# Kramer Baretta Special mod project



## ScatteredDimension (Feb 17, 2020)

Hi!

I've been wanting a single pickup 80's vibe guitar for a while now... Found one from a private market for 135€ and I'm currently waiting for it to arrive!

So I'd like to hear your opinions on my vision:

-Shell pink (or close to it) color. (gonna try to paint a guitar for the first time...Kinda anxious about this, but at least it's not an expensive guitar if I f* it up somehow. Have to watch some tutorials...)
-Gonna swap the hardware to either all black or all gold. 
-Probably gonna swap the pickup for a Duncan Custom.

I'm aiming for similar look with the Esp Mirage Deluxe in Pearl pink since I love that look!

I also like gold hardware, but could it be too much??

What do you guys think? Black hardware or gold? What kind of pickup would you recommend?

Edit. Not really familiar with tremolo bridges... Is it possible to swap the bridge for a hardtail for this type of body, in case I don't like the tremolo type?

Here's the look I'm aiming for:



Here's the guitar to arrive:


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## dr_game0ver (Feb 17, 2020)

Pink is OK but with gold hardware. No baby blue pickguard?
135€, i'm almost jealous.


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## ScatteredDimension (Feb 17, 2020)

dr_game0ver said:


> Pink is OK but with gold hardware. No baby blue pickguard?
> 135€, i'm almost jealous.



No pickguard on this one. I guess you were joking with the baby blue part though.


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## Zoobiedood (Feb 17, 2020)

You can always block the trem if you don't like it, or learn to use/set it up properly. I'd say the Custom is a good choice, though.


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## ScatteredDimension (Feb 17, 2020)

Zoobiedood said:


> You can always block the trem if you don't like it, or learn to use/set it up properly. I'd say the Custom is a good choice, though.



Yeah, I think that's what I'll do if I don't want to use the trem.


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## Adieu (Feb 17, 2020)

Is it an 80s Baretta or a MusicYo Baretta?

"Hardtailing" the strat-style trem in the pic is a matter of adding springs or claw tension until it sits flat against the body


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## Mathemagician (Feb 17, 2020)

There is no such thing as “too much”. Just what you like. Paint it gold with gold hardware whatever lol. But pink will look good with either color scheme imo.


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## JK-PA (Feb 17, 2020)

Adieu said:


> Is it an 80s Baretta or a MusicYo Baretta?
> 
> "Hardtailing" the strat-style trem in the pic is a matter of adding springs or claw tension until it sits flat against the body




These are Gibson made.


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## JK-PA (Feb 17, 2020)

Great project!
These Barettas are great guitars for a very low price. Great modding platforms!
This is what I did to mine:
https://www.sevenstring.org/threads/kinda-ngd-kramer-baretta-special.337124/#post-5027570


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## ScatteredDimension (Feb 17, 2020)

JK-PA said:


> Great project!
> These Barettas are great guitars for a very low price. Great modding platforms!
> This is what I did to mine:
> https://www.sevenstring.org/threads/kinda-ngd-kramer-baretta-special.337124/#post-5027570



I actually stumbled upon your thread when looking pics of the Baretta in google  Nice job!


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## ScatteredDimension (Feb 21, 2020)

Guitar arrived yesterday. The condition is great. Definitely gonna block the trem since I don't really see myself using it and the tuning got immediately F**d up after a slight wiggle...

Next step is to disassemble the hardware and start the refinishing project. First I thought of using a heatgun to remove the paint, but then I realized that I might not need to go down to bare wood so maybe just sanding it down might be enough. Few questions though:

- How deep should I go with the sanding? (If only sanding is enough)
- Is primer needed after sanding or can I just paint over it after sanding (depends on the base color after sanding?)
- If primer is needed should I go with light primer like white, since I want to paint it "light pink"

Already have a golden volume knob, neckplate and strap pins incoming so the hardware is going be golden.

Since I'm gonna have to paint it at the (outside) storage area of my workplace, I guess I need to wait for warmer weather... So sadly I guess the painting will happen only after a few months when hopefully it's gonna be like 15 celsius or so...

Thanks!


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## ScatteredDimension (Feb 22, 2020)

So today I decided that I'm just gonna do it.

Stripped the body, sanded the body with 80 and then 120p sandpaper. I got some primer, paint and lacquer spray from a hardware store and sprayed the first layers of primer. I got some drip marks here and there and some spots the primer is too thin. Tommorow is round number 2 and I'm going to sand the thick drippy parts and add another layer of primer and hopefully it's gonna be smooth!

I'm going to also post pics of the process thus far


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## ScatteredDimension (Feb 22, 2020)

Don't know if this adds anything, but in the sake of pics or it didn't happen!


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## ScatteredDimension (Feb 23, 2020)

Got the sanding of the primer done and it was time to add the color!

At this point it looks pretty good! I'm not excpecting perfection since I'm just painting with spraycans and cheap paints basic hobby paints  

Next week it's time to add the lacquer and polish the body. Anyways here's some photos:


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## Omzig (Feb 23, 2020)

If your using normal 1k clear on this you wont beable to flatten and polish the clear for atleast a month (if you use a fan to help the cure/vent) or 2-3 months if you don't aid the venting 

It might look dry on top but if you try and buff it out before it's cured you'll end up cutting right through the clear and the color,id give the color a few days to vent as well or you'll end up with trapping fumes under the clear that will only add to the curing time,trust me been there done that  

dont even think about usng 2k clears without a full respirator/safety setup as that stuff will kill you without it....but if you can't wait for the 1k to cure you might look at using an epoxy/UV epoxy clear,faster cure but can be a pita to flatten.


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## ScatteredDimension (Feb 23, 2020)

Noted! 

Gonna let the paint went for a while now and think about the method for the clear coat. Definitely don't want to ruin the process now...

Thanks for the heads-up!


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## ScatteredDimension (Feb 25, 2020)

I noticed, that the Kramer neckplate is different size, than the basic neckplate. I ordered a golden one, and tried to fit it and the holes in the neck (horizontally) are closer to ech other than the "basic" neck.

The measurements in the original plate are vertically the same but the width is only 44mm... I guess i have to drill new holes to the neck and the body (or just stick with the chrome plate...)


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## Adieu (Feb 25, 2020)

ScatteredDimension said:


> Don't know if this adds anything, but in the sake of pics or it didn't happen!
> View attachment 77784
> View attachment 77785
> View attachment 77786



Were you trying to strip-strip or just scuff the paint job for primer/new paint adhesion?

Doesn't really look stripped to me


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## ScatteredDimension (Feb 25, 2020)

Adieu said:


> Were you trying to strip-strip or just scuff the paint job for primer/new paint adhesion?
> 
> Doesn't really look stripped to me



Decided that I won't probably need to go down to bare wood. I got rid of the gloss with 80p and after that sanded more with 120 and 240p papers. The surface felt really smooth and some at some spots I managed to dig to bare wood though. The sanding pic is taken after the first sanding with 80p sandpaper.


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## Omzig (Feb 25, 2020)

A bit late now but i did this mockup for you the other day,i could'nt login to my flik account at the time but here it is anyhows 







& i think the pink/gold looks pretty cool together tbh


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## ScatteredDimension (Feb 25, 2020)

That's awesome! Thank you!

My pink might be just a tad stronger and the volume knob is also to be gold


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## Omzig (Feb 25, 2020)

ScatteredDimension said:


> knob is also to be gold









I love "GOLD" lol 

No probs i took the lighter pink from the esp you posted and yep i guessed you'ed end up with a pinker/darker pink,with out a full white base coat even a light pink spray will darken had it happen on my maverick pink refinish.


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## ScatteredDimension (Feb 25, 2020)

Omzig said:


> I love "GOLD" lol



Haha. YES. I think that all the hardware must absolutely match each other in a guitar and really IMO chrome looks almost always cheapish for me... Black for me looks almost always better or in this case G O L D.


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## ScatteredDimension (Feb 26, 2020)

Double post.


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## Omzig (Feb 26, 2020)

ScatteredDimension said:


> Haha. YES. I think that all the hardware must absolutely match each other in a guitar and really IMO chrome looks almost always cheapish for me... Black for me looks almost always better or in this case G O L D.




Yep totally agree to the color match ,although i have to admit to just modding a few of my floyds to the stainless/black interplay such as on the sun valley shredders which looks pretty cool i think.

And sorry about the meme it was the "Gold Knob" that trigger the Gold Member ref post 

btw if your going for a diffrent brand/type of clear than the colour/base primmer your using make sure you do a reaction test on a colour sparayed and cured scrap piece first (its not fun to watch your well spray'ed and flattened colour coat blister under and uncompatible clear coat....been there.


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## DancingCloseToU (Feb 26, 2020)

I love it! Seriously killer work
I know it's probably much more trouble than it's worth, but a pink headstock/black logo would slay


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## ScatteredDimension (Feb 27, 2020)

Omzig said:


> And sorry about the meme it was the "Gold Knob" that trigger the Gold Member ref post
> 
> btw if your going for a diffrent brand/type of clear than the colour/base primmer your using make sure you do a reaction test on a colour sparayed and cured scrap piece first (its not fun to watch your well spray'ed and flattened colour coat blister under and uncompatible clear coat....been there.



I thought that the meme was funny!

I haven't done any clear coating yet. I have the same brands clear lacquer that was the primer and paint and did a test on a wood piece with 3 coats of clear. Of course it has not had the time to dry properly, but the surface seemed more cloudy than before the clear. Is that normal? Seemed a bit more durable after the fingernail test, but I'm concerned that will I get it to a nice gloss after some sanding and polishing (after several weeks of waiting course).

I really like the finish now as it is (doesn't need to be mirror finish) but I can't leave it like this, since the surface is not protected with any coat... Maybe I'll just add several layers of coat and try to sand it with high grit sandpapers and figure out what to use for polishing... The polishing part is really the one that causes some head scratching...
Is there any possibility of some kind of reaction happening if I get some basic car polishing wax and what type should go after ( I live in Finland so hopefully something more universal brand )



DancingCloseToU said:


> I love it! Seriously killer work
> I know it's probably much more trouble than it's worth, but a pink headstock/black logo would slay



Thank you! Definitely not skilled enough of redoing the headstock... I'll probably be quite happy enough with the results I'm going after right now


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## Omzig (Feb 27, 2020)

ScatteredDimension said:


> I thought that the meme was funny!
> 
> I haven't done any clear coating yet. I have the same brands clear lacquer that was the primer and paint and did a test on a wood piece with 3 coats of clear. Of course it has not had the time to dry properly, but the surface seemed more cloudy than before the clear. Is that normal? Seemed a bit more durable after the fingernail test, but I'm concerned that will I get it to a nice gloss after some sanding and polishing (after several weeks of waiting course).
> 
> ...




Clouding sounds like you have gotten moisure trapped in the clear,got a pic ? this can happen if you spray in the damp or during high humidity,Ive had it before and it did evaporate out for me once the clear had vented it's fumes 

If you can get the body in a draught (not cold thought that will cause cracking) or get something like a 120mm computer fan set up near it that will help in the curing and getting fumes away from the paint,as i said i would'nt touch it to either flatten or polish for atleast a month,if you can smell even a slight trace of solvents while holding the body under your chin it's not done curing.

Refinishing without a pro set up is a total time sink,first two i did i just could'nt wait to get them glossed up i was so jazzed how good they looked,in the end i had to redo them both because the first wounld'nt cure because of to much paint and the second i burnt through the clear and paint layers while polishing because it hadn't fully cured,as doug P sang "patience is a virtue but she won't always wait"


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## ScatteredDimension (Feb 27, 2020)

Ok, so I added the the clearcoat today. Almost used the whole spay can, several layers with 2-3 mins apart, as the instruction say. One patch has dripping, but I guess that can be carefully sanded later. Now is time to wait... I cannot wait to wait!  but now point rushing.... Just have to be patient. Nice that I had good guidance here!

Edit: can't see any cloudyness now. I told myself that it must have been the s**t wood I got from work for testing and I guess that was it.


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## ScatteredDimension (Mar 5, 2020)

Update: 

I decided to stain the neck. I saw 'Soulhenge' do it for hi's Ibanez mod project in his youtube channel and it looked cool. I really thought that a darker neck would go well with the pink body. I have a really cheap 'Reno' strat- copy that I could try the stain first. I liked it so went on to stain the Kramer.

Pics coming: for the star- copy I only did 1 layer and for the Kramer did 2 layers of stain. It's a little darker and looks better. Then I added oil to it and let it rest for the night. Did some fitting with the body and in the neck pocket there are some parts with the old maple showing and it's currently in the process of being stained.


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## ScatteredDimension (Mar 11, 2020)

So I got all the parts and since I'm pretty satisfied with the finish for now, I went and assembled the thing.

I know that the lacquer still hasn't fully vented yet, but it feels hard and I just could not wait any longer  I guess that I can sand and polish the body later I feel like it, but for now I'm very happy with it!

Snatched a Duncan Custom TB-5 from a private market seller. Funnily enough it came with a gold cover, which I had to remove though since it did not fit the cavity with the cover. I think it would have been over the top with the golden cover anyways... Luckily the pickup had barely any wax so it was pretty clean under the cover.

Anyways, pics:


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## JK-PA (Mar 11, 2020)

Looks really good, man!
The combination of pink and the dark neck is really sweet, way better than it would look with the original neck color.


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## ScatteredDimension (Mar 11, 2020)

JK-PA said:


> Looks really good, man!
> The combination of pink and the dark neck is really sweet, way better than it would look with the original neck color.



Thank you! I really like the look of roasted maple necks and this was the closest I could get without investing in one


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## ScatteredDimension (Mar 13, 2020)

Update: The guitar feels really nice and comfortable to play, considering it is a low budget instrument. (sure it has some higher end parts now)

One thing happened when assembling the tremolo (I want it to be blocked)and trying to screw the metal piece to the body that tightens the tremolo springs. The other screw couldn't hold the tension and came loose and out came this "mush of wood" and I wonder could there be parts of the body that are not "full wood" for a lack of better term... The body should be mahogany.

For now I used a piece of a toothpick for better "grip" for the screw and I did't screw all the way. I also used coins (for now) to block the trem so there won't be so much tension on the screws. The tremolo now sits flush with the body and is basically a hardtail. At some point I'm going to block the trem more properly with a sanded block of wood.


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## ScatteredDimension (Mar 15, 2020)

Aaand it's done... Went and did the wet sanding and polishing and achieved a pretty nice shine!

Used only 800 and 2000 grit sand papers. Should have used a bit coarser for start, since it took quite a few runs to get the all the orange peel off with the 800... Then used a silicone free car polish and I'm very happy with the results 





In the pics it somehow looks a little pinker than it is (at least the bottom part has a darker reflect from the table and chair) ... Also the process made the colour just a tad lighter which is a good thing in my opinion!


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## Omzig (Mar 17, 2020)

Looks great very nice job  Just becareful with leaving it on textured surfaces for a few months (try and keep in on a hanger or a stand that doesn't contact the body) as while its still venting trapped gases can cause the surface to resoften and take on the pattern of what its laying on! (been there done that  )


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