This is a stunner of an original Kramer XL-9 Metal Neck Bass made in c.1985. This XL-9 model was the rarest & coolest of any bass they made. Its body halves are made from striped cross grain figured Walnut w/a center maple section front & back. Its 2 set of DiMarzio P Bass pickups are Thunderous to say the least. These were made to play w/the Rock Gods of the 80’s & really came thru w/their insane rumble. This one is near mint & dead original & comes w/its original Tan Tolex hard case.

The Kramer aluminum neck era ran from 1976 to 1985 and was the legacy of the company before switching over to the more popular wood neck models uring the 80s. The first production batch of Kramers were introduced in November 1976. All of these early Kramers featured a “forked” aluminum headstock and aluminum “skeletal” neck. These necks, designed for sustain, contained slots that ran the length of the neck for holding the wood fills in place. The idea of the wood inlays were to reduce the coldness feel of aluminum. Usually but not always, the wood neck fills were the same type and color as the body. The Ebonol fretboard contained large Phil Petillo designed “center-touch” frets, a zero nut and aluminum dot inlays. The higher up models had the mother of pearl “crown” shaped inlays. Scale lengths were 25″. Tuners were Schallers. They were manufactured at the Kaiser Aluminum plant on East Avenue in Erie, Pennsylvania. The necks were attached to the body by two bolts and the bolts were covered by an oval shaped aluminum plate. Control cavity covers were also aluminum. Incredibly rare to even see one of these for sale, this is not only an instrument, but a true work of art.