Anyone play a Hamer like Martin Barre's?

[MartinBarre]

I mean like this one:




Since I got my white DK2M I don't really have genuine GAS for any more guitars....except perhaps one of these sorts of Hamers.
Anyone got one similar. I'd be looking at the import/lower end models if I ever did get one.

Martin had fantastic tone when he was using Hamers.

[roodyrocker]

Wow, that takes me back in time! Back around 1986 I saw Martin Barre do a guitar clinic in Miami sponsored by Hamer Guitars. He played live to some backing tracks he pre-recorded himself earlier. I remember coming away from there quite impressed by him. Nice guy to talk to too. I still have my autographed 8x10 from that guitar clinic somewhere around here. Sorry I was no help to you in locating one of these guitars but Martin Barre is pretty cool!

[horns666]

Sure, an old friend in Cleveland Metal's Preist trib bought one like he had in the early 80's. They're very nice guitars. The guy in Kataklysm plays one thru a 5150 and has a really great death metal tone, and I remebr Gary Hoey using one..so they're a damn versatile. The guitarist from the Police was the first guy I ever saw using one..That was around '80..'81.

[MartinBarre]

Cool story Roody! I took my wife to see Tull last year - she hates my music, but she was blown away by "the wee old guy playing guitar".

Bill, I'd never have thought of one of those Hamers for death metal, that's cool as hell!

I wish I'd never started looking at these...GAS has set in and the problem is, these things are impossible to find in the UK unless you drop some things like the inlays or binding or whatever.

[toejam]

Hamers kick ass. Check out their forum. http://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/

[Blazer]

That's a Hamer Sunburst that Barre is playing and they are one of the coolest seventies guitars out there



The sunburst of course is also known because of people like Rick Nielssen (Cheap trick) and Andy Summers (Police) playing them. What I like about old Hamers such as the Sunburst is that they were not afraid to experiment, the Sunburst took the body shape of the Gibson Les Paul Junior, married it with Dimarzio pickups, a flat top and a Fender style non trem bridge. It all made for a guitar with a very destinct look and feel.

Unfortunately, it didn't stay that way. Hamer still makes the sunburst but with an arched top and with a Gibson style Tune-o-Matic bridge and stop tail. The current Hamer Sunburst bears very little resemblence to what the original guitar stood for, nowadays it falls in the same category as the PRS Santana, the LAG Roxanne and the Gibson Les Paul Double cut. It's all more of the same, and I think it's a shame, I'll have the old hamers over the new ones any time.

[MartinBarre]

Thank you Blazer, that explains a lot! I didn't think it was an archtop, it just doesn't look like one, and some guys on the Seymour Duncan forum said it was a flat-top, but your pics are perfect, showing it exactly.
Even the new ones are hard to come by in the UK, but I assume a genuine flat-top would be very, very expensive now. I'm kinda fucked basically if I want something import priced like Martin played back then.

[Blazer]

Maybe you should contact these guys to make you a copy of a Hamer Sunburst.

http://www.gordonsmithguitars.com/

Their guitars are astonishing bang-for-the-buck

[MartinBarre]

Och, that'd be nice, but would cost way too much. I was looking at the XT range which is pretty cheap, even cheaper than something like a Jackson RR3 or KE3 over here in the UK.

[Racerx2k]

I had a Hamer SATF that absolutely kicked ass. Ended up trading it to upgrade my amp at the time. Went back to buy it back, and it was already gone.

[Grandturk]

You used to be able to get into a Hamer sunburst of nice vintage for a few hundred, but I don't know what they go for now.

[toejam]

Thank you Blazer, that explains a lot! I didn't think it was an archtop, it just doesn't look like one, and some guys on the Seymour Duncan forum said it was a flat-top, but your pics are perfect, showing it exactly.
Even the new ones are hard to come by in the UK, but I assume a genuine flat-top would be very, very expensive now. I'm kinda fucked basically if I want something import priced like Martin played back then.

The Sunburst models are imports now, available in flat or arch tops.

http://www.hamerguitars.com/?fa=detail&mid=2385

If you want USA, you can get a Studio (arch top) or a Special (flat top). If you look for older ones, you can get them for a decent price off ebay.

[dg]

Things may have changed since I last tried one out (3 or 4 years ago), but the Hamer imports were very underwhelming to me, especially compared to comparably priced Korean PRS SE, Schecter, Dean, or even LTD models. Like I say, it's been a while since I last bothered to pick one up & play it, and maybe they've upped their game to compete. Their USA guitars are fantastic.

[MartinBarre]

The imports are pretty cheap DG, even over here in the UK, the land of stupid guitar prices.
Although it could be they're cheap because they're not that great, I have no idea. The local supplier for Hamer don't have any like the ones I fancy in stock so I can't even go and try one.

[Flatpicker]

Hamer will still make the sunburst as a custom.
It's not any more expensive than their archtop models.

But, you are looking at over $2600 easily, with options they list at about 4k. They are worth it, but, I wanted to warn you that it's not cheap.