Jump to content
Hamer Fan Club Message Center

Hamer T-51 Information


Telephono

Recommended Posts

I bought a very nice Hamer T-51 a little over a month ago. It is the first Hamer I have ever owned. I have had several much more expensive guitars in the past and I am still very impressed with the build quality of this guitar. I would like to find out a little more about it. Does anyone have a scan of any literature for it? Anyone know how many were made and/or how many were made with rosewood necks. Can anyone verify that they used 250K pots? Any of this or any other interesting information would be greatly appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Were you one of the lucky 30% to get an original case with it?

Hey Feynman,

I wonder too. Mine came with a gig bag when I bought if off of E-bay from an auction house a couple of years ago. It was sent in a box and I'm surprised it didn't get damaged had I known they shipped that it that way. Fortunately, one of the nice HFC'ers here sold me an original Hamer OHSC and I'm thankful for that.

Guitar George

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Congrats and enjoy the hell out of it! The T-51 I owned is the only guitar I really regret selling....

After looking for over a year, I finally found a butterscotch one with a rosewood neck, that wasn't too heavy 7lbs, 12 oz). The wider flatter neck is bigger than I am used to but the strings slide like butter over the frets and after adjusting the neck pickup to nearly 1/4" from the strings, when pressed at the last fret, the sustain and "spank" became impressive. In the 70s I had a 64 Tele and in the 80s I had a 59 Tele Custom. It is hard to make comparisons based on memory but I think the T-51 sounds as good and the T-51 is definitely built better and has very noticeably more sustain. The rounder rout on the edge is more comfortable, it's shielded, the tuners are vastly superior and I like the flatter neck. I am surprised these aren't going for a lot more and that I don't see them mentioned very much when compared to the Fender 52 reissues and the G&L Tele clones, both of which I tried and passed on in favor of the T-51. Maybe it is because they only made them for barely 5 years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yup, they are a real bang for the buck. The necks on them are totally incredible! A lot of the guys here change the bridge out to a Wilky compensated w/barrels. This one was mine:

IMG_0270.jpg

IMG_0271.jpg

Sure do miss it. Oh well, that just means I'll have to look around for another one of these days!

Welcome!

Oh, to answer the question,

I'm almost positive Hamer USA guitars w/single coil pups have the 250k pots. And a neck that felt like it was made for my hand! Amazing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is a beautiful guitar. Mine seems to be in a similar condition but is more butterscotch. I can't think of any reason to change the HT-100 Wilkinson bridge that came with it and my guitar mechanic has a high opinion of them. Mine came with the tortoise guard just like yours but I have replaced it with a black Bakelite NOS Hamer guard, after a lot of looking at Lost Art Vintage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As far as the cases go, I was just making a (bad) joke. There is an unsolved mystery about the location of so many of the original cases. It seems hit or miss whether a T51 or Daytona still resides in its original case.

I helped a friend score this rosewood/fishman one.

NewT51.jpg

I owned this one briefly, and it now resides with a happy HFC owner.

hamert5114.jpg

hamert5126.jpg

Great guitars.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All this rosewood T-51 talk is making me want one even more. Sell me one somebody!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I owned this one briefly, and it now resides with a happy HFC owner.

hamert5114.jpg

hamert5126.jpg

Great guitars.

turns out there is an interesting story w/ the orange one you used to own Mitch. A little history...I sold it to Mitch earlier last year IIRC and as time went on I started developing sellers remorse (and almost bought it back when Mitch was flipping it). Turns out an HFC'er in the same state as me got it from Mitch and fast forward to now when I found out it was back in NY...well I had to do some 'horse trading', and it is now back with me again! Now I know I'm about to be on the Most Wanted list of Hamer purists who think modifying a pristine T-51 deserves stoning, but I decided to create a T-51F out of it (and treated it to a Rio Grande Baby Bucker neck and Rio Grande Tallboy bridge pickup along w/ a 4-way switch for splitting the neck into single coil mode). Heresy...perhaps, but I told myself that I would not be scared to let my luthier make it into the perfect Tele (for me). Sorry to hijack the thread, but I couldn't contain my giddyness :lol:

T51F_01.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I owned this one briefly, and it now resides with a happy HFC owner.

hamert5114.jpg

hamert5126.jpg

Great guitars.

turns out there is an interesting story w/ the orange one you used to own Mitch. A little history...I sold it to Mitch earlier last year IIRC and as time went on I started developing sellers remorse (and almost bought it back when Mitch was flipping it). Turns out an HFC'er in the same state as me got it from Mitch and fast forward to now when I found out it was back in NY...well I had to do some 'horse trading', and it is now back with me again! Now I know I'm about to be on the Most Wanted list of Hamer purists who think modifying a pristine T-51 deserves stoning, but I decided to create a T-51F out of it (and treated it to a Rio Grande Baby Bucker neck and Rio Grande Tallboy bridge pickup along w/ a 4-way switch for splitting the neck into single coil mode). Heresy...perhaps, but I told myself that I would not be scared to let my luthier make it into the perfect Tele (for me). Sorry to hijack the thread, but I couldn't contain my giddyness :lol:

T51F_01.jpg

Wow. That looks amazing, and I don't think a stoning is forthcoming for dialing it in just the way you need it. That is simply stunning. How do you like the "F" component and how do you output it (stereo cable, dual outs, etc..)?

I know what it is like to reunite with one that "got away". Way to make it right again.

CJ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the kind words. I like the Fishman powerbridge because you get essentially the same bridge as the regular T-51 w/ the piezo output to boot. Only drawback to the VT-100P "F" bridge is it has a tendancy to break strings because of the saddle design (just gotta change 'em more frequently than the stock bridge, not a big deal really). I put in a stereo 1/4" jack and use a Y-cable to send the ring signal to a DI or acoustic amp and the tip signal to my amp. Works great. Put in a stacked tone knob that controls the tone w/ the outer ring and the piezo volume w/ the inner knob and a ON/OFF/ON toggle switch to select piezo/both/magnetic. The guitar really came alive for me with the Rio's...yet another bright guitar that sounds even better w/ Rio Grande pickups. Perfect tele for my needs, and I don't see letting it get away a second time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a 1996 T-51 in near mint condition. It has a natural finish that looks a bit like butterscotch and has a rosewood neck. It has the original tortoise guard but I was able to find an original NOS Hamer black Bakelite pick guard that looks fantastic on it. It weighs 7lbs 12 oz, which is light for a T-51. It is totally original and includes the case. The neck is a bit large for my hands, otherwise I would definitely keep it. I had Steven White in Berkeley set it up and the neck is fantastic and the strings slide over the frets like butter. It sounds like a good Tele should, with lots of spank. I am about to go to San Francisco, to see Dan Ransom at Gary Brawers to see if he can reshape the neck without making it look unnatural. If not, I will be putting it up for sale. If you have any interest, let me know. It is truly in exceptional condition and the combination of rosewood neck, light weight, being unaltered and having an original case is rare. I would want $850.00. I would really hate to sell this guitar. It took me over a year to find it. Feel free to email me for photos etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would love to find an orange T-51

:D

I wish I had a better digital camera to truly capture the color. The orange Hamer used looks amazing over ash (probably because it'a s lighter wood), a shame my crappy camera doesn't do it the justice seeing the color in person does. :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, the circle of life! Good to see it happy again.

That orange and the wood were both beautiful. I think you can get some sense of it in this picture:

hamert5127.jpg

I thought the guitar sounded a little bright at times, but I bet your changes have done good things in that regard.

The HFC is such a great family.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...