« Kramer Focus »

I purchased this guitar from, like everyone else who has reviewed this guitar, MusicYo.com (Is this the only place to get one of these things?). I paid just $79.95 for it, which is less than I paid for my very first no-name electric guitar with sky-high action more than 15 years ago. That first guitar was quite simply, a piece of crap. It was literally almost unplayable. You'd expect a piece of junk from a guitar in 2002 for just under 80 bucks, but the Kramer Focus is anything but. A good friend of mine turned me on to MusicYo.com and the new Kramer guitars. He kept going on and on about how great these were and I just kept thinking, "yeah, right. how good could a chinese made (I know some reviewers are saying these are Korean made but mine had a sticker that said "made in China") guitar for 80 bucks be?" He finally brought one to my house for me to check out. I opened the case (not included) and what looked back at me was a beautiful Lake Placid Blue Kramer Focus, something I hadn't seen since my High School Days back in the mid 80's. Well, to make a long story just a little shorter (if that's possible at this point) I was blown away. I couldn't believe that this was a "cheap guitar". I've owned a lot of guitars over the years, including some of the entry-level models from Fender and Gibson and I must say, the Focus is 10 times better in almost every way than the Squire Strat and the Cheap Les Paul that Gibson offers. In fact, my friend now has one in each available color and is planning on purchasing the Kramer "Tele" soon ($199 at MusicYo). He gigs with them nearly every weekend and gets compliments on the sound, the look, and has 30-somethings going nuts over what appears to be a perfect condition Kramer from "back in the day".

I like it all. What else can I say? It's not an American Standard Stratocaster but it's every bit as good or better than the Fender Mexican made strat. And the neck on the Focus is outstanding (read on below...) The coolest thing is that you could buy FOUR (YES FOUR!) of the Kramers for what you can buy just one of the Mex Strats. Oh, and the best part is MusicYo charged just $7.95 to ship it!

For the money, ther's nothing I don't like. I guess if I had a gripe it would be the cheesey-looking knobs (kind of chrome P-Bass looking) and the ugly pickguard on the Standard model. I have a black Focus and replaced the ugly black guard with a white Pearloid pickguard and white knobs, pickup covers and switchtip. Boy, is it sharp! All total, I have about $100 in the Focus now.

Construction seems to be ok. Finish is nice but not perfect. It's pretty thin and I can see the wood grain through the black paint. I did take the guitar apart when I installed the new pickguard and everything seems to be pretty decent. Soldering is ok and the inside is good for a guitar in this price range. The neck and action are probably the two best things about the Focus. Mine has a "satin" finish on the back of the neck and the action is low but not so low that there is a major buzzing problem. Intonation seems to be nearly dead on as well and even with moderate tremelo use it stays in tune. Suprising, since the cheapest thing on the guitar seems to be the tuners. When you turn them they just feel "cheap" (but they seem to being doing a fine job so far). Fortunately, this is an easy and inexpensive fix. I wish that I had had a guitar like this to learn on and I plan on having my 10 year old daughter take lessons on it. With a guitar like this, I don't think she'll become frustrated the way an inferior guitar can make a student.

Bottom line is this: If you are just learning to play or are a seasoned veteran who needs a good back-up, GO BUY THE KRAMER FOCUS. You will not be sorry. There are several models to choose from (standard, deluxe and "fatboy"). The only difference I can see in the Standard and Deluxe is the color selection. The deluxe is available in sone nice colors such as Lake Placid Blue, Candy Apple Red, Surf Green and Metallic Silver. The FatBoy has a humbucker in the bridge position and a maple fretboard. Now, quit reading this and click on over to MusicYo.com and order one for yourself! Oh, one last thing, to the reviewer "Jeff" who trashed the Focus giving it just a "one pick" rating, and compared it to a Fender American Stratocaster all I can say is that when comparing guitars at least compare apples to apples. Jeff either recieved what would appear to be the rare Kramer "lemon" or is just a moron who doesn't know much about guitars (or maybe it's both

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com