Why not so much love for Hamer on the bay and TGP

[BubbaVO]

now at 40 something, I am not jumping around the house in my underwear with a graphic'd vector spilling beer all over my mothers furniture jamming to judas priest, ...

sell out

[Hgb5000]

peedenmark7 wrote:

"I am sure this has been covered during the replies here, but my take on terrible hamer resale over the years has been the lack of 100% original hamer design ideas.

thats not to say that other brands are devoid of copped fender/gibson ideas, but if you look at the hamer catalogs one theme keeps repeating over and over and that theme is the lp jr."

But why do so many Fender clones (Suhr, Tom Anderson, Nash, etc.) garner so much more mystique when Hamer also builds such a great quality guitar and doesn't garner the same mystique? Every time I see someone who wants to trade a guitar, what they seem to want in return is a Fender clone Strat or Tele valued at a very high price.

[MarkF786]

I own some high-end boutique guitars, for example a D'Pergo AVC (~$7K), a Teuffel Tesla (~$7k) and a Koll Superior (~3.5k) along with some mass-produced guitars, and my Hamer Monaco Elite's quality is right up there. Used Hamer guitars are the best value in the used market.

Maybe us, Hamer owners need to spread the word about how good they are in the forums at TGP.

Do me one favor though; keep the prices stable while I buy every mode Hamer that I want, used on eBay

Mark

[CheapStandard]

Granted, my Hamer is only a 2005 CIC XT Series STD but, when i was trying

to raise some cash a few months back, i almost couldn't give that thing away.

I had it up on Craigslist multiple times for $400, $350, all the way down to $200,

which is what i got it for on CL a year ago, & i didn't even get ONE email about it.

NOT ONE!!!

Not even a question.

In hindsight, i'm glad it didn't sell because i ended up falling back in love w/ it.

It's not my # 1 (or even my # 3) but it's a truly great sounding & playing guitar.

And it looks pretty incredible too...ebony w/ a

creamy white pickguard & rosewood fretboard.

After playing it pretty daily for awhile, i picked

up a Gibson Explorer @ GC &...it felt like a toy.

It also paled in comparison, aesthetically, too.

The Hamer STD not only looks better, imo, it just felt

like a much more substantial instrument in my hands.

I know some people don't like heavy guitars, but i don't mind the extra weight in

exchange for the better looks, sounds & feel of my lowly Chinese Hamer XT STD.

As for their crappy resale value, it was a blessing in disguise in my case.

Generally, i think most guitars are WAY

overpriced these days, "vintage" or not.

Because, on some level...it's just a guitar, you know?

Anyway, i don't mind that some of the guitars i like can be had for cheap & i

kinda hope their resale value stays low...at least until i can aquire a few more.

[gorch]

Granted, my Hamer is only a 2005 CIC XT Series STD but, when i was trying

to raise some cash a few months back, i almost couldn't give that thing away.

...

I'm following this one. Different weight and sound than a Custom, but equally worth to play.

Excellent value for money. Add quality hardware to it and it rivals the original.

[Pieman]

Granted, my Hamer is only a 2005 CIC XT Series STD but, when i was trying

to raise some cash a few months back, i almost couldn't give that thing away.

...

I'm following this one. Different weight and sound than a Custom, but equally worth to play.

Excellent value for money. Add quality hardware to it and it rivals the original.

Is it a Korean model?

[tbonesullivan]

I haven't read the rest of the thread, but also being a fan of Heritage and Carvin guitars, the reason is simple: name recognition. Even people that don't know jack about guitars recognize the name Gibson and that it means more money. The used market on Fender, Gibson, and to a lesser degree rickenbacker and Gretsch is pretty inflated. On the other hand the used market for carvin, hamer, heritage, peavey, etc is almost DEflated.

So in other words, either buy used, or if you buy new, make sure it's exactly what you want and that you are financially stable, because you'll never sell it for what it's really worth.

[CheapStandard]

Granted, my Hamer is only a 2005 CIC XT Series STD but, when i was trying

to raise some cash a few months back, i almost couldn't give that thing away.

...

I'm following this one. Different weight and sound than a Custom, but equally worth to play.

Excellent value for money. Add quality hardware to it and it rivals the original.

Is it a Korean model?

Nope, it's Chinese, which i've always heard

put down as the lesser guitar to the Koreans.

And that assertion may very well be true...

i've never played a Korean, so i can't say.

My Chinese STD works fine for me though.

[gorch]

Granted, my Hamer is only a 2005 CIC XT Series STD but, when i was trying

to raise some cash a few months back, i almost couldn't give that thing away.

...

I'm following this one. Different weight and sound than a Custom, but equally worth to play.

Excellent value for money. Add quality hardware to it and it rivals the original.

Is it a Korean model?

Nope, it's Chinese, which i've always heard

put down as the lesser guitar to the Koreans.

And that assertion may very well be true...

i've never played a Korean, so i can't say.

My Chinese STD works fine for me though.

Mine is a Korean from 2002.

I've read in another forum that Hamer's Asian manufacturers actually build different guitars for the same model. The guy wrote that he had two guitars of the same model made in different plants of different countries that had different neck profiles. Obviously, Hamer or Kaman did not provide exact measures for the individual models. It seems that the wood is not completely cut CNC based. Handwork still seems to be major factor here.

This brings me back to the original theme of this thread. Taking the current Newport thread into account and what we actually know from Hamer.

The bodies are CNC cut and not handmade. From that point of view this guitar is not better than any other guitar, although they put very much effort to the details later on in the building process. The guitars mainly differ in finish and pickup selection. As pickups generally are stock pickups, it's the finish that lasts. As opposed to this, early Gibsons and Fenders differ in handcraft, pickups and finish. Any of these early made guitars can be seen as true individuals. For a $4000 list price guitar that has a production time of more than 6 months, I'd expect that production of the core body would take more than a couple of hours to run the CNC machine. The serial numbers don't have a major impact, though, except for the first digit.

From this point of view, I don't wonder the guitars drop in price that quick.

Never mind the final quality. But, the guitars seem to lack individuality right from the base or root. You Know what I mean?

A poor conclusion with regards to the XT series models. Comparing the cost for handcraft, the XT series and the USA series are basically produced the same way. Obviously, we pay for luxury for the USA models do we? Look at this:

Here's a nice gallery. Scroll down to watch the pictures. You don't need to understand the German description.

Oh, oh, I don't want to continue this.

[powerage]

I grew up in Illinois in the 80's and although we saw the ads, we couldn't play one because none of the stores sold them. I never saw a Hamer (except live) until I moved to Texas when I was eighteen. I quickly fell in with the music scene (saw Pantera several times) and I only remember seeing a couple of Hamers then. Everybody wanted to play Charvels, Kramers, Jacksons,etc. Hamer tried to compete with the pointy shaped guitars but their styles just didn't get the love that others did. And yes, I do think the headstocks had something to do with that on some models. That was my feeling about them at least. I remember liking the Standards I saw in magazines but I wasn't a pointy guitar fan which is why I played a Paul.

About 10 years ago I decided to try a Studio even though I wasn't crazy about the headstock and I loved it but sold it (of course) and now regret it. I have owned a few more Hamers since then and they were all great so I am a fan for life but they just didn't make much of an impression when I was younger.