Studio Neck Profiles

[VDeuce]

I've been thinking of buying a Studio or perhaps a Monaco Elite and wonder what the neck profiles are like on models made since around '03.

Do these guitars generally have similar profiles or do they differ depending on year? I realize there will be some variance due to sanding, etc..

I'm used to Historic Les Paul necks and would like something with some chunk, but not larger than an R9 Les Paul, preferrably something similar to a 50s neck LP Standard.

Thanks!

[Jack C]

You should be in luck. For the past few years, Hamer has offered two carves - Vintage (thick) and Modern (thinner). I think Vintage is the standard carve and it is probably really similar to the regular Les Paul 50s neck. They aren't huge like some Historics (which I would prefer).

[Steve Haynie]

Early 90's Hamer Studio/Sunburst or Special necks were thinner. Today they no longer make them as thin as they did back then. Definitely from 1995 on up they had the slightly thicker necks.

[VDeuce]

Excellent, thanks!

Is there any way to tell from a serial number what carve a guitar has? Perhaps by asking Hamer?

[silentman]

The tolerences on the new Hamer necks are pretty consistent. I spoke with the guy who carves em at the factory and he uses a caliper and even takes the paint thickness into consideration when carving. He knocks out nearly all of them at vintage unless there are custom specs or modern is requested. Hamer necks have gotten on the bigger side (for me). My last hamer (delivered in Apr) I requested slightly thinner than modern and got exactly what I wanted. FYI I'd guess they went with a modern/vintage option sometime in 2003/2004. This kinda came about by HFC request that Hamer offer choices like PRS does.