Def Leppard had a strong association with Hamer Guitars for many years. Hamer Specials, Prototypes, Standard guitars/basses and even a pink Hamer t-shirt were featured in early videos. Hamer Guitars and Basses all around in this classic
Pete Willis
Pete Willis backstage with black dot neck Standard
Pete was a very visible user of Hamer Guitars throughout his tenure in Def Leppard as he played Hamer Standard with a simple electronics modification pretty much exclusively.
“I stuck an electrolytic capacitor between the middle volume and tone controls, which sort of compresses the sound. It’s like using a Wah-Wah pedal, where you have the pedal set at a certain point in it’s range that creates a rich tone”. Quote from Pete Willis regarding the mod.
For anyone interested this is a very simple mod that is easily reversed and done by attaching a .0047uf – .0068uf cap from the same lug of the bridge volume the pickup hooks to and ground the other end and you have instant wah.
Pete Willis and his white dot neck Standard
Rick Savage
Rick Savage with a with a Blitz Bass
Steve Clark
Steve Clark and a very flame-y Hamer Special
https://youtu.be/Wvwn7SCCa2cVideo for Me and my wine featuring Joe in a Pink Hamer tee. Ah… the 80’s