SHOULD YOU BUY A KRAMER NIGHTSWAN? REVIEW

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

Hope you all enjoy this Nightswan video, let me know your experiences with these fantastic guitars below, any questions do let me know 😎🎸

[@theburkett67]

Hello! Have you noticed that either the bridge or the pickup ring is not mounted correctly on the Polkadot? To me it looks like the bass side of the Floyd is a bit too far back.

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

​@@theburkett67 Heya thanks for watching, never noticed that, but just had a look and yes I can confirm it is, looks like the bass side of the Floyd is slightly lower then the treble side so it's sitting slightly slanted? Never noticed that beforehand!

[@theburkett67]

@@AndyDoveGuitar I don't mean lower. From what I'm seeing it looks like the bass side post is mounted further back than the treble side. Like if you were to measure from the nut to the bass side, post, and compare it to the treble side, post, the bass side would be further back. Did you buy this recently? If so, you might consider an exchange, but if you are fine with it that's all that matters. I would be upset though. Thank you for the response, I stopped and rewound the video several time trying to get a straight on shot of the guitar before bothering you.

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

​@@theburkett67 No it's okay I don't mind answering the comments, if it helps someone out that's what it's all about. I think maybe how I typed back may have been a bit confusing, but I meant what you said, so the bass side is slightly longer than the treble side. Literally never noticed it before until your comment alerted me to it. Doesn't affect anything for me personally, I love these guitars, had the polka dot about 3 years now and play it all the time, thanks again for watching, in any further reviews I do I'll make sure to get more photos and close ups of the guitar when I'm talking about them 🎸

[@michaelfox211]

My first really good guitar was a Nightswan, blue with white polka dots. I loved that thing, until grunge came along and it was seriously uncool. Eventually sold it cheap, always felt bad because it cost mum and dad a fortune. One of these reissues popped up on Facebook a few weeks ago at a great price and i couldn’t resist. Loving it so far - its not quite the same as far as i remember but its close, and a lot of fun! Thanks for the great review

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

Oah love that it brought the memories back for you, thank you for sharing that! I'd absolutely love to get my hands on an old 80's Nightswan, they go for big money now when they very occasionally pop up online, but yeah I love my reissues. Maybe one day I'll grab an old one if it comes up at the right price fingers crossed, blue with white polka dots sounds awesome, thanks for watching the video and taking the time to comment 🎸🤘

[@richardhogg407]

Enjoyed that Andy. Thanks mate. 👍😎

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

Thank you so much Rich, so glad you enjoyed the video, love my Nightswans, great guitars for that 80's rock sound, always have a fun time when I plug these in! 🤘🎸

[@KennethFinuf]

That's a cool guitar!! It's nice to see young people spreading!! 😊😊

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@KennethFinuf thank you so much for watching, appreciate it, yeah fabulous guitar, great to see people enjoying this guitar and some classic 80's riffs and solos! 🤘🎸

[@80smetalisawesome]

Got the aztec marble! It’s such a nice guitar! I’m thinking about picking up the black one! I can’t shred like you but I’m learning my A major scales and will move onto the modes.

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@80smetalisawesome thank you so much for watching, yeah absolutely love the Aztec, such fabulous guitars, perfect for rocking those 80's riffs and solos. The metallic black finish looks great in person, go for it!!🎸

[@bobbaumeister5243]

Thank you Andy! Awesome Guitars!

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@bobbaumeister5243 they are incredible guitars, perfect for rocking those 80's riffs and solos, thanks for watching and enjoying the content as always Bob! 🤘🎸

[@bobbaumeister5243]

@@AndyDoveGuitar it's my pleasure Andy 🙂

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

​@@bobbaumeister5243Always appreciated, thanks for enjoying the content 🎸🎶

[@jasonalmgren3050]

I have an Aztec that I picked up a couple years ago and it's one of my favorite guitars to play on. I keep it strung with .10s because of the shorter scale length. It feels and plays lovely. Kramer is the only way Gibson gets any money from me. 😂😂😂. I had wanted an Aztec ever since I was about 16 or 17 when I saw an ad for them and the Aztec just spoke to me. Of course original ones from back in the day are prohibitively expensive now. Needless to say, I was just thrilled when Kramer brought them back.

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

Oah that's awesome, yeah love the Aztec, such a cool graphic that one, love the matching white headstock on it too. Yeah the original Nightswans are going for crazy money now, would love to try one out to see how they compare, only heard great things about the original guitars, but these reissues are fantastic for my tastes. Always enjoy plugging them in, thank you for watching 🤘🎸

[@luigigunner]

Love Dokken's "The Hunter" solo!

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

Thank you for watching, yeah it's an incredible solo isn't it, couldn't help but sneak a bit of Dokken in there, love Lynch's playing! 🤘😎

[@luigigunner]

@@AndyDoveGuitar yeah brother, indeed it’s a great solo! Great job!

[@higgyonbass]

Love your Kramer collection

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@higgyonbass thank you so much dude, yeah it's quite the collection, always room for one more ahaa thanks for watching the video 🎸🎶

[@higgyonbass]

@@AndyDoveGuitar 1 more?? Why not all of them? Aim high Dove and you will soar like the birds 😉

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

​@@higgyonbassahaa that'll be us at the Garage, hello, I'll take one of everything new please 🤣🤣

[@higgyonbass]

@@AndyDoveGuitar hahaha please and thank you

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@higgyonbass may have to start doing the lottery, I could do a lot of damage if the funds allowed ahaaa looking forward to our next trip to the Garage, gotta hear you on those Thunderbirds! 🤘

[@nansbra2265]

great video man really insightful! love anything that pinches like that. i still think about the baretta in pewter grey

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

Thank you so much for watching, really appreciate it, yeah such fun guitars, and that pewter grey is lovely isn't it, they've just dropped loads of new colour options and updated models on the Kramer site, so much temptation ahaa 🤣🤘🎸

[@nansbra2265]

@@AndyDoveGuitar oh why did you have to tell me that -£££ ha

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@nansbra2265 ahaa I know so much temptation right there, I need to behave myself 🤣🤣

[@eoinjames4018]

Great video I has an 80,s original and sold it so bought the reissue unfortunately kramer qc is abysmal neck profile ridiculous thickand misaligned causing the high e to roll off the fretboard, should have r1 nut and two trembuckers awfull pity I wanted it to be great

[@murdock8068]

Great video dude! I almost pulled the trigger on the polka dot and didn't unfortunately. My stepbro played a Focus 3000 for years that he gave to me. Sadly i sold it like an idiot(i was young) idk. I may still buy one.. Im glad you did a review on it. Rawk on brother!🤘

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@murdock8068 thank you so much for watching, glad you enjoyed the video, yeah love my Nightswans, not tried out a Focus, been tempted by one tho I must say ahaa cool guitars 🤘🎸

[@ebell1393]

Awesome demo man! I was wondering if this would be good for playing Alice In Chains stuff? I know Jerry Cantrell has a very similar type of guitar

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

Thank you so much, appreciate you watching, and yes absolutely I'm a big Alice In Chains fan, you could absolutely rock some Cantrell riffs on these guitars! I know he likes his Les Paul customs, but I always remember him on the G&L's and yeah there are some similarities between those and these Nightswans, if I ever make another Nightswan video I'll make sure to include some Alice In Chains for you 🤘😎

[@THESOULREVIVALBAND]

Great video mate

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@THESOULREVIVALBAND thank you so much, really enjoyed putting this video together, hope it helps people make a decision on these guitars, love my Nightswans! 🤘🎸

[@charlesb7831]

I was really excited when I seen Kramer Nightswan coming back till I tried it. There is nothing wrong with it persay, however I was expecting an actual faithful copy of the original, so t was just a bit of a let down is all. I still have my original Kramer Nightswan Aztec I bought new back in 1989-90,still have the bill lol. Instead of buying the rereleased Nightswan I bought the Kramer Dave Sabo signature model instead, much happier with that. I wish they would have called it something else, the specs that made the original special just are not in the new version. The neck is the key to the original Nightswan. These 80's 90's guitars are what I play and collect lol.

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

Thanks so much for watching, yeah I've heard that opinion quite a bit on this. My only experience is with these reissues, which I really enjoy, always felt and sounded great to me, BUT I would absolutely love to get my hands on an original 80's Nightswan to see what they are all about. I was a bit gutted to not see the Full shred pickup in these guitars, and a few have commented on the necks being different, so I need to borrow one to check them out! Only occasionally see them come up on Reverb or eBay and they are going for crazy money, so that must be a testament to how great they were, so glad you still have the original Aztec, I know a lot of people sell guitars on and then regret it, but sounds like your original Aztec is a keeper! I've not tried the snake signature yet, but will have to check it out when I'm next at the Gibson Garage. 🤘🎸

[@charlesb7831]

@AndyDoveGuitar yeah I've had offers for mine, I won't sell either lol. I was shocked when I was trying to buy another and was looking on Reverb and ebay and seen them going for 7 to 10K. If you look on some of the guitar forums, there are guys collecting them and a few have somewhere north of 10 of them each. So you would probably have to reach out to a collector to get one these days. However with money being as tight as it is , some might be desperate to let one go cheaper lol. The fullshred pickup is ok, I still have it in case I want it back in the guitar, but I swapped it out for a Seymour Duncan heavy metal Live wire and have the JB in the neck. This guitar goes mild to wild for sound lol

[@Andii_V]

Hi. My wife bought me the Polka Dot one for Christmas a while ago (She's a huge Whitesnake fan and also she saw that guitar being used by Derek Frigo in the Enuff Z Nuff "New Thing" video, and she fell in love with it way back then lol). We're both 80s hard rock/Glam rockers. Anyway, a quick question if you don't mind, but do you know where I can get a good hard case for this guitar? We have hunted for an official Kramer hard case that fits the Nightswan, but no luck finding them in stock anywhere. We had one on special order with GAK here in the UK, and that was never coming. We tried BAX and still no luck. What hard case would you recommend would be suited for this guitar? Cheers, and great video!

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@Andii_V AHH that's awesome, thank you for watching, love my Nightswans! Yeah Kramer sells a few cases, your best bet is to order directly from Kramer as they won't have much stock in shops now things have moved to the Gibson Garage. Even better if you are ever in London take a trip down, the Kramer section is downstairs, and the staff will be more than happy to help with any questions etc Double check the dimensions, but I think this one here will be the one. www.kramerguitars.com/en-GB/p/Soft-case/940-KRSTCS/940-KRSTCS I have an old Kramer hard case from the 80's I got with another guitar, but usually use gig bags when I'm using them. If no joy with that case, a non fitted hard case from any brand like Gator etc should fit it, hopefully that helps 😎

[@Andii_V]

@@AndyDoveGuitar Nice one. Cheers. Yeah that's the case I had on special order with GAK, but unfortunately they couldn't get it in. That was last year. I'll try direct through Kramer then. Thanks again mate.

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

​@@Andii_V No problems at all, yeah it's a nice looking case, let me know how you get on, should be okay ordering direct through Kramer, if no luck let me know and I'll mention it on my next visit to the Gibson Garage 🎸

[@Andii_V]

@@AndyDoveGuitar I will do. Took me a while to even find a Charvel case for my DK24 as those were hard to find in stock, but got there in the end. No probs with my Ibanez guitars as those came with cases. Cheers again. Btw, loved the intro to this vid with the Stryper solo!

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@Andii_V glad you recognised it, love a bit of Stryper, they always had incredible guitar solos, so melodic too! 🤘

[@mallardtheduck406]

Hey, I have a question, I love the black Nightswan with the robin blue polka dots. My fingers are maybe a little less than your size...Is this comfortable and easy to play? I seen both models in my local music store, but was trying to sell my Ibanez 1993 RG 470 MIJ, in metallic Emerald Green...needless to say, it was a solid $450, they wouldn't buy it? Maybe they'll take a trade-in, along with payment plan. This guitar looks perfect for me, I am a slender '5 "8 man, again with shorter fingers. I was just wondering if it would be easier to play. Vivian Campbell is one of my favorite guitarist's and it would be a great guitar to play some Whitesnake riffs and other '80's hard rock and hair metal song's on. Any extra info would be Greatly Appreciated!!! Thank You for Your time!!!

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

Thank you so much for watching, yeah it's a fabulous guitar, a must for Vivian and 80's rock and metal fans! The guitar feels great to play, it's a lead guitar players dream, nice flat radius on the fretboard, the scale length makes bending very easy. I have mine down a half step to Eb and it's super easy to play, big bends and vibrato on those jumbo frets is great. As you can see in the video I'm having a great time playing it, deffo try one out at your local shop, let me know how you get on and if you come back with a Nightswan! Anything else you need to know, please just let me know 🤘🎸

[@mallardtheduck406]

​@@AndyDoveGuitarHey, I Greatly Appreciate you taking the time to respond to my inquiry. You pretty much sold me on it!!! I like to play Bruce Kulick solos, Bill Leverty, and it seems like this neck profile would make soloing very easy. I am a cancer survivor of 37 year's and disabled, so there are few thing's I can do. My Ibanez is a great guitar, but seems harder for me to play. I had an Ibanez JS 550, that was sent back to the Ibanez factory in the '90's and refinished Road Flare Red. I really miss my Charvel Charvette in Fluorescent Orange, a dream to play...I wish I had held onto that. Please wish me luck, on trying to trade in and getting financed...my brother can help me with that. He's not only a Salesman, but took advantage of me for over 35K. A brother can help a brother out right? That Nightswan just speaks to me. Again, Thank You So much!!!

[@NoraFolad]

What's your gear and amp in this video? Very nice

[@melanie2663]

I had an input jack issue with a 1996 Epiphone that was made in the Samick factory. It's one of my favourite guitars and I've owned it from new BUT the input jack is forever loosening. I never thought to use threadlock on it despite owning it and using it regularly. I feel quite dumb now.🤦🏼‍♀️

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

Don't feel dumb at all, but honestly it'll sort it right out, never looked back now, I keep some handy in my guitar maintenance kit just in case I need to fix a loose input. I bet that's an awesome Epiphone, great era, always love a guitar with a bit of history/story/one you've had for years and grown up with! 🎸

[@christianboddum8783]

Could that middle humbucker be Vivians nod to Gary Moore? Gary played a leopard dotted Strat for a while with a middle humbucker (Charvel?).

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

Ooh that's a very good point, I know Viv was hugely in awe of Gary's playing so that could very well be it. I'm not too familiar with that guitar, but I'm gonna look into it, sounds like a cool Charvel! 🎸

[@matthewearl9824]

I have an 87 vivian campbell, and I love it. The reissues are one-third the cost of the originals.

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

Oah wow that's awesome, I'd absolutely love to get my hands on an original, really enjoying my reissues, when you consider the price difference like you say they are fantastic, but yes after hearing other people's experience of the old swans, I would love to grab one whenever one appears at a price I can justify, thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment! 🎸🤘

[@matthewearl9824]

@@AndyDoveGuitar Yeah they are super expensive now..like 3500+. I was saying the reissues were less as a good thing. If I had 3500 to throw around I wouldn't get the 80's swan unless you are a collector. Tons of other great guitars for cheaper...including the reissue. I'm a big fan of Charvel and the new american Jacksons.

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

​@@matthewearl9824crazy prices aren't they, yeah you can get some great value guitars these days, have been tempted by a few charvels every now and then I must say! 🎸

[@davyxxx9761]

Warrant 🤘

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

Love a bit of Warrant, great songs, thanks for watching! 🤘🎸

[@srh361]

How good is the quality of the overall guitar? I've got a Kramer Tracii Guns Gunstar and while it's a nice guitar you can tell it's on the cheaper side feel wise. I've thought about a Nightswan but I'm on the fence about it due to that reason.

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@srh361 great question and thanks for watching, your best bet is to get down to a shop to try them out obviously, not sure where you are located, but if you are in the UK, a trip to the Gibson Garage in London is well worth it. They have a Kramer room downstairs and you'll be able to get a good feeling for the guitar and plug it in. Like I show in the video I had those 2 slight issues, but that aside they feel great, the Polka Dot for some reason has a slightly darker and nicer feeling ebony fretboard, but that could be that I've sweated over it a lot more, but just feels smoother compared to the Aztec. But yeah you can hear how great they sound and how much fun I have playing them, never felt like they felt cheap, but not tried out the Tracii Guns model as a comparison, hopefully that helps, any other questions just let me know 😎🤘

[@MikeWatson-qj8ew]

Vivian Campbell's monster guitar😊

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@MikeWatson-qj8ew thank you for watching, yeah such a cool guitar design, love that higher fret access, and what a great player he is too, still super inspired by all his playing on the early Dio records! 🎸🤘

[@MikeWatson-qj8ew]

@AndyDoveGuitar yeah I know he's my second favorite guitar player next to randy rhoads ,you were tearing it up .I've been playing since 1982 .I have a george lynch kamakazee, a randy rhoades flying v,Jackson dinky,Gibson flying v,and an ovation acoustic

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

​@@MikeWatson-qj8ewoooooh we have the exact same tastes, yeah for me it's Randy Rhoads, Lynch, Eddie Van Halen, John Sykes, Vivian Campbell, just love that era of guitar playing, great music and so inspiring. You have a fantastic collection, always been tempted by one of those George Lynch EPS's, thank you so much for watching and taking the time to comment 🎸🎶

[@MikeWatson-qj8ew]

@AndyDoveGuitar hell yeah my brother and many more jake e lee ,wolf Hoffman, adrian smith and many more but we would be texting all night

[@anthonymcgill8035]

This guitar is basically the only one I would consider purchasing with a Floyd….

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

They are great guitars, the Floyd on it can really handle plenty of abuse as you can hear in the video, especially the way I have it set up. Hope the video helps, any questions just let me know, thanks for watching! 🎸🤘

[@GuitarInstinct]

awesome!

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@GuitarInstinct thank you so much for watching, really enjoyed making this video! 🎸🎶

[@Chrismagdich]

Can you give some insight as to a couple of issues. I have been he polka dot. I have had nothing but issues with it. It will not intonate. I’ve tried it tons of times. It’s the strangest thing, an open G chord will be in tune, but no matter what I do, a A major chord is constantly out of tune. Then fretted chords will be in tune. Check intonation, it’s right on. Then there’s a horrible rattle on the floyd rose with the trem arm. Opened the cavity to tighten the under Allen screw, and what do you know, it literally cannot be accessed. Wtf. If you have any solutions to this, let me know. I have been playing and gigging since the age of 14, and I’m quite a bit older than that now. I have never had more trouble with any guitar than I have this one. Thanks in advance.

[@brownwrench]

Didn't Vivian Campbell endorse them back in the day?

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@brownwrench thanks for watching, yes I believe so, I shared some of the original photos from Kramer in the video with Viv advertising the Aztec model, would love to hunt down an original down one day! 🎸

[@brownwrench]

​@@AndyDoveGuitarI believe Viv was barefoot for some reason

[@JamesJones-bn2jp]

Dude, you're wrong about to pickups. I have an original night Swann from the Kramer factory Neptune New Jersey. It had a DiMaggio shredder in the bridge in a JB in the neck. That was Vivian Campbell's specs.

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@JamesJones-bn2jp thanks for watching, I was sure it was a Seymour Duncan Full Shred in the bridge and JB in the middle position like I say in the video. Not often you'd get two different brands of pickups on the same guitar from the factory. Is it Dimarzio you are referring to in your comment? Didn't know they did a full shred pickup, but will look into that. You are very lucky to have an original, I wish I could get my hands on one! 🎸

[@zikkicharade]

Why this has a weird one of a kind shorter scale? That backs me off, i am going for the mexican warren demartini skull and blood charvel for my next guitar after the kramer baretta vintage pewtter gray

[@jody7214]

What is the song right after Hysteria in the 80’s clean tone section?

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@jody7214 thank you for watching, yeah it's the outro riff to '18 and life' by Skid Row, I then played the main riff too which is a bit more recognisable, but yeah it's a cool riff that doesn't get as much attention as there is a solo over the top of it, but always loved the sound of it with those open strings! 🎸🎶

[@jody7214]

@@AndyDoveGuitar It’s a great piece. Must have listened to that song hundreds of times and never picked that out. Thanks for revealing it to me. Great video!

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

​@@jody7214yeah it's quite tucked back in the mix with everything else going on, but now you know it's there you'll notice it more, such a great track, glad you enjoyed the playing and tones! 🎸🎶

[@peruneidit]

This gives me GAS and i already have a Kramer Nightswan (the black one) 😂

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

Ahaa love it, thank you so much for watching, absolutely love my Nightswans, always room for one more right 🤣🤘🎸

[@frankpaws]

You have a very Andy James picking style.

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

Thank you very much, that's a huge compliment as he is a phenomenal player, yeah I've always been fairly aggressive with my playing style, love the sound of digging into those strings, thanks for watching! 🤘

[@MichaelBruceTLTAGuitar]

I've had the Aztec one and it lasted a couple of weeks. The experience of also having an original made the new one pretty poor in comparison. Neck isn't the same and build quality is quite substandard. Sorry but it's not worth the price tag on it here in the UK.

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@MichaelBruceTLTAGuitar fair enough, I love mine, BUT I've never been able to get my hands on an original which I'd absolutely love to, so can appreciate the difference there would be yeah. They are going for quite a bit these days when I see them occasionally pop up on Reverb etc, always wanted to get the lightning bolt design, which model is it you have, thanks for watching 🤘🎸

[@roscoepcoltrane23]

They look cool but the neck is almost Ibanez Wizard like. They sound good.

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@roscoepcoltrane23 thanks for watching, yeah fantastic guitars, I don't find the neck to be uncomfortably thin, to my hands it's more of a traditional fender style C neck, but with a slightly flat point in the middle of the curve, so I guess more like a flattened D shape? Either way it's very playable, especially higher up, I'm not too keen on ultra skinny ibanez necks myself, but this one feels spot on for my tastes, thanks for watching! 🎶🎸

[@KennethFinuf]

I remember grunge!! Solos were uncool !!! I was older than And didn't care what people said !! I knew that good old metal would come back and that lame shit would disappear !!!!!😮😊

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

Ahaa love it, yeah love live 80's rock and metal, absolutely my favourite era for guitar players, so much melody and technique came out of that shredder era I love it. Don't get me wrong some awesome solos in the grunge era, Alice In Chains comes to mind, but yeah 80"s rock all the way!!! Thanks for watching 🤘🎸

[@RichardSeargent]

Parallel?

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

That's exactly what I meant ahaa just couldn't think of the word when I was filming, glad you knew what I meant, thank you for watching 🤘😎

[@JamesJones-bn2jp]

You're wrong dude, in the still of the night video. It was not a Kramer. It was a buddy blaze guitar. Get your facts straight.

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

@@JamesJones-bn2jp thank you for watching and correcting me. Either way it was my first exposure to that style of guitar and I've been hugely inspired by both Vivian's playing and the Nightswan guitar. 🎸

[@robertspreitzer8126]

NO only buy a vintage one before Gibson made them complete trash. You can buy a vintage Japan made Focus for the same price same neck.

[@AndyDoveGuitar]

I would absolutely love to try a vintage Nightswan out, don't see them come up often, and the prices are certainly climbing up now when they do occasionally surface. If I ever am able to get one I'll make a comparison video between the two, thanks for watching 🎸