Hamer Guitars

[jpfeifer]

O.K. I'm going to put a plug in here for Hamer Guitars. This company used to get a lot more press in the 80's when several high profile players were using their guitars. They're still making great guitars and if anything, they're making them better now than they did in the 80s.

I would reccomend any of the Hamer USA guitars. These are handmade guitars built in their factory on the east coast. They also have a line of import guitars which aren't very good at all, however these USA made ones are extremely good. http://www.hamerguitars.com/

I currently own a Hamer Newport. This is a hollowbody guitar that looks like a 335 only smaller. It has a carved Mahogany back and solid Spruce top. It comes with Seymor Duncan "Phat Cat" pickups which are P90 pickup in the same size as a standard humbucking pickup. It also has a bigsby tremelo. It sounds like a cross between a Tele and a Gretch Duo Jet. It's one of the most versatile guitars that I've ever owned and a fantastic choice for doing Blues and Jazz. It also nails the sound of an old Epiphone Cassino pretty well, so it captures a lot of the old Beatle guitar tones very nicely. The workmanship is outstanding and better than most of the stuff I've been seeing from Gibson's lineup lately. Their quality is on par with PRS.

Anyway, if you have never played a Hamer USA guitar, then do yourself a favor and try one out. They aren't as common as Gibson, PRS, etc. so they might have to search for a dealer who carries them. They are a great value for the money and you won't have to pay extra $ just for the brandname.

-- Jim

[Nelskie]

Jim - I can definitely relate to what you're saying. I own Hamer SATF double-cutaway (a Korean-made model) that I absolutely dig! Beautiful flame maple top, lovely neck, great tone. I've played some high-end PRS guitars, and I can equate a lot of the "feel" of those guitars to my Hamer. Right now, I'm running the stock p'ups in it, but have some plans to swap them out for some Gibson Burstbuckers (from a Joe Perry sig model). It'll be my "sleeper" guitar.

[SuperSwede]

It sounds like a cross between a Tele and a Gretch Duo Jet.

Aaaahhhh.... I am feeling the GAS very strong right now.. MUST RESIST....
Sounds like a very pleasant tone, is it very (read Gibson style prices) expensive? I can imagine the Twang on that guitar

[jpfeifer]

Actually, it's kind of hard to characterize the tone of this guitar. A more accurate comparison would be to say that it sounds like a cross between a 335 and a Tele. The neck pickup sounds more like a 335 but the bridge and middle pickup settings sound kind of like a Tele. It can be very twangy if you want that sound. The only downside to this guitar is that it doesn't have as much sustain as a 335 or a Tele since it is completely hollow inside with only a minimal amount of wood connecting the spruce top to the back of the guitar. But this seems to give it an overall woody kind of tone that is really nice for certain things.

This is the first guitar that I've ever owned with P90 pickups. I must say that P90's have a character all their own. They are very responsive to your pick attack. They can be very sweet sounding with clean amp settings and also give you a great snarling sort of tone when you run them wide open with some distortion.

-- Jim