The original Kramer Barettas produced between 1983-1986 are among the most desirable of the Kramer superstrats. The Baretta was first introduced in 1983 as an Eddie Van Halen signature model. The Kramer Baretta was a stripped down superstrat with several features setting it apart from other guitars at the time: a single slanted humbucker, single volume control and a large hockey stick shaped headstock. The bridge is an original Floyd Rose tremolo.

The 1983 models had a non-angled headstock, Schaller Golden 50 Humbucker  and Gotoh tuners. In 1984 Kramer introduced an angled back headstock on the Baretta, the pickup was changed to a Seymour Duncan JB and Schaller M6 tuners were used. The pickups were usually in reverse zebra configuration (one cream coil and one black coil - with the black coil closest to the Floyd Rose tremolo).

Necks and bodies were made by OEM factories including ESP of Japan and the Canadian LaSiDo company. In 1986 the peghead was changed to a pointy design.