Kramer has debuted its first signature guitar for Halestorm frontwoman and Gibson Brands ambassador Lzzy Hale: the dazzling Lzzy Hale Voyager.
The model is another first for the brand, representing Kramer’s first signature model for a guitarist who is a woman. While 2023 seems a late date to meet such a milestone, it is nonetheless worth celebrating – and Kramer has clearly gone all-in on this one.
As such, there’s a custom shape, custom finish, lightning-bolt inlays and a no-nonsense, Van Halen-esque single bridge humbucker/Floyd Rose setup.
It’s one of the boldest signature models (and boldest designs we've seen full-stop) from Kramer – and it does not exactly have a reputation for shy and retiring guitars in the first place.
In the process, it lays down a marker for how the firm plans to further distinguish itself from its Gibson Brands siblings, ie, by fully embracing the outlandish glam-metal designs of its roots.
Hale has clearly been given a lot of leeway and it’s great to see something from the Gibson stable letting its freak flag fly. So let’s dig into the spec…
It’s easy to get distracted by the glittering appointments, not least that Black Diamond Holographic Sparkle finish – and we absolutely will – but let’s start with the bones.
At its heart is an alder body, custom-shaped into a much pointier take on the Kramer’s Voyager design – itself derivative of Gibson’s Explorer shape.
That’s an appropriate choice, given Gibson’s own Lzzy Hale model, the signature Explorerbird – but here it’s gone way outside of the normal limits: just look at the length of those upper and lower extended horns.
Balancing out the pointy bits, the body features a comfortable-looking belly carve on the rear and plentiful upper-fret access.
It is paired with a three-piece maple neck, which unlike the Explorer is joined with a bolt-on construction. The neck is built for speed, with a slim-C shape, 22 medium jumbo frets, a 25.5” scale-length and a low-friction satin finish.
Towards the headstock, there’s a locking nut, a truss rod cover featuring Hale’s signature and a set of mini die-cast tuners, then if you travel all the way down the strings to the other end, you’ll find a Floyd Rose 1000 vibrato.
Pickup duties are handled by a single bridge humbucker – a Kramer 85-T bridge unit – and a single chrome volume knob ensures it’s free of distractions on the control side. Clearly it is a guitar that is designed to keep the fiddling to the frets.
And what a fretboard. The ebony fingerboard is inlaid with lightning bolt inlays. We can’t confirm the material used on the inlays at the time of writing – it looks like it could be mother of pearl, but it’s rare to see it used in such a sharp-angled finish.
Either way, it would be ‘a bit much’ on most instruments, but nestled among the eye-catching sparkle finish on this particular model, the lightning bolts seem right at home.
Let’s all take a moment to contemplate the full glory of that Black Diamond Holographic Sparkle, too...
As you’d hope, given the unique shape, it comes complete with a lighting bolt-branded hard case – which, judging by those horns, is probably handy from health and safety perspective, too.
The price? Well it’s very much in keeping with Gibson Brand’s current ‘premium offshore tier’ (matching the likes of Kirk Hammett’s Epiphone Greeny, or Dave Mustaine’s Epiphone Flying V Prophecy), at $1,499.
Finally, we’re also very much into Kramer’s promo video in which an onscreen Hale magically brings a girl’s guitar drawing to life and hands it to her through the screen. It’s reminiscent of Jared James Nichols’ recent Highlander-style debut for his Epiphone Blues Power Les Paul Custom.
For more information on the Lzzy Hale signature Voyager, head to Kramer.
