Picked up this ‘84ish Pacer Imperial sight unseen, but based on a description from a sales clerk at Guitar Center. I’ve had my ups and downs with GC, but this was an excellent experience - gave me the serial number, a good description of the condition and details, and made sure the case came with it too - the original for this era, with black piping.
Of course, when ordering any banana-headstocked Kramer, I was a bit worried about the condition of the scarf joint and I’m pleased to say it’s very good, with only the slightest feel of the joint and no signs of slippage. On top of that, the guitar is otherwise in really superb shape - hardly any rust or grime, frets have plenty of life, even the body seems barely used besides a few polishing swirls on the front and back. The original hardware is all present, from the floyd, tuners, and the schaller humbuckers - awesome. I usually don’t love R5 nuts, most of the other Kramers I have with these wide necks are not my preference, but something about this one feels much more natural. Action was a little high on arrival, but apparently it wasn’t played for years before being traded in - I can believe that, but a few tweaks to the floyd height and everything fell right into place.
It’s also extremely heavy, with a hard maple body, which has a subtle grain on the top and back but looking at the sides, you can see that tell-tale “squares” pattern of a quartersawn piece of maple - very unique, although the weight could be a bit fatiguing for some. Unplugged tone is bright and snappy, and for a heavy body it resonates really well, and the schallers sound great through my amps, no surprise there as I’ve always really liked these pickups.