Checking out the Kramer Baretta Special and finding a few issues. I had hopes the guitar would be fun. It wasn't. Instead, It will be another future project.
I bought one a year ago and love this budget guitar. Like with every guitar I buy, I spent 30 mins setting up the action, adjusting intonation, cleaning frets and putting on a new set of strings. I had to do two extra steps on this one, Clipped the capacitor out, volume pot works perfectly now. Spent 5 mins running a folded up piece of sandpaper in the nut slots, no more binging and binding, and now the guitar stays in tune. I like the guitar so much I just ordered the new white version with the maple fretboard. 😉😁🤣👍
I put a graph tech nut on it and it has made a huge difference to tuning stability. I do plan on upgrading the bridge eventually but only to a better quality trem, not a Floyd.
I always apreeciate your honesty and not being afraid to give your opinion. Steve from STeve from Bonston had similar issues and did some work that seemed to fix it. I havent seen your channel in a while I will catch up today and I love the new back drop. Rock on GMG
I bought the purple one of these on sale in the UK for £149 and straight out of the box it was very well setup. No fret sprout at all. The frets were level but did need a very light polish, there were no dead spots or buzzing at all with a super low action out of the box. The plastic nut was cut ok but I did put some "Big Bends Nut Sauce" on it and it stayed in tune very well (not using the trem).
Fatal flaws lol. I bought that exact color to use as my travel guitar for $150 at Guitar Center and after seeing a few videos, bought some All Parts locking tuners for $50, a $13 GraphTech TUSQ XL self lubricating nut and installed them on the guitar before ever playing it. The thing stays in tune very good even after using the whammy bar. I cut the treble bleed capacitor out to have a linear volume control knob. I have to say for under $250 total, it rivals my Kramer SM-1 with a JB at the bridge.
I just bought one of these in white with the indian laurel fretboard for the sole reason you pointed out - the horrible fret sprout on the three maple boards I tried. The ruby red, purple and black all came with the maple board and each of them were horrible for it. Thank you for your honest review, and you do make a fair point about the headstock as well.
I'm a big Kramer fan since the 80's. I bought the same one you have as a fun project . Absolute first thing i did was fillet my left hand running it up and down the neck. You are the only other person I've heard mention fret sprout. Well, I wanted a project !
Good review! I was thinking about getting that same guitar recently. I was under the assumption that I would have to modify it in some way but I may need to upgrade more than I anticipated. Thanks for being honest about your findings as sometimes it’s hard to figure out any issues watching some videos.
I bought one a year ago and love this budget guitar. Like with every guitar I buy, I spent 30 mins setting up the action, adjusting intonation, cleaning frets and putting on a new set of strings. I had to do two extra steps on this one, Clipped the capacitor out, volume pot works perfectly now. Spent 5 mins running a folded up piece of sandpaper in the nut slots, no more binging and binding, and now the guitar stays in tune. I like the guitar so much I just ordered the new white version with the maple fretboard. 😉😁🤣👍
I put a graph tech nut on it and it has made a huge difference to tuning stability. I do plan on upgrading the bridge eventually but only to a better quality trem, not a Floyd.
I always apreeciate your honesty and not being afraid to give your opinion. Steve from STeve from Bonston had similar issues and did some work that seemed to fix it. I havent seen your channel in a while I will catch up today and I love the new back drop. Rock on GMG
I bought the purple one of these on sale in the UK for £149 and straight out of the box it was very well setup. No fret sprout at all. The frets were level but did need a very light polish, there were no dead spots or buzzing at all with a super low action out of the box. The plastic nut was cut ok but I did put some "Big Bends Nut Sauce" on it and it stayed in tune very well (not using the trem).
Fatal flaws lol. I bought that exact color to use as my travel guitar for $150 at Guitar Center and after seeing a few videos, bought some All Parts locking tuners for $50, a $13 GraphTech TUSQ XL self lubricating nut and installed them on the guitar before ever playing it. The thing stays in tune very good even after using the whammy bar. I cut the treble bleed capacitor out to have a linear volume control knob. I have to say for under $250 total, it rivals my Kramer SM-1 with a JB at the bridge.
I'm glad u did this , if been lookin at it for a while . I'll move on now , lol , thx Mr Mike . Love the channel.
I just bought one of these in white with the indian laurel fretboard for the sole reason you pointed out - the horrible fret sprout on the three maple boards I tried. The ruby red, purple and black all came with the maple board and each of them were horrible for it. Thank you for your honest review, and you do make a fair point about the headstock as well.
Interesting. I just bought one and one reason I did is that there was not and sharp edges on the frets. The tuning is a little iffy I agree.
I still have the black one with the original Indian rosewood fretboard and its my first kramer guitar before I bought the Alpine White jersey star.
The neck issue I just recut the nut to where it don’t break at crazy angle … works fine after … Jackson headstock same way …
I don’t usually leave comments, but in this case I couldn’t disagree more. I have two of these. You get a lot of bang for your buck.
I'm a big Kramer fan since the 80's. I bought the same one you have as a fun project . Absolute first thing i did was fillet my left hand running it up and down the neck. You are the only other person I've heard mention fret sprout. Well, I wanted a project !
good video and nice to see a different opinion
Bought one. Modded the hell out of it. Sounds and plays incredible. Go play your epi or squire
Definitely double locking trem system is the way to go.
Great opening riff grumpy
The only complaint is the volume pot. A real Seymour Duncan would be a good addition.
What strings u use in this video?
Good review! I was thinking about getting that same guitar recently. I was under the assumption that I would have to modify it in some way but I may need to upgrade more than I anticipated. Thanks for being honest about your findings as sometimes it’s hard to figure out any issues watching some videos.
Thanks for the review.