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Build Thread - Kramer Prairie Grass
Since the Sierra Nevada received record snowfall, Sparky has been spending an inordinate amount of time moving piles of snow, and enjoying the winter wonderland via skis as he can. But he has also been busy at work on building one of his Prairie Grass models for me!
These are the first shots that Sparky has sent me. They are of the neck and headstock, with Brazilian rosewood head plates and fingerboard, the braced German spruce top, the mahogany back, and the mahogany sides in the work board form. For those of you who have followed the thread on sound ports, you can see the shape that Sparky uses in the top upper bout. As Sparky describes on his website, the Prairie Grass is a slope shouldered small dreadnaught measuring 15 1/4" across the lower bout with a 4 3/8" body depth. This size and shape provide a naturally strong bass with rich trebles and a vibrant midrange. A favorite with flat pickers and fingerpickers alike, it has a broad dynamic range that responds well to either a light touch or a hard attack. I have followed Sparky’s work and played many of his fine guitars over the past 15 years and am thrilled to be able to have one of his instruments custom made for me. I was completely seduced by the tone and balance of one of his guitars that I purchased in 2018 – a gorgeous Red Spruce and Bois de Rose Prairie Grass. That guitar is currently for sale as I realized that I wanted to dial in some different neck specs and the rosewood tone was much like my Wingert E. (I will posting it in the Classifieds.) Stay tuned as there will be more details and photos to follow soon! Best, Jayne Last edited by jaymarsch; 03-15-2019 at 03:41 PM. Reason: Added content |
#2
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Very cool stuff, I've played quite a few Kramer guitars at Schoenbergs over the years. This should be a fine instrument!!
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#3
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Looks great so far and looks to be a pretty cool model.
Looking forward to seeing this as it progresses!
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2013 Stehr Auditorium (Carpathian/Myrtle) 2015 Stehr Auditorium (Adi/BRW) 2020 Baranik Meridian (Blue Spruce/Manchinga) 2020 Wilborn Arum (Tunnel 14/Coco) 2021 Kinnaird Graybeard (BC Cedar/Bog Oak) 2022 Kinnaird CS Student Build (Adi/Padauk) 2023 Kinnaird FS (Italian/Koa) |
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I love Sparky's guitars. They have a tone all their own.
Steve
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Still crazy after all these years. |
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Jayne, I can see Mark B’s influence on Sparky in the top bracing shot (signal generator for Chladni patterns, detailed notebook for each instrument etc.)...
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings… |
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Quote:
Best, Jayne |
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Very cool! I’ve also played a lot of Kramers at Schoenberg. Keep us posted.
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Circa OM-30/34 (Adi/Mad) | 000-12 (Ger/Maple) | OM-28 (Adi/Brz) | OM-18/21 (Adi/Hog) | OM-42 (Adi/Braz) Fairbanks SJ (Adi/Hog) | Schoenberg/Klepper 000-12c (Adi/Hog) | LeGeyt CLM (Swiss/Amzn) | LeGeyt CLM (Carp/Koa) Brondel A-2 (Carp/Mad) |
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Sparky builds a beautiful and great sounding guitar! Can't wait to see this one. |
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Super cool Jayne!
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Outstanding, Jayne... keep the pictures coming!
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Never had the pleasure of auditioning a Kramer. Sure is a beauty!
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Life is like a box of chocolates .... |
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Thanks for starting the thread Jayne.
I hope you are really enjoying the build process, and am sure it will be a phenomenal guitar. Looking forward to more posts! Col |
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I have heard nothing but great things regarding Sparky's guitars. I kick myself because my first time at Woodstock, I met him and talked with him a bit, but it was near the end of a very long and noisy day and I did not take the opportunity to try his guitars anywhere where I could actually hear them. I was in guitar zombie overload at that point. After hearing such high praise of him later, I always have regretted that.
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PS. I love guitars! |
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Thanks to everyone who has responded to this thread. It is great to hear that some other folks have had first hand experience with Sparky's guitars. I am very excited about this guitar and feel fortunate to be able to work with Sparky. I will be posting some photos of the process he uses on his tops as soon I as I can get them uploaded to Imgur.
Best, Jayne |
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Sparky Kramer's guitars are pretty awesome. I've played a few at shows and at Schoenberg's. I'm also a good friend of Jayne's and live not far from her, and I've played her Red Spruce and Bois de Rose Prairie Grass several times. I just love that guitar, it's like a little beast in a good way. I'm looking forward to playing her new custom mahogany Prairie Grass when she gets it. That is if I can pry it away from her for a minute.
Svea |