Kramer and the late Eddie Van Halen go way back to the early 80s, when the firebrand guitarist was the undisputed king of six-strings and launched his first signature guitar, the 5150.
Eddie, of course, would famously go on to develop electric guitars and guitar amps with Peavey and then later under his own EVH brand, but the Kramer link persists to this day, and so it made perfect sense that one of Kramer's recent signature artists, the Peruvian shred phenom Charlie Parra, should pay tribute to Eddie with a stunning Van Halen medley, airing on EMG's YouTube channel.
Parra's latest signature Kramer Vanguard is an asymmetrical V-shaped solid-body, but for this segment, he picks up his trusty Custom Nite V, finished in red, black and white stripes.
No whammy bar? No problem. Parra blazes through the likes of Eruption, Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, You Really Got Me, Dance The Night Away, Panama, Unchained and more, all in under five minutes.
Just like his Vanguard, Parra's Nite V is fitted with a set of EMG 66/57 humbuckers at the neck and bridge positions respectively. the EMG 57 is a sound choice for classic rock tones, with an Alnico V magnet and steel pole pieces a nod to vintage PAF humbucker design, albeit with a little more juice courtesy of the active preamp circuit.
The Vanguard, however, has quite a different build, swapping the Nite V's set-neck for a bolt-on, an ever-so-slightly wider not and a shorter, Gibson-esque 24.75" scale length.
Parra, who plays in the metal band Difonía, made his name for himself shredding hard on his YouTube channel, and has recorded similar tributes to Eddie Van Halen. If you want to hear how those Van Halen licks sound on his Kramer Vanguard, check out the video below.
