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  #1  
Old 03-15-2019, 03:22 PM
jaymarsch jaymarsch is offline
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Default 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
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Old 03-15-2019, 03:38 PM
SuperB23 SuperB23 is online now
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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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Old 03-15-2019, 03:54 PM
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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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Old 03-15-2019, 04:43 PM
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I love Sparky's guitars. They have a tone all their own.

Steve
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Old 03-15-2019, 05:21 PM
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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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Old 03-15-2019, 06:05 PM
jaymarsch jaymarsch is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7 View Post
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.)...
When I visited Sparky's shop early last year, he shared with me how he first worked with Mark and he explained how he uses the Chladni patterns. Pretty cool process.

Best,
Jayne
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Old 03-16-2019, 11:19 PM
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Very cool! I’ve also played a lot of Kramers at Schoenberg. Keep us posted.
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Old 03-17-2019, 09:36 AM
oliverkollar oliverkollar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperB23 View Post
Very cool stuff, I've played quite a few Kramer guitars at Schoenbergs over the years. This should be a fine instrument!!
+1

Sparky builds a beautiful and great sounding guitar!

Can't wait to see this one.
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Old 03-17-2019, 05:42 PM
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Super cool Jayne!
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Old 03-17-2019, 05:44 PM
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Outstanding, Jayne... keep the pictures coming!
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Old 03-18-2019, 03:55 AM
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Never had the pleasure of auditioning a Kramer. Sure is a beauty!
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Old 03-19-2019, 03:10 AM
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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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Old 03-19-2019, 06:05 AM
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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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Old 03-19-2019, 08:18 AM
jaymarsch jaymarsch is offline
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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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Old 03-19-2019, 12:00 PM
svea svea is offline
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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
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