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old school kramer bass


nigelderksen

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So i've had this bass for about 2 years now and still I know virtually nothing about it. What I do know about it is that it was made some time in the early to mid '70s and was built for sustain hence the aluminum in the neck. Can anyone give me some more info on it? I.e model name and anything else?

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It looks like a 450B. I know they made a 250, 350, 450 and 650 guitar, and a corresponding bass model. The 250 had one pickup, the 350 may have had two. The 450 had 2 chrome Kramer pickups. The 650 was pretty wild, with crown inlays and crazy figured wood. Typically the 450 bodies were walnut with a center maple stripe but possibly some models were one piece.

 

I don't know of any serial number lists but the 250-650 series was made from late '76 to about '79. In '79 they changed most of the body styles a bit and also began using Dimarzio pickups. They had different model numbers too, DMZ1000, DMZ2000, something like that.

 

Your best bet to determine the year is by the codes on the volume and tone pots. Look for a number beginning with 137 or 304. The next two digits are the year. This is assuming the pots are original.

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I thought it was the 450B. I saw that there was a website that had a lof ot the old 450B models and some of the other ones. The shop I bought if from said it was made from koa wood which seemed weird. I paid $650.00 tax included for it. Is the value of this bass less than that?

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Hard to determine the value. I say that because there seems to always be Kramer basses on ebay so it's a supply and demand thing. I just sold a dead mint '78 450G (guitar) for $1000 but it was the only one on ebay in the last month or two.

 

If it's koa then it may be one of the earlier ones and could bring a little more because of that.

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  • 2 years later...

Don't they make surf boards out of koa wood? It's pretty hard but lighter weight stuff if I remember correctly, not to mention beautiful grain. It would be considered an "Exotic Wood" and only found in the Pacific Islands if I have my facts straight. I know Fender made a line from that wood as well.

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