KRAMER newbie!!

[hashtronaut]

Hi ! This is my first post here - so please be gentle :)

I live in Liverpool UK, and I just picked up an extremely battered and uncared for Kramer nightswan.

I'm just starting out on guitar, but I know of Kramer's and their reputation, so for £50.00 it seemed to good an opportunity to miss.

Shes in a bad way though. :(

The volume knob is missing and will need a new pot, and its Floyd Rose is rusted to death, and will need totally replacing, as one of the allen key slots on the tighteners at the back is gone, and there's no whammy arm. Its toffee apple red.

The serial plate on the back reads:
Neptune NJ USA and the serial number is: F 8936

From looking at the vintagekramer.com site it looks like its an 'Original Floyd Rose Tremelo'. that would be fitted on.

I cant find anyone in the UK who has these whammy systems to supply.
Do you know of anyone in the UK or do I have toi ship from the USA?

I really love the feel of this guitar and truly want to save it from the scrapheap, and restore it to its former glory, with all the right parts.
Please tell me you can help me!

Cheers, and its good to meet you!

[NightRider]

welcome to the forum.... try ebay... they are always floyds on there... there is a few other guys on here from the uk... maybe they know a place...

[TommysGs]

Welcome to the forum. We have allot of European members. They will be along shortly to help you source parts on your side of the world.

You can soak that Floyd on WD40 or some other penitrating oil and most of the rust will fall off of it.
At least enough to use it.

[Midnight_Highway]

Welcome to the forum amigo! Killer deal on the swan. I think your best bet would be to find a Floyd Rose in the US and have it shipped over. I know of a couple of European stores, but the prices they charge are high:
http://www.touchstonetonewoods.co.uk/ttwp41.html
http://www.thomann.de/gb/search.html?sw=floyd&bn=schaller&gk=&pv=&pb=&ls=10&oa=rnk

Another thing is, these aren't "Original" Floyds. I know the woodscrew spacing will still be the same, but the base width may be a little off. Dr Robert is the resident expert on dimensions, as well as buying things in Europe. :thumbsup

+1 on soaking the trem in WD-40: dissassemble the unit and let it soak for a few days. The solution will turn a nice color of brown. ;)

George

[hashtronaut]

Thanks for all the help here guys! youve made me feel very welcome!

This guitar looks like it could be a real beauty once its been fixed up :)

Ive spent the day taking it apart and cleaning it down. Whoever owned it must have covered it stickers, and havent got the resin off properly.
a careful spray of lighter fluid and then a 5 second burn has taken it off a treat without damaging the body paint in any way. result!!

the fretboard had some kind of fungus/mildew on it, but that has also come up a treat after a few hours cleaning. if any of it returns (unlikely) ill have to look at either some kind of agent, or a new neck.

I think that there was more or less just a lot of hand gunk on the neck which went rancid wherever it had been stored, as there was no mildew on the body.

a glance down the neck has shown that, amazingly there is no warping! another result!!

Ill have a good read of the advice on th efloyd rose dimension issues, i dont wanna part with no cash for something that wont fit.

btw - what would a Nightswan fetch in good nick? How much of a bargain have I picked up here?

hashy

[ullathorne]

Welcome Buddy,
Im from Coventry. £50 That is an amazing deal on that mate. Stick around here. You wont believe the Guys on here. They know everything .
Its really quite additive. Before you know it you will have 20 Kramers ;)

Also every year there is A Euro Kramer EXPO. Last year in Newcastle. Probably there again in 07. Come up for the session. I think a few guys from the USA are thinking of coming over too.

Where in Liverpool are ya. My mate lives in Aigburth and my wifes mates are Anfield and West Derby.

All the best
Andy :toast

Ps dont get rid of that guitar. Post some pics.

http://www.vintagekramer.com/night.htm

[hashtronaut]

Welcome to the forum. We have allot of European members. They will be along shortly to help you source parts on your side of the world.

You can soak that Floyd on WD40 or some other penitrating oil and most of the rust will fall off of it.
At least enough to use it.

its bright orange - i think its past that :(

ill try though :)

edit 21.31 - now residing in a tub of WD40.
ill leave it in 24 hrs or so - refit whats left and get hold of a camera so you can see what i got for the £50 :)

[hashtronaut]

Welcome Buddy,
Im from Coventry. £50 That is an amazing deal on that mate. Stick around here. You wont believe the Guys on here. They know everything .
Its really quite additive. Before you know it you will have 20 Kramers ;)

Also every year there is A Euro Kramer EXPO. Last year in Newcastle. Probably there again in 07. Come up for the session. I think a few guys from the USA are thinking of coming over too.

Where in Liverpool are ya. My mate lives in Aigburth and my wifes mates are Anfield and West Derby.

All the best
Andy :toast

Ps dont get rid of that guitar. Post some pics.

http://www.vintagekramer.com/night.htm

hi andy - im in walton - just across from anfield :)

[Renegadrian]

Hi, sorry I didn't understand how much rusted or better what is the condition of the bridge base plate...I had one which had a lot of ruined parts, but the main piece was fairly good...I had some spare new pieces from StewMac.

Hope it helps...Nice score for a Swan...
I recently bought a trashed PCI for 100?, I'm finishing its restoration...(painted in a violet blue color to resemble the flip flop blue...)

[atomicholiday]

Welcome aboard! Stick around and you're bound to meet some pretty cool people (not to mention end up totally addicted to Kramers and wind up with about twenty more before you know it ;) )
Careful with that lighter fluid. This might sound stupid, but try smearing peanut butter on the sticker residue. Leave it on there for a couple of hours and clean it off. That stuff does wonders on sticker goo. :thumbsup
Anyway, post some picks when you get a chance. We'd love to see it.

[Renegadrian]

...try smearing peanut butter on the sticker residue.

Be sure you don't bite it!!! :-x :D

[lefthandedshredder]

Yes we'd love to see your snag!

*EDIT*

I hope that didnt sound wrong :-x :lol

[unchained1984]

Regards the floyd , unless it's totally one hell of a mess take it apart & submerge it in a bath of WD40 for 24 hours then get at it with a good firm toothbrush. Then submerge the parts again for another 24 hours you won't believe how much rust will come off it. www.axesrus.co.uk (http://www.axesrus.co.uk) will be able to get you some parts, failing that try stewmac.com or allparts.com in the states. If it's just one of ths sting lock screws or fine tuners that's gone you can replace that easily in a jiffy. Like the others bro's have said post some pics so we can give you more help & welcome aboard :thumbsup

Sandy

[atomicholiday]

Be sure you don't bite it!!! :-x :D
Yeah, you might want to eat something first so you don't do that. Peanut butter will take the glue off but it won't help with tooth marks. :D

[frankenstraat]

Let me know if you wanna sell that Floyd, I buy used cruddy loooking floyds all the time...

[hashtronaut]

HI ALL !
just give the floyd a good scrub, and it hasnt come out too bad at all.
i think the rust was indeed very superficial. :)
i think the floyd rose will definitely be useable if i can get the spare bits i need.

the neck has come up a treat, no more mould, and the lighter fluid with the body, well dont worry - i know what im doing there - the finish apart from a couple of dints and scratches that were already there, is fine :)

i really think this guitar was just stuck somewhere and forgotten about/abused for a while. When its all sorted it will be a great little shredder. :)

Ive fitted the floyd back onto the guitar, will post pix either later or in the morning. im extremely tired after a long night on the synths.

[paul525715]

You lucky lucky sod. I've been looking for a USA Kramer in UK guitar shops and pawn shops for the past 6 months. I ended up buying a 1983 Pacer a week ago from America. Enjoy your find... I'm forever jealous. From another recent kramer convert... welcome to the club. See you at next years expo. :toast

[hashtronaut]

heres the USA Kramer nightswan with the cleaned FR unit back on - it didnt come out too bad at all.
Its still in need of a new volume pot and a couple of bits of the FR system.

Not bad for £50.00!!

does anyone know if I will be able to get just the bits that are missing? Hopefully you can see from the pictures (i dont know the tech term for the actual part, but i would like to replace the 6 bits that stick out the back of the tremelo (how savvy am i?? ;) )


will be on the look out for help with the FR though, cos an earlier post as noted that the dimensions are slightly different.


http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i175/hashtronaut/33460006.jpg


http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i175/hashtronaut/33460005.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i175/hashtronaut/33460007.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i175/hashtronaut/33460004.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i175/hashtronaut/33460003.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i175/hashtronaut/33460002.jpg

[unchained1984]

That's the string lock screws & yes you can just get replacements,try one of the 3 sites I listed in the reply above.

Sandy

[hashtronaut]

That's the string lock screws & yes you can just get replacements,try one of the 3 sites I listed in the reply above.

Sandy

Sandy - your the man!!

[unchained1984]

No problem, if you have any problems don't hesitate to ask. Some of THE most knowledgeable Kramer heads reside right here :thumbsup

Sandy

[hashtronaut]

well my first question is this then - which type of arm? FR with collar that just screws on (most likely from the pix i think) or FR arm with collar and bush??

Ive sourced this choice from this site Sandy gave me the link for. (cheers Sandy)

http://www.axesrus.com/axehardware.htm (http://)

[unchained1984]

You're right on the money all you need is the arm with collar on :thumbsup Looks like axesrus are only stocking a no name licence arm, you can pick up a better schaller arm from here,their shipping time/cost to the U.K. is excellent:

thomann cyberstore (http://www.thomann.de/gb/search_dir.html?sw=floyd+rose+arm)

Sandy

[Renegadrian]

Oh My God, unbelievable axe...What could you get otherwise with £50?! :drool That's great...
As for the parts, I agree with the sites provided, I used StewMac in the past and went smooth like baby oil!!!

[_xxx_]

Welcome!

Looks like you'll need new saddles for that floyd as well, the links provided will surely have them, otherwise look at www.rockinger.com

Great snag, some people's signatures here might make lots of sense for you ;) (look for $50 :D)

[Renegadrian]

:D :D :D

[ferengi-bri]

Enjoy the forum!

[Ace]

Hashy, Welcome again from me, I don't have a swan yet but I do have a few bits and pieces that might help you get yours back on the road. I'll pm you my number give me a call.