Hamer USA T-51 Excellent Condition, Best Playing

[Wizard333]

This is going on ebay in next few days but I wanted to post it here first so real Hamer fans would get first crack, I want it to go to a good home. Its a truly killer Tele in great shape and the best playing Tele you'll ever touch. My ebay ID is racey-b if you want to check me out (search for sellers on ebay). If interested get back to me fast its going on ebay soon. My ebay ad is as follows I'll just post it here so you can see whats up (dont miss the paragraph on fretwork, its amazing on this guitar). I take Paypal (confirmed addresses only, no kidding). Asking $670 shipped to your door, on ebay it will be more. E-mail me for photos, serious interest only I dont want to waste time on window shoppers. I have a lot of photos and they take time to mail.

1996 (serial number dated; 644086) Hamer USA T-51 Telecaster made in America. With original Hamer USA deluxe hardcase, also in excellent condition; includes case lock keys and original Hamer warranty card. Not the cheap imported Slammer junk. Better in every way than Fender American Telecasters (read on). Black Alder Body (yes Alder, earlier ones were Ash but I took the neck off to check the neck pocket and if its ash it’s the most “tan” looking ash I’ve ever seen, unfinished Ash is usually very white). Pearloid guard with a slightly yellowed ‘aged’ look. Maple neck/fingerboard. 22 medium jumbo frets. 14” radius. Stock Sperzel Locking Tuners, Stock Wilkinson HT-100 Bridge (MUCH better than standard tele bridge, more stable).

Pickups: Stock Seymour Duncan Broadcaster in the bridge, Stock Seymour Duncan Vintage ’54 Tele neck in the neck. Specs on Broadcaster Bridge Pickup: Alnico 5 magnets, 7.6k DCR, 8.5k resonant peak. From the Duncan site: “STL-1b - The first Telecaster® pickup (1948) had an unprecedented edgy sound and great sustain. Leo Fender called it the Broadcaster®, and we make one exactly like it. The STL-1b duplicates this fat, most sought-after vintage sound. The pole pieces are larger diameter, Dun-Aged™ magnets. Replace both your rhythm and lead pickups to get the classic Broadcaster sound that started a legend.” Specs for Vintage ’54 neck: Alnico 5 Magnet, 7.3K DCR, 8k resonant peak. Excellent pickups for classic Tele tones.

Frets: This guitar has the best fretwork I have ever seen. Frets are in excellent shape. I use heavy strings (12s or 13s) with very low action and it sets up fine with minimal buzz and no fretting out or dead spots. How low? Well get out your metal straight edge rulers and measure this vs. your current axe: High E string at the 14th fret: .035” above the fret. Low E string 14th fret: .05” above the fret. That is NOT a misprint! 3.5 Hundreths of an inch on the high E at the 14th. Most guitars will not go lower than .06” without fretting out on normal notes, much less bends. Good fretwork gets you to about .05”. Truly excellent fretwork can yield .04 to .045”. .035” is beyond amazing. I’m very picky about fretwork since I set my action very low and that was a major factor in my purchasing this guitar in the first place. Of course if you prefer higher action it can be raised, and you know it will play excellent. The neck is super stable and responds to the truss rod very well.

Cosmetics: Guitar is in very good shape cosmetically. No dings. Light clear coat scratches on the back. Nothing through the clear, through the paint, or to the wood. I.e. it looks like its been touched and played, its not unplayed, but its very well taken care of. Very light wear on the clear coat at the very edges of the fretboard (as is common with a maple neck) and light wear on the back of the neck where your thumb would be if you were playing in 8th position (assuming you put your thumb where its supposed to be). You have to look hard to see this stuff, and it will not show in photographs so I couldn’t show it. You should know its not ‘mint’ because some of you are as picky as I am. But you wont be disappointed, it has none of the “issues” I’ve seen on other T-51s sold on ebay like badly installed non original pickguards, major dings, major neck finish wear, etc. I’ve heard that Hamer used Nitrocellulose laquer like on the original pre-1966 Fenders on these, I cant swear to it since I couldn’t find any info on their finishes from 1996. I will say that it shows some of the grain through the finish and has subtly sunk into the grain so you can see it over the years like Nitro will do and Poly will not.

This is a beautiful instrument in excellent condition and it’s the best playing Tele you’ll ever play. I know the buyer won’t be disappointed. I’ll set it up and intonate it with your choice of string gauge (standard gauges please, I’m not a dealer I don’t carry funny stuff! 9s 10s, 11s, 12s, 13s standard sets please). If you have specific action height measurements I’ll get them exact. Only reason I’m selling is I’ve been playing strats (read: starting with Fenders and graduating to real quality instruments like G&L and custom builds) for 25 years and anything else is hard to get used to. I looked at a LOT of Tele’s before getting this one, including custom shop and ‘boutique’ stuff. The quality on this Hamer was so amazing I couldn’t not get it, it just blew everything else away. But the body shape when I’m playing standing up just isn’t what I’m used to, so it doesn’t get played as much as it should and it is a really fine instrument that should be someone’s number one.

*EDIT* More info because folks have been asking: Weight 7lbs, Neck Dimensions front to back at 1st fret: .82", at 12th fret: .90". Nut width 1&11/16"

[Hamer95USA]

Hey wizard333,

Thanks for advertising your T-51 for sale. Do you have any pictures you can share with us so we can see it?

Guitar George

[Wizard333]

I have a ton of pictures. e-mail me for them or let me know how to link them and I'd be more than glad to share 'em!

[MCChris]

The voice of Henry Silva is ringing in my head.

[Hamer95USA]

I have a ton of pictures. e-mail me for them or let me know how to link them and I'd be more than glad to share 'em!

Hey wizard333,

Try Photobucket website to host your pictures. Here is the link:

http://photobucket.com/

Register on their website and submit your pictures.

Guitar George

[cmatthes]

Welcome!

Best of luck on selling your T-51. Those are GREAT guitars, and there haven't been all that many around for sale lately for some reason.

If it was a T-51F (with the Fishman Powerbridge), I'd be more interested, but the "regular" T-51s are still better than most stock Teles I've played lately.