Hamer, The Most Undervalued Guitar, Shane Theriot.

[Saul Goodman]

 

[velorush]

SHHHHHHH!

[Bennyboy-UK]

/\ exactly.

 

i don’t want the Normo’s owning any of these.

[scottcald]

Shane’s YT is fulll of cool info. 

[Saul Goodman]

I should have bought the red one. 

[The Shark]

Testify to the world!  I want my Hamers to be worth as much as can be.  

[BubbaVO]

Seems like he appreciates his guitars like we do.   I’m in lockstep with him on the T-51 and Daytona.  I didn’t change a thing on the T-51.   The Daytonas all underwent changes to the trems and bridge pups.   Now he’s got me jonsing for an artist.  Lol

[Dutchman]

Shane has got the funk chops!! Love his Dr John Stories!!! He plays 2 of my favorite name guitars! Hamer and Melancon! Both builders of fantastic guitars! Better than custom shop from either of the big 2 name brands.

[cmatthes]

I’ve got a standing offer to give Shane a replacement Hamer dry transfer logo to put back on his main green Daytona…

I gave one to his tech a couple of years ago, just in case.  😉

[Jimbilly]

just last night after a show I ran into an old local Hamer dealer and was able to chat for a bit, he even did a Paul's voice impression (which I have never heard anyone do before) while talking about a custom order. This guy still has a couple, and his kid is trying to talk him out of one or two "that will be tough" he told his kid. 

[MPR]

I bought Shane's Artist Korina 3 P90. He shipped it on Tuesday, and now I'm just waiting for it to make its way from L.A. to Connecticut.

As I told Shane (and posted a comment on his video), he's actually the one who turned me onto Hamers, and it's a fun story. It was the summer after my sophomore year of high school. I had been playing for five years and had saved up to replace my starter guitar with something really good. I was planning to buy a used PRS McCarty, which at the time went for about $1300 on eBay. Meanwhile, I played in a Frisbee golf tournament in a park just off my neighborhood, and by making the longest putt in the novice division on some particular hole, I won two tickets to see the Neville Brothers at the county fairgrounds. (How random is that?!) I didn't know any Neville Brothers stuff at the time, but my older brother was hip to the Meters, so I took him and saw the show. Well, Shane was on that gig, playing his Artist and/or Vanguard, and his guitar tone sounded really good to me. I recognized that he was playing Hamers, having seen the cheaper import models in the shop where I bought my first guitar and took my first lessons, though I didn't know anything about them. So, after the concert, I went back to that shop to see what I could find, and as it happened, while they normally only stocked the imports, they had two used USA-made Hamers hanging on the back wall, on consignment. One was a Newport Pro Custom (ruby red with the harp tailpiece), and the other was an Artist Custom in transparent. I thought both guitars sounded great, though I could only afford one. I liked the versatility of the Artist, preferred its three knobs and semi-hollow construction to the two-knob, solid-body McCarty I'd been planning to buy, and that was it. That Artist (in my avatar) was the only electric I played from 2001 to 2022, when I picked up a second Hamer—the Mirage II now for sale—and more recently, an Artist Korina P90 and a Newport.

Shane's guitar will be the first time I've had three pickups since the Peavey Strat-knockoff I started on way back when, and I'm looking forward to having some of that neck/middle combo but with semi-hollow goodness and the fatness of P90s.

Edited January 23 by MPR

[Saul Goodman]

Dibs

[RobB]

3 hours ago, MPR said:

I bought Shane's Artist Korina 3 P90. He shipped it on Tuesday, and now I'm just waiting for it to make its way from L.A. to Connecticut.

Congrats on the new Artist! With your history of brand loyalty, I’m sure it’ll be a keeper. 
 
Quick tip: If the guitar exhibits neck-dive (Grovers), try Gotoh tuners. They make ones that retro-fit and are much lighter than the stock pegs. Worked for my korina Artist, anyway. 

Edited January 22 by RobB

[MPR]

3 hours ago, RobB said:

Congrats on the new Artist! With your history of brand loyalty, I’m sure it’ll be a keeper. 
 
Quick tip: If the guitar exhibits neck-dive (Grovers), try Gotoh tuners. They make ones that retro-fit and are much lighter than the stock pegs. Worked for my korina Artist, anyway. 

Thanks for the tip. My current, two-pickup Artist Korina P90 came with the Grovers but with ebony buttons, which shave some weight, and I haven't noticed balance issues. I actually did have a local luthier replace the tuners on it this past summer (while also fitting a new nut and doing a setup), because the old ones were having some mechanical issues, but he just put another set of Grovers on it, because wasn't aware of another option that would fit the same holes. It's good to know now that the Gotohs are a drop-in replacement, as I imagine they're not only lighter weight but also better quality tuners.

Assuming I get on well with the new 3-P90 guitar, the 2-P90 may be going up for sale soon.

Edited January 23 by MPR

[scottcald]

9 hours ago, MPR said:

I bought Shane's Artist Korina 3 P90. He shipped it on Tuesday, and now I'm just waiting for it to make its way from L.A. to Connecticut.

As I told Shane (and posted a comment on his video), he's actually the one who turned me onto Hamers, and it's a fun story. It was the summer after my sophomore year of high school. I had been playing for five years and had saved up to replace my starter guitar with something really good. I was planning to buy a used PRS McCarty, which at the time went for about $1300 on eBay. Meanwhile, I played in a Frisbee golf tournament in a park just off my neighborhood, and by making the longest putt in the novice division on some particular hole, I won two tickets to see the Neville Brothers at the county fairgrounds. (How random is that?!) I didn't know any Neville Brothers stuff at the time, but my older brother was hip to the Meters, so I took him and saw the show. Well, Shane was on that gig, playing his Artist and/or Vanguard, and his guitar tone sounded really good to me. I recognized that he was playing Hamers, having seen the cheaper import models in the shop where I bought my first guitar and took my first lessons, though I didn't know anything about them. So, after the concert, I went back to that shop to see what I could find, and as it happened, while they normally only stocked the imports, they had two used USA-made Hamers hanging on the back wall, on consignment. One was a Newport Pro Custom (ruby red with the harp tailpiece), and the other was an Artist Custom in transparent. I thought both guitars sounded great, though I could only afford one. I liked the versatility of the Artist, preferred its three knobs and semi-hollow construction to the two-knob, solid-body McCarty I'd been planning to buy, and that was it. That Artist (in my avatar) was the only electric I played from 2001 to 2022, when I picked up a second Hamer—the Mirage II now for sale—and more recently, an Artist Korina P90 and a Newport.

Shane's guitar will by the first time I've had three pickups since the Peavey Strat-knockoff I started on way back when, and I'm looking forward to having some of that neck/middle combo but with semi-hollow goodness and the fatness of P90s.

Sweet.  I haven't seen his 3 pickup, very cool!

I love that Shane doesn't feel the need to hop on the latest greatest fad brands or act like only Gibson and Fender exist.  And also that the wear on his guitars is real.

[MPR]

14 hours ago, scottcald said:

Sweet.  I haven't seen his 3 pickup, very cool!

I love that Shane doesn't feel the need to hop on the latest greatest fad brands or act like only Gibson and Fender exist.  And also that the wear on his guitars is real.

He shows it in the video at the top of this tread, starting at 7m43s, mentions that he hasn't been using it enough because it's mint condition and he already had the Vanguard he plays a lot when he received it.. That's what prompted me to reach out to him and say I was interested if he wanted to sell. I'm planning to replace the rotary with a Free-Way switch (6-way toggle), so I can make changes more quickly live and have the option of middle pickup or neck + bridge.