Used Korean Hamer Vector

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January 16th, 2013, 02:41 PM
marnold

Used Korean Hamer Vector

Looking for input . . .

I've got a line on a used Korean-made Hamer Vector guitar (think: Gibson V clone). I posted on the Hamer Fan Club forum about it. It looks like this one in that thread.

The previous owner "modded" it in three ways:
1) He moved the jack from the inside of the lower horn to the front to make it easier to play sitting down.
2) He sanded the shine off the finish on the back of the neck. The rest of the finish indicates that it was definitely used, but not abused.
3) He replaced the original Duncan Designed pickups with an SD Screamin' Demon at the bridge and an SD Pearly Gates at the neck.

I played it yesterday and it seems to play fine. It needs to be set up a bit (bridge slightly lowered and a bit of bow taken out of the neck, I might only have to do the latter). There was some serious noise coming from it. After opening it up, some of the wiring was loose at the switch, causing an occasional short and the noise. The owner of the shop just called me and said he rewired it and now the noise is gone. The body is unsurprisingly light. It didn't seem too hard to play sitting down.

It is on consignment and he's asking $350. It comes with a hard case which the owner of the shop indicated isn't in the greatest shape. I forgot to look at it yesterday. It's been there for five months, so he said I might be able to talk him down. The pickups alone are $185 new from MF.

Thoughts?
January 16th, 2013, 03:20 PM
sunvalleylaw

Sounds fun!
January 16th, 2013, 03:22 PM
Eric

See if the owner will take $275. Based on the thread you linked to, $350 is not really a superb bargain, particularly if the wiring is suspect and it has been modified. The pickups may be a good deal, but I wouldn't jack up the price you're willing to pay unless they are the exact pickups you would put in.

Keep us updated on what happens!
January 16th, 2013, 03:37 PM
markb

My first thought was "who plays a V sitting down?" :D
January 16th, 2013, 05:26 PM
marnold

Re: Used Korean Hamer Vector

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric

See if the owner will take $275. Based on the thread you linked to, $350 is not really a superb bargain, particularly if the wiring is suspect and it has been modified. The pickups may be a good deal, but I wouldn't jack up the price you're willing to pay unless they are the exact pickups you would put in.

Actually, the Screamin' Demon is the George Lynch pickup. Naturally I'm drawn towards that. I had one in my old Floyd Rose Discovery guitar. The Pearly Gates seems like it would be a nice compliment. They also would seem to be different enough from my Jackson's JB/Jazz pickups to make it worthwhile.

Does an almost 45 year old man buying a flying V just scream "Mid-life crisis"?
January 16th, 2013, 05:57 PM
cebreez

Quote:

Originally Posted by marnold

Does an almost 45 year old man buying a flying V just scream "Mid-life crisis"?

Nah... We are just getting started marnold!
January 16th, 2013, 06:00 PM
cebreez

Quote:

Originally Posted by cebreez

Nah... We are just getting started marnold!

Let me amend that comment! A new Porsche is a mid-life crisis. A flying V guitar is just sheer unbridled optimism! And I "LIKE IT"!!
January 16th, 2013, 06:10 PM
marnold

Re: Used Korean Hamer Vector

Oh, another thing, with both pickups on, if you roll one volume control down all the way down, it kills all sound. Is that right for two volume guitars or is something messed up?

Interestingly, it seems to have a huge Russian cap on the tone pot that is either original or it was very expertly replaced.
January 16th, 2013, 06:51 PM
Bookkeeper's Son

Quote:

Originally Posted by marnold

Oh, another thing, with both pickups on, if you roll one volume control down all the way down, it kills all sound. Is that right for two volume guitars or is something messed up?

Some 2-volume guitars are wired differently (independent), but that's pretty typical of dependent wiring, quite common.
January 17th, 2013, 08:49 AM
Eric

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bookkeeper's Son

Some 2-volume guitars are wired differently (independent), but that's pretty typical of dependent wiring, quite common.

Yeah, I think my experience is that it's typical to kill all sound if you drop one volume to zero. I always assumed it was because you are giving the signal a path to ground through one pot or another, so that's where the electrons go. I'm not actually sure how you have your volumes not do that, since it's all summed eventually at the output jack, right?
January 17th, 2013, 04:45 PM
Ch0jin

Just on the volume thing, I guess there are a few ways of wiring twin volume guitars, as mine (a Maton) doesn't do that. If you select both pickups, you can wind either up or down independently to make it slightly more "necky" or "bridgey" if you like. Ditto the two tone controls. I'd always assumed Les Paul's were like that too actually??
January 18th, 2013, 06:56 AM
Eric

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ch0jin

Just on the volume thing, I guess there are a few ways of wiring twin volume guitars, as mine (a Maton) doesn't do that. If you select both pickups, you can wind either up or down independently to make it slightly more "necky" or "bridgey" if you like. Ditto the two tone controls. I'd always assumed Les Paul's were like that too actually??

You can change the amount that you're hearing each pickup on mine, but I'm pretty sure zeroing out one of the knobs will leave you with no sound.
January 18th, 2013, 05:08 PM
NWBasser

Used Korean Hamers go for around $200 - $250 around here. Maybe talk them down some.

In other news, I read on the bass forum that Fender pulled the plug on Hamer.
January 18th, 2013, 10:15 PM
marnold

Re: Used Korean Hamer Vector

Quote:

Originally Posted by NWBasser

Used Korean Hamers go for around $200 - $250 around here. Maybe talk them down some.

In other news, I read on the bass forum that Fender pulled the plug on Hamer.

Yeah, I read that too. I think they're doing something similar with American made Charvels.