Kramer Guitars Baretta Special CB

Ibanez quality

Ibanez quality guitar, the neck is impeccable, the pickup electronics need to be replaced

Impressive quality for the price

Bought it for project guitar, but found that it was really playable even in stock form. Installed Floyd Rose and after that and good setup, it is as good as original Baretta. Even the stock pickup is sounding nice. If you want cheap shredder, this is the one.

Don't look at the price, this guitar is God-tier

I bought it after owning 5 guitars ranging from 500$ up to 1600$. This guitar feels like it costs at least 6x its price easily. The only downsides I could find are the plastic nut and vintage-style tremolo. This guitar really does need a Floyd, as it was not designed for a regular tremolo. This is not terrible but I definetely feel it, given the guitar gets out of tune more often than my other guitars. Putting some graphite from a pencil definetely helps but doesn't solve the problem completely.

Nevertheless, I bought this guitar to mod it with a Floyd Rose, as there is no blue Baretta available and I really dig the single slanted pickup. I did not expect it, but even though I did not install the Floyd yet and the guitar annoyingly gets out of tune every 30-40 minutes of playing, I find myself playing it much more often than any of my other guitars, costing way way more. It is just so easy and comfortable to play that you don't wan't to play anything else afterwards, especially compared to Les Pauls. The looks of the guitar contributes to this just as much. If you like the 80s and like Blue, just get this guitar. Even by looking at it the cost will pay off for you. The color and the painting are perfect, so is the Kramer font on the headstock.

The neck is thin and wide, which is perfect for my taste. The weight of the guitar is also something to point out as playing it standing is fantastic. It is very lightweight and, switching to it after Les Pauls, my back keeps saying thank you to me. The guitar is a little bit headstock heavy because of this though but the lower weight is more important for me. The biggest surprise, however, and the greatest part of this guitar, apart from its neck, was the pickup. It is simly amazing, especially for playing the 80s stuff.

Overall, except for the tremolo and the plastic nut, I did not find any problems with this guitar. If you like the color and a slanted pickup, I definetely recommend getting it and possibly modifying in the future. If you just want a Baretta, I would recommend the version with the stock Floyd Rose, as it solves all the beforementioned problems and adds to the coolness of this guitar. Hail to the 80s!

You can’t get much better for the price

This affordable take on this legendary rock guitar is absolutely amazing. The quality of construction is no different to your average mid tier guitar and plays awesome too! Only complaint I have is the 6 screw fender style bridge which goes out of tune quite often. But that aside the sound, feel, playability is excellent and is comparable to my charvels.

Amazing guitar for the money

Amazing guitar for the money. It keeps the 80s vibe at a very low price. The pickup sounds great and the painting is flawless. However, I am looking foward to upgrading the bridge for a Floyd Rose (holes and nut modification needed) and changing the pickups and the pot, which is a LONG POT. I have put some locking tuners and the tune stability is really decent. The only negative aspects I can find is that the strings are hard to bend out of the box and the guitar needs some adjustments and fret polishing.

Amazing guitar for the price!

For any potential buyers I just want to say first off that this guitar is an absolute shredding machine especially for the price. I had just gotten it today and out of the box it does need a setup but thats expected for a guitar of this price and once setup its incredible. The neck is so comfortable and slim and has the right amount of weight and heftiness to it. My only criticism is that the volume control knob is so fragile and actually cracked with very little pressure applied to it so I would recommend replacing that part regardless of its condition. The bridge supports use of a whammy bar and is great to use when set up. The only thing is if you want to use the whammy bar at its best, I strongly suggest removing the middle coil spring located on the back of the guitar and adjusting the bridge accordlingly to get the best performance when using the whammy bar. The pickups are actually incredible which I didn't expect for a guitar this cheap so its definitely very budget friendly. The only thing I will say is that the baretta sacrfices versatility but thats definitely not a bad thing if what you bought it for was to play hard rock and metal particularly from bands of the 80s like Van Halen, Dokken, Ratt, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Kiss, Twisted Sister and Motley Crue just to name a few notable artists that this Kramer Baretta is built for. If you want to play classic rock and metal particuarly from the 80s, the Kramer Baretta is literally your best friend for the job. I highly recommend this guitar!!

Excellent and fast.

Its a very good guitar.

Low action from the begining, smooth and nice neck.

Liked the mic.

Tuners are good enough.

The fretting was good, but guess the wood was new and some more drying would been good.

Had it for more than a year now and like it more and more.

Dismount the tremolo spade, it aint a floyd rose or even close.

The largest drawback is that there are no tone control.

Get one you gonna love it.

Best guitar for the price

This guitar is amazing for the price. Neck is super comfortable for shredding, action and intonation is setup almost perfectly out of the box. Has decent high gain pickup. Looks fantastic.

Only negative thing about the guitar is the tuners. Must change.

Why didn't anyone make these guitars when I was 18?

Now I am 33 with a damaged back and looking for some lightweight and ergonomic-feeling guitars. I already have Gibson Studio 2015, Ibanez RG 32MOL, and a Chinese copy of Steinberger.

This guitar has pretty cool typical super-strat ergonomics but is lighter than Ibanez and weighs around 2,5 kilos. The neck is very accurate made and feels pretty fast. The finish is awesome.

For the sound, action, tremolo, and tuners - just like the rest of the reviews say: it's ok, considering the price and simplicity this is an awesome platform for tuning and experiments, but it's ready to play just out of the box and able to satisfy almost any home-shredder.

I play mostly alternative, punk, and classic-rock stuff so I won't hesitate to use it during my live gigs with a band.

Blasting Baretta

I orderd this Baretta in order to updgrade it a little. Didn't have to do much. Changed the volume knob, tuning machines and the bridge. The pickup actually sounds amazing, I have a Kramer '84 with a Seymour Duncan which sounds amazing and still the Baretta Special sounds killer too. The bridge was kind of standart Strato style and I changed it for a VegaTrem Vt1 UltraTrem. Easy to install by the way. I installed Schaller locking Tuners M6 and changed the knob for a Q-parts Dome with Abalone. The action is set perfectly, ready to shred. Neck feels amazing, soft and slim. Intonation is perfect. Woods are great, maple neck is good quality and the mahagony body delivers a lot of sound. Note that the head is glued with the neck, and still it is made very clever to avoid any weakness right on the spot where the neck ends and the head starts. They moved to joint a little up. Looks good tow. Price is amazing for this great sounding guitar. All you need to do is a few upgrades here and there and ready to rock where ever you want. Finish is amazing, nothing sloppy. Very accurate and nicely finished.