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I was an 80's kid & still a disciple of the super-strat guitar cult. Have a bunch of killer shredders, but never owned an original Kramer So I was very curious what this 80's throwback guitar could bring at this price point. And what it brings is legit shredding goodness. The neck/fretwork is really great, nice & even, no high or flat spots. Fret ends are nicely rounded & smooth. Frets were slightly tarnished out of the box , but polished up nicely when I changed strings. These are medium jumbo frets, whereas my preference is jumbo - but not an issue to me with how good overall this neck feels. I like the 14" radius, which is why I chose this over the '84 model. Set up was very good out of the box, what I assume is factory spec. I re-did the setup because I wanted to run 9's & lower the action. I did not need to adjust the truss rod, and was able to drop the action to my preference with no fret buzz (revealing how good the fret work is on this guitar), The only downside is the trem is almost all the way down on the posts now, and has no room for back pull. I may shim the neck so I can raise the bridge to get my flutter back in the game. But as it is now, it is a total fireball of shredder with very low action.Overall feel, this is a relatively heavy guitar for it's size being all maple. I think this is a positive, being nice & sturdy with a lot of sustain. I have an 83 custom Charvel even heavier than this, so to me this is familiar territory. This Kramer is bright sounding, and I wonder if the angled pickup doesn't help here, even though a Seymour Duncan JB is the perfect pickup for this style of guitar. This angled pickup is a throwback to the days before "F spaced" pickups were created to line the pole pieces up to the wider string spacing. It was a compromise to install them at an angle so at least one pole was under 1 & 6 strings. But it has it's vintage charm here, and sounds killer when adjusting the amp EQ accordingly.

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This thing is exactly what you want it to be. Give it some high gain and go to town. I have mine tuned half step flat and the string tension is perfect for fast picking. It came with really good strings, but I bought mine "blemished" so not sure if it was a return and someone else had restrung it. Also I could not find the blemish. Neck and frets are all good, no dead spots or fret out. Frets were a little dirty. Came tuned, intonated and ready to go, I lowered the action a little with the bridge, did not need to touch the truss rod. The paint is really nice, I got ruby red and it looks like a dark pink, very 80s. Classic pick up, not body mounted but that's okay. Floyd rose is spot on, not floating, so no up bends, 80s style. The ONE issue this guitar had is that when I dive bomb the trem, you can hear the low E and A strings slipping at the nut. Makes a little scratch noise. I'm replacing the nut... I would return the guitar but I like it so much I'd rather fix it. I also have a EVH striped series, its similar to the Kramer, a little more expensive, but better build quality (Mexico vs Indonesia). If you're looking for this style of guitar, see if you can get a blemished EVH. Mexico puts out really good guitars. All that being said I'm a collector/hobby player and I really wanted a Kramer and this thing still has Kramer mojo, I play it all the time and it is pure fun. It's a really good guitar for Indonesia build.

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I couldn’t find a lot of information on the “new” models of this guitar and I decided to take a gamble on it since I’ve never played one. Honestly, it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I’ve owned Ibanez Prestige RG’s, Strandbergs etc and I’d stack this guitar up against those without a question. It plays incredibly, and sounds just as awesome as it looks. Surprisingly it can give you great clean tones as well. It arrived in perfect intonation and the action was great as well. The only thing I don’t like about this guitar is the strings they’re shipped with suck. But obviously you can change that fairly quickly.

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The Kramer Baretta was the guitar I wanted as a teenager but could never afford. For the price, you get an amazing guitar with an actual Floyd Rose (FR1000 series) not a licensed one and a Seymour Duncan JB instead of branded pick ups and it has a push/pull volume knob for coil tapping. Plus, it's a solid Maple body and neck with a very nice Rosewood fretboard. In comparison to similar priced guitars, such as Jackson's X series, you would only get a Floyd Rose Special and Jackson branded pick ups or Duncan Designed ones. In order to not get licensed bridges and pick ups, you would have to spend hundreds more. The fit and finish on the guitar is excellent. The fret edges along the neck are tapered and very smooth; no sharp edges at all. The neck fits snug into the body of the guitar. The grain of the Rosewood fretboard is tight and didn't show any blemishes. The paint job was flawless; I purchased the Vintage White. Because of the maple body, it's a tad heavy, similar to Les Paul weight. The neck is very thin, like a Jackson's and the width of the fretboard is narrower and not as beefy as the maple one on the Kramer "84" Bullseye or Diver Down guitars. I personally like a thinner "speed" neck, some don't; that's all just personal preference. The back of the neck has a nice polyurethane finish that gives it a slick smooth feel. The guitar plays really nice. Like any bolt on neck, upper fret access is OK, not as nice and comfortable as a neck through. The Floyd stays in tune after a serious work out. The pick up sounds great whether clean or dirty. I would recommend this guitar, for the price you get a lot.

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Great guitar! Needed a little setup but overall worth the money! Paired this with a Marshall dsl amp and welcome back 1985. zZounds service was top notch as always. Highly recommend.

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My Kramer Baretta came nicely packed was delivered in 3 days just like zZounds said it would. Pulling my guitar out was comparable to unsheathing Excalibur. Very well built, very solid and a bit heavy due to the mahogany body. Close to the same weight as a Les Paul. I love heavy guitars as it is so the weight is a bonus. All I had to do was tune up, plug in and jam! The Seymour Duncan TB 4 sounds amazing. Jaw dropping! The volume pot is a push/pull pot. Pull up to split the coils and it has a beautiful sounding single coil tone. This is a very useful option. For me it is the first coil tap sound that I have ever liked. It's even super quiet! The bridge is a genuine original Floyd Rose. It even has a brass block. Every piece of hardware is top notch. The bridge is not recessed on this model. Staying with the vintage thing. The bridge came floated on mine so I can raise pitch if I want to wanking the bar up. The neck feels superb. It's in a class all it's own. I can't say it's like a Jackson or Ibanez. It's thing enough and wide enough for my small hands. Id say it's just about perfect for me. The fret board is a fine slab of rosewood that is darker than the pic on the website. The frets are jumbo and feel just fine. Great fret work too! The body fits my beer gut and my arm feel comfortable on the slant. The finish is a nicotine white mean yellowed a bit. It looks awesome. Playing clean sounds great on both the single coil setting and with the humbucker. My rip your face off distortion setting screams! You can Arc weld with it! The TB 4 is a great metal pick up as it is. I'm playing through my Boss Metal Zone and my DOD EG and my Sonicake Black Hammer multi fx unit into the front of my Randall RG80. This rig is as 80's sounding as it gets! So many options. Bottom line here is that if any of you are thinking about buying a Kramer Baretta Vintage you should pull the trigger on it NOW!!! It is a steal at any price. You get a piece of history and 80's nostalgia and a high quality guitar that you can play almost any genre. This is a great buy!! I plan on buying the rocket red Baretta with the maple fretboard as soon as I can. Kramer is back people!!!

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