My Kramer Ferrington KFT

Somewhere around 1990 I bought a Korean version Kramer Ferrington KFT-2 #FB 5995. Being married with a family, my days of being in a band and needing a Marshall amp for a Gibson RD Artist were over. Something to play occasionally with friends, and maybe do some personal recording, was all I needed.

Fred, Curt, Dave and me playing at the Mussel Bed Soiree in 1986.

My Gibson RD Artist circa 1998, not too long before I sold it.

The Kramer must have been a few years old at the time, since the company logo on it is from 1985-1986. I remember seeing the guitar hanging up at the Radio Shack in Lewisporte and being instantly drawn to it. Wade gave me a package deal with the guitar, case, strap and picks for what I recall as being either $400 or $600 inclusive.

It is an acoustic/electric which tries to service both worlds by putting a mic in the body powered by a 9v battery. That feature didn't get much use, however, since the battery would be dead whenever I wanted to plug it in, and you had to really relax the strings to get at it. I found it easier to just mic the guitar when I wanted to record it.

U. Max, me, and Rod playing at a family reunion in 2000.

Playing this guitar was always a challenge, because either in the design or during the manufacturing process, the gap between the strings and fretboard was set way too high. It could be played, but only with a lot of pressure, and thus a loss of speed. There wasn't much bend left either, for doing any lead bits.

Since I rarely played anymore, this was not a big deal. Strumming a few chords at a campfire, or kitchen party was not too bad an ordeal. I got used to it. That was until 2014 when I started jamming occasionally with Mike. He has a collection of very expensive guitars, and the difference between his and mine was substantial. Going back to the Kramer was painful.

After owning this guitar for more than 2 decades, I decided to finally do something about the extremely high string action, and brought it to the local music store to see if they could do anything with it.

Back from repairs in 2015.

They took the guitar apart and fine tuned it until the strings were at a reasonable height. They also cleaned up the electrics and put in a new battery. Along with a new set of strings, it is a totally different guitar. I should have had this work done years ago. Playing guitar is once again something I can look forward to, and not an extreme workout for the fingers on my left hand.


Kramer Links

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kramer_Guitars
• http://www.vintagekramer.com/company44.htm
• http://www.edroman.com/guitars/kramer/info.htm
• http://elderly.com/vintage/items/20U-10624.htm
• http://www.myrareguitars.com/vintage-1968-kramer-ferrington-kft1-acoustic-electric-guitar