80s Kramer fretwire

[Dave L]

Hi guys, my Kramer EE is up for a refret soon and I´m wondering if anyone knows which wire this era of Kramers would have had originally? It´s 1987-ish, so just your standard ESP production.

 

[harddriver]

Hi guys, my Kramer EE is up for a refret soon and I´m wondering if anyone knows which wire this era of Kramers would have had originally? It´s 1987-ish, so just your standard ESP production.

Both of my 1983 USA Kramers had 6100 jumbo frets from the factory. I had an 1989 Kramer that had the San Dimas Charvel body with the sqaured off edges but I can't remember if they were 6100 or not sorry.

I know all the USA guitar up until 1985-86 probably were 6100's like my 1983 imperials.

Maybe you can dig some information up over here.....

http://www.vintagekramer.com/story.htm

 

[JohnnyGtar]

Thanks for making this thread. I've got an '87 Kramer that needs a partial refret.

 

[cardinal]

Do you guys have pics of yours with 6100 wire? The ones I've seen seem more a 6150 which I find too low. If they really are 6100, I'd love that.

 

[Little B]

Whatever the fret size is on my og nightswan and proaxe,I always thought they should be the nxt size bigger.But idk if the EE is same fret size?Long time ago I had one of my nightswans refretted with jumbo and I liked it much better all around.

 

[Rick Lee]

I didn't know any better at the time, but when I got an '83 Pacer from eBay that arrived with totally worn out frets, I got the seller to split the cost of a refret with me. I wish I had gone stainless steel then. I've gone SS for refrets on subsequent guitars and will never go any other way. Buy once, cry once.

 

[Greazygeo]

I played lots of Kramers back in the day. The store I taught lessons in was a Kramer dealer. They all had more of a medium jumbo fret on them. The Ibanez Wizard necks were the first guitars I ever saw with 6100’s from the factory.

Measure what is on your neck now and get something the same width but taller. Lots of sizes to pick from now.

 

[cardinal]

Whatever the fret size is on my og nightswan and proaxe,I always thought they should be the nxt size bigger.But idk if the EE is same fret size?Long time ago I had one of my nightswans refretted with jumbo and I liked it much better all around.

I have an OG NightSwan and the frets were tiny (1mm high and narrow). I had it refretted with Jescar 57110 (essentially 6100) and now it's so much better.

 

[harddriver]

I seem to remember the 89 Kramer Pro-Axe I had may have had something more like 6150's but the 83's had bigger frets than the 89 and one of them I bought new, I had some Gibsons at the same time and the 83 Kramer frets were bigger. My second 83 the frets were pretty wore down by the time I got it so what they were like originally is pretty much an impossibility now. Were they 6100's??? both guitars have been refretted a couple of times now with 6100's so my memory of the original frets are long gone. Maybe not 6100's not but they were bigger than the 6150 that I had on my ABMM axis near as I can remember.

Here's a similar pic of what my 89 looked like, it had the white pearl paint but mine had a regular pointy neck. It was a nice guitar, I just didn't care for the slim D profile neck on it and I don't remember if the lower body horn had the scallop like this one.

 

[harddriver]

I have an OG NightSwan and the frets were tiny (1mm high and narrow). I had it refretted with Jescar 57110 (essentially 6100) and now it's so much better.

All the info that I could dig up says 80's Kramers used something close to Dunlop 6105's so they may have not been 6100's from the factory, but they did seem to be bigger than what Gibson or Fender were using at the time from what I can recall.

AI Overview:

A 1983 Kramer Imperial (and most Kramers from that era) typically came with
Medium Jumbo frets, often feeling close to or even "Super Jumbo" sized, designed for fast playing and shredding, with some sources suggesting they were similar to Dunlop 6105 frets. These were substantial frets, wider and taller than vintage styles, allowing for low action without buzzing, a hallmark of 80s shred guitars

Key Characteristics:

• Type: Medium Jumbo (often described as very tall/wide).
• Feel: Excellent for shredding, big chords, and low action.
• Modern Equivalent: Comparable to larger modern jumbo frets like Dunlop 6105 or even larger.

So, while labeled "medium jumbo," expect them to feel quite large and prominent on the fretboard

So if some 80's Kramers used something close to 6105 Dunlops they aren't too far off of 6100's.

Dunlop 6105 is a popular
medium jumbo/tall fret size, measuring approximately 0.094" wide by 0.054" tall

Dunlop 6100 is a classic jumbo fret size, known for being tall and wide, measuring approximately .110 inches wide by .055 inches tall