Martin Barre's Vintage Hamers

[LarryC]

Ahhh...it's nice to be moved at last. I have had to take a break from the forum due to moving into a new home...and then two hurricanes ripping up some areas of the Great Gulf Coast which has had a major impact on my flying job. BUT...here I am...BACK in full effect with a brand new broadband internet connection (WOOOOHOOO!).

I have been an avid Jethro Tull fan since 1970 (I was 15 then...*cough*). Martin Barre was one of the very first artists that I ever saw playing a Hamer and I just learned thru a recent ebay auction that he was actually one of THE first Hamer owners with a standard, serial #0002. This guitar was auctioned on ebay earlier this month and sold for over $12k!

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Hamer-Explorer-Serial-N...4QQcmdZViewItem

This auction was won by someone named blakehazzard and I am curious if this person is a member of the Hamer Fan Club and this forum? AND I would be curious to know if Martin Barre actually delivered the guitar to blakehazzard as the auction said. I would be envious!

Here are some screen grabs from the 1978 Music Video Heavy Horses where Martin is playing Hamer Standard #0002:

Martin also played a couple of Hamer Sunbursts, one had a sunburst finish and the other had a dark finish which appears to be black in the photos I've seen, as well as the concerts I've seen him play it. I am not able to locate a pic of him with the one with the sunburst finish but it can be seen on the "Bursting Out Live" Jethro Tull album. Here are some pics from their 1978 performance at Madison Square Gardens playing Thick As A Brick:

Martin played a '59 Les Paul during the early days of Tull but became concerned about touring with it because of it's value. He became friends with Paul Hamer and played Hamers for 10 years....interview excerpt:

Interview: http://www.vintageguitar.com/artists/details.asp?ID=78

"If I remember correctly, you were an early Hamer endorser.

Barre: "I used a sunburst Les Paul for about four or five years, during the time of Thick As A Brick and Passion Play, but such guitars have become too valuable to take on the road. I met Paul Hamer when he used to deal in vintage guitars. I started playing his guitars because of the value of my old guitars; I hadn’t been interested in new guitars for a long time before that. It wasn’t a formal endorsement, but maybe they did use me in an ad at one time. It was more of a personal relationship with Paul. I used Hamers for around 10 years."

In another interview Martin stated his '59 Les Paul is worth about $40k...wheww!

Hope you guys enjoy this little bit of Hamer history as shared by someone who hasn't been a Hamer owner very long. Cheers...and Happy Halloween!

LC

[serial]

LC:

THANKS for posting those screen shots with the Standard. I got to meet Martin through Paul Hamer a few years back-they're still close friends. I've never seen a shot of him with that guitar. He said it was too big for him to use onstage, but it sounded great. He didn't play it live, but used it in the studio. Sunbursts fit him better live he said. Welcome back and feel free to keep posting that sort of stuff!

[BTMN]

Thought I had seen the name Blakehazzard before. Maybe he will join in sooner or later. He just bought that Trainwrecked #0077 on Evilbay too.

Thanks for the info.

[Brooks]

that live vid for thick as a brick is killer, very intense hard prog rawk.

[m chops]

Thanks for the post. I love Tull, or at least up through Passion Play. I was probably about the same age when I first saw them.

[MCChris]

LOVE the monocle, perhaps the most underratred of all fashion accessories.

[Buzzy Fretts]

Thanks for the time travel. Folks around these parts know me as a Tull fan.

I was 11 in 70 and managed to catch wind of some killer stuff before my prime thorugh my older bro, who's your age. Aqualung definetly opened my eyes. When some dweeb came through hawking band lessons I decided to learn flute. I must have played Boure' Cross Eyed Mary and Locomotive Breath 1000 times between 7th grade and the year I graduated college. By then I had learned the entire flute parts to Thick, PassionPlay and all the old stuff. No one I knew could follow along though so I just honed my chops.

My first Tull show was PassionPlay. Holy cripes. It was heavy. It was REALLY tight. And it was dynamic as all hell. I never found a full band that could cut the progressive sound so I freelanced and eventually moved on. I decided to pick up guitar after a 25 year delay. Luckily I found Hamers soon afterward. Nowadays I leave the flute playing to masters around here like Kizanski. Its fun to hear the old stuff again though.

BTW Martin Barre's solo album is pretty fine. I saw him tour with it last year. No Hamers but lots of tastey licks. Here's a shot of Ian, er... Buzzy back in '78. Sold out show, I recall.

[tomteriffic]

Here's a shot of Ian, er... Buzzy back in '78. Sold out show, I recall.

Must have been. I don't see an empty seat anywhere! Cool Tuck 'n' Roll, Sunn and other memorabilia in that pic.

I let my brother do the flute stuff (he was quite good, actually), and concentrated on guitars and keys. Saw Martin about the time of Aqualung using a red Sunburst.

[LarryC]

Here's another screen shot of Martin Barre, but this one is of him playing the solo to Aqualung on his '59 Les Paul sunburst:

Who, in 1959, would have ever imagined this guitar could ever be valued at $40k? Nonetheless, it was Martin Barre who turned my eyes toward Hamer guitars.

LC

[kizanski]

Nowadays I leave the flute playing to masters around here like Kizanski.

AAARRRRRrrrgghh!

Just make sure you keep both feet on the ground when you play that thing, Frank!

[Moxie]

Martin also had a white Sunburst, which I recall reading he used primarily for slide. I've seen Tull every year since the Madison Square Garden concert in '78, but have never seen him play it live:

Hmmm, just found a shot of Martin playing this on a TV promo:

[RichRS6]

Talk about a thread resurrection.

Welcome Moxie, lots of Tull fans on here so post up any pictures you have and if you have any Hamers there are appreciation threads for you to post pics in.

[Iceman8.6]

[Andrew]

The white Sunburst is a complete negative! (Except the fingerboard.)

It seems he also had a sunburst Sunburst in the pic above.

The stand-in bass player for 79 (forgot his name) also had a sunburst Sunburst (not to play onstage) and the band had a mini-sunburst shape Hamer mandolin in black.

And Ian's green Sunburst:

[RichRS6]

BTW.

It's a testament to this forum that many who contributed to the original thread back in 2005 are still here and still making nuisances of themselves.

[Moxie]

Welcome Moxie, lots of Tull fans on here so post up any pictures you have and if you have any Hamers there are appreciation threads for you to post pics in.

Thanks. I have a very oddly configured '82 Sunburst which I'll try to post photos of because I could use some help figuring out how it came to be configured the way it is, a '96 3-hole Cedar-top Duotone with P-90s, and a '96 USA Standard.

It seems he also had a sunburst Sunburst in the pic above.

That's the one from the Bursting Out photos.

The stand-in bass player for 79 (forgot his name) also had a sunburst Sunburst (not to play onstage)

You mean Tony Williams or Dave Pegg? Pegg played on the '79 American Stormwatch tour. Williams filled in on the '78 Heavy Horses tour, as John Glascock was shuffling off the mortal coil.

and the band had a mini-sunburst shape Hamer mandolin in black.

That was/is Martin's...

...and it was the subject of the tune "

" from Rock Island (it's not the acoustic mando pictured in the video), about how some dope in (I think) the Netherlands) stole it during a soundcheck and then claimed a ransom, so Ian and Martin had to go on local radio and promise that if he returned it before show time they wouldn't press charges...but I recall they did anyway. Don't mess with Ian.

[Feynman]

and the band had a mini-sunburst shape Hamer mandolin in black.

I think you mean black.

Isn't that what he said?

[Moxie]

Yep. That's what I get for posting without my glasses on or a cup of coffee. Doh!

[Hamersaur]

Welcome. Cool photos - thanks for sharing.

[Moxie]

Thanks. Sorry to be thick, but is there a thread on HFC for making introductions? If so I've overlooked it, but would like to post shots of my axes, particularly my freaky Sunburst which I could use some help explaining. Thanks again.

Also, anyone know where I can buy a Hamer case for a flattop Sunburst? Mine got crushed by a PA cabinet (thankfully empty at the time).

[kizanski]

Thanks. Sorry to be thick, but is there a thread on HFC for making introductions? If so I've overlooked it, but would like to post shots of my axes, particularly my freaky Sunburst which I could use some help explaining. Thanks again.

No, you pretty much just jump in somewhere and say Hi and post pix of your guitars.

We're not at all uptight here.

[marcnorth]

Welcome Moxie. It looks like you made a pretty good introduction to me. Also looks like its been almost a couple of years since LarryC was active. He used to post some cool videos that he made of him performing some Tull songs and various others.

[MCChris]

Sorry to be thick...

...as a brick?

[Moxie]

Nice bit of Martin in the studio with his Blackburst recording "Dark Ages":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxp_H-8hsIw

[gorch]

Great thread. Thanks for sharing.

Who actually owns #3?