Guest Mar]{o Posted August 9, 2005 Posted August 9, 2005 Hey! I just bought second hand Hamer Centaura and I have no idea what kind of wood, pickups, tuners, etc... are in. Guy who sold me this guitar said that every thing is original. It's 91', made in USA (that's all i know ) and S. N. is 129243. (I sent email to Hamer support, but they pointed me to ask here ) Thank you for help!
serial Posted August 9, 2005 Posted August 9, 2005 Very nice! Welcome to the HFC-you'll get most of your questions answered here in no time-this is THE place on the internet or otherwise to get Hamer info. Lots of helpful people here for sure.Don't see that many maple fingerboards-that's cool too. I don't have the specs of the Centaura committed to memory anymore, but I thought that the bodies were alder. Pickups look like the Duncans that they were using at that time (again, forget which ones-sorry, but someone here will have that info). The gold h/w was a custom option too.
BCR Greg Posted August 9, 2005 Posted August 9, 2005 Should be a trem spaced JB and a pair of Alnico II Strat pups.Welcome!
Guest Mar]{o Posted August 9, 2005 Posted August 9, 2005 Thank you for quick replies and a nice welcome . The guy that sold it to me said that pickups are SD, he didn't know about single coils, but HB is Jeff Beck. He also mentioned something about bird eye maple. Can somebody confirm that? Thanks for help (I'm thirsty for some more informations )! Marko .
silentman Posted August 9, 2005 Posted August 9, 2005 The only birdseye on that guitar is the kind in his imagination, LOL.
Guest Mar]{o Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 Are you sure about that? Fingerboard wood has different texture from wood texture on neck. Wood on fingerboard has litle dots that are darker than the rest wood. And when I turn my guitar to see the back side of neck I see this wood lines runing from head to body. Totally different texture. Can somebody tell me a litle more about pickups? HB is Jeff Beck and somebody mentioned something about single coils but I didn't found any information for that name. Thank you!
sw686blue Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 There's no bird's eye on this guitar. The neck and fret board are standard maple. Bird's eye looks more like this. Scroll down and look at the neck and headstock pix.
Guest Mar]{o Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 Yeah, I guess you're right. No bird's eye here .I hope I'm not annoying with my questions . So the infos I gathered are woods (alder body (1 piece body right?), maple fretboard, maple neck), humbucker PU (Jeff Beck passive humbucker), Schaller Floyd Rose, Schaller tuner keys and some kind of Strap lock screws (BTW is this original? Got any info about them? ). I'm still not sure what that "fat" switch is supposed to do. Boost mid freq or cut treble freq or what? And I would really appriciate some more info on those single coils. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
Jeff R Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 That switch is useless IMHO. It supposedly shaves off high highs and low lows or something like that - whatever the hell it does, I'll be damned if I can hear any difference unless I'm playing ultra ultra clean and even then it's very subtle. I think it's a ghost switch haha.My Centaura is the 2HB version, and I'll probably end up re-wiring the mini toggle as a phase switch one of these days.
Jeff R Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 Oh yeah, alder guitar bodies are usually made of either two or three planks of wood. Look closely at the grain pattern on the butt edge of the body and you should be able to find any plank seams.
Guitarseh Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 Welcome to the club! If the HB is the Seymour Duncan JB, then the single coils are likely the SD ones Greg mentioned. You could pull them out and look at the sticker on the bottom and compare it to the chart here to find out for sure: http://www.seymourduncan.com/website/support/labels.shtml Good luck and enjoy MarkB
Guest Mar]{o Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 I think it's one piece body, I can't find any straight lines on the body...That mini toogle actualy does a litle change to the sound, I guess that amp should be very loud to hear real change. I'm just not sure what freq does he cut/boost.
silentman Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 Yeah, the switch is pretty useless. Very subtle change in tone on my import version as well. Hamer matches bodies pieces pretty good, so it could be a 2 piece.
Guest Mar]{o Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 Hey Guitarseh, thanks for this link! I will try to check it out tommorow (I'll visit local guitar shop for some new strings). BTW, are Jim Dunlops care products good? I'm thinking of buying Formula no. 65 and Fingerboard 65 (lemmon oil). Can lemmon oil be used for maple? And one more question : My fretboard lacquer is litle "damaged" (on some places) from playing - should I take it somewhere to repair it? It's OK to use lemmon oil becuase this ? Sorry for my wierd english, I'm from the other side of Earth . Thank you!
Luke Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 That looks like the joint to me based on the three photos. It is a great place for the joint with the routing taking up over 50% of the surface line.
Jeff R Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 Yep, I thought I saw it too. I don't think I've ever seen a one-piece alder body before. I'm sure some exist on booteekeyguits, but I'd think one on a standard production guitar would be very rare.
silentman Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 The dunlop 65 kit is very good. But the cleaner and conditioner warn you not to use on maple fingerboards. I have a diablo which has a mple board that is sealed and I use lemon oil on that with no problems.
Luke Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 Read about alder trees and their diameters before harvesting here
Guest Mar]{o Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 Yes, It's true. It's litle more obviously on the back side. But hey, it's not a bad thing, right? :\ Hmm I thought that joint should be on the midle...Thanks!
Jeff R Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 Historically viewed as an overabundant weed treeLOL!
Guest Mar]{o Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 And yes, single coils are Alnico II Pro™ Staggered. I just love them. Very Hendrixish . In general this guitars were hand made?
Guitarseh Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 <<In general this guitars were hand made? >>Yup, USA Hamers have always been made with a large degree of skilled craftsmanship, not stamped off a huge assembly line by the tens of thousands. A happy medium between using some modern technology where it makes sense and using old-school skills where it counts. This one would have been made in the old shop in Illinois, before the late-1990s move to Connecticut.MarkB
Guest Mar]{o Posted August 10, 2005 Posted August 10, 2005 That's very cool and I'm happy that I got this awesome guitar in my hands. Still have question about strap lock screws - are they original? I guess I'm possesed with originality Thanks for big help!
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