Last Updated on December 21, 2023 by Chris

Left Handed Kramer Guitars

After writing about left handed Epiphone guitars, I thought I’d check out what left handed Kramer guitars are available, as they’re also part of the Gibson Brands Family.

So, does Kramer make lefty guitars? Yes, they do! Check them out below, or read on for more info…

Go straight to the guitars.

January Update: Kramer has recently announced a new lefty model for 2023; the SM-1 Figured, available in 3 colors!

Who Are Kramer Guitars?

Kramer Guitars was founded in the late 1970s when Gary Kramer parted ways with his friend and business partner Travis Bean. They had started Travis Bean Guitars together in 1974.

Kramer took the Travis Bean guitar design, which used aluminum necks running through to the guitar’s body and had the pickups mounted within the aluminum. Kramer used this design, but also added wooden inserts in the necks to cut down on weight and to get around the Travis Bean patent and file his own.

Gary Kramer partnered with friend Dennis Berardi, who introduced Kramer to luthier Phil Petillo who would then make prototype guitars for Kramer. Berardi also brought in Peter LaPlaca (Vice-President at Norlin, the company that owned Gibson at the time), and businessman Henry Vaccaro. Together they opened a manufacturing plant in Neptune, New Jersey.

During a successful showing at NAMM, Kramer Guitars took a large number of guitar orders and it was then time to start production.

Gary Kramer claims that LaPlaca placed all responsibility on him to sort out the mass production of these guitars, and having little knowledge of this process, he decided to move back to California. Kramer said that LaPlaca and Berardi came up with an offer to buy the company from him, allowing him to collect royalties and be Kramer Guitars’ West Coast artist public relations representative.

Gary Kramer claims this never happened and things didn’t work out as planned, with no royalties being paid and the agreement falling apart.

From this point, Gary Kramer no longer had any connection to the company, other than by name.

Kramer Guitars became known for producing instruments using high-quality, fancy materials and hardware, and by 1981 switched to producing guitars with wooden necks, keeping production costs down and appealing to more traditional players. By 1982, Kramer stopped producing their “Alumi-neck” guitars.

The early ’80s also saw a chance meeting between Berardi and Eddie Van Halen‘s manager on an airplane flight. Eddie was looking for a tremolo system that stayed in tune, which Kramer guitars offered, so Eddie met up with Kramer and later began endorsing their guitars.

By 1983, Kramer switched to the Floyd Rose system, which proved to be a wise move. At that time, Kramer was the only guitar company that offered Original Floyd Rose tremolos stock on their production guitars, making them even more popular.

Kramer Guitars enjoyed much success over the next few years, outselling both Fender and Gibson two years in a row in 1985 and 1986. Also during this period, Kramer expanded their business and acquired Spector Bass.

By 1987 Kramer had moved all guitar neck and body manufacturing to ESP Guitars in Japan. Kramer’s “American Series” were merely assembled in Neptune, New Jersey using Japanese parts. Kramer also had several cheaper guitar ranges made in Korea.

At this time, a series of unfortunate events led to the company running into financial difficulties. A labor strike in Korea left the company unable to keep up with orders, a lawsuit with Floyd D. Rose over royalties also cost them dearly, and on top of that, Kramer was over-spending on advertising and endorsements.

The Kramer company effectively came to an end in 1991, however owner Henry Vaccaro was the only original partner who wanted to keep the brand going, and in 1995 he tried producing Kramer guitars from surplus parts, but very few were actually made.

In 1997, the Kramer brand was sold to Gibson Guitar Corporation after filing for bankruptcy, and they have since reissued classic Kramer guitars and limited runs with custom art.

What Do I Think of Kramer Guitars?

To be honest, I never knew much about Kramer guitars when I first started playing guitar; I had heard of them and was aware of the brand, but I wasn’t really a fan of their “banana” headstock at the time, so didn’t pay a great deal of attention to them until more recently.

Also, I started playing in 1990, so with the company pretty much ending in 1991, I didn’t really get much chance to get to know them!

However, I have taken a liking to some of their interestingly decorated custom graphics guitars in recent years. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, none of them are available in left handed configuration.

Different Types of Kramer Guitars

For their electric guitars, Kramer has the following different ranges of guitar available:

• Original Collection
• Modern Collection
• Artist Collection
• Custom Graphics Collection
• Packs Collection

Left Handed Kramer Electric Guitars

Please note: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means that at no extra cost to you, I may get a small commission if you buy anything when you click through. If you do make a purchase, then thank you so much! It really helps me keep this website going.

As you may know, Kramer has a decent number of guitar models available to righties. So how many left handed Kramer guitars are there?

Have a look below.

Please note: Where lefty guitar or bass images haven’t been provided on the official website, I’ve flipped the right handed image to show what the left handed version might look like.

Kramer SM-1 Figured

$1,199.00 MSRP

• BODY: Mahogany
• TOP: AAA Figured Maple Veneer
• BODY FINISH: Gloss – Caribbean Blue Perimeter, Royal Purple Perimeter, Black Denim Perimeter
• SCALE: 25.5″ (648mm)
• NECK: Neck-Through with Contoured Heel and adjustable truss rod
• NECK PROFILE: Kramer K-Speed SlimTaper C
• FINGERBOARD: Ebony with white binding, Kramer Mini Headstock inlays and a 12th fret Engraved Kramer inlay.
• FINGERBOARD RADIUS: 320 mm
• NUT TYPE: Floyd Rose R2 Locking Nut, Top Mount
• NUT WIDTH: 43mm
• FRETS: 24 Jumbo
• HARDWARE COLOR: Black Chrome
• TUNERS: Kramer Black Die Cast
• BRIDGE: Floyd Rose 1000 series Tremolo
• NECK PICKUP: Seymour Duncan Cool Rails
• MIDDLE PICKUP: Seymour Duncan Cool Rails
• BRIDGE PICKUP: Seymour Duncan JB
• CONTROLS: Master Volume, Master Tone, Mini Toggle (Coil Split for the Bridge Pickup)

Check price/availability at:

Kramer Striker HSS

$349.00 MSRP

• BODY: Mahogany
• BODY FINISH: Gloss – Majestic Purple, Jumper Red, Ebony
• SCALE: 25.5″ (648mm)
• NECK: Bolt-on Maple with Mounting Ferrules
• NECK PROFILE: Kramer K-Speed SlimTaper C
• NECK FINISH: Satin
• FINGERBOARD: Malpe with Black Dot inlays
• FINGERBOARD RADIUS: 320mm
• NUT TYPE: Licensed Floyd Rose R2 Lock Nut, Top Mount
• NUT WIDTH: 43mm
• FRETS: 24 Medium Jumbo
• HARDWARE COLOR: Black
• TUNERS: Die Cast
• BRIDGE: Licensed Floyd Rose
• NECK PICKUP: Kramer Alnico 5 SC-1; Black
• MIDDLE PICKUP: Kramer Alnico 5 SC-1; Black
• BRIDGE PICKUP: Kramer Alnico 5 HB-1 Zebra Coil
• CONTROLS: Master Volume, Master Tone, 5-way Selector

Check price/availability at:

Kramer Pacer Classic

$379.00 MSRP

• BODY: Alder
• BODY FINISH: Gloss – Radio Blue Metallic, Scarlet Red Metallic, Purple Passion Metallic
• SCALE: 25.5″ (648mm)
• NECK: Bolt-on Maple with Chrome Plate
• NECK PROFILE: Kramer K-Speed SlimTaper C
• FINGERBOARD: Malpe with Dot inlays
• FINGERBOARD RADIUS: 304.8mm
• NUT TYPE: Licensed Floyd Rose R2 Lock Nut, Top Mount
• NUT WIDTH: 41.3mm
• FRETS: 22 Medium Jumbo
• HARDWARE COLOR: Chrome
• TUNERS: Die Cast
• BRIDGE: Licensed Floyd Rose
• NECK PICKUP: Alnico 5 Classic Humbucker with Double White Exposed Coils
• BRIDGE PICKUP: Alnico 5 Classic Humbucker with Double White Exposed Coils
• CONTROLS: 2x Volume, Master Tone, 3-way Mini Toggle

Check price/availability at:

• Guitar Center Guitar-A-Thon Financing – 0% Financing for 48 Months on Qualifying Brand Purchases + 10% Back in Rewards
• Fender Savings at Guitar Center – Save 10% on select Fender gear when you sign in or create a Guitar Center account.

Kramer Baretta

$799.00 MSRP

• BODY: Maple
• BODY FINISH: Gloss – Ebony, Jumper Red, Bumblebee Yellow
• SCALE: 25.5″ (647.7mm)
• NECK: Bolt-on Hard Maple
• NECK PROFILE: Kramer Thin Profile
• NECK FINISH: Satin
• FINGERBOARD: Maple with Dot inlays
• FINGERBOARD RADIUS: 12.6″ (320mm)
• NUT TYPE: Floyd Rose R2 1000 Series Lock Nut with Black String Retaining Bar
• NUT WIDTH: 1.63″ (41.28mm)
• FRETS: 22 Jumbo
• HARDWARE COLOR: Black Chrome
• TUNERS: Mini Die Cast
• BRIDGE: Floyd Rose 1000 Series Tremolo
• BRIDGE PICKUP: Seymour Duncan JB zebra-coil humbucker
• CONTROLS: Master Volume with Push/Pull Series/Parallel Switch, 3-way Paddle Mini Toggle

Check price/availability at:

• Guitar Center Guitar-A-Thon Financing – 0% Financing for 48 Months on Qualifying Brand Purchases + 10% Back in Rewards
• Fender Savings at Guitar Center – Save 10% on select Fender gear when you sign in or create a Guitar Center account.

Kramer NightSwan

$899.00 MSRP

• BODY: Mahogany
• BODY FINISH: Gloss – Jet Black Metallic
• SCALE: 24.75″ (628.6mm)
• NECK: Bolt Neck with Black Kramer Neck Plate; 3-piece Hard Maple
• NECK PROFILE: C-Shaped
• NECK FINISH: Satin
• FINGERBOARD: Ebony with White Pearloid Dot inlays (size varies) in “Ping Pong” Configuration
• FINGERBOARD RADIUS: 16″
• NUT TYPE: Floyd Rose R2 Lock Nut, Black
• NUT WIDTH: 1.63″ (41.28mm)
• FRETS: 24 Jumbo
• HARDWARE COLOR: Black Chrome
• TUNERS: Die Cast Mini 6-Inline – Black
• BRIDGE: Floyd Rose 1000 Series Tremolo
• MIDDLE PICKUP: Seymour Duncan JB
• BRIDGE PICKUP: Seymour Duncan JB
• CONTROLS: Master Volume, 3-way Paddle Mini Toggle

Check price/availability at:

• Guitar Center Guitar-A-Thon Financing – 0% Financing for 48 Months on Qualifying Brand Purchases + 10% Back in Rewards
• Fender Savings at Guitar Center – Save 10% on select Fender gear when you sign in or create a Guitar Center account.

Left Handed Kramer Acoustic Guitars

At the time of writing, there are no left handed Kramer acoustic guitars in the current lineup.

Left Handed Kramer Basses

Unfortunately for left handed bass players, there are no left handed Kramer bass guitars available at the time of writing.

Final Thoughts

At one point, Kramer Guitars was one of the most popular and successful guitar companies in the world, and there are a number of cool-looking right handed guitars available. At the time of writing, there are five left handed Kramer guitars available to us.

And now Kramer has announced a more premium guitar for 2023; the SM-1 Figured, giving us lefty guitarists another option in addition to their more modestly priced guitars from the last couple of years.

Kramer offers some really nice models to our right handed friends, including the Jersey Star, SM-1 H, and Baretta Hotrod. Let’s hope there’ll be some more lefty Kramer guitars in the future!

What are your thoughts on Kramer guitars? Do you own any? If so, what do you have and what do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Image credits: kramerguitars.com & Kramer Guitars on Facebook