HAMER 04/WRIGHT/SEP/2000

22
Vintage Guitar September 2000
www.vintageguitar.com
The Different Strummer
LEFT TO RIGHT (from left) Two limited edition Korina Standards, one-off Korina Archtop
Custom, two limited edition Korina Flying Vs, one of four Korina Futuras. Customized Jeff
BY MICHAEL WRIGHT WITH ANDREW LARGE,
STEVE MATTHES AND PETER FUNG
Watson model made for Neil Zaza with a scalloped fingerboard from the third fret on,
quilted top and active EQ. Goldtop Jeff Watson and customized Neil Zaza Jeff Watson.
Hamer Guitars
High-End Boutique or Budget Vintage? Part 4
W
ell, we near the end of the long
tale of Hamer USA Guitars, a
saga that began in the early
1970s and is today a great success story in American guitardom. For
this installment we bring the litany of
Hamer guitars up to date...
Eclipse
Not resting on its laurels, yet two more
new Hamer models debuted in ’94 – the
Eclipse and the Mirage.
The Eclipse (Model GECS) was a
new asymmetrical offset double-cutaway
design with short horns, the upper somewhat larger and rounded, the lower more
pointed, and a rounded lower bout. The
body and glued-in neck were all-mahogany
with a black-faced three-and-three Hamer
headstock and screened logo. The 22-fret
rosewood fingerboard had a 243/4" scale
and dot inlays. The Eclipse sported two
Seymour Duncan mini-humbucking pickups with three-way select, one volume
and one tone control. The bridge was a
Wilkinson Hardtail Wrap Around, and
the nut a Lubritrak. An Eclipse 12-String
was also available with the same specs.
These were offered in Black, Cherry
Transparent, Candy Green, Ferrari Red,
and Vintage Orange. The Eclipses were
eclipsed in ’98.
fingerboard had a 251/2" scale, dot inlays,
and a Hamer three-and-three head. The
Mirage was equipped with three Seymour Duncan single-coil-sized humbuckers (all perpendicular to the strings) – a
Hot Rail at the bridge and two split-rail
Vintage Rails. These were controlled by
a five-way select and one volume and one
tone control. A mini-toggle bypassed the
volume control for instant lead mode.
The vibrato was a non-locking Wilkinson
VSV vibrato combined with chrome locking Sperzel tuners. Finish options included Cherry Transparent and natural.
In ’95 the Mirage was joined by the
Mirage II, which differed in that it had a
carved maple top and two Seymour Duncan humbuckers, with three-way select
and no bypass switch. Finishes included
’59 Burst, Honey, Kool Blue, Red Transparent and Tobacco Sunburst. Otherwise, it was similar to the Mirage.
The Mirage and Mirage II lasted until
’97 or ’98, when they were replaced by the
Mirage Maple Top (essentially the Mirage II with a flamed maple top), Seymour Duncan ’59 and JB humbuckers,
and locking Schaller tuners. This model
came in honey, kool blue, and red transparent. The Mirage Maple Top disappeared after only a year.
Artist Archtop, et al
In ’95 Hamer introduced the Artist
Archtop (Model GATA), the Studio
Archtop Artist, and the new version of
the CruiseBass.
The Artist Archtop (sometimes also
called the Artist Arched Top or Archtop
Artist –fun, eh?) was very similar to the
Sunburst Archtop, introduced in ’91. And
like the Sunburst Archtop, the Artist
Archtop played more name games as it
evolved. The Artist Archtop was an
equal double-cutaway (as with most
Hamers, upper horn slightly extended)
with a mahogany body and ivoroid-bound
carved flamed maple top. Other features
similar to the Sunburst Archtop included
a mahogany neck, Hamer three-and-three
headstock (blackface), a bound 22-fret,
243/4" scale rosewood fingerboard with
crown inlays, finetune bridge, stop tailpiece, twin humbuckers, three-way select, volume, and two tones. There were
two primary differences; first the Artist
Archtop was a semi-hollowbody with a
sound chamber and f-hole, and the second was in pickups, which were Seymour
Duncan Seth Lovers.
After the relocation, the Artist Archtop became known as the Artist Custom,
the name it carries today.
Also introduced in ’95 was the Studio
Photos: Peter A. Fung.
Mirage
The Mirage, also introduced in ’94,
was another upscale model in an upscale
world. It had just slightly offset double
cutaways with a slightly extended upper
horn and a slightly deeper treble cutaway. Otherwise it was similar to the
Sunburst. The body was mahogany with
a carved, figured koa top with a glued-in
mahogany neck. The 22-fret rosewood
LEFT TO RIGHT Zulu Phantom GT and fretless Phantom
GT with LED side position markers. Custom-ordered 8String Bass with maple fingerboard and reverse stringing
of the pairs. Two custom-made Firebirds made for Scotti
Hill of Skid Row, 3/4 bolt-neck on left, set-neck on right.
subscribe @ 1-800-844-1197
Vintage Guitar September 2000
23
Different Strummer
Slammer by Hamer
B
Firebirds, the two on the right being stock models, the three on the left being
custom orders.
Archtop Artist. This was essentially the
same as the Archtop Artist, except it
lacked body and fingerboard binding,
and had dot inlays. The original version
also had a Wilkinson Wrap Around
bridge, although by ’97 this had changed
to a finetune bridge and stop tailpiece. By
’96 the name had changed to become
simply the Artist Studio (Model GATASO). In ’97, the name changed again to
just plain Artist. This model remains in
the line to this day.
There would be further variations on
the Artist Series, as it became known, but
we’ll come back to this in a moment.
CruiseBass
In ’95, Hamer brought back a number
of variations on the venerable CruiseBass,
the original of which had run from ’82 to
’90. The first had the sleek offset doublecutaway body similar to the Phantom
guitar, with pointed horns (the upper extended), glued-in neck, and a three-andthree headstock, which changed to a fourin-line. The new version (Model BCRS)
was redesigned to have a much more
rounded form, much closer to a Fender
bass design, just slightly more exaggerated
waists. The upper horn remained extended, but was much thicker. The body
was now made of alder, and the maple
neck was bolted on, with the four-in-line
headstock. The pickguard was a natty
laminated tortoise affair, sort of oval extending under the strings from the neck,
but with a kind of batwing extension over
the treble cutaway horn. The rosewood
fingerboard was now 22 frets (34" scale),
still with pearl dot inlays. Replacing the
former P and J-style pickups were a pair of
Duncan Vintage Jazz J-style units, one
pickguard-mounted, the other on the top
near the Gotoh bridge/tailpiece assembly.
Controls remained two volumes and a
tone. Color options in ’96 included twotone sunburst, black cherry ’burst, candy
red, candy blue, candy green, emerald
green, and white transparent.
Alongside the four-string CruiseBass
was the CruiseBass Five (Model BC5T).
The Five was essentially the same as the
Dating Hamers
Fire bird photos: Peter A. Fung. All other photos copyright Hamer USA Guitars.
T
he first Hamer Standard was
numbered #0000 (stamped
into the wood) and subsequently consecutive numbers
were used on all guitars until 1977.
By 1980 most models had switched
to a second system,
however, some continued to be produced
bearing 4-digit numbers until 1985,
mostly Standards, Eight- and Twelvestring basses. Approximately 750
guitars were made with 4-digit serial
numbers.
Beginning in 1977 with the Sunburst, a new system was initiated in
which the first digit represents the
year and the following numbers (four
or more) are the running total of all
guitars numbered using this method
(Y XXXX). By ’80 most models used
this second system. Numbers were
stamped on the guitars, either in ink
or black paint, or in yellow on dark
instruments. Guitar #8
0196 would be from
1978 and was the 196th
guitar numbered that way. Guitar #8
21416 was made in 1988 and was the
21,416th guitar so numbered. Beginning in late 1987 serial numbers
were again stamped into the wood.
Many one-of-a-kind and prototype
instruments have numbers that do
not relate to either of the two numbering systems.
y 1996, Hamer had begun to
modify its import strategy and
made a transition for its Korean models which would
end up being called the Import
Series – basically upscale copies
of its better Hamer USA guitars,
still made in Korea. The Slammer
brand name was switched to more
down-market guitars made in Indonesia. These Indonesian models
were then called Slammer by
Hamers, with the Hamer block logotype. Early Indonesian Slammers
from ’96 featured a “Slammer by
Hamer” logo, with “Slammer” in
the Hamer block lettering and “by
Hamer” small underneath. Three
guitars and one bass were offered.
All were in a more conventional
Fender-style mode. The guitars
were Strats with Hamer six-in-line
heads, the bass Fender-style. All
had bolt-on maple necks, rosewood fingerboards, dot inlays, and
pearloid pickguards. Guitars had
traditional non-locking vibratos.
The Slammer DA3 guitar had three
single-coil pickups with a five-way
($269.50). It came in three-tone
sunburst (SB), copper metallic
(CM), and jet black (BK). The DA212
had a humbucker/single/humbucker layout ($289.50), in black
only. The DA21 had twin humbuckers ($279.50), in copper metallic
only.
These Slammer by Hamers were
probably available through the
move to Connecticut. By late ’98
the logo treatment on the Indonesian Slammers changed to a more
contemporary “italic” typeface. The
name had changed but the appearance was still generic.
October ’93 UK ad for the Slammer
Diablo.
Slammer by Hamers available in
late ’98 included the Pacer PCC3
(Strat copy with pickguard, three
single-coils, traditional vibrato),
Centaura CT21 (superstrat with
humbucker/single/single pickups
and locking Floyd Rose), Special
SP1 (Special shape, solid wood,
twin buckers), Special 2 SP2
(single-cutaway modified Les Paul
shape with body binding), XP-Standard XP1 (Explorer with pickguard),
Vector VK1 (Flying V with Modernstyle V-head), Chaparral Bass CP4
(one P-style pickup), and the Blitz
Bass BZ4 (two J-style pickups). All
came with bolt-on maple necks,
unbound rosewood fingerboards,
dot inlays and chrome hardware.
Finishes included Black, Transparent Wine Red, Sunburst, Silver Sunburst, Two-Tone Sunburst, Red
Metallic, Transparent Blue, and
Purple Metallic, though not all finishes were available on all models.
They remain in the line.
Logos
H
amer’s headstock logos can
be misleading. For Ameri can-made models, from ’74
to ’97, the logo can be either
Hamer or Hamer USA (with “USA” a
little postscript to the final “r”), although for the most part
the logos are
Hamer USA.
Some models
around the early
’80s also added a
checkerboard pattern.
From ’97 or so, all American-made
models have Hamer USA logos.
From ’90 to around ’96 Koreanmade Hamers carried logos that read
“Hamer Slammer Series,” with the
Hamer block typeface, “Hamer” big,
“Slammer Series” underneath. Ca.
’96 Indonesian-made models began
coming in with “Slammer by Hamer”
logos – “by Hamer” small underneath,
Slammer in block letters. By 1998
these logos had changed to a more
stylized, italicized typeface. As the
Korean-made
Hamers made
their transition
to become the
Import Series
around ’98, the
logo simply read Hamer,
in Hamer block type, no “USA.”
So you shouldn’t have trouble identifying a Slammer import. However,
an early American model may or may
not have “USA” as part of the logo, but
after ’98 absence of “USA” in the logo
indicates the guitar is imported.
24
Vintage Guitar September 2000
www.vintageguitar.com
Different Strummer
The Eclipse and Mirage Maple Top
disappeared after ’98. It was also in ’98
that Hamer shifted its Korean-made guitars from Slammers to Import Series and
began applying the Slammer by Hamer
brand to guitars made in Indonesia.
Artist Ultimate
LEFT TO RIGHT August ’96 ad for the Artist and Daytona,
endorsed by Lonnie Brooks and Ronnie Baker Brooks.
four-string except for having a 2-Tek
bridge/tailpiece mounted through the
body, and the addition of a fifth tuner on
the bottom of the headstock.
Also part of the ’95 CruiseBass line
was the 2-Tek CruiseBass (Model BCRT).
This was identical to the CruiseBass except for having the 2-Tek through-body
bridge assembly.
Finally, all three Cruisebasses were
available in fretless versions (Models
BCRTF, BCRSF, and BC5TF) identical
except for a Madagascar ebony fingerboard inlaid with maple markers.
These remain in the line today.
photos copyright Hamer USA Guitars except as indicated. Family of Hamers photo: Peter A. Fung. CP4-SB Bass courtesy Coleman Music.
Standard Revisited
The Hamer Standard, the upscale Explorer copy that started it all back in ’74,
was discontinued in ’85. However, in the
new “vintage” environment of the ’90s,
the model was revived in ’95. It met the
same specs as the original, with a onepiece mahogany body, bound bookmatched flamed maple top, glued-in mahogany neck, droopy six-in-line headstock,
twin humbuckers, finetune, stoptail, threeway, volume and two tones. It was available in two versions – the Custom (Model
GTSC) and Standard (Model GTSS).
Slammer guitars offered by Kaman in ’96. Ca. ’96 Slammer
CP4-SB Bass.
The Standard Custom had a bound rosewood fingerboard with crown mother-ofpearl inlays. The Standard had no binding
on the fingerboard, and dot inlays.
In ’95/’96 Hamer produced a limited
number of Korina Standards, versions of
the original Gibson Explorer of ’58. These
featured “korina” bodies with unbound
rosewood fingerboards, dot inlays, covered humbuckers, and black pickguards.
Korina is a term which is generally applied to a lightweight mahogany-like
tonewood known as African Limba. It is
sometimes incorrectly applied to guitars
which look similar but are made of other
woods, such as ash.
The Standard Custom remains in the
line to this day. The Standard lasted only
through ’97 and the move, when it became part of the Import series.
Relocation
In ’97, Kaman/Ovation found itself
with excess capacity in its New Hartford,
Connecticut, factory and operating a second (Hamer) factory in suburban Chicago. This did not really make good
business sense. Double expenses and not
operating at full capacity at one plant that
could easily absorb the other operation.
February ’95 two-page ad for the Daytona endorsed by Felicia Collins.
The decision was made to consolidate all
guitarmaking activities in Connecticut,
and the Illinois factory was closed.
The move occasioned a realignment
of the product line. Some models were
dropped, others renamed, and new ones
added.
At the end of ’96, the Hamer line
consisted of the Standard, Special, Special FM, Vintage S, T-51, Californian
Elite, Californian Custom, Diablo, Diablo
II, Daytona, DuoTone, Eclipse, Mirage,
Mirage Maple Top, Archtop Artist, Studio Archtop Artist, Short-Scale 8-String
Bass, Short-Scale 12-String Bass, LongScale Acoustic 12-String Bass, 12-String
Chaparral Bass, and CruiseBass.
After the move, models that survived
included the Standard, Special, Special
FM (renamed the Special Custom),
DuoTone, Eclipse, Mirage Maple Top,
Archtop Artist (renamed the Artist Custom), Studio Archtop Artist (renamed
Artist), Short-Scale 8-String Bass, LongScale Acoustic 12-String Bass, and
CruiseBass. Noticeably absent were most
of the Strat-style models such as the
Californian, Diablo and Daytona, and
the T-51 Tele, though some would soon
reappear as Import models.
Around the time of the move Hamer
introduced another variation on its semihollow Artist guitar, a top-of-the-line
Hamer Artist Ultimate (ARTULT). This
was a spectacular guitar, substantially
the same as the carved-top Artist but with
some extra-fancy features. Not only were
the highly figured maple top, soundhole,
ebony fingerboard and headstock bound,
the body binding included mother-ofpearl. The headstock logo was also pearl
inlay. The ’board was adorned with pearl
crown inlays. Tuners were Grover Super
Rotomatics, with the “Art Deco” buttons. Hardware was gold. Pickups were
hand-wound using oxygen-free Monster
Cable wire, with gold covers signed by
Seymour Duncan himself. Finish was a
brownish-red called Cognac. This came
with a special alligator hardshell case.
The Artist Ultimate remains atop the
Hamer line to this day.
Phantom Revisited
Also in ’97, Hamer reintroduced one of
its earliest original designs, the Prototype,
using another model name, the Phantom
(PHAN). This had the Prototype’s equal
double-cutaway body with the extended
upper horn and rounded lower bout. As
before, this new Phantom’s triple-coil
pickup was a combination of a humbucker
and single-coil in a single pickup ring.
Pickups were now Seymour Duncans.
The Phantom had a Honduras mahogany
body, glued-in neck, three-and-three headstock, 22-fret rosewood fingerboard, dot
inlays, finetune bridge and stop tailpiece.
There was a small black pickup, three-way
select, volume and tone controls. The
Phantom came in two-tone sunburst, black,
and TV blond finishes. This Phantom
lasted only a year before it was replaced by
the Phantom Custom (PHANC).
The Phantom Custom was basically a
Prototype Custom with a triple-coil
pickup at the bridge and slanted single-
April ’95 two-page ad for the Californian endorsed by Wolf Hoffmann of Accept.
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Vintage Guitar September 2000
25
Different Strummer
coil neck pickup, plus an unbound flamed
maple top. The pickguard was laminated
pearloid. The fingerboard remained unbound rosewood with pearl dots. The
primary difference between the new Phantom and the old Prototype was pickup
selection. Instead of a lever, the Phantom Custom featured a five-way rotary
selector which offered the neck singlecoil, neck and bridge single-coils, bridge
single-coil, all three bridge coils, and the
bridge humbucker – plus master volume
and tone. Colors were Amberburst and
Vintage Orange. The Phantom Custom
remains in the line to this day.
Rick Nielsen Limited
Edition
In ’98, Hamer hooked up again with
long-time supporter and enthusiast Rick
Nielsen of Cheap Trick to develop the
Rick Nielsen Limited Edition. This was
more or less a version of the ’96 Gibson
Futura. Futura is the name applied to
some early ’58 Gibson Explorer’s which
were closer to the prototype sketch in the
patent application than subsequent production models. These had much narrower waists than the typical Explorer,
plus an asymmetrical split-V headstock
(kind of a lopsided version of a Dean
head), as opposed to the scimitar. Futura
was not the official name of this model.
In ’96 Gibson made a limited run of 100
replicas of these early Explorers called
the Futura. This is not to be confused
with the ’82-’84 Gibson Futura, which
was a totally different modernistically
May ’95 ad for the Studio, endorsed by Jeff Golub.
Pickups
Bridges
T
All photos copyright Hamer USA Guitars except as indicated.
he first run of Hamer Standards in ’74 were fitted with a
Gibson-style tune-o-matic
finetune bridge and stop tailpiece. When the Sunburst debuted in
’77 it sported a Fender-style non-vibrato bridge with a rosewood shim to
raise the height of the bridge. Strings
passed through the body. The shim
proved unsatisfactory, and in late ’78
Hamer introduced the Sustain-block
bridge, a chrome-plated solid milledbrass unit thick enough to dispense
with the shim. These were used on
most fixed-bridge guitars, including the
Special, Prototype, Vector, TLE and
FB I, at least up to ’90. Saddles varied,
with smaller ones used between ’81
and ’83, and a slightly altered style (the
same as on the vibrato) thereafter.
The Sustain-block vibrato basically
used the same components as the
fixed version, with the bridge pivoting
on two points. Springs attached inside the body in the back, as on
Fender-style designs. Relatively few
were used, mainly on ’83 Phantom
A5 and Blitz guitars, after which the
fashion for locking vibrato systems
supplanted the Sustain-block vibrato.
Beginning in ’83, locking vibrato
systems predominated. Kahler flatmounts were used on the Phantom,
Scarab, and early Blitz models. When
the headstock on the Blitz was
changed to an angled version, a Floyd
Rose was employed. By the ’90s,
virtually all other vibrato guitars fea-
tured Schaller Floyd Rose systems,
cast with a Hamer logo.
Ca. ’92, as the vogue for locking
vibratos began to wane, guitars such
as the Vintage S and T-62 were fitted
with a non-locking ABM roller-saddle
bridge. Recent stoptail models are
generally fitted with Schaller tune-omatic bridges and tailpiece, including
the Archtop, Special and Standard
reissue. Recent Studio versions of
the Archtop and Archtop Artiste feature Wilkinson single-piece hardtail
bridges. The Daytona, Mirage and T51 have either Wilkinson VSV vibratos
or HT100 stoptails.
12-string bridges were originally a
Hamer design, which allowed individual intonation of each string. However, recent 12-strings have been fitted with a stock Wilkinson design.
Basses
Until recently, virtually all four and
five-string basses featured Schallermade bridge units with the Hamer
logo. In the mid ’80s the Kahler bass
vibrato was offered as an option.
Bridge units on the multi-string basses
were of Hamer’s design, allowing individual intonation of each string. Recently, the CruiseBass began to offer
an option 2-Tek bridge.
As with most other features,
Hamer will install any bridge, so if
you find something not described
here, that doesn’t mean it has been
modified.
Tuners
1974-’80
1980-’82
1982
Grover
Schaller
Hamer (Schallers with
Hamer logo)
1982-ca. ’90 Hamerlock (locking
Schallers)
Sperzel locking
Grover Super Rotomatic
(on select models)
Different tuners can be special ordered.
Ca. ’90
Ca. ’98
H
amer guitars and basses have
used a number of pickups
over the years. The following
guidelines can help determine if a guitar is in original condition, but this information should be
used with caution. Always keep in
mind that Hamer has always offered
to install any type of pickup requested
by a customer – so just because a
guitar doesn’t fit the description
doesn’t necessarily mean the pickups aren’t original.
Guitars
The first few Standards were fitted with original Gibson PAF humbuckers, many of them non-functioning units obtained from the repair shop at the Gibson factory in
Kalamazoo and rewound by Larry
DiMarzio. It soon became clear
that the supply of vintage Gibson
PAFs, even broken ones, would
not be adequate to support new
guitar production, so Hamer commissioned DiMarzio to produce
humbuckers to its own specs.
These almost always came with a
cream bobbin on the bridge pickup
and a zebra (cream/black) bobbin
on the neck pickup. These were
used on virtually all two-humbucker
Hamers up to ’82. Single-coil pickups used on the Prototypes were
also DiMarzios. From ’82 until the
early ’90s Hamer used “Hamer
Slammers” – black-bobbined humbuckers with “Hamer” stamped on
the bottom plate. These, too, were
made by DiMarzio.
Many guitars built between ’86
and ’89 came with OBL pickups
made in Germany. OBLs were
mainly used on the “Custom” models, though some show up on standard instruments. Beginning in ’87
many Hamers had EMG pickups.
Also beginning in ’87 Hamer began
using Seymour Duncan pickups.
Most recent guitars feature
Duncans, though the Diablo has
DiMarzios, and, again, a customer
may order any other type of pickup.
1974 – Original Gibson PAF humbuckers (many rewound by
DiMarzio)
1975-’82 – DiMarzio humbucker
and single-coils (cream/zebra)
1982-ca. ’92 – Hamer Slammer
humbuckers and single-coils
(black, DiMarzio)
1986-’89 – OBL (German)
1987 – EMG
1987 – Seymour Duncan
Basses
Early Hamer 8-String and Standard Basses were fitted with
DiMarzio X2N bass pickups, often
with an active preamp. Ca. ’82
most came with passive DiMarzio
P and J-type, with exposed
polepieces. Beginning in ’85 most
were fitted with Hamer Slammers
(by DiMarzio), which feature covers, not open coils. From ’86 to
’88 some came with German OBL
pickups, including HB types. Beginning in around ’88 Hamer basses
increasingly used EMG pickups,
which began replacing Hamer
Slammers. Some recent basses
use Seymour Duncans. Again, any
kind of pickup may have been ordered by the original customer.
1975-’85
DiMarzio X2N (with or
without
active
preamp)
1982-’85
DiMarzio P- and J-type
(open-coil, passive)
1985-ca. ’90
Hamer Slammer
(covered, DiMarzio)
1986-’88
OBL (German)
1988
EMG
1995
Seymour Duncan
26
Vintage Guitar September 2000
www.vintageguitar.com
Different Strummer
LEFT TO RIGHT Korina collection owned by Greg Platzer,
Steve Clay, and Brian McCombs; (back from left) three ’97
Vectors, three ’95 Standards, one of five HFC Limited
designed guitar! In any case, the Rick
Nielsen Limited Edition was its take on
this venerable classic, with the lower
bout as wide as an Explorer, but the
waists very narrow (and consequently
thinner treble horn), yielding a very dramatic presentation. The headstock was
the split-V three-and-three with a black
face. The treble horn had a white pickguard with a Rick Nielsen logo. Two
covered Duncan pickups were operated
with a three-way, volume, and two tones.
A finetune bridge and stop tailpiece completed the outfit. As with the Gibson, this
was a limited edition guitar.
All photos copyright Hamer USA Guitars except as indicated.
Artist – 25th
Anniversary
In ’99, Hamer continued its juggernaut
with the introduction of a flurry of new
semi-hollow Artist models in celebration
of the company’s 25th anniversary. Actually, this is misleading because, as we’ve
documented, the company really began in
’73 and kind of evolved into existence over
the next couple of years. However, ’74 was
the year the first Standard (Explorer) appeared, so that is apparently the marker
being used.
The Hamer 25th Anniversary Edition
(AN25E) featured Hamer’s now trademark equal double-cutaway shape with
the slightly larger bass horn, glued-in
neck, three-and-three head, f-hole, Seymour Duncan JB and ’59 humbuckers
(covered), Grover tuners, finetune bridge,
and stop tailpiece. The fingerboard was
unbound mahogany with dot inlays. The
body and neck were of mahogany, but
the distinguishing feature was a carved
top made of bookmatched “chevron”
mahogany, a highly figured variety with
dark striations.
Also offered was the upscale Hamer
25th Anniversary Limited Edition
(AN25L). This differed from the regular
edition in that it sported a bound flamed
maple top (even the f-hole was bound)
and a bound ebony fingerboard (and
head) with pearl crown inlays. Pickups
Edition Standards; (front) ’99 NAMM show Korina Special
and Junior. ’98 promotional photo of Rick Nielsen holding
his Signatures.
were Seymour Duncan Custom and
Pearly Gates humbuckers. However, the
truly deluxe features were “25th Anniversary” – engraved sterling silver truss rod
cover and back control plate, a line of
sterling silver purfling on the inside of the
body binding, and a special silver-colored hardshell case!
The 25th Anniversary Edition and
25th Anniversary Limited Edition were
both finished in transparent cherry and
were offered in ’99 only.
Vanguard
In ’99 Hamer introduced the Vanguard, yet another in its semi-hollowbody Artist series. Essentially, this was
the Artist equivalent of the Archtop GT,
featuring two Duncan P-90s with black
covers. Otherwise it was similar to the fholed Artist with one exception – it was
finished entirely in silver sparkle. It
remains available.
Newport
The latest addition to the USA line is
the Newport, also introduced in ’99. It’s
essentially a hollowbody version of the
Artist, but with a wider body and a pair of
f-holes. The body and neck are mahogany, the top carved, arched spruce.
The neck is glued in, with the three-andthree headstock. The 22-fret rosewood
fingerboard is bound with pearl dot inlays. Pickups include two Duncan Phat
Cat single-coils, with three-way select,
volume, and tone controls. The bridge is
a finetune coupled with a Bigsby vibrato.
Tuners were the “Art Deco” Grover Super Rotomatics. Finish was transparent
orange. A similar Newport Pro model
was also offered, identical except for a
pair of Duncan Seth Lover humbuckers
and a stop tailpiece. These remain in the
line, and pretty much define the state of
the Hamer art!
Import Series
As mentioned, ca. ’97 Hamer began to
shift its Korean imports from the Slammer
Series into the Import Series, switching
Slammer production to Indonesia. The
Import Series, sometimes called the
Hamer Guitar, was intended to be the
company’s mid-line offering. Since Korean manufacturers have dramatically
improved their quality in recent years,
these are high-quality guitars, designed in
LEFT TO RIGT June ’96 ad for the Standard endorsed by
Tom Dumont of No Doubt. May ’97 ad for the Standard.
the U.S. and made overseas. Hamer’s
Korean Imports carry the Hamer logo
(no “USA,” see the sidebar on logos).
In ’98 the Import Series included the
Sunburst Arch Top Flame Top (SATF),
Standard (STD), Rick Nielsen Signature (RNS), Echotone (ECO), Stellar 1
(ST1), Californian (CAL), Diablo
(DAB), and Cruise 4 (CRS) and Cruise
5 (CRV) basses. The Sunburst Arch
Top Flame Top, Californian, Diablo,
and Cruise basses were continuations of
previous Slammer models. As alluded
to earlier, in terms of design the Import
Series was very similar to their previous
American counterparts, although materials were sometimes different. Pickups
on the Import Series were Duncan Designed.
The Import Sunburst Arch Top Flame
Top was basically the equivalent of the
Hamer USA Studio, which descended
from the Sunburst Archtop Standard.
Carved flame maple top over mahogany,
rosewood dotneck with three-and-three
head. Color options were Cherry Sunburst, Purpleburst and Blueburst.
The Import Standard basically replaced the old USA Standard. This looked
like the old model, complete with pickguard, but was now made of solid maple
with a glued-in neck and scimitar headstock.
The Import Echotone and Stellar 1
did not have USA equivalents. The
Echotone was basically a version of the
semi-hollowbody Gibson ES-335. With a
glued-in neck, the Echotone had bound
solid maple top and back with bound fholes. The 22-fret fingerboard was bound
rosewood with dots. Twin humbuckers,
three-way, two volumes and two tones,
finetune bridge, stop tailpiece and elevated black laminated pickguard completed the picture.
The Import Stellar 1 was clearly a nod
to the success of Paul Reed Smith guitars,
with slightly offset double-cutaways, the
upper horn extended a bit. This featured
a maple body with a set maple neck. The
top was carved, highly figured “silky
maple.” The unbound two-octave fingerboard had pearl dot inlays. A three-way,
continued on page 154...
March ’98 ad for featuring Rick Nielsen and his five-neck.
154
Vintage Guitar September 2000
Different Strummer
...continued from page 26
volume, tone, finetune bridge and stop
tailpiece rounded out the Stellar 1.
The Import Californian was our old
27-fret friend, again pretty much the same
except for having a solid maple neck and
body.
The Import Diablo, too, was similar to
its forebear, with maple body and neck.
The Import Cruise basses were replicas of the latter model, with the Fenderstyle profile and the little batwing pickguard. Body and neck were maple.
The Hamer Import Series remains
available to this day.
Modern players
Full-line catalog courtesy Steve Matthes.
The list of Hamer artists currently
featured on their website (www.kaman
music.com/hamer) is considerably
smaller than the peak of the mid ’80s, but
includes Gary Bell, Felicia Collins,
Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Gadogan of
Third Eye Blind, Shane Theriot of the
Neville Brothers, Joel Shearer, David
Sinclair (Sarah McLachlan), Mark Rivera, Lyle Workman, Billy Joel, longtime
friend Wolf Hoffmann, and of course,
Rick Nielsen.
There have been a lot of Hamer guitars over the last quarter century. Curiously enough, most have held their own
very well in the used in vintage markets in
terms of value, a tribute to their intrinsic
quality and the heart that the Hamer
folks put into their products. Looking at
www.vintageguitar.com
the company today, it’s interesting that
Hamer still has somewhat of an ambivalent image, somewhere between highend boutique and budget vintage, perhaps best summarized (yea, perpetuated)
by its own well-used advertising slogan, “modern vintage.” Well, after surviving this long, Hamer can
now lay claim to some “real
vintage” guitars, too. The
founders may not have
quite gotten it, but Hamer
guitars sure didn’t turn out
to be a mistake. And now
you know all about them...
’96 full-line Hamer
catalog.
Special thanks to Andrew Large, Steve
Matthes, and Peter Fung for their help assembling this information. Also, thanks to Jol Dantzig
for helping to paint the “big picture.”