I did quite a bit of research before buying my first electric guitar. This one just had the "look" I wanted, as well as the H/S/S pickups. It says it has a "Floyd Rose Tremolo"; it is actually a LICENSED Floyd Rose Tremolo. Not that big a deal, but the Floyd Rose website states licensed versions are not under their control. This guitar is a tremendous value. I always do a lot of research before spending my money on anything. I spent several weeks reading reviews, message boards, and visiting stores to handle different guitars. In my price range ($250) I didn't see anything that came close to having the perfect combination of quality, features, and value that this Kramer has.

Sound
Out of the box, it was a mess as far as the set up goes.Being delivered during a thunderstorm probably didn't help much either. Since it was my first electric, I took it to my local Gibson dealer to get it set up right. Pretty much spent $35 for nothing. The guy oiled the fret board, said he adjusted the truss rod and the Floyd Rose, but it still had some wicked fret buzz and the tremolo was still out of whack. So I decided to try to do the set up myself. I've played bluegrass banjo for years and always did my own set up so I had a little experience with the basics. I bought the Behringer GM-108 amp with this guitar. I have to say, even though I am a novice, this combo sounds about as diverse as a beginner could stand. A 5-position switch for the pickups gives a lot of… read more different sounds on it's own. The amp (for the price) is a good one. I usually play in a spare bedroom/office/game room/man cave; turn the amp volume to about 7/10, hi-gain on, and drive to 5/10 and it will rattle the freakin' windows. It has PLENTY of sound for a beginner. I have just been experimenting (playing) with the different combos of pickups and the settings on the amp, you can get everything from a crystal clear ring to a growling distortion. I wanted a versatile instrument since I could only afford one guitar- I think I made a good choice.

Features
Made in Indonesia, but it is well-made. Don't know what kind of strings it had from the factory, but at 9-days post-arrival, the B-string broke while tuning it. The licensed Floyd Rose appears to be a well-made one. Has three tension springs. The tuners are not branded, but are smooth. It has a black nickel finish on the metal, really handsome. Folks at the local Gibson Dealer hadn't seen many (if any) of these and it got a lot of attention carrying it through the store. It comes with a cable (I didn't know that, so I had bought one). The neck is different from my Squier acoustic. Again, I am a novice, but the neck has a slimmer thickness and is a little wider than some of the other guitars I had looked at. I have big fat fingers and that extra width helps some.

Ease of Use
If they are all like mine, don't think you are going to unwrap it and start jammin'. It will need some serious attention to get a good set up. Youtube has a lot of videos on the Floyd Rose setup, watch a few and it's not that difficult to get it set up. The fret buzz and action set up were a different story. I still think it needs a shim under the locking nut, but adding a little bow with the truss rod and raising the bridge a hair got rid of the buzz on the low E string. As far as the tone and volume on the guitar, I have them all cranked to 11. There are no index marks on the knobs, you just have to turn them where they sound right to you. For me, it was wide open, since there wasn't a "10" stamped on anything, I decided they must be cranked to 11.

Quality
It seems like a steal for the money. I wanted the most bang for my buck. I had it narrowed down to either the Assault 211 or the Squier Vintage Modified HSS. I looked around at local shops to handle a lot of instruments before buying online. I never handled a Kramer though, it just had the look I was after and the features seemed like a bargain for the price. The finish is flawless, I got the candy red, and it's slick and glossy. The headstock is a very attractive gloss black. The strings from the factory sucked, after the B-string broke I put on a set of Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys. The cable that came with it is pretty flimsy, glad I bought one. The set up out of the box and my frustration with getting rid of the fret buzz was almost (almost) enough to make me want to exchange it for the Squier VM HSS, but I hung in there. I think this is an extremely well-made instrument, especially for this price range. I handled a lot of electrics prior to buying this one; I'd have to say it looks and feels like it should be in the $1000-2000 range. It plays and sounds like a much more expensive model, don't know if it's quite in the $1000+ range though.

Value
I think it's worth every penny of the selling price. If you want a diverse guitar for playing a variety of music, this is an excellent choice. I could only afford to have one electric guitar so I wanted the most bang for my buck. This is a good-looking guitar, it has a lot of nice features, it sounds good and the pickups give you a wide range of sounds.

Manufacturer Support
In case you didn't know, it's made/backed by Gibson. Three-year warranty.

The Wow Factor
It has a sharp, unique look about it. It's "Les Paul-ish" but try finding a Les Paul style guitar for under $300 with a H/S/S pickup arrangement. It is sharp, period. The short time I had it a local music shop I noticed people looking at it, trying to see the name on the headstock. I read up on the brand quite a bit before buying. NO, it is not a REAL Kramer like the Kramer Guitars of the early 80s (think EVH). Some armchair guitarists that troll message boards think that's a bad thing, but if you were in the guitar building business, you could be owned by companies a lot worse than Gibson. I looked at the guitar for the features and the value. On those categories alone, I think it would be tough to get a better guitar in the under-$300 range.

Musical Background:
Been playin bluegrass banjo about 15 years, acoustic guitar about a year, just bought an electric guitar.

Musical Style:
Everything from Earl Scruggs and Merle Travis to SRV and AC/DC read less