Kramer Baretta 1987 - Metallic Purple

Here’s another one that’s going to appear then disappear quickly without much fanfare. It is going to sell fast, so if you have an interest in it, you may need to pay attention to this listing and what happens with it. If anyone’s noticed in the past our sales style is aggressive; items move very quickly when we want them to, so you know that it IS going to be gone.

If interested, please be sure to read the entire item description, then make us an offer we can’t refuse!

You’ve come across an original 1987 KRAMER BARETTA, a very popular and highly sought-after guitar sporting a non-factory Purple METALLIC finish. It’s got the looks, the playability, the sound, the feel, and the MOJO that everyone looks for in a rock-n-roll guitar.

The body and neck on this “Rockin’ Hunk of MOJO” both arrived in the USA sometime in 1987 from Japan, as those parts were manufactured by the ESP facility located there. The guitar was then assembled right here in the good’ ol United States of America by Kramer, garnering it the “American” designation that’s part of it’s name. (Yes, there were some that weren't assembled in the USA but still had the “American” designation on them) – this IS NOT one of THOSE!

The serial number of this guitar is #E11350, and it’s had two modifications made to it – one is it’s paint job and the other is the addition of a mini kill-switch mounted on the lower right-hand side on the front of the body. It’s pretty inconspicuous and is a little hard to see or even notice.

NOTE: This guitar is NOT one of those new Kramer Baretta models that have appeared in the market in the last few years that have the “vintage” descriptor in the model name which are plentiful, readily available, and aren't rare – this one here is the REAL DEAL! It’s an actual 1987 Kramer Baretta American; it’s the guitar that those Kramer “retro” versions aspire to be and attempt to emulate on a budget - just makin’ sure we’re clear on that.

This guitar was produced with the rare factory “Floyd Rose Stabilizer” hardware add-on installed with the unit that people like to talk about. It’s located in the back of the guitar near the springs, installed in tandem with the Floyd Rose system that KRAMER provided with a small number of Barettas back in the day. The original KRAMER case is in great shape for being as old as it is (doesn’t have any keys) and ships with the guitar.

This guitar has that intangible quality that people look for in a guitar that truly inspires their playing, and there’s no doubt that; when you grab it and get it in your hands to play you know EXACTLY what we’re talking about. This guitar passes with flying colors the first and most important test I do on an electric guitar to determine if it’s going to be a hit or miss – I play it UNPLUGGED and see how it sounds all by itself. This guitar, my friends, sounds absolutely FANTASTIC when it’s plugged in to nothing!

The Metallic Purple finish is NOT the original factory paint job. The paint that was selected for the new finish is indeed very attractive, but it must be noted that the paint job itself does have some issues. The good news is that none of these flaws or blemishes can be seen from the front of the guitar or by an audience, as NONE of them appear on the front of the body. Sidenote: Of the guitars in my own personal collection, the one I favor most just happens to be a quite worn and beat up EVH Wolfgang, and it’s my go-to guitar.

The unique experience a player gets when they pick up and play a guitar like this takes them to a place where they begin to understand what the word “intangible” really means. Perfect condition when it comes to this rock machine becomes a non-issue and barely an afterthought as neither the crowd, nor the player can see or notice any aforementioned blemish on it. This guitar has that uncanny intangible; others simply call it MOJO!

A certain legendary guitar player comes to mind who was instrumental (no pun intended) in the design and development of the original KRAMER Baretta model and the subsequent success it enjoyed. It’s obvious to most that he didn’t care nearly as much about what his guitars looked like as opposed to how they felt, played, & sounded to him.

Although this isn’t a Mammoth issue for many players, we realize that some folks feel that any paint flaws on a guitar should lessen the asking price by some amount, and we don’t disagree with that, so we take this opportunity to mention that our position is that we’ve already compensated for this in the original listing price.

That said, DON’T BE SHY, AND MAKE AN OFFER on this sweet piece of history and you may end up being pleasantly surprised (as long as it’s not a low-ball or an insult) with the result!

We’ve attempted to show everything we feel isn’t right with the paint job, and have attempted to depict these issues in the last pictures shown in the listing photos.

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

We want to make sure that potential buyers are aware that the biggest issue with the paint job is located on the back of the guitar surrounding the neck plate. REST ASSURED that this is NOT an attempt to cover up any type of damage in, near, or around the neck pocket...the neck/body joint is 100% intact and solid as it was when it came from the factory and it’s only a paint issue. We’d certainly rather not hear about this or have to address it after a sale, so please be sure to look at ALL of the relevant photo(s) to know what you’re dealing with and to be aware of any body paint issues.

Photos of significance in regard to the body paint issues accompany this listing.

THERE ARE NO MAJOR CHIPS, DENTS, or ANY OTHER TYPE OF PHYSICAL DAMAGE ANYWHERE ON THE GUITAR.

The plastic cover plate that fits over the spring cavity on the back of the guitar is AWOL, and can’t be included with the instrument. It’s believed that the capacitor is 1nF as shipped, but may not be the original cap.

Again, this guitar comes with the original KRAMER hard shell case.

If there are ANY QUESTIONS, please don’t hesitate to ask; additional pictures can also be taken for interested parties if requested.

REMEMBER, this one is going to be a FAST MOVER, so take that at face value because our listings do surprise some folks in that regard, and HAPPY SHOPPING!