GooCart Posted January 18, 2012 Posted January 18, 2012 Hi, I'm new here, Magnus Melkersson from Sweden. I've used Hamer guitars since the early 80's and my favorite model is the Sunburst. Nowadays I play both Hamer and Gibson Les Paul and I'm also a member of the My Les Paul community where I posted a thread about this guitar. I'm lazy so I more or less just copy/pasted my initial post from the thread. Here's a old guitar of mine. I've bought it back in '85 with a fixed headstock brake. Sold it but regretted it and wanted to buy it back after like 9 years. I found it but with the headstock broken again so I bought it back as a project guitar. Back then I had absolutely no experience in guitar renovation but I really wanted to try to fix it. I used Araldite for the headstock brake, it was a clean brake, not all the way through so it was actually a easy fix. Anyway, I decided to scrape and sand the complete back, I didn't think I would be satisfied with a partial refin. Bad move, I knew very little about gluing but I knew absolutely nothing about grain fillers and dye, and worse of all, I didn't have anybody to ask. So the guitar stood there for about 2 years, making me feel really bad so I ended selling it to a local guitarist. Last week I talked to the guy and checked the status. He hadn't done anything about the guitar, it was still in parts and not painted. So I asked if I could buy it back, "no way", was the answer," not for any money". But how about a trade, I said. I have this early 70's Electra Dan Armstrong replica? And yes, we did the trade!! So here it is, my old friend the Hamer Sunburst. When I bought the guitar for the first time there was a note with a serial number, 8 0126, so I have always thought that it was a '78 but I haven't been able to confirm the dating. I've read that the '78 had a aluminum back cover, this one have a plastic, like in '77. So if you guys have anymore thoughts about the dating, feel tree to enlighten me. Bright Cherry-burst, I think it looks great. LP special type tenon. The brake, nice and clean. Yeah, I know the tuners are rotated 180 degree... The back with it's ferrules. The string spacing is a little wider than on the '82 Sunburst I have. Here's the bridge. I was afraid it was missing but it was still around. There's a thin rosewood shim under it, I think they changed design in '79-'80. I'm missing the original saddles so if anybody have a set laying around, let me know. The headstock face. I remember spraying it black and sanding it to see if it was flat and straight, it looks OK. I have custom ordered the original logo as a water slide decal. The nut is temporary so I could string it up, I'll change it later. Pretty cool checking going on, and the binding is really nice in color. As you can see it the photos the mahogany is kind of dirty after all these years, it's like 10 years since I sanded it so I need to clean it up and do some final sanding before the grain filler but I'm sure it'll be a fun project; to finally finish up this old guitar of mine. I'll try to update the thread with new photos once I've done some progress. Now I'm just so glad to have the guitar back home. Oh, did I mention, all the hardware, pickups and electronics is still there. I love those old Dimarzio PAF's, I have the same pups in my '59 replica. Since I wrote the thread at the MLP I have decided to send the guitar to Johan Gustavsson @ JG Guitars. He will do the paint job and assemble the guitar. There are many highly skilled luthiers out there but Johan is at the absolute top and I'm really proud that he'll do this for me.
gorch Posted January 18, 2012 Posted January 18, 2012 Welcome to the boards! Your work looks pretty cool. Still a way to go, I suppose it's going to look damn nice when it's done.
Disturber Posted January 18, 2012 Posted January 18, 2012 Hey! Another Swede on he board, (perhaps we shall call it a Smörgåsboard now). Now we are about five members totally If I remember correctly. Two are posting quite regularly, me and Sentinel. A guy with the nick Tokyo Tapes checks in every now and then as well. I see you are from up north. We should arrange for a Hamer get together one of these days...Johan is good at what he does. But you could also check with Hasse ad Ad Lib in Sunbyberg, Stockholm. His paint jobs are top class. My guess he's as good as Johan, at least. Might be cheaper too?Great that you have the old Dimarzios. I love 'em too. Put a set in my 2002 Hamer SuperPro last year and it's just killer now.Another old Sunburst pops up over her, who would have known...? If you need help with anything regarding restoring that old guitar don't hesitate to send me a pm. I have an old 1978 Standard that used to belong to the Åhden brothers, from your town.
RichRS6 Posted January 18, 2012 Posted January 18, 2012 Hi, and great first post.Always good to see a guitar and owner reunited.Good luck with the restoration, I'm sure it'll be worth it and make sure to keep us posted on the results.
GooCart Posted January 18, 2012 Author Posted January 18, 2012 Yeah, A Hamer get together would be cool! This guitar also come from the Åhden twins, I've played with those guys since the late 70's and it's more or less them I blame for my guitar additiction. They have only one Hamer left, a '82 or '83 Sunburst, it looks exactly the same as my '82.I know that Hasse is great but I've worked pretty close with Johan in a couple of design projects, I know quite a few international pro luthiers/builders and he is just amazing and I'm honored that he'll take his time to do this job for me.You don't happen to have a set of original saddles laying around?
Disturber Posted January 18, 2012 Posted January 18, 2012 Johan will do a super job on that guitar, I'm sure. Can't wait to see pics of the guitar back in its full glory! I don't have any saddles unfortunately. Hamer does however make new models with the classic sustainblock bridge now. Look at the Talladega on the Hamer web site. I am pretty sure you would be able to buy a set of saddles directly from Hamer. Check with the dealers on this board. I have done good business with Elduave and BCRGreg who posts here all the time. Both guys know a hell of a lot about Hamers, and are nice guys too - and they ship over seas, (ok I'm schmozing you guys, you can send me a couple of packs of free strings later ).
lincsman Posted January 18, 2012 Posted January 18, 2012 Welcome to the Hamer forum,Thats one great guitar looking forward to seeing it in its full glory
Brentrocks Posted January 18, 2012 Posted January 18, 2012 that is a cool sunbust dude!!! Welcome!!!!
svl Posted January 18, 2012 Posted January 18, 2012 Another 78 Grover bullseye for Kiz.Welcome to the board!
G Man Posted January 18, 2012 Posted January 18, 2012 Very nice Sunburst, and great story. How many times can a guitar be bought back? I am guessing you won't try for a third try. And another vote for those old DiMarzios, love em.Welcome aboard.
GooCart Posted January 18, 2012 Author Posted January 18, 2012 Hey guys and thanks for making me feel welcome! I have one thing I could need some help with. I have scanned the headstock logo from the '82 Standard and made a decal. I also measured the positioning but when looking at photos on '78 headstocks I see that the positioning isn't the same. Here's a low res photo of a '78 I found on the Internet and it's probably caused by the perspective distortion but the logo actually looks like it's rotated some. It would be really great if somebody with a 77-78 could do some quick measuring at the question marks.
rj2858 Posted January 18, 2012 Posted January 18, 2012 I can measure my '78 later on today when I get home and give you a distance from the top of the headstock to the edge of the "A" in USA, and give you a distance from the edge of the low "E" side to the top of the logo, at the "H", and at the "R", if that helps.Also, the 1980 Sunburst I bought in '82, came with a phenolic back cover, and I doubt that it was changed before I got it.
GooCart Posted January 18, 2012 Author Posted January 18, 2012 Thanks, I hope it wont be to much trouble for you.That thing about the back cover material was just something I read somewhere on the Internet, so I guess I'm pretty convinced that it is a '78 and that I have no reason doubt the 8 0126 serial number.Do you want to know when my oldest daghter was born? 1998 01 26......
The Shark Posted January 19, 2012 Posted January 19, 2012 Johan certainly has some experience with this style guitar. Here's one of his early guitars.... Kinda Hameresque....
cmatthes Posted January 19, 2012 Posted January 19, 2012 Welcome aboard, Magnus! Good to have you along, and that's a fantastic project to keep us all posted on. JG's work is top notch, without question.One thing I thought I'd mention is that the Hamer logos aren't waterslide decals, but are dry transfers (like the old Letraset stuff) - slight difference in that the dry transfers are more opaque than even the best waterslides. I have the correct sizes and font for both parts of the logo around, but unfortunately, mine are all in black. Check with Stike here to see how he got some accurate replacements made.
tomteriffic Posted January 19, 2012 Posted January 19, 2012 Welcome aboard! Very cool old Sunburst there!I think that the correct (or at least more correct than what you have) bridge saddles are available from several sources around here. It's possible that the factory has them to spare, since they are doing the Sustain Block bridges again.
rj2858 Posted January 19, 2012 Posted January 19, 2012 Magnus - I just measured both my '78 (# 0415) & '79 (#1191) Sunbursts for logo placement, and it doesn't look like you have to be too perfect with this.Sorry about this being in inches, it didn't occur to me, nor do I have the right tool, to do it in metric.From the edge of the low "E" side of the headstock to the top edge of the "H" in Hamer, they measure; - '78 - 1-1/8" '79 - 1"From the edge of the headstock to the top edge of the "R" in Hamer; - '78 - 31/32" '79 - 13/16"From the center of the "split" in the headstock to the edge of the "A" in USA - '78 - 1-5/16" '79 - 1-3/16"On the '79 the "Hamer" part of the logo just touches a tuner on the low side of the headstock, and on the '78, the "Sunburst" part of the logo just touches a tuner on the high side of the headstock. Seems to me that they basically "eyeballed" the placement.Good luck with project, but if I were you, I'd give a hard look at fellow member Murkat's website, (www.ntlguitar.com), as he's a pro who's done some great work with headstock repairs, and for some famous people (Ted Nugent and Peter Frampton good enough for you?). You'll be able to see some before & after shots, and how he did it. I have a feeling he'd tell you to brace yours.
Sentinel Posted January 19, 2012 Posted January 19, 2012 Välkommen!Nice to see you here. Good luck with your Sunburst. Really nice.BTW do you have any other Hamer's?Curt
GooCart Posted January 19, 2012 Author Posted January 19, 2012 cmatthes, when I wrote waterslides it was because I didn't know the correct English name for the decal type. The one I ordered are the Letraset style. I've already got it actually:) rj2858, big thanks for the measurements, I should have done it myself before I sanded the headstock but back then I wasn't paying much attention to that, I just wanted to fix the damned guitar. I've heard of ntlguitar, I'm following his work on Facebook. It's really interesting to see pros at work. The same with BCR Greg, I've seen his work at the MLP and it's amazing. However, it was a really clean brake and I managed to clamp it real tight so I hope it wont be a problem. Curt, yes I do have one more Hamer, the Sunburst I earlier in this thread called a '82. I looked at it last night and it was a '79. I hadn't opened up the case for ages and forgot the year. Duh!!
GooCart Posted January 19, 2012 Author Posted January 19, 2012 I'll try to shot some photos tonight but here's what I have right now. This is from a measuring session, that's why there's no pickups on the guitar. I haven't assembled it yet..... The guitars here are from front to back; '53 Gold Top '55 Junior '59 Melodymaker '79 Sunburst And while I'm at it, here are some other stuff I've uploaded at photobucket A pretty cool amp, the Bad Cat Wildcat, my '58 Les Paul Replica and a tele that belongs to a friend. Three replicas, How I wish I owned the Cobra but I don't. And finally the '58 replica, a little closer. I've changed the pup's since this photo. Now it sports a set of double creme Dimarzio PAF, both from old Hamers.
specialk Posted January 19, 2012 Posted January 19, 2012 Welcome!Nice pics of some nice stuff, congrats!
RichRS6 Posted January 19, 2012 Posted January 19, 2012 Wow, nice pics and lovely goldtop.Who built the replica 58 ?
GooCart Posted January 19, 2012 Author Posted January 19, 2012 Yeah, the Gold Top is really nice, it belongs to my brother in law.The replica is a team work. I work as a designer with 3d cad as my speciality and have had the privilege to laser scan and measure a couple of 50's Gibsons, including some original bursts and GT's. This guitar is CNC cut by a Swedish luthier and the paint job/aging is done by Tom Bartlett from Canada.
GooCart Posted January 19, 2012 Author Posted January 19, 2012 As promised, here are some photos of the '79 Sunburst. I don't know what to call this burst, Tobacco maybe? Pretty fine condition. I haven't used it that much but it sounds great, just like they all do. It's a little heavier than the '78, but not at all uncomfortable. I wonder if the switch tip is original? The '78 have a amber and I think that looks better. So, this is what I thought was a '82.....Does anybody know how many they did in '78 and '79? The Grovers are pretty nice aged. I guess they could use some oil, they aren't as smooth as they used to be. And here's a pretty little knot. It gives the guitar some character:) And again, this guitar is in nice condition. It's played but not abused. Off-center strap button. Not my thing but whatever... One question, does anybody know what kind of rosewood they used back in the late 70's? Both this one and the '78 sure looks like brazilian but I'm absolutely not an expert.
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