What was your first Hamer?

[LordOfTheThighs]

1983 or '84 Pearl White Blitz. Snake - Head headstock.

Very sweet guitar, which I sold around 1989 or '90.

(yes, I'm a Dumb - Ass)

I had to wait until I was 22 years old till I got my first HAMER.

Then I see a 12 year with a gold Blitz. :angry: UN - Fair!

BruceM ... your Studio looks killa with that top.

Great looking gits everybody!

[wil50n]

1977 Sunburst which I bought in 1986. The shop also had several Phantom A5's which the owner tried to sway me towards, but this one was in the shop window and was calling my name.

[bruce919]

93' Archtop GT (Studio Goldtop with P-90's) dot neck.

[jwhitcomb3]

1996 Archtop GT P-90 with crowns. Stock when I bought it except for Graphtek bridge saddles. It has since lost the P90s in favor of Gibson reissue mini-humbuckers. Great guitar, but something of a boat anchor. If I could only peel back the top and route a chamber in it...

-Jonathan

[Craig S]

Green 81' Special that BadgerDave ended up with. I got it on trade for a G&L ASAT that I couldn't get along with. Probably one of the better guitars I've owned, one of the few "I wish I had it back guitars".

[Lockbody]

My first Hamer is still my favorite: My 1990 Californian Elite

[hudpucker]

The first Hamer I played extensively was a checkerboard Special that I borrowed for years from a buddy in the mid 80s. I was also able to borrow a SSII for long periods of time in the late 80s as well.

MY first Hamer that I actually owned was this '93 Special FM:

[savethematches]

1986 TLE w/sustain block and amberburst flame top. Now lives with Hectorp. I miss it.

[Camstone]

'76 Sunburst given as a gift in 1978 by my then girlfriend, now wife (no wonder I married her!).

Two years later I ordered from the factory a new '80 Standard.

[bamboohead]

"81" Vector

transparent red mahogany

sustain block

bought it new in "82" it sat in the music store a whole year

they even gave me a 5 watt Marshall amp

[Brooks]

sunburst slammer series import,

made me sell my LP studio.

1st usa hamer was a 25th annv.

[BillW]

'87 Chap dot neck with neck through ( one of the last non bolt-on dot neck Chaps in '87 I think) copper finish and OBL in the bridge.

Ordered it through Mr. C's Music in Marlboro MA, summer of '87.

- Bill

[jujisque]

My first and only: '98 Phantom Custom (I love this guitar)

[Hamer95USA]

This one which now reside with Guitar George. 1995 Studio with an amazing neck carve. I still miss it.

Hey gwayne,

I've played my friend's late '80s Standard before so I knew how cool Hamer guitars felt and sounded like. I still have the 1995 Studio. This guitar is my first Hamer USA guitar I ever bought a 1 1/2 ago. She's well cared for in my stable of guitars. I gave her a new set of Dimarzio pickups (PAF Pro and a Tone Zone). I didn't bond with the sound of the Gibson Burstbucker Pro guitar pickups I bought a while back and traded them off to a friend. I have also rewired the bridge volume pot to the front position and the neck volume pot to the middle position. When I purchased the guitar a couple of years ago, it had Seymour Duncan Custom & Custom Custom with push/pull coil taps. I didn't like the sound of those pickups and sold them off. Here is a picture of her now with her Dimarzios pickups in it:

Guitar George

[straightblues]

My first Hamer was an Import Echotone. I loved that guitar for a few years. I just sold it last week and I already miss it. The Echotone was made redundant by my first USA Hamer, a beat up Newport. I bought the Newport about 14 months ago. Since then I have bought an Artist, Studio, Duotone, Special and Eclipse. I guess I caught the bug. These guitars fit me like no other guitar has.

[JohnnyB]

A used Eclipse-12 in vintage orange with OHSC. Bought in Oct. '98 about 1-1/2 years after I started noodling on guitar. Wish I still had it, but I sold it a year later to get the 25th Anniversary which I still have.

No pic; wish I had one to share.

[hamerhead]

Ugly gray '81 Special bought in '87. Still have it. Still #1. I'll be playin' that one with Jimi and Elvis.

[ju12ver]

First Hamer was the import CH-12 (signed by dUg)

http://www.judgeunger.com/thumbs/Images/shady731/odie6x.JPG

First and only USA, B12M Dreamsicle

http://www.judgeunger.com/me2.JPG

[Michael_]

tv 'yellow' 92 special. skinny neck and p90s. ya'll know what they look like.

[wyldbil]

I love this story! (Except for the "getting stolen" part..)

From 1976, when I sent off for every catalog and brochure in GP Magazine, Hamer had a "halo" effect for me. Something about pics of those early Standards and that weird Rick Nielsen guy increased my yearning for a Hamer. That early brochure is why I bought the first Cheap Trick album when it came out in 1977, starting another lifelong obsession with me.

Spring 1980, I saw a trans cherry Sunburst (dot neck) at the local mecca known as Lynn's Guitars. Only slightly used and priced at $600. I played it and knew it was THE guitar for me. Period. With a little wheeling and dealing, I took it home, owing Lynn's a couple hundred dollars, paid off waiting tables in a mom & pop Italian eatery.

That guitar had the headstock broken and repaired twice, then was stolen in Fall 1984. I still want it back. *sigh*

[Jeff R]

'93 Special FM, amber transparent. Great guitar but I sold it like a dumbass.

Ended up getting another '93 Special FM a few years ago because I missed the first one, and sold THAT one like a dumbass too.

I'm a dumbass.

Hey, anyone selling a '93 Special FM?

[BadgerDave]

I was working at Ward-Brodt Music in Madison, WI in 1978. Ward-Brodt was one of the first retail Hamer dealers, possibly the second after Pastore.

We had four Sunbusts in stock and they were the best guitars in the store. I remember that the Hamers were selling for more than our new Les Pauls. $700 for the dot necks and an extra $50 for the bound and crowned model. Response was split. The hard core Gibson players turned up their noses at the upstart Hamers. Others recognized that these new contenders were a notch above what Gibson was putting out.

I claimed a bound and crowned Sunburst immediately and it replaced a '74 SG Custom as my go-to guitar.

Unfortunately, My Sunburst was one of the early 1 piece neck versions that developed a fatal twist. Frank Untermeyer graciously offered me full retail credit on anything I wanted as a replacement. I chose a cutom ordered black Standard:

The Standard survived a broken headstock and served me well for about five years. I eventually sold it and switched to a series of Specials through the end of the 80s.

[HSB0531]

'81 Standard Bass #0531.

Still have it