Kramer DMZ 2000...Aluminium neck guitars.......

Does anybody know how these guitars compare to a Travis Bean?
I've seen these guitars around, and I'm thinking of getting one.
I'd like to know if anybody has any opinions about them, good or bad.

Excellent site!!!! An invaluable source of knowledge for like minded people.

Hey Dano,
I was asking my self the same question, a couple of weeks ago. Kramers are a lot more common and affordable than Travis Beans are.
I have an late 70s Kramer and the good thing about it is, is the way it plays. The fretboard is great, the neck is bit wider than a Gibson or a Fender neck. It's almost like a classical guitar. You can read on harmony central about how well these guitars are constructed and finished - it's true.
The main diffference to a Travis Bean is the way the neck is joined to the body. Kramer fixes the neck with two screws to the body, just like a Fender. I you have a look at the Travis Bean patent you see how those necks are linked with the body. I guess that this gives a Travis Bean more sustain and more bass response than a Kramer. Travis Bean necks are except for the fretboard totally made of aluminium, Kramer necks have wood inlays on the back of the neck.
Kramer used similiar wood for their bodies (Koa or sometimes magnolia) but different pickups. The Kramer pick ups are really bad, especially the bridge pick ups (single coil and humbucker versions). They have very little output and tend to sound thin. It's really hard to replace those pick ups with others because of Kramers unique pick up caps design and the way they are fitted into the body. The Kramer neck may have some of the metallic sound qualities that a Travis Bean has but it definetly lacks the bass response of those.
The other guitarist in my band has two Kramers with aluminium necks. He replaced the pick ups with P 90s and Seymor Duncan Jeff Beck Humbuckers on the other guitar and he's really satisfied with them. Our bass player has a Alu Kramer Bass, it's a fantastic instrument.
I'm thinking about getting a new mahogony body with P 90s and use that with my Kramer's neck.
Maybe Steve has more info on Travis Beans.
max.

Hi Dano, not much to add here after the authoritative response from Max although it's worth mentioning that the DMZ (as you might expect from the name) models are fitted with Dimarzio pick ups which give a much beefier sound than the original Kramer ones (I don't think that they sound too bad though - have a listen to the first Oxes record, I'm pretty sure they used early Kramers on that, perhaps 450Gs).

I noticed one on eBay this morning here in the UK - a horribly inflated price (the man is deluded it seems, not sure how reliable this is), the spiel is riven with errors but there's a passing mention of how they compare to Beans : http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... egory=2384 ... I think the difference in the way the neck and body are joined mentioned by Max is the main factor in why Kramers don't sound quite as good but they're certainly worth considering - I picked up a very similar model with twin humbuckers for about GBP180 last year and I'm utterly smitten, it sounds as you might expect - wonderfully aggressive and sustains for aeons. the build quality is superb, it will outlive me, I'm sure of that. if you can find one at a good price I'd say an unequivocal two thumbs up.

Thanks for the replies guys, I think I might just get me a DMZ 2000

I just sold a Kramer DMZ. It was the 3 single coil model. Very cool guitar. They aren't quite TB's, but for the price, a very nice substitute that'll give you a different sound that a Gibson or Fender just won't do. Also, one thing that wasn't mentioned earlier was the fretboard material. It's very smooth and doesn't wear out like a normal rosewood or maple board will. Some like it, some don't. One thing that I found with mine, was that it makes a KILLER slide guitar. Big wide fretboard and the aluminum in the neck give it a sound that'll make a Tele sound like a P-bass...well, not quite, but you get the idea.
You can usually find these guys for well under $500. Check out:
http://members.aol.com/TBoling125/index.html
This will hook you up to one of the Kramer fan sites...some good info.
later,
m

Hi, I'm the deluded guy selling the DMZ3000 on EBay. It just sold for £510 which paid for my plane ticket to Australia. I think everyone knows EBay isn't the best place for a bargain and also isn't the best place for a 3000 word document detailing every last difference between TBs and Kramers and the life stpries of both their makers.
xx

hem!

forgive the minor slight chris, although i'm sure with 510 shitters in your back pocket it's hardly a concern..you done a good *tips hat*

another link: http://www.vintagekramer.com/alum.htm

No problems! having said all that, 510 for a Kramer seems positively reasonable in a world where a TB 500 costs £2000. seriously. nothings worth that.

Kramers are basically the same guitars except for the neck bodys adjustment and pickups. Almost all Kramers have wider necks (sort of like TB-1000 or an artist) and a little rounded unlike Travis Beans with Ebanol fretboards which slip and slide if sweaty ( sort of plastic which tries to recreate the feel of ebony).
Plus Kramers have two slices of wood at the back of the neck ( ever tried to play TB i nthe winter?). It doesn't solve the detuning problems due to the temperature change, though. The main difference is in the pickups, but you can try the Jason Lollar or even Armstrong P-90's to try to recreate the sound of TB-500s (you won't lack the bass response) or some older PAFs for TB-1000. If you try to copy the exact sound of a Travis Bean pickups you won't get the same results because these are handwound and are definitely the sparkliest pickups ever made. You might be lucky and find the original TB pickups on E-bay, they cost somewhere between 30-50 $.

Franjo.

I've never had tuning problems with either of my TBs. The Kramer was a bastard for it but the TBs were always in pitch and tune even out of the case.
Getting all anal about it, the difference between the Kramer and the TB is that the Kramer doesn't use a "chassis" design so its just the metal neck bolted to a wood body. the point of the TB design is that everything the string touches is part of the same piece of material so when you pluck it everything resonates together, unlike bolt on neck guitars or any other type of guitar where you've got the string attached to lots of different types of material, each resonating differently and killing the sustain of the string. The Kramer uses the aluminium neck more as a novelty if you ask me.
You can't replicate a Tb with pickup choice, maybe for loud sounds but TBs are the best guitars around for playing quiet and nothing sounds like one for this. Basically its the sound of an amplified string - really pure and exact. everyone thinks of that shellacy sound or duane denison for the sound of a TB but clean and quiet they are something else.