Kramer Focus 1000 project

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 6:43 am

Here's yet another project that I'm gonna be working on this winter.

I snagged this off ebay for a song and a dance, so I was really stoked about scoring this, cause I always wanted one.

It is an early 1987 Kramer Focus 2000 (2 humbuckers), which I'm going to transform into a Focus 1000 (1 slanted humbucker) kinda like this:

Right now I have everything to put it together.
I need to fill in the neck pickup cavity, and then the bridge pup cavity, then re-route the bridge cavity so it's slanted, like a Focus 1000.

Then I'm going to plug the hole for the V/T/mini toggle, and re-locate the Volume knob position to where I want it.

Kramer use weird Floyd Rose trem posts that are basically a big coarse threaded screw which was an inferior design.
It looks like this:

I'm converting it to the newer style post + bushing design like this:

So it's gonna be minor work and time consuming as usual, but it's gonna be a fun project.
Not sure on the color yet. I was thinking about doing a beat-up/relic style out of this atleast for now anyway.

Just wanted to share this with you guys.

old Skool · Post by **old Skool** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 3:36 am

Looking forward to yet another cool project. Food Network has the "Ace of Cakes". I dub Joe "Ace of Guitars"!

slackin@dabass · Post by **slackin@dabass** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 2:31 pm

kramer was the shit back in the day. that'll be nice when you get it done.

just out of curiosity... does the slanted humbucker provide different tonal qualities, i.e. like that of a strat, where you get brighter high notes and darker low notes, or did i just answer my own amazingly long run on sentence/question?

JackANSI · Post by **JackANSI** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 3:47 pm

I always thought it would make some tonal difference (and they look hella cool when done just right). But I also heard that fender slanted theirs because of string spacing change but kept the same pickup.

bassist_25 · Post by **bassist_25** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 4:34 pm

There's just something cool about a single-pickup guitar.

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:42 pm

JackANSI wrote:I always thought it would make some tonal difference (and they look hella cool when done just right). But I also heard that fender slanted theirs because of string spacing change but kept the same pickup.

Fender's pups are spaced correctly, so that's not why they slanted theirs.
Kramer, on the other hand spaced theirs so that the poles would line up better because they used normal/Gibson spaced pickups. (Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB's)
That's another reason that EVH did that to his Kramer "Frankenstrat", because he used a 1963 Gibson ES-335 pickup and that's the only way he was able to get the pickup poles to line up with the string spacing.

Matter of fact, I believe that EVH did this before Kramer offered that slanted pup feature on their Baretta, Focus 1000, Focus 6000, Pacer Custom guitars. EVH's "Frankie guitar was built in '78 and the Kramer models that featured the slanted pups weren't in production until '83-ish.

That's the main reason that I'm slanting the bridge pickup in mine, because anytime I ever saw that feature on a humbucker equipped guitar, I immediately thought "Kramer."

Even thought I'm already filling in the neck pup cavity, it's worth it to me to fill and re-route the bridge cavity only to achieve that "look."
I've been wanting a single pup "Strat body" Kramer for a long time, and this guitar will defnintely be a dream come true in that respect, cause I've been looking for a long time for one.

I'm taking alot of photos of the build so this will be documented very well. I'll share my progess as it unfolds.
Thanks for the kind words and interest in my builds, cause it means alot to me.
I'm not a pro by any means, but every time I build and paint one, I get more experience and run into something that I havent ran into before.
I'm more than happy to share my thoughts and knowledge that I've gathered over the years with you guys, and I can only hope to help and inspire one of you to tackle your own work on your instruments.

Thanks for taking the time and leaving nice replies on this. You guys rock!

-Joe

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:46 pm

slackin@dabass wrote:kramer was the shit back in the day. that'll be nice when you get it done.

just out of curiosity... does the slanted humbucker provide different tonal qualities, i.e. like that of a strat, where you get brighter high notes and darker low notes, or did i just answer my own amazingly long run on sentence/question?

More or less you did answer your own question. I can't remember,but I think it adds more Bass on the low end, and I think that's why Fender initially did this, because their single coils were lacking in that area.

I may be wrong, but if memory serves me correct, that's the reasoning behind that design.
Excellent question actually.
Maybe Meyatch can chime in with any info, he knows alot about Fender's and such.

As stated in my post before this one, Van Halen and Kramer had another reason as to why they did it.

JackANSI · Post by **JackANSI** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 11:25 pm

Was hoping to divine the knowledge somehow, but failed.

What are you going to fill those pockets with?

MeYatch · Post by **MeYatch** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 11:32 pm

metalchurch wrote:More or less you did answer your own question. I can't remember,but I think it adds more Bass on the low end, and I think that's why Fender initially did this, because their single coils were lacking in that area.

I may be wrong, but if memory serves me correct, that's the reasoning behind that design.
Excellent quesion actually.
Maybe Meyatch can chime in with any info, he knows alot about Fender's and such.

As stated in my post before this one, Van Halen and Kramer had another reason as to why they did it.

As far as I know, thats right. Angling the pickup to make it fit the string spacing doesn't make sense, because the spacing is wider at the bridge.

EyesOfAnguishbassist · Fri Dec 12, 2008 1:12 am

both of my guitarists use kramers.. they are the shit! The one has a Striker and im not sur ewhat the other one is but definite old school metal!

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 3:16 am

JackANSI wrote:Was hoping to divine the knowledge somehow, but failed.
What are you going to fill those pockets with?

Scrap wood, or whatever small pieces that I can find in my basement.
I use old drum sticks to fill in the holes for the volume and tone pots.
(I'm taking alot of pictures, so I'll document how I filled and angled the bridge pickup)

The drum sticks I have are mostly made of hickory, and so small it doesn't really affect the tone. Plus they are already round and require minimal work to make them fit into the volume and tone holes.

Speakin of, I need some more, so thanks for the reminder.

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 3:44 am

I traced the shape of the pickup in an angled position, then I traced the little piece that I needed to use to fill it in.
The other side will be routed out with my dremel.
(This is easier than filling in the whole cavity and re-routing the whole thing in my opinion)
I'll the use wood filler, and Bondo to smooth the edges and make it look flawless.
(I got the neck pup cavity filled, but you can barely see it.)
This looks rough, but I'll fine tune it as I go. And it will be covered by the pickup ring anyway. I thought about hard mounting the pickup, but I'm not sure yet.
Here it is during the mask:

This shows the piece that I need to make from scrap wood and glue in:

and this is what it will look like as an angled pickup cavity...I'll then route the wood on the left hand side to complete the "look"...

I also got the original jack location filled in using the handle of an old shop broom. It was exactly 7/8" and I only had to smooth it out a little to make it fit. I counter sunk it a little bit, and I'll use bondo to fill it and feather the edges.
I also traced a Strat jack plate and put it where I want it. It will be upside down, so the cable routes up thru my strap.

The jack will look similar to this when I'm done:

*edit:
Neck pickup cavity filled most of way. I still have a small gap about the thickness of ruler that needs filled in the front of the cavity.

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 4:44 am

I got the routing done for the Strat jack plate...

I also got the pup cavities pretty much done. The bridge cavity needs a little but of work yet. I also filled the truss rod cutout at the end of the neck pocket, and I filled in the volume/tone/toggle holes...

I did a quick mockup using the Charvel neck that I originally had on my Jake E. Lee mutt. (It had some low frets, thats why I took it off, but I put 2 frets in it ad it's ready to rock now, but I'm probably going to use a Kramer neck on this one...

MeYatch · Post by **MeYatch** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 4:44 pm

joe you rock.

if you ever want to build a bass, I've got a bunch of stuff laying around here I would give you just to see what you'd do with it.

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 1:17 am

Sure if you want me to build something out of that stuff, let me know.

tonefight · Post by **tonefight** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 1:43 am

Nice work, you got a paint scheme in mind yet ? Do you do the paint / finish your self ?

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 4:05 am

tonefight wrote:Nice work, you got a paint scheme in mind yet ? Do you do the paint / finish your self ?

Yea Tony, I do it all myself. I'm seriously thinking about SeaFoam Green, like this Kramer:
(reversed photo)

Either that or Black, or maybe White, but I kinda want a different color...

tonefight · Post by **tonefight** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 4:28 am

That would be cool. Do you spray can or compressor and spray gun ? I know they make some good spray can products these days with hardener built in.

Ever look into a finish similar to Fenders "Butterscotch Blonde" ? I'm considering building a Warmoth Telecaster and that's the finish I would want. I'm not real sure if that is a spray finish or more of a stain then clear coated.

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 9:09 am

I'm using spray cans lately cause I dont have anywhere to put a compressor cause I live in the borough and I dont have a garage or a shed. I try to use laquer based paint cause they cure and harden better than enamel based paints.

I do like that Butterscotch Blonde finish too. Not sure if it's a stain or not? Might be like a transparent type paint if it's not a stain.
You'd have to have a nice body to use that finish. I couldn't even think about something like that on this body cause of all of the fill work I'm doing.
Always liked the SeaFoam Green and I think this is gonna be the one to do it on. I already have the paint that I bought for a previous project, but never used it.

MeYatch · Post by **MeYatch** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:26 pm

SFG FTW!!!!

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 6:37 pm

MeYatch wrote:SFG FTW!!!!

I knew you'd like that bro!

I'll have to let you check this one out in person when I'm done, so you cn let me know what you think.

I have a Kramer "block logo" in Gold on it's way, and now I need to decide wheter or not it will look ok with a SFG headstock or not.
I might have to go with black for the headstock though.
Looks like this:

Think this will look ok against a SFG headstock?

JackANSI · Post by **JackANSI** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 9:50 pm

There is just something raw about seeing a guitar with one pup, one vol. Doesn't take away anything at all, except clutter.

Strange thing is, I think a P only bass looks plain and cheap...

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 3:57 am

Single humbucker whatevers are the best look in my opinion. No bs, just the essentials and thats why I like them.
I havent seen too many single humbucker/pickup basses, but there's one that I really liked. It was a Jackson Rhoads bass with a single pup, reverse headstock. I'm almost certain that it was a Custom Shop, or someone's own creation.

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 9:20 pm

I recessed the neck plate with my dremel for a nice flush look, and to slim the neck heel and neck plate area a little bit to make it more comfortable to me. It turned out very nice, and I'm pleased with the results of this.
Before:

After:

With plate:

I also got neck pup cavity smoothed over somewhat. I'll have to sand it and put another coat of bondo on it and feather the edges some more.
The bridge pickup cavity needs some work as well, but it's coming along...

I also converted the Floyd Rose posts from the original screw type to the modern post/bushing style. (As you can see in the above photo as well.)
Old style:

New style post/bushing:

I'm also thinking about recessing the Floyd Rose, cause I prefer those to the Top-mounted Floyd.
I recessed the Floyd on the Kramer Focus 4000 V yesterday free handed with my dremel and it looks very nice, considering I dont have the templates to use, or a real router for that matter.
Focus with recessed routing:

I need to touch up the side a little bit, but other than that it's almost perfect.

Post by **Ron** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 1:34 am

Dude, you're a master with a dremel tool.