This 1978 Kramer 350B belonged to the owners of Fanny’s House of Music, Pamela Cole and Leigh Maples.
The story of this bass starts in 1974 with Travis Bean, a colorful Californian experienced as a machinist, motorcycle racer, and rock ’n’ roll drummer. Bean believed that the stability of aluminum was going to revolutionize guitar design. He found a business partner in Gary Kramer, and Travis Bean Guitars began manufacturing high-end guitars and basses selling for around $1,000, which was quite a sum in the ’70s. The instruments had aluminum necks and a distinctive hollowed-out “T” shape in the headstock.
Kramer and Bean dissolved their partnership in 1975, but Kramer dreamed of his guitar company becoming the biggest in the country. Using the knowledge of guitar production that he gathered working with Bean, Kramer believed he could improve on the Bean design by placing wooden inserts to the aluminum necks. This not only reduced the instrument’s weight—addressing a common gripe about Travis Bean guitars—but also made the necks feel less cold to the touch. The T-shaped headstock was also substituted with a simpler “tuning-fork” design, which prevented it from being mistaken for a Travis Bean guitar and further reduced the weight. In 1976, Kramer Guitars sent out their first product brochure featuring the 350G, 450G, 350B, and 450B—two guitars and two basses.
After the dissolution of Gary Kramer and Travis Bean’s partnership in 1975, Kramer modified the design of the company’s guitars, substituting the hollowed-out-T-shape headstock with one that resembles a tuning fork.
Photo by Madison Thorn
This particular 350B belonged to the owners of Fanny’s, Pamela Cole and Leigh Maples. They recalled seeing the Travis Bean instruments when they started playing, and having one of these early Kramers was a nod to their musical adolescence. Even though relatively few Travis Bean instruments were made in the ’70s, this anecdote is not totally surprising given the instruments’ high-profile adoptees. That list includes such rockers as Roger Fisher of Heart and Peggy Foster of the Runaways, musicians from two groups that can be found among the many photos on the walls here at Fanny’s.
“These elements, combined with the wooden inserts on the neck, are what make playing this bass feel like playing a bass, as opposed to a spaceship.”
At nine pounds on the nose, this bass is no heavier than the average Precision Bass and is certainly a testament to Gary Kramer’s commitment to weight relief. It has Schaller tuners, a hardtail, top-load bridge, and a fretboard made of ebonol—a synthetic material named for its similarity to ebony. Because of the way ebonol is made, it has a tight, faintly visible grain structure. These elements, combined with the wooden inserts on the neck, are what make playing this bass feel like playing a bass, as opposed to a spaceship.
The pickups are another interesting feature as we make our way south. First, they are embossed with the Kramer logo of the period, which—calling all font nerds!—is a little reminiscent of an elongated take on Herb Lubalin’s 1970 typeface Busorama. The pickup is a single-coil, and the pickup height is adjusted from the back of the guitar. Placed in the middle of the body, it has a unique tone that is not overwhelmingly beefy, and not too bright either.
This model’s hardtail, top-load bridge has accumulated some rust over the years.
Photo by Madison Thorn
These early Kramers had another advantage over the Travis Bean Guitars: They were considerably more affordable. The 350B retailed for $499, and along with the 450B (and later, the 250B and 650B) proved to be a star of Kramer’s lineup. By the early 1980s, Kramer basses were outselling guitars four to one. In 1981, Kramer switched to producing wood necks, which kept production costs low and broadened their appeal to guitar players. The rest is history, as Kramer went on to become an iconic guitar brand of the 1980s.
A forked-headstock bass might not be for everyone. Perhaps you prefer not to have eagle-eyed members of the audience coming up to you inquiring, “What the heck is that?” after your show. But if you’re jonesing for a bit of American vintage-guitar history that doesn’t require you to fork over all your dough, these early Kramers are certainly worth a look.
Sources: Assorted Kramer ’70s and ’80s catalogs, Axeology.com, GaryKramerGuitar.com, Vintage Guitar, TheMusicZoo.com, Reverb, Guitar.com, VintageKramer.com.