sixesandsevens Posted February 7, 2013 Posted February 7, 2013 The subject says it all: Which current production pickup is most like the old early 80's Hamer Slammers? (Edit to clarify the years)
zenmindbeginner Posted February 7, 2013 Posted February 7, 2013 The Hamer Slammer pickups are fairly full bobbins of plain enamel 44AWG wire.Alnico V magnets with metal spacer on a brass baseplate... standard slug and screw design.16-17K resistance with a decent inductance and with a resonant peak somewhere in between the SD Custom family and the JB.DiMarzio's Tone Zone is the closest to the Slammer. The DiMarzio AT-1 is like a smoother and less boomy Tone Zone.As far as Seymour Duncan is concerned, the JB is very close to the Hamer Slammer.A blind tone comparison between the JB, Tone Zone and Hamer Slammer pups would be pretty much splitting hairs IMHO.I'd go with a Tone Zone though.
Andrew Posted February 7, 2013 Posted February 7, 2013 You need to be more specific.The earliest slammers (82) were overwound DiMarzio PAFs and came in at a reasonable 9-10 kohm.Over the years the DC resistance crept up to about 10.5-11.But the final ones in 88 were indeed a hefty 16-17 kohm.Sorry Zen, but I have to disagree - no Seymour Duncan ever sounded much like an 80s DMZ, I find the JB much more mid-rangy (paunchy rather than punchy).I am not familiar with today's DMZ line so can't help that much but for pre-87 Slammers you need a hot PAF type, for the later higher resistance ones Tone Zone does indeed seem the closest.
sixesandsevens Posted February 7, 2013 Author Posted February 7, 2013 Thanks for the history lesson! In this case it's the earlier models ('83), so it sounds like I'm looking for some kind of PAFs. So if anyone else has a specific make and model they feel like is close to those earlier Slammers, I'm all ears.
Disturber Posted February 7, 2013 Posted February 7, 2013 I didn't think the 16K Slammer in my SSII sounded like a JB either. I had much more of a PAF character, more like the Duncan Custom then, but without sounding like a Duncan - if ya know what I mean. But then I don't play with the amount of gain that Geoff does, perhaps it moves in to JB territory when it's going to a Marshall at melt down settings.Right now I'm in love the the 10 K Slammers. They are awesome. When did they start branding the back plates "Hamer Slammer" and not just "Hamer"?I even think the earliest black ones where marked "Dimarzio", but they are still considered to be a Slammer pup, or am I wrong?
sixesandsevens Posted February 7, 2013 Author Posted February 7, 2013 I even think the earliest black ones where marked "Dimarzio", but they are still considered to be a Slammer pup, or am I wrong?There's an interview with Jol on the HFC homepage where he talks about getting the box of PAFs from Gibson at the tour and how the DiMarzio pickups evolved from saying "DiMarzio" to "Hamer". Mine say "Hamer USA Guitars" under them, and (assuming they're original) are from an '83 Special.
Andrew Posted February 7, 2013 Posted February 7, 2013 I think late 82 are the first Hamer branded ones, but by 83 the black ones were all Hamer. Interestingly I have an 84 Standard with the usual cream and zebra layout and these are Hamer branded but still in PAF resistance (8.5 kohm) rather than the Slammer's 10.5.As to the nearest current DMZ - possibly the 12kohm Norton?
zenmindbeginner Posted February 7, 2013 Posted February 7, 2013 As far as the JB = Slammer... I obviously was talking about the 16K Slammer. Here's the deal on the closeness of sound:When I got my 1st Centaura, I thought that It had a JB in the bridge for the first 6 months I had it. When I went to replace the SSL-1s with some DiMarzios... I was dumbfounded to learn that the pickup that I thought was the JB was actually a 16K Slammer. lolz! So, I popped in a regular production JB and VOILA, my sound didn't change one damn bit (although the JB did seem to have a tiny bit more buttery midrange). Next was a Tone Zone... sound again, didn't change all that much except for the Tone Zone being a little less compressed and had a tighter low end than the JB.A full bobbin 44AWG wire wind with an Alnico V magnet on a brass baseplate will have a particular set of sound characteristics and ALL pickups with these specs will share that sonic imprint. The JB sits on a nickel silver baseplate so will have a slightly different character than the Tone Zone and 16K Slammer.So, enough about the 16K which the OP isn't interested in.The 10-11K are the special ones and are very unique like Andrew and Disturber mentioned.I have a Slammer that I dissected somewhere... I'll try and dig it up and take another look at it and check the materials one more time.I'm just not sure if it uses a metric gauge of wire that is somewhere between 42AWG and 43AWG or is an underwound 43AWG or overwound 42AWG.If it's the metric gauge of wire (which I am now suspecting that it is) then the Screamin' Demon would be a pretty good replacement since it is a 42.5 AWG and allow a nice full (not overwound) bobbin at around 10K.The Screamin' Demon does seem like a good replacement (It's going to have a bit lighter or "airy" sound since it has hex screws instead of slugs though).A Screamin' Demon/Norton hybrid might be a good bet too since you'd have the slug coil from the Norton and the screw coil from the Screamin' Demon but that's going a bit insane.
Disturber Posted February 7, 2013 Posted February 7, 2013 I think late 82 are the first Hamer branded ones, but by 83 the black ones were all Hamer. Interestingly I have an 84 Standard with the usual cream and zebra layout and these are Hamer branded but still in PAF resistance (8.5 kohm) rather than the Slammer's 10.5.I have an 1986 with the paf recistance creme & zebra output that are marked "Dimarzo". They are original.Zen, what about the Dimarzio Transition neck with a replaced mag for an A5. Could that be similar? The Transition neck has an output of 10,23 K.http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/humbuckers/transition-neck
zenmindbeginner Posted February 7, 2013 Posted February 7, 2013 Zen, what about the Dimarzio Transition neck with a replaced mag for an A5. Could that be similar? The Transition neck has an output of 10,23 K.http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/humbuckers/transition-neckThat would be a great candidate! The only problem is that the output might drop rather significantly with a magnet swap to A5 from ceramic.The Slammers most likely had two identical coils but the Transitions seem to be dual resonance with slightly mismatched coils... but maybe the Slammers were dual resonance too?That could explain for the midrange separation and rather open voice of the Slammer.
Punkavenger Posted February 14, 2013 Posted February 14, 2013 https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/pickups.php?cat=humbuckers&sub=vintage_hot&pickup=black_dogThe black dog bridge is 9.4K with Alnico 5 magnets ... considered a hot PAF
Bennyboy-UK Posted February 14, 2013 Posted February 14, 2013 I like the single coil Slammers particularly - what's the story with those ones?
Andrew Posted February 14, 2013 Posted February 14, 2013 I like the single coil Slammers particularly - what's the story with those ones?They are half a Slammer HB, literally, with magnet pole pieces to make them strat-like. It was originally so they matched the HB in the triple coil guitars, starting with cream ones in the Prototype, but carried on beyond the triple coil years.In 82 they are about 4.2 kohm, (HB PAF 8.4)In 85 about 5.5 kohm (HB slammer 10.5)In 88 about 7.5 kohm (HB slammer 15.0), all approximate.Almost certainly the same Alnico 5 magnets as the FS-1, but all the same height and flush.
ZR Posted February 14, 2013 Posted February 14, 2013 Yeah, I'm a fan of the old Slammer singles. I have 2 in my Chap Custom...but they weren't stock. It had SD's in there before along with a JB in the bridge. Currently, I have a Tone Zone but may swap that out with a Slammer Hummer I have to make it like an older stock setup from yesteryear. Still love the TZ though and if I don't like the Slammer sound it will go right back in.
anotherfreak Posted February 15, 2013 Posted February 15, 2013 I love this board you guys are the SCHIZNIT!!!!!!!!!
Bennyboy-UK Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 Yeah, I'm a fan of the old Slammer singles. I have 2 in my Chap Custom...but they weren't stock. It had SD's in there before along with a JB in the bridge. Currently, I have a Tone Zone but may swap that out with a Slammer Hummer I have to make it like an older stock setup from yesteryear. Still love the TZ though and if I don't like the Slammer sound it will go right back in. Did I PIF you one about 4 years ago?
ZR Posted February 17, 2013 Posted February 17, 2013 Yeah, I'm a fan of the old Slammer singles. I have 2 in my Chap Custom...but they weren't stock. It had SD's in there before along with a JB in the bridge. Currently, I have a Tone Zone but may swap that out with a Slammer Hummer I have to make it like an older stock setup from yesteryear. Still love the TZ though and if I don't like the Slammer sound it will go right back in.Did I PIF you one about 4 years ago?Yes, you did...you're the one! Thanks so much!!
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sixesandsevens
The subject says it all: Which current production pickup is most like the old early 80's Hamer Slammers?
(Edit to clarify the years)
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