1984 "Customized" Kramer Guitar - Seattle, WA
N 47° 37.298 W 122° 20.913
10T E 548949 N 5274453
Located within the Museum of Pop Culture is a gallery containing rare guitars belonging to some of the best musicians in the U.S. Admission fees apply.
Waymark Code: WMWGZ4
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 09/04/2017
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Over 50 guitars are located in the Guitar Gallery: The Quest for Volume within the Museum of Pop Culture. One of them is a 1984 "Customized" Kramer guitar. A nearby placard reads:
The biggest guitar trend of the '80s: "hot-rodded" Stratocaster clones
Both Gibson and Fender suffered serious image and quality-control problems in the early 1980s--both nearly went under. Problem was, a new breed of players simply weren't beholden to tradition or vintage looks: they wanted flash and quality.
So with an assist from Eddie Van Halen, the flashiest and most influential musician of the era, upstart companies like Kramer snuck up on the industry, successfully marketing ever-wilder instruments armed at this new generation of guitarists. Van Halen customized a series of guitars in his trademark red/white/black motif including this stunner that he used on the 1984 tour.