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Kramer's improvement consisted of two wooden inserts in the back of the neck. By 1975 he had partnered with a friend from New York, Dennis Berardi, and the two founded BK International, which engaged luthier Phil Petillo to make prototypes for them.
In 1970, Dennis Berardi and Gary Kramer asked Phil Petillo Master Luthier-Engineer to design and build 4 prototypes of a new neck made out of aluminum and wood.
I brought my idea to Dennis Berardi, who I had known through Bernie Gracin. Dennis also saw a winner in the aluminum neck guitar with my design changes.
Gary left T ravis Bean Guitars in October of 1975, and teamed up with Dennis Berardi for this venture. In early 1976, Peter Laplaca joined Kramer and Berardi. Laplaca was the former Vice President of Norlin, the parent company for the guitar manufacturer Gibson.
Gary Kramer, Dennis Berardi, Peter LaPlaca (a Vice President at Norlin, parent company of Gibson in 1974), and investor Henry Vaccaro joined forces to open a plant in Neptune, New Jersey. Soon thereafter, Gary Kramer moved to Los Angeles, and his connection with the company would become in name only, long before the wooden neck era that began ...
May 19, 2022 · Meanwhile, Gary Kramer left Travis Bean Guitars in 1975 and set up Kramer Guitars over in Neptune, New Jersey, with Dennis Berardi, Pete LaPlaca, Phil Petillo, and Henry Vaccaro. The company's early instruments were based on the aluminum-neck idea but with some changes intended as improvements.
May 14, 2024 · Founded in the late 1970s by Dennis Berardi and Gary Kramer, alongside other key figures like Peter LaPlaca and investor Henry Vaccaro, Kramer initially set out to revolutionize the guitar world with their innovative aluminum-necked guitars.
