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Do you always come back to Hamer?


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After a three month trip to Southeast Asia I'm back home in Istanbul and spending the lockdown days reading every post in the forum. And of course playing my Hamer Chaparral. I don't know if it's the case for others but I sometimes tend to forget how great USA made Hamer guitars are start looking for something else. So the result was a Vigier Excalibur Custom from 1997. As you may already know, Vigier is a boutique French brand famous for having no truss rods in their guitars. There is no doubt the guitar is very high quality, such a good superstrat and the neck is fantastic. But no, not better than Chaparral in terms of playability, selection of components, attention to details etc. And I'm not talking about price tags.

I always come back to Hamer and Vigier is on sale:)

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Been that way for me for quite a while. I’m going to try a Suhr Classic S next. But the Les Paul’s, and Tom Anderson’s have come and gone and I return to my Artist’s. I get everything but Strat sounds out of them and they just feel “natural” to me! 

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It clearly shows there is a lot of taste on the Bosporus. B)

Enjoy your Chap!

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I recently was able to start playing again after laying off a few years due to an issue.  I think my Hamer Artist Studio was the second guitar I picked up. So, yes, I keep coming back to it.  At the moment, though, it's got some competition from a PRS Mira (original version) and a Strat.  Between the Artist and Mira I prefer the Hamer's sound, but I play better on the Mira. I need to have some fretwork done on the Hamer when things get a bit more normal.  

Anyway, a Hamer and PRS "shelfie."

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Forgot about to answer the question. No need to go back to Hamer as I have plenty and rarely have others. Essentially, there is always a Hamer on stands for grabs. I don’t have a power strat. However, the models I have are just fabulous.

ETA. Here’s a selection.

3 Hamer Explorers

Hamer Talladega

 

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The Chaparral Bass gets played a lot, since I only have one active band and play bass in that one. My first love has always been Fender. So I also use Fender basses and my Acoustasonic Tele and a Strat. But my 1985 Hamer Steve Stevens is also a fantastic allround guitar and was my main guitar in my last band I played guitar in.

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Yes, for me. I just sold a couple of Fenders and a Gibson to buy a Newport Pro and a Special FM while netting some cash. With my Talladega I have a lots of bases covered.

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No unfortunately. Although I tried like hell, went through quite a few models, eventually realized the necks were never gonna get longer or wider and thinner all at the same time and the operative word from New England was always "No." They all hurt to sell and a few raise serious gut issues when remembered, but the fucking necks. Custom Shop, my ass.

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Not yet, but never say never. During my 10 year Hamer obsession I went through:

3 Eclipses (one 12 string)

Newport

Newport 12

Diablo

Korina Artist

Daytona

Arctop GT

Cruisebass

30th Anniversary

All of 'em great guitars, none of 'em really for me. If I could have one back it would be the orange Eclipse. 

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  • 7 months later...

First I bought Music Man JP7 BFR, then I had 2 EBMM Majesty, then Gibson Standard...

after 2 years all they gone and I have only Hamers. And I can say that my Chaparral Standard with Gravelin Pickups rips all non Hamer guitars I mentioned above.

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                                                                     I owned 4 of them.................................the last 2 were both 1979 Hamer Sunbursts, both Black and both B&C'd. I enjoyed owning them and they really played and sounded like the top grade guitars they were. Both had the small profile neck, although the last one I bought did have a little more beef to it. One sold to a fellow HFC member...............and the other went in trade. TUGhB1d.jpg

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Hamer or Shishkov for me...other than my one  off lap steel and my parts 12 string Tele.....I do have a 
p90 USA Peavey that is excess but sadly has almost no resale value even though it is a great guitar...but not compared to Hamer/Shishkov.

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Yes and no.

Over time, i've come to learn that what I really crave from a guitar is complete indestructability.  meaning, carbon fiber and stainless steel frets.

Even that took a few tries, as the Rainsong Jazz guitar was worth less to me than the $5k someone offered me for it, and the Viktorian was clacky and too light.

Finally got a prototype of the Composite Acoustics Blade and a KOLOSS that make me happy.

But I still have other guitars that I love for other reasons. The Variax plays like a professional level strat, has professional level strat tones from the magnetic pickups, AND has the other modeled guitar tones.  The Yamaha PAC 712 has great tone and thin/flat neck that I love. I still like my Warmoth scalloped fretboard guitar, and can't get that in carbon fiber (yet). The B-Way Mercury Head. The Yamaha PAC 611 has the perfect neck carve AND the perfect tones for my tastes.

And yet, I couldn't stop myself from picking up a beater Centaura when I finally saw one for under $700, and I also didn't hesitate to grab one of the tree-fitty Specials JonO was offering up.

And I'd jump on the first Diablo I see for under $800, too, but they seem to all be at least $900 now.  Nothing feels like a Hamer USA Diablo except a Hamer USA Diablo.  I don't know why it is completely unique, but it is.

I'm enjoying recording a song with for the Best of the HFC Vol IV (hopefully I finish in time) with the Centaura.


The Centaura is not my best guitar, not by a long-shot. It isn't the best value in my guitars, not by a long shot. For $650 shipped for a Floyd Rose guitar, I have a $500 shipped Schechter and $500 shipped Kramer Crusader Deluxe I like more.  And I have multiple non-locking trem guitars I like better I got cheaper, including the Yamaha PAC 712 I got for $100. That's probably the best value overall.

And yet, I had to get both of them when I saw them, and I don't think I will put either of them up for sale again, nor will I sell the Diablo if I ever get one again.

I guess Hamer USA guitars are just a part of me now.

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While I love my Hamer guitars, none of them have ever been my "go to" guitar simply because my sound is a Fender sound. That being said, there is almost always a Hamer in the gig lineup for those times when I want something different for a particular song. Most of the time it is the Monaco MIII because it sounds like a fat Strat but occasionally, I get on an Albert King kick which naturally calls for the Korina Vector. 

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I was thinking this morning before seeing this thread.I have owned just about every major brand. What is it about a Hamer that it is always the easiest for me to play?

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On 4/28/2020 at 1:51 AM, gorch said:

Forgot about to answer the question. No need to go back to Hamer as I have plenty and rarely have others. Essentially, there is always a Hamer on stands for grabs. I don’t have a power strat. However, the models I have are just fabulous.

ETA. Here’s a selection.

 

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Tell me more about that trem... never seen one before, but looks interesting. And temporary.

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3 hours ago, DaveH said:

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Tell me more about that trem... never seen one before, but looks interesting. And temporary.

It's the 'Schaller LP Tremolo'. I've checked the Schaller online shop. They seem not having it on the list anymore. However, it seems still being available on the markets.

The trem is installed on the MIK Standard. It works quite well with the graph tech nut, although, strings are quite angled on the nut due to the head construction of the Standard. It's made in metric measures that might cause some tweaks to fit on a US made guitar. Other than that I'm using it for about 10+ years.

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