Kramer Revives the Striker Guitar

Gibson has revived a few of the old Kramer line and has introduced a couple more. The mainstay has always been their Stratocaster style guitars. Like most Stratocaster style guitars the Kramer Striker is a 25.5 scale length guitars. One of more affordable versions offered is the Striker. I have not bought one of these was really curious of how they sound so I decided to check a couple out at my local guitar shop. Overall I was pretty impressed with the three that I played. While they are not quite ESP quality they are one of the better entry and mid-level guitars currently on the market.

Kramer has guitars that are made in the USA like the Baretta, but the Striker is made in Indonesia. While I don't see the quality workmanship of Korean, Japanese, or American guitars it is close and much better than many made in China. The Striker FR-422 features a North American Alder body. This if a favorite tone wood of mine as many players as well. The bolt on neck and fret board are both maple with black dot inlays and 24 frets. The pickups are made by Kramer and are high output very similar to what you would find in a Duncan Designed pickup. You also get one of the best licensed Floyd Rose Tremolos on the market today. The black hardware is pretty good quality and you currently can chose either red or black. You can purchase this guitar new for $319 at places like Musicians Friend. It can be found used for $150 or more.

Overall I would call this guitar a great starter or intermediate guitar if you want a Floyd Rose style tremolo. The neck is really slim and fast like it like and it's really sturdy. I would dare say that I actually would consider recording with one of these. I am not ready to part with my ESP for one, but this would be in the running if I quit using ESP guitars. It is a great value for the money.

Thank you for reading and good luck.

Sources

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