From JPS: The NS-2A and NS-6A were neck-thru production copies of the USA models of that time with pearl-dot necks. Although a few NS-2A models were made with inlays towards the end.
Just to ask man , Why are you saying towards the end ? Samick made the ns2a for the last year or two, all of the inlay ns2a models I've ever seen were straight up Kramer models , not Samick/kramers . also several of the inlay ones I've seen on eBay didn't have the serial number on the cover , which would mean they were made the first few years of the ns2a .
OK to clarify, they are all straight-up Kramer models. The difference is the contract factory that Kramer employed to do the builds. The first factory (which is the same factory SPECTOR works with today was dedicated just to Kramer and is now dedicated just to SPECTOR) and the Samick factory who besides building Samick will take on other company's designs on contract.
The Samick models were only during the last 6 months or so. Not the last year or two.
There were 7,000 NS-2A models made from 1986 to March of 1990 when Kramer shut it's doors. That's a four-year production run. There are less than a 1000 Samick-made NS-2A models. Sorry, NO one has exact numbers. It could be that there are 400-500 Samick NS-2A models... or be less or more. I know they are much less common. I've only seen 3 or 4 to the 30 or 40 of the standard NS-2A's for sale in the last few years.
The import stuff was Kramer... not Stuart. He insured in the beginning that the original factory was set up correctly and that he approved of the construction quality, etc... of the import instruments that had his name on them. But he really only focused on the USA-built models during his time there.
I don't have my notes in front of me so forgive me if I'm confused (and this period of SPECTOR's history is very confusing)...
But I recall that there were two circumstances by which the NS-2A inlay models came about.
There were a few NS-2A models which had inlays that were done for artists that wanted them but didn't want the cost of the NS-2. These account for about half of the total number that was estimated to have been built.
The rest were built in the end and were "parts basses" that were built after Stuart left Kramer... They were often a mix of USA NS-2 and the import NS-2A.
I'm not even sure how much of the changes going on with the imports Stuart was aware of. It's something I'm making an educated guess about but plan on clearing up when I interview him next month.
I've seen late model USA NS-2's with the Korean Haz copy circuit in them and of course there are the NS-2A's running around with USA neck inlays.
Towards the end of Kramer the owners were scrambling to try and keep the cash flow going. Of course Stuart had no idea, no one did, how deep the trouble was.
I've seen 2 that were "factory-done", meaning they were not aftermarket jobs and were ordered special by an artist from Kramer. Both were black gloss bodies and both were from the original Korean factory that did the majority of the NS-2A builds... not Samick. The inlay work on both was NOT anywhere near the same quality as the USA NS-2 models Stuart made while at Kramer. It wasn't on par with the Euro models either.
I'm working on my SPECTOR Documentary and plan on spending some time with Stuart at NAMM, picking his brain about this stuff. Details details... and I can tell you from first-hand experience, he really doesn't like talking about Kramer. It was a bad experience for him and he'd rather let it stay in the past.
He has come to understand that people who find these old Kramer SPECTOR models want to better understand what they have. So he's been very patient with me. He's really a very cool guy and someone I have unending respect for. He and PJ both.
You know how when you work with people after a while the "new car smell" sort of goes away and you start finding little things about them that sort of bother you?
In 2 years of being a consultant for SPECTOR I can only say that as time goes by I have more and more respect for these guys. Stuart, PJ, Jimmy... they're all really great people.
