Setting Up Your Kramer Baretta Special for BEST PERFORMANCE!

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[@fullmetaflak]

God bless this man breaking out the knowledge to help a someone tinkering on a 170$ guitar

[@moontheloon1969]

I love that us of a certain age have more fun with simple guitars, also you have plenty of room too put any pick ups and gizmo's you want.....rock on!

[@Glamosapien]

Less to do with your age more to do with preference and taste

[@leopar66]

I've always preferred guitars with a single pick up, less magnetic pull = better tone

[@garywebb5058]

Awesome! Thanks!! I’ve only been playing a few short months and I can handle these set up tips. I think I’m going to pick up a couple of these now. Why? Because one color ain’t enough at the price you can get these for. Plus, I’m an 80’s guy …. so they’re perfect. Eddies passing made me pick up a guitar at 51 and learn what I can. I told myself I’m going to learn some of his stuff, no matter how long it takes or how bad I suck. And I’m having fun doing it.

[@ericandrews1661]

You're never too old to learn. Me, guitar for 40 years and I still suck. But just had my 2nd piano lesson. Its all good as long as you're having fun

[@svenzia]

Dang right man, go for it. Its so fun even after a whole life mostly riffing and playing for myself. I played in a few bands when i was from 12 to 17, then shit has piled up let me tell you. Guitar gear and playing is my big interest. You can keep it at what level you want, maybe even take lessons and develop to a decent player pretty fast. So much info and such on the internet now so not at all a must. Have fun!

[@Hiro.the.God.]

You’re damn right brother!

[@MatttMan]

All Right & Good For You!!!! Have a blast, if you feel it, you will figure it out, meaning, you dont really have to “think” all the time and thats gonna be a kick ass moment when its just comin out of ya, keep goin!

[@williamdon3442]

He said NUT SAUCE 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@phucue887]

I have the white one and set it up myself and it's unbelievable how low the action was able to be set without any buzz ! I cut the capacitor and it sounds great stock . Little bit of graphite in the nut and it's a giggable guitar !

[@trentanimations1297]

Is the truss rod double action? I’m so lost trying to get my action lower as it’s buzzes from any height as soon as I tried setting it up

[@valve84]

Excellent setup explanation. Freakin' outstanding Steve!!! and thorough too

[@jeromewagschal9485]

Excellent tips...I got my first Baretta Special 2 years ago and I changed the cheap plastic nut for a tusq nut and I installed locking tuners and it solved things nicely... I bought two more including a blue one like yours and I did the same mods... At some point I might replace the trems if I really want to divebomb the hell out of them but for now all 3 of them stay in tune really well... Interestingly I tried to install a Mexican Fender trem because of the full-size Trem block but tuning stability was worse so I kept the stock blocks instead...

[@GLC-Strikers]

It’s much better. The hollow sound is now cleaned up. For the price it now rocks. Thanks for the through setup . I love these videos . Very helpful. Peace dude.

[@sixpenske1940]

i have that exact baretta love the neck on them super fast!! thanks for the tips Steve!! i upgraded the saddles to rollers and put a set of Gotoh Tuners and its mint now!!

[@wakerdukefan]

Steve, I just got to say you are a class act man! Been watching your videos since I started playing guitar and have always looked up to you! Crazy to think it's been at least ten years ago when I visited your channel for the first time! Keep it up man! You rock!

[@destinyreturns4885]

Saw on your unboxing video at the end where you made some adjustments and glad you decided to do this video as a follow up. Really like the way you explain things. Peace

[@edcollante]

I don't know what's about your hands, mate but you make every guitar - all of them - sound like a TON OF BRICKS. What a tone there! Amazing.

[@jfo3000]

Definitely has a great touch.

[@skipbass2771]

little leslie west sounding

[@Jacksmusicshack]

I was on the fence about getting a new guitar.. Kramer in purple is calling my name lol It's a simple guitar it doesn't have a thousand features. It says "hey play me"

[@jackclark1356]

Awesome video Steve! Love my Baretta Special even more now

[@RobNY5150]

I might try this. I have the purple one and the white one. I’ve been using them as stop tails. I replaced the stock pickups in both and upgraded the tuners to gotohs. Probably the best budget guitar I’ve come across over the years.

[@nvteriffs]

Did the gotoh tuners drop right in?

[@drumhead96]

Just got mine today!! Perfect timing!

[@glenclifton4563]

Thank you for all the knowledge you share with us.

[@InCaRnAt3]

Great stuff, i was going to post about the resister on the pot ...but you snuck that edit in on the end ...Again great stuff ...this looks to be a winner for a quick purchase !!!

[@beerwolf8518]

Killer. What a great video. I was thinking about buying one of these. This addresses a lot of points that I wouldn't have thought about. Thank you!

[@musicsoundgear]

Informative and concise video. Thanks for the tips about the trem system.

[@joecoach7268]

Thanks for the video Steve - I bought 2 of these because my first was the ruby red (hot pink) and my wife claimed it so bought the candy blue for myself. I replaced the tuners with Wilkinson EZ lock tuners - they were black in color and drop-ins for less than $30. I took your advice and removed the capacitor and the volume control works perfectly. I watched the trem adjustment intently but I dont use the trem bar so I havent messed with it yet - hope that's still ok, no tuning issues thus far. My frets were kind of a mess - super dirty and a little bit of sprout. I polished the frets and cleaned up the sprout and they are magic now! Your vid convinced me to buy this guitar and it is so fun to play - so glad I have it. Thanks again Steve.

[@svenzia]

This is an awesome video and it goes for several other low priced (heck even more expensive) guitars as well. Ok maybe not the treble bleed thingy but you said it. I know a few who never got this to hold tune for example. The spring "mod" perfect. You the man, Steve. Hurrah!

[@SteveCarmichael]

I have a purple one and did all of this, except I still need to lubricate the nut. I tried removing the capacitor and didn't make much difference, so I put in a new CTS pot. I also added a Tesi Switch killswitch. Great low price guitar.

[@papablue3015]

I got the purple one! 2yrs ago! Good build platform! Bridge, tuners! pot and pickup wasn't too bad? not great but good enough! For the money!! Thanks Steve!

[@ninevoltromeo]

I used the Big Bends Nut Sauce for the issue with the nut on mine. I had a problem where the G string would go sharp after using the trem. Solved the problem pretty quickly.

[@xlake218]

Terrific tips! Thanks!!

[@markgrant1302]

Awesome video dude!!! Great advice. Thank you so much!!!

[@dausblack2585]

Damn Steve,you are the man.You saved me alot of time money and frustration.I bought 2 of these Kramers and didn't really know how to fix the problem until now,thankyou so much.

[@chrisa1125]

Very informative, thanks! And your playing is killer and so is your tone!

[@deltawhiskey1398]

Great stuff! Would love to see how you setup one of your Floyd equipped guitars. Setting up a Floyd is considered sort of dark arts voodoo to a lot of people. I think you would make it clear and easy to understand.

[@brownsfan7753]

This video rocks!! Thanks Steve!!

[@saintbrando]

Dude, I just now clipped off that capacitor…Day & Night! Thanks Pal 🤘🏻

[@totrodder97]

Some great tips thanks Steve! Just got my baretta in purple and it is a fantastic guitar for the money but with a few tweaks as shown in this video it could be so much better for not much money

[@wvmountaineer69]

Thank you for making this video!

[@albertoshiguematsu6921]

Excellent tips man! Specifically for starters who can learn how to improve the guitar without spending money !! God bless you!

[@markattaway4429]

Great video!!! I’ve been looking at these for a while. Another cheap upgrade is roller saddles.

[@papoquinones8028]

Thank you for the wise advice I got mine today and removed the capacitor and the middle spring and boom much better I'm glad I saw your video

[@Matthew-b2i]

Great advice. Thank you.

[@Ranch5150SkinWalker]

I really like your content Steve. Also, nice tone man. I may need to get one of these bargain Kramers.

[@sfear6]

Another tip: replace the volume pot to 1 meg pot to make it more open and more output

[@These_go_to_eleven_1959]

Yeah i agree depending on the tone you are going for. I use a 1meg for all darker pu's like the dimarzio super 3 and even the Tone Zone.

[@jackvai2681]

I just ordered the exact same one yesterday... Thanks for the set-up tips.

[@muchomusiclibre]

Cool video, just what I was looking for. Thanks Steve!

[@thomassieghold2698]

Played it in the Store. This thing sounds soooo good out of the box. I really need it. ' The only reason I didn't bought it direct in the store was because they didn't have the blue one in storage. One of the saddest moments of my life.

[@NoReason2Liv]

Looks more like a capacitor to me. Resistors have bands of color to reflect their value. Also, capacitors will affect frequency roll offs... resistors reduce signal level .

[@SFBGuitar]

It's definitely a capacitor. I was thinking resistor, but it didn't look like one to me either. I pulled it from the trash and it's definitely a capacitor. It's a bass roll-off as the volume drops, which is exactly what was happening. Adding a resistor would have also reduced the treble a bit, to be more even.

[@tristangilbert2037]

@@SFBGuitar what amount of relief did u set the neck up with?

[@jukka9333]

@@SFBGuitar Yep. I knew that and did that as soon as I got mine home. And I still don´t understand the genius of adding that cap in there...

[@2thessalonians188]

@@jukka9333 it's a cap...energy storage

[@jukka9333]

@Elias HeronBons ok, I get that but this time the capacitor ruined the use of the volume potentiometer totally. I was on-off basically with the capacitor.

[@MusicTherapyLaz]

Freakin' awesome video Steve! The one other thing I've been doing to improve sustain is take the block off the bridge and use a flat sanding tool or neutral block to perfectly flatten the connecting ends of the block and bridge. Man, I really want one of those Kramers now! Thanks for the GAS!!! LOL 😎🤘🎸

[@idealmethod]

I hope you buy the jackson js22 $189 and compare these two guitars, a show down! which is the best balls out guitar for under 200. KRAMER VS JACKSON! now there a thumbnail!

[@percyplumlight1854]

Very good Steve. Thanks.

[@anth9998]

Just got one last week. Great tips. Thanks!

[@adrianmbrown]

Happy you made this video.. Just got a Baretta Special and was wondering why the tremolo was so stiff and to to adjust it. Ace tips!

[@chrisbarnette7137]

Thank you Steve This is a huge help and I am going to set mine up like this and drop a new pick up in it.

[@TheAxe4Ever]

Very helpful video for the beginner guitarist just learning how to maintain and setup their own guitars that would buy their first decent guitar at this price point. Also, treble bleed mods using caps can be a big improvement while turning the volume pot down to keep from losing too many highs making it sound muddy. Especially through a real amp opposed to software. But you have to be very careful with the value of the cap. It takes experimentation (depending on your pickup) and I don’t suggest a beginner messing with that just yet. I bought and installed a Paul Reed Smith potentiometer with their selected value of cap and it took the guesswork out. I think PRS knows tone! 👍🏻

[@BenHelweg]

You could also put a switch in to take it out of circuit.

[@APK-pn4qh]

Great video and brilliant advice. 👍 I have this exact Batetta Special and I cannot recommend highly enough getting rid of that Cap and that middle spring. It's like a different guitar afterwards! 🤘😎🤘

[@BillyE5150]

Great sounding guitar & playing as always!!

[@jason_from_canada]

Great explanation When you were removing that resistor and I thought you were playing that game Operation 👍

[@juanrogelrodriguez8285]

😄

[@kenbrown5221988]

Great information! Just found one of these for sale for cheap and now I think I'll pick it up!

[@shimmer2500]

I just got the ruby red. Thanks for the tips and great playing!

[@vyger6336]

Thanks for the advice on this Kramer. I just picked one up from Craigslist brand new in the shipping box for $150. It was bought from Sweetwater. .It is the Ruby Red which I wasn't too exited about but the price was right and the color has grown on me. It has a bad case of the dreaded Fret Sprout which I am going to care of . I also notice when checking the intonation that the adjusting screw was all the way adjusted ,tightened ,and had no more adjustment. I have 7 other Guitars so this will be my project Guitar starting with changing the Tuners which are terrible and fixing the other problems. For the price though compared to what I paid for my Les Paul ,I couldn't go wrong.

[@bigwomp932]

I removed the center spring and it didn't even need adjusting after that, just a quick tune up. Ran a pencil through the nut and bing bang boom, I can use the whammy a little without it going out of tune. Thanks a bunch!

[@studioplanetpixel]

Thanks Steve this is awesome, this helped me a bunch! 🤘

[@christerrio8108]

Hey Steve. I have the same guitar. I put locking tuners, a Seymour Duncan pick up, a new volume pot, and a Floyd rose rail tail bridge. Guitar now rocks

[@Rico_B]

Chris, I did the same, except the Rail Tail-that Floyd Trem is more than I paid for the Guitar… Also, I added a new push/pull Pot so I could split the Seymour Duncan Humbucker Coil.

[@williammolina9792]

Why not just buy another guitar.??

[@kylezehtabi5452]

@@williammolina9792 cus with all those mods coupled with the price of this guitar its more than likely still cost a lot less than a high end kramer and will play and sound just as good... Sure the woods used won't be as good and the overall finish on the guitar isn't but if you're not fussed and don't like spending a lot of money buying cheap and doing some mods is a great way to go

[@Anjohl]

I think a new pot.and knob is a great mod!

[@guitarslim56]

@@williammolina9792 Excellent question. I would have been easier, and cheaper, to just buy a regular Baretta.

[@stevestarr6395]

Sounds wonderful Steve! 🤙🏽

[@smithfield06]

great playing and review, interesting i have seen a few other videos and read some blogs and they all mention removing the resistor on the pot switch. i have a squire strat and i just did a normal setup including tightning the nuts under the tuning pegs also used a graphite pencil on the nut grooves, i now have no tuning issues and the tremolo bar never gives me trouble thanks for the tips thinking of getting one of these guitars

[@satchrules101]

Great tips ! Thank you 🙏

[@bucketfullaballz]

very helpful. Thanks.

[@travisjohnson6358]

Thanks for the advice ive just bought a black one im waiting for it to show up

[@Thompsongs]

I have GOT to get one of these.

[@flyfishincrazy]

Thanks man! Got one on the way.

[@voyager7]

Some great advice in this!

[@brianbarnett100]

Hey Steve, Brian from Worcester LOL love your videos and I am getting less intimidated fixing my guitars. Thanks for the inspiration!!

[@aaronwall9864]

When I push my whammy bar down, not even that much 3 of my 6 string go sharp. Any tips ?

[@guitarman45.]

Ive noticed that the saddle screws are way up there which which could cause less stability of the saddle if you want can try inserting like .5 to 1 degree neck shim which would lift neck little higher and you'll be able to lower saddle screws for more stability but it sounds great as is

[@waynecribb4922]

Awesome info. Who knew ? Thanks for the info and the Kramer . Very nice .

[@markd9410]

Dang…thanks a bunch. Awesome sound

[@InnateTrigger]

That's one of my dream guitars right there ...as a one humbucker freak .. and i really appreciate your tips ! If i ever get her i will follow those tips for sure !

[@pyyktodd]

Nice advice.. Thank you.

[@rocknrollresignation93]

The beauty of a guitar like this is how little it costs. A lot of guys buy these and put real Floyd’s on them but I think that defeats the whole purpose when you’re adding a part that costs more than the guitar itself. I would upgrade the nut if it absolutely needed it but hopefully lubing it would be enough. Maybe upgrade the tuning machines, a better pot and maybe a pickup change but I feel the pickup is decent enough

[@rocknrollresignation93]

And great that you pointed out removing that resistor. Kramer puts that on a lot of their guitars and it is awful what it does to the tone. Just a stupid gimmick

[@stryanx4395]

Thanks was looking at getting one

[@kaidemen156]

I just picked one of these up recently and I’m really impressed with the guitar for the price point. Thanks for sharing your experience with us!

[@SuperNick090]

Thanks for the great tips , I just ordered one of these , seems like a great bargain for the price !! Did u have to file the fret edges ?

[@teemuhall]

Just bought that exact guitar. Thanks for the info. Your rig sounds great.

[@williammelo3650]

Great info! Tomorrow morning’s project

[@lynoj777]

Awesome video!

[@yetimatzenightcat8702]

I also had the problem with the fastening nuts on the tuners, I heard something was wrong but I didn't know what, then I simply tightened all the screws on the guitar and two of them were loose 🤷‍♂️😄 Hard to believe but that makes a huge difference

[@hutcheffect]

hey thanks much! I did notice that the treble bleed "circuit" was missing a resistor. Isn't it usually a cap with a resistor? I use the Seymour Duncan treble bleed circuit and it makes it so that when you roll down the volume you don't lose clarity. I wonder if Kramer co. had an oversight on using the correct component and value of this capacitor.

[@balmain2496]

Thank you!

[@tankdarla637]

Killer man. I am getting one of those in a trade, can not wait...

[@richardhenley817]

Awesome demo and tips.⭐️ What delay did you use? Sounds beautiful. Thanks so much.👍

[@davidbanner7972]

This is Awsom Huge help I mean Man you did a Excellent Coverage of That Awsom Champ / I am about to buy a Kramer just like that / Great timing

[@shoer5151]

Great info !, good vide

[@VlxWIZzZARDxlV]

Thank you

[@sl4x372]

It's great just as it is from the store!

[@amberstreetfilms]

Sounds really cool.

[@derekwilson8011]

I have the same color guitar just did everything that you showed me wow what a difference no need to adjust truss rod either right appreciate all that

[@TheGuitarFretZone]

guitar looks great!! good video

[@Anjohl]

This video is incredible! You're making me want to grab one just to tinker with! How do you find the stock pickup? Do you find you play the guitar much?

[@vladalucard7265]

Hi there, i just bought this Guitar last week and i'm asking myself how can i take care of this maple Fretboard. Do i need a Lemon Oil or a Wax??? Thanks and best Regards from Germany

[@Nazman06]

I took my center spring off. But the screws were already all the way to the wood. But the bridge was still flush to the body

[@oliverorme4299]

I have the baretta vintage tuned to eb with floyrose 1000!!

[@ereimul1444]

thank you sir. help me so much. fancy your playing and demo as well. i wonder what keyboard are those on your table.

[@milypr81]

Wow thanks for this video bro, waiting on mine in ruby red to arrive and I was worried I'd have to do some mods. I'm going to try your suggestions before I go dropping more cash now 👍