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Opinions on Kramer Nightswan


edhohoho

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Anyone with experience playing the Kramer Nightswan previously and/or currently own one? I've always liked shredder style guitars and became interested in this guitar because of the fast neck, shorter scale, and relative rarity. I've read on other forums various opinions ranging from it being a great player to some that say the middle humbucker pickup position is not very useful. Prices are pretty crazy nowadays, in the $6k range. 

Which brings me to my second question. Any good alternatives for such a short scale, fast neck, 24 fret guitar? I think the Peavey Vandenberg, Jackson Fusion, and GJ2 Shredder share these features, but I haven't heard much about or even seen these guitars around locally to get a sense of what they are like either. Thanks in advance for your advice. 

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You do know this is the HAMER Fan Club, right?  😂

Sorry I can't be of more help. Short scale shredders leave me cold. Maybe get your hands on a 24 fret Steve Stevens or maybe an early Chap. Charvel made a Fusion- a 24.75" scale 24 fret shredder. See if you can track down a used one.

 

ETA- you can also reach out to Buddy Blaze (the original designer of the Nightswan model, and who still makes them) and commission a build. Might not be cheap, depending on options & paint, but certainly not 6K!

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I asked this question over on TGP about a year ago about short scale shredders, not Nightswan's specifically. What I ended up with is a '91 Jackson Fusion as bang for the buck it was hard to beat. Honestly the neck is a bit thin (0.75" at the 1st and 0.83" at the 12th, 1 11/16th nut), but it's slightly thicker than a Charvel pointie from this era and the quality of construction is insane; this 27 year old guitar honestly looks brand new. Plays and sounds great, US made, I got it for a fantastic price (all told about $1k) and done. I would love to track down a Charvel 750XL which is the neck thru 24.75" scale flame top "Les Paul Killer" from 89-90, but they're hard to find in good condition, prices have gone up and they almost always have a Floyd; if I'm going to drop $1800 I want a hard tail. Once I got the Fusion I kind of stopped looking for the 750XL...

It's been years since I played a Kramer, there were never that many around. Nice guitars but $6k nice, no thanks! 

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4 hours ago, diablo175 said:

You do know this is the HAMER Fan Club, right?  😂

 

Have you looked at the number of non-Hamer related topics in the main forum lately? Not much else to discuss with Hamer being defunct. (The real Hamer, anyway) :)

 

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1 hour ago, shankyboy said:

Have you looked at the number of non-Hamer related topics in the main forum lately? Not much else to discuss with Hamer being defunct. (The real Hamer, anyway) :)

 

Yeah, that's why I included the laughing emoji. That said, I still find it rather easy to chat about all things (real) Hamer. Especially when, at any given time, I'm likely to have a Hamer project going on. Like right now. :D

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6 hours ago, diablo175 said:

You do know this is the HAMER Fan Club, right?  😂

Sorry I can't be of more help. Short scale shredders leave me cold. Maybe get your hands on a 24 fret Steve Stevens or maybe an early Chap. Charvel made a Fusion- a 24.75" scale 24 fret shredder. See if you can track down a used one.

 

ETA- you can also reach out to Buddy Blaze (the original designer of the Nightswan model, and who still makes them) and commission a build. Might not be cheap, depending on options & paint, but certainly not 6K!

Ha ha, I should have prefaced the post with the fact that I recently got my first Californian Deluxe and used to have a Chaparral Elite with Sustainiac, so I've liked Hamer guitars for a while. Always looking for a nice Californian Elite or Custom, but quite hard to find as well. 

I thought about the Steve Stevens but I really prefer the super strat body type. 

Thanks for the tip on Buddy Blaze, I was not aware he is still making these. 

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3 hours ago, Drew816 said:

I asked this question over on TGP about a year ago about short scale shredders, not Nightswan's specifically. What I ended up with is a '91 Jackson Fusion as bang for the buck it was hard to beat. Honestly the neck is a bit thin (0.75" at the 1st and 0.83" at the 12th, 1 11/16th nut), but it's slightly thicker than a Charvel pointie from this era and the quality of construction is insane; this 27 year old guitar honestly looks brand new. Plays and sounds great, US made, I got it for a fantastic price (all told about $1k) and done. I would love to track down a Charvel 750XL which is the neck thru 24.75" scale flame top "Les Paul Killer" from 89-90, but they're hard to find in good condition, prices have gone up and they almost always have a Floyd; if I'm going to drop $1800 I want a hard tail. Once I got the Fusion I kind of stopped looking for the 750XL...

It's been years since I played a Kramer, there were never that many around. Nice guitars but $6k nice, no thanks! 

I recently looked for a Jackson Fusion but there weren't many around and those I did see were pretty rough, but I will definitely keep looking. Didn't realize the Charvel was neck through...love the 80s shredders but hate the mostly large, boxy neck heels. 

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1 minute ago, edhohoho said:

I recently looked for a Jackson Fusion but there weren't many around and those I did see were pretty rough, but I will definitely keep looking. Didn't realize the Charvel was neck through...love the 80s shredders but hate the mostly large, boxy neck heels. 

Another option is to have Mike Shishkov or Shannon Huss  build you an amazing custom. Built exactly to your specs. Pretty sure they won't charge 6 grand either ;)

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2 hours ago, Jeff R said:

Short scale fast 24 fret:  ESP Maverick, circa late 80s into the 90s.

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Thanks for reminding me about the ESP Maverick. I searched for those but most of the ones on offer have the old Sinclair tremolo but no trem bar, and are pretty beat up. And most of them are from sellers in Japan...very annoying seeing all those duplicated listings and generally very high prices on the auction site. 

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And while I'm at it- check out Caparison for short scale Stratty shredders (say that 5 times fast!). Former Chushin Gakki (Charvel Jackson Japan plant) "master builders" and rumored carry overs from ESP are building these in Japan. 2.5- 3 grand for a new one.

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3 minutes ago, diablo175 said:

Another option is to have Mike Shishkov or Shannon Huss  build you an amazing custom. Built exactly to your specs. Pretty sure they won't charge 6 grand either ;)

Oh really??! I've always been afraid to ask about price because I assumed Shishkov guitars were out of my league especially based on all the true craftsmanship involved and the amazing pictures of the finished product. I think for me Tom Anderson, Suhr, McNaught and even Jackson and ESP Custom Shop are not within reach. 

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6 minutes ago, edhohoho said:

Oh really??! I've always been afraid to ask about price because I assumed Shishkov guitars were out of my league especially based on all the true craftsmanship involved and the amazing pictures of the finished product. I think for me Tom Anderson, Suhr, McNaught and even Jackson and ESP Custom Shop are not within reach. 

Can't help you there- your best bet is to reach out to Mike or Shannon and inquire. What's the worst they can say?  FTR- I've had two custom made axes built by Shannon at HEL, each for at or under 2G's. Just sayin'  ;)

 

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1 hour ago, diablo175 said:

Yeah, that's why I included the laughing emoji. That said, I still find it rather easy to chat about all things (real) Hamer. Especially when, at any given time, I'm likely to have a Hamer project going on. Like right now. :D

We have the same thing going on over at the Victory Motorcycle Club site since Polaris shut down Victory.

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2 minutes ago, gtrdaddy said:

 

That kind of money is just stupid on those guitars, or any Kramer, unless it was actually owned by EVH. $6K much better spent elsewhere!

This.

For that kinda $$$, you're making an heirloom or bragging rights investment, not buying a musical instrument. Unless it has 2 necks ;)

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2 hours ago, diablo175 said:

And while I'm at it- check out Caparison for short scale Stratty shredders (say that 5 times fast!).

Try having your 8 yr old nephew say it, you find out your sister still has a pretty good punch! 😄 

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I don't understand the price jump on these guitars.  Are people legitimately buying these for 6k, or are these another one of reverb.com's crazy asking prices which we have seen with many brands (including Hamer)? I used to be relatively active on the old Kramer forum.  4-5 years ago, regular nightswans could be snagged for around 1k.   If someone actually payed 6k for a regular nightswan, they probably had deep pockets and no knowledge of the market. 

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