Kramer Guitars Nightswan

I have been wanting a Nightswan since I saw Vivian Campbell play one in a Whitesnake video back in 1987. When Kramer came back, and re-issued the Nightswan, I just had to break the bank.

Here are some issues I had with the QC. First, one of the four neck joint screws was loose, making a cracking noise when the whammy bar is used. Secondly, the two small fastening screws on the locking nut was also loose, resulting in the nut shifting when the whammy bar is used.

The bridge pickup was misaligned, the high E and B strings do not run through the poles at all. The middle pickup was a SH-4 which is smaller than a trembucker, which does not suit the spacing at its current position. Only the low E, A and D strings cut through the poles, the remaining three missing their mark. After measuring the string space, I am convinved that a TB-4 would be more suitable, despite being positioned further from the bridge.

The OEM machine heads are a big disappointment. Tuning is very tricky as they are not as responsive as I would like. I have other guitars with OEM machine heads that are way better than the ones used on my NIghtswan.

The only saving grace is the nostalgia of owning a Nightswan, which was a pipe dream until now. I love my Nightswan but wish that Gibson look into the problem regarding the middle pickup alignment and the general QC of the factory in Indonesia. I have been a working guitarist for over 20 years now, and I know, this is a hit-and-miss issue, but at this price range, and the reputation this guitar has, the finishing deserves better attention, and better QC on the part of the factory. Note, all the issues above have been rectified except the replacement of the machine heads and a trembucker in question, which requires me to fork out more cash (this shouldn't be the case, at this price range).

A gentle note to the Thomann export team, thank you for your speedy response, however the customs in my country was not able to find the value of the guitar on the export document that accompanied the package, resulting my guitar being in customs limbo for almost a week. Although this might be a mishap beyond Thomann's control, I hope by addressing the matter here would help in improving the export services Thomann provides.

Despite the above, the Nightswan is still a guitar I wish to keep. It's already given me hours of fun, with many more to be had.

First of all thank you to the Thomann team for their great service in dealing with the issues this guitar raised.

Not here we go with the list of issues
1.Not C shaped neck it's a chunky D
2.Tuners are terrible
3.Allen key holder very stiff to turn
4.Humbucker not fitted inline with bridge
5.Crack in paint on humbucker mount screw.
6.Rough frets
7.White residue on fret board
8.Locking nut loose it creaks when you dive the floyd
9.strings tight feel like cables
10.Floyd rose fine tuners very stiff.

Now I appreciate that a new guitar requires a set up but most of the problems are manufacturing faults but after an hour of set up using all of my 25 year experience building and modding guitars this thing now is incredible to play so bare that in mind this is a fantastic guitar that was not given enough love in the factory