Kramer Vanguard 1981 - Chevron graphic

A-plate 1981 Kramer Vanguard with a black/white chevron graphic, with original hardshell case.

Something interesting about this guitar, the headstock was shaved down from a strat head at the factory. Kramer was notorious from using serial numbers out of order and the Voyager I'm listing along with this is technically "later" but still wears its original strat head neck. My best guess is this one was still being prepped for shipment when they switched over to the beak headstocks. Held side by side with beaks from B-plate American Kramers, this one is slightly thinner near the tip since it was likely hand carved in Neptune (this neck and many others like it - both Strathead and Beak, were made in Japan by ESP).

Anyway that's all very interesting historically, but as far as how it plays - the same as any other glossy, skunk stripe strat head or beak Kramer neck of this era. It's thick with a round C profile and smaller frets by modern standards. The single pickup configuration makes it great for rock styles and the large body is surprisingly light and resonant. I have a soft spot myself for the brass trems on these and there's no complicated setup or tuning compared to a Floyd.

There are some blemishes. Most notably, a mark about even with your thumb on the back of the neck around the 6th fret. There are no hard edges but the texture is a little different than the rest of the neck so you may feel it with your thumb when sliding. The body has various polish marks, some small lines in the finish clearcoat, and other age related damage to the paint. The bridge is missing the four middle screws, a fairly common modification to strat-style trems around this time, making it hinge on two points. Electronics are a factory Schaller Golden 50 with a volume and tone pot - super simple and sounds great.

Original brown leather covered case is in good shape with working latches and a nice protective plush interior.

Thanks for looking!