Any Aluminum Kramer Players Out There...

[martybernal]

I was wondering if anyone else uses their Kramers as their main player? I have a DMZ 6000 that is still laying down the heavy thump.

Marty

 

[pinkzepphish]

how does that aluminum sound? i would assume it gives hella high end. is that right?

 

[martybernal]

Yes it does. It has the original Dimarzio pickups, the electronics are all original, super clean and quiet. This bass was ahead of it's time....

Marty

 

[tommy gilstrap]

I have a 1978 DMZ 5000 that was stolen from me in Nashville in 1980. I found it for sale on line at Bass Northwest about 4 years ago. I didn't know it was my old bass and was just buying it for nostalgia's sake because it looked similar. When the bass arrived at my house and I played it, I noticed a nick on the back of the neck behind the third fret that I had put there by dropping it. Now if I could just find the 1970 Jazz bass that was stolen along with the Kramer!

 

[dalkowski]

I have a 1978 DMZ 5000 that was stolen from me in Nashville in 1980. I found it for sale on line at Bass Northwest about 4 years ago. I didn't know it was my old bass and was just buying it for nostalgia's sake because it looked similar. When the bass arrived at my house and I played it, I noticed a nick on the back of the neck behind the third fret that I had put there by dropping it. Now if I could just find the 1970 Jazz bass that was stolen along with the Kramer!

Dag, yo. Whatta great story!

I had one o'them around '81 and apart from the neck dive, it was a prime bass. I miss it (sold it for college spending money).

 

[depalm]

Had a Kramer bass in the 80s, sounded really good but I suffered with the neck dive!

I gave it as a gift for an old friend.

 

[martybernal]

I wonder if any neck straps exist that help hold the neck up to help with the dive....

 

[Oren Hudson]

I'm the proud owner of a Kramer Flying V in black. I love it. It's got a lot of horsepower!

 

[mikezimmerman]

I ahd a Kramer DMZ 5000 as my first "real" bass (after the catalog junk) in about 1979, and played it for about 4 years. At one point I had a BadAss bridge installed, because for some silly reason I thought it would be better to have even more sustain. Eventually the central body laminations started separating, and I sold it for cheap to a friend who was just learning bass.

Mike

 

[bovinehost]

Long gone, but it sure did a slew of gigs.

 

[rkingly]

Long gone, but it sure did a slew of gigs.

Is that Afro long gone as well?
Awesome Afro my bass brother.
I have 2 Kramers & I Love them.

 

[pjmuck]

I have a 1980 DMZ4001. Weighs a ton but has a great piano-like tone and endless sustain. Admittedly, it's not my main bass and I don't play it much, but it has a sound like no other.

 

[Crass!]

I have a 1979 DMZ 6000B as my one and only <3

 

[Passinwind]

Not quite a Kramer, but this '77 Travis Bean fretless that I bought new back then still gets some love at gigs once in a while:

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[lousybassist]

Not quite a Kramer, but this '77 Travis Bean fretless that I bought new back then still gets some love at gigs once in a while:

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Too cool!

Please post more pictures of your Travis Bean - those are such nice looking guitars, after all.

 

[singlemalt]

'76 450B, had it since 1980. Bought the Kramer and a Custom roll and tuck amp from a blowhead for $300 total. My first bass and amp. First step down the slippery slope...

This thing was my only bass, until I found talk bass two years ago. A couple others came and went ( the rick and another crappy fretless) but this one always sounded and played better. Its a keeper.

Over the years, I've replaced the pups with Dimarzio stacked Jazz, put in a Bartolini preamp, switched to a wilkerson bridge, and last summer had the frets pulled and filled with maple strips. Currently, sporting TI jazz flats. Super sweet.

The only problem is she still weighs in around 13 lbs. Once I get the fretless thing worked out a bit better...we can go out and play again.

I've thought about selling it here and again, but its worth more to me. First love and all that.

My highway 1 jazz is gettting all the work these days and saving my back.

 

[chuck1073]

I had a DMZ5000 back in the early 80's. I remember that being one HEAVY bass. A Duke followed that one. I glued two Bart J's together to replace the stock PUP. The Duke was replaced by a Steinberger L2 (#958). I've always wanted that bass back!

 

[Pj,Rj,Hj]

Travis Bean seemed to have been a smaller company, were they superior to Kramer?
You don't see too many TBeans on the used market as opposed to Kramer so they go for much more.
Does anyone have experience with both?

 

[troll]

I own this beauty. I only played it a few times before disassembling it. It has a stripped mounting hole in the neck. I've long since lost the nut, and maybe some other things.

The main issue is the body wings are cracking, and the neck twists with string tension. I've been meaning to get it all fixed and put together by a pro for ages. Also if someone has a good source for a proper nut (with the locating peg hole in it) I'm all ears.

I need to get it back playing again because I remember the way it sounded fondly, I'd use it with my current band in a second.

I don't recall it neck diving much because that body is HEAVY!

 

[speedbass]

I joined this site just to say this:

The DMZ 5K is by far the best bass I've ever played. A modulus once came close to the speed and feel, but was over 3x the price I originally paid for my Kramer ($320 in 1983).

I regularly use effects, so that's one factor: it shines with anything you put it through. Currently I have a Boss G6-B through an Ampeg SVT Pro preamp into a Crown PowerBase 2 into an Ampeg 4x10 Classic.

And the sustain is fantastic. Speedwise, it's a low action freak and with chords, playing rather like a rhythm guitar, it rocks FAST. Plus weather has no effect on it at all and rarely it goes out of tune.

...but most importantly, I once took out an entire drumset with it in one mighty swing, with only a chip taken out of the back corner bottom by the plate cover.