1986 Kramer Pacer Imperial

Details

Purchased this “blind” from Guitar Center along with another Pacer - neither of which had photographs, but with the 45-day return policy I felt it was worth the risk. Based on my conversation with the store, who told me they were both traded in by the same owner, and the mutt-like nature of the other Pacer that came along with it, I think this one may be a partial mutt as well. Really, the only giveaway is that the neckplate is too high of a serial number for a body with a recessed back plate, but all of the parts are correct for this era.

Bridge pickup is a very old Duncan Screamin’ Demon, which sounds excellent to my ears with great fullness. I installed this pickup in my Kline Baretta previously, and this one is no different - there is a grit to the midrange that some call a “growl.” That’s a fitting name, and it adds a nice bit of aggressiveness to pick attack without resorting to a high treble frequency “air” like many high output pickups do. Since this is a lower output pickup, it’s almost like a caged animal, and you’re always wanting to feed it a little more gain to let it loose. It excels under high gain and has a really great palm mute chug.