It’s a relief to know that Kramer is back in the business of making mid-range priced guitars with a focus on quality and features. For the past couple of years, in an effort to resurrect the brand, Kramer had been developing quality, low cost models to fit a particular market niche and drive traffic to the MusicYo.com website – where the Kramer brand can only be purchased.

The entry models from Kramer are very impressive, but if there’s one thing that sets this brand apart, it’s the ability to combine best of breed components into an instrument and sell it for a price you can’t find anywhere else. The most recent unit we’ve seen from these folks is the Kramer DuoPro Stereo Electric Guitar. This axe, with a classic style body, has some of the most interesting features to be found on a guitar of this type that we’ve seen.

Check out this feature list as stated on the MusicYo.com site:

Introducing… the NEW Kramer Classic DuoPro™ combining "Made in the USA" Seymour Duncan pickups with a "Made in Germany" Shadow™ Active Piezo Bridge system for amazing tone and sonic versatility! The 3 primary controls are a Master Volume control, a Magnetic/Piezo Balance control and a Piezo Tone control. Pull out the Tone control, and you've bypassed the Active piezo system to allow the magnetic pickups to work without a battery. Brilliant!

But that's not all! The ¼" output can accept either a standard Tip/Sleeve cable or… use a Tip-Ring-Sleeve "Y" cable for STEREO output so you can route the Piezo to one side and the Magnetic to the other. Imagine… the Seymour's cranking through a vintage Tube amp with the Piezo going through the PA system. Awesome! But wait, there's more! To allow the ultimate in acoustic/piezo tone, on the back are 3 Piezo EQ controls (Bass, High and Brilliance) so you can fine-tune your sound! Plus, the 9-volt battery compartment allows fast, easy access. And of course… a solid Swamp Ash body, a Satin finish 1-piece Maple Neck and Gotoh Magnum-Lock machine heads. Kramer's done it again - this is one AMAZING axe!

We’ve been putting our DuoPro through its paces here in the MusicGearReview.com lab and I can tell you it’s been a great experience. Most of the Kramer offerings we’ve reviewed in the past have been balls-to-the-wall heavy metal / hard rock styled guitars that sometimes lacked the tone or clarity necessary for playing other types of music. The Kramer DuoPro brings all of that capability full circle and adds some incredible features to the mix as well. The feel and action on this guitar are excellent. The body is a little on the heavy side, but in my opinion, that’s an indication of quality wood – not the balsa that some manufacturers try to pass by you these days. The swamp ash grain on this guitar is beautiful. Sonically, you can pull a variety of tones from this axe depending on how you combine the lipstick pickup in the neck position with the Duncan single-coil in the bridge – and the piezo acoustic tone!

Still, nothing can prepare you for when you crank this pup through a guitar amp and a PA for the first time. This required a trip to the local Radio Shack for me, but finally I was able to put a stereo ¼” cable together with two mono ¼” ends. I panned the magnetic signal on the middle pickup selection (lipstick in the neck with the Duncan single coil in the bridge) into our vintage Fender Bassman 50 tube head which drives a Fender DT412 cabinet loaded with Celestions. I ran the piezo output straight into the mixing section of our Mackie 808S PPM powered mixer. Then I lit a candle, turned out the lights and kicked on the juice. Amazing. What was even more amazing was when I dialed in a little delay on the Mackie board giving the piezo acoustic tones a little more substance. This, in effect, made it almost sound like two different guitarists were playing.

Just as a side note, we also recorded several tracks with the Kramer DuoPro. Another nice thing you can do with the stereo separation is record digital tracks in your multi-track recording software in stereo and then add effects to each track individually. The fun just never ends with this guitar!

Bottom Line:

The Kramer Stereo DuoPro electric guitar is available exclusively at the MusicYo.com site. It’s currently priced under $600 and is an incredible value. It is available in two finishes, an antique natural and an opaque butterscotch. With all of the features described above, you can only wonder how this guitar was put together for the price. DocYo does it again.

P.S. – Hey Doc, when you send UPS to pick up this review unit, you might have to send in some henchmen to pry it from my fingers too… but I’ll be waiting!!