Studio Archtop Artist?

[soli'd]

HFC experts- a buddy of mine is just learning guitar, he was looking for a good value in a used electric. As usual, I suggested Hamer USA. He found an auction for an Artist, '59 Burst, pretty clean and pretty cheap, around $850 IIRC. When it arrived I checked it out with him and couldn't believe how clean it was. There's a little finish de-lamination on the bass side of the neck along the side markers but it's not chipping or anything. Other than that, CLEAN, even the back, no rash, etc...

Looking at the serial it's from '95, the first year of the Artist model, and specifically this appears to be a Studio Archtop Artist model- no binding, dot inlays, Wilkinson wrap tail. The guitar plays like a million bucks. Anyone know more about the early Artist models, how many in that first year, etc...? I keep claiming dibs should he not bond with it or something, but he's pretty excited about it- doubt he'll part with it.

[anotherfreak]

sounds like an "Artist".

Studio(a different guitar) and Archtop(a different guitar and prolly just a description) are not part of the title. Pics would clear anything up in a hurry,

[TBP]

I have one, which I also found for about that price--photo in my avatar-- and it's outstanding. Mine also has the finish issue both at the edge of the fretboard and some white spots/finish issues (I believe it's called "pizzaface" here) on the back of the neck. I don't have much other information, other than they originally had non-potted Duncan Seth Lovers pickups and the synthetic nut.

It's mentioned in the brief history here: http://www.vintageguitar.com/1877/the-history-of-hamer-part-four/

[Citrus]

The guitar was actually called an Artist Studio or Studio Artist in one of the catalogs

[soli'd]

This is what I was reading about it:

http://www.vintageguitar.com/1877/the-history-of-hamer-part-four/

"Artist Archtop, et al
In ’95 Hamer introduced the Artist Archtop (Model GATA), the Studio Archtop Artist, and the new version of the CruiseBass.

The Artist Archtop (sometimes also called the Artist Arched Top or Archtop Artist -fun, eh?) was very similar to the Sunburst Archtop, introduced in ’91. And like the Sunburst Archtop, the Artist Archtop played more name games as it evolved. The Artist Archtop was an equal double-cutaway (as with most Hamers, upper horn slightly extended) with a mahogany body and ivoroid-bound carved flamed maple top. Other features similar to the Sunburst Archtop included a mahogany neck, Hamer three-and-three headstock (blackface), a bound 22-fret, 243/4″ scale rosewood fingerboard with crown inlays, finetune bridge, stop tailpiece, twin humbuckers, three-way select, volume, and two tones. There were two primary differences; first the Artist Archtop was a semi-hollowbody with a sound chamber and f-hole, and the second was in pickups, which were Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers.

After the relocation, the Artist Archtop became known as the Artist Custom, the name it carries today.

Also introduced in ’95 was the Studio Archtop Artist. This was essentially the same as the Archtop Artist, except it lacked body and fingerboard binding, and had dot inlays. The original version also had a Wilkinson Wrap Around bridge, although by ’97 this had changed to a finetune bridge and stop tailpiece. By ’96 the name had changed to become simply the Artist Studio (Model GATA-SO). In ’97, the name changed again to just plain Artist. This model remains in the line to this day.

There would be further variations on the Artist Series, as it became known, but we’ll come back to this in a moment..."

[crunchee]

Pics would clear anything up in a hurry,

^^^^^This.^^^^^ Hamer model name changes and the resulting confusion is maddening, ESPECIALLY without photos!

[cmatthes]

Those are one of Hamer's "sleepers" - real gems that weren't totally appreciated, but definitely deliver.