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Need info about this Centaura


Guest Mar]{o

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Guest Mar]{o

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 :D ) and S. N. is 129243.

(I sent email to Hamer support, but they pointed me to ask here ;) )

hamer1.jpg

hamer2.jpg

hamer3.jpg

Thank you for help! ;)

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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.

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Guest Mar]{o

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 :D .

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Guest Mar]{o

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! :D

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Guest Mar]{o

Yeah, I guess you're right. No bird's eye here :D .I hope I'm not annoying with my questions :P . 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! ;)

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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.

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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.

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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 :D

MarkB

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Guest Mar]{o

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.

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Guest Mar]{o

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 :D : 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!

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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.

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Guest Mar]{o

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!

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Guest Mar]{o

And yes, single coils are Alnico II Pro™ Staggered. I just love them. Very Hendrixish :D . In general this guitars were hand made?

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<<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

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Guest Mar]{o

That's very cool :D 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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