Wikipedia is pretty damn cool.....
Kramer had no association with Charvel/Jackson that I see, but ESP was involved in making neck and bodies for Kramer.
Early-to-mid 1980s
A chance encounter between Dennis Berardi and
Eddie Van Halen's managers on an airplane flight set the foundation for Kramer's meteoric rise in the 1980s. Eddie was interested in a tremolo that stayed in tune, which the Rockinger system offered. A meeting between Eddie Van Halen and Kramer execs took place, and Eddie was sold. At the meeting, he reportedly quipped that he would help make Kramer the "#1 guitar company in the world."
By 1983 the Rockinger tremolo (sometimes dubbed "The Eddie Van Halen tremolo") had been widely replaced by the
Floyd Rose system. In addition, Kramer once again offered
Schaller tuners on their guitars, tapping Schaller to produce Floyd Rose tremolos as well. Kramer was the only guitar company offering Original Floyd Rose tremolos stock on their production guitars, a
competitive advantage of Kramer over other guitar manufacturers of the period.
In late 1983 Kramer switched from the "beak" headstock design to the Gibson Explorer-like "banana" headstock design. This distinctive look also helped rank Kramer highly with guitar enthusiasts. One notable Kramer guitar was the Baretta model, which was a single-
humbucker instrument similar to guitars Eddie Van Halen used on stage. The Kramer Baretta was the flagship of the Kramer line and helped popularize the single-pickup 1980s guitar design.
By late 1985 Kramer began installing
Seymour Duncan pickups in its guitars, in favor over the more vintage-sounding Schaller pickups. When the sales figures came in, Kramer was the best-selling guitar brand of 1985.
In 1986 Kramer switched to the radically drooped "pointy headstock" design, no doubt influenced by the pointy designs of
Jackson/Charvel and other manufacturers such as
Hamer and
Washburn. Schaller locking tuners, Floyd Rose tremolos, Seymour Duncan pickups and exciting graphics by talented factory artists such as
Dennis Kline helped propel Kramer to become the best-selling guitar brand of 1986.
Late 1980s
Kramer continued its success into the late 1980s, with the majority of
hard rock and
glam metal artists from Mötley Crüe's
Mick Mars to Whitesnakes'
Vivian Campbell being major endorsees. Almost every rock guitarist in the late 80's had at least one Kramer in their arsenal.[
citation needed]
By 1987, Kramer was using
ESP Guitars exclusively for manufacturing its necks and bodies. The "American Series" of instruments were ESP parts, assembled in
Neptune, New Jersey. The Striker and Aerostar series were made completely in Korea, while the Focus series was made and assembled by
ESP Guitars. Some early Focus guitars were also made in Japan by the
Matsumoku company.
The first sign of trouble came in 1987, when a massive
labor strike hit Korea. At this time, Kramer was starting to fall behind on its orders to guitar stores. Kramer was also becoming overextended financially due to artist endorsement deals, advertising, and royalties to
Floyd D. Rose.
In addition, Kramer embraced the excess of the late 1980s-producing slick and
fluorescent guitars, losing its thought leadership in the guitar manufacturing arena, and damaging the image of the
brand. Similarly, the image of the Kramer brand was being tarnished by an influx of Striker and Aerostar guitars-made cheaply and with cheap components.
By 1989, Dennis Berardi had started Berardi/Thomas Entertainment, Inc-an
artist management company. Seeing promise in a young band out of the
Soviet Union,
Gorky Park, BTE started managing the group. To help promote the band, the infamous "Gorky Park" guitars were made, reportedly to be given to guitar dealers as promotional pieces. BTE banked on the Gorky Park guitars to help promote the group. When the Russian band achieved only a mild measure of success, this was a significant, and final blow to the first incarnation of the Kramer company.