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. Hardware was gold. #4. Seller might even be ok with $250, but it's your call. The Blitz guitar lasted only two years until 84, while the Blitz Bass lasted to 90. Prior to that point production had been one-off custom variations on the original "Standard" and "Flying V" guitars. The firm initially specialised in high-spec eye candy based on Gibson's Flying V (the Vector) and Explorer (the Standard) models. Except for the bound flame top, the Standard was pretty close to a Gibson. The body was now made of alder, and the maple neck was bolted on, with the four-in-line headstock. Following delivery of the 12-String Bass, Hamer was challenged again in 78 by an order for an 8-String Bass. Pezband Mike Gorman 8-String Bass I was the hands-on guy who liked to make guitars and do marketing. The neck remained typically Hamer and definitely Gibson-ish, with the tapered Hamer three-and-three head and heel at the body. McCarty was not impressed with the new Hamers and reminded Dantzig that the Explorer had been a failure when it was first introduced. Up for sale is a beautiful USA made 1985 Hamer Double Cutaway Sunburst Special electric guitar in a rare Darkburst finish. In 74, Dantzig packed his guitar and bass and visited McCarty, hoping to get some advice, and perhaps a blessing. Surprise, AZ. 4 String Bass Guitar. Shoes John Murphy 8-String Basses (2) Hamer began publicizing its instruments in 1974, with small black-and-white ads in guitar magazines. 97 Hamer began to shift its Korean imports from the Slammer Series into the Import Series, switching Slammer production to Indonesia. Controls were one volume and two tone with a three-way select behind the bridge unusual placement. Eschewing the fine-tune bridge and stop tailpiece of the Standard, Sunbursts featured a one-piece bridge/tailpiece assembly similar to that found on a stoptail Strat, with adjustable saddles and strings passing through the body. Hamers second model was the Standard Bass. It had just slightly offset double cutaways with a slightly extended upper horn and a slightly deeper treble cutaway. Brand Manager Frank Rindone assumed all marketing, advertising and sales responsibilities. 1985-ca. A guy said a manual says Mahogany, others by look or factory say soft maple Guitar Info: Weight is around 7.5lbs. The Phantom With the influx of cash, the company relocated to Palatine, Illinois, to a larger space with some new equipment. Artist Ultimate 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. In 99, Hamer continued its juggernaut with the introduction of a flurry of new semi-hollow Artist models in celebration of the companys 25th anniversary. The guitar has quailities of Sunburst and Standard. It had a British Honduras mahogany body with a glued-in mahogany neck, the droopy banana or scimitar six-in-line headstock, an unbound fingerboard with dot inlays (243/4 scale), fine-tune bridge, and stop tailpiece. He liked to shake hands, Dantzig explains. Electric Guitar Hamer Slammer Series Made in Korea S/N 6016108 with Soft Case. It differed from 2023 Hamer Guitars | Hamer Guitars is a division of JAM USA LLC. Numbering System # 1 1976 to 1981 #0001 to #0680 A Total of 680 guitars All Custom Shop guitars or custom made for someone special etc etc. The Hamer Sunburst guitar debuted in 1977 with a retail price of $699, about the same . Through the small community of guitar traders, I had made the acquaintance Chicagoan Jim Beach, owner of Wooden Music on Lincoln Avenue on the city's North Side. The pickups are Duncan "designed" but they seemed pretty good. Not resting on its laurels, yet two more new Hamer models debuted in 94 the Eclipse and the Mirage. Otherwise, it was similar to the Mirage. The SATFW comes The bridge is a finetune coupled with a Bigsby vibrato. Aerosmith Brad Whitford Standards (2) Krann Helmudt Hattler Standard Bass However, PAFs were designed for jazz players in the 50s. Hamers Korean Imports carry the Hamer logo (no USA, see the sidebar on logos). Cherry Burst on figured Maple veneer results in a visually inspiring instrument. Pezband Tommy Gawenda Sunburst Bad Company Boz Burrell Standard The first order was from Ted Turner (VG, June 92), bassist for Wishbone Ash, who ordered an Explorer Bass with serial number #0001. that's for sure. 5,088. Instead, they decided to create their dream guitars, new guitars worthy of the respect they gave to the vintage ones. I paid $350 with a hard case and couldn't be happier. The top has some awesome figuring that gives it a unique look. Recent versions of the 8-String Bass feature EMG pickups. Looking at the company today, its interesting that Hamer still has somewhat of an ambivalent image, somewhere between high-end 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. Technically speaking, Dantzigs 73 Flying V bass was the first Hamer, the model never went into production. 1986-89 OBL (German) Modern players Besides, I thought guitarmaking was going to be a short run and Id end up a famous musician or race car driver or something. Then he quickly quips, But Dantzig is still available.. 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. 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. Focus Jan Akkermann Standard New were three-and-three Hamerlock tuners, which allowed the guitarist to lock down the strings at the tuner, similar to the Sperzel concept. Hamer made some great guitars with sometimes dubious choices in pickups and finishes. Buy and sell used fender stratocaster bass guitars with local pick-up or shipped across the country . Kaman marketed a lower-priced line of Asian-built instruments called the Hamer XT Series and Slammer by Hamer, which was discontinued in 2009. This had the Prototypes equal double-cutaway body with the extended upper horn and rounded lower bout. The Artist Ultimate remains atop the Hamer line to this day. Most early Hamer catalogs do not have a copyright date, but you can get a clue by referring to the address. You guys have sold me on it,I will contact seller tomorrow to see if he still has it. The Five was essentially the same as the 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. The result was the cleverly named 12-String Bass. Glenn Tipton's designed and used two very iconic Hamer guitars: the non-production Hamer GT Custom, introduced in 1986, and the Hamer Phantom GT. . Beginning in 87 many Hamers had EMG pickups. The first had the sleek offset double-cutaway body similar to the Phantom guitar, with pointed horns (the upper extended), glued-in neck, and a three-and-three headstock, which changed to a four-in-line. Pickups were now Seymour Duncans. Maybe $265.00 aint bad? Color options were Cherry Sunburst, Purpleburst and Blueburst. But his real passion was for this new product he had, called the Flex Light. Hamer Californian Slammer Series Korean from the Cort factory in 1994. The body and neck are mahogany, the top carved, arched spruce. 15,688. At this time the woodworking was being subcontracted to the Tom Holmes Company in Nashville, Tennessee, with the painting and setup (stringing) being done in the Palatine shop. Rick Nielsen Limited Edition The first Hamer guitar made (in 73) was a short-scale Flying V bass built for Dantzig. Other out there models included various doublenecks, a Standard-shaped mandocello (mandocello scale with double strings tuned in fifths), a mandar (Standard-shaped with four pairs of strings tuned as a mandolin, but in a guitar scale), and at least one 20-string harp guitar (six-string neck with seven tunable sympathetic strings on either side). If it has no issues, $265 sounds reasonable. By 1998 these logos had changed to a more stylized, italicized typeface. Anybody know the model of this guitar I've discribed and what it would be worth? A similar Newport Pro model was also offered, identical except for a pair of Duncan Seth Lover humbuckers and a stop tailpiece. Mirage This Phantom lasted only a year before it was replaced by the Phantom Custom (PHANC). Finish options included sunburst, cherry, yellow transparent, blue transparent, green transparent, opaque red, and a black-and-white graphic. And these contacts would prove useful. The Mirage Maple Top disappeared after only a year. $449.99. This was more or less a version of the 96 Gibson Futura. An Eclipse 12-String was also available with the same specs. It was acquired by Kaman Music Corporation in 1988, which was purchased in turn by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in 2008. Kenny Passarelli Kenny Passarelli Mandocello HAMER FUT-VKC Natural Made in USA EXP Type Electric Guitar MOD Rare Pre-Owned $4,620.00 jpitemsgoods (361) 98.8% Buy It Now Free shipping from Japan Free returns Sponsored HAMER FUT-VKC Natural Made in USA EXP Type Electric Guitar MOD, o2212 Pre-Owned $4,815.00 fun-japanproduct (922) 99.1% Buy It Now Free shipping from Japan Free returns Hamer Guitars is generally considered the first "boutique" vintage-style electric guitar brand that specifically catered to professional musicians, and was the first guitar manufacturer to produce a 12 string bass guitar. By 1930, and already known as a banjo maker, Epiphone was offering its Masterbilt guitars, and it went on to rival Gibson as the top jazz guitar maker of the era with its Emperor and other archtop models. The smaller octave strings were placed above the main string, as on a 12-string guitar. In an undated promotional piece that sports the Palatine address (making it before 78), the Standard was being promoted as The Ultimate, a line that would be used for a few more years. Built with a full depth Artist Archtop, et al By 96 the name had changed to become simply the Artist Studio (Model GATA-SO). Hamer, Monaco and Slammer are registered trademarks of KMC Music. Hamer Guitars was an American manufacturer of electric guitars founded in 1973, in Wilmette, Illinois, by vintage guitar shop owners Paul Hamer and Jol Dantzig. Until this point, Hamer guitars were essentially derivative, inspired by Gibson designs. In 1977 the company set up shop in Palatine, Illinois and employed seven workers. This version was in price lists at least through 85, but was no longer listed in 87. 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. The body was Honduras mahogany with an optional unbound flamed-maple top. I would appreciate anyones comments or info about it,Thanks All,Tele. Roy Buchanan Roy Buchanan Standards (2) I think 265 for a Korean made Sunburst is a great price. How did they survive? The Hamer Import Series remains available to this day. Also, by 85, if not before, basses could be had in fretless versions for no extra charge. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Outputs included 1/4 and synth DIN plugs. By 81, a number of black-and-white graphic finishes were offered, primarily a series of stripes in various thicknesses. Figured Maple veneer and it features a smooth playing mahogany set-neck and an Ebony It has a few chips around the tremolo cutout. The 22-fret rosewood fingerboard is bound with pearl dot inlays. Featured in the piece, wearing Hamer T-shirts or carrying Standards, were Nielsen, Ken Simmonds of Savoy Brown, Tommy Bolin, a very young Lita Ford, and Mick Ralphs. The Rolling Stones Ron Wood Standard The Import Echotone and Stellar 1 did not have USA equivalents. In any case, Dantzig and Hamer decided to build a hybrid of their favorite guitars. Another custom guitar was a seafoam green Teardrop made for Elliott Easton. Cheap Trick Robin Zander Custom 12-String Guitar In 1980, Hamer moved to larger quarters in Arlington Heights, a suburb of Chicago. The Standard Also in 97, Hamer reintroduced one of its earliest original designs, the Prototype, using another model name, the Phantom (PHAN). In 96 Gibson made a limited run of 100 replicas of these early Explorers called the Futura. 1988 EMG Fender instruments made after the CBS takeover in 65 had gotten a bad rap from guitarists by the end of the 60s, based in part on some quality control problems and the infamous three-bolt neck controversy (Fender engineers felt four bolts were overkill and they could save money without sacrificing stability; players didnt see it that way). Untermyer had the dual role of general manager of both Hamer and Ovation. If you find The Ultimate Hamer USA Archive (@The Buddleja Garden) useful, interesting or The Mirage, also introduced in 94, was another upscale model in an upscale world. This did not really make good business sense. Hamer offered a wide array of electric guitars and electric basses and since its foundation, placed an emphasis on producing high-quality instruments with vintage aesthetics as well as creative innovations.[3]. These were controlled by a five-way select and one volume and one tone control. What they didnt understand was that Hamer wasnt competing with Gibson, it was competing with the growing vintage marketplace. OBLs were mainly used on the Custom models, though some show up on standard instruments. Most Vectors have the Sustain Block fixed bridge with strings through the body, but some are found with the Sustain Block vibrato, or Kahler or Floyd Rose double-locking units. 1986-88 OBL (German) Questioned why the truss rod cover said "Sunburst", they didn't know so I bargained on the price and got it for $175 with a free PRS gig bag. Pickups were the specially modified DiMarzio PAFs (de-wound zebra neck, cream bridge). Surprise, AZ. . The Standard Bass was basically a bass version of the guitar with a bound flamed maple top over British Honduras mahogany body, a 34 scale (found on most Hamer basses, unless otherwise noted), four-in-line scimitar headstock, rosewood fingerboard, dot inlays, a pair of twin-blade DiMarzio X2N bass pickups, often (by 81) with an active preamp, and a Schaller Sustain Block bridge. From these beginnings, Hamer USA Guitars was born, with all four as partners. The early instruments produced by this company were similar to the Gibson Flying V and the Explorer. Founded in New York by a Greek violin maker and luthier, the Epiphone name came from Epi Stathopoulo, the founder's son and company president. Hamer ranks as one of the earliest boutique electric guitar makers, kicking off operations in Illinois in the early '70s. The neck pickup changed, finally landing on a Hfner staple pickup. Circa 1970, Dantzig was playing bass in a club band called Heartbreaker. The Blitz Bass was essentially the same, with P and J-type pickups and a Sustain Block bridge/tailpiece. Beginning in late 1987 serial numbers were again stamped into the wood. The glued-in neck featured a tapered three-and-three headstock and a 22-fret rosewood fingerboard with pearl dot inlays. One thing led to another and in 73 Dantzig and Hamer opened a music store called Northern Prairie Music in the northwestern suburb of Wilmette, Illinois. Tom, I had an Indo sunburst. The new arrangement with Holmes allowed Hamer to broaden its offering by building a more mainstream instrument called the "Sunburst." For pick players, these could be reversed. In other words, while you may encounter mostly standard Standards as shown in brochures and ads, there are also many special features that occasionally show up. the right to change pricing and specifications without notice. Single-coil pickups used on the Prototypes were also DiMarzios. Pickups were either one or two twin-blade DiMarzio X2N humbuckers. Hamer DC Flame Maple Studio Archtop Guitar Tonerider P90 Pickups Made in Korea . It has a chip mark in back and the wood is light tan. They seem to be good guitars for the money, and I haven't heard anything bad about them. switch orientation. Untermyer left the company in 2012 and now oversees the global supply chain of guitar manufacturer C. F. Martin & Company. It was a pretty nice guitar. Guitars United States. This was essentially the same as the Archtop Artist, except it lacked body and fingerboard binding, and had dot inlays. A few Standards are seen with the Sustain Block bridges used on Sunbursts (see below), so presumably they date from about this time. We were seeing vintage 50s Les Pauls selling for $3,000. There was a small black pickup, three-way select, volume and tone controls. 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. This was identical to the CruiseBass except for having the 2-Tek through-body bridge assembly. [3] Ive always been a gearhead.. 4,012. Next month, well pick up the Hamer chronicles as the company begins to pick up steam in the early to mid 80s. I found the neck to be a bit soft for me as I'm heavy handed. The name had changed but the appearance was still generic. Beginning in late 83, many featured top-mounted Kahler vibratos. From 86 to 88 some came with German OBL pickups, including HB types. The Hamer guitar is entirely handmade. Alongside the four-string CruiseBass was the CruiseBass Five (Model BC5T). 1987 Seymour Duncan. Relocation Basically, Dantzig and Hamer considered most 60s guitars a joke. Ten employees were relocated to New Hartford along with Dantzig, who was re-hired as technical director. Controls remained two volumes and a tone. Also introduced in 95 was the Studio Archtop Artist. 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. reserved. Otherwise it was similar to the f-holed Artist with one exception it was finished entirely in silver sparkle. Basses This was identical except for having a single Hamer Slammer humbucker at the bridge and one volume control, available in custom colors and graphic finishes. From 82 until the early 90s Hamer used Hamer Slammers black-bobbined humbuckers with Hamer stamped on the bottom plate. Color options in 96 included two-tone sunburst, black cherry burst, candy red, candy blue, candy green, emerald green, and white transparent. Kaman Music agreed to purchase Hamer in late 1988. 1975-82 DiMarzio humbucker and single-coils (cream/zebra) Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited. Not only were the highly figured maple top, soundhole, ebony fingerboard and headstock bound, the body binding included mother-of-pearl. zekmoe. Actually, this is misleading because, as weve documented, the company really began in 73 and kind of evolved into existence over the next couple of years. Electric Guitars Solid Body Hamer Jims Rare Guitars Las Vegas, NV, United States Hamer Standard 2017 Used - Mint $1,250 + $100 Shipping This piece of gear has sold View similar gear from other sellers on Reverb View similar gear Watch Watch this gear and we'll notify you if it becomes available again. He had to sell it off piece by piece to keep the company afloat. The earliest pickups on Hamer Standards were actual Gibson PAFs obtained from Gibson. Very soon the supply of Gibson pickups was gone. In 78, Tom Petersson, bassist with Cheap Trick, challenged Hamer to build him a 12-string bass, a request that was a harbinger. Cheap Trick Rick Nielsen Standards (7), Sunburst Contemporary stars like Jan Akkermann and Rick Derringer (VG, August 98) were clients. All came with bolt-on maple necks, unbound rosewood fingerboards, dot inlays and chrome hardware. Petersson was playing a Hagstrom eight-string bass as the time. As with the Gibson, this was a limited edition guitar. 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. standard with a Wilkinson Tremolo and classic Hamer controls and switch orientation. CruiseBass Cheap Trick had also ordered at least one 10-string bass for Petersson (one octave string on the G and D, two octave strings on the A and E), and a custom 12-string guitar for Robin Zander. The bridge was the Sustain Block with strings passing through the body. Nevertheless, Dantzig and Hamer continued to play with their new creations and got the attention of more and more curious musicians. The mahogany body had slightly offset double cutaways, vaguely Strat-ish, though the waists remained equal. As before, this new Phantoms triple-coil pickup was a combination of a humbucker and single-coil in a single pickup ring. In September of 78 a Standard would set you back $1,199.95, list. Blues Brothers Matt Murphy Sunburst 2023 Hamer Guitars | Hamer Guitars is a division of JAM USA LLC. In 76, a meeting was called with everyone who worked at Northern Prairie Music Dantzig, Hamer and two repair guys. New was a laminated pickguard with Prototype engraved and carrying a three-coil bridge pickup very similar to Mighty Mite Motherbuckers of the time, though actually it was a single-coil pickup tucked next to a humbucker in the same ring. As alluded to earlier, in terms of design the Import Series was very similar to their previous American counterparts, although materials were sometimes different.