Hamer SPECIAL...................How Special?

[ARM OF HAMER]

                        No affiliation to the seller or the guitar............ just posting.  Hamer Special zebra humbucker lp dc electric guitar | Reverb               

[kizanski]

$2000??

Not THAT special!

[velorush]

Could it be those unfamiliar with Hamers conflate the 90's TOM double cuts with the 80's Sustain Block double cuts?

Perhaps they should buy THE BOOK.

[kizanski]

24 minutes ago, velorush said:

Could it be those unfamiliar with Hamers conflate the 90's TOM double cuts with the 80's Sustain Block double cuts?

Ignorance of a given product isn't normally factored into its value.

[Citrus]

Calls it a custom order, but I don't see anything custom about it??

[Steve Haynie]

11 minutes ago, Citrus said:

Calls it a custom order, but I don't see anything custom about it??

In 1993 a Special came with P90 pickups.  You could custom order a Special with humbuckers. 

[kizanski]

14 minutes ago, Steve Haynie said:

In 1993 a Special came with P90 pickups.  You could custom order a Special with humbuckers. 

So, the Special and Special FM (which came with humbuckers in '93) were different models?

Did someone actually upcharge a plain top Special to make it more expensive than the FM?

[Steve Haynie]

The Special FM was a separate model, not a custom order. 

[kizanski]

3 minutes ago, Steve Haynie said:

The Special FM was a separate model, not a custom order. 

Right, so someone up-charged/custom ordered a plain top Special, if the seller's description is factual.
Seems like a really odd way to say, "I don't like beautifully flamed maple."

[velorush]

18 hours ago, kizanski said:

Ignorance of a given product isn't normally factored into its value.

Dunning-Kruger exhibits in varied ways... 😉

[Steve Haynie]

Someone wanted an all mahogany guitar with humbuckers.  What is the big deal? 

My choice was for an all mahogany Special.  Now two of them are mine.  My 1982 Sunburst has a maple veneer, but it is essentially all mahogany.  There is also an all korina Special with humbuckers that was nice to get.  If I was going after a maple topped Special, then there would be one in my collection.

The Special FM can sound slightly different because of the maple cap, and it is a model I regret never buying. 

[PS4 FTW]

I have a 1993 mahogany special in black with humbuckers. I was under the impression that the specials were available with p90s or humbuckers as part of the running line?

[Steve Haynie]

The catalog model had P90's.  Humbuckers were a simple option. 

[DaveL]

I have the 93 price list somewhere… believe the humbuckers were a $100 upcharge which I think got you to the same price as an fm special.   $899 vs $999. (I think).     Those were the daze.   

[crunchee]

Plain mahogany Specials with HBs might have come out of the factory in random batches, it's not like it would have disrupted production to put out a few, especially since they'd have to rout for two PUs anyway.  There's a few people who've worked at Arlington Heights and/or New Hartford here on the HFC that might know for sure.   IIRC, back in the day (mid-late '90s, early 00s), they could be found now and then on the used market (I think I bought a used one once upon a time long ago, now long gone), and they weren't usually priced at a premium either...usually at about $600~$700 with case easily.

[Armitage]

"Hamer guitars are made of the best materials by the best craftsman... real tone monsters and not worth crap"

[bruce919]

On 3/9/2025 at 5:49 AM, crunchee said:

Plain mahogany Specials with HBs might have come out of the factory in random batches, it's not like it would have disrupted production to put out a few, especially since they'd have to rout for two PUs anyway.  There's a few people who've worked at Arlington Heights and/or New Hartford here on the HFC that might know for sure.   IIRC, back in the day (mid-late '90s, early 00s), they could be found now and then on the used market (I think I bought a used one once upon a time long ago, now long gone), and they weren't usually priced at a premium either...usually at about $600~$700 with case easily.

The factory already had a CNC program for Special FM guitars. The CNC didn't care if it had a Maple top or just plain Mahogany . There may have been a setting for cutting speed. We all know with Hamers, even if it was not on the price list that year many variants got made. It could just have been a dealer tell a sales rep. I wish those specials came with Humbuckers instead of P-90's, ya, we can do that...   I've seen a hand full of 90's era Specials with stock Humbuckers. 

[HSB0531]

On 3/4/2025 at 3:08 PM, kizanski said:

$2000??

Not THAT special!

 

On 3/4/2025 at 3:21 PM, velorush said:

Could it be those unfamiliar with Hamers conflate the 90's TOM double cuts with the 80's Sustain Block double cuts?

Perhaps they should buy THE BOOK.

It's akin to saying your Lionel trains are worth big money, when it was only certain eras and items that were.  Yes to the book.  I have two and I hope someday they publish another one.  Personally,  I don't like Hershey chocolate brown guitars and would only buy it if it was $2,000 - $1,650  

[cmatthes]

4 hours ago, bruce919 said:

The factory already had a CNC program for Special FM guitars. The CNC didn't care if it had a Maple top or just plain Mahogany . There may have been a setting for cutting speed. We all know with Hamers, even if it was not on the price list that year many variants got made. It could just have been a dealer tell a sales rep. I wish those specials came with Humbuckers instead of P-90's, ya, we can do that...   I've seen a hand full of 90's era Specials with stock Humbuckers. 

There are also dealer runs of Eclipse guitars with HBs.

[DaveL]

19 hours ago, bruce919 said:

The factory already had a CNC program for Special FM guitars. The CNC didn't care if it had a Maple top or just plain Mahogany . There may have been a setting for cutting speed. We all know with Hamers, even if it was not on the price list that year many variants got made. It could just have been a dealer tell a sales rep. I wish those specials came with Humbuckers instead of P-90's, ya, we can do that...   I've seen a hand full of 90's era Specials with stock Humbuckers. 

yes,  and I’ve seen a handful of eclipses with humbuckers… (original factory). Once owned a koa FM special and a flametop eclipse at one point.