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Can someone tell me about my Cruise bass?


randelli

Question

Posted

I mentioned this bass in my introductory thread. I bought in 2002 at a pawn shop for $600 cause I trusted the owner and he swore it was a great bass. Boy am I glad I did. This bass has always been a great sounding and playing instrument. It was my first Hamer. It is the only guitar I have not modded. It is the guitar I know absolutely nothing about. Here is hoping that you can all enlighten me.

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First of all, when was it made? Is this a particularly good period for Hamer? As I said; it is an amazing bass.

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Obviously it is a J-Bass and not a P-Bass. Was one more common than the other? What is with the crazy Jetson's pick guard? hat does Hamer call this color? What are the stock pickups in this model? They really sound fantastic so I have never considered changing them; but I would like to know what they are.

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So this bass has the Tek2 bridge. I know it is the Tek2 bridge because I have two separate propagandi in my case that tells me all about it. Is this why I have such great tone? Is this why there is sustain for days? I wonder if they made Tek2 bridges for guitars? Did Hamer make any guitars with Tek2 bridges? Will I ever run out of questions??

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Finally, does this look like the stock wiring? Look how the ground is ran through the tabs and not soldered to the pot base - never seen that before. I noticed that if the two volumes are at the same point on the sweep they start to cancel out. Kinda cool, but what would I need to do to change that? Would I want to change that? The pots seem like an odd value, not your standard 250K single coil or 500K humbucker value, maybe that is contributing to the tone? Are these normal values for bass guitars? I know what I would put in a guitar but have no clue what bass values are. Notice the little cap! I have all PIO caps in my guitars, various values for the different guitars, but what is the standard value in this bass? Would a cap change or possible treble bleed add any noticeable difference? Again, I have no idea what is normal for basses, nor have I heard of many people modding them.

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Finally Finally; does anything look out of order on this?

Thanks for looking. I look forward to your comments.

17 answers to this question

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Posted

The first digit in the serial number gives you the year. Your bass was made in 1995.

The 2Tek bridge was an option at the time. The member on this message board by the name of zilmo owns the 2Tek company.

Posted

The 2Tek bridge was an option at the time. The member on this message board by the name of zilmo owns the 2Tek company.

That is great to know. Are they still in business....... I hope! I would love to find one for a guitar design I am working on.

Posted

I have a Cruise Bass just like yours, and the wiring is exactly the same.

You can get 2Tek bridges on the Warmoth site. Both guitar and bass versions.

Posted

I have a Cruise Bass just like yours, and the wiring is exactly the same.

You can get 2Tek bridges on the Warmoth site. Both guitar and bass versions.

I would really like to find the original old style with the long fold-back fingers.

Posted

I see those on eBay once in a great while. I just took another look at mine and I have the smaller version. My bass is a '96.

Also, I have very fond memories of that ad from when it was in Bass Player magazine back in the day.

Posted

The smaller, lighter version of the original 2TEK was fitted on the Hamer Cruisebasses in '96. Essentially the same. but one row of screws on a smaller plate...and a few less ounces. Still sounds amazing.

Yours looks great! Original Candy Blue finish, which was one of the few that came with a matching headstock.

Posted

Love the matching headstock. The 2teks must help it sound great based on the what the product description says. I'm intrigued by the concept, for the guitar version too.

Posted

Yours is stock. Pickups are Duncan Basslines. Awesome basses!

Posted

I found a jazz bass wiring diagram.

jazz-bass-std.jpg

The hot wire and cap are swapped on my tone pot. I wonder if this was done on purpose?

Posted

Great bass! Guess you've been saving up your questions about it over the last 13 years :)

Nice color. It's called "Blue" (pronounced "bloo".). Well, ypu asked us to tell you something about your bass.

Also......

Yes, 2TEK makes a 6-string guitar bridge version but I do not believe Hamer ever used it.....although I bought one with the intent of using it on a Hamer. Haven't gotten around to it yet..

No, there was no PBass version, just the Jazz one.

And the Cruise Bass was the first bass to ever get a perfect 5 Star review when it came out (1994?) in Bass Player Magazine !

Your's may be the same one from that Hamer ad you found but you would have to blacklight the back to figure that out.

Posted

Great bass! Guess you've been saving up your questions about it over the last 13 years :)

Nice color. It's called "Blue" (pronounced "bloo".). Well, ypu asked us to tell you something about your bass.

Also......

Yes, 2TEK makes a 6-string guitar bridge version but I do not believe Hamer ever used it.....although I bought one with the intent of using it on a Hamer. Haven't gotten around to it yet..

No, there was no PBass version, just the Jazz one.

And the Cruise Bass was the first bass to ever get a perfect 5 Star review when it came out (1994?) in Bass Player Magazine !

Your's may be the same one from that Hamer ad you found but you would have to blacklight the back to figure that out.

What would the black light show?

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