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My First Hamer!


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OK I know its probably nothing to brag about in comparison to the more coveted and sought after American made Hamers, but I finally got my first.

Its just a used SATQ (made in China)...but for what it is, its pretty impressive...and for $300, I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

Does anyone know anything about the stock Hamer branded pickups? I'd like to know the specs on them (if its possible) before I swap them out.

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Unfortunately, they will not be Hamer pickups. They would, at best, be Duncan Designed (Korean made versions of their US pickups likely made by Artec). Artec have been making pickups for all major manufacturers import series guitars for many many years. I am a big fan of Artec pickups...

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The ones I pulled out of my Indonesian made Monaco were G&B with chrome covers and the Hamer logo stamped in the lower right corner.  They were decent, but I had a Gibson set laying around I put in.  G&B make the PRS SE pickups to PRS specs. 

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6 hours ago, scottcald said:

The ones I pulled out of my Indonesian made Monaco were G&B with chrome covers and the Hamer logo stamped in the lower right corner.  They were decent, but I had a Gibson set laying around I put in.  G&B make the PRS SE pickups to PRS specs. 

Yeah these have the Hamer logo on the lower right corner of the cover...and they do sound decent...but that's all I expected from them, given where the guitar was made.

Are there any resources anywhere as to the specs of those pickups?

I have a set of Wolfetones (Fenris bridge/Marshallhead MKII neck) that I'm thinking about swapping them for. I know the specs on those...but I'd like to know the specs on the Hamers so that I know if its worth the effort to swap em out....or put the Wolfetones in one of my PRS SE's instead.

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7 hours ago, Victor (Fret Friend) said:

Unfortunately, they will not be Hamer pickups. They would, at best, be Duncan Designed (Korean made versions of their US pickups likely made by Artec). Artec have been making pickups for all major manufacturers import series guitars for many many years. I am a big fan of Artec pickups...

Yeah these don't say "duncan designed" on them...if they did, I probably would not be considering swapping them, as I like what I've heard from the duncan designed pickups.

These say Hamer in the lower right corner of the cover.

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3 hours ago, wolfman said:

Yeah these don't say "duncan designed" on them...if they did, I probably would not be considering swapping them, as I like what I've heard from the duncan designed pickups.

These say Hamer in the lower right corner of the cover.

Did you pull them to see if they have any other identifying marks or labels, anything on the baseplate?

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8 hours ago, Travis said:

Did you pull them to see if they have any other identifying marks or labels, anything on the baseplate?

Nope, not yet...I just received the guitar yesterday...was busy trying it out for a few hours before it was time to go to bed lol

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1 hour ago, Toadroller said:

Congratulations on your first Hamer!  My first was also a Chinese Studio, gold top with P90s. Well built, thick neck, still in the rotation a decade later. 
 

enjoy! 

Thank you! The neck on this one seems to be a little bit bigger than a wide-thin PRS neck (both in thickness and in width)...but not by much!

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23 hours ago, killerteddybear said:

Pics!

Some light scratches and a couple little pings in the back, but I can't expect a used $300 guitar to be pristine.

If my scale is correct, she's 7.2lbs.

hamer body.jpg

hamer headstock.jpg

hamer pickup.jpg

hamer upright.jpg

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Quite a few people on here will have swapped out the old USA Seymour Duncan pickups for something more upmarket, so you could maybe grab a set of those on the cheap with a WTB (It's BKP Mules and Blue Notes, for me...) That would be the quickest and easiest of all upgrades, and wouldn't leave you with pickups worth more than the guitar. But see if you're actually unhappy with the sound you have first, for how you want to use it. It's possible to over-optimise.

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Country of origin nonwithstanding, that's a nice burst and great looking guitar and a killer platform to improve upon. $300?! Sweet!!

If I were to buy that right now the first things I'd do: fret level/dress and change out the electronics to quality pots and capacitor. Those 2 things will for sure show you exactly what you're working with. Who knows..you might love the stock pickups and wouldn't it be nice to hear them properly and not getting choked out by crappy pots/wiring? In my opinion, it's a waste of money to spend money on pickups unless you've got the electronics and frets right first.

If the plastic nut is cut properly then it's good enough for now. A bone nut and a better bridge would help bring this up to Pro level too.

Nice guit! I'd totally rock that.

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6 hours ago, JGravelin said:

Country of origin nonwithstanding, that's a nice burst and great looking guitar and a killer platform to improve upon. $300?! Sweet!!

If I were to buy that right now the first things I'd do: fret level/dress and change out the electronics to quality pots and capacitor. Those 2 things will for sure show you exactly what you're working with. Who knows..you might love the stock pickups and wouldn't it be nice to hear them properly and not getting choked out by crappy pots/wiring? In my opinion, it's a waste of money to spend money on pickups unless you've got the electronics and frets right first.

If the plastic nut is cut properly then it's good enough for now. A bone nut and a better bridge would help bring this up to Pro level too.

Nice guit! I'd totally rock that.

Thanks for the tips! Yeah I have to play around with it a bit to see exactly what I want to do to it, if anything.

I was already thinking about having a bone nut installed.

Definitely gonna check out the pots & capacitor.

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Tear it down to the bones. Replace the electronics and hardware, make sure the frets and neck are worked over (leveled, rounded, etc), and it’s just wire and wood. 

It can be a great player and a keeer for sure. 

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