Kramer FR404S/DL Lefty

Korean made 2001 model with 24 frets,hh configuration with quad rail pickups and a 3 way toggle switch,alder body with 3 piece canadian thru body maple neck and indian rosewood fretboard,floyd rose type tremolo,gotoh sg tuners,super thin neck with jumbo frets comes with cable and tools

The quaudrail pickups really sound off for my favorite genres classic metal/metal/hard rock if you use decent amps they are quite comparable to my gibson lp 500t/496r combo but brighter and louder!There is no noise with these pickups in any setting i use mostly marshall amps vs30r and vs65r practice amps and my beloved jcm 900 stack but i have played it on my bedroom 15watt dod grunge amp and a junk rogue 30r amp(this amp sux)and it still sounds good this guitar is much more versatle than my much higher priced guitars!It can do (blistering) screaming leads or raunchy hardcore crunchy rythym,it can also sound off jazz,country and classical quite well there is nothing i dislike on this axe like i said it compares well to my other big name axes like gibson,ibanez and better than most of jacksons top of the line,i love the ibanez wizard style super thin thru body neck truly comparable to 600 to 1000 dollar and up guitars

I dont know if i just got lucky or what but this axe (for once)was almost perfect out of the box it was still close to in tune and the action came very low and well setup but i removed the evh d-tuna (becuz i like to whammy up and down)other than that i have not found a flaw on this guitar mechanically or on the bodys finish

Unlike my gibsons/ibanezs axes i would not be a bit afraid if i had to take any of my kramers on stage without a backup(always bring a backup if u can)these guitars are not only built to rock but built like rocks as well with very sound electronics and if it is setup right it is almost impossible to break a string on these things no matter how hard i have tried using full divebombs and string defying reverses i cant pop a string!As a matter of fact i cant get it to go out of tune!

i have had to deal with them once when my cc was duplicate charged(my bad accidently double clicked order)it took almost 2 days to get an email response from them but when i did they were very friendly and sympathetic and had already reimburst my account and set things right really fast if they were faster to respond i would give them a 10

i have been playing for over 25 yrs i can play anything but my love is in metal/hard rock i own a heaping load of equipment way to much to mention but i will tell you this i own 4 top notch gibsons 3 ibanez 2 jackson 4 fenders and 2 washburns 2 old kramers(80s) i now own all of the new kramer lefties and they can and do hold their own against any and i do mean any other brands at 2 and even 3 or 5 times their cost i have became hooked on kramer guitars and will most likely buy every new lefty release believe it or not the baretta has become my main axe
(one note)this guitars(baretta) setup was virtually flawless however every other kramer and as far as that goes every other floyd rose style guitar i have in general needed major setup work(especially the kramer striker cm 24)it was no problem for me i enjoy doing my own setups but it could be a problem for newbies but what a low priced bunch of seriously nice toys to learn on ;)

no im not affiliated with music yo im just a really big kramer fan have been since the mid 80s :)

I just picked up a new 2001 Kramer Baretta FR404S/ DL (lefty) from musicyo.com. Although the guitar is not prefect, it is close? and quite an awesome value. At 279 bucks I wasn?t excepting the quality and craftsmanship I got. I was more than pleasantly surprised with the guitar and setup, right outta the box.

The axe is made in Korea however, it?s not a hunk of plywood with strings. It?s body is American Adler with a three piece Canadian hard maple neck. The guitar is ?neck through?, no cheap bolt ons here. The metallic red finish was buffed to a radical glow, very professional looking and feeling guitar (except for the pickups ? more on that in a minute:) It has a double locking licensed Floyd Rose tremolo system and includes an EVH D-tuna. If that weren?t enough, it boasts a push-pull tone pot that lets ya split the humbucking pickups into single coils, the guitar is very versatile. Do the math, between the whammy bar and the D-tuna, and the tuning pot, that?s pretty much the whole cost of the guitar!!!

I woulda been happier with extra jumbo frets, as opposed to the medium jumbos? and a maple fret board woulda been preferred over rosewood? but, now I?m getting a little too picky.

I am, however, rather disappointed with the stock American Quad Rail pickups. They shoulda been hotter and more powerful, and more? well? ?brown?. The pickups do have a very satisfying tone and will make most folks happy. However, they do not produce the punch or harmonics I get from my Dimarzio Fast Track II; and sadly? they really don?t reflect that early Van Halen ?brown? sound I was hopping for from a Kramer.

So, after doing some research, I found that Eddie Van Halen used customized Seymour Duncan 59 model pickups in his Kramer Barettas and Pacer Speicals, which were wound a few hundred more times to suit King Edward?s taste. The customized pickup was destined to become the EVH signature model, however that never happened. But Seymour Duncan liked the tone of Eddie?s custom 59 Model and it became the ?Seymour Duncan Custom-Custom?.

My radically cool (aside from the pickups) and highly recommended Kramer Baretta is on it?s way to Sam Ash. I?ll let ya know how the Custom-Custom sounds in the bridge position.

When I try to compare this $279 guitar with any $600 to $1000 axes with the Floyd Rose tremolos, there really isn?t any comparison. The Baretta wins hands down. The Baretta would win if it were 500 bucks? it?s simply an excellent guitar. The quality and craftsmanship can?t be equaled; even if you double the price.

In closing, if Kramer and Musicyo would charge 100 bucks more and drop in some high quality pickups, like Seymour Duncan 59?s or Custom-Customs or even a Dimarzio PAF Pro ? this guitar would tone ?brown? and be very close to perfect.

Anthony Congiano