NGD Day (Focus 3000 Content)

[Raz]

Hi there everyone, first post from me here, and I can't think of a better way to kick off my activity than with a New Guitar Day thread about my newest joy. I don't know much about her, but so far she's become my go-to guitar. I picked it up for $432.53 from Chicago Music Exchange. I had been searching for a good shredder for quite some time now to compliment my Alexi-600 (which is tuned to D-standard). I was searching for a guitar in my price range, and I always liked strats and superstrats; so by chance I stumbled upon this Kramer and it played extremely well, so a day later it was mine! Overall, it's in great shape, no scuffs, dents, dings, or scratches. Only thing that needed doing was a cleaning of the volume pot.
(now for my mini review)
It isn't completely stock, as it has EMGs in all positions (2 single coils and 1 humbucker), five way pickup selector. Floyd Rose tremolo system that performs wonderfully (then I needed it to be professionally reset after I screwed it up trying to change strings, haha.). It has a quick bolt-on neck, very fast but also feels solid (which is one thing I don't like about, say, Ibanez, is that some of the necks I've tried felt too frail). 22 frets, rosewood fingerboard. The one thing that really, REALLY surprised me was the weight. It clocks in at about 10.8lbs, which is considerably heavier than any other guitar I've owned (second place goes to the Gibson explorer I had). Not sure what wood it is, maybe someone here can tell me? Neck plate says Made in Japan. Came with a Kramer hard shell case too.

Enough talk, time for the sexy pictures!







I must say, it is a gorgeous red that has a faint sparkle. So yeah, hi everyone, and feel free to ask me any questions you guys and gals might have.

[matt3846]

Nice looking Focus! That's one that was built by Matsumoku.

[Holzar88]

Congrats, Raz. Nice lookin' Focus you've got there. They're awesome guitars.

[MCB67]

Congrats on the score and welcome to the forum, Raz.

[japkramernut]

Welcome to the KF. And congrats on you CAR Kramer Focus 3000! There is something about that color that's cool and sexy. The guitar has a fantastic neck on it and it also looks to be in very good shape, with emg pickups. That is a very nice score.

[Full Crib]

.....I picked it up for $432.53 from Chicago Music Exchange.

I have three of them for sale
Is it just me, or does that lower horn look to be Striker-esh.....
Also, none of mine have that big of a truss rod notch in the pickguard

[matt3846]

Is it just me, or does that lower horn look to be Striker-esh.....
Also, none of mine have that big of a truss rod notch in the pickguard

The Matsumoku-made Focus had different body shapes, different pickups, longer headstock, and MADE IN JAPAN neckplate with no serial #.

Here's another one... note the rounder butt and the extra space between the nut and the low E tuner.

[sixstring]

Looks good!!
Sometimes ou just gotta have it, no matter what the cost.

[kremark]

We've mentioned before in other Focus threads that the heavy weight may well be Maple construction. I have confrimed my old Striker 600ST by sanding all the CAR finish down to the grain. It's heavy and I thought it might have been a chunk of plywood. That's Korean Strikers, but Japanese Focus's are not known to have ever used plywood. Only way to confirm maple is sanding inside a control cavity or trem route. My bet is Maple.

[amerturk]

No Focus's, early or late ever used plywood. Some (very few) early strikers have been known to be wood....which is uncommon.

[Raz]

Thanks for the kind words everyone, I'm happy to be part of this community. I guarantee this is a first of what will be a few Kramer NGD threads
So it's a Matsumoku made axe, built sometime in the 80s..."radical".
It's built like a tank, so Maple sounds right.
Quick question about the lack of a serial number: How am I supposed to identify it a little bit better? Like Matt said, there is just a "Made In Japan" engrave on the neckplate.