I stopped into my local Sam Ash yesterday to get a midi cable, and they had a left handed fretless Kramer P style bass there. I'm not 100% sure of the model, but I believe it may have been a US made Pioneer Special. It was definitely a P bass with a single P humbucker. See link, and scroll down to the pic of the fretless model.
http://www.vintagekramer.com/pioneer.htm
As I was in a mad rush and had a car load of wife and kids "reminding" me that I was, "Only going to be in and out quickly, right?", I had no time to really inspect it, let alone note what it even was, but I did steal a few seconds to play it unplugged. felt like a very solidly built instrument. I think the asking price was around $299.
If anyone's interested, I'll go back and take pix and give a more accurate report. Pretty rare bird, whatever it is. I've never seen another.
Kramer Fretless Pioneer Special?
Re: Kramer Fretless Pioneer Special?
Update: I was back in Sam Ash yesterday and they still have the lefty fretless Kramer Pioneer available. I had some more time to check it over and take some crude cell phone pix.
They've got it listed as a "Pioneer El Bass". No such animal, AFAIK. It's likely a Pioneer Special. US made at the Neptune, NJ factory, D series serial #, placing the manufacture of the bass somewhere between '84-86. It's got a few bruises and dings, with the most egregious being a quarter sized chunk out of the finish down to the wood on the back lower heel (see pix). Playing-wise, it sounds/plays very similar to my Fender fretless P: a bit on the heavy side, but a really nice solid build/feel and that typical fretless P tone. The addition of the coil tap is a nice feature too for added tonal variation. Strings may looked misaligned in the photos, but I didn't notice anything when playing it (i.e. yanking G string off the fretboard), and I believe strings can be repositioned with this bridge fairly easily.
They're asking $249. You can contact them about it at: Sam Ash/Springfield: 1 (973) 376-5161.
I might pick it up if nobody else does.
They've got it listed as a "Pioneer El Bass". No such animal, AFAIK. It's likely a Pioneer Special. US made at the Neptune, NJ factory, D series serial #, placing the manufacture of the bass somewhere between '84-86. It's got a few bruises and dings, with the most egregious being a quarter sized chunk out of the finish down to the wood on the back lower heel (see pix). Playing-wise, it sounds/plays very similar to my Fender fretless P: a bit on the heavy side, but a really nice solid build/feel and that typical fretless P tone. The addition of the coil tap is a nice feature too for added tonal variation. Strings may looked misaligned in the photos, but I didn't notice anything when playing it (i.e. yanking G string off the fretboard), and I believe strings can be repositioned with this bridge fairly easily.
They're asking $249. You can contact them about it at: Sam Ash/Springfield: 1 (973) 376-5161.
I might pick it up if nobody else does.
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Re: Kramer Fretless Pioneer Special?
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Re: Kramer Fretless Pioneer Special?
Somebody must have bought it with the intent to flip it, though I don't see how they'd be making much of a profit if they ended up paying the asking price.