mike_levitt

Well, here's an update... With the 50's gibson pickup and bumblebee cap in the Korina junior, it's got the junior tone nailed. I have 3 50s juniors here, and the hamer is right there tone wise. I'm very happy with it, especially compared to the '57 historic gibson, which was not even in the ball park. The Monaco sounds great with the WCRs in it. I am very happy with both of these guitars. Thanks to everybody for the suggestions!!! Mike

Well, the Custom Customs are still 14.1 K, which is pretty hot compared to the seths at 8.1! I did notice that the pots are really nice. Really smooth transition between 3 - 10, kind of like an audio taper extreme. Thanks for the welcome. This seems like a really friendly and positive place, compared to some of the other forums I visit! Thanks everybody for the info!! Mike

I think I would have left the guitar alone if it had seths or 59s, but the customs were just too much for me. The thing is that I came into this without any preconceptions or expectations - beyond knowing that if the guitar sounds good acoustically, you can always capture that with the right pickup. I love screwing around with pickups. It's not cheap, but when it works, it really works. I've been able to turn around some total dogs with the right pickups. But it's better when it just works from the factory! Mike

I guess you can't join the old farts club! Maybe as we lose our hearing, we require Alnico to compensate for the loss of highs....? When I was younger, the louder the better - Super Distortions in everything! I even put hot rails in some of my strats (what was I thinking?????) Now I can't stand any of them. I think I am going deaf!!!!!! Mike

Johnny, Good points. I didn't think the Monaco was bad with the Customs, but thought there was more in it with some different pickups. I like to hear the wood, and the WCRs definitely deliver. I like a microphonic, low output alnico pickup in most things, and it works great in the Monaco. I am sure that the Customs would sound good in a mesa, which kind of depends on a lot of output to light up that first gain stage. But I'm a big fan of vintage style amps, I've got 3 fenders, a badcat and a matcless, and the customs just sounded "blah" to me. I've just pulled the pickup out of the junior, and interestingly enough, it's a "soapbar" style under a "dogear cover." I've never seen that before... I'm sticking in the '57 gibson P90 and it's going to be interesting to hear how it sounds next to the actual old juniors.. Thanks again! Mike

John, Are you calling me an "Alnico old fart???""" Boy you totally nailed it!!!!! I am a total alnico old fart...... And I think you might be right about the "kids these days" thing. I think the big guitar companies (G, F & Martin) have realized what a huge market is out there selling guitars to old guys like me, who couldn't afford them when they were actually working musicians! The fender custom shop and Gibson historic lines have become a very big business, and very profitable I would guess at $2000 - 5000 a pop! Regardless, I'm very impressed with the Hamers, and plan on getting another one, probably a Monaco elite. It would be nice to be able to specify pickups, but at the price that I paid for these guitars, they are a great bargain, even if I have to buy and install a set of pickups, which is something I enjoy a lot anyway! Here's to the alnico old farts!!!!! Mike

Hey Bill, Have you tried top-wrapping your tailpiece? That was one of the first things I noticed, but the top wrap took care of it with no problem. There's not much of a break angle over the bridge now, but I don't like a lot of break angle anyway... Anyway, thanks for the responses. Pickups are always a matter of taste, and I enjoy tweaking them, maybe a bit too much, actually. But it is more fun than working, that's for sure... Mike

Hi, This is my first post here, hello.... I went to my local store last week, and came home with 2 hamers, a Korina JR, and a monaco superpro. I had an old black and white special with a crazy paint job, but traded it away years ago, as the neck was so tiny that I was constantly bending it out of tune while playing.... I am a pretty dyed in the wool Gibson/Fender guy, but I wanted another humbucking guitar, and with all of the crap that Gibson has been pulling with their dealers, I have decided not to give them any more money until this is all sorted out. So I had decided to try some "other" brands. I hadn't played a Hamer since my old special. And my dealer usually stashed them on the "top rack." But now with the Gibsons running low, the Hamers have been moved to the front row. I was initially interested just in the Junior. I have several "real" ones, and they have become too valuable to take out of the house now, so I was looking for something I could relax with. I tried a Gibson historic, but it didn't do the trick. I actually traded it on the Hamer, which is just a better guitar in every way (except for the pickup). I picked up the Monaco just because it was so cool. So anyway, here's my question... I own a lot of guitars, and have a lot to compare to. My initial impression is that the Hamers are built and finished at least as well as the top-end Gibson historics. Better than most. But I'm a bit baffled by the pickup choice (and my apologies to those of you who love ceramic pickups). The custom/custom-custom combo in the Monaco was to me just totally wrong! It just covered up the sound of the guitar and sounded totally generic. I swapped in a set of WCR crossroads, and it is a different guitar. I already knew it sounded great acoustically (that's how I pick them) but now it sounds great electrically too. Ditto with the Jr. It came with a seymour "hot P-90" which is a 14k ceramic. I've got a real '57 P90 that I'm going to swap in this afternoon, along with a NOS bumblebee that I've been saving for something like this. The hardware is also a bit odd. The stock stuff is very heavy, and I've found that lighter is better. Gibson has caugh on to this and lightened up their historic stuff.. I'm planning on putting either a vintage tailpiece or a pigtail on the JR. Not sure what to do with the Monaco yet.... So the question for you Hamer afficianados is this.... Do these guys seem kind of stuck in the 80s with their pickup and hardware selections? It just seems to me that with a more appropriate selection of pickups and hardware they would have a product that world beat a Gibson in every way. Even if you're using SD pickups, I think a set of seth lovers would be great on the monaco. Ditto a vintage p90 on the junior. Anyway, I'm just a bit baffled (and my apologies to those of you again who love overwound ceramics) because I think these guitars would be much better with different pickups. Or is this just the "Hamer sound" and something they are trying to do??? Thanks for the great site, and my apologies for the long and maybe silly post! Mike