Purchased one of these last Christmas at GC. No fret sprouts good setup. Sounds good. Plays well A great guitar 🎸 for $199 To change string you need to level the bridge loosen the pad on the nut and replace string. Tune w[th tuner to pitch Tighted nut plate Finish tuning with adjustment know on bridge.
Good video. I have a 82 Kramer Pacer that I bought new and have had over 40 years. It was made in the USA and has a ash body and original Floyd Rose made in Germany. I paid $850 back then which is like $3000 today. To get a really good Pacer now you'd have to get the one they just came out with that's $999.
Check out the new Kramer Pacer Carrera. Its higher end upgraded. Floyd 1000. Ebony fretboard. Maple body. Duncans. $1000. Vinnie Moore has couple videos playing his Red one.
I have a guitar with a Floyd Rose style system, once I learned how to balance it to the string gauge I use and intonate it ( yes it takes a little rocket science) it's great. To bad that one isn't working out, it's good looking guitar.
So odd, as I mentioned back in the other video, my fret ends were near perfect. They were definitely not sharp whatsoever. And there were two fret spots that were slightly higher that became level when I tapped it with a rubber mallet. Was my first FR, so it's been a learning experience for me, but I definitely not new to working and setting up guitars as a hobbyist. The one thing that I didn't know is that they make a special tool to set up intonation. I have one of those on order. But after setting up the guitar, polishing the frets, new strings, etc, my fingers are flying around the fretboard. I spent an evening doing the whole setup, so it was well worth it to me. If you had to factor in someone else doing the work, you'd easily spend more than the guitar cost. I'd agree, this is not a newbie guitar. Also wonder...these guitars were manufactured 3 years ago, so the frets are tarnished up and it's really out of spec on the set up.
I had a feeling it would be a dud. Thanks for the update Joe. They have beautiful finishes available and also lefties but a Floyd Rose I don't like. That's what kept me from not getting one. Sharp fret ends can be expected but Razor sharp is from not drying out the wood long enough. I never had that with Fenders , SX, Groove or Tone brands. Squier either except for 1 out of 4.
Oh dang. I have that exact same guitar arriving on Thursday. Hope mine is in a little bit better shape. But at least your video confirms that I chose the right color. That thing is beautiful!
Joe, I got mine today and have spent a good part of the afternoon setting it up. I don’t know if and when I’ll get time but I really need to do a video on it. I have the striker at this price point so I knew what to expect. I paid $350 for the striker and was not happy but I felt this guitar for 150 would be something to work with. my fret ends were not bad that said I don’t care because I dressed the ends and roll the edges of the fingerboard as I usually do anyhow. I find the neck to be very slim and except for the smallish frets I really like it. As far as the Floyd rose goes the Floyd Rose special is actually a decent trem and is made by Floyd Rose. Any Floyd Rose production guitar will be made in Korea just like this Floyd Rose special was. To get the German ones you have to just buy the Floyd Rose separate and met allergically They are identical to the 1000 series Korean ones. I didn’t find the pick ups to sound bad at all, but maybe that’s just me. They were flopping all over so I had to install foam behind them to stabilize them. The electronics are total crap as far as the potentiometers go, and I knew this going in, which is why I have, a new set of Dimarzio potentiometers on the way. They should’ve been here today, but FedEx decided to leave them in Binghampton New York for a couple of days before sending them onto me. I would agree with you that out of the box. This guitar would be a waste of time unless you are able to work on guitars as I am. The bones are very good though the paint looks great. I love the feel of the slim neck and I have mine playing really well. The tuning machines leave a little bit to be desired. I have two that are a little bit gritty feeling, although the likely culprit is the bushings where the ab attaches to the Tuner. That would explain why four of them feel good and two don’t. These issues are the reason why this thing started out as a $380 guitar and ended up as $149 black Friday deal. I’m sorry yours isn’t going to work out for you.
I bought a cheap LTD with the cheap Floyd Rose. I never could get it in tune and gave it away. I feel bad about that now. Not for giving it away but for the poor s.o.b. who ended up with it:)
I have a video on my channel in which I also had several complaints. My frets were great. I put a trem stop in mine and that solved tuning issues. My biggest issue is the electronics. It has grounding issues. But I said some of the same things on my video.
I bought the radio blue metallic version last week from alto music. Received it today. These are pretty decent guitar overall and a great value as well. Sharp frets is a small negative considering the floyd rose special is at least 100 bucks with the nut if you were to buy separately. The floyd is a different animal to tune. A quick Google search will tell you how to tune a guitar equipped with a floyd
Joe, you keep this up with all those guitars you gonna have to start a band & issue us those guitars we could have like an all guitar band lol. in all honestly I am losing faith in buying anything on line, I am just gonna have to drag myself to GC & check out what they have new & used I'll never buy anything on line anymore. been there done that.. I have to feel them out one on one...
Used is the way to go. Your playing used guitars now. Anything played seriously for a while will have things like fret ends and action delt with. Assuming the guitar isn't broken or abused, your likely going to buy a guitar far higher in quality for the cost. Plus with so many used guitars available your likely to even find better you didn't know was made with some looking around
That’s why it was $149. I bought the blue one for $299 from Sweetwater and it’s perfect. Sounds good and stays in tune after beating the shit out of it. 🤘🏻
As a novice I looked at a floyd rose and couldn't do it. Some of the old players need to chime in going back to the 80s they came as trash then too and even more so, and more expensive, now at least there are CNC machines. But drunk on dreams people sorted it out or played around it as they jumped around in a garage chasing rock and roll with power chords. I saw that guitar and the illusion is still there.. aqua net sold separately the big hair desires can be had, but only with work and neon colors
Bought the same guitar during the same sale at $149...my frets were also sharp, tuners suck, and the high E rides almost completely off the neck in the upper register. Trust me its going back to where it came from...a little quality control goes a long way!
HI Joe. I just wanted to tell you a few things regarding your video and guitar. Firstly these guitars were normally $379.99. Within the past year they have been being blown out @$229.99 and now $150 ish for black friday. They actually are very good guitars. The issue with most people are with the floyd rose. Also the other issue is that these guitars have been sitting in warehouses for over 3 years and thats why the frets are sharp and everything is not set up properly. I bought the same guitar in purple over 3 years ago, but mine is made in indonesia. Depending on the run, they are either indonesian or chinese made. That may be a factor, maybe not. I can actually help you out if you want to, as I am a certified guitar technician, and a long time Kramer player/user/collector. For many years I had a youtube channel with guitar reviews and repairs, a year or so, my channel was demonetized over a bunch of BS, and I made my videos private. If you plan to keep this guitar, and want to fix it, I can send you a link to my video on me fixing everything from top to bottom on that EXACT same guitar. Let me know.
For the price its not bad, if someone wanted to do mods and a setup themselves on it. I saw on another TH-cam channel, the guy really played it out well. So it has potential for being a good guitar. The real Floyd rose trek is 200 dollars alone. The specials are on all the cheaper models, not great from what I hear. Kramer has the striker model too, could be the better of the two. Squire makes a contemporary model with the Floyd rose too, saw a guy play it and he seemed fine with it. I bought the tease with the Floyd rose b-stock, knowing full well I would need to setup the guitar. I like the strat style. Have you tried any of the firefly's, they got models with the Floyd rose on them.
I’ve played them before…they are immense. I prefer my Baretta Special neck and not all models use them it is a flat U shape and perfect fret ends/polish and hardness. The more expensive Baretta don’t use the same Thin U neck, why….ill never know.
Um. Yeah. LOL I want to dig Kramer so bad.... as they were such a player in the 80s, and I always loved seeing the gun-slingers toting a Kramer. Plus... I'm a MASSIVE EVH guys, as you know. So yeah. I want to dig them. But they put out sub-par stuff at this price point. It's maybe just a slot above garbage. I tried one of the Barettas about 2 years ago. Picked it up on sale for about $199. I thought that was a bargain. The thing literally cut my hand. Twice. Never seen a fret-board that sharp. It was dangerous. Didn't play well. Etc. I know they can't put a ton into a guitar at that price point... but man that guitar was just not very good. Disappointing. Not surprised that one is bad.
yeah i heard about these. endless stories of bad build quality on this specific model. i’ve heard only good things about the baretta special model though.
Once u get the frets fixed, those guitars actually sound great. I can help u with string changes and setup if u Holler at me, don't mind a bit.. If u were wanting to learn how to do it yaself. Nice axe
ouch! thats gotta suck! well if you get a bit of plazma on the body it will blend right in lol! seriously its not cool to have "razor frets" on anything...ive even seen 900 dollar fenders and gibsons with sharpies! i made a couple of "gas purchases" this past friday as well.....
Here's the thing you're probably going to have to take that two a guitar attack because I don't know if you know about Floyd Rose if you don't know what you're doing you'll never get it in tune and you'll never get it set up right it's a complete different animal it's probably going to cost you anywhere from 75 to 100 bucks
Done far better with a harley benton 8 string fan fret. Still had to change tuners on it and now the pickup selector switch needs a swap out. What can I say except, China Cheats.
Purchased one of these last Christmas at GC. No fret sprouts good setup. Sounds good. Plays well
A great guitar 🎸 for $199
To change string you need to level the bridge loosen the pad on the nut and replace string. Tune w[th tuner to pitch Tighted nut plate
Finish tuning with adjustment know on bridge.
I had ordered one from Alto as you did. I'm so glad that I cancelled.
Good video. I have a 82 Kramer Pacer that I bought new and have had over 40 years. It was made in the USA and has a ash body and original Floyd Rose made in Germany. I paid $850 back then which is like $3000 today. To get a really good Pacer now you'd have to get the one they just came out with that's $999.
Check out the new Kramer Pacer Carrera. Its higher end upgraded. Floyd 1000. Ebony fretboard. Maple body. Duncans. $1000. Vinnie Moore has couple videos playing his Red one.
I have a guitar with a Floyd Rose style system, once I learned how to balance it to the string gauge I use and intonate it ( yes it takes a little rocket science) it's great. To bad that one isn't working out, it's good looking guitar.
So odd, as I mentioned back in the other video, my fret ends were near perfect. They were definitely not sharp whatsoever. And there were two fret spots that were slightly higher that became level when I tapped it with a rubber mallet. Was my first FR, so it's been a learning experience for me, but I definitely not new to working and setting up guitars as a hobbyist. The one thing that I didn't know is that they make a special tool to set up intonation. I have one of those on order. But after setting up the guitar, polishing the frets, new strings, etc, my fingers are flying around the fretboard. I spent an evening doing the whole setup, so it was well worth it to me. If you had to factor in someone else doing the work, you'd easily spend more than the guitar cost. I'd agree, this is not a newbie guitar. Also wonder...these guitars were manufactured 3 years ago, so the frets are tarnished up and it's really out of spec on the set up.
I have a Kramer ZX20 from 1987 I believe. I love the thing to death.
I had a feeling it would be a dud. Thanks for the update Joe. They have beautiful finishes available and also lefties but a Floyd Rose I don't like. That's what kept me from not getting one. Sharp fret ends can be expected but Razor sharp is from not drying out the wood long enough. I never had that with Fenders , SX, Groove or Tone brands. Squier either except for 1 out of 4.
Oh dang. I have that exact same guitar arriving on Thursday. Hope mine is in a little bit better shape. But at least your video confirms that I chose the right color. That thing is beautiful!
I'm sure you'll have better luck. This thing was way too complicated for my aged brain. Enjoy!
Joe, I got mine today and have spent a good part of the afternoon setting it up. I don’t know if and when I’ll get time but I really need to do a video on it. I have the striker at this price point so I knew what to expect. I paid $350 for the striker and was not happy but I felt this guitar for 150 would be something to work with. my fret ends were not bad that said I don’t care because I dressed the ends and roll the edges of the fingerboard as I usually do anyhow. I find the neck to be very slim and except for the smallish frets I really like it. As far as the Floyd rose goes the Floyd Rose special is actually a decent trem and is made by Floyd Rose. Any Floyd Rose production guitar will be made in Korea just like this Floyd Rose special was. To get the German ones you have to just buy the Floyd Rose separate and met allergically They are identical to the 1000 series Korean ones. I didn’t find the pick ups to sound bad at all, but maybe that’s just me. They were flopping all over so I had to install foam behind them to stabilize them. The electronics are total crap as far as the potentiometers go, and I knew this going in, which is why I have, a new set of Dimarzio potentiometers on the way. They should’ve been here today, but FedEx decided to leave them in Binghampton New York for a couple of days before sending them onto me. I would agree with you that out of the box. This guitar would be a waste of time unless you are able to work on guitars as I am. The bones are very good though the paint looks great. I love the feel of the slim neck and I have mine playing really well. The tuning machines leave a little bit to be desired. I have two that are a little bit gritty feeling, although the likely culprit is the bushings where the ab attaches to the Tuner. That would explain why four of them feel good and two don’t. These issues are the reason why this thing started out as a $380 guitar and ended up as $149 black Friday deal. I’m sorry yours isn’t going to work out for you.
Great info! Thanks brother. Glad yours is working out.
150 bucks is a killer deal. I bought a purple one over a year ago from guitar center off the rack for 170ish and no fret sprout.
I bought a cheap LTD with the cheap Floyd Rose. I never could get it in tune and gave it away. I feel bad about that now. Not for giving it away but for the poor s.o.b. who ended up with it:)
For affordable Kramers I *highly* recommend the Beretta Special.
I have a video on my channel in which I also had several complaints. My frets were great. I put a trem stop in mine and that solved tuning issues. My biggest issue is the electronics. It has grounding issues. But I said some of the same things on my video.
I bought the radio blue metallic version last week from alto music. Received it today. These are pretty decent guitar overall and a great value as well. Sharp frets is a small negative considering the floyd rose special is at least 100 bucks with the nut if you were to buy separately. The floyd is a different animal to tune. A quick Google search will tell you how to tune a guitar equipped with a floyd
Thanks for the honest review Joe we need more of those
Joe, you keep this up with all those guitars you gonna have to start a band & issue us those guitars we could have like an all guitar band lol. in all honestly I am losing faith in buying anything on line, I am just gonna have to drag myself to GC & check out what they have new & used I'll never buy anything on line anymore. been there done that..
I have to feel them out one on one...
Used is the way to go. Your playing used guitars now. Anything played seriously for a while will have things like fret ends and action delt with. Assuming the guitar isn't broken or abused, your likely going to buy a guitar far higher in quality for the cost. Plus with so many used guitars available your likely to even find better you didn't know was made with some looking around
@@Greenjagsurf that's a good point .
That’s why it was $149. I bought the blue one for $299 from Sweetwater and it’s perfect. Sounds good and stays in tune after beating the shit out of it. 🤘🏻
I don't think price has anything to do with it. Others have had no issues with the $149 ones. Budget guitars are always luck of the draw.
Someone I talk to warned me about these cheap Kramers when I showed them this deal. Thank you for the confirmation, great review as always
As a novice I looked at a floyd rose and couldn't do it. Some of the old players need to chime in going back to the 80s they came as trash then too and even more so, and more expensive, now at least there are CNC machines. But drunk on dreams people sorted it out or played around it as they jumped around in a garage chasing rock and roll with power chords. I saw that guitar and the illusion is still there.. aqua net sold separately the big hair desires can be had, but only with work and neon colors
Bought the same guitar during the same sale at $149...my frets were also sharp, tuners suck, and the high E rides almost completely off the neck in the upper register. Trust me its going back to where it came from...a little quality control goes a long way!
Very similar situation to me.
HI Joe. I just wanted to tell you a few things regarding your video and guitar. Firstly these guitars were normally $379.99. Within the past year they have been being blown out @$229.99 and now $150 ish for black friday. They actually are very good guitars. The issue with most people are with the floyd rose. Also the other issue is that these guitars have been sitting in warehouses for over 3 years and thats why the frets are sharp and everything is not set up properly. I bought the same guitar in purple over 3 years ago, but mine is made in indonesia. Depending on the run, they are either indonesian or chinese made. That may be a factor, maybe not. I can actually help you out if you want to, as I am a certified guitar technician, and a long time Kramer player/user/collector. For many years I had a youtube channel with guitar reviews and repairs, a year or so, my channel was demonetized over a bunch of BS, and I made my videos private. If you plan to keep this guitar, and want to fix it, I can send you a link to my video on me fixing everything from top to bottom on that EXACT same guitar. Let me know.
1:08 People think guitar players are soft but it can be a dangerous hobby.
For the price its not bad, if someone wanted to do mods and a setup themselves on it. I saw on another TH-cam channel, the guy really played it out well. So it has potential for being a good guitar. The real Floyd rose trek is 200 dollars alone. The specials are on all the cheaper models, not great from what I hear. Kramer has the striker model too, could be the better of the two.
Squire makes a contemporary model with the Floyd rose too, saw a guy play it and he seemed fine with it. I bought the tease with the Floyd rose b-stock, knowing full well I would need to setup the guitar. I like the strat style. Have you tried any of the firefly's, they got models with the Floyd rose on them.
Had a bad feeling about that one
Oh i thought it was a 1000 Floyd. Heads up😊
How many guitars do you have? Great Christmas present 🎸
I’ve played them before…they are immense. I prefer my Baretta Special neck and not all models use them it is a flat U shape and perfect fret ends/polish and hardness. The more expensive Baretta don’t use the same Thin U neck, why….ill never know.
I say for $150 replace the Floyd and pick-ups at Leisure 😊
Thanks for the info
Why didn't they put a Floyd on the Barreta special???
Um. Yeah. LOL I want to dig Kramer so bad.... as they were such a player in the 80s, and I always loved seeing the gun-slingers toting a Kramer. Plus... I'm a MASSIVE EVH guys, as you know. So yeah. I want to dig them. But they put out sub-par stuff at this price point. It's maybe just a slot above garbage. I tried one of the Barettas about 2 years ago. Picked it up on sale for about $199. I thought that was a bargain. The thing literally cut my hand. Twice. Never seen a fret-board that sharp. It was dangerous. Didn't play well. Etc. I know they can't put a ton into a guitar at that price point... but man that guitar was just not very good. Disappointing. Not surprised that one is bad.
The guitar looks so nice. Too bad that it has issues.
I almost went for it, glad I didn’t sorry you got a clunker
yeah i heard about these. endless stories of bad build quality on this specific model. i’ve heard only good things about the baretta special model though.
Once u get the frets fixed, those guitars actually sound great. I can help u with string changes and setup if u Holler at me, don't mind a bit.. If u were wanting to learn how to do it yaself. Nice axe
Appreciate the kind offer, but i don't have the patience! Be well brother.
ouch!
thats gotta suck! well if you get a bit of plazma on the body it will blend right in lol!
seriously its not cool to have "razor frets" on anything...ive even seen 900 dollar fenders and gibsons with sharpies!
i made a couple of "gas purchases" this past friday as well.....
Diamond better ?
For me- yes.
@AJgeartalk thank you
Can you return it, and if so will you?
Yes and yes.
Those Diamond guitars are lots better.
For me- definitely.
FR not for the weak of heart. FR copies even worse.
Here's the thing you're probably going to have to take that two a guitar attack because I don't know if you know about Floyd Rose if you don't know what you're doing you'll never get it in tune and you'll never get it set up right it's a complete different animal it's probably going to cost you anywhere from 75 to 100 bucks
Seriously! What did you expect for a 150 dollar guitar?
One that was playable.
I bought an affinity telecaster for 139. Glad I didn't buy this.
was it brand new John? Where did you buy it?
@AJgeartalk are you seeing the link for the affinity?
Done far better with a harley benton 8 string fan fret. Still had to change tuners on it and now the pickup selector switch needs a swap out. What can I say except, China Cheats.