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1995 Hamer Studio Bridge Question


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Hi!

Back in the mid 90's I bought a beautiful Studio Archtop '59 burst.  I sold it some years later and regretted it since.  Recently, I found a replacement, a 1995.  I remember mine having a 2-piece tailpiece, but this one has a 1 piece.  Must have been a spec change for 1995.  To make matters more interesting, as I was googling images of '95s to confirm they were 1-pience, the bridges looked different than mine.  Does anyone know what kind of bridge/tailpiece this is, and if it was a common mod?  Looks beefier, and maybe better saddles for intonation?  Any reason to consider going back to vintage spec? 

Thanks!

Ryan

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That one is aftermarket.  The mid-90s stoptail Studios shipped with Wilkinson bridges.

Hamer 95 Studio wraptail.jpg

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9 hours ago, rephillips said:

Hi!

Back in the mid 90's I bought a beautiful Studio Archtop '59 burst.  I sold it some years later and regretted it since.  Recently, I found a replacement, a 1995.  I remember mine having a 2-piece tailpiece, but this one has a 1 piece.  Must have been a spec change for 1995.  To make matters more interesting, as I was googling images of '95s to confirm they were 1-pience, the bridges looked different than mine.  Does anyone know what kind of bridge/tailpiece this is, and if it was a common mod?  Looks beefier, and maybe better saddles for intonation?  Any reason to consider going back to vintage spec? 

Thanks!

Ryan

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I think this is a Schaller wrap-around 455. A good quality replacement for someone who wants fully adjustable intonation. The Wilko bridges Hamer fitted are a bit rubbish, so all sorts of replacements have been employed by Studio owners.

Edited to add, earlier Studios/Sunbursts/Archtops/Artists came with a Schaller tuno-o-matic and stop tail piece. The single piece wrap-tail bridge was used from about '94-'96 and only on so called "Studio" models, those without binding and with dot markers.

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3 hours ago, Andrew said:

I think this is a Schaller wrap-around 455. A good quality replacement for someone who wants fully adjustable intonation. The Wilko bridges Hamer fitted are a bit rubbish, so all sorts of replacements have been employed by Studio owners.

Edited to add, earlier Studios/Sunbursts/Archtops/Artists came with a Schaller tuno-o-matic and stop tail piece. The single piece wrap-tail bridge was used from about '94-'96 and only on so called "Studio" models, those without binding and with dot markers.

Great info--thank you!  The one I had before must have been a '92 or '93.  Which would make sense as I remember playing it during my senior year of HS and into college before I stupidly sold it to waste money on something else....probably rent...LOL.

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2 hours ago, Hamer_SS_guy said:

Gibson used that bridge in the early 80's, including a similar looking model, the Gibson Spirit.

 

Gibson_Spirit.jpg

Is that a Spirit? Looks like a Sunburst knockoff. Ha! :)

 

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Welcome to the group rephillips. That's a nice looking Studio from what I can see.(That's a hint that we like guitar porn here). 

I've never used that Schaller bridge but they have a good rep with guys that have. That's one of the things that the Wilkinson bridge has a hard time with. They look good, work ok, but if you believe in intonation you may be disappointed. There are several wraparound type bridges that are adjustable and I would recommend looking at a few before investing in the Wilky.

I switched my Studio to the Faber Wraparound bridge and like it much better. They have changed their design and I would expect it to be even better. 

I also expect a 20% sale e-mail from Faber for the 4th of July. They seem to have that sale pretty often. If/when I get the notice I will post it here. 

 

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1 hour ago, Hbom said:

Welcome to the group rephillips. That's a nice looking Studio from what I can see.(That's a hint that we like guitar porn here). 

I've never used that Schaller bridge but they have a good rep with guys that have. That's one of the things that the Wilkinson bridge has a hard time with. They look good, work ok, but if you believe in intonation you may be disappointed. There are several wraparound type bridges that are adjustable and I would recommend looking at a few before investing in the Wilky.

I switched my Studio to the Faber Wraparound bridge and like it much better. They have changed their design and I would expect it to be even better. 

I also expect a 20% sale e-mail from Faber for the 4th of July. They seem to have that sale pretty often. If/when I get the notice I will post it here. 

 

Thanks!  So glad I found my way to this forum...you guys rock!!!  

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10 hours ago, sonic1974 said:

Is that a Spirit? Looks like a Sunburst knockoff. Ha! :)

 

Both the Gibson and Epiphone Kalamazoo-made Spirit models were unabashed copies of the Hamer Sunburst. I think these particular Gibsons were produced in '82 and '83, right on the heels of the Sunburst's rise to prominence. Perhaps if Paul and Jol had sued Gibson....

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33 minutes ago, BubbaVO said:

Do you have the locking studs on that?  Lots of people swear by them. 

Unfortunately the guitar is away from me at the moment so I can't go check.  Would I be looking for screws that tighten the bridge to the posts (studs)?  Or something else?

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On 7/1/2019 at 10:55 AM, Hbom said:

I also expect a 20% sale e-mail from Faber for the 4th of July. They seem to have that sale pretty often. If/when I get the notice I will post it here. 

 

I also strongly put a plug in for the Faber stuff.  I’ve got one on my Stiked Gibson LP “Way Cool” Jr. and one on my Baker flametop single pickup LP thang.  Killer units and well made.  Getting ‘em cheaper during the sale is a no-brainer to me!

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16 hours ago, Biz Prof said:

Both the Gibson and Epiphone Kalamazoo-made Spirit models were unabashed copies of the Hamer Sunburst.

I know it’s nice to think that, but, in reality, if we’re talking about body shapes (which is what Gibson is suing over), the Sunburst is an unabashed copy of the Les Paul Special Double Cut which began life in the ‘50s.

8507B20D-4D5E-4012-8FE9-8AAA7732F90B.jpeg

 

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14 minutes ago, gtrdaddy said:

I know it’s nice to think that, but, in reality, if we’re talking about body shapes (which is what Gibson is suing over), the Sunburst is an unabashed copy of the Les Paul Special Double Cut which began life in the ‘50s.

gtfo with your "facts."

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If I remember right, the Gibson Spirit is not all mahogany construction. The neck is maple and the body did vary from maple to other woods (it was advertised as "selected american hardwoods"). Hmm, should be interesting for me, all maple construction. In fact, I wanted a Spirit XPL (or a double cutaway Les Paul DC XPL) badly, when they came out. Would have loved if they had a FR trem. Fortunately, there was that Billy Idol guitarist who had a smaller guitar company build a signature guitar for him. That guitar had a Floyd, was available with block inlays and it had a 6L headstock. I have never seen any of the Gibson XPL models (a V with Explorer head was also available) here in Germany. The Schaller bridge has been used by other companies too. Kramer used it, Carvin too. Also Ovation had a similar bridge. The new Schaller "Signum" bridge looks nice, and I believe it's "locking".

 

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For the record, there's a seller on Reverb - Musik-Butik - who sells Faber parts every day at prices lower than Faber's 20% sales.  I've purchased two metric ABRM bridges from him and I don't see a single flaw so they appear to be 1st quality.

Shipping is slow, but it's free economy from Germany.

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