The electric guitar / Karate Kid-influenced crossover we've been waiting for is finally here in the shape of the Kramer ‘Strike First’ Baretta.
Fans of the films and Cobra Kai series will recognise those black and yellow colours, snake and 'strike first' motto as the calling cards of Daniel Larusso's nemesis, the ruthless Cobra Kai karate dojo. And this looks like the kind of guitar that will complement your rock chops.
Graphic artist Eric Caspers took care of the design and the Baretta model features an alder body, with a three-piece 25.5″ scale hard maple neck, installed with 22 jumbo frets.
In traditional Baretta fashion, this is a single-pickup affair but it makes the most of the setup. The Seymour Duncan JB zebra-coil humbucker features a push/pull series/parallel switch on the master volume control.
Dive bombers will also get a (karate) kick out of the Floyd Rose 1000 series tremolo, Floyd Rose LRT-L40 Trem Stop and an R2 1000 series locking nut. There's also a EVH D-Tuna Drop D tuning system for quick drop d transitions.
The only sticking point is even with the added D-Tuna and those striking graphics, this seems significantly pricier than the Baretta Vintage model (circa $699) by some margin at $999.
But if you want to get on the snake, you can find out more at Kramer.
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