the new Kramer Focus series guitars + new made in china Silvertones

[panoramic]

I played one of these on Saturday night at a Guitar Center 100% expecting it to be a tragedy....I was pleasantly surprised by how good the neck felt and how responsive the trem was. It was light, resonant and actually sounded good and was $149.
I had one of these as a kid back in the late 80's but don't remember it well enough to comment but these new ones coming in at $149 are a killer bang for your buck price and they have matching headstocks, you could easily tear these apart and SY the shit out of them with 0% regrets.
(Addition: I used this to play shoegaze trem stuff at GC and it performed well/stayed in tune for the full 20 minutes I pounded on it.)


I also happened to play 3 or 4 chinese made Silvertone reissues, every one of them was decent, all of the necks were good and they were actually set up well. Again, way beyond my expectation for the pricepoint especially given how horribly a similar range Fender/Squier would be set up/play. You have to get up into the $700 range for a fender to play as well as these did.

So 2022 is looking like a great year to get back into cheap AF guitars.

[Jonesie]

Those Silvertones are weird to me, they're smaller bodied than a Dano but are solid wood, right? I could never find an exact answer to that.

[panoramic]

Those Silvertones are weird to me, they're smaller bodied than a Dano but are solid wood, right? I could never find an exact answer to that.

That sounds about right (definitely not particle board), the neck profile is slightly thinner than the originals also.

[marqueemoon]

I had both a black and silverburst 1303/U2 reissue for a while (the made in Indonesia iteration). For a while they were my main live guitars. I eventually sold the silverburst to my bandmate.

Looks like they are still mahogany neck and body. It’s a cool sound. The middle position is hum canceling, so more scooped than a Dano with the series middle position.

[bessieboporbach]

Interesting to hear this report about the Kramer. Gibson gets a lot of shit and deservedly so, but it really seems like the new Kramers they're having made are pretty much a home run. I've heard good things about the Baretta in the same price range -- a more than worthy competitor in the same market sector as the Squier Bullets.

[Veitchy]

As someone who's admired Jerry Jones guitars from afar, this could be a fun stop-gap.

[panoramic]

Interesting to hear this report about the Kramer. Gibson gets a lot of shit and deservedly so, but it really seems like the new Kramers they're having made are pretty much a home run. I've heard good things about the Baretta in the same price range -- a more than worthy competitor in the same market sector as the Squier Bullets.

I had no idea these were gibson made, I have read and seen reviews of these Kramers and some people assert they are great and others do not. I can safely say that the QC on the builds is better than what I have seen from recent squiers in similar ranges. Most Squiers now are $400 plus and these are easily on the same level of playability.

The silvertones are $209 at GC and those play better than most of the squiers I tried that day... played a lot of guitars off the racks just to see what was up with the quality of various brands as I am shopping for a beginner guitar for my soon to be 8 year old son. I think the Kramer is most likely to be what I buy for him.

[bessieboporbach]

I had no idea these were gibson made, I have read and seen reviews of these Kramers and some people assert they are great and others do not. I can safely say that the QC on the builds is better than what I have seen from recent squiers in similar ranges. Most Squiers now are $400 plus and these are easily on the same level of playability.

They are not "Gibson made" per se, they are contract built in Asia just like Squiers (in contrast to Epiphones which are actually made in a Gibson-operated factory in China). But yes, Kramer is currently owned by Gibson and Gibson markets them.

The tuners on these make me nostalgic; they're the same ones that were on my first guitar, a particle board Strat branded "El Degas."