Reunion of 1982 EVH Frankenstrat and it's Builder

[Va Beach VH Fan]

[indeedido]

Now that's cool. I'd like to have that pickup

[jhale667]

Very interesting!

[Nitro Express]

I never could figure out why Eddie endorsed Krammer guitars. He never played them. Maybe the reason is Krammer had some people who could build Eddie what he wanted and he got along with them. I think Ed just got too busy to build guitars himself because VH was on the road a lot in those days and then in the off time he probably wanted to be with his wife and not building guitars. I think for Eddie's endorsement he got custom built anything he wanted. I think where it all went south is Kramer outsourced to meet demand and the quality wasn't there.

[baru911]

Thanks for posting that.

[Nitro Express]

Now that's cool. I'd like to have that pickup

PAF's have gone up wildly. They would have been a better investment than a 401K.

[chefcraig]

The most stunningly beautiful Kramer 5150 I ever saw was created by a fellow named Dino. I do not want to publish or ghost any of his images, as that wouldn't be fair to the guy. However, you can see his remarkable work at this link: One of a kind Custom 5150 guitar

[jhale667]

PAF's have gone up wildly. They would have been a better investment than a 401K.

They were a dime a dozen in the 70s when everyone wanted Super Distortions. Wish I'd been a repair guy back then and kept every single one I pulled for a customer... it'd be quite the nest egg today.

[Nitro Express]

I can remember when people were trading in old Gibsons for Kramers. The used rack was full of Les Pauls and 335's. Like a fool I followed the trend and traded in my Les Paul Custom for a Kramer.

I remember being at this music store in Cupertino, CA and the whole back of the place was solid Kramer boxes. They had to be selling a zillion of the things in 85.

[ashstralia]

we have an original baretta (sp?) in the shop in mothballs. it's heavy as all get out; very road worn. i think a resto project is on the cards!!

thanks Va

[Nitro Express]

I wonder if some of those PAF's had mismatched windings were hotter than others. In the 50's many of the manufactures weren't counting windings but just eye balling it so you would get more windings on one coil than the other. I think Eddie had a favorite PAF and it turned out one coil had more windings than the other.

I think what we are learning is Ed's equipment was more stock than we were led to believe. I just think he had the right pickup matched to the right amp.

[ashstralia]

agree nitro; didn't hurt that his playing ability was pretty good too..

[Nitro Express]

we have an original baretta (sp?) in the shop in mothballs. it's heavy as all get out; very road worn. i think a resto project is on the cards!!

thanks Va

A MADE IN USA Kramer Baretta is a collectable guitar now.

[jhale667]

That was the thing about PAFs no two were alike... and that's what started the trend toward mismatched coils and hybrids (like the Duncan 59/Custom Hybrid I'm currently testing), once things came more mechanized even though pickups were technically better put together they can still sound kinda "meh" compared to an older version...


Post pics of your restore if you do it, Ash!

[Nitro Express]

agree nitro; didn't hurt that his playing ability was pretty good too..

The more I learned Eddie's technique the more I realized it was more his fingers than anything. I just learned you just have to whack the hell out of the strings. Ed must have strong hands. You have to really pop it to make it ring like he does; especially, with smaller frets.