lemmywinks Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kramer-Duke-Deluxe-Bass-guitar-1983-Original-case-RARE-/120602223904?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item1c1473e520"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kramer-Duke-Deluxe-B...=item1c1473e520[/url] Spotted this and thought some folk on here might be interested, esp. considering it's got a part aluminium neck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomEndian Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 Yum. If it were half the price, I'd have it in a heartbeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted July 30, 2010 Author Share Posted July 30, 2010 These not worth much then? I assumed it'd be a USA model as it's early 80s with aluminium neck and Schaller hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomEndian Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 [quote name='lemmywinks' post='910301' date='Jul 30 2010, 02:25 PM']These not worth much then?[/quote] Oh, I haven't got a clue. I'm just poor at the moment. But there's [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rare-Kramer-Duke-Headless-Bass-Aluminium-Neck-/110564917867"]another one on eBay[/url] at the moment at £200 (no bids yet), which might yet tempt me. Looking round the web at the few mentions there are of the Duke, prices seemed to be US$250-350 a few years back, which makes £200 look a lot more sensible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joegarcia Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 £350 is very fair I'd say. Very likely to become a lot more valuable in years to come too I reckon. I'm be sorely tempted too at that price. Great travelling bass... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 I had one years ago - short-ish scale? Not much balls to the sound, but very lively with a good snap to it. Great for on the bus/train etc. The Schaller pickup was a good 'un... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Horrible neck though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 Be careful though. Although the two listed here are the real deal, a lot of them are Hondo Alien basses with the badges removed. If you're interested in one the tell-tale signs to look for are: 1. All Kramers have the ebanol fingerboard. Anything with wood is a fake. 2. The Kramer Duke has just a single screw on the string retainer at the head. 3. The Kramer has all the manufacturer/model information plus serial number on the neck plate. If it has a plain neck plate it's a fake. The Hondo isn't bad as a bass, the hardware is all crappy copies of the real Schaller items and by now unless the bass has been mostly unused will be in need of replacement. £300 is a good price for a well looked after Kramer. You shouldn't pay more than £100 for the Hondo version and then only if it looked almost brand new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 I remember trying a Hondo Alien in a local shop when they first came out - it seemed pretty horrible, actually & sort of put me off headlesses for a while. Got over that when I saw a Riverhead Unicorn - still want one! Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 I own the Hondo version which was being passed-off as a Kramer The Duke by its seller. I got a very substantial discount on the price which meant that it ended up costing me about £75 including the hard case which violin-case shaped and very cool looking. Replacing the electronics and upgrading the hardware to the proper Schaller items has made it into a very playable instrument and not that much different in sound or feel to the real thing. Incidentally did you know that all the necks on the Aluminium Kramers are the same? They just cut different numbers of slots in the fingerboard to make them either 34 or 30" scale and sawed the heads off for The Dukes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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