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How'd you get into Hamer?


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On 2/17/2018 at 3:44 PM, Rich_S said:

I remember seeing a very early ad for Hamer in the back of '70s Guitar Player mags.  It was just a small black & white of Rick Nielsen making a funny face and playing something that looked like an Explorer with a sunburst maple top, like a Les Paul.  It was only a single column wide  and about 3" high.  The Hamer name must have been there, but it mostly just said Cheap Trick Cheap Trick Cheap Trick Cheap Trick Cheap Trick Cheap Trick, and left me thinking, "What the hell is Cheap Trick?".

Then "Heaven Tonight" hit big, and we finally heard about Cheap Trick in Philly.  I saw them opening at the Spectrum and blow the headliners off the stage.  Nielsen mostly played the Zandard that night, and at about the same time, we saw this more-explanatory ad in the mags.

 

I was sold, but we didn't really see Hamers in Philly in those days. When I wanted something pointy a few years later, I ended up with a Dean V.  Then I became a Tele guy, playing a Schecter PT and various Fenders.  The dream of owning a Hamer went unfulfilled for over 30 years.

Another ad that made a lasting impression on me was this one:

 

So, when I came across a used orange Slammer Series "Sunburst"  in my local store a few years ago, I couldn't resist its $200 price tag.  I never really bonded with it and the color was wrong; I wanted a red one.  I failed to convince Gene to sell me the one he has stashed away, so when I found a red one on Reverb a year or so ago, also for $200, I switched.  Is it a Zandard?  No.  Is it even a 4-digit red Sunburst?  No, but it's a great guitar and from 10 feet away you can read the word "HAMER" on the peghead, but you can't read the words "Slammer Series".    Couple of Gravelins and some real Schallers and it's close enough for me.

I also have poster-sized reprints of both of those ads in my family room.

I can not part with, to me, is a piece of HFC lore. In July 2001 I made plans to see Aerosmith in my hometown Columbus, Ohio. Being the hotbed of HFC crew at that time, Paults, Guitar Daddy, Custom53, among others, I was able to organize a lil lunch gathering at a local pub Planks on the Southside day before the show. Added bonus too. Who showed up unexpectedly? THE Kim Keller!!! I had not seen him in a few years from when he had a guitar store on Columbus's Northside and now he was the Hamer Customer Service guy. :)

While on the way to lunch I went pawnshopping. Stumbled into a lil spot on Parsons Ave. and there was this lil Red DC Hamer Slammer Series Sunburst. $100 bucks.  Went and had lunch and told C53 about it and we agreed to hit the place after eating. Great lunch and my first HFC get together. We went back and I realised that $100 was pushing it for vacation money on hand so I offered $80 tax included and Red Dog has been around ever since. Life Is Good.

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1 hour ago, BTMN said:

I can not part with, to me, is a piece of HFC lore. In July 2001 I made plans to see Aerosmith in my hometown Columbus, Ohio. Being the hotbed of HFC crew at that time, Paults, Guitar Daddy, Custom53, among others, I was able to organize a lil lunch gathering at a local pub Planks on the Southside day before the show. Added bonus too. Who showed up unexpectedly? THE Kim Keller!!! I had not seen him in a few years from when he had a guitar store on Columbus's Northside and now he was the Hamer Customer Service guy. :)

While on the way to lunch I went pawnshopping. Stumbled into a lil spot on Parsons Ave. and there was this lil Red DC Hamer Slammer Series Sunburst. $100 bucks.  Went and had lunch and told C53 about it and we agreed to hit the place after eating. Great lunch and my first HFC get together. We went back and I realised that $100 was pushing it for vacation money on hand so I offered $80 tax included and Red Dog has been around ever since. Life Is Good.

01hi3.jpg

They knocked of $20 cause it didn't have an E string.

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Being a Chicago NW 'burb kid, I knew the Hamer brand well in the early 80's, but never pursued them and quit playing altogether by '85.  Got back into guitar around '98-'99, but focused efforts more on acoustics.  Won a contest run by an online lessons site (workshoplive.com) in '06, and the grand prize was a custom Hamer of my choice!  Immediately found the HFC, and you guys filled me in on what to go for.

The rest, as they say, is history.  I have the coolest custom Newport on the planet, that also happened to be featured in the last catalog Hamer printed.  More importantly, I've had the pleasure of hanging out with you knuckleheads for the past 12 years...

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I was a Steve Stevens fan and saw the blue marble SS advertisement.  I went to my local store and spoke to a guy I knew there who was using Hamers and asked him about his experience with the brand.   He could not say enough good things about the service they had received as dealers, so I took a chance and ordered the guitar without ever having touched one.  It was an easy transaction, they accommodated my 2HB request and a change in the switches without issue.   I was disappointed later in life when I heard all of the problems peopel had getting a switch moved or a color that was once standard no longer available, and such.   It just did not sound like the same company I had interactions with. 

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I was & still am a big Night Ranger fan. Seeing Jeff Watson & Jack Blades playing Hamer is what got me interested in the brand. Later in the 80's Brad Gillis played them for a time as well. I ordered a catalog from Hamer back in 88/89 time frame & drooled over the guitars. I think is was about 1990 before I even got to play one. Got my first one in 93' Studio GT with P-90's.

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