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Kramer "Duke" Deluxe bass
- Thread starter space_age85
- Start date
I had one in the mid 80's also. Fun bass I should have kept. Oh well...
Yes, 30.5" scale.
Yes, 30.5" scale.
I had one of those for about a year sold it to move out of state.
It depends. The Hondo Alien was the same bass - but it had a Schaller pickup in it. That pickup was pretty "meh" and on mine got swapped for an EMG 81 and I built a little plastic surround for it. If anyone finds it, my ex-brother-in-law stole it and probably pawned it in South Georgia/Northern Florida in the early 2000s...
Maybe only the Kramer had the DiMarzio.
I'm trying to remember how much I paid for it new back in the 80's...seen them go anywhere from $450 - $1,200 on Reverb.....if it's in mint condition, I'd say you did well, although to be honest, I'm really not sure what today's market value would be. Having said that, you have to remember one thing about this bass and design - I remember it being somewhat of a pain to play sitting down because of the headless design.......tended to slide around a lot. I remember putting on a small, rubber pad on the lower part below the knob controls. Helped to stabilize it. But yeah, despite the challenging ergonomics, it was a fun bass to play - the 80's were a big, headless era. I think Cort had one as well, and of course, Steinberger was the biggie. Have fun with it!
Holy Crap. That's an early Steinberger!
Those Schaller pickups are really cool. They are a copy of Dimarzio's dual coil Jazz pickups, there are four seperate coils all wired separately. There are ton of wiring options available.
Okay...
Yes, I own one of them; a left-handed one, made in (probably) 1982. I've owned a couple of right handed ones, too; another Special (Kramer also called them a "Deluxe" for a while), and a regular version - with a regular humbucker pickup - as well. A local music store has that one - and, surprisingly, records with it quite a bit. A right handed friend of mine has the other one. So, what can I tell you about them?
- The body is - or should be - mahogany, and it ain't as light as you think, from looking at it. Mine weighs 7.95lbs.; yours is probably close.
- Yeah, it's a short scale bass - 31". Mine currently wears DR SFL Legends (45-105); the silk at both ends is not a problem. It came to me with short scale GHS Boomers on it. I liked those a lot, but when they died? The Legends went on. I prefer flats, anyway, so the fact that they sound a lot like the Boomers did is a nice bonus...
- Hardware? American Kramer's almost always used Schaller stuff, and the Duke is no exception. I've had no problem with the 3D-4 bridge - even though it's backwards - and the Schaller guitar tuners have no problem with bass strings going through the holes. Mine tunes up/intonates just fine...
- Pickup? That's also a Schaller - their "Twin-J". Here's where I have to talk about older Kramers. I own several of them, and none of them exactly match the description in the catalogs or reviews. Especially the American ones; I think they just came to work, and more or less just built what they felt like building at the moment... Anyway;
A Duke Special is supposed to have the "Twin-J" pickup; fancy knobs; and a small 3-way switch. The one my friend has, has a 2-way switch; all it does is split the coils. I'm not exactly sure what the 3-way switch is supposed to do, but here's what mine does, pretending the pickup is two back-to-back Jazz Bass single coils;
1. Switch up - back (bridge) pickup on;
2. Middle - both of the pickups on;
3. Switch down - half of each pickup on, in a split-coil P-Bass configuration. In case you're wondering? Yes, it does sound a lot like a P-Bass - with flats...
Talking with other Duke Deluxe owners, I get the impression that the pickup isn't intended to do that - but mine does. And, yes; it's small control cavity is a nightmare mess of small wires. I took the cover off when I got the bass, years ago. I looked at that mare's nest of wires; carefully put the cover back on - and it hasn't been off since... Maybe yours does what mine does; maybe it doesn't. I suppose it just depends on how ambitious they felt that day...
- Balance. My personal view of a bass's balance, is that a large part of it depends on who's playing it. I own a bunch of basses that people here constantly complain about being neck heavy. On my shoulder? I don't think they're the least bit neck heavy... As for the Duke? On my shoulder, my Duke is actually "Butt" heavy; I have to hold the neck down - just a little bit - when I play it. It's not a problem at all; but, it is noticeable - and took some getting used to.
So... bottom line? I quite like mine; it's quirky, but it's easy to play, and sounds and feels good. My only real complaint is that, like a lot of left handed basses? You could have any color you want - as long as it's black.
Enjoy your Duke. 
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Hummergeist
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- Jul 21, 2020
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WOW. Nostalgia time. I used to want one of those so bad, almost as much as a Steinberger (which I did get later). Never got the Duke, though. I remember reading a review in a UK music publication at the time, and the guy who wrote it slagged the Duke, slagged the Steinberger, and I remember thinking even then that he was not really getting it. I was all over those things.
The short scale Kramers (at least the ones with headstocks) used the exact same neck casting as the regular long scale ones (with a different fretboard) - the long scale ones had 20 frets, the shorts had 24. I heard once (may or may not be the case) that a Duke is made with the same casting, but the headstock end was machined off.
yea, Schaller isn't exactly a name we think of for pickups... like, at all... but they are a solid brand... however they made their pickups is kind of a mystery.
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When I was in high school in the 80s, I was one of two bass players in the jazz band. I had a P-bass, the other guy had one of those. We both left our instruments in the band hall so that each of us could play either as we wanted. So I played one of those quite a bit - loved it!
Those stock Schaller pickups are AWESOME, I advise you not to part with them. Louder, Hotter, and Brighter than pretty much anything you can replace them with.
Here's how mine came to me:
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However, I didn't like the side jack, nor the three position switch, so I rewired mine and put in a pair of dual-coil humbucking Bartolini pups with a top-mounted jack, and the tone control is a pull-pot to put the two humbuckers in parallel or in series. (Four coils total) It does provide a very strong "two-basses-in-one" functionality and the Barts are really noiseless. But it's overall a touch milder-sounding now, I still miss the in-your-face qualities of the original pickups.
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I have to say this bass guitar has kicked dozens of much more expensive basses way out to the curb, and was my #1 bass right up to when my custom shortscale BassLab arrived last year. I love the tone and playability of this 1984 Kramer Duke but I am sold on the uniquely organic tone of the basslab, which is even more interesting - so it's getting the lion's share of roundwound work nowadays
Here's how mine came to me:
Invalid Link Removed
However, I didn't like the side jack, nor the three position switch, so I rewired mine and put in a pair of dual-coil humbucking Bartolini pups with a top-mounted jack, and the tone control is a pull-pot to put the two humbuckers in parallel or in series. (Four coils total) It does provide a very strong "two-basses-in-one" functionality and the Barts are really noiseless. But it's overall a touch milder-sounding now, I still miss the in-your-face qualities of the original pickups.
Invalid Link Removed
I have to say this bass guitar has kicked dozens of much more expensive basses way out to the curb, and was my #1 bass right up to when my custom shortscale BassLab arrived last year. I love the tone and playability of this 1984 Kramer Duke but I am sold on the uniquely organic tone of the basslab, which is even more interesting - so it's getting the lion's share of roundwound work nowadays
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Jermaine Jackson used one at the Motown 20th Anniversary show, and I just saw a pic of Edward VH playing one on Facebook.
A few decades ago, a buddy of mine had one of those and I laughed at it when I first saw it. Both our bands played at a little hometown festival thing (flatbed trailer setup), and I used it for soundcheck cause the guitar player was bringing my bass. I know that in its own is blasphemy, but we played the night before till around 3AM and most of our stuff was in his Astro Van lol. That being said, I was BLOWN AWAY at how good it sounded and played. Was no longer a laughing matter.
um... that's not a Duke! (or a Kramer of any sort...)
LOL, eyesight is not what it used to be, my bad. The only thing remotely Kramer about this is the color of the case. That looked closer to a Steinberger Spirit, more likely a knockoff.
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