1986 Kramer Pacer Deluxe

Unique Features

• Transition era neck

  • pointy headstock and “American” script logo

  • one-piece with 90° headstock splice

  • This would’ve been a “Banana” neck that was reshaped at the factory in late ‘85

• This guitar is in nearly flawless shape, truly a case queen.

• Recessed back plate

• Bareknuckle Pickups

  • “Rebel Yell” with raygun graphic Humbucker

  • “Slow Hand” single coil pickups

Take

I bid on this all the way back in 2012 on eBay, and was the only bidder and got it at the starting price. Probably one of my best deals - it was only my second Kramer and thus received an extensive amount of play time from me. The seller took all photographs with it on top of a towel, and it came in a cheap but effective hard case. Taking care to avoid scratches even when photographing it to sell is always a good sign that the guitar has been very well cared for. It also has spent little time in the sun as the champagne finish still has a lovely silver tint in the right light, compared to others I have seen that are much more yellowed. It has the lowest S/N I’ve seen a recessed back plate on as well. Recessed back plates ran from around this guitar (E26xx) to somewhere around E52xx. The neck is in impeccable shape, and even with the banana era headstock paint, there is very little flaking around the edges. This is also a great example of a banana shaved down to the pointy shape by hand, as it has slightly different dimensions than the later production pointy headstocks.

Modifications are very light, with a simple pickup swap and no other changes. I find the BKP “Rebel Yell” to be a great looking pickup that gets a lot of questions and compliments thanks to the engraved graphic, but I’m a little disappointed in how it sounds. It isn’t bad by any means, but it doesn’t blow me away - it’s very similar to the Duncan “JB,” but with a little extra air on top and slightly less output. The “Slow Hand” single coils sound excellent and may be my favorite low-output single coil sound. They have slightly more mids than the stock SSL-1’s but retain the high jangle, which makes a great quack in position 4. The neck has a slightly rounder profile than later 3-piece pointies and a nice smooth finish with vintage sized frets. I find it to be excellent, although this guitar is less “shreddy” than the pointy black headstock would indicate.