Conference napalm::guitar

    Never owned one myself, but a friend of mine had one for a long
    time and I played it several times.
    
    The thing that struck me about the guitar more than anything was
    it had the lowest action of anything I had played at the time and
    had a very solid feel.  I do remember that it had GREAT sustain
    but (not surprisingly) it also weighed a ton.
    
    I kind of felt that it wasn't very interesting tonally though. 
    It didn't have a very wide variety of sounds.
    
    	db

    Hamer is an American company located in Arlington Heights (suburb
    of Chicago) Ill.  I have a custom built one that is similar to the
    production Phantom A5 model.  Actually I have had two, the first one 
    was stolen so I had Hamer build me another (very consistent).
    They are incredibly playable - Low action, great sustain,
    and very forgiving.  The PA5 is one of the easiest guitars to play
    high-neck (above 15th fret) leads I've ever used.
    
    re: .1 ... The PA5 has three pickups: 1 rhythm (single coil), 2
    leads (1 sc 1 humbucking).  With these, I've been able to get most
    sounds that I want.  Although, I'll admit the PA5 is at its best
    when the humbucking is selected and your favorite r-n-r amp is set
    for blast-off.   If your ever in Colorado Springs, stop by my house
    for a demo.
    
    steve
    

    I own a hamer guitar, don't know the model name though. It is a
    double cutaway, has a curly maple top, a kahler system (retrofitted)
    an old gibson humbucker (bridge position) and, oh yea, its red.
    This guitar is a screamer for rock stuff! Dave is right about tonal
    quality though. The other thing about this guitar is it has a very
    narrow neck. I have very big hands so I don't use this guitar if
    I'm playing stuff with alot of open chord position.
    
    
    

    	I'VE OWNED A HAMER GUITAR.  IT WAS A HAMER PHANTOM.  THIS GUITAR
    WAS THE ONLY GUITAR THAT STRUCK ME AS HAVING A TONE MORE FULL THAN THAT
    OF A LES PAUL.  THE TREMOLO SYSTEM, HOWEVER, WAS NOT WORTH ANYTHING AS
    IT WOULD NOT STAY IN TUNE WHEN USING THE ARM TO ANY DEGREE.  THIS WOULD
    HAVE BEEN SOLVED BY INSTALLING A LOCK NUT SYSTEM UP TOP, BUT SOLD IT
    BEFORE I THOUGHT TO DO THIS.  THESE GUITARS, ARE US MADE AS FAR AS I
    KNOW, AND ARE HAND MADE.  THIS WAS 1984.  THE NEW HAMERS THAT I HAVE
    SEEN HAVE KHALER OR FLOYD ROSE TYPE SET UPS.  GOOD GUITARS.  EXPENSIVE.
    MATT MCCULLOUGH/ALBUQUERQUE,NM,USA
      

    I played a Hamer Steve Stevens model awhile back (before I got into
    Gibsons) and I have to say it was an extremely pleasant guitar to play. 
    It had a single coil in the neck position, a humbucker in the bridge
    position, and a Floyd and the variety of tones it would make was
    remarkable.  
    
    It had a real nice low action and a great feeling ebony fretboard.  My
    only  problems with it were that I was only playing 25.5 in. scale
    instruments at the time and it's 24.75 in scale length felt a little
    odd to me, and it was painted this strange copper color (like a penny)
    and looked strange.
    
    I could have gotten a great deal on it too, I just kick myself now for
    not buying it!  Live and learn.  If I come across another one like that
    I'll snatch it in a heartbeat (...and I wouldn't say that about very
    many guitars right now, I'm about played out on the instrument side of
    GTS).
    
    On the other hand, I didn't really care for the neck on the Phantom III
    that I played.  It was a little too thick for my tastes.  I played one
    of their Strat shaped ones (Californian?) and thought it was nice, but
    a little pricy.  But I guess they all are when you buy new...
    
    Greg

    Hamer built their reputation in the 70's on some very nice Gibson
    near-clones.  One of the coolest of these imo are the flame top
    Explorer copies.  *If* you can find one, they go for about $500
    used these days, a steal.  I think Rick Neilsen may have bought
    up a sizable chunk of them, though.

    Has anyone had any experience playing/owning/hearing any of the Hamer
    guitars, especially the model called the "Sunburst Archtop" ? (I think;
    it's usually featured on the inside back cover of Guitar Player).
    
    I am familiar with their use by Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, and the
    late (and great) James Honeyman-Scott of the Pretenders (phase one),
    but have not had the experience of hearing them in a more intimate
    setting (i.e. smaller than an arena).
    
    Any idea on prices, availability, playability/tone would be helpful.
    
    (especially from north of the 49th parallel fellow Canucks)
                                                              
    I didn't check (oops) so feel free to point me in the right direction
    if I've bypassed what I'm looking for.
    
    						Cal C.
    

    I used to have a Hamer Scarab (weird shaped thing) that played really
    nice.  My only complaint with it was that it had a Kahler (and a 24.75"
    scale, which I wasn't into when I had it).  My experience with them
    would say they make a very fine product.
    
    I remember one really cool double cutaway sorta green sunburst that I
    played many years ago too, such a cool guitar!  Wish I'd bought it!
    
    I'm also still kicking myself for not picking up the Steve Stevens
    model I had a chance at a couple of years ago.  A wonderful guitar!
    
    Greg

    A friend of mine is a Hamer "sunburst" freak.  While he has had the
    headstocks on ALL his Hamers snap off in dropped guitar accidents
    (the one piece mahongany neck just doesn't hold up, I guess), they
    have a great sound, and a fast neck.

    
    
    
    I already threw mine away, but I thought I saw a Hamer blow-out in the
    latest Guitar Center flyer.  Can anyone confirm/deny this
    hallucination?
    
    

    Man, that guy must drop his guitars a lot.  I've been playing for a lot
    of years and have never had one hit the floor!  (close, real close a
    couple of times)
    
    Greg

    >Man, that guy must drop his guitars a lot.
    
    No, read = Roadies who drop HIS guitars a lot!  He has 4 sunbursts. A
    red one, a cherry sunburst, a dark sunburst, and a blue one. The Red
    and Cherry ones were dropped by his roadie at sound checks. The dark
    one was kicked off the guitar stand by a roadie from another band, and
    I forget the scenario with the blue one.  Anywho, in all cases, the
    headstocks snapped off at the nut joint.  All were glued back one, and
    have worked ok since, but I just remember that those one peice
    mahongany necks (which are real nice...small, and fast!) didn't take a
    lot of pressure.  Maybe it was all a fluke they all broke  in the same
    place, but I doubt it.
    
    Just like those Kramer Baretta guitars that all the necks snapped in
    two.  Coincidence?  Doubtful.
    

I snapped a Kramer neck once...   Notorious.

    Re: snapped necks
    
    If I had a nickel for every Gibson I've seen with a cracked
    headstock...Explorers and Firebirds with their skinny necks and
    extended headstocks are the worst, and since Hamer Sunbursts took their
    cue from the Explorer, no big surprise.
    
    							Brian

    Just about anything will break if you drop it the right way (or wrong
    way, as the case may be).
    
    I'd say it's about time for your friend to get a new roadie...
    
    Greg

    When we say Hamer Sunburst here, we're talking about the cool little
    numbers that vaguely resemble an old double cutaway LP Junior right?
    I thought the Hamer Explorers were called just that, Explorers.

    Anyway, like a lot of cool used gear, I have something to say about
    these.  They're great, one of the underappreciated treasures on the
    used market.  Fast necks, good wood, nice pickups, and many have
    very flamey tops, which is a neat little plus.  I let a great one of
    these get away last year, a terrific player in very good condition;
    Daddy's couldn't move it at $250, so they marked it down to about $200!
    Yow!  (oh well, as Fred A says, "you can't buy everything").
    
    What puzzles me though is Hamer has just "re-issued" the Sunburst, at a
    very hefty price tag; I think they list in the high teens.  But you can
    buy virtually the same guitar used for a fraction of that.  I literally
    saw a dealer with two of these, side by side; a re-issue Sunburst for
    $1400, and a used one for $400.  Guess which one I would buy :-)
    
    /rick

    Re: .17
    
    Oops, you're right.  The Explorer was the Standard, the LP Jr. types
    were the Sunburst and the Special.
    
    Prices:
    
    Around 1981, Standards listed at about $1200, Sunbursts about $1000 and
    Specials about $600.  With inflation, I can see a Sunburst listing in
    the $1500-1800 range.
    
    							Brian
    

	I've got a copy of the last Daddy's used gear flyer, and there
	are four Hamers listed there:

	Sunburst HD2 VG		$399	HAM0761
	Red Metallic HD2 VG	$499	HAM1021
	Sunburst HD1 VG		$299	HAM11181
	Phntm A5 Blu HD2 VG	$349	HAM8611

    Hamer's have never seemed to hold their prices well.  The Steve Stevens
    model I was talking about before listed for like $1800 and this used
    one in mint condition (albit an ugly color) sold for around $400.  I've
    seen a lot of used Hamers in the $200-$300 range.
    
    I bought the Scarab I used to have for $75, from a music store, no
    less!  It played great, had a cool pickup in it, but was a little beat
    up cosmetically and needed a good setup.  What a deal!  I got $225 in
    trade on it when I traded it off a couple of years later...  ;^)
    
    Greg

    I don't know what the deal is with this deflation of Hamer and Dean
    guitar prices, but a $300 sunburst is a great deal for a Les Paul fan
    on a budget!  Sheesh, that's only a few bucks more than buying a Korean
    Strat brand new!
    
    						Brian

    -1
    
    Wrong note, but Dean made a BAD @$$ guitar in 1979!!!  Those pups go
    for dirt now (and the specially wound dimarzios in them are second to
    none as far as rock pickups go!!!).

    yeah, a lot of similarity between those old Deans and Hamers.  Both
    companies had a similar philosophy; high quality Gibson near copies.
    
    There was an early '80's Dean Explorer in Daddy's a few weeks ago for
    $179!!!  Insane.
    
    /rick

Was it a real one with the Fugly V headstock or the Japanese versions?
The orignals (hand made, USA only, way-bad-motorfinger, neck thru, pickups
from hell) were rippin' guits!

jc (who likes Hamers too !)

    doesn't Hamer make that 12-string bass used by Doug Pinnick of King's
    X?
    
    Mike

    re coop
    
    the $179 Dean was one of the real ones, fugly headstock and all
    
    re Mike
    
    yeah, Pinnick plays Hamers

    Saw an ad in one of the rags showing the "new" Hamer Special.  The ones
    from the early 80s were a lot like like LP Jrs. but used DiMarzio
    humbuckers and had nicer finishes.  The new ones have soapbar single
    coils (P90 lookalikes) and the ho-hum finishes of a real LP Jr., even
    more of a clone than before.  The ad pitches it as a blues guitar,
    leaning up against a worn tweed amp.
    
    						Jaco Costello

    Yeah, I've seen that ad too.  Looked like a pretty cool guitar!  Any
    idea how much they sell for?
    
    Greg

	I'd like to respond to this note which is in the general
    discussion topic, but thought it would be best discussed here.
    
>    Here's an idea if you want to check it; find a music store that
>    deals both Fender and Hamer, take one of those new Hamer Specials
>    (great copy of a '58 LP Special) and crank it through a '65 re-issue
>    Twin.  See how long it takes before they throw you out :-)

	Lately, the Hamer ads in GP and GW have been catching my eye,
especially the Specials and Sunburst models. I played a Sunburst in
a music store a few weeks ago and loved it (but the $2100 list price
was a bit of a shock).

	There is a "1981 Hamer Special" listed in last weeks Want 
Advertiser. According to the ad, it is blonde with a curly maple top,
and humbuckers ??  I have to wonder if this is the same model that
Hamer is selling as a Special these days. If anyone is interested, 
The guy is only asking $175.00 for it, including a case. If you want
the phone number, send me mail. I'm tempted to grab it myself, but
    I've already got too many irons in the fire.
    

	Mark

    I played one of those years ago (around '84).  Great guitar, wish I'd
    bought it.  It was like a green sunburst, really the sort of thing I
    could get off on playing today, but at the time I wasn't into it.  As I
    recall it was fairly inexpensive (used).
    
    I'd love to nab a nice Hamer, but alas, it's in New England and I'm
    broke.
    
    Greg

    It's been almost 2 years since someone has replied to this note, but
    here goes;
    
    Has anyone got an opinion on the Hamer "Slammer" series guitars? I
    believe that these are the low-end Hamer models and are built in
    Korea instead of here in the US. I own the "Slammer California" model
    and am very pleased with it. The one thing that will get changed in
    the not-to-distant future is the pickups! It is equipped with a single
    coil at the neck and a humbucker at the bridge. Both of these sound
    terrible in my opinion. 
               Other than the pickups, I'm very pleased with the look, fit
    and feel of this ax. It plays well and has the thinest neck that I've
    seen on any guitar! Very fast!
    
    Mike

>    It plays well and has the thinest neck that I've seen on any guitar
    
    Clearly this man has never played a current line Ibanez...
    

    > Clearly this man has never played a current line Ibanez...
    
    OK, Greg!! What did I tell you about the "I" word!!! Seriously though,
    Ibanez makes a great guitar, just not for me......
    
    
    Mike 

    You saying the neck on the Hamer is really thinner then an Ibanez RG
    series guitar?  That's hard to believe!
    
    Greg

    
    
    
      While talking to a bud, he told me about a Hamer he came across
    that was so... <word?>  strange, it was cool.  This Hamer had an
    aluminum neck.  Can anyone say anything more about this?  Sounds
    weird.
    
      Jus' curious.
    
     -Rick. 
    

>      While talking to a bud, he told me about a Hamer he came across
>    that was so... <word?>  strange, it was cool.  This Hamer had an
>    aluminum neck.  Can anyone say anything more about this?  Sounds
>    weird.
    
    Probably Kramer...  They made an aluminum necked model for awhile.  It
    had a rosewood fretboard.  Abysimally heavy, and wouldn't hang on a
    strap for beans (well, it'd hang there, neck pointing straight down).
    Had a nifty zero fret (that always seemed to be scarred up so that it'd
    bind the strings) sitting in front of this strange aluminum thing that
    functioned more to grab and bind the strings then as a nut. I've seen
    two or three of 'em, and knew a guy that actually owned one, what a
    hunk of junk.  I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole.
    
    I've never heard of a Hamer guitar with a non-wood neck.
    
    Greg

    
       Yeah, Kramer.  Dat's it.  Thanks for the info. I haven't seen
    one.  The question popped into my mind when I saw "Hamer", and I 
    was wrong at that.  Thanks.
    
       It's been filed in the Things_To_Avoid area.
    
       Rick
    

    There was another guitar maker back in the 70s and 80s that used
    (unfinished) aluminum for necks. Travis Bean?

    You got it.  I think Travis was first, Kramer was an employee who left
    to do his own version.  Kramer's main innovation was putting wood
    inserts along the back of the neck to give it a warmer feel to the
    touch.
    
    I think Messenger was also a metal neck guit; they were a short lived
    San Francisco based company and the weapon of choice for Mark Farner!
    
    /don_and_mel

    Yeah, I meant to mention that.  The Travis Bean's were almost as bad as
    the Kramers...  I didn't look at the nut/zero fret region the one time
    I saw one, but the thing was horrendously neck heavy, heavy overall
    too.  A real back breaker, yech.
    
    Greg

    The worst aspect of the Kramer's aluminum neck was that people got
    careless about storing the guitars.  Experienced musicians usually take
    great care to store their delicate instruments under conditions of
    controlled temperature and humidity, but with the Kramers, no such care
    was necessary, as the metal neck was quite impervious to harsh
    conditions.  Some folks apparently got in the habit of leaving the
    guitars on cold back porches, and then experienced the horror of
    "tongue freeze" when trying to play Hendrix licks (so to speak) with
    their lips.  Naturally, litigation frequently ensued (so to speak) and
    the Kramer, as they say, is history.
    
    Is it Friday yet?  %^)
    
    Dave

    Pah-bah hahze rhanan thra ma brahn...
    

    Hmmmm, some of you guys need a weekend away from this place. :^)

>    Hmmmm, some of you guys need a weekend away from this place. :^)
    
    And today is Friday!  To quote a friend, "Coincidence?  I think not!"
    
    Dave

    awaking a note..!
    
    Tonight I tried a 2nd hand Hamer Californian at a store at Marlboro and
    found it to be an excellant guitar....the bad part was the 2nd hand
    price $799.According to the owner of the store,they list at something
    like $1800 and the guy who bought it for that price just didn't like it
    and wanted rid of it.It had more than its fair share of dinks and even
    some paint on the head ad was certainly not worth the asking price.
    
    
    ....nice guitar,though!
    
    
    						ian

    
    
      Duck! ...here come the GTS bullets! 
    
    
     (Oh, what the heck. Judging from Coop and Buck's recent entries
    I'm not the only one!)
    
     NEW 2 ME : HAMER STUDIO - Cherry Sunburst, flame maple, double
    cutaway, double humbucker, kick-butt guitar! This guitar is not
    flashy, other than the gold hardware and awesome tiger stripe
    flame maple arched top. The looks attracted me, playing without an amp
    made me really interested, and plugging it into a decent amp made me 
    a believer! Isn't that the way it should be. 
      The neck is about as wide as a Les Paul, but not as deep. It is a
    glued in neck as well. The neck pickup is nice and bluesy, the bridge
    is pretty much similar to the LP. I'd been looking at the guitar
    awhile and then decided that I would sell my BC Rich outright to take
    on my first new guitar in quite some time (four/five years). 
       
      (end of GTS confession)
    
    							-John R-

    John,
    
    Nice axe -- just don't drop it -- the necks have a real tendency to
    snap on thosesuckers (but they ARE great guitars)

    Kurlan's in Worcester has some drop-dead gorgeous Hamer custom
    shop guitars in the store. Highly flamed tops, sorta PRS body
    shapes. Awesome instruments!

    
      My new Hamer has the double cutaway similar to their standard which
    is kinda based on the old double cutaway Les Paul. The archtop does
    remind me more of the PRS type or sculpting than the LP style. If
    you've seen the ad with Jeff Golub for Hamer, that's the axe.
      It is a glued on neck and they claim to have more surface area
    contact in the joint than LP's. It does come with a lifetime warranty,
    but I hope I don't need it! 
      It has a great balance to the body and seems to be very capable of
    LP tones with considerable less weight. I've got a few hours of playing
    time in so far, with much more to come!
    
    								-John R-

     
      Well, I gigged out with the new Hamer last weekend and used it for all
    three sets. I guess that says it all because I had the Les Paul ready
    to roll, but the Hamer worked out just fine. The axe is VERY Les
    Paulish and doesn't penalize your shoulder as much at the end of the
    evening. I guess it's a keeper.
      The action was set really low at the store (trying to entice buyers I
    assume), I had to raise the bass side slightly for my liking. I went
    back through some recent Guitar mags and only now I realize that they
    have been raving on this guitar since it came out! GP - Nov '94 has a 
    decent review, and the issue with 100 best buys has the Hamer Archtop
    Studio as #1!!! Not bad credentials!