HTTP://ELECTRICGUITAR.50MEGS.COM
Among those, the Baretta shines comfortably. Own a piece of the history of rock (and cheap! Isn?t life good at times?)

This is probably my most dumb review ever, but how can you review a classic? It's a Kramer Custom Graphic Baretta dude!

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