Friday, May 12, 2017

Kramer 610 Restoration: Part One

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Where do I begin? Okay, let's start with the headstock of this silver beast, on which is boldly stickered the word "muthaf***ka." No prizes for guessing what that means. It's got to go, for sure.

I don't think that silver is the original color of this guitar. Seems like a previous owner simply sprayed it on without bothering to remove the hardware, most noticeably the neck plate. Speaking of neck plates, this guitar has a maple neck with 22 jumbo frets on a rosewood fretboard (25.5" scale length, 16" radius). Both the frets and fretboard are in bad shape. No worries, a fret dress, lemon oil, and a good going over with a toothbrush should set things right again.

Although this guitar came with a Floyd Rose II double-locking trem, the current owner plans to install a Wilkinson VS100N instead. He says he doesn't want to mess with fine tuners or locking nuts. Fair enough, methinks.

The downsized Strat-style body has been routed for an HSS pickup configuration. The bridge humbucker is missing, leaving only two single coils in the neck and middle pup cavities. Electronics are straightforward: plastic five-way switch, three mini pots (volume, neck pup tone and middle pup tone), coil tap switch, and plastic output jack. The control cavity has also been shielded with aluminum foil.

At this point, I  believe that this guitar is a Kramer 610; thanks to information sourced from Ed Roman Guitars and Vintage Kramer. Well, that's about it for this post. In Part Two, we'll be taking a look at the cleanup, shielding and paint job aspects of this restoration.













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