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Vintage Kramer w/ Aluminum Neck.

MoeTown1986

MoeTown1986

Sep 14, 2010
4,755
5,873
SoMD (Mechanicsville)
www.ngjbband.com
#1
Thought I'd share pics of this cool bass. I'm borrowing it from a friend and going to get a nice setup done for it. I've never seen a Kramer like this before. Aluminum neck and head stock! He says its a late 70's early 80's. It's made in the USA and heavy as heck!
ImageUploadedByTalkBass1373053300.560621.jpg
ImageUploadedByTalkBass1373053336.150993.jpg
 
#2
I had one for a while, earlier than yours, mine was from the first few months Gary was in business as it was built sometime in Autumn '76. Yours has the DiMarzio P pickup, mine had the Kramer pickup. Yes, they are quite heavy but their aggressive tone (mine, anyway, I do not know how the DiMarzio sounds) is really nice, if lacking a bit in the low end without some EQ help from an amp (again, yours may be different). The neck felt just like my early '70s Rickenbacker, in other words, perfect! :cool: Use a good, grippy strap as I recall mine had a lot of neck-dive.
 
#3
You are borrowing a DMZ 4001. First appeared in the catalog I believe in 1979. Solid P style bass with great sustain and Dimarzio pow. Probably weighs around 12 lbs. Solid chunk of wood and aluminum neck.

Jeff had/has the 350B, which was in the catalog from '76-'78. By '79 it was replaced with the DMZ series. 350B was supposed to be a "deluxe" version of the 250B, a Kramerized super P Bass. Had amazing sustain and interestingly near P bass tone.

If you have any questions, just let me know.

tom
 
#4
Jeff Scott said:
I had one for a while, earlier than yours, mine was from the first few months Gary was in business as it was built sometime in Autumn '76. Yours has the DiMarzio P pickup, mine had the Kramer pickup. Yes, they are quite heavy but their aggressive tone (mine, anyway, I do not know how the DiMarzio sounds) is really nice, if lacking a bit in the low end without some EQ help from an amp (again, yours may be different). The neck felt just like my early '70s Rickenbacker, in other words, perfect! :cool: Use a good, grippy strap as I recall mine had a lot of neck-dive.
Click to expand...

This one sounds aggressive as well and has TONS of low end. It is also very head heavy and has neck dive, but it's cool none the less!
 
#5
TRichardsbass said:
You are borrowing a DMZ 4001. First appeared in the catalog I believe in 1979. Solid P style bass with great sustain and Dimarzio pow. Probably weighs around 12 lbs. Solid chunk of wood and aluminum neck.

Jeff had/has the 350B, which was in the catalog from '76-'78. By '79 it was replaced with the DMZ series. 350B was supposed to be a "deluxe" version of the 250B, a Kramerized super P Bass. Had amazing sustain and interestingly near P bass tone.

If you have any questions, just let me know.

tom
Click to expand...

Good to know!
 
#6
My first bass. A Kramer 250B. Great tone. Great playability. Must have weighed 15 lbs. But I was young and strong. Still...way, way too heavy. And in the background my first amp. Some sort of funky Ampeg combo. Imagine that. :)

TagusRanch3.jpg


M. M.
 
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#8
Never having played or seen one of these in person, I'd like to know:

- are the 2 "wooden" stripes on the back of the neck wood inlays, or is the neck painted or some such, to make it look like wood?

- is the aluminum neck hollow, or solid aluminum?

Thanks.

Kon
 
#9
GKon said:
Never having played or seen one of these in person, I'd like to know:

- are the 2 "wooden" stripes on the back of the neck wood inlays, or is the neck painted or some such, to make it look like wood?

- is the aluminum neck hollow, or solid aluminum?

Thanks.

Kon
Click to expand...

The structural part of the neck is aluminum, in the shape of a 'T' beam. The wooden parts fill in the missing spaces so you've got something to hold.
 
#11
I'm the former owner of a DMZ5000, and I've played the 4001 model. The 4001 is probably more balanced due to the body being less compact than the 5000. The Dimarzio pickup has plenty of sound options due to the coil switches. I think you have a great bass.
 
#12
I've owned and played an early 1981 Kramer Vanguard (flying V) in black, serial #A9824, and known as the Vanguard Series Special Bass VNB1, made in the USA with the aluminum neck. It will do whatever I want it to except lean forward while going backward! :cool:
 
#14
dmusic148 said:
The structural part of the neck is aluminum, in the shape of a 'T' beam. The wooden parts fill in the missing spaces so you've got something to hold.
Click to expand...

Thank you. That's what I figured, but wanted confirmation.

How about the structure of the neck. Do you now if it was a hollow "T" beam, or solid?
 
#17
Thanks for all the info, dmusic148. I appreciate it.

I hadn't considered temp. changes affecting it, but it makes perfect sense. It must be difficult to handle in extreme hot or cold weather.

How badly does temp change alter the sound of the instrument?

Are there any bonding issues between the aluminum and the fret board and/or the wooden slats on the back of the neck?
 
#19
My buddy had an aluminum necked Kramer 6 string, and yeah, tuning was always an issue until the temp stabilized.
That only seemed to happen about mid-gig and lasted for about one set, two tops, then it started cooling again and the tuning kept going out of whack.
The guitars were neck divers also.
Weight was pretty much in the Les Paul neighborhood.

I played one of the DiMarzio equipped basses in a pawn shop, but it was too heavy and they wanted too much for it: $700 back in the mid 1990s.
I never could get used to the feel of the wood/aluminum on the back of the neck.
 

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