For Guitarists

[TheWizardOfMudd]

Do any of you remember the Kramer Pacer Deluxe? Do any of you have one?

I woke up this morning longing for the one I had back in the late eighties. If you're not familiar with them, they were styled after Strats. It wasn't one of those cheapo Kramers that fell apart. It was really solid. It had a rosewood fretboard and the back of the neck had a satin finish.

It came with Seymour-Duncan pickups: A humbucker in the bridge position with a 3-way coil tap, making it extremely versatile, and single coils in the middle and neck positions. In addition, it had the 5-way toggle switch w/out-of-phase, of course.

It came with a Floyd Rose. After I got the guitar, I spent a couple of hours setting up the string height, intonation, balancing out the Floyd Rose so it would float, etc., and from then on it was simply a phenomenal guitar. It didn't have a signature sound, which I viewed as a plus. Even if I was just on the bridge position pickup set to single coil, it didn't necessarily sound like a Strat, rather, kind of a cross between a Strat and a Tele, but definitely a sweet, crisp, biting tone that did not offend on the treble end like some Strats do. And with the coil tap and toggle, you could go practically ANYWHERE tonally with this axe. The out-of-phase positions sounded better than on old Strats.

The big drawback: As with those old Floyd Roses, you couldn't let an open string ring while you bended other strings, or the pitch of the open string would lower.

Several years ago, I noticed on eBay that someone was purporting to sell brand new Kramer Pacer Deluxes, from the factory, unopened, still in the shipping boxes, for around $400 - $500. I'm KICKING myself for not getting one back then.

Anyway, here is a pic of a Kramer which looks a lot like the one I had (I can't swear this is a Deluxe because I don't know what other models Kramer had back then), except mine was kind of a dark sky blue with mild flaking.

[toddzilla]

1. i can keep my eye out.

I work at a shop, i'll ask my boss if he's seen any recently.

www.davidsguitarloft.com

[TheWizardOfMudd]

2. Thank you!

:)

[mmm]

3. Be careful

That company was reealy slimy.
We sold some very nice Pacer Deluxe guitars;
we also saw many that were not so nice. I would
not buy one sight unseen, that is for sure.
Watch out for twisted necks, poor neck/fretboard joining,
poorly seated frets and frets with SHARP edges.
If you ever find a nice one be super careful about keeping
the instrument properly humidified/dehumidified.

[TheWizardOfMudd]

5. Thanks, and . . .

. . . i know what you mean. I've seen some Kramers that are just total pieces of shit. I was not aware, however, that some Pacer Deluxes were much better than others. Mine was probably made in '87 or '88.

Was there a point in time when Kramers started being made in the USA as opposed to elsewhere?

In any event, the one I had was extremely well made.

[toddzilla]

4. unless there's some sentimental attachment

i'd personally recommend an ibanez with a similar electronics configuration. The quality is going to be much better, and pickups/switching selections can be done to anything. I play a strat with all the characteristics you mention, with the exception of a floyd rose.

just a thought.

[TheWizardOfMudd]

6. This looks sweet

But $1,800? OUCH!

[toddzilla]

7. no floyd either..

look for a JS 100, or maybe a 540..

what price range are you looking for? i can help you out with some suggestions.

[TheWizardOfMudd]

9. Seriously

I'm just kind of dreaming out loud. If I could avoid the guilt of buying another guitar long enough to start shopping, :), I figure I'd have to spend in the $700 range to get something decent.

But I would appreciate your suggestions.

[toddzilla]

12. i'll look tomorrow.

just kicking this so it stays in "my posts" and i don't forget.

[Servo300]

8. Does "JY" Young

from Styx play a Kramer?

[TheWizardOfMudd]

10. The only other potential problem with my Pacer Deluxe . . .

. . . was that the pickups were slightly microphonic. I'm not sure what causes that. If I knocked on my pickguard you could hear it through my amp.

But that never caused a problem on stage or in the studio. It just sruck me as kind of cheapo.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

11. It's pretty similar to Fender's "Heavy Metal (H.M.) Strat"...

...white "Strat" lettering underlined in pink on the headstock, black finish, double locking Spyder (Floyd Rose licensed) tailpiece, two Fender single coil pickups, one Di Marzio humbucking pickup, mini-toggle coil tap switch and 3-position pickup switch...the output jack is on the side instead of the body face, and the one in the photo below has a less-seen marble finish (mine is solid black):





http://www.electricguitar.50megs.com/more.htm