Do I have a 610 or a Stryker?

[kf6myv]

Thought I had it figured out that it was a 610. Looks just like the pic on Vintage Kramer but its the Purple like the 615 next to it however my Serial is not seeming to match. My serial is SF1451. I was told when I bought it that it was a 610 Stryker. Thoughts? I thought I had a thread a while back but couldn't find it.

[errbt]

:worthless
:)

[kf6myv]

ok coming up!

[kf6myv]

Thats glare on the head not the white bordered style.

http://www.qsl.net/kf6myv/guitar/kramer1.JPG


http://www.qsl.net/kf6myv/guitar/kramer_serial.JPG

[fett]

Call me Stupid but do you see "Striker" anywhere?

[kf6myv]

Call me Stupid but do you see "Striker" anywhere?

Nope and the only time I see "S" described is when talking about Striker. Can you show me where "SF" serial #'s are and what they mean?

[fett]

Then it's a cool guitar. Now all you have to do is figure out which one you have.:D Just google Kramer Guitar. There's a mega-site all about Kramers.:thumbsup

[kf6myv]

Well the serials VintageKramer is logging are for American Series. So this looking like the 610 I don't have serial to go by.

Gotta be a Overseas 100 Series, 610.

[halo71]

Yep that is a 610 model. I think the only difference between this and the 615 was the 615 had a bound body. Think there is a yellow with black binding on feebay right now.

[slowmotion]

They are along the same lines as strikers, but a different family. Korean, cheap pickups and FRII (easy swaps). I've seen a few in pawn stores around me and temped to buy but I'm scared of one thing....Is it ply? (ooh that rhymes)

[halo71]

^That's the thing. Some were ply some were 3 or 4 pieces of solid wood glued up. Guess you could always take a screw driver and a knife in and pop the trem spring cover and scratch a little paint off to tell?!? :D

[kf6myv]

They are along the same lines as strikers, but a different family. Korean, cheap pickups and FRII (easy swaps). I've seen a few in pawn stores around me and temped to buy but I'm scared of one thing....Is it ply? (ooh that rhymes)

So I could understand swapping the pickups but whats wrong w/ the FRII?

I am guessing glue together. If you look at it just right there is a straight line seen in the paint on the left side. I always figured it was at least more than one piece of wood.

Now that I look harder I can see another section. Looks like left, middle, right.

I bought this thing new like 19yrs ago. Didn't and still don't know much about guitars. I still kinda like it. I think I might change the pickups though. At least the Hum.

[moku]

i thought it's a 600st. :scratchhe

[halo71]

See the difference in the control layout?

600st
http://www.vintagekramer.com/Focus/600st.jpg

610
http://www.vintagekramer.com/Focus/610.jpg

[slowmotion]

So I could understand swapping the pickups but whats wrong w/ the FRII?

I am guessing glue together. If you look at it just right there is a straight line seen in the paint on the left side. I always figured it was at least more than one piece of wood.

Now that I look harder I can see another section. Looks like left, middle, right.

I bought this thing new like 19yrs ago. Didn't and still don't know much about guitars. I still kinda like it. I think I might change the pickups though. At least the Hum.
The FRII is okay if you're not using it for heavy trem use (it's not locking). I find them a bit dull sounding myself but to each their own. A "real" floyd rose is made of much stronger metals and just sounds a bit better imo.

If it's solid bits of wood; that's awesome; plywood kramers break my heart. I have one and it looks awesome but just sounds awful no matter what.

Chuck some seymour duncan pickups in there and you'll have a nice guitar for sure.

[kf6myv]

The FRII is okay if you're not using it for heavy trem use (it's not locking). I find them a bit dull sounding myself but to each their own. A "real" floyd rose is made of much stronger metals and just sounds a bit better imo.

If it's solid bits of wood; that's awesome; plywood kramers break my heart. I have one and it looks awesome but just sounds awful no matter what.

Chuck some seymour duncan pickups in there and you'll have a nice guitar for sure.

Would the ply be about 1/4" thick pieces? I see parallel lines under the trem plate on the side walls.

[halo71]

If you post some pics we could tell ya real quick. What you "may" be seeing is the growth rings in the wood. Plywood has a real distinct look.

Those line you see look anything like this?

http://www.pinrepair.com/vgi/fender/54_strat-july_11.jpg

[kf6myv]

If you post some pics we could tell ya real quick. What you "may" be seeing is the growth rings in the wood. Plywood has a real distinct look.

The walls also look rough like ply sides but then again I am not a wood person. Let me see about a pic. One second.

http://www.qsl.net/kf6myv/guitar/kramer_wood.JPG

[g_reddin]

A bonafide Hundred Series 610 model. I own 2 "110" models and they all have the "SF" prefix and at one point were the only models that were freely available in the UK. When I bought my first Kramer (which was the 110) they had a 610 and a bright pink 615 with blue binding on the wall too. There is a major difference with the Floyd Rose II fitted to these models compared to the older ones fitted to the Strikers. The Hundred series has DOUBLE locking trems which I have compared to the Schaller branded Floyds on sale now and are identical. My 110 is now 20 years old and the trem is still in top condition and the base plate is in fantastic condition, in fact its in better condition to the Floyd Original on my F plate Baretta. Pick ups are known as Turbo Sonics and are comparable to the "Duncan Designed" HB101 that are fitted to Squier and low end Jacksons. I like my 110 not because it has sentimental value but its a work horse that for all you can say about far east guitars Kramer had one thing that no other guitar company has has since and that is simply "Quality Control".

[slowmotion]

Wow cool. If the bridge is better than the strikers and it does look like at least some kind of wood (can't really tell but that looks more like router marks than ply laters to me) then it's back on the shopping list.

Plywood ply ply looks like a layered icecream cake of wood fibres and the finish sinks in differently. It's the saddest sight you'll ever see in a guitar. This is a 100st I picked up second hand not knowing they were ply:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c381/BachMatt/guitars/ply.jpg
The white is just polishing compound; but you can clearly see the ply layers. :arrg

Dear guitar manufacturers: I know it's cool having a CNC machine to do most of the the work for you, but you don't need to put fucking plywood in it - ever.

[KramerUK]

What youv'e basically got is a posh Striker, kind of like the American was to the Focus, produced in the same country but assembled with better parts, those later 100 series as has been rightly pointed out had double locking FRII's, don't suppose you can post up a pic of the trem could you?
the necks were made to look like the Focus/American ones, but the neck profile is very different, pup's get a slating, but at least with those ones made from glued section of wood it seems you don't get the crappy looking single pup surrounds, so you could swap them out and be amazed at the difference.
Strangely the yellow 615 on ebay has the single pup surrounds, wonder if that can be an indicator as to which ones where made of ply..........

[kf6myv]

What youv'e basically got is a posh Striker, kind of like the American was to the Focus, produced in the same country but assembled with better parts, those later 100 series as has been rightly pointed out had double locking FRII's, don't suppose you can post up a pic of the trem could you?
the necks were made to look like the Focus/American ones, but the neck profile is very different, pup's get a slating, but at least with those ones made from glued section of wood it seems you don't get the crappy looking single pup surrounds, so you could swap them out and be amazed at the difference.
Strangely the yellow 615 on ebay has the single pup surrounds, wonder if that can be an indicator as to which ones where made of ply..........

I'll post some more pics later after work ;)

[kf6myv]

http://www.qsl.net/kf6myv/guitar/FRII.JPG


http://www.qsl.net/kf6myv/guitar/FRII_1.JPG


http://www.qsl.net/kf6myv/guitar/FRII_back.JPG


http://www.qsl.net/kf6myv/guitar/head.JPG


http://www.qsl.net/kf6myv/guitar/head_back.JPG

[KramerUK]

Thats a very well setup Floyd there, strange that they were still using screw-in post for those, but never the less, those double locking FRII's are a world away from the ones used on the earlier Strikers, personal opinion is you've got a great little guitar there, does that trem bend OK? Possibly the pics but it looks a little out of line :scratchhe

[kf6myv]

Thats a very well setup Floyd there, strange that they were still using screw-in post for those, but never the less, those double locking FRII's are a world away from the ones used on the earlier Strikers, personal opinion is you've got a great little guitar there, does that trem bend OK? Possibly the pics but it looks a little out of line :scratchhe

I figured someone would say something about it not looking to be setup right. I don't believe I ever messed with it but I had a shop one time restring it and check intonation(?). Maybe they did something a bit wrong?

In the top view the far right saddle(?) has a small chip of paint missing underneath where it must be hitting.

I'll have to look around for info on how to set that all up right. I don't really use the trem but I should have it ready in case ;)

As far as wood type I still have not been able to tell if its ply or not.

[wozzaroo]

Thats a very well setup Floyd there, strange that they were still using screw-in post for those, but never the less, those double locking FRII's are a world away from the ones used on the earlier Strikers, personal opinion is you've got a great little guitar there, does that trem bend OK? Possibly the pics but it looks a little out of line :scratchhe

Those posts should be the newer type that uses bushings.but with a screwdriver head:thumbsup I've got the same trem on my 110,but had to swap out the worn post's for some newer schaller allen key type.

[wozzaroo]

I figured someone would say something about it not looking to be setup right. I don't believe I ever messed with it but I had a shop one time restring it and check intonation(?). Maybe they did something a bit wrong?

In the top view the far right saddle(?) has a small chip of paint missing underneath where it must be hitting.

I'll have to look around for info on how to set that all up right. I don't really use the trem but I should have it ready in case ;)

As far as wood type I still have not been able to tell if its ply or not.

I've got a feeling,that if you were to sand a little of the paint away in the trem cavity,you should find it to be some type of solid wood.If it's anything like mine?

[Kramer Crybaby]

Hi folks,

Since I have already scratched off some of the finish in the tremolo cavity of my candy red 610, I'd like to post a few photos of it - I'd say it is not ply, as you will probably see on the first photo below. The other shows the front of the guitar, in case anyone is interested in having a look at it ;) .

Rock on! :vee

[KramerUK]

Yep you've got a solid wood one there, probably 3/4 pieces glued together but that not a real bad thing, again your's has no covers around the single coils, I'm really beginning to think this could be a tell tale sign of telling if you have a plywood 100 series or not

[kf6myv]

I think I'll sand a corner as well and see what I find. I'll get back w/ yall.

[kf6myv]

I am thinking its solid. The grain length looks long enough that it would have crossed over a couple of layers of ply, no?

http://www.qsl.net/kf6myv/guitar/kramer_sand.JPG

[halo71]

Yep that is not plywood. Probably, as said, at least 3 to 4 pieces of solid wood glued up.

[kf6myv]

Yep that is not plywood. Probably, as said, at least 3 to 4 pieces of solid wood glued up.

Yes I think its three. If you look at this pic where the circles are in those glare spots you can kind of see a line going up. I also added the line there to the right of each circle to show which way they are going just for fun ;)

http://www.qsl.net/kf6myv/guitar/kramer_lines.JPG

[junior]

I can put a kink in the Ply vs real wood idea, I have a 600st that is a 3 piece body. It is one of the early ones with the tele style jack cup and single coil trim rings.

99% of these are Plywood, which this more or less is also, just the layers are thicker.

[KramerUK]

Now we did touch on this once before, there was a thinking they could have done laminated ones, as in 3/4 pieces glued on top of each other like a thick three ply, but these 2 look to glued in the traditional manner.
I've had a few guitars made this way in the past that you'd not expect to be 3 pieces at the price! In fact my Shadow, which were high end guitars at the time, has 3 pieces!

[junior]

Paul..

I'll have to get some pics of of the body I am talking about. Someone started sanding on it and never got very far and I haven't touched it since I got it. I'll sand the trem rout out and get a better look. But it looks to be a thick piece in the center and 2 outer thinner pieces. It also almost looks like the sides were pieced? So it was made out of blocks of wood glued together? Funny thing is the body is a exact copy of a early PC1. It just has Korean neck plate screw spacing, jack, single coil trim rings and trem cover. If I put it on top of my early PC1 body the only differences are the jack and screw holes.

I'll do some sanding and post some info in a new thread.

Some of the 100 series can be good with a few parts changes. Still like my poor mans Swan (210) with EMG's

[kf6myv]

So is this thing worthy of a some new pickups? I usually us the hum so what would you all suggest I upgrade it to?

[junior]

Sure, throw a better pup in there and jam away, putting a better block on the trem will help the sound also. Watch the bay and pickup a OEM Brass block off a Floyd or get a brass upgrade block. Most FRII have a junk cast block, just change the block and pup. setup the action and your good.

What you use for pups depends on your taste, but it's hard to go wrong with a JB. I use JB's, Duncan Distortions, and Dimarzio Super Distortions and Tone Zone. I do have a few EMG's running 18V

For singles I use hotter pups like Duncan Hot Rails, Hot Stack, Quarter Pound, ect

I don't ever use the middle pup, most of my H/S/S guitars only have 2 working pups.

[kf6myv]

Sure, throw a better pup in there and jam away, putting a better block on the trem will help the sound also. Watch the bay and pickup a OEM Brass block off a Floyd or get a brass upgrade block. Most FRII have a junk cast block, just change the block and pup. setup the action and your good.

What you use for pups depends on your taste, but it's hard to go wrong with a JB. I use JB's, Duncan Distortions, and Dimarzio Super Distortions and Tone Zone. I do have a few EMG's running 18V

For singles I use hotter pups like Duncan Hot Rails, Hot Stack, Quarter Pound, ect

I don't ever use the middle pup, most of my H/S/S guitars only have 2 working pups.

I was thinking of the Seymour Duncan JB jr. Now this may be a stupid question but do they come covered and uncovered? Can I take the cover I have now and put it over an uncovered one? I've never done this before ;)

[junior]

The JB and 59 "junior" models have 2 rows of exposed screws, like a shrunk down Humbucker. The (JR) pups are dual coil humbuckers that are single coil size. You can check them out on Duncan's web site.

Don't worry about putting the original "Duncan Designed" cover back on the new pups. They just take away from a good pup.

I'll tell you what! take that orginal humbucker out and remove the plastic cover then try it. You might be impressed how it sounds without the cover. All it takes is 5 minutes and few screws. The cover is held on with 2 little screws on the sides. Just remove the 4 screws in the trim ring, lift it out of the body enought to get to the 2 side screws. Then remove the cover and screw the trim ring back down. Easy mod for a different sound that really can't go wrong.

[Kramer Crybaby]

Thanks for the advice, junior!

Is there any way to do this with the single-coil pups?

[junior]

So you want to replace the humbucker with a single coil? so it would be a S/S/S ?

You can get a adapting trim ring that will fit a Single coil in a humbucker hole. They look kinda funky but they have em.


http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f212/koeblerenterprises123/TOG%20PARTS/IMG_5942.jpg

[Kramer Crybaby]

No, I actually wanted to know if the single-coil pups can be uncovered in the fashion you described above, but to me it looks like they do not even have detachable covers.
Sorry about the confusion.
Thanks for all the effort, man! Rock on!