I like it. And I know exactly what you mean about the neck, it takes years to break in the neck on a guitar...one of the reasons I rarely buy a new guitar. Once a neck is worn to your playing, there's nothing better. I think it was in the 80's they started marketing new guitars with "Worn" necks, they took laser readings of EVH's neck and used it to model a Kramer neck that was worn to Eddies playing.
Kid loves it. He’s learning to have gentle fingers and to strum, and his blues concerts are super heartfelt for a five year old singing about green beans for dinner again.
yep... I picked up an EVH Wolfgang in the 90's(?) and it was one of the first to do that CNC precision-worn neck. The marketing BS was "he could pick up a new guitar at any shop on the tour and it'll play exactly the same as the original when on stage". It does have very noticeable and comfortable wearing pre-built into it.
Now that I think about it, it was in the 90's. Which would make it an EVH and not a Kramer. Hmmm... that got me thinking, what the hell happened to Kramer guitars? Now I know: The Kramer brand was sold out of bankruptcy to Gibson Guitar Corporation. Gibson's Epiphone division has produced guitars and basses under the Kramer brand since the late 1990s, mostly factory-direct through the now-defunct MusicYo.com website.
I guess that makes my Kramer Sustainer hanging on the wall a bit of a collector's item. It is a fun relic from my Pink Floyd days... it is absolutely amazing how it generates and maintains crazy harmonics. Only guitar I've ever had that takes 4 9v batteries, and drains them in a hurry.
That's wonderful, it truly is a gift that will last a lifetime. My kid never showed any interest in learning, he always enjoyed listening to me play, but he didn't have the attention span to play himself. Maybe I should of told him some stories from my band days when he was a teenager full of raging hormones, that would've motivated him.
There was also a small run of Ernie Ball guitars done under the same brand, if I remember correctly. It was more than a little confusing.
Yeah, it was kind of a shock reading what happened. Going from a higher end guitar to beginner models, that's a drastic change. Four 9v's? I'm guessing for a pre-amp? I've never seen one that takes more than one. Four is just nuts, what is drawing that much juice?
It has onboard electronics that actively vibrate the strings. One of the switches let's you select what octave harmonic you want to go for, and then on ANY note you play, the string is actively vibrated via magic to then play at that harmonic. The strings feel possessed. You can literally play a note, wait for 3-10 seconds for it to slowly morph into the harmonic, then just sit there for minutes (hours?) until the batteries drained, and it would actively keep that string playing at a serious, continuous volume. I can only imagine that that remote string vibration was taking a shit-ton of juice. It's a long video... but yeah, my version works the same but I have what appears to be an additional battery compartment that takes 2 additional 9v's.
I should mention that "harmonic mode" is optional... otherwise it'll just keep playing the note that you played for as long as there is battery power.
Interesting, I'd never heard of them before. I was really curious to hear the harmonic mode because when I'm in practice I use a lot of artificial harmonics. When I'm not in practice I clunk the strings a lot. Anyways, the artificial artificial harmonics just seemed kind of lacking, I think it might be the missing violence nuance of picking/pinching the string. It would definitely be fun to play around with, although the sustain mode could be a bit of a learning curve since it vibrates all the strings, all the time. That could take awhile to tame and make it do what you want.
It's all about a slow transition into harmonics and perpetual sustain... which is why it was my go-to Pink Floyd guitar. It really does benefit from having normal speaker feedback, but again, what you're looking at in that video is done 100% without an amp or normal feedback. Definitely a lot of fun to play, but also pretty niche in its application, which is why it still hangs on the wall most of the time.
Kim Mitchell and Alex Lifeson were pals. Rush and Max Webster toured together. Alex used his Axcess model and other LPs during their last few tours, and he had several years where he was using his PRS with those H&K amps, following his use of the Hentor Sportscaster (an HSS Strat with a Bill Lawrence L500 in the H spot) through the 80s tours. But, on many, many studio albums, he played his Tele on most songs. I'm saying I'm jealous.
If I was free today I’d go into some of the brand differences then/now. I will say, when I worked at the store, we sold those cheap Kramers (early 2010s). They were the biggest pieces of trash I’ve ever handled.
Have you ever experienced a Kay? At one point I was broke and desperate, so I picked up a Kay. It made me want to kill myself. A few months later I bought another Les Paul and beat the Kay to death against a cement wall.
Y’all I’m so musically ignorant most of what y’all are saying is zooming straight overhead. My kid tried to explain measures to me once, with husband joining in, shit my brother was there too, and it was kid and husband trying to explain it to me and brother and finally we just asked them to give it up because none of it was making sense.
Written music all just math, really. Here’s the main beat - here’s how many beats we group together. The notes are all subdivided over that. The volume and tone requirements are what makes it music.
I don’t think we had any Kay stuff. We had the big brands and their overseas versions. And whatever used gear we could get.