AlienXnationVintage Launches Restored 1980s Rockers

There are some guitars that are just plain awesome in every way. The ESP guitar in this post is one of them.

I plan to make some of the guitars that I’ve held for years available for sale. Some guitars are truly manufacturing works of functional art. ESP is probably my favorite of all manufacturers. The luthiers were truly gifted. Of course i love Charvels and if you know anything about me, one is I grew up and went to high school in the city of San Dimas California. But that said there are things i learned while collecting guitars for… well a bunch of decades. I’m gonna continually pass on the knowledge… Maybe i’ll even convince a few that along with the known brands there are some real treasures. The treasures are Charvels, Jacksons, ESP, Burny, Tokai, Fernandes… lets see BC Rich, Ibanez, Greco… theres more

But many people must know this already. If you examine the used market, guitar prices have skyrocketed even tripled the cost of 1980s vintage guitars in the last couple years. That indicates people are already wise to what is a great vintage guitar.

I’m truly in love with everything about my AXN Guitars and the few vintage guitars that I’m keeping are just for investment only. That said, every guitar I sell going forward will be truly something that i love just because its a kickass RockNRoll guitar. Every guitar I sell will be something that fully ROCKS!

This ESP Relic’d Pointy For Sale

This ESP does not disappoint. Its a very very early ESP and i’ve been able to date the neck to 1984. This is before ESP made model numbers or even internal company model numbers. Both the body and the neck are a metric width. That means the neck pocket and heel size are in between 2.25” and 2-1/8” the USA standard. I may be the only one in the USA that knows exactly when ESP based in Tokyo in 1984 changed all their manufacturing away from metric measurements.

So I restored this guitar to its new found glory. I put a brand new Floyd Rose Original Germany on it with a beautiful blue AXN Sustain Block. I rewired it with my AXN Guitars wiring scheme and installed an official AXN designed Seymour Duncan JB boasting gold pole screws and appointments mounted on an AXN chromed brass pickup ring… My wiring scheme for AXN Guitars is to use a two wire braided Humbucker with a 500K single volume. This is one of the secrets to why my AXN Guitars create beautiful RockNRoll tone when cranked from through Marshall tubes.

So there it is. A beautifully relic’d ESP witha shredtastic 14” flat fretboard radius a beautiful rosewood neck from 1984 and a prime alder body! By the way this ESP Guitar was/is an ESP made clone of a 1984 pointy Charvel that ESP produced in 1984. ESP saw what Grover Jackson was doing in San Dimas and gave it a shot all the way down to the headstock. Very few ESPs have this exact shape of headstock. This also has a Charvel 1984 neck profile .80” at fret one and .90” at fret 12 and jumbo frets.

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AXN '83 and the '83 Kramer Baretta Functional Art

The 1983 Kramer Baretta a Signature model for Mr Van Halen it was a true work of art. The neck was so unique because of its profile. No other manufacturer has recreated its neck profile that was captured by Kramer Neptune New Jersey in 1983.

No one has gotten the neck shape right. I assume either because they could not acquire an original 1983 Kramer Baretta neck to clone or they just didn’t care to be accurate, Sure the not-so-accurate modern offerings sort-of resemble the 1983 Kramer Baretta…

I spent the time to record every specification and clone the neck and body 100% accurately from original 1983 Kramers. My AXN ‘83 is a Functional Work of Art. Theres more in the below Video…

Hello friends, I’ve transition all AXN Guitars to Generation 2 manufacturing or G2 manufacturing. I spent a couple years in redesign and I’ve discontinued the banana headstock.

Now all my AXN ‘83s will have an AXN headstock either reverse or standard. The AXN model ‘83 is unique in the AXN line because it has the exact specification of the 1983 Kramer Baretta. I kept all that in our Model ‘83. This new for 2024 AXN will just have the visual attributes of the rest of my AXNs and a neck profile that is true to Mr. EVH’s tastes from 1983!

Keep in touch!

Contact Link

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Guitar Are Functional Art - Nuno Bettencourt 1992 Charvel

This week I had a number of questions about a guitar. It was one that was released by Charvel. Specifically sold by Charvel Jackson in Japan in 1992.

This is a legitimate guitar offered by the Japanese wing of Charvel Jackson. So to clarify and to quote myself:

“Grover Jackson, founder of Charvel Jackson Guitars, eventually lost the majority ownership of the Charvel Jackson Company. In the USA Grover Jackson relinquished the majority of his ownership in Jackson Charvel to International Music Company in and about the year 1989. He sits on the board of directors for IMC until his departure in 1990. Akai bought out IMC in 1997 thereafter owning Jackson/Charvel.
In 1993 Jackson/Charvel and The Charvel Japan Group began to expanded its offerings of guitars which would eventually include the brands Jackson Grover Jackson®, Charvel®, Grover Jackson®, Team G.J.®, and Jackson Stars®, as well as other brands using the Chushin Gakki factory as its partner.”

Here is a link to my write up about these events

During this period the management/ownership in Japan released many model in Japan as Japan-Only models. These were meant for the Japanese market and were not sold in the USA.

I’ve owned a few of these. They are great guitars with Nunos favorite Bill Lawrence pickup in it.

Learn more about this guitar on this page >> http://charvelusa.com/charvel_models/charvel_1990_1991.html

This guitar I would classify as “Functional Art” Its awesome.

More …. From my SOLD listings on this web site..

1992 Charvel Nuno Bettencourt Model HDK-125NB

Distributed in Europe and Japan only this is an Authentic Charvel Jackson made in Japan guitar. This model is a NON-USA model. Manufactured by Charvel Jackson in 1992 and modeled after Nuno's working guitar used on the 1988-1989 Extreme tour and pre-endorsement, this guitar features a one-piece Maple quarter-sawn neck, a two piece center joined and quarter-sawn Poplar Body. A factory installed Bill Lawrence L-500L Bridge Position pickup that was actually made by Bill. In the neck position is the Jackson J-50N pickup.

Its in 100% original condition set up just as it left the Charvel Jackson factory in Japan. It has heavy natural relic-ing, dents and dings, signs-of-use and signs-of-play. That said, this guitar is in perfect operating condition. The robust truss rod has been turned left-to-right. Because the body is made of transparent poplar the bumps and bruises are visible and add to the magic of this guitar. Every operation of the guitar and all the hardware has been tested and there are no issues. Its ready to play upon arrival to you.

Condition:

Authentic Charvel Jackson
Tons and Tons of Cosmetic Issues
Natural Relic-ing from age
Perfect Working Condition
perfect operating truss rod
some fretware
perfectly strait neck
dents and dings everywhere including the fretboard
Technical Details:
Scale 25.5
Tremolo Charvel Branded Takeuchi Floyd Rose
Fret Size Large
Neck Radius 14-16 compound
Neck Type - quarter-sawn maple one-piece
Body - 2 piece quarter-sawn poplar

Ok friends, I hope you enjoyed this weeks blog post! Keep In Touch!

best Regards

Johnny

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Guitars Are Functional Art - 1990 Mick Mars Vintage Mirror Top Telecaster

Hello this Johnny from AXN Guitars. In this installment of Guitars Are Functional Art we are observing the details of this authentic Kramer 1990 Mick Mars Telecaster. I think, my Brotha, this is a piece of Functional Art.

This specimin I have here is a 1990 Kramer Mick Mars. Its from the run of guitars manufactured by Kramer during the late 1980s and during the period when print advertisements featuring Mick Mars and his Kramer Guitars were in circulation.

Kramer Neptune NewJersey had no log and no records exist indicating how many of these collectible Kramers were manufactured. Thats because these were manufactured in Japan. So the thing about these production guitars is that they were only sold in Japan for the Japanese market. So that means that we didnt get any of these here in the USA in the 80s.. Bummer !!

One note I must make is that Mick’s Kramer Teles that he played live were done as semi-custom builds. If you look close at the video footage below you’ll see that they differ in a few minute ways from the production model i have pictured here on this blog.

The MM Kramers produced for sale were sort of re-productions and I haven’t seen any live footage of him playing an actual production model Mick Mars Kramer. The necks i can say for sure were ESP/Kramer manufactured. I’ve concluded they are production model necks or proto-types to the production model MM Kramer necks..

A known fact man… ESP Japan was making 100% of all the Kramer guitars in the late 80s through to 1990s. Neptune NJ stopped manufacturing guitars before that time. From my research ESP Japan had a custom shop in Tokyo Kramer was using to manufacture artist model guitars and certain special high end guitars.

Mick did play these Mirror Top Teles though whether they were custom or not. You can see Mick Mars using his personal Kramer with Motley Crue in the below video of the Moscow Peace Festival i think it was filmed in late 1989..

I have a couple things to add to this blog post see as I did own this guitar for a very long time…

Before so, though, Id like to thank my friend Bengt from Sweden who bought the Mick MarKramer from me in 2022. The shipping company took a very long time to deliver and Bengt was quite patient! Above is a video of the MM guitar I sent to Bengt in Sweden!

Now on to the MM Kramer I owned and sold. The Mick Mars Kramer Production Guitar sold in the late 80s has a neck that is quite different from any Kramer. The headstock is a different shape than any other guitar. The MM necks feel and aesthetics is very very close to a vintage 1980s Charvel and more like a Charvel and very much like a 1983-1985 Charvel than not. Also, the body was a 2 piece center Joined maple wood and very heavy! Mick made mention of that in various interviews yet the MM Kramer is truly an awesome and rare vintage Kramer guitar. It was Functional Art.

You can see detailed pictured at my earlier blog post here >> AXN Guitars Post KramerMick Mars Telecaster

I hope you enjoyed this installment of Guitars Are Functional Art here and check out our AXNguitars!

Moscow Peace Festival. Click On This Image To See Video ( use your back button to get back )

[ Wait one sec… if you can check out My Instagram Post for more Info and Like the page Id Appreciate it! Thanks Man ]

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Guitars Are Functional Art - Love for a 1979 Charvel Rising Sun

Here is a quick video and some information about this authentic 1979 Charvel made Dimarzio Rising Sun Guitar.

You can also learn more from this older post to my web site >> Rising Sun Charvel <<< Enjoy.

As many know Charvel Manufacturing made guitars and parts in Glendora California. Many people associate Charvel with some of the great guitars from a lost era. There are old relics out there if you search. Find your vintage dream guitar or you can buy an AXN Guitar. Thanks Much and Talk Soon! Johnny

If you can.. Please check this video out on my personal Instagram !

Guitars Are Functional Art Blog - This Video Available On These Socials

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Guitars Are Functional Art Blog Post #2 Defeating Neck Pocket Tone Myths

Neck Pocket Myths

Hello Rockers, I’m presenting a quick demo on neck pockets and how tight they need to be. Thank you for tuning in. Hit the social channels for this also and get some extra information.

Please watch it here if you can For Mobile Device Aka Cell Phones

Here is the Link to watch on Instagram

In enough words the neck pocket does not need to be super tight it just needs to fit !! check it out and thanks!!!

Watch The Video

Johnny AXN Guitars

Guitars Are Functional Art Blog - This Video Available On These Socials

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Guitars Are Functional Art Blog Post #1 Two-Wire Humbuckers A Heavy Metal Secret

Here’s part of the magic that I’ve absorbed. Having only 2 wires makes buttery distortion.

INFORMATION ABOUT A 2-WIRE HUMBUCKER

To keep it simple the less wires in the signal chain the better. So in a single humbucker guitar if you run the shielding as ground and the hot wire combination ( a stock braided humbucker wiring ) strait to the volume pot ii is the cleanest line of signal. The only way to get close to no-loss from the humbucker would be to run directly to the input jack.

Does this make sense? This also reduces any noise from other things like tone pots and extra capacitors and junk like that.

Guitars Are Functional Art Blog - This Video Available On These Socials

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The Fernandes ST-145SL Steve Lucather Model

The awesome Fernandes Steve Lukather model was produced in the 1980s, its a Fernandez ST-145SL. It has vintage stratocaster specifications. It was in the Fernandes catalog for 3-4 years starting about 1982.

The Fernandes versions were based of the two vintage Stratocasters that Steve Lucather used at the time live. He used a 1964 Stratocaster and Later Steve used a Valley Arts a Mike Magwire modified Strat with a boogie body and a Schecter neck. The 1964 Strat was mainly used in live performances from around 1980 to the mid-1980s. In response to changing time in 1981-1982 Steve changed and he installed EMGs and a Prototype Floyd Rose. That guitar was equipped with a prototype of Floyd Rose one of the first Mr Floyd made in the his garage, which is said to have been given to Steve Lukather and Brad Gillis got one two.

The earliest Fernandes Signature model was the ST-145SL One with and alder body and a Floyd Rose FRT-3. Following Fernandes models changed it to a Floyd Rose Locking FRT-4 tremolo as seen above and Steve added covered EMGs. There were variations which changed pickups with also changes to pickups hardware for the four or so years of the Fernandes run..

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Johnny Sold A Kramer Mick Mars Mirror Top Telecaster 4/2022

What up? Yes sir we sold a very sought after vintage 1990 Kramer Mick Mars Mirror Top Telecaster. As a matter of fact its the one in the photos here >>> https://alienxnation.com/vintage-1980s-guitar-resource-blog/2019/10/6/kramer-mick-mars-telecaster

Bengt is the proud new owner of this beast. Its going to reside in Stockholm Sweden from this point on.

I’m one of the few that have ever seen a real Mick Mars Mirror Top Telecaster up close and personal. Of course I pass the information and photos on to you rockers. The guitar is very unique. As a matter of fact very very unique. It has specifications that are intrinsic of Mick Mars tastes. The neck profile is nothing like any Kramers that were ever produced. This Mick Mars Signature has a wide-flat-fast-comfy neck profile which in my opinion resembles a Glenora/San Dimas Charvel USA neck shape from the prime time for them about ‘87-’89 …. Enjoy

Best Regards

Johnny AXN Guitars

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Jake E Lee Whitey Fender Charvel Guitar Exposed

ジェイク・E・リーホワイトギタ

Hello friends, I have finally sat down to write todays lesson. For decades I have studied Jake E Lee’s Whitey 1974 Fender Stratocaster in an effort to expose the facts that are known versus the unknown. Today I deliver the information.

Many retail Jake E Lee Signature models have been manufactured by Fender, Charvel Jackson and ESP with their 1990s JEL Signature. Of all these guitars none of them have ever been an accurate reproduction of Jake E Lee’s White Charvel. The closest and most accurate reproduction was produced by Fernandes in 1983 and made available in Japan in 1984 which i covered in my last blog post The 1984 Fernandes Jake E Lee Guitar ST-65JL Burny

This is an interesting and inflammatory statement for me to make. Truth be told, it all became more of a cash generator for these guitar brands verses and actual experiment in getting history straight. That said, I’m gonna clear it all up for the world in this blog post.

Here is where the history of Jake’s Whitey Charvel begins. It started its life in Fullerton California as a Fender Stratocaster with the below specs.

1974 Fender Strat 3-Tone Sunburst Specifications:

1974 was the last year for the desired "grey-bottom" - pickups with staggered pole pieces. All 3 singlecoil PUs are stamped 1974 and have outputs of N=5,46K, M=5,48K and B=5,45K. The guitar has a 3-way switch, came with black hard shell case with orange interior.

1974 Fender Stratocaster Hardtail 3-Tone-Sunburst Specifications:

Solid alder body
Maple Neck With Rosewood Fretboard with tiltneck-adjustment
Neck Radius: 7.5”
Rosewood fretboard with 21 frets
3x original "greybottom" singlecoil pickups
Hardtail bridge w/ 2-7/32” string spacing E-to-E incl. bridge cover
Scale 25.5”
Large 70s style headstock
6x Fender "F-Style" tuners
Incl. orig. black Fender tolex case with orange lining

Transformation

Jake E Lee ( Jakey Lou Williams ) was there in Hollywood California at the epicenter of RockNRoll in the Van Halen era of LA’s Sunset Strip. I’m not gonna spend time explaining Jake E Lee’s relationships with this person or that person. I also wont spend any words here going over the different bands he was in in Los Angeles in those days. Jake E Lee himself has discussed his place in each of those bands in great detail in various interviews. Instead I’ll made your lesson today only about The Jake E Lee Whitie guitar.

Here is the story of the transformation of Jake’s ‘74 strat hardtail into the Chavel Jake E Lee White guitar that was used while Jake was in The Ozzy Osourne Band. This is how Jake E Lee told it and I translated it to the short version…

Jake E Lee worked at music store when he was young and tried a bunch of Strats. The owner said he would give Jake a good deal so Jake could pick out something he liked. He played all the fenders there and walked off with the hardtail Strat.
Jake owned the 74 hardtail Strat in LA in the early 80s and used it in all its 3-tone sunburst glory. All the rockers in Hollywood had flashy guitars so Jake was after a little individuality. Jake was friends and roommates with John his buddy that worked in the Charvel shop in San Dimas Glendora CA. John shaved the big Strat headstock down and put a Charvel logo on the headstock. Needless to say the guitar got paint and a full a remodel. It became The Whitey. If you look close at Ozzy concert footage you can see that there is a 3 bolt fender style neck plate on the real Whitey guitar. Go check out vintage live footage of Ozzy from the 1980s theres is some technical things to learn.

Technical Challenges To Converting A Tame Strat into A RockNRoll Monster

So there we have it. Now you know what was under the hood of Jake’s Whitey before it became a RockNRoll guitar. There are a couple problems someone will encounter with a vintage Strat crankin out Metal.

Firstly, if you look at those specification of the original fender you can’t skip over a few limiting factors one would encounter if they attempted to use a stock 1974 strat hardtail as a rocknroll guitar.

1 - The Fender factory fingerboard radius of that ‘74 Stratocaster was 7.5”. Fingerboard radius is the curvature of the fingerboard across the neck, from the lowest string to the highest string, and just like the radius of a circle, it is described in inches.

Johnny from AXN ( quote )
Ha Ha… For rocknroll guitar players the curve of the fretboard on those 1970s fender stratocasters makes it very tough to bend strings and play fast. So the question becomes
“How the heck did Jake play all those bends and metal riffs using a neck with a 7.5 fingerboard radius?”
The answer is that a very popular modification in the 80's was to take the older strats with those 7.5” radiuses and plane them out to a flatter one typically 9.5”.
It’s my belief that Jake had at least two early rounds of modifications. The modification to the radius and I think a bridge upgrade done years before the white paint and headstock mods done at Charvel Jackson.

In addition to this modification the other obvious changes needed to convert this fender burst into a fire breathing metal guitar was to add an aftermarket brass Charvel era hardtail bridge.

Ok so all the recent Jake E Lee Signature guitars sold by Charvel/Fender are not accurate in many ways. These guitars are meant to look like Jake’s but almost non of the specifications are near accurate to a 1974 Strat. So one would ask the question… how do those releases by Charvel end up feeling like Jake’s Whitey? Well they don’t. Sorry to say. They just look like it.

The above photo is showing you the real bridge. As owned by Jake.

I’ve owned and sold 4 of these authentic 1980s hardtail bridges. I have one left of these first incarnation of Jake’s hardtail fixed bridge i’ve kept ( pictured ). I also have notes from the shop foreman that machined the very first bunch of bridges for Charvel Jackson in the 1980s and I own his notes on the spects.

Long story short without the right string spacing on the hardtail and without some specifics from the 74 strat you don’t have the feel of Jakes baby.

Let us not forget that Jake’s Whitey Guitar was a 1974 Fender Stratocaster with a wide 2-7/32” string spacing from the Fender factory. Johnny - AXN Guitars

There more details on our Jakes Hardtail Bridge at the following link if you care to delve into that detail further.

Link To Our Page Discussing The Jake E Lee Bridge

Ok girls I posted this info into my blog for you. I hope you enjoyed it.

In the rest of this space i have put a really rare and cool interview with Jake E Lee from 1986. Jake talks about a lot and its well worth the read. Sorry about the green pages but everyone likes to use content without crediting the guys that did the work… LOL me I found it after after 30+ yrs ;-) .. thanks and come back to this blog for more.

Thanks Johnny

The Following : The balance of this blog Post will contain the Guitar World November 1986 Article about Jake E Lee. Its great … read it!

Guitar World November 1986 Interview Jake E Lee

Jake E Lee Interview 1986 November. Jake explains his Whitey Guitar. Also Jake reveals his Marshall amp for 1986 and Jake E Lee gear from 1986

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The Fernandes ST-65JL JAKE E LEE model Whitey in all its glory

[ http://alienxnation.com/guitar/fernandes-jake-e-lee ]

OK. After many many years enjoying hardtail stratocasters of all kinds that are filled with a humbucker and fed through a Marshall Plexi, I finally sat down and wrote about this particular Jake E lee model.

One of my all time favorite guitars. The Fernandes ST-65JL. Of course as soon as I write this the price will go up in the used market for these awesome guitars. Why? Because I’m The Sensei of 1980s guitars and i speak in facts.

Jake e lee’s main go to guitar in Ozzy Osbourne was The Whitey. His Whitey guitar was labelled as a Charvel but was actually a hardtail 1974 hardtail Fender Stratocaster. By the 1980s Fernandes was already known for over-the-top accurate copies of vintage Fenders and Gibsons. To make a copy of Jake’s Whitey was just an exercise in creativity by Fernandes.

Some unique features of Jakes real Whitey are a bullet truss rod at the headstock, 3-bolt neck, vintage tremolo string spacing 2-7/32”. Funny note here, the specifications i just mentioned are NOT included in any of the recent Charvel/Fender re-issue JEL Whitey replicas for sale today… just saying LOL

Some history, Jake worked at music store when he was young and tried a bunch of Strats. The owner said he would give Jake a good deal so Jake could pick out something he liked. He played all the fenders there and walked off with the hardtail Strat.

Jake owned the 74 hardtail Strat in LA in the early 80s and used it in all its 3-tone sunburst glory with the band Rough Cutt. All the rockers in Hollywood had flashy guitars so Jake was after a little individuality. Jake was friends and roommates with John his buddy that worked in the Charvel shop in San Dimas Glendora CA. John shaved the big Strat headstock down and put a Charvel logo on the headstock. Needless to say the guitar got paint and a full a remodel. It became The Whitey. If you look close at Ozzy concert footage you can see that there is a 3 bolt fender style neck plate on the real Whitey guitar. Go check out vintage live footage of Ozzy from the 1980s theres is some technical things to learn.

FERNANDES ST-65JL JAKE E LEE WHITEY GUITAR[ 1985 FERNANDES CATALOG PHOTO ] — FERNANDES ST-65JL JAKE E LEE WHITEY GUITAR
[ 1985 FERNANDES CATALOG PHOTO ]

Alrighty, so there is my condensed story. Most of which came strait from Mr. Lee. Who is widely acknowledged as a guitar player that we all have ripped licks off at one time or another. I’d say a living legend.

I personally spent many nights trying to play Ozzy riffs just like Jake. So you can call me guilty… As a matter of fact i still try to play like Jake at times. So there you go some well deserved compliments.. you reading this Jakey?

Again, the Fernandes guys already had a lot of practice re-producing copies of Fenders and Gibsons. As The Sensei of 1980s guitars i will let you in on this little secret… Fernandes outsourced its guitar manufacturing all through the 1970s and 1980s to different subcontractors.

Kawai was the manufacturer that made the JEL guitar in the pictures i’ve included here and Fernandes was the marketing. This guitar was and is a great example of a well executed and accurate replica celebrating 1980s LA METAL.

FERNANDES ST-65JL JAKE E LEE WHITEY GUITAR - Image Gallery

So there it is. In conclusion i would like to say enjoy the photos. I left all the technical information in the photos. Those measurements pretty much sum it up. The above guitar is factory original. There is only one addition and that was i put new locking black 90 degree Gotoh tuners on the pictured guitar without any modification… they fit..! I enjoyed using this puppy live a a show or two!

HERE IS THE GUITAR IN OUR ARCHIVES [ http://alienxnation.com/guitar/fernandes-jake-e-lee ]

Best Wishes Johnny - Sensei of 1980s Guitars

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ESP Frankenstrat Kramer 5150 Japan Model VH-250 Red White Striped Guitar

ESP Japan Kramer Frankenstrat 5150 MODEL VH-250 Red White Striped Guitar

Date of writing: 12/2020

Hello its Johnny writing another blog post to help all my friends learn more about the wonderful era of 1980s guitars. I’ve decided to create this post about the ESP made in Japan Kramer 5150 MODEL VH-250 released in late 1989 as a Japan only Kramer product. Manufactured by ESP the price for this VH-250 was 250,000 yen which was quite a lot of money in 1989.

In the below photo galleries i have posted six of these ESP VH-250 guitars. Yes that is 6 different ESP made in Japan Kramer 5150 model guitars. As i recover more photos from my old computer files i will add them.

All in all I have owned 7 of these Japan only Kramer Frankenstrat 5150 MODEL VH-250s. To some people i am showing them a unicorn. LOOK CLOSELY i speak the truth. That is why i am called THE SENSEI OF VINTAGE 1980S GUITARS.

That title of Sensei was not created by me but buy guitar collectors that i respect highly for their knowledge of vintage Fender and Gibson guitars. Initially these guys called me that as a joke about 10 years ago because shredder guitars were not popular… boy have things changed. That said, vintage Fender and Gibson is an area of collecting in which I aspire to become more knowledgeable. As of today my interests are still is fixated on the 80s.

For a number of decades i sought out these ESP Frankenstrat Guitars and actively collected them. To some who care about data, I also calibrated all the details such as neck shape specifications, fret size etc, with paper notes. That information and data was a big influence when i designed my AXN GUITARS.

So on this fine morning in the month of December I’m stuck in a hotel room as i write this. Opting to pen these notes into my Macbook. Offering this information up for you guys. If you can appreciate or add to this information let me know through email.

i know there are many of you that are information-aholics addicted to knowing more about 80s guitars. So I hope the blog keeps the fire burning to play more guitar... so enough said..!!! on to the facts ….enjoy.

esp-frankenstrat-5150-red-white-striped-1990-guitar-0026.jpg

The VH-250 - insider information

ESP did make various Frankenstrat 5150 red/white color guitars as Navigator models before the VH-250. The 1989-1990 VH-250 was a genuine product manufactured in Japan by ESP and released by ESP firstly under the brand Kramer as a Kramer VAN HALEN model the vh-250. Yes it was released as a …

… Kramer branded product. So technically the first run of these VH-250s are Kramers.

As some Kramer guitar collectors know ESP manufactured ALL Kramer branded product after the mid-to-late-1980s. Funny enough my friends in Japan have reflected back to me that this model is also referred to as The VH-5150, The VH-250, or the KVH-49 the latter I believe was ZEP-II branded made in Japan product. Yet, the ESP product number i have ascertained is correct as The VH-250.

At the time of the release of VH-250 in late 1989, ESP had acquired rights in Japan to the brand name Kramer. A Kramer distributorship had already been well established through ESP and loosely called Kramer Japan. As well ESP had already been producing Kramer's domestic Japanese production models such as the JK series guitars.

Side Note: In a future lesson i will decode many facts that reside underneath a veil of secrecy in regards to the Kramer GL George Lynch model Kramer and the Mick Mars Model Kramer produced around the same time as The VH250. Check Back to this blog Johnny :-)

In reality by 1989 ESP was making everything branded Kramer and manufacturing them in Japan. Delivering Kramers worldwide. This includes every Kramer guitar that was sold in the USA including the guitars with the word “American“ on the headstock.

The VH-250 was a replica manufactured by ESP in Japan. Japanese magazines touted The VH-250 in advertising as a “Kramer Eddie Van Halen Model”. It was manufactured and painted by ESP starting in late 1989 with a Kramer logo right on the headstock. The Kramer logo was applied at the KRAMER/ESP shop. The familiar Kramer logo was applied by ESP to these guitars and was on the VH-250 models into the early 1990s.

The first VH-250s can easily be identified as a 1989-1990 manufacture dates. The earliest Kramer VH-250s check out to be 1989 and can be accurately dated by the Floyd Rose hardware and the Seymour Duncan JBJ pickup and volume pot. Again these were manufactured on the ESP/Kramer Japan production line with the Kramer logo.

In addition many times but not always there is luthier handwriting written on the heel of the neck and/or in the neck pocket. This was common on most of the ESP product of the 1980s.

During the time of the late 1980s ESP luthiers near-to-always added markings usually using a ball point pen. I have many photos in this blog post and some include these common ESP luthier markings..

The VH-250s I’ve experienced have had 3 different varieties of neck plates. A blank chrome neck plate, a neck plate with the word kramer and a serial number under the name and more often a chrome neck plate with just a serial number. I suspect, like everything else ESP, they used neck plates as well as serial numbers inconsistently and just used whatever they had on hand at the time.

Apparently the VH-250s were sold only at the popular music stores like those found in Tokyo. It was said that the Kramer ESP model VH-250 was always sold out when inquiries were made about purchase at these Japanese music stores.

During the 1980s the big guitar stores in Japan placed display models up high on the racks to show-off to customer traffic. In addition the brands of the day such as Kramer produced short runs of guitars for advertising purposes with a super high retail prices such as this ESP VH-250.

Often in a collaboration with the big music stores these custom short runs of artist models 1980s guitars were marketed and promoted in tandem with the distributor, manufacturer and these music store outlets.

Production of the VH-250s I’ve decided was limited to somewhere around 100-200 guitars initially maybe more if you count the late 90s. In my opinion Kramer Japan produced these boutique quality replicas in one of these promotions. This kind of advertising was common during the 1980s in Japan and usually followed up with full page ads in Japanese rock magazines like Young Guitar.

Again, ESP sold the VH-250 in Japan as a Kramer product with the Kramer logo on the headstock until about 1990. As it looks to me ESP continued to sell the VH-250 through to the mid 1990s and after that point stopped placing the Kramer logo on the headstock and sold the VH-250 without a Kramer logo. Sales of these continued in very very small numbers in a somewhat secretive manner by ESP late into the 1990s. Its a fact this model was not listed in any ESP or Kramer Japan catalog.

Later after the logo disappeared ESP Japan treated the VH-250 as a ZEP-II brand product. I have given some definition of what a ZEP-II brand product is on THIS web page which is well worth reading.

As I have decided the VH-250 or indistinguishable models were manufactured and produced by ESP until 2000. In the late 1990s each time successive replicas were re-produced the looks and details were changed to match what Eddie Van Halen was using live at the time. Until it was eventually was phased out.

Later the specifications changed yet again and a relic 5150 model was released that i have not owned as of this writing. This 1990s style 5150 guitar had a single tuner on the underside like Ed’s and a more odd shaped 5150 looking banana headstock also like Ed’s. ( see the last bunch of photos at the bottom of this page ).

Needless to say every one of these vintage ESP/KRAMER EVH replicas i’ve owned no matter what run are ESP Japan quality with excellent tone, great playability, quality woods, highest end hardware and pickup, and extremely great craftsmanship.

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS THE EARLY ESP KRAMER JAPAN VH-250

Body: Ash center-seam 2 Piece / later 2 piece alder
Neck: Hard Rock Maple One Piece

Headstock: ESP Banana or Hockey Stick headstock
Bridge: German Floyd Rose Original
Pickup: USA Seymour Duncan Custom / SH-5 or EARLY one had a Duncan JBJ

GALLERIES OF SEVERAL ESP KRAMER JAPAN VH-250 GUITARS

GALLERY ESP FRANKENSTRAT #1

GALLERY ESP FRANKENSTRAT #2

GALLERY ESP FRANKENSTRAT #3

GALLERY ESP FRANKENSTRAT #4

GALLERY ESP FRANKENSTRAT #5

BELOW SOMEONE DID AN AMATEUR RELIC JOB TO THIS ONE

BELOW A “SO CALLED“ EDWARDS ESP 5150 RELEASED IN THE 1990s

I’ve been told by friends in Japan that this is an Edwards brand and also that this guitar is EXCELLENT QUALITY, EXCELLENT JUST EXCELENT…i havent owned one of these.

Thanks to Takumi for the photos… i believe this run of guitars was initially manufactured during a transition between the ZEP-2 brands demise and the launch by ESP of a new brand called Edwards in the early 1990s. That said only some old guys over at ESP would know for sure..for sure. ONLY them.

( note 12/29/2021: As a teacher of Vintage 1980s Guitar information please enjoy this stuff and absorb the facts for your own educational, spiritual and personal growth. For those of you that like to copy and claim facts that you never new before reading this as your own… please by all means, repeat, copy, duplicate, take credit, make youTube video and forum posts using my teachings verbatim as I have watched you do continuously.

Out of dormancy i have made you meaningful. Where futility resided previously i have provided inspiration. Johnny AXN Guitars )

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Jake E Lee Hardtail Bridge

Our machined in USA ALIEN JEL™ Hardtail Bridge is Available For Sale click here >> new ALIEN JEL™ Hardtail Bridge << its a clone and 100% exact reproduction of the 1980s original !!!!!

Jake E Lee's Vintage 1980s Hardtail Bridge

Hello friends Johnny here… Sensei of Vintage 1980s Guitars and veteran of the 1980s Hollywood Sunset Strip. After many requests from you I’ve decided to post information about Jake E Lee’s Vintage Hardtail Bridge.

The famous Jake e Lee Whitey Hardtail strat guitar that Jake used with the Ozzy Osbourne Band in the 1980s has many details that have been talked about over the decades. Ultimately Jake E Lee has answered most of the questions regarding the make and modifications to his favorite… The Jake E Lee Whitey Guitar.

Now I will give you the answers you all have been waiting for in regards to the big fat hardtail fixed bridge Jake preferred and used with Ozzy.

Ok so down to the brass facts. the above photo is showing you the real bridge. As owned by Jake.

I’ve owned and sold 4 of these authentic 1980s hardtail bridges. I have one left of these first incarnation of Jake’s hardtail fixed bridge i’ve kept ( pictured ). I also have notes from the shop foreman that machined the very first bunch of bridges for Charvel Jackson in the 1980s and his notes are below in the photo..

Theres a whole bunch of guys that have been trying to recreate this hardtail bridge over the years. ALL of these bridges that I have seen are absolutely and positively not accurate. I will go as far to call the ones I’ve seen for sale “Inaccurate Fakes”.

100% of the bridges I’ve seen for sale are nothing like Jake’s original hardtail.

Let us not forget that Jake’s Whitey Guitar was a 1974 Fender Stratocaster with a wide 2-7/32” string spacing from the Fender factory. Johnny - AXN Guitars

Here’s the first thing that gives the “fakers” away and the first thing to look for…

An authentic Jake E Lee Bridge has a string spacing that did not match F spaced humbucker pickups. That said Jake did use F-spaced AH Duncan pickups in his Whitey even though the pole pieces didn’t align perfectly. Every other replica JEL guitar bridge has thin 2” E-to_E string pacing. That means that ALL the so called Jake E Lee bridges that are for sale that have 2” string spacing are not accurate!

Above are the real specifications. Dig it!

Its a brass bridge with a thick and awesome brass baseplate that includes that enlarged block area that holds the saddles to the baseplate with screws and springs.

Jake E Lee’s Original Hardtail Bridge did not have a string spacing for F spaced pickups
Jake E Lee’s Original Bridge had a brass baseplate with the unique larger rear block area
The saddles on Jake E Lees original were sized as the above vintage note with a couple other unique features that are tough to reproduce.
Jake E Lee Hardtail he used with Ozzy had a black chromed baseplate
Jake E Lee Hardtail Bridge he used with Ozzy had chrome saddles
The Jake E Lee Hardtail mount with three screws under the saddles ( not 4 screws at the corners )

It is what it is. As the Sensei of Vintage 1980s guitars i’m spreading the truth. Science, study and perseverance goes a long way.

Best Wishes

Johnny - AXN Guitars

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Kramer Baretta 1983 Guitar UNMASKED part 2

Pictured is a 1983 Kramer Baretta body. As you can see the body has been repainted by what looks like a rattlecan creme color. Also, If you look closer you can see that someone at one time routed out 2 single coil pickups to make the body HSS. Like many 1980s guitars this Kramer Baretta has seen lots of miles and lots of modifications. I suspect this guitar was painted with red and white stripes at some point by a previous owner. None-the-less the guitar is an authentic 1983 Baretta with a serial number neck plate C36XX.

Body

As mentioned previously, the Kramer 1983 Baretta neck was manufactured by one subcontractor for Kramer NJ ( ESP Japan ) and The Holy Grail Kramer Baretta bodies were manufactured by a different subcontractor to Kramer. In Neptune NJ Kramer corporate assembled the 1983 Kramer Barettas and readied them for delivery to Kramer’s dealer network.

The bodies for every authentic 1983 Baretta were manufactured by Sports in Connecticut USA. This was a carry over of the relationship between Kramer NJ and Sports. Sports Inc. had done many of the early Kramer guitar bodies in the first part of 1980s.

Notice the familiar KRAMER NJ neck pocket markings. Meant-to-be a truss rod adjust access point, the funny little notch cut out in the neck pocket wood is a common 1980s Kramer NJ guitar thing. It can be seen that this example is a maple wood body and weighs in at 6+ lbs ( heavy ). There you have the little tremolo cavity route for the extra travel of the springs on a 42mm Floyd Rose sustain block. That little tremolo cavity route was a signature tell-tail marking that equals up to authenticity. This is a real deal Holy Grail Kramer Guitar. Of course also visible is the second generation Kramer electronics control cavity route/shape on the back of the guitar.

All Kramer 1983 Barettas have the very model specific contours and routing, overall body shape, and the various signs that all add up to the 1983 Baretta bodies having been manufactured in Connecticut at Sports. All of these things are what people can use to verify this bodys authenticity or the authenticity of any 1983 Kramer Baretta.

Neck Plate

Kramer NJ had lots of different neckplates on many different Kramers guitars yet the 1983 Baretta neck plate was a Fender standard size plate. Made of steel and they used black neck plates and black screws. Every 1983 Baretta had a serial# starting with a C with 4 numbers after the letter.

Though all over the board with serial numbers that sometimes where out of sequence with other Kramer guitar models, with the 1983 KRAMER BARETTA the first guitars in the run had a lower serial number and the last guitars in the run of 1983 Kramer Barettas had a larger serial number. The serial number range from the ones I’ve seen C3200-C4500.

Schaller Made Zebra Pickup

Schaller Reverse Zebra Golden 50 Humbucker ( non trem spaced ). The factory pickup was this Schaller humbucker. Said to uses alnico II magnets and said to be the same wind, wire gauge, and specifications as the Gibson 57 classic pickup. Its a two wire type and the one from this Kramer 1983 Baretta is putting out 8.85 ohms on my meter.

Floyd Rose Tremolo

I have much knowledge on Floyd Rose history and the Floyd on this body is original. Many have said its a flat black finish. I think its just a fist generation made in Germany black tremolo.

The first of the various Floyds that were manufactured in Germany in 1983. Also, the first black version from Schaller. The Germany company Schaller handled manufacturing for Mr. Floyd Rose in 1983 after Fernandes Japan..

This tremolo has also seen the miles. That said its original to this particular 1983 Kramer Baretta. This Floyd has one of the thickest baseplates of any Floyd Rose tremolo I have on record. The baseplate thickness is .137”.

This 1983 Kramer Baretta Floyd Rose vibrato utilized a 42mm sustain block on its black Floyd Rose baseplate. I photographed the original tremolo as is, yet i think its been tinkered with a bit. The saddles are in disrepair and it needs at the least new blocks if not new saddles altogether. The tremolo is showing a brass tremolo bar mount which is unique. Texturing on bottom of the baseplate signify type manufacture and time frame of manufacture.

i would not skip over the R5 Floyd Rose nut. Its made in Germany and marked with Made in Germany the way it was on the early Floyd Rose nuts ( first generation marking/branding which was later changed ). An R5 nut size equals a wide 1-3/4” nut.

The R5 locking nut has a radius of 10 inch. Also the Floyd Rose tremolo bridge has a saddle radius of 12 inch. These two specifications funny enough do not match the actual Kramer 1983 Holy Grail necks they were mounted on when the guitars were assembled at the Kramer Neptune NJ USA factory. This original 1983 holy grail neck has a unique fretboard radius which is much flatter than either the radius of the nut or the radius of the bridge saddles.

Tuners and Misc

The tuners on a 1983 Kramer Baretta were 1983 unbranded Gotoh 90Degree tuners. Black in color. The tremolo posts were German made first run Floyd Rose posts made by Schaller.

{ PART 1 - KRAMER 1983 BARETTA - UNMASKED BLOG POST ]

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Kramer Baretta 1983 Guitar UNMASKED part 1

Hello friends Johnny here from AXN Guitars. The Kramer 1983 Baretta will be the highlight of my next two blog posts. Specifically today I will highlight this Kramer Holy Grail Baretta 1983 neck. In a later post we will dissect the body from this authentic 1983 Kramer Baretta specimen i have here.

Hello friends this is Johnny form AXN Guitars. Today I discuss one of the most difficult guitars to acquire the 1983 Kramer Baretta. The guitar in the photos will more than likely be the last Kramer Baretta holy grail 1983 guitar that i will have in my possession and soon its off to its proud owner. This guitar is quite used and its been modified by a previous owner. It has quite an impressive history and as pictured you can see its years.

I’ve slowed my vintage guitar buying habit. I’ve invested all my time, thoughts and passion into making AXN Guitars. We are manufacturing guitars that exactly replicate, celebrate and re-incarnate the quintessential electric guitars of 1980s. As The Sensei of Vintage 1980s Guitars i’ve put together this 1983 Kramer Baretta information and photos for you.

As I’ve mentioned in other blog posts I’ve always been very interested in the technical specifications of vintage artist model guitars; these hold the answers to the magic unique to each guitar. Because of this obsession I have recorded thousands of pages of technical entries with data about guitars.

Older information i wrote down in ink and paper way back in the 1980s before any of us used computers. Having aged sometimes 30+ years each technical entry accurately breaks down every minute detail of these guitars in a scientific manner. I even photographed some guitars back in the day with black and white film and a Nikon camera.

In the below photos we can see that we have a 1983 kramer Baretta non-tilt “hockey stick” neck as it was called in the 1980s. In recent years the shape of the headstock has been called the “banana” headstock by fanciers. Also referred to as a “non-tilt” or “non-angled” banana headstock.

Its 25.5” scale, it has jumbo frets and the back of the neck has an 1980s style oil finish. Its truss rod adjust is at the heel and the truss rod as you can see is the ESP type. Electric Sound products in Japan manufactured every Kramer 1983 Baretta Holy Grail neck while a subcontractor to Kramer Neptune NJ.

I’ve said before the specifications of the 1983 Kramer Baretta neck is like no other. With its R5 wide nut size, its super flat radius, and unique neck shape its nothing like any other neck you will play. Funny enough, no other luthiers have ever gotten the specifications right on any of the copies or recreations. Neither Fender or Gibson has gotten anywhere close to the real neck specifications in their “Baretta clones”. Our AXN ‘83 is the only guitar available with the exact neck specifications.

Its my belief that no guitar maker has ever cared about those specifications because the true specifications are too hard to accurately acquire and re-create. Even more importantly for most guitar makers its to costly to manufacture an exact clone neck due to various factors which include, the length of the maple wood required from banana headstock tip-end to heel/butt. Also the type of fretboard, the flatness of the fretboard ( the radius ), the uniqueness of fretboard width at certain frets and the subtle contours of the back of the 1983 non-tilt neck are exclusive to this Holy Grail Kramer.

In addition the size of the neck pocket on the body and the heel/butt size of the neck at the 22nd fret are a unique size that we create virtually exactly. All this causes the 1983 Kramer Baretta a challenge for any other luthier to accurately form. The original 1983 holy grail neck was a true hand made boutique guitar neck. ESP japan had the skills and they were asked to manufacture these awesome necks for Kramer. We are the only luthiers that do it 100% accurately!

I’m considered the foremost collector of vintage ESP and i can verify this 1983 era of ESP manufacturing. ESP retained an extremely talented group of luthiers who where unmatched in their time. I am familiar with the work from the different ESP craftsman at the various Japan ESP shops from the 1980s. I can accurately identify virtually every time exactly where in Japan and when ESP products were manufactured.

Within these 1983 Kramer Baretta blog posts will be a complete visual break down of the 1983 Kramer Baretta Signature guitar i have here… Enjoy!

Johnny - Sensei of vintage 1980s guitars.

Photo Note : i shot the neck and the body separately and in separate photo shoots. I placed some of our AXN guitar raw bodies and necks as decoration in the background such as the AXN ‘83 maple body that is an exact duplicate of a Kramer 1983 Baretta body. If you look close you can see the visual age of this Kramer Holy Grail 1983 Baretta guitar neck in all its splendor. I may add more to this post as time allows.

[ NEXT ENTRY IN THIS BLOG POST - THE 1983 KRAMER BARETTA UNMASKED PT.2 ]

CLICK ABOVE TO GO TO PART 2 OF THE 1983 KRAMER BARETTA UNMASKED BLOG POST

[ PART TWO - THE 1983 KRAMER BARETTA UNMASKED ]

CLICK ABOVE TO GO TO PART 2 OF THE 1983 KRAMER BARETTA UNMASKED BLOG POST

HERE IS A QUICK VIDEO WITH SOME INFORMATION ON THE 1983 KRAMER BARETTAS WE CLONED

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Testing Humbucker Power At Your Guitars Output Jack

Here's a fast way to accurately measure the output of your prized humbucker guitar pickup. With this method we demonstrate that there is some loss of humbucker power once its wired into your 1980s shredder guitar.

My Marshall Plexi Amp and my live rig responds best when my humbucker delivers 13.5 ohms DC resistance. Heres is how I test every one of my performing guitars to make sure my guitar produces the power i need for Hard Rock and 80s Metal.

FACTS

i’m not using technical terms in this post only Laymans Wordage. Your humbucker pickup puts out a certain amount of what I choose to call “humbucker power” for this demonstration ( although humbucker power is an incorrect term - DC resistance is the correct term ).
ANY time you install a humbucker into your guitar the wiring, volume control, tone pots or anything in between your amps input and the humbucker causes you to lose “humbucker power”.
This method tests the “humbucker power” output at the almighty output jack where it counts. Power that arrives to the output jack after all the rubbish usually stuffed into every guitar such as tone pots, switches, capacitors, poor quality wires, etc.

Step One ;

Turn the guitar's pickup selector switch to activate the bridge humbucker pickup, turn the volume pot all the way up. ( If you have other switches in the guitar, tone pots or other, deactivate them ).

Step Two:

Pop out the input jack plate and expose the negative and positive wire to the input/output jack. ( see photo )

…and then contact one meter probe to the tip of the exposed positive wire and the other to the negative wire.

You've now completed a circuit and by turning your multimeter to the expected resistance range ( I use the 20K range setting on my cheapo meter), you'll be able to read the pickup's resistance or “humbucker power”actually arriving to the input jack.

In the photo I’m getting 14.88 ohms right there at the output jack.

Our AXN Guitar which has basically only a single humbucker and a single 500k Bourns volume pot is showing a .83 ohm loss of “humbucker power” at the output jack.

The AXN humbucker showed 15.71 ohms of Humbucker Power at installation. So that demonstrates the lost of power before the signal even reaches the amplifier.

The only way to get full “humbucker power” from your prized pickup without loss is to wire your single humbucker pickup directly to the output jack. This would require that NO volume pot and NOTHING else to be in the chain between the humbucker and the output jack. Of course having no volume pot is not a preference and not an option for any guitar player that i know...
Except for Marty Friedman with his https://ibanez.fandom.com/wiki/MFM2

Even I like to have a volume knob on my single humbucker guitars and a treble bleed soldered to the volume pot so i can roll-off the volume for clean sounds Ala Queensryche clean tones… and keep the EQ of my Humbucker that I love so much.
There is A Way… There is a method to install a 2-position toggle switch with a single volume single humbucker guitar that allows the following :
Position-1 on the toggle = the humbucker pickup wired directly to the output jack.
Position-2 on the toggle = All the guitars wiring with the volume pot ( and whatever else you desire in the wiring chain ) between the humbucker and the output jack. This is basically Allan Holdsworth wiring which I shall demonstrate in my next 80’s Guitar Blog post.
… Heres a photo of Allan Holdsworth’s Charvel Jackson Guitar which in my opinion has the perfect Metal Hard Rock wiring scenario.
Its an unknown wiring scheme originated with Mr. Grover Jackson. One position on Allan’s 3-way toggle provides virtually direct wiring from the humbucker pickup to the output jack overriding the volume and tone knobs.
The position of FULL VOLUME and FULL HUMBUCKER POWER that overrides the volume pot i really like a lot. I sometimes accidentally have my volume pot set wrong at a gig when im bouncing off the walls and the Holdsworth wiring solves that for me. The Holdsworth setup takes a little getting used to but it works perfect for hard 1980s rock-n-roll !!

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Kramer Mick Mars Telecaster - Observations

Hello this Johnny from AXN Guitars. In this post we are observing the details of this authentic Kramer 1990 Mick Mars Telecaster. A Mick Mars Tele manufactured by Kramer and in pristine condition showing its Neptune NJ neckplate. Very interesting vintage guitar with unique features that have Mick's playing preferences from the 1980s. I made the decision to pull this guitar from stock and make it ready for sale. I’ve also taken these photos with my iPhone and shared them with you. Thats why I’m called The SENSEI OF VINTAGE 1980'S GUITARS 先生.

During the time i have owned this one i have intricately examined it with great detail and recorded every specification of this guitar accurately on paper notes. Every question a guitar luthier would ask about this Mick Mars Kramer I have answered and documented with white glove reverence. Notes that I may use in the future and details i will share with you now.

This 1990 Kramer Mick Mars guitar is from the run of guitars manufactured by Kramer during the late 1980s and during the period that print advertisements featuring Mick Mars and his Kramer Guitars were circulated to major publications by Kramer Neptune New Jersey.

Kramer Neptune NewJersey had no log and no records exist indicating how many of these collectible Kramers were manufactured. Yet Mick did play these. You can see Mick Mars using his Kramer with Motley Crue if you check for The Moscow Peace festival footage on YouTube.

I might update this thread periodically with more info so everyone please check back.

Please support reputable luthiers in the USA and abroad like AXN™ Made in the USA Guitars

Best Wishes Johnny The SENSEI OF VINTAGE 1980'S GUITARS 先生.

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Floyd Rose Tremolo Vibrato Bridge History and Information Thread

This thread is a reference resource for Floyd Rose Tremolos covering the history and identification of vintage Floyd Rose bridges.

A work-in-process thread and will be updated as time allows.
Bridges are displayed in no specific order
Topic is vintage Floyd Rose vibratos that are of the most interest and the most sought after. Some licensed Floyd Rose bridge systems will be covered.

I hope this helps some guitarists in their quest for information. Best Wishes, Johnny - The SENSEI OF VINTAGE 1980'S GUITARS 先生

1984 Floyd Rose “Original” Germany Tremolo Vibrato Bridge

**Floyd Rose “Original” 1984 Germany Tremolo Vibrato Bridge**

This is a 1984 Foyd Rose Made in Germany Tremolo. It can be distinguished by the Floyd Rose Orignial standard sustain block that is missing any USA Patent Number. It Pre-dates Mr. Floyd Rose’s US patent on his product. Floyd completed the US Patent in 1985 and the US Patent number was embossed on all new bridges after 1985. This tremolo represents what can be considered Floyd’s completed design ( not a prototype ) in that the bridge, the saddles, the baseplate, the sustain block, etc, kept this basic configuration and general specifications for decades to follow. This incarnation is the most familiar design of the Floyd Rose tremolo.

One of the most sought after vintage Floyd Rose tremolos. Offered on USA Kramer guitars semi-exclusively in 1984. Also were offered to the retail market and music outlets as Floyd Rose kits.

Early Collared style Tremolo bar mount
Floyd Rose “Original” Sustain Block without an embossed US Patent Number
manufactured by Schaller Germany
“Floyd Rose” first style type/text embossed baseplate Logo
baseplate structure indicates original cast or casting process
Made in Germany marking on baseplate is the first style
One of the thickest baseplate of all Floyds except prototypes
Final tremolo design that did not change in any way for years to follow.

1983 Kramer Baretta Floyd Rose Tremolo

This is a 1983 Black Floyd Rose. It came mounted on a 1983 Kramer Baretta Holy Grail with a hockey stick or banana headstock. The Kramer Neptune New Jersey factory assembled 1983 Kramer Barettas and this came from Kramer NJ 1983 house stock. Many people have said its a flat black finish. I think its just a fist generation made in Germany black Floyd Rose tremolo. Again this tremolo can be properly described as an ”original’ Floyd Rose.

This vibrato is from the first of the Floyd Rose product that was manufactured in Germany in 1983. Also, the first black version from Schaller. The Germany company Schaller handled manufacturing for Mr. Floyd Rose in 1983 after Fernandes Japan..

This tremolo has also seen the miles. That said its original to the Kramer 1983 Baretta I had in my shop in 2020. The serial number on this particular 1983 Kramer Baretta was C36XX. More than likely the guitar was manufactured in late 1983 and therefore the tremolo was manufactured some months before and shipped to the USA from the Schaller factory in Germany. This Floyd has one of the thickest baseplates of any Floyd Rose tremolo I have on record. The baseplate thickness is .137”.

1983 Floyd Rose Tremolo With Made in W. Germany Sticker

Floyd Rose Made in W. Germany Sticker 1983

Manufactured by Schaller Germany
First Hi-Production Run of Floyd Rose Tremolos in Germany
Factory Stainless steel saddle blocks/inserts
Evidenced by the markings, the sustain blocks were machined by hand in a German machine shop
Unique high gloss chrome plating on all these 1983 W. Germany sticker sustain blocks
No baseplate imprint/emboss for “made in Germany”
Made in W. Germany Floyd Rose sticker pre-dates embossed Made In Germany
“Original” standard Sustain Block without/missing a US Patent Number
“Floyd Rose” first style type/text baseplate logo
Early Collared style Tremolo bar mount
baseplate structure indicates original cast or casting process
One of the thickest baseplate of all Floyds except prototypes
brass fine tuner buttons
Appeared mainly on 1983 Kramer guitars advertised with the Eddie Van Halen Tremolo
This W. Germany tremolo represents what can be considered Floyd’s completed design ( not technically a prototype ) in that the bridge, the saddles, the baseplate, the sustain block, etc, kept this exact configuration and general specifications for decades to follow. This incarnation is the most familiar design of the Floyd Rose tremolo.
The existence of what can be called “early prototypes” of this bridge that have ben seen with variations in sustain blocks and other hardware. Pictured is the standard production model W. Germany sticker Floyd.
This tremolo can be properly described as the first ”Original’ Floyd Rose.

1983 Floyd Rose Kramer Endorsement Short Run Tremolo ( loosely called the FRT-5 )

Manufactured by Kahler which was American Precision Metal Works Inc ( APW ). So these were manufactured in Anaheim California USA
First Run of “Whale Tail” Floyd Rose Tremolos manufactured distributed in the USA ( to Kramer Guitars New Jersey ). Yet this was not the first “Whale Tail Floyd Rose” as we will show in the following listing.
The term FRT-5 for this USA made tremolo is arguably incorrect as the designation “FRT-blank” is a Fernandes bridge model term. For whatever reasons Fernandes had a mix-up or confusion. There were numerous and various incarnations of the Floyd Rose tremolos branded with Floyd logos between late 1983 to early 1985 with some made in the USA, some Germany and some made in Japan during these months. ( we will show the Fernandes versions below ).
Saddles are also shorter than modern Floyd saddles.
The baseplate is a “stamped” metal baseplate ( bent steel ). Not a casting or cast metal baseplate like the later German Version.
Early Prototype stainless steel saddle inserts/blocks ( T shaped blocks ) that stay attached to the saddle by these little wings/tabs that fit into a ridge at the bottom of each saddle. ( see pics ).
Fat steel sustain block which is 100% steel. We at AXN™ Guitar used this steel sustain block as the template for our SuperWide™ Sustain Block.
This was a short very rushed run of Floyd Rose Tremolos. Very short run…
Virtually all these made it to Kramer production line guitars to support the relationship between Mr. Floyd Rose and Kramer guitars and also to support the advertising for 1983 Kramer line and the EVH relationship. Mainly ended up on 1983 Kramer Pacers.
“Floyd Rose” first style type/text baseplate logo
Take note of correct tremolo bar which was the same as earlier prototype models. we have indicated the correct tremolo bar in our photos.
This version lacks a “spring” or flat thin metal 6 finger tensioner under the baseplate that holds up the rear saddle bolts. The actual guitar strings provided pull-up or pull forward applied to the saddle to apply pressure towards the small fine tuners.
Short term design. Floyd again outsourced to a manufacturer that was quickly changed. Months later the next design was founded ( final and long lasting design ) which would be the W. Germany Sticker Floyd Rose manufactured by Schaller Germany we mentioned in this thread.

1983 Floyd Rose Tremolo Whale Tail - THE FIRST WHALE TAIL DESIGN PRODUCED

Produced by Fernandes Japan
The First Production Floyd Rose Tremolos with the Whale Tail Design
Factory Stainless steel saddle blocks/inserts ( T shaped blocks )
Famous Steel sustain block
Fine tuners are steel not brass like in versions to follow
Unique Floyd Rose Embossed Logo on Baseplate
This version predates all early whale tail Floyds and was produced months before manufacturing was shifted to USA and also to Germany.
“Prototype Style “ Tremolo bar mount
Baseplate structure indicates original cast or casting process
This Fernandes produced version includes a spring/tensioner under the rear saddle bolts and under the sustain block to control saddles.
The same thickest baseplate such as in first prototypes
Appeared in early 1983 Fernandes marketing
This tremolo represents the improvement of the “whale tail” that would lead to Floyd’s completed design
The bridge, the saddles, the baseplate, the sustain block, etc, carry forward aspects of the original Floyd Rose prototypes.
This incarnation is said to also incorporate a suggestion made by Eddie Van Halen. EVH’s suggestion was to move the fine tuners back farther out of the reach of a guitarists hand during play the “whale tail” as its called.
Floyd Rose has confirmed in interviews that he himself worked on the molds for prototype baseplates
Notice that saddle mounting and intonation screw holes on this baseplate are just two rows. An aspect that was different than in Mr. Floyd Rose’s following designs. There were three tapped rows of holes for saddles in previous prototypes also.
Floyd Rose was personally involved with these early transitional designs funded by and with the help of Fernandes Japan. This is evident in the way the logo appears on this unit. This an indicator that the casting process and the mold held internal engravings. Molds in the casting process can contain engravings inside that produces textures and/or markings that will be displayed on the product after the molten metal is poured into a mold at a foundry.

1984 Floyd Rose Japanese Domestic Tremolo ( Fernandes named it the FRT-7 )

This tremolo was available with the Floyd Rose Logo stamped on the baseplate in Japan for one year. It was made available within the same few months that the mass produced German made ( Schaller Manufactured ) Floyd Rose Original released in the USA in the year 1984.

Technically an official Floyd Rose product and not a “Licensed” Floyd Rose because Fernandes and Mr. Floyd Rose were working together and/or were under contract with each other.
Released prior to the official US Patent for the Floyd Rose Tremolo which came into effect in 1985.
ONLY released in Japan
The baseplate is a “stamped” metal baseplate ( bent steel ). Not a cast baseplate like the German Floyd
The saddles and design have a more rounded appearance at the edges.
Notice that saddle mounting and intonation screw holes on this baseplate are just two rows. An aspect that was different than in Mr. Floyd Rose’s final German made design.
Initially referred to as an FRT-5 by the Japanese people. Later confusingly named an FRT-7 by Fernandes.
Fernandes also sold and was a dealer of the German made Floyd Rose “Original” in Japan. Sold both Floyd Rose tremolos at the same time also calling the German version an FRT-5.
The price difference shown in the Fernandes catalog shows a price of about 30% less for this domestic Floyd Rose, FRT-7 ( or FRT-5 whichever you call it ), sold/distributed by Fernandes for 48,000 yen ( German version Floyd Rose sold for 64,000 Yen )
The tremolo bar bushing or collar that holds the bar to the baseplate has the same new design as the German Floyd Rose Original and shares the same specification for the tremolo bar.
The sustain block is a casting and not machined metal. Sustain block mounting screws are not the same as German Floyds and not interchangeable with such.
The saddle design is similar but the bottom of the saddles are slightly different that German version as shown in our last few photos.
An FRT-7C is Chrome. An FRT-7B is Black.
After 1985 this tremolo re-appears in Japan branded as a Fernandes Head Crasher
Last photos show the Head Crasher Tremolo ( same bridge as this FRT-7 ) that was later re-branded by Fernandes.
There were 4 variations of this design produced by Fernandes and branded with Fernandes names that were virtually identical yet slightly different.
The dis-assembled parts photos show the unique aspects of an FRT-7B.

Info

The Story behind Doug Aldrich's Signature Jackson Guitar

Hello friends Johnny here. I finally got around to discussing this guitar. I was in the right place at the right time when i got this from a certain really good guitarist years ago :-) . Enjoy the read.

Theres is information out there about these guitars on forums and such that interjects much hearsay and speculation. I will only give you the facts. Thats why people started calling me Johnny The Sensei of vintage 1980s guitars 先生.

I will explain in below reading why this signature Jackson was a Japan Only guitar. The serial numbers for Doug’s personal signature DA guitar Flame are all DAXXXX and all other internet sources state incorrect information about these serial numbers. This is a 1992 guitar and first production guitar manufactured in the run of DA Signature guitars.

Grover Jackson DA Flame

I owned this guitar for years and sold it recently. This guitar was virtually custom made in 1992 by the same shop in Japan that produced The Model Series Charvels. You may view our sale pictures of this guitar at the following link.

http://alienxnation.com/guitars/jackson-charvel-doug-aldrich-signature-guitar-da-professional-flamere more photos at this link>>

One thing to understand about Doug Aldrich and both the bands Lion and Hurricane is that they both had limited success in the USA. Doug was really young and new on the larger music scene. Yet, in Japan all Doug’s bands including Hurricane, which initially featured Rudy Sarzo’s brother Robert Sarzo on guitar, were very very popular.

In the year 1990 the Sunset Strip bands were many. Lion and Hurricane were contenders in a saturated market. Funnier thing is that Lion didn’t do many gigs on the Sunset Strip that i knew of. Of course as a face on the Sunset Strip during those years I would have known about such shows.

Neither Hurricane nor Lion garnered a large following on the streets of Hollywood USA by doing a lot of shows in small clubs as did many Glam bands. Although Hurricane did do some shows in LA. KNAC Radio in California was playing their tunes just a little, and not very much, in the KNAC radio rotation of songs. Then there was a video for Hurricane on MTV featuring Doug Aldrich..

Those years were just too saturated with Glam Bands. So Both of those groups had mediocre success at best in the USA. I was at one original Hurricane shows at the Waters Club located at 1331 S. Pacific Ave. in San Pedro California and there a photo of a flyer attached to this post.

I can also remember In a window of the Roxy Theater on Sunset Blvd. there was a long standing poster of Hurricane. Hurricane was one of those highly promoted bands that basically skipped the small clubs and went strait to opening for larger rock bands. Rudy Sarzo pulled some music industry strings for his bother as a good sibling should…

Now Lion, in the mid 80s I had heard some gossip. A local band called Roxanne was on the same label as Doug’s band Lion and also had licensing problems in the USA. They were signed to Scotti Bros Records. Again, all Dougs bands became a very “big deal” in Japan because of the love for great guitar playing by the Japanese people. The band Bad Mood Rising is another topic on its own but needless to say BMR was much more popular in Japan than the USA. In 1991 Grunge music killed Glam metal in the USA while Doug was working on this band project. But LA Glam Metal lived on in Japan and inspired Visual Kei (ヴィジュアル系; Vijuaru Kei).

This is all relevant to set the stage for why Dougs Signature Jackson was a Japan Only guitar. It was released in Japan for the domestic Japanese market. Some guitars made it to insiders of which a couple orr so went to Doug Aldrich here in the USA like the one in my below photos. Grover Jackson also became a personal guitar luthier for Doug while Doug was being courted by Jackson guitars. Several Jacksons were refinished and repaired for Doug at the Ontario California Jackson headquarters.

As I mentioned in my story about The Sunset Strip Era in the mid 1980s Doug lived in LA and I would see him at The Troubadour once i a while. For a short time in 1985-1986-ish The Troubadour was the place to hang out if you were a Sunset Strip partier because Guns and Roses were basically the house band at the Troubadour way before GNR ever had a record contract. You’d see the same faces at the Troubadour then and Doug was part of those faces as was myself. He became a rock star. I did not … LOL

On to the Jackson thing. Grover Jackson had a common statement that he would tell people that i heard him say many times and that was that “Jackson Guitars didn’t really do endorsements”. Grover Jackson was truthful with that statement to some extent with a few exceptions. Mr. Jackson could recognize a great talent and early on supplied Doug Aldrich with “some guitars”. The following advertisement exposes some inkling of that.

Notice that the advertisement is for Charvel Fort Worth Texas. Which was the import wing of Jackson Charvel Guitars!

So here we go. Without getting away from the subject matter of the DA guitar, Mr. Grover Jackson was losing financial control of Jackson Guitars to investors by 1990. The import line of Charvels Jacksons were selling many units worldwide. Doug was enrolled in a marketing program that was meant to boost sales of Japanese Jackson guitars sold in Japan which was proving to be very profitable for the overall brand of Jackson Charvel and profitable for Chushin Gakki Aka The Charvel Japan Group.

Considered the Japanese wing of Jackson Charvel. Chushin Gakki was also the manufacturer and distributer of all import Charvel Jackson Guitars in Japan in the 1980s. Later Chushin Gakki would become Caparison Guitars. The Charvel Japan Group had several Japanese artists as endorsees with their own Charvel Jackson made in Japan signature guitars. Basically because of the popularity of Bad Mood Rising and Doug Aldrich he became a Charvel Jackson Japan Endorsee.

Also the production line Fort Worth Charvels and Japanese Jacksons ( Grover Jackson, Jackson Professional, and other Jackson branded guitars ) proved to be profitable for the overall Jackaon Charvel Corporation. It was all in the numbers. Remember Jackson guitars made in Ontario California were marketed as “custom” guitars. In many respects USA Jacksons were custom and short runs of certain unique guitars. Yet, what did the financial numbers say for Jackson Guitars USA in the 1990s? Its simple business profit and loss. It was very costly to produce guitars in the USA. Today guitars are mostly crap made oversees and the 1980s is when USA manufacturing started to shift offshore.

Here is Doug with his custom made Jackson USA guitar.

HERE ARE SOME DETAILED PHOTO OF THIS DA FLAME BEFORE IT SHIPPED TO MY CUSTOMER.

Enjoy the pics, Johnny - Owner AXN™Guitars ( The SENSEI OF VINTAGE 1980'S GUITARS 先生 )

This is one of a few Jackson USA guitar Grover Jackson gave to Doug and has a flame finish. It has a Duncan in the bridge and a LP style selector switch. It was manufactured at the 4452 Airport Drive Ontario California 91761 within miles of my childhood home. I have photos of the Jackson Ontario California facility I will post in another thread. It was a small manufacturing facility in an industrial area close to the Ontario International Airport. Doug visited there to get the details worked out for every guitar that Grover gave to him. Grover invited many rockers to that place and it was an awesome guitar shop in every respect.

Doug Aldrich Quote 1994:
"During the time I was deciding on what to use on my signature guitars, I had this prototype made. When I received it, it had an orange painted body with blue flames. I didn't like that, so I refinished the orange part black. This guitar sounds awesome for rhythm tones. I used this a lot on the new album Highcentered.”

The Four Official Doug Aldrich Jackson Guitars

Doug Aldrich - Flame

Body - Ash
Neck - Quartersawn maple, bolt-on, reverse headstock
Neck - scale25 1/2 inch, 24F
Fingerboard - Ebony (12F - 24F shallow scallop)
Inlays - Reverse sharkfin, pearl
Machineheads - Grover Jackson SG38-06
Fret wire - Rockwell C6/Brinell 171
Fret size - .118 x .114 x .051 x .037
Pickup mount - Both direct mounted into the wood
Pickup bridge - Seymour Duncan Custom
Pickup neck - Grover Jackson J-100S
Controls - 1 vol, 2-Way push switch
Bridge - Schaller JT-590 Grover Jackson, non-recessedFinishFlame

Doug Aldrich - Psycho

Body - Ash
Neck - Quartersawn maple, bolt-on, reverse headstock
Neck - scale 25 1/2 inch, 24F
Fingerboard - Ebony (12F - 24F shallow scallop)
Inlays - Reverse sharkfin, pearl
Machineheads - Grover Jackson SG38-06
Fret wire - Rockwell C6/Brinell 171Fret size.118 x .114 x .051 x .037
Pickup mount - Both direct mounted into the wood
Pickup bridge - Seymour Duncan Custom
Pickup neck - Grover Jackson J-100S
Controls - 1 vol, 2-Way push switch
Bridge - Schaller JT-590 Grover Jackson, non-recessed
Finish - Flame

Doug Aldrich - Psycho Y-O

doug-aldrich-signature-jackson-guitar_custom_psychoyo.jpg

Body - Mahogany
Neck - Maple, bolt-on, reverse headstock
Neck - scale 25 1/2 inch, 24F
FingerboardR - osewood (12F - 24F shallow scallop)
InlaysReverse sharkfin, pearl
Machineheads - Grover Jackson SG38-06
Fret wire - Rockwell C6/Brinell 171Fret size.118 x .114 x .051 x .037
Pickup mount - Both direct mounted into the wood
Pickup bridge - Grover Jackson J-DA
Pickup neck - Grover Jackson S-6F
Controls - 1 vol, 3-way toggle switch
Bridge - Schaller JT-590 Grover Jackson, non-recessed
Finish - Psycho Y-O (Yellow-Orange)

Doug Aldrich - Psycho G-B

doug-aldrich-signature-jackson-guitar_custom_psychogb.jpg

Body - Mahogany
Neck - Maple, bolt-on, reverse headstock
Neck scale - 2 5 1/2 inch, 24F
Fingerboard - Rosewood (12F - 24F shallow scallop)
Inlays - Reverse sharkfin, pearl
Machineheads - Grover Jackson SG38-06
Fret wire - Rockwell C6/Brinell 171Fret size.118 x .114 x .051 x .037
Pickup mount - Both direct mounted into the wood
Pickup bridge - Grover Jackson J-DA
Pickup neck - Grover Jackson S-6F
Controls - 1 vol, 3-way toggle switch
Bridge - Schaller JT-590 Grover Jackson, non-recessed
Finish - Psycho G-B (Green-Blue)

Info

1985 ESP M1 Custom Neck Through Guitar

http://alienxnation.com/guitars/esp-1985-m1-custom

This is an ESP M1 Custom and a factory original 1985 guitar and made in Japan. It was manufactured during a period for ESP when they were trying to make a departure from manufacturing clones of Fender and Gibson guitars and transition to their own models in the mid 1980s. This one was sold at the famous 48th street ESP guitar store in New York. It has the original factory installed ESP LH-200 Pickup and the original ESP wiring! ESP also went the extra mile and the inner control cavities have a great coat of shielding paint to block our radio interference.

One cool feature is the little silver 2-way switch/mini-toggle next to the volume knob which causes the pickup to be wired directly to the input jack overriding the volume pot completely. When this type wiring is employed the direct connection causes just a few more oHms from the humbucker to arrive to your amp and when playing makes 100% sure your humbucker volume is on full through the whole song which i love because i always have the tendency to accidentally roll the volume off without knowing at live shows.. Also, the volume pot has an accurate date code of 1985.

The guitar is a neck-through guitar which features a maple neck that goes through the body- with swamp ash body wings. The construction is the very famous ESP neckthrough type. The tremolo is a 1985 ESP Sinclair bridge. These Sinclair bridges were made from very awesome hardened steel, were built like a tank with excellent tone, and the Sinclair must have been too costly for ESP to continue on with because after a couple years the design disappeared from ESP offerings.

One of the photos included in this thread shows our notes indicating fretboard radius and neck shape at the 1st and 12lth fret. A very unique shred profile that basically has a specification that makes the neck very close to the same shape all the way up and down. Equalling out to a super-fast neck shape. The LH-200 ESP humbucker gave a reading in the 9 oHms range making it a verified Gibson EVH PAF clone. The LH-200 pickup is said to be the most popular Humbucker in Japan. The guitar is a shred monster with great tone and very awesome playability. The body carve at the neck’s 24rth fret gives you the ultimate access to the higher frets much more than I’ve seen on almost any shred guitar. If you can play in the higher register its very un-inhibiting. The neck on this guitar feels ultra-long when your jammin on this dream guitar.