Kramer 1983 Baretta Reissue | Assessment

MSRP: (UK) £2199 / (US) $2199

Nick Jennison unleashes the spirit of ’80s shredding with the Kramer 1983 Baretta Reissue. With its modern single-pickup design, Floyd Rose tremolo, and lightning-fast maple neck, this guitar screams retro cool whereas delivering the precision and playability die-hard Kramer followers demand.



There are nice guitars, after which there are iconic guitars. Guitars that shook the musical panorama and altered the way in which we play the instrument eternally. I am speaking Gibson Les Paul, Fender Strat… and a few would argue, the Kramer Baretta.

Launched in 1983, this stripped-down, unapologetically aggressive guitar embodied the rising spirit of the period. Designed to facilitate the fretboard-melting antics of ’80s virtuosi, together with none aside from “King Edward” himself, the Baretta’s faster-than-fast neck, single humbucker, and authentic Floyd Rose tremolo packaged all of Ed’s home-brew modifications in a modern, off-the-peg guitar that was stage-ready proper off the rack.

Over 40 years later, Kramer has launched a loving reissue of this legendary instrument, and it is each bit as shred-ready because the originals. Handcrafted in Japan, it sports activities the identical slimmed-down superstrat physique and “hockey stick” headstock. It options an oil-finished maple neck on a maple physique with a rosewood fretboard for a vivid and ahead assault, paired with a single Seymour Duncan ’59 humbucker, mounted at an angle and routed by way of a single quantity management. No coil splits, no pickup switching—only one tone and the reality! What a tone it’s too—leaner and extra slicing than a Les Paul however with the fats transient “smack” that solely PAF-style pickup can present.

By way of playability, the Baretta is completely ferocious. The 14″ fretboard radius permits for a really low motion with out bends choking out, and the marginally wider string spacing, because of the R5 locking nut, leaves a little bit extra room for error on sophisticated scale runs. Mix that with a friction-free neck, and you have got a guitar that completely rips.

The inclusion of the unique Floyd Rose is one other welcome addition. These items are rightly revered, not only for their stability however for his or her tone. Wherever you fall on the “wooden makes a distinction” spectrum, we will all recognise that something that touches the guitar’s strings has the capability to affect the way in which the string vibrates, and the solidity of an authentic Floyd—particularly arrange flush with the guitar’s physique—is the gold customary for locking tremolo methods.

The Kramer Baretta 1983 Reissue is like stepping again in time to an period when the guitar dominated the airwaves. It is a implausible instrument, positive, however it’s additionally a little bit piece of ’80s magic.

For extra info, please go to:

kramerguitars.com