Hamer Sunburst, Slammer series

[MartinBarre]

I've been watching for a used Hamer Sunburst for a long time (import version, can't afford USA made). I've found one which is just about perfect, black, with binding (dots on the fretboard rather than inlays but beggars cant be choosers).
It says "Slammer series" on the headstock, made in Korea.

Anyone got any idea what these are like in comparison to Epiphones? How much should I be paying for it, in the UK?

Cheers all!

[Grandturk]

According to a friend of mine who loved the import Hamers - the Slammer series are the lowest POS of the line. The mid-level non-Slammer imports are the ones to look for. Look for the older ones with the deeper dish to the top.

I played a few of his imports - they were OK - maybe worth the $350 + pickups that he paid - but not worth a slot on my pile o' guitars.

[MartinBarre]

Oh okay mate. The problem is, these guitars seem to be extremely rare in the UK (used ones anyway). You can find them without the binding easy enough, or with binding but that fancy sparkly shit which I don't like.
This is the first one of these I've ever seen either on ebay, local ads or whatever and the best thing is it's in a shop 25 minutes away from me.

If they still have it on Friday I'm buying it although I'll try and talk them down a bit on the price.

BTW what do you mean "deeper dish"?

[Grandturk]

On a good one, the top carve is deeper and less flat - the difference between a Norlin Les Paul and a regular Les Paul or a PRS SE vs a real PRS. Less carving, less wood = less $$$

[MartinBarre]

Right, I get you, cheers man!

[Fender]

He's right, they are terrible guitars. Within the top 3 worst I've ever played. My friend had too. An explorer knock off and a les paul ish knock off. They felt cheap, sounded like ass and were just a total let down to play. Even with a good set-up, it just felt frustrating that they couldn't play very good.

[MartinBarre]

Was that the Korean ones? I've had a look on the Hamer fan site and they seem to be saying the older Korean Slammer Series ones are great, while the more modern Slammer by Hamer made in Indonesia or whatever are the shit ones.
I dunno, a Hamer Sunburst is the last guitar I have GAS for and this is the ONLY one I've been able to find since I started looking months ago (USA made isn't an option unfortunately, gotta be an import, I just spent almost all of my guitar budget on a Gibson LP Studio).

[Cygnus X1]

Echo above.
I love good Hamers, S-Lamer is always a pass.
Too bad.

[MartinBarre]

On a good one, the top carve is deeper and less flat - the difference between a Norlin Les Paul and a regular Les Paul or a PRS SE vs a real PRS. Less carving, less wood = less $$$

Well I went up and bought it. I love it! The top carve is very deep, it looks fantastic and since I put a DiMarzio PAF in the bridge it sounds and plays great too.

I know you guys are all saying the Slammer Series guitars are shite, but after looking on the Hamer forum they seem to be in agreement that the recent Slammer guitars are shite, but the old Korean ones like this are good.
Well, I really like it anyway, I think I'm more excited about playing this at my next band rehearsal than I am my new Gibson Studio Les Paul!


P1010006 by stormwatch1977, on Flickr

and that Gibson:


p1 by stormwatch1977, on Flickr

[Fender]

My buddies is about 8 or 9 years old so i imagine it was Korean. I still say it was a big wooden piece of crap, but to each their own. There are fans for everything hehe. There's even a Hondo fan base so why not lol

[VitaminG]

the new Hamer looks good. If you like how it plays and sounds, then screw the haters!

I have an old Slammer Series from the mid-90s. Made in Korea. Solid if unremarkable guitar. It's not a patch on my Model series Charvels but that doesn't make it an awful guitar. It's still better than the JS-series Jacksons, entry level Squiers, Epis, etc. Not a fan of the stock pickups though. One day I'll get around to changing them.

[MartinBarre]

My buddies is about 8 or 9 years old so i imagine it was Korean. I still say it was a big wooden piece of crap, but to each their own. There are fans for everything hehe. There's even a Hondo fan base so why not lol

I think this one is a fair bit older than 8 or 9 years, the binding is yellow and so are the pickup rings. It looks at least 15 years old. Maybe the shit ones started being made 8 or 9 years ago.

[MartinBarre]

the new Hamer looks good. If you like how it plays and sounds, then screw the haters!

I have an old Slammer Series from the mid-90s. Made in Korea. Solid if unremarkable guitar. It's not a patch on my Model series Charvels but that doesn't make it an awful guitar. It's still better than the JS-series Jacksons, entry level Squiers, Epis, etc. Not a fan of the stock pickups though. One day I'll get around to changing them.

This didn't have the stock pickups in it I don't think. The neck one is stamped G and B pickups or something which is apparently what comes stock on SE level PRSs. It's F spaced though, so fuck knows what the story is behind that.
The bridge one just has slug poles, no adjustable screw or hexs, it's also really thick, like an Invader so it's probably got a couple of ceramic mags on it to make up in gain what it lacks in tone! No stamp on it, but it's out now anyway for the PAF.

Someone on here tried those fretboard inlay stickers IIRC didn't they? I'm gonna try them on this.

[Fender]

perhaps. enjoy it anyways hehe

[Grandturk]

Someone on here tried those fretboard inlay stickers IIRC didn't they? I'm gonna try them on this.