Kramer Guitars Baretta Vintage

TOTAL GUITAR SEPTEMBER 2020
92
HEAD TO HEAD
A question of preference
rather than value
A
s far as build quality goes, there is
very little in dierence between these
models. They all feel rugged and
reliable, with the same dependable
double-locking Floyd Rose system
to ensure tuning is held no matter how much
use or abuse it receives. All of these guitars are
tted with an allen key holder on the back of
the headstock and come with Seymour
Duncans – so really it just boils down to
which best suits your needs.
Anyone needing a neck pickup will naturally
rule out the Baretta Vintage, but there are
plenty of rock players out there that will
appreciate the simplicity of one angled
humbucker in the bridge. It’s also worth noting
that for only £50 more, the Pacer Vintage
benets from two humbuckers tted with the
treble-bleed mod. Interestingly, both of these
models are made entirely out of maple – which,
in conjunction with Seymours, makes for bright
tones with no shortage of attack to cut through.
The mahogany body and neck through of
the SM-1, however, is aimed at a more of
a darker-sounding metallic shredder – with
higher output in the neck and a trem cavity.
As we expected, it is also considerably lighter
– maple is a much denser and harder tonewood
by comparison. Its deep warmth is oset by
the snappiness of the ebony ngerboard.
The Jersey Star is the most expensive oering
in this line-up and with any group test we have
to ask ourselves, is it worth the extra money?
In this case, very much so. The alder body is
noticeably louder unplugged and sounds fuller
plugged in, with no shortage of tonal options
thanks to two independent coil split switches
for the neck and bridge pickups. This model
also features no less than 13 stars and – thanks
to the JS trussrod cover – will leave your friends
mistakenly wondering how you got your hands
on an incredibly rare Joe Satriani prototype!
The SM-1’s headstock is as
distinctive as they come
Take a walk on the wild
side with his Tiger
Graphic finish
THE JERSEY STAR’S
ALDER BODY SOUNDS
FULLER PLUGGED IN,
WITH NO SHORTAGE
OF TONAL OPTIONS
THE TG TEST
TGR336.gear_test.indd 92 13/08/2020 11:27