Greetings gang, Some time ago, I posted a few questions on a bass played by one of my favourite bands of all time (Celtic Frost), during their To Mega Therion days, they had a session(?) bassist named Dominic Steiner, and he played a Kramer aluminum necked bass. I've uploaded a pic of it, but here is the link in case the pic doesn't show: http://www.lucifuge.de/grafik/musica/celticfrost/member/DOMINIC-TMT.jpg In any case, from those I have talked with, this bass is very rare, either unpopular, or just not mass produced. I've not found one for sale, until now, it's on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4713&item=7303817381&rd=1 I'd dearly love to have it, but I'm curious what you guys (and gals) think the price might go up to, in other words, is 700$ within reason, or is it likely to fetch over a grand when done? Two asides: If anyone has one they wish to part with (or know where I can get my hands on one) please let me know, and two: Yeah I don't like the wood tone, would I be destroying a vintage piece of history by having it repainted (if such a thing is possible) or would I be better off leaving it as it is. It's already been made fretless, does that damage it's intrinic value? Thanks for putting up with my questions.
The fretless part may take away some of its value. I would be suspicious of any seller (or buyer) that has zero feedback (and only a member of ebay for 10 days). Other than that - if you want the bass - put in your max bid - if you get it great.
I would wait unless you are wanting a fretless. Keep watching ebay and I'm sure another one will turn up. Also I would never buy anything from a 0 feedback eBay seller.
He's moving to the UK, and selling all his gear, which strikes me as odd. I've been looking for one of these for 2 years now, and this is the only one I've seen so far... I have no (real) issues dealing with 0 feedback sellers, after all, if *no one* dealt with them, then nothing would ever get sold!
thanks for the heads up, and to the other person about the sound change. I'm double checking my thoughts on this bass, but you know what Oscar Wilde said about temptation right?
I'd pass on that one for the seller with no feedback and fretless with block inlays issue. Check out all the bass stores online, I see them from time to time.
might also look at a Vaccaro : http://www.grandcentralmusic.com/mall/vaccaro/ At least you can still get em new and not worry about getting a "well loved" one off ebay..
Hi, the keyboard player I work with has one. I don't think he's selling it but the comment I would make is that it weighs a ton. Must be that lead aluminum blend or something.
I didn't know they still made the aluminium neck jobs, interesting site (a work still in progress to be sure) I figured the bass was very heavy, for all the metal in it. Dunno if the attitude or the hair comes with the bass, I'm guessing not ;-) I'll have to generate my own. I still have a few days to think about it, but with all the good comments here, I'll probably pass on it. To those who have friends with one, find out if they want to sell it, I want to buy!
I've got one of these. Not the exact same model, but pretty close. Mines a DMZ5000, that one appears to be an XL9. http://www.vintagekramer.com/alum.htm Not interested in selling mine. Yes they are pretty heavy, but within the range of normal basses. They do have neck dive issues. They do have excellent tone. The neck is pretty narrow, with normal front-to-back thickness. Maybe just a little on the thick side, about like a P-Bass. There is no truss rod, so relief adjustment is very difficult to impossible. There's a few shops in the country that do work on old Steinbergers with no truss rod, so they may be able to work on these as well. It's never been an issue for me. I've never really checked it, but I'd guess mine is perfectly flat, judging from the action you can dial in on it (pretty low). I can't imagine aluminum warping unless you drop it in a furnace or something, so not having a truss rod would only be a problem if you prefer a lot of relief in your neck. The fingerboard is phenolic (Kramer called it "ebonol"), very hard stuff, so tone difference due to the inlays may not be an issue. The neck can feel cold in your hand if the bass sits in air conditioning or cold outdoor weather for a while. Not like Ice cube cold, just kinda cool. Never really bothered me, just kinda odd. It does warm up from your touch fairly quick. I've heard some folks claim that they had tuning problems because the aluminum expands and contracts with temperature. Well, to some degree that's a problem with just about any bass; wooden necks expand and contract, too. It's never really been any worse with my Kramer than with my P-Bass. Even my Modulus will change tuning a little bit if you go from 110 degrees in the back of a truck to a 70 degree air conditioned club; the neck probably doesn't move at all, but the strings themselves will. So it's always a good idea to give any bass some time to get to stage temperature and check tuning before the gig starts.
Your sig says rather unkind things about this guy, are you trying to pull a fast one, or simply stating that he has this bass for sale?
I have the 8-string version of this bass in Walnut. Yoou don't see too many of these in an 8 configuration. R