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Get me out of the 90's!


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Ok, so the Hamer I have, the Hamer I had, and the Hamer's I'm looking at right now are all from the mid-90s.  But I know there is much more out there and I am just fixated on that era for some reason.

So...Hamer experts...what should I open my mind to?  What is considered the "golden age"?  And thanks for entertaining my newbie questions...caught a bad case of HAS a month ago. :)

Thanks!

-Ryan

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That's my favorite era for Hamers. I like the dotneck and bound/crowned Standards, mahogany standards, korina Vector/Standards and Studio/Studio Customs. A good time for wood selection and quality of construction, IMO.

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I'm not an expert,   I love the mid-90s too.   So many cool guitars from that era. They made substantial instruments then.   I've owned various studios, duotones, a mirage, centaura and daytonas.  That's  what hooked me on the brand.   I only owned one 80s era Hamer - a TLE  which had a completely different vibe than the 90s stuff.  But the CT era was just next level.  The Newport and Tally I had were great guitars.   

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I love them all... each era has its own pros and cons... I love the pointy guitars from the 80s and the wood has dried-out creating nice resonant sounding bodies... love the mahogany artist, Korina Vectors and Standards from the 90's... the 2000's Korina Vectors & Standards weren't so shabby either... I wish I could afford a late 70s early 80s 4-Digit Standard

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I like all era’s, my favorite however is the NH era. The build quality was at its peak and the craftsmanship was second to none. I also like the era for the new models that were ushered in during this period such as the Newport, Monaco series, and Tally.

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i have no too much Hamer's , and if a take a look of my babies they breathe 90s

im in love with my fastly californian elite 96 and my beatter 96 cruise bass

in argentina ( my country) say Hamer (sad) is not for too much people ,here its a relative unknow brand . but the big 80/90s rockers here had one

 funny, the guitars players who dont know the brand but watch my babies says : sell it me🤣. jejeje there is no way

from the begginings (with a Hamer in my hands) i was surprised about their quality construction , the hardware quality everybody knows where find it but the  perfect wood plus the hand made construction.........not easy to find this days in a brand new gears

 i have my fingers ready ( not my wallet for now) to catch a Impact and a scarab in the future and try the 80s era( i need take care couse there are a myth around here that says: exist a kind of ghost who buy all scarab that appear 🤨 ,the people call it @Scarab85 🤐, i need to be carefull

so returning to your point.......for sure the experts here can tell us ( and why not shows us (pics)) the golden Hamer era, but to me ,all hamers are a piece of art, and bass/guitars for all my entire life

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My first Hamer was a ‘94. Of all the Hamers I’ve had, the majority of them came from the ‘90s. It was a great era of superb guitars. 

I’ve had a ‘78 Sunburst, Vector and Prototype from the early 80’s, Chapparal and Californian from the late 80’s, Artist Korina and Talladega from the 2000’s. 

All of my other Hamers have been from the ‘90s. I don’t think you can go wrong with any Hamer. 

But, to answer your question, and to encourage your GAS, you should try a couple from the late 70’s/early 80’s and a couple from the 2000’s. See which ones tickle your fancy the most. Only way to know if you like them is to try them. 

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12 hours ago, rephillips said:

Ok, so the Hamer I have, the Hamer I had, and the Hamer's I'm looking at right now are all from the mid-90s.  But I know there is much more out there and I am just fixated on that era for some reason.

So...Hamer experts...what should I open my mind to?  What is considered the "golden age"?  And thanks for entertaining my newbie questions...caught a bad case of HAS a month ago. :)

Thanks!

-Ryan

I'm certain it's been discussed here ad nauseum, but to me, Hamer--both structurally and culturally--seemed to have three (maybe four or five if you count the firm's infancy or post-mortem build-outs separately) distinct eras:  the early years (Palatine, early Arlington Heights) through the mid '80s, the Arlington Heights/Kaman-induced growth spurt (late '80s through the late '90s), and the New Hartford era (late '90s through the end). Players have their preferences, although I think we can agree that all eras of Hamers were remarkable. I have the same tendencies you do toward the '90s Arlington Heights era, although the prospect of owning an early-era Special or Sunburst would be intriguing.

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I've had the chance to try Hamers from all over the spectrum,  different pickup configurations,  late 70s, 90s and early 2000s, hollow body and the T 51 (tele copy). 

All were consistently great guitars. Really I think the main thing that I would consider now ...

If only I had cash right now to pick up a new one! 🤣

Neck carve that I liked

Cool color 

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After slugging through a ton of Hamers, the 90's have become my least favorite. Beside some limited pieces here and there. The Hartford stuff is second to none, and if you like the feel of a vintage guitar, the Late 70's Sunburst are great guitars. 

80's Prototypes and Phantoms ROCK! 

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The neck carve changed thru the '90s. The early '90s were more flat/wide, the later '90s on up 'til the end were fuller-feeling (to me, anyways. YMMV).

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I have loved every 90s Hamer I've played (I don't count the Floyded ones). They have all had the sweetest Hamer necks, especially the ones around 1995. Most 90s Hamers are kinda non blingy, more simple working mans instruments. I love that. 

I also love anything from Hamer from the 70's. Standards, Sunbursts. 

The stuff made after 2000 is most often imaculate. Love them too. But I like the 90s stuff better, because of the neck profiles.

The 80's stuff. Some is great, some is to much 80s for me. I don't like Floyd Rose equipped guitars these days. The hair band finnishes and the guitars with locking trems in general I don't like so much. The Californian has way to many frets, the Virtouso is the ugliest Hamer ever made etc. But the early 80s guitars are way more attractive than the late 80's guitars.

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20 minutes ago, Disturber said:

The Californian has way to many frets, the Virtouso is the ugliest Hamer ever made

Pfft... I don't think so, but then again I play a Scepter 😆

The Vert is one of the most awesome guitars I have ever played... It's lightweight and sonically euphoric!.. young man you just need to sit in the corner and think about what you just said 😛weHmGVI.jpg

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5 minutes ago, Dave Scepter said:

Pfft... I don't think so, but then again I play a Scepter 😆

The Vert is one of the most awesome guitars I ever have ever played... It's lightweight and sonically euphoric!.. young man you just need to sit in the corner and think about what you just said 😛weHmGVI.jpg

I always thought they were neat guitars, not my thing, but I always appreciated what they are. The Danelectro Longhorn influence in design is very evident. Coolness factor definitely on the plus side.

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22 minutes ago, gtrdaddy said:

The Danelectro Longhorn influence in design is very evident. Coolness factor definitely on the plus side.

Actually it only looks like Longhorns because of the shadowing of the deep body neck access scalloping... this photo does seem to accentuate that but if you look closely, there's quite a bit body real estate still there... I admit they're not for everyone but they sure are fun guitars to play... and did I mention sonically euphoric?😆

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Neck carve is everything for me - the 'thin' guitars of the 1980s were for hair-metal teenagers who bought a guitar because they saw an ad in a Circus Magazine issue.  I....just....can't....

My Scepter and Blitz are ODD ducks - the necks are thicker than your typical period guitar.  Dunno how that happened, unless somebody requested it.  The rest of my collection are all post-1994 made.

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9 hours ago, Biz Prof said:

I'm certain it's been discussed here ad nauseum, but to me, Hamer--both structurally and culturally--seemed to have three (maybe four or five if you count the firm's infancy or post-mortem build-outs separately) distinct eras:  the early years (Palatine, early Arlington Heights) through the mid '80s, the Arlington Heights/Kaman-induced growth spurt (late '80s through the late '90s), and the New Hartford era (late '90s through the end). Players have their preferences, although I think we can agree that all eras of Hamers were remarkable. I have the same tendencies you do toward the '90s Arlington Heights era, although the prospect of owning an early-era Special or Sunburst would be intriguing.

Per wikipedia, that would be 1976 - 1988, then 1988 - 1997, then 1997 - 2013.  (ref:  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamer_Guitars -- I didn't have "The Book" handy)

I sold a checkerboard special a while back that I thought was awesome.  I still own a dot-neck, wraptail Studio from ~96, and a 2000+ Artist P90 Mahogany.

I liked the tones I got out of the special the best.  I love the neck on the Artist P90 the best.  I love the songs the Studio pulls out of me the best.

That's how they get you.

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1 hour ago, Never2Late said:

Neck carve is everything for me - the 'thin' guitars of the 1980s were for hair-metal teenagers who bought a guitar because they saw an ad in a Circus Magazine issue.  I....just....can't....

Hey I resemble that remark...lol....when I first seen my 85 Sceptor as a teen I fell for it instantly....still love Love it👍

 

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Thanks so much for all the great info and diving back into a topic that has probably been beaten to death on here.  Time to take my notes and take a fresh look at what's for sale out there!  I hope to be sharing some NGD Hamer Porn with you all in the months to come!  :)  

-Ryan

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90's Hamers are my bread and butter. I have a Newport, which is 2000, but other than that, all are from the 90s. I was looking at a Monaco for a while, but honestly there's nothing guitar wise I need anymore.

Except a doubleneck with a 12 string.

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I sat in Biology class in 1978 reading Guitar Player Magazine ads and longing for Hamer Sunbursts and Standards.  B.C. Rich guitars too. 

There was a guy named Dean Zelinsky that had some Gibson copies.  They've finally come around to suing about it.  Pricks.

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