KINDA IMPORTANT HAMER QUESTION...

[jr73]

Re: KINDA IMPORTANT HAMER QUESTION...

DM are those yours.....the chaparral & cali are SWEET. & Jack were the chapparals made early enough where the serial#s are ink stamped not stamped into the wood. my sceptorV had the # that way, damn i wish i still had IT.....

[diablomozart]

Re: KINDA IMPORTANT HAMER QUESTION...

nah...all i own are charvels and jacksons...just know where to look for pics on the net...that cali is drop-dead gorgeous...d.m.

[slayer]

Re: KINDA IMPORTANT HAMER QUESTION...

I am not totally sure about that. All of the ones I have seen had the embossed serial #`s. I had a 1981 Hamer Vector V and sold it, it was awsome, but I found I am not a V guy. Jack.

[JACKSONFREAK]

Re: KINDA IMPORTANT HAMER QUESTION...

I think when Paul Hamer was still doing them by hand in his basement the first year was inked and not stamped into the wood. But I could be wrong on that. I'll have to track down some of the guys he used to hang with and find out. ( old customers of mine from MGR; Paul Hamer is from the Arlington Hieghts Il area. So he still has friends here.
Gil

[BigDaddyD]

Re: KINDA IMPORTANT HAMER QUESTION...

Chaparral

[Doc Dryer]

Re: KINDA IMPORTANT HAMER QUESTION...

a BIG THANKS to ALL that contributed here !!!!...Regarding IDing the guitar by the markings on the headstock, that is IMPOSSIBLE, as my buddy called ME to see this "set neck USA Jackson"...Someone had done a VERY decent repaint on this guitar in red/white/blue "Captain America from Easy Rider" flag scheme, and the headstock was blacked out, and SOMEONE had PAINSTAKINGLY HAND-PAINTED a "Jackson - Made in USA" script headstock logo on it...

It comes CLOSEST to the Chapparral Custom in the "Chaparral (1st version) (1985 - 1987) as listed above, and had the EBONY fretboard with boomerang inlays, , black ORIGINAL Floyd Rose, 3 mini-toggles, but a SIDE mounted input jack, and the previous owner had added 2 EMG SA's and a splittable EMG 89...

Once I polished the frets {jumbos}, conditioned the fretboard, adjusted the truss rod {it was COMPLETELY slacked}, and did a COMPLETE Floyd setup {the claw and springs were SO TIGHT, I needed a COME-ALONG to bend the whammy bar [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] }, it played VERY NICELY...Other than needing to LOSE the patriotic paint job, I would OWN this guitar...

I ALSO did a little homework on our buddy, Ed Roman's site and found out that...

Hamer was the first company to scale down from 15 guitars a day in the 80's to 3 a day in the 90's...

and Hamer used a 3-piece neck with the planks used with opposing grain directions to circumvent warpage...

DAMN !!!!...I MAY have to BUY a USA Hamer here someday !!!!!!!!!

[ April 17, 2003, 01:37 AM: Message edited by: Doc Dryer ]

[slayer]

Re: KINDA IMPORTANT HAMER QUESTION...

Doc, I have owned and sold many USA Hamer`s and they are awsome, one of the best buys on the market!! I currently have a rarer 1993 Special HB, it trans cherry. What makes it rarer is most of them had P-90`s and mine has the thicker neck, a few dings, but plays so awsome [img]graemlins/drool2.gif[/img] One of these days I am going to order a Hamer Standard Mahogany in Natural with an Ebony board and inlaid MOP Hamer logo. I priced it out at about $1800 with case, but it is 100 times better than any Gibson Explorer, no crap shooting with New Hamer`s [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Jack.

[toejam]

Re: KINDA IMPORTANT HAMER QUESTION...

Doc, USA Hamers are indeed awesome!! Back in January I bought this 1995 Special FM off of Pete, and I love it!!!!

[Inazone]

Re: KINDA IMPORTANT HAMER QUESTION...

Doc, you really need to get with the program! Hamers are definitely "the good stuff". It's a shame that they got out of the shredder market, because they made some serious competition for the Dinky and Soloist. I have a couple of them...

This is a Californian Deluxe USA with EMG SA/89, alder body I believe:



This is a Californian Elite USA with Duncan Parallel Axis Tremstack in the neck and a DiMarzio PAF Pro in the bridge. One-piece mahogany body, binding over the frets:

[petedz]

Re: KINDA IMPORTANT HAMER QUESTION...

OMG, that quilted Cali is my new dream axe! [img]graemlins/drool2.gif[/img]

Anyway, I can vouch for USA Hamers. My preference is for Hamer shred guitars built from '88 to '91. I have five of 'em: 2 Californians, a Chapparal, a Vintage S, a Sunburst...and a partrige in a pear tree. They are most excellent. Across the board, my bunch have incredible necks and almost play themselves. Some time around '92 (I think), Hamer started making the necks bigger. I don't like that stuff as much. My best playing guitar is a parts Charvel set up by GMW, but my USA Hamers are very high quality and consistent.