The_Nuge Posted September 28, 2017 Posted September 28, 2017 Hi! I've bought, but not yet received, a 1993 USA Archtop Special from the original owner. The pickups are original and Seymour Duncan, but whatt exactly are they? The neck is zebra, the bridge black btw:! Cheers Es
The_Nuge Posted September 29, 2017 Author Posted September 29, 2017 Thanks! Will post pics & story when it gets here! Es
The_Nuge Posted October 4, 2017 Author Posted October 4, 2017 Hi again, The guitar got here today, and I'm very happy so far! It's in really quite good condition, with just very minor buckle rash on the back, but otherwise pretty clean. It has Sperzel locking tuners fitted (not sure why - the regular ones are just fine), but the original ones are in the case. I cleaned it, oiled the board and set it up for 10s - and it rocks! The pups are maybe a touch too hot for my taste, but they do work well with old-school amps for rock. With it's "sister"...: and the whole family :-) Cheers E
The_Nuge Posted October 5, 2017 Author Posted October 5, 2017 I just found this on here: " Sunburst Archtop (1991 - date) - Similar styling to the Sunburst but with a carved figured maple archtop (opaque finishes have all mahogany construction) and fitted with a tune-o-matic bridge, stop tailpiece (Floyd Rose also an option) and Seymour Duncan humbuckers. The Standard guitar has a rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays, the Custom has a bound neck with crown inlays. Later known as just the Archtop (from 1994 -1997) and then as the Studio Custom (same as Custom above) from 1997. The Studio version (from 1993 - date) is the same as the Archtop Standard but with an unbound body; guitars from 1995/6 are fitted with a Wilkinson Hardtail Wrap Around bridge. Known from 1997 as the Studio. The Archtop GT (1993 - 1997) is the same as the Archtop Standard and Custom but has a gold top (black also available) and is fitted with P-90 Soapbar pickups. " That makes mine a "Standard" I suppose, because of the bound body?! Cheers E
The_Nuge Posted October 5, 2017 Author Posted October 5, 2017 So, Can anyone confirm that it's an "Archtop Standard"? Also, is the TRC original? It's not the same as the '95 with P90s... Cheers Es
tbonesullivan Posted October 6, 2017 Posted October 6, 2017 That TRC does not look original. I have 4 guitars from that era, and all have the kinda oval shaped TRC. That looks like a Gibson one.
Stike Posted October 7, 2017 Posted October 7, 2017 On 10/5/2017 at 9:35 PM, tbonesullivan said: That TRC does not look original. I have 4 guitars from that era, and all have the kinda oval shaped TRC. That looks like a Gibson one. I have a 1992 carve top, b&c Sunburst, it came with a Gibson style bell cover. Not sure when the switch was made but I heard Henry hadn’t something to do with it. Mine also came with a SD Custom Custom in the bridge position and a 59 in the neck.
The Shark Posted October 7, 2017 Posted October 7, 2017 1 hour ago, Stike said: I have a 1992 carve top, b&c Sunburst, it came with a Gibson style bell cover. Not sure when the switch was made but I heard Henry hadn’t something to do with it. Mine also came with a SD Custom Custom in the bridge position and a 59 in the neck. I put 'em on all my Hamers. The wide bells are so cool.
cmatthes Posted October 10, 2017 Posted October 10, 2017 Tough to see without a closeup of the TRC, but it looks original to me. It looks identical to the one that came on the 1991 Standard I custom ordered.
crunchee Posted October 10, 2017 Posted October 10, 2017 On 10/4/2017 at 10:48 PM, The_Nuge said: I just found this on here: " Sunburst Archtop (1991 - date) - Similar styling to the Sunburst but with a carved figured maple archtop (opaque finishes have all mahogany construction) and fitted with a tune-o-matic bridge, stop tailpiece (Floyd Rose also an option) and Seymour Duncan humbuckers. The Standard guitar has a rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays, the Custom has a bound neck with crown inlays. Later known as just the Archtop (from 1994 -1997) and then as the Studio Custom (same as Custom above) from 1997. The Studio version (from 1993 - date) is the same as the Archtop Standard but with an unbound body; guitars from 1995/6 are fitted with a Wilkinson Hardtail Wrap Around bridge. Known from 1997 as the Studio. The Archtop GT (1993 - 1997) is the same as the Archtop Standard and Custom but has a gold top (black also available) and is fitted with P-90 Soapbar pickups. " That makes mine a "Standard" I suppose, because of the bound body?! Cheers E On 10/5/2017 at 1:05 PM, The_Nuge said: So, Can anyone confirm that it's an "Archtop Standard"? Also, is the TRC original? It's not the same as the '95 with P90s... Cheers Es On 10/5/2017 at 8:35 PM, tbonesullivan said: That TRC does not look original. I have 4 guitars from that era, and all have the kinda oval shaped TRC. That looks like a Gibson one. On 10/6/2017 at 8:47 PM, Stike said: I have a 1992 carve top, b&c Sunburst, it came with a Gibson style bell cover. Not sure when the switch was made but I heard Henry hadn’t something to do with it. Mine also came with a SD Custom Custom in the bridge position and a 59 in the neck. Dot inlays, no neck binding = 'Standard'. Trapezoid (LP style) inlays, bound neck ='Custom'. Not to be confused with the Explorer-shaped 'Standard' model guitar, which could ALSO be a 'Custom' with the LP-style inlays and bound neck. Both the 'Standard' and 'Custom' Archtops had front-edge body binding. Studios had dot inlays and NO binding on the neck or on the body, but the waters got muddied later on around 1996/7 or so with more name changes, with 'Studio Customs' and whatnot, and I'm not touching that part of the topic because it'd drive me crazy! Welcome to the Hamer Name Game! IIRC, Hamer USA used THREE different truss rod cover shapes in the early-mid '90's: (1) Gibson-style (as also used by Hamer in the '80's); (2) a rounded 'flared' or 'Bell Bottom' style that was used only briefly in the early-mid '90's--maybe a year or two or three; and (3) the 'pointed' style that was used for the rest of the 1990's, which reminds me of the pointed Gretsch truss rod covers, but with not as many screw holes/screws. I'm NOT counting imports AT ALL...that's an entirely different bucket of worms!
The_Nuge Posted October 11, 2017 Author Posted October 11, 2017 Excellent info guys! Thanks very much!
tbonesullivan Posted October 11, 2017 Posted October 11, 2017 Wow, never knew they used the bell in the 90s. My 4 90's Hamers all have the pointy TRC, and my 2000 newport does too.
crunchee Posted October 11, 2017 Posted October 11, 2017 1 hour ago, tbonesullivan said: Wow, never knew they used the bell in the 90s. Which one?
The_Nuge Posted October 11, 2017 Author Posted October 11, 2017 On 10.10.2017 at 5:49 PM, serial said: Where's this from? Cheers Es
crunchee Posted October 11, 2017 Posted October 11, 2017 56 minutes ago, The_Nuge said: It's in "The Book": https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Hamer-Guitars-Illustrated-History/dp/0764343521/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1507743404&sr=1-1&keywords=hamer+guitars Here on the HFC, cmatthes or serial might still have a few copies available, wouldn't hurt to ask them.
The_Nuge Posted October 11, 2017 Author Posted October 11, 2017 1 hour ago, crunchee said: It's in "The Book": https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Hamer-Guitars-Illustrated-History/dp/0764343521/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1507743404&sr=1-1&keywords=hamer+guitars Here on the HFC, cmatthes or serial might still have a few copies available, wouldn't hurt to ask them. I have the book, but mine doesn't have that page in it! At least I don't think so...
crunchee Posted October 11, 2017 Posted October 11, 2017 33 minutes ago, The_Nuge said: I have the book, but mine doesn't have that page in it! At least I don't think so... Oops. I can't find my copy at the moment, so I can't look to be sure. But 'it's in "The Book"' used to be a buzzword/phrase here on the HFC for awhile. Whatever book it's in, it looks like serial's got it.
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The_Nuge
Hi!
I've bought, but not yet received, a 1993 USA Archtop Special from the original owner.
The pickups are original and Seymour Duncan, but whatt exactly are they? The neck is zebra, the bridge black btw:!
Cheers
Es
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